The Capital (2)

"Mhgr…" the girl was moaning in her sleep.

After taking her to see the nearest healing mage, we were informed that she did in fact have a small concussion, but her other wounds were nothing serious and she was likely to wake up in a few hours. Damien and I had been sitting in her room together for the past two hours, patiently waiting for her to wake up.

"Why did you tell Mary we would not want to ignore this girl?" Damien asked.

He wasn't at all concerned with decision; he was simply asking out of curiosity. In fact, he seemed almost excited.

I nodded my head to where her information grimoire lie, on a table next to the bed she was resting in. "That's why. She got that from an information guild. I want to ask her which one."

I had come to the capital to meet with the informant of a guild, but to be honest, I didn't have any clue as to where I should start looking for one.

Information guilds weren't like regular shops. They had to fly under the radar, so one usually heard about their location through close relatives or some acquaintance. This girl was going to be my said acquaintance.

"I see," Damien said, "But why do you want to bring her to the inn?"

"I'm not one to ask a favor without returning something of like value," I replied.

Damien seemed proud of my answer.

"I really did get lucky. I get to serve such a great master." Damien grinned.

"Would you have refused me if I wasn't a great master?" I jokingly asked.

But suddenly Damien turned serious, "No. I would not have been able to. But I have to honest, I probably would not have liked you, or wanted to serve you as eagerly as I do now. I would have helped you in your goal regardless of your character, but I admit to having some preferences."

Then he smiled again, as if to brush the depressing thoughts away.

I frowned, "Why would you serve someone you didn't like?"

"Like I said, I have no choice. And even if you had turned out to be an evil tyrant, I could never have found it in my soul to hate my master. I am too spiritually bound. But like I said," Damien perked up, "I got lucky. You are of great character master! You have great integrity. You are honest, and kind. You have sharp intuition and a strong mind. I am sure you will do many great things for this empire," he shook his head, "No, this world."

I stared in stunned silence. There he went again, praising me like there was no tomorrow. But I was starting to mind it less. It did feel good, to have someone recognize good qualities in me. I couldn't lie about that. And I was grateful too, that he had met me, and not some other pompous asshole who might have treated him like shit.

"Thank you, Damien," I beamed.

"Where… am I?"

I whipped my head back to look at the little girl, finally coming out of her sleep. I called her little, but in reality, she looked to be only about a year or two older than Mary. Her hair was nearly black, like Damien's, but just a little lighter. It had struck me as odd, because Damien had been the only one I knew of with black hair in this world. It didn't seem common in our region, but maybe it was more so in the capital.

It was the girl's eyes that were truly peculiar though. They were a light lavender color. I had never seen a human with purple colored eyes. I had thought it must be possible now that I lived in a different world, but had yet to encounter anybody with unnaturally shaded eyes. Even the amber color of my own and my family's was one that existed with fair commonality in my old world.

Damien seemed to stiffen as he looked at the girl, then frown.

I filed the expression away for later and turned to the girl, "You are in a clinic. You were accidentally hit by a horse's hoof, and we brought you here to treat you."

She heard my explanation, but still looked confused. Then suddenly her face drained of color and she looked around frantically, before spying the grimoire on the table and lunging for it. Once she had it safely in her arms again she looked at me.

"Thank you," she bent over slightly in her bed, as if to bow, "For helping me, that is."

"No problem," I smiled, "My name is Isaac, you are?"

I had decided to use a pseudonym for now.

"It's Caroline."

"Caroline, nice to meet you," I turned to Damien and nudged him.

"Oh! Yes, it's nice to meet you, I am Damien."

Caroline seemed to notice Damien for the first time after he introduced himself and her face went pale again.

"You…" she started.

Damien sighed.

"What?" I asked, "Do you know each other?"

"Not exactly," Damien said, "This girl is a half-breed."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Caroline was shaking in fear now.

"She is half demi-human."

My eyes flew open. Had things gotten more complicated than I had originally intended?

I hoped this wouldn't throw a wrench in my plans.