there is some
faint trace of mischievous intent associated with it. Though not by
its original creator. Most likely by whoever handed it to you,”
he stated. “It is, however, a very minor mischievousness I
detected.”
“How can you tell?” she
asked, staring at it curiously. “I guess he wanted me to open
it at the precise point they all come out and douse me in water or
something, is that it? Something to make me look like a fool?”
She felt her pulse quicken, and her face flushed.
“Perhaps,” he said with a
light shrug as he turned and went to the kitchen and began to prepare
a meal for her once more. “And I told you, I’m a sorcerer
in my own right. A very capable one, I might add,” he said with
an impish grin over his shoulder as he rooted through her pantry.
“You weren’t kidding when you said there wasn’t
much.”
“Congratulations, now you know
what it’s like to be poor. Glamorous, isn’t it?”
She couldn’t understand why she
was being so bitter, but being dragged away from him, from her
pleasant dreams… She shouldn’t lash out at him, but
somehow she felt it was his fault. That he could have protected her
from the rude wakeup call.
Of course, nothing could be further
from the truth. He could not show himself. Even if he weren’t a
demon he couldn’t do it. The talk that would erupt about her if
a strange young man was seen answering her door in the morning!
He took it fine, however, and continued
his focus upon the food. He finally found something to his liking.
“Aha. I thought I smelled some meat,” he said, pulling
out some older, salted pork and bringing it to the stove. “The
scroll itself is magical, as I said,” he explained to her as he
went about his intricate preparations. He cooked capably, though in a
different manner than she was used to. “Opening it activates
its powers in part. So doing so before you need to use it could
deplete it’s power. So… in that regard the timing issue
may not be a trick at all.”
“Well, I’m sure it will be
the first of many trials I’ll have to deal with working with
those elves.” Her words were half angry, but all determination.
It was motivation to spite them, knowing how much they’d hate
her and her powers. “Until they learn that they cannot trifle
with the human girl.”
Her words brought a grin to Varuj’s
face, and his ruby eyes met hers from across the room. “I knew
I hadn’t chosen wrongly. You make me fancy you deeply with that
kind of talk, darling Firi,” he mused so sincerely. He tossed
back his long hair and beginning to crack open some eggs, frying them
as the meat sizzled.
She wish he’d stop saying things
like that. She blushed as her gaze fell and she drew her lower lip
between her teeth for a moment. “I don’t understand you,”
she admitted. “You’re a demon, aren’t you?”
Of course he was, she chided herself. She summoned him!
“Like I said, that is your word for us, not ours,” he rooted through the spices and herbs
of her kitchen, finding some he liked the scent of and adding them to
the eggs. “It’s a wholly strange term from our
perspective, however,” he explained, going to her pantry again
and taking tiny tastes of what he found there before he mused over
the goat cheese.
He carried it back to the stove and
mixed some of the cheese with the eggs as he scrambled them up. “It
would be like calling humans, elves, orcs, trolls and all other walks
of life on your world simply “angels” or some nonsense. I
mean, what do you have in common with a troll, lovely Firi?”
“Not much, I’d hope,”
she shrugged. Those large, brutish things that lived in forests and
practiced their strange, superstitious nonsense weren’t even
allowed to compete for the Academies.
They were too uncontrollable.
“So fine, what do you call
yourself? The angel from hell?”
Varuj laughed again. “Once again,
that would be your term, not ours.” He sighed a little,
but began serving up
faint trace of mischievous intent associated with it. Though not by
its original creator. Most likely by whoever handed it to you,”
he stated. “It is, however, a very minor mischievousness I
detected.”
“How can you tell?” she
asked, staring at it curiously. “I guess he wanted me to open
it at the precise point they all come out and douse me in water or
something, is that it? Something to make me look like a fool?”
She felt her pulse quicken, and her face flushed.
“Perhaps,” he said with a
light shrug as he turned and went to the kitchen and began to prepare
a meal for her once more. “And I told you, I’m a sorcerer
in my own right. A very capable one, I might add,” he said with
an impish grin over his shoulder as he rooted through her pantry.
“You weren’t kidding when you said there wasn’t
much.”
“Congratulations, now you know
what it’s like to be poor. Glamorous, isn’t it?”
She couldn’t understand why she
was being so bitter, but being dragged away from him, from her
pleasant dreams… She shouldn’t lash out at him, but
somehow she felt it was his fault. That he could have protected her
from the rude wakeup call.
Of course, nothing could be further
from the truth. He could not show himself. Even if he weren’t a
demon he couldn’t do it. The talk that would erupt about her if
a strange young man was seen answering her door in the morning!
He took it fine, however, and continued
his focus upon the food. He finally found something to his liking.
“Aha. I thought I smelled some meat,” he said, pulling
out some older, salted pork and bringing it to the stove. “The
scroll itself is magical, as I said,” he explained to her as he
went about his intricate preparations. He cooked capably, though in a
different manner than she was used to. “Opening it activates
its powers in part. So doing so before you need to use it could
deplete it’s power. So… in that regard the timing issue
may not be a trick at all.”
“Well, I’m sure it will be
the first of many trials I’ll have to deal with working with
those elves.” Her words were half angry, but all determination.
It was motivation to spite them, knowing how much they’d hate
her and her powers. “Until they learn that they cannot trifle
with the human girl.”
Her words brought a grin to Varuj’s
face, and his ruby eyes met hers from across the room. “I knew
I hadn’t chosen wrongly. You make me fancy you deeply with that
kind of talk, darling Firi,” he mused so sincerely. He tossed
back his long hair and beginning to crack open some eggs, frying them
as the meat sizzled.
She wish he’d stop saying things
like that. She blushed as her gaze fell and she drew her lower lip
between her teeth for a moment. “I don’t understand you,”
she admitted. “You’re a demon, aren’t you?”
Of course he was, she chided herself. She summoned him!
“Like I said, that is your word for us, not ours,” he rooted through the spices and herbs
of her kitchen, finding some he liked the scent of and adding them to
the eggs. “It’s a wholly strange term from our
perspective, however,” he explained, going to her pantry again
and taking tiny tastes of what he found there before he mused over
the goat cheese.
He carried it back to the stove and
mixed some of the cheese with the eggs as he scrambled them up. “It
would be like calling humans, elves, orcs, trolls and all other walks
of life on your world simply “angels” or some nonsense. I
mean, what do you have in common with a troll, lovely Firi?”
“Not much, I’d hope,”
she shrugged. Those large, brutish things that lived in forests and
practiced their strange, superstitious nonsense weren’t even
allowed to compete for the Academies.
They were too uncontrollable.
“So fine, what do you call
yourself? The angel from hell?”
Varuj laughed again. “Once again,
that would be your term, not ours.” He sighed a little,
but began serving up
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