Even if Arwin wanted to take back his realization, it was too late to avoid notice of Lillia’s body pressed against his and the faint scent of honey and freshly baked bread that lingered in her hair.
This isn’t right. I need to put a stop to it. I can’t allow myself to feel anything for the demon –
Arwin’s mind couldn’t even finish the thought that it had started to form. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he couldn’t see the woman in his arms as the demon queen anymore. She was just Lillia. The only person who could ever even come close to understanding his pain. The one that had been there to help him through it.
The right thing to do was to pull away. He should have gently bid Lillia goodnight – or good day, whichever it happened to be – and have been on his way. He should have returned to his room and centered himself and crushed these feelings until nothing remained but the vague memory of the mistake he could have made.
The right thing to do was to leave her there, devoid of Keep reading on NovelHub - where stories come alive!
Is that really the right thing to do?
Arwin wasn’t sure. And, as it so turned out, he didn’t particularly care. There was nothing to be done about his feelings. They weren’t going to go anywhere today. They didn’t need to. A feeling understood was a feeling controlled.
Either way, it didn’t matter what he felt. The world could have been crashing down around him and it would have changed nothing. Lillia needed him right now. Arwin refused to move a muscle until that was no longer the case. Everything else could be dealt with later.
Rodrick shrugged and Arwin headed out of the doorway to make his way toward the spot where the smithy had once stood. He was rewarded with the sight of a day’s work well done. While there was still a thin layer of soot on the ground, almost all of it had been removed. No stones remained to stall any construction. The plot of land laid in wait for a new smithy to be made upon it.
Arwin stood, his arms crossed behind his back, and looked upon his work. He’d always known that every building on the street would probably eventually have to be repaired if they wanted to bring any large amount of foot traffic to the area. Nobody wanted to go into an alley where it looked like they’d get run through.
He just hadn’t thought it would be happening this soon. Arwin made to turn back to the tavern, but something lying in a tiny pile of dirt flashed as the sunlight caught it. A frown crossed Arwin’s face.
A piece of metal I missed?
Arwin headed over to the shimmer on the ground and knelt beside it. A thin circular disk was rested on the dirt, covered with a thin layer of soot. The sun had caught on a tiny, exposed part of it.
He wiped the soot away with a thumb, revealing a glistening green color underneath. It was the scale that he’d taken from the Wyrm. Arwin tilted his head to the side. He could have sworn that the scale hadn’t been there when he’d been working yesterday, but there was always a chance he hadn’t seen it because of how dark it had been.
After a moment longer of studying it, Arwin tucked the scale into a pocket. It was nice to know that it hadn’t been lost in the flame. Wyrm scales definitely weren’t just ordinary material. He had no idea what he’d use it for yet, but he suspected it would turn out to be useful when the time came around.
He walked back to the tavern. If he spent any longer standing around the smithy, he’d want to start building something. That wasn’t something he could do until he had money to fund said building – and the one way he was going to get that money was waiting for him on a key hanging from Reya’s neck.
Everyone had convened in the common room by the time Arwin returned. Reya and Lillia were both clad in their armor. Rodrick had a cloak wrapped around himself to stop anyone from seeing the magical properties of his gear. Arwin didn’t even bother asking if everyone was ready. Their appearances told the story so their mouths didn’t have to.
“Let’s go,” Arwin said.
They piled in behind him and the group set out for the dungeon. The trip out of the city went smoothly. Now that they were all clad in relatively respectable gear, they just looked like any other group of adventurers and the guards didn’t so much as glance at them twice.
They didn’t have any trouble on their way over to the dungeon either. It was a warm, sunny day and there wasn’t a single cloud to interrupt the endless expanse of clear blue sky above them.
That luck came to a close when they drew up to the valley that the dungeon rested at. Three cloaked men stood at the entrance of the dungeon, kneeling around it. One of them was positioned so that Arwin could make out his features.
And, to Arwin’s displeasure, he recognized the man’s face.
It was Jin, one of the members of the thieves’ guild that had been after Reya. His eyes narrowed. The men hadn’t noticed them yet, but it would only be a moment before –
Jin glanced up. His eyes widened as he spotted the group standing above him and he hissed a warning to his compatriots. The three of them rose as one, all turning to face the newcomers.
“You,” Jin said, his voice riding the line between shock and accusation.
“Who are these buggers?” Rodrick asked as he rested a hand on his sword. “Nobody up to any good strolls around wearing a cloak like that.”
“You’re wearing a cloak like that,” Anna pointed out.
“Thieves’ guild,” Arwin said brusquely “Not friends.”
“What are you doing here?” Jin demanded. “How are you–”
He cut himself off, but it was too late. Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “How am I what? I believe there was an agreement between our guilds, Jin. You lot stay away from my street and I stay away from yours. Why are you snooping around the entrance of a dungeon that won’t work for you?”
“You’re ‘supposed to be dead,” one of the other men said, taking a step back. “I knew it. That damn street is haunted, Jin. He’s a ghost, and he’s back for revenge.”
“He’s not a damn ghost. He’s casting a shadow, idiot,” Jin said. He spat on the ground and shook his head. “Forget it. We were just leaving.”
“Hold on,” Arwin said, his voice growing cold. “Why is it you thought I was dead?”