Reborn: Demon Core (11 page)

“Days passed and the egg didn’t hatch. After
months passed the king once again searched out the merchant and had
him brought to him in chains. He asked why the egg had yet to
hatch. The merchant told the king that for a phoenix to hatch it
required that the egg be heated by molten rock only found deep
within the earth.”

“The king was furious with the news, but he
ordered his people to dig. For three years the people of the land
toiled as they dug into the earth until finally they dug deep
enough for the earth to turn into fire. The king had the egg placed
in the molten earth and two days later the phoenix flew into the
air.”

“The phoenix was unlike anything the king had
seen before. It was just as he had heard in legend. It was bright
red and its wings burned a bright blue as it soared through the
skies. The phoenix lived in the small pit where it was born, but it
quickly started to die. The king once again called upon the
merchant and was told that phoenix had to eat a strange liquid that
looked like liquid silver to live. The king searched far and wide
and bought all the liquid silver he could find nearly emptying the
kingdom’s coffers. While the country died, the phoenix lived until
a neighboring kingdom attacked. The king called upon his army, but
their weapons had been sold to pay for the phoenix’s food and they
ran from the invading army. The king called upon his people but
they refused to heed his call. With no other choice, the king
preyed to the phoenix, but the creature cared little for the
worries of man and flew off to find a new home.”

“The king who had everything had given
everything away for the sake of a creature that in the end held no
love for him leaving him with no people, gold, or country.”

“I don’t get it,” Ash said as Huck finished
his story. “What was the meaning behind the story?”

“What do you mean? Not every story has to
have a meaning, but if I had to give it one it would be not to
neglect your duties for pleasure.”

Ash rolled his eyes and returned to work.
After they had worked for a few more hours, Huck told another story
but this time instead of listening, Ash continued to work while the
other two rested.

When they were finished for the day and
received their pay, Ash headed to Emelia’s while Shina returned
home. She had wanted to stay with him, but Ash quickly refused her
request. Tonight he wanted to spend time with Emelia alone.

Ash was greeted at the gate and quickly
ushered not to the study, but the small meeting room. Ash was
slightly surprised when he was forced to take a bath and then moved
through the back halls and sat beside Emelia. “What is going on?”
Ash asked as soon as his wife embraced him.

“The knight captain arrived today. He has
been waiting all day for a meeting, but I wanted to wait until you
arrived. I sent a letter to your residence, but I figured you would
already be gone before it arrived.”

Shortly after Ash was seated, a large man in
his late fifties and a young girl in her mid-twenties were brought
into the room. The man was introduced as the knight captain Condrey
and the young lady was scout Marilyn.

“Milady, it is a pleasure that you could see
me at such short notice,” Condrey said bowing his head.

“I am glad that you received my summons, but
why is it that less than ten knights arrived with you?”

“Milady, the rest of the knights are
currently dispatched throughout the duchy to keep order and to
search for squires. I thought it would be more prudent to come
myself and see why you requested us to appear?”

“Then you decided to take it upon yourself to
countermand my direct order?” Emelia asked her voice dropping an
octave.

“I did what I thought was best for the
duchy,” Condrey said without backing down. “Your father trusted me
for years and I would expect you to follow him in that regard. If
you think I have made an error though, I will gladly step aside and
let one of the younger bucks take my place.”

“Condrey, can we drop all the playing
around,” Emelia said with a warm smile letting go of her stone
face. “Ash, go ahead and explain the reason why we have called the
knights back.”

“Umm…Yes,” Ash said feeling nervous. Ash
quickly explained his plan to the two knights. When he was finished
Condrey rubbed his chin then nodded his head.

“It would be nice to have a place to call
home instead of living out of inns. The main question is, if
everyone is based in Tellian, what do we do about the rest of the
Hawkwing lands?”

“How long would it take you to reach the
farthest place within the duchy?” Ash asked.

“Twelve days if it was clear weather,”
Condrey responded after giving it a little thought.

Ash had looked at a map but having not had
much experience traveling, it was slightly more time than he
expected. “If everything goes to plan and you are able to train and
keep more knights then having the knights’ work on a rotation would
be best.”

“I see. For now the knights with new squires
will need to train. If they had a place better suited for it that
didn’t constantly drain coin, then it would allow for more knights
in the long run. I will bring in half the knights right now, but
the others will still need to patrol the King’s road otherwise
bandits will come out of the woodwork. Will that be enough?”

“If you think it is for the best,” Ash said
without hesitation.

“Marilyn, you will work as the liaison
between the knights and Lord and Lady Hawkwing. I will start
bringing in our brothers and sisters. Lord Hawkwing, I think it
would be best if you learned a bit more about the knights. Thus I
wish you to keep scout Marilyn with you. Her group is in the city
and I hope that in the coming months you will work with them.”

“Why?” Ash asked skeptically. He was already
busy with the labyrinth exploration and the building of the fort
and did not look to add more to his already full plate.

“I think it will help you understand who the
knights are and what we need,” Condrey replied with a sly smile.
“Also, I always find it interesting to see nobles crawl through the
mud with the knights.”

“Sir Condrey, if I didn’t know you better I
would think that you were doing this to spite me,” Emelia said as
she looked over the young scout. She was short at only five foot
two inches with long brown hair. The young woman was thin but she
had curves where most men liked them. Looking at her, Emelia felt
as she had been challenged. When Ash brought back Lillanis, Emelia
felt a little worried as she was a rare beauty, but Emelia didn’t
see her as threat for some reason.

“Milady Hawkwing, I would never think of
doing anything against you,” Condrey said though the fact that he
bowed his head to hide his smile didn’t help convince Ash that he
had only good intentions.

“Then scout Marilyn can meet with my husband
in the morning. One of the maids will give her directions to his
estate. I think you will find that my husband is no lay about. I
hope that your young scout can keep pace with him.”

“Then until duty requires us to meet again, I
shall return to my duties,” Condrey said with another short
bow.

After the two left, Emelia let out a long
string of curses. Ash was sure that the knights could hear her
words since it was unlikely that they had yet to leave the
building. Seeing Emelia so worked up, Ash couldn’t help to laugh
slightly. Ash had seen many sides of Emelia since he had met her.
She was strong willed but also weak, but this was the first time he
had seen her truly agitated and for some reason it struck a chord
in him.

“That is far from the worst meeting I have
seen you in,” Ash said teasingly. “Why did you get so worked
up?”

“Condrey was a friend of my fathers,” Emelia
said after letting out a deep breath. “Ever since I was a child, he
has liked to tease me and no matter what I do or say, he always
gets the better of me.”

“I thought that other women didn’t bother
you?” Ash asked, still clueless to what had happened during the
meeting to get her so mad.

“It would be one thing if it was just another
woman, but he chose Marilyn for a reason,” Emelia spat. “She is his
youngest daughter and also one that was brought over often to play
with me. We were friends and not friends at the same time. It is
complicated.”

Seeing the annoyed look on Emelia’s face, Ash
didn’t press her for any more details. Instead he simply wrapped
his arms around her shoulder and pulled her in tight to his side.
Emelia squeezed his shoulder, but remained silent as they took the
back hallway to eat in the bedroom.

“How is everything going with the fort?”
Emelia asked, breaking the warm yet silent atmosphere that had
filled the room.

“It is going well, though a lot slower than I
had expected,” Ash said as he sat his empty plate aside. “It will
take months before enough of the forest is cleared for the real
work to even be started.” Ash’s voice trailed off when he turned
his head and noticed that Emelia had slipped out of her dress and
lay bare upon the bed with a wicked smile on her face.

“Morning,” Emelia said looking down at Ash as
she was propped up on her elbow.

“Morning,” Ash replied, sitting up and
looking out the window. The sky was still dark so he felt no need
to hurry.

After a casual breakfast with Emelia, Ash
made his way back home to find Marilyn waiting on him in his own
garden, along with another young lady. The other person wore the
same badge as Marilyn, but was slightly taller and her hair was not
as fine.

Neither woman noticed Ash as he entered.
Marilyn was sitting under the small cherry tree. She was drawing
something while eating a small pastry. The other woman was looking
down at the paper Marilyn was scribbling on with a look of barely
concealed anticipation on her face.

Ash didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to
intrude on the two so he quietly edged closer to them. “Mar…Art
hurry. I want to see it,” the other woman said with a thin
smile.

“Marie give me a moment to finish it,”
Marilyn said as she took a nibble off the pastry.

Ash continued to watch until Marilyn finished
the drawing and handed it to the other woman. Marie looked at the
drawing and a large smile spread across her face. “Mar, marry
me?”

The sudden question shocked Ash so much that
he coughed and the two women looked at him. “Sir Ash,” Marilyn said
rising to her feet.

Marie looked at Ash with narrowed eyes. “So
you are the guy who is trying to take my Mar away from me.”

“Marie,” Marilyn said in a pleading
voice.

The woman named Marie walked past Ash, her
eyes filled with scorn as she passed. Ash could hear her muttering
as she walked by, but he couldn’t make out the words. It was clear
that he was not to her liking.

“Sorry about that sir,” Marilyn said slightly
embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ash said, trying to
hold back a smile. “Care to come in.”

Marilyn followed Ash into the building
staying close behind him. As soon as he entered the building, Yuki
and Allice rushed to greet him. Before either could finish their
greeting, Marilyn let out a loud scream and rushed past Ash and
grabbed Yuki and hugged her. “So cuteeeeeeeeeeeee,” Marilyn said as
Yuki struggled uselessly to free herself.

“Masfterrr…Help,” Yuki said, struggling as
Allice greeted Ash with a warm smile seemingly ignoring Yuki’s
plight.

“Sorry,” Marilyn said, blushing a deep
crimson as the realization of what she had done donned on her.

As soon as Marilyn let go of the little fox
girl, Yuki ran behind Ash and used his body as a shield. Seeing
Yuki run from her made Marilyn face drop, but only until she
noticed the small Milly who had somehow appeared and was crawling
up Ash’s leg as if it were a tree. Without thinking, Ash bent down
and lifted the small panther girl. The way she clung to his arm
reminded him of pictures of koalas clinging to a branch.

From the look on Marilyn’s face Ash could
tell that she wanted to hold Milly, but after what had happened to
Yuki Ash didn’t think it was a good idea so he ignored her pleading
eyes. “Who is our guest master?” Shina asked, walking into the
foyer and seeing the odd standoff.

“This is knight scout Marilyn. She will be
working with us for the time being. Tell the guards I need the
group crystal back so that she can use it,” Ash said offhandedly
while internally thanking Shina for her prefect timing.

After everyone had eaten and Marilyn had been
introduced to the others in there group, the six left for the
labyrinth. While they walked, Shina’s place was taken since Marilyn
who preferred to be called Mar talked to Ash about what was
currently happening with the knights in the city.

It seemed that right now there was a problem
with a band of thieves that were preying on the King’s road close
to Tellamor. Right now the knights were searching for the bandit’s
main camp but so far had come up empty handed. The young woman that
Mar had been talking with earlier was another scout who was
currently tasked with the search.

“Do you fight in the labyrinth every day?”
Mar asked as they approached the worn plaque.

“Yes,” Ash said indifferently as he reached
out his hand.

Ash was worried that Marilyn would say
something about his status when she joined their group so he held
onto the stone until after they arrived inside the dusty halls of
the labyrinth. As Ash handed over the stone Shina and the others
who knew the truth gripped their weapons tightly. Ash didn’t have
to tell them, but they knew what would happen if the truth was
carelessly exposed.

Name: Marilyn Roslin

Level: 26

Race: Human

Occupation: Novice knight scout