“I can only speak to you since you summoned me, Alaceandra, but I will not speak much longer if that beast murders me!”
Barely audible noises squeak from the creature’s mouth and are translated into words in my head. Bewildered as I am, I decide to hear the little guy out.
The prince tries to grab the creature from my shoulder, but I back away. “Do not hurt him!”
The prince looks at me with wide eyes. “Do not hurt him? He bit me! And on top of that, he is part of the demoni. He obviously came up from the realms. He must die.”
“You grabbed him, it is only logical for him to bite you. Why would we need to kill him? He does not look like he will hurt us.” For some reason I just know he is friendly, but I give the little creature on my shoulder a side eye as if to sayright?Just in case.
“Looks can be deceiving, Alaceandra. That is a very dangerous creature.” I ignore him.
“Yes, I have no plans on hurting you or your loved ones. I have come to only teach,”he squeaks out.
“Teach?” I say aloud.
“Later, Alaceandra. The threat!”The ferret points comically at the prince, before darting under my hair. I flinch as pain pricks my scalp.
“Can youtalkto that thing?”
“I think so,” I respond.
“It is never a good thing when demoni are present, be careful what you tell it.” He gives me a knowing look. “I know the creature is cute, Little Dove, but itisdeadly. It is better if the thing is disposed of.”
I consider my next words. “I think I summoned him…” I say.
“You did what? When? I did not see…”
“Yeah, well, I uh… I am apparently coming into some skillsets while… otherwise occupied. He says I summoned him, and I believe him. He says he is here to teach me.”
He gives me a questioning look. “What can that thing teach you?”
“If the beast keeps referring to me as ‘it’ and ‘thing’ I will pee on his face while he sleeps.”
I snort a laugh.
“What?”
I pause. “He requests you stop referring to him as an ‘it’ and if it was me I would, uh, probably stop referring to him as such.”
The prince looks annoyed. “And why is that?”
“You would rather not know, I am sure.”
The prince gives me an assessing look. “Fine. What should I call the th—” He clears his throat. “…him then?”
The little creature looks down at me from the top of my head, giving me an upside-down view of his petite face.“You can call me Baldar.”
“Baldar?” I say aloud so both the prince and the furry guy can hear. The ferret nods his head. I look at the prince “Baldar.” I giggle. The little creature is still hanging upside down in my hair. “Well, you sure have good bal-ance, Bal-dar,” I laugh again at my pun. Glancing at the prince I notice he is unamused. His body is tense, and he is glowering at my hair. I clear my throat and address Baldar again. “But I am still confused. What are you here to teach me about?”
“Well, is it not obvious? About your powers, princess. Among other things. I am sure you have noticed you have been coming into some new skillsets, no?”
My heart stills in my chest.
“Um, maybe? But I... I, uh, have not run across anything like you...” The prince catches my gaze and quirks an eyebrow at me.
“Well of course not!”The little furry demoni hops from my head and skitters to the ground. I try not to flinch again at the sting of his claws. “I have also been tasked with protecting you from the half-dead. So, you wouldn’t have had to see anything like me as of yet.”He puts tiny fists on his tiny hips, his stance meant to be one of intimidation, but seeing as he was just a small thing it looked more cute than scary. “I have been serving from Unduli originally- hence the grand entrance- keeping them from sending anyone to activate your powers early BUT now it looks like you have gone and unlocked them yourself.”Tiny, furry, claw-tipped fingers waggle in my direction. “So, I can finally come meet you!”A happy squeak escapes Baldar.
“Unlocked? How did I—” I start to question, but then my cheeks flame with embarrassment.
