He staggered toward the entrance.
There, he saw the strangest thing of all.
Lilliana was heading back toward him with his weapon in one hand, and a basket of food in the other.
Alone.
There was no one trailing behind her. No one following. He sensed nothing but her presence.
Could this be real? It seemed impossible and yet…
She was drawing nearer.
Not wanting her to know of his suspicions, he returned to where she’d left him, and sat back on the floor, ready to attack if need be.
Her face was flushed, and she was out of breath. “How do you carry this thing?”
“What?”
“Your sword. It weighs as much as a horse.” Without a single reservation, she handed his sword hilt to him. “No wonder your muscles are so big. Should take a giant to wield it for battle.”
He had no comment to that as he stared in awe of her innocence. She could have killed him. Or summoned others to do so.
Instead, she pulled out clothes, food and drink from her basket, then set about redressing his wound while he worked around her to dress himself.
Waiting until Caleb finished pulling his clothes on, Lilliana bit her lip as she saw the nasty, jagged wound that he didn’t even seem to feel. She could only imagine how much it must burn. Yet he said nothing. Indeed, he acted as if he wasn’t wounded at all.
Malphas. She knew that name. He was one of the generals who was against them.
No wonder he was feared. He was massively huge and terrifying to behold. Yet it wasn’t that simple. There was a great beauty to his form. Granted, it was an unusual form. Still…
He was handsome in a peculiar way.
He’s a demon!
Her father would beat her senseless if he ever learned she’d helped one of his kind. The village elder would kill her for daring to render aid.
So why are you risking your life for someone who spends his time killing humans?
She had no idea really, other than it was what she’d been taught. Help those in need. If someone was hungry, you should feed them. If they were wounded, you helped.
You know they never meant that for a demon.
True, but he didn’t seem like a mindless raging animal. He was quite sentient.
Human-like.
She glanced at those eerie eyes that watched her so intently. “Does that hurt?”
“What?”
“Your eyes. They…”
“What?”
Lilliana wished she’d not said anything. But now that she had, she needed to finish it. “You seem to see more than I do.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Not true.”
