“Roman, Cedric’s brother. Do you think I’m going to be betrothed tohimnow?” Her face twisted up into a mask of horror.
“You mean that very large, very sad man from the keep?” Damien felt arcana pinch at his skin, and he went reflexively for his dagger. “Just ask, and I will put an end to him, slowly or quickly, whatever you believe suits his crimes best.”
“You can’t do that,” she groaned, beginning off again,shoulders slumped and Vanders holding on.
He followed, brow narrowed, fists clenched. Certainly, she didn’t…didn’tpreferthis man. “I assure you, Icankill him and would do so gladly.”
“Oh, no, Damien, it’s not like that.” She let out a fraught, little sigh and rubbed her temples. “It’s that he’s…well? He’s not very bright.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Amma snorted and threw her hands up. “He’s a complete idiot, all right? And it sort of makes him sweet, but he’s like achild! He doesn’t need a wife, he needs a mother, and if I have to marry him? Give him children?” She shuddered. “By Osurehm, there should be laws against that kind of thing.”
Damien’s ire melted, and a chuckle worked its way into his throat. “Well, he did seem quite devoted. If he’s as stupid as you say, you could easily manipulate him into doing whatever you want.” When she made a scoffing sound, Damien just chuckled more. “If you are truly concerned, you can ask the oracle to put your mind at ease.”
“No, I don’t want to know.” She sighed so heavily that Damien felt it in his own chest. “I’d just never go back to Faebarrow if that’s what’s waiting for me. I was already considering alternatives anyway.”
“You were?” he asked as casually as he could.
Amma’s eyes went wide in the same way they’d done when she had been keeping secrets from him, accidentally dropping little hints at her identity and trying to cover them up. She busied herself with petting the vaxin and making nondescript noises in the back of her throat. “I don’t know. Maybe. I like being out in the wilderness. Lots of trees out here I could build a little house in. But I guess if I’m lucky, you’ll just release your father, he’ll put an end to the whole realm, and I won’t have to worry about being a baroness or a hermit out in the woods oranything.”
When her face turned back down, he left it alone, afraid to prod at that sentiment in case it hadn’t been a joke. She did not perk up again on her own though, and by the time they stopped for the night, he was getting quite worried. His words had failed at bringing her any long-term joy, and all that seemed left were his tongue and fingers, but he had already been desperately fighting himself to keep from touching her.
As he looked about for the flattest place for them to camp, he wondered how close the two could lay without accidentally brushing up against one another, searching for some branch or bush that could work as a deterrent. Maybe he could find some rash-inducing plant and rub it on his hands.
“Kaz!” he said suddenly, whipping toward her.
Amma straightened, a hand pressed to her chest. “I can’t believe I forgot! What happened to him?”
“I killed him.”
“Damien!”
“Not like that!” He held his hands up in defense, but her shock had settled into a quiet fury. “I mean, I did stab him because I needed his heart as the component for a spell, but I’m sure it didn’t really hurt. Much.”
Her face was growing all sorts of horror over it, and he knew he was only making things worse.
“Look, it really wasn’t in anger or anything, and Ididask him if I could kill him, and hedidtell me yes, and I acknowledge that I’ve got a very frustrating power imbalance with just about everyone, but I am sorry for it. Anyway, I was just thinking: I know he was rubbish to you, but you always seemed to inexplicably like him, so if we brought him back would that…would that make you happy?”
Amma’s watery eyes blinked, but no tears fell, and she nodded.
“All right, good, good,” he said to himself, dragging his boot across a leaf-strewn but flat spot to reveal soft earth below. He knelt and used a stick to draw out a circle and the symbols for summoning from the infernal plane. “It’s not very difficult to summon an imp, though I’ve not done it in some time. Would you mind assisting me?” He paused a moment, wondering how Kaz’s name might be spelled in Chthonic, and then scribbled in his gut decision. When he looked up, Amma was standing on the other side of the circle, the evening darkening around her.
“You want me to help summon an imp from the infernal plane?”
“Yes. We need a sacrifice.” His eyes flicked to the vaxin on Amma’s shoulder.
She gasped, raising her hands to cover Vanders’ perfectly round ears. “Don’t even think about it.”
The little creature poofed out of existence.
Damien chuckled, speaking louder into the air. “No, never, not Vanders. I was actually thinking you could use some of that arcana of yours.”
Big eyes stared down at him, unsure.
“Here.” He placed an acorn in the center of the circle he’d made, an iron oak one, he presumed, as Vanders didn’t reappear to scurry off with it. “To summon an imp, we must trade a living thing over to the infernal plane. I’m sure that place is already full of rats and goats, so they could probably use a tree.”
“The things used for summoning don’t die?”
