He cautiously continued to hammer the peg into the ground. Once he was satisfied, he moved onto the second peg and repeated his actions. He tested the structure by pressing down on the taught waxed sheet, pleased when it held.
Lephas turned his attention to a patch of snow just outside the cover of the sheet. He would build a fire here. He carefully dug a small hole in the snow, forming a kind of fire pit. The demon got to his feet and, flipping his knife open, headed to the large tree they were using for shelter.
Its bark was mostly dry where the sun had gotten to it earlier in the day and it flaked away in big chunks. It would make an excellent fire starter. Some of the low, thin branches snapped off easily in his hands. They were brittle, which meant they would be dry enough to light.
Lephas carefully built the beginnings of a small fire. He lay the branches down in a hatch formation and dug through his pockets for his matches.
Thankfully they were still bone-dry, a testament to his expensive winter gear. He struck one and lowered the lit match to the bark he had gathered.
It took a moment, but the materials began to smoke and caught alight. Lephas allowed the air to get to thesmall flames that flickered, desperately trying to stay lit. He leant in and carefully blew against it. The commander breathed a sigh of relief as the fire gradually took hold.
“Come here and keep an eye on the fire. If it looks like it's struggling, put a piece of bark on and fan some air in there.” He motioned Lori over.
“Sure, what are you doing?” she asked, settling beside the growing fire. The princess poked at it with a thin twig, encouraging the blaze to grow. She was really getting into this survivalist thing, Lephas mused with a smile.
“I'm going to skin the rabbit.”
Predictably, Lori shot him a grimace and he grinned back at her.
“Rabbits don't run around pre-roasted I'm afraid. This is how they get to your jewel-encrusted feast tables, Princess,” he retorted.
“I know, but... I don't want to see it. I have a sensitive stomach.” She shook her head and screwed up her nose.
Lephas just rolled his eyes playfully and sat down in the snow with the rabbit splayed out in front of him. He wiped his knife off on his sleeve before getting to work. The sky was already darkening to dusk. He needed to get this done before he lost the light.
“So, how did you learn how to do all these things? Skinning rabbits, starting fires...” Lori asked. She sat with her back turned to him, no doubt so she didn't have to watch him skin and gut the rabbit.
“My father taught me,” Lephas answered. He sliced a small hole in the skin at the back of the rabbit's neck and grabbed the fur on either side of the opening. He pulled firmly, removing the rabbit's coat steadily.
“You've never spoken about your family. Where are they? Back in Banesteppe?” the faerie asked curiously.
“In a sense. There are no living members of it left, but they are all buried just outside of Banesteppe.”
“Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.”
“It's alright, it was a long time ago,” Lephas replied. “My father made sure he taught me all he knew before he went to fight in the rebellion war after King Tennul fell. He knew I would have to look after and provide for my mother whilst he was gone.”
“How old were you? If you don't mind my asking.”
“I was thirteen when we got the news that he had died. For a long time, it was just my mother and I, but she slipped and cut her leg when she was out in the woods one day. The wound got infected and she died about a week later. I didn't have any reason to stay at home once they were both gone, so I signed up to serveKing Zelrus.”
“You don't have any brothers or sisters?”
The commander laughed, chopping the feet, tail and head from the rabbit. “Not in the conventional sense. My best friend, Oriel, lived with us for a while. He's probably as close to a brother as I could get.”
“Oriel... I know that name. Have you mentioned him before?”
“He's the reason we're here; Haros and I work for him. He's the king's older brother.”
“That's right, I remember now. Wait, Oriel isolder? How does that work?” The horrors of skinning rabbits clearly forgotten, Lori turned to look at him questioningly.
Lephas smiled at her, enjoying seeing her falter with surprise before returning a shy smile.
“Oriel is the eldest, but he's not a full-blooded demon.” Lephas dropped his eyes back to the rabbit meat in his hands. He slit carefully down the animal’s stomach before reaching inside to pull the organs free.
“So, some of youarehalf-breeds! What's he mixed with?”
“Faerie,” Lephas replied, fighting a smile at the array of emotions on Lori's face.
