21. Ren Shares A Meal

Ren spent two hours playing a very complicated and changeable game of tag with Jack and Merlin. Eventually, when Cú sent Ritsu to get some exercise, she and the foxette joined in to make the game even more chaotic, and subsequently, Ren dropped into an exhausted nap as soon as she stretched out on her bed.

She woke to Jack's gentle touch and the mouthwatering smell of roasted pork with garlic. As she blinked at the dimness of the Great Hall, Jack said, "Caster and Lancer want you to eat before Saber wakes up, Mommy."

In response, Ren's stomach gave a loud, long gurgle. Jack's eyes widened. "You're so hungry! I'm so sorry, Mommy. It hurts so much, right?"

With a wan smile, Ren said, "It's easy for me to fix, at least."

Jack hopped off the bed and pulled Ren to her feet. "Come, come! Come and see!"

Down in the kitchen, every trace of the pig butchery had been cleaned away and several half-demolished wooden platters of roasted and chopped meat sat in the middle of the table, along with wooden bowls, thick sliced brown bread, roasted potatoes and onions, and a pan of drippings.

Driven by the growling in her stomach, Ren hurried to the table and started filling a bowl before she noticed Jekyll, Cú and Merlin all watching her with interest. She favored Cú with a smile that brightened as she focused on the bread. "Were the villagers actually helpful?"

Cú snorted. "Them? Not likely. They're all mice. Can't imagine how the little miss came out of a village like that."

Ren glanced down at the bread and up at Cú again, her eyebrows raised. He shrugged and scratched his cheek. "Well, I found the biggest house there, right? Walked right in, raided their kitchen. They all hid upstairs, except for a little scullery maid they'd forgotten about. She hid under the sink."

Ren froze halfway through picking up a piece of bread, staring at Cú. There was just a hint of challenge in his eyes, and she realized Merlin and Jekyll were also closely observing her reaction. Only Jack didn't seem to care what Ren thought of the raiding, instead eating meat straight off the platter until Cú reached out and hauled her away by the scruff of her neck.

Carefully, Ren laid the slice of bread on top of the meat in her bowl and used a wooden spoon to drizzle drippings on top. "Was the maid reassured when you told her about our win?"

"Little bit. The pig leg I left with her probably helped more though." He paused to grin as Ren raised her gaze to him and then added, "I left about half of the bread at Ritsu's house with those kids. Ritsu wants to bring 'em here but I think the keep needs to be in better shape first."

Ren sat on the floor and ate a bite of bread and meat and then asked, "Why didn't you tell me you left the meat first?"

Cú crouched down near her. "Eh, I wanted to see how you reacted." He put his finger under her chin. "Because if you needed what they had and I'd nothing to leave in exchange, I still would have taken it, my lady."

Ren thought about that. "I think… in theory… that would be acceptable. But also… that you can always find something to offer in trade. You're an armed warrior. You're in the best position to take, which means you shouldn't ever have to."

Cú looked at her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. "You're a beautiful woman, my lady, and you should start sleeping with a knife."

As Ren blinked, working on tracing his line of thought, Jack bounded over, saying, "Yes, yes, that's smart," before sniffing at Ren's bowl. "Why did you put the yummy stuff on the dry stuff, Mommy?"

As Cú rose, Ren shook herself and said to Jack, "Because it makes the bread taste better and the bread fills me up better than just meat alone."

"Hmm," said Jack, watching her with lambent eyes as she ate another bite.

As Ren ate, she stole glances at Merlin and Jekyll, neither of whom seemed inclined to interrupt her meal with their conversation, although they both watched her more than was comfortable. As soon as she finished her bowl, Merlin sprang to his feet and gave her a chore.

"All done? Let's take a bowl to Ritsu and her sister. Can you make them up? You certainly enjoyed yours."

Ren pulled a face at Merlin and moved to do that, asking Jekyll, "Did you eat, Doctor? It's… it's a good thing to do, especially if you have concerns about… other stuff."

Jekyll gave her a gentle smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Merlin shared his observations with me. He even harvested some of my hair for one of the bracelets, although I think he needs some of yours still to complete the Mystic Code."

Ren blinked, turning to look at Merlin as he stood impatiently in the kitchen doorway. "You used my hair, too?"

Merlin looked shocked. "Why do you think I was combing your hair?" Then he waggled his eyebrows, and Ren decided against answering.

Once she'd filled two bowls much like her own, Merlin took them from her with an entirely unnecessary comment about not wanting them spilled by a clumsy human, but once again, she resisted answering. She couldn't tell if he was actually aiming to provoke her or not. Something about his quick movements almost convinced her he was nervous. It made her nervous, too.

Ritsu opened the door to her knock, her eyes widening at the bowls Merlin carried. The small room beyond had all four walls, the ceiling, and a floor with the debris swept into the corners. Tora had been placed on a narrow futon-style mattress and covered with a blanket. The woman's red and gold armor had been neatly stacked in a corner and the woman's orange-gold hair pooled around her head. Two small black lizards rested on her chest, while another perched on the armor pile.

After Merlin and Ren had crowded into the room, Merlin set the bowls down, closed the door and said in a light voice, "Time to stop teasing your sister, Tora. You don't want your dinner to get cold."

Tora's eyes flickered open and her brow immediately furrowed. Pushing herself up on her elbows as the lizards skittered up to her shoulders, she turned her head from side to side, her gaze passing over Merlin and her armor to linger on Ren. "You… You're her."

And then a flush tinged her pale cheeks and she looked away, to Ritsu.

Ritsu met her gaze silently, biting her lip. After a moment, Tora said in a fast, pretty voice, "The last thing I clearly remember was an absolutely spectacular man destroying my Eleron. And now I'm here, with a headache and bad dreams and it's been hours since I've eaten. I suppose the Sovereign's mobile portal prototype didn't work as planned."

"We'll be talking about that," said Merlin cheerfully. "After we get some other details out of the way."

Tora once again glanced at everybody in the room before settling on her little sister. "Who are these people, Ritsu?"

But Ritsu, who'd spent most of the day loyally waiting for her sister to wake up, only pressed her lips together and turned her head away.

Sighing, Tora sat up. "You're still such a child."

"An incompetent, foolish child," flashed Ritsu, glaring.

Tora's hands clenched into fists. "Don't you understand yet? I had to tell everybody that. If anybody realized how talented you were, the Sovereigns would have come for you."

"But instead you came for me," said Ritsu bitterly.

Her face hardening, Tora said, "Once your Seals showed up, I realized it was the only way. The Sovereigns are the only path forward for the world. Their triumph is a certainty. I had to protect you."

"Except now there's us," put in Ren quietly.

Tora blinked and then gave Ren a sidelong look. "You were in my dreams, when I was… somebody else. Both of you, but he was just an enemy, while you were… something else."

Merlin pushed his lips out in an expression of annoyance. "Just an enemy? How… humiliating. Ah, well. Tora, whatever you intended to do with that mirror, what you did was summon a Heroic Spirit into your own body. Later you were defeated by another Heroic Spirit embodied as a Servant by Ren here."

Tora blinked thoughtfully. "And what's a Heroic Spirit?"

It was Ritsu who answered. "It's a sort of exalt familiar who used to be a person. Very powerful, hard to maintain."

"I summoned an exalt?" This seemed to surprise Tora more than anything said thus far.

"As to that, I think the mirror did all the work," said Merlin cheerfully. "It would have maintained the Heroic Spirit for you, too, but, alas I broke it. So now while said Spirit still rests within you, her strength has been… limited."

Tora's face went white. "You broke the mirror? I don't believe you." When Merlin only smiled at her, her gaze went far away. "Well… shit."

Merlin's gaze sharpened but all he said was, "You're our prisoner for now, but you don't have to remain under lock and key if you give us a promise of good behavior, and agree not to leave the Summoner's Castle until we've sorted out your fate."

"Sure," said Tora, her gaze still distant. "You have my promise. That means I can eat, right?"

"Of course," said Ren, and handed out the bowls. When Tora accepted hers, their gazes met briefly and the other woman looked away. She tried a bite of the meat and bread, frowned, and then emptied the bowl at high speed.

Amused, Ren said, "I'll get you seconds."

But before she could take the bowl, Tora said, "You seem very kind, and because of that I'm sorry that you were dragged into this. But you won't win, you know."

Ren hesitated before taking the bowl. "I don't know. Cú defeated you trivially, didn't he?"

"Me?" Tora shrugged. "I'm nobody. Soft-trained, without a proper commission, and I screwed up the first mission my lord gave me. He's… so much more than me, and the Sovereigns will want that mirror back. So you won't be able to hold this Region."

"What happened to you, Tora?" demanded Ritsu. "Before you came back with them all you wanted me to do was run away with you, and even that wasn't like you."

Tora looked away from her sister, her face twisting. "They… made me understand how powerful they were. I wouldn't even be alive now if my lord hadn't rescued me from their prison on a whim. He gave me this assignment, too. To capture you, one of the last free summoners. He told me it was my chance to prove myself to the Sovereigns, but I know he would have tried to keep you safe, not turned you over to their conversion camp. Taught you the way he taught me." She sighed. "Maybe he still will, once he's dealt with your friends. That's all I can hope for now."

Merlin said mildly. "So much despair. Is that why you gave your promise? No hope for yourself? Won't your lord want you back as well as the mirror?"

The look that passed Tora's face reminded Ren of a wounded animal. "No. I've failed too much. I won't go back to him now. He can't afford to be kind to a waste of space like me, and… and even if he was inclined so, I'd rather he take care of Ritsu. By staying here, I'll at least be able to intercede for her when he takes the Castle. That's all I can do for her now."

For a moment, Ren stood paralyzed by the bleakness of Tora's point of view. But then she shook herself and went to the door with Tora's bowl. Once she'd had more food and rest, and seen what Cú and Jack could do, Tora would feel more optimistic, Ren felt certain.

As Ren opened the door, several voices sounded in her mind:

Cú and Jekyll both calling a warning of a threat overhead—

And another mental voice, a snarl that made her head ring, saying, I will have speech with the Master of this Castle, or I will raze it to the foundations.

Ren left the bowl spinning on the flagstones as she dropped it and raced to the stairs. Merlin said brightly, "Ritsu, stay here with Tora, neither of you leave this room, and try not to hurt each other." Then he followed Ren, slamming the door behind him.

A deep purple twilight cast the courtyard into gloom. As Ren stopped before stepping out, she felt Jack and Cú both settle around her in their dematerialized form, while either Jekyll or Hyde leaned against the wall outside. He'd found a knife somewhere, but he held it loosely and without a smile. She couldn't see what had called for her, though.

Merlin bumped her from behind and said in exasperation, "Go out or let me do so."

Annoyed, Ren stopped craning her neck and strode out of cover. And stopped.

A giant blue-white wolf stood in the air high above the keep, with some kind of slashing weapon gripped between his teeth. And on back sat a rider: male, with long black hair tumbling in the breeze.