Shady

Jerica was tense, her mind filled with 'what-ifs' of how this could go badly. What if someone recognized her? What if they tried to detain her? What if Elias ran ...

"We'll... see," Jerica answered uneasily. "We're getting food first. And there's not much to see, anyway. But the architecture is a singular redeeming quality of this godsdamned country, so I ...

"Well, you're in luck, I don't think Nykeria has any vegetarian meat," she answered dryly. The town was approaching quickly. Jerica got stiffer the closer they got, eyes flicking around ...

"Sure." Jerica nodded, trying to think what would be in season in Nykeria this time of year. "Nykeria has a lot of grains and we can probably get a fair ...

"So you're basically saying 'hey just hang around for a couple weeks until a witch comes back and curses you'?" Her voice was a bit harsher than she'd meant for ...

"Well, good luck to you." Jerica tried not to feel bitter that he might even have that option. Her only reprieve from warfare was pretending to be Aerik's prisoner, and ...

"Wait, so the powers are the only thing keeping you in the military?" she asked. I wish it were that easy for me. "Once you can't heal yourself, they'll just ...

"Heh." She smirked mirthlessly. "Tell that to my uncle." Singular that time. Derik would love nothing more than for her to quit so that she could go do something that ...

Jerica sent him a venomous glare, jaw set, before decidedly looking away from him again. So it was an intentional question. She snorted. I shouldn't even deign to answer that. ...

The smile melted off her face. He always did this. Took a fun topic and made it not-fun anymore. What part of that made you think I want to go ...

Jerica eyed him, making a note at how tense her question had made him. She was starting to get the impression that her notes were going to add up to ...

"That's true," Jerica answered thoughtfully. "But I'd rather have to practice sparring than have to spend all day with my hands in lye-water to wash the linens in the castle." ...

"I mean, Levin almost killed a serving boy for accidentally dropping a lamb chop in his lap," Jerica said with a shrug. She realized he wouldn't know who Levin was, ...

Jerica barely kept from gawking, but she did stare. He was... a... possessed suit of armor? Who thought he was human? And then the lizard-boy also claiming to be human. ...

"I mean..." She took a deep breath and sighed, considering the question. She'd prefer to play with geckos and read books and pretend like she knew things about science. "Rangers ...