Vol. 6 - Chapter 23

Kaori

When they finally got to Athela's home, the first thing Kaori did was wash the grime of battle off of herself. Walking around with so much blood covering her person had eventually numbed her to the terrible smell, but it was comforting to know she wouldn't ruin Athela's home with it. 

Not that there was much to ruin, though. As the two of them walked in, Kaori found that this woman's house had enough dust in it to compete with the oldest of abandoned libraries. 

"Uh, well, here we are," Athela announced as she gently dropped the things she'd bought. "Sorry, I haven't been here in a while. I'll take a few minutes to clean everything up." 

"No worries," Kaori said, taking a deep breath and instantly regretting it as she choked up. She tried not to show that, however. "It's... It's a little more cozy than sleeping at the palace."