Stormborn Sorceress: A Fantasy Isekai LitRPG Adventure

Cass continued helping with cooking as dark fell over camp and the other travelers trickled into the camp's center, all lurking a respectful distance in wait for dinner. The rolling night air carried their conversations to her. Most of it was quiet grumbles about how long the journey was and how uncomfortable the wagons were and how bumpy the old road was. Some guards discussed watch shifts. Merchants danced around potential business deals among one another.

She didn't pay any of it much mind, focusing on the conversation of the apprentices instead.

"—and that is why you shouldn't try to clean fire-poppers with a spoon," the younger of the two was saying. She smiled. She still wasn't entirely clear on what a fire-popper was, but the image of the young man missing his eyebrows was more than enough to carry the humor of the situation, anyway.

"Is that Mage Yuan over there?" Tiador asked amidst the growing din. It wasn't directed at her, but it cut through the rest all the same.

She didn't need to look to tell Kohen was nearby. Or to feel the pulse of something ripple hot and unpleasant off his soul.

"Is she cooking?" Tiador's voice carried the same disapproval Salos's had.

Her knife chopped decisively through another vegetable, trying to focus on the new story the other apprentice.

"I don't know why you're surprised," Kohen snapped. "She's not a noble, remember. She's not even a wizard. Her master's even been banished. What else would you expect from the vassal of a mongrel?"

Cass's hand tightened around her knife. She couldn't hear the apprentices at all anymore.

"Well, I suppose," Tiador said. "Still, that 'mongrel' is a dragon knight."

"A banished, hoardless, dragon knight," Kohen grumbled.

"What do you suppose they're doing here?"

"Making my life complicated."

Tiador laughed. "Really Ko? You don't think this is an opportunity?"

Cass could feel Kohen's glower oozing off his soul. It was sticky and cold. She should ignore them. Ignore him.

"I know what you said, but I still think it's worth considering. After you get your Health back in order, you'll have options," Tiador said.

Kohen's glower didn't lessen. "I won't work with her."

Tiador sighed. "Alyx doesn't even have to be a rival anymore. When she comes back, you know it'll be—"

"She is a rotten, lying bastard," Kohen snapped, his voice rising above the general din of camp. "She sends her minions on underhanded missions to undermine and bewitch. I would sooner work with the Copper Crescent—"

Cass's pulse quickened, her Alacrity racing. Did he, Kohen, actually mean that? Or were the lingering memories of the paladins and priests he'd eaten confusing him? Should she stop him?

It wasn't her business if he wanted to out himself as… whatever he was, as long as he didn't bring her down with him. The statement so far could be interpreted as hyperbole, anyway. Who would believe he'd really ally with the enemies of his city?

"—than entertain the idea of working with that god-forsaken, de—"

"STOP." The Command rippled off her and through the camp.

She could feel every eye on her. She set her knife down on the cutting board and stepped out from behind her workstation, grabbing her staff as she passed it. Her body buzzed.

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Kohen glared at her, immobile, but she could see his soul seething.

What now? Maybe Salos was right about him. Maybe she couldn't trust him to keep his stupid mouth shut.

But what could she do about it? She couldn't just kill him.

"Couldn't" was a strong word, a cold, practical voice whispered. Killing him this moment would be impractical, not impossible. Ill-advised in the current moment.

She gritted her teeth. Also, she didn't want to. Idiocy and loose lips weren't such great crimes warranting death.

Then what was? Where was the line?

She shook her head. This wasn't worth thinking about right now.

More importantly, she'd Commanded him in front of everyone. No one was likely to understand why her outburst had stopped Kohen cold, but people would talk. She needed them to talk about the right things.

"I saved your life." Cass stormed toward him through the retreating crowds, her voice rising with every step. "Alyx saved your life."

Tiador's eyes flicked between them, calculations running faster than Cass's Alacrity.

Kohen still didn't move. Couldn't move.

"And you have the gall to insult us?" Cass demanded. What response did she want? She couldn't leave Kohen stopped like this, but she also couldn't just say 'at ease' in front of everyone either. She needed to release him in a less obvious way. "Tell me," what? What question could she ask that would make sense here that he could answer honestly without mentioning demons? "Do you value your life?"

Kohen's teeth ground together. "Yes."

His hands clenched at his sides. Good, he could move again.

"Then watch what you say," Cass said. Her words rolled over him. She could feel it. They were too poorly defined to be a proper Command, but she could see his soul writhe under them, anyway.

"Lady Mage." Tiador slid in between them, his voice tinted with an overwhelming feeling of comfort.

Cass turned her glare on him.

Status Effect (Charismatic Charm) Ignored.

"Don't use that in my presence," Cass said.

"Ah," the skill dropped from his voice. Panic leaked into his eyes. "Right. My apologies. But perhaps we can talk about this like civilized—"

"This was talking about this like 'civilized people'," Cass interrupted.

"Of course," Tiador assured her.

"Get out of my sight," Cass said and turned away as the Command hit Kohen. He didn't move immediately, she wasn't looking at him after all, but she could feel his soul tensing to run.

"Let's just go," Kohen said, retreating without another word.

Tiador lingered another moment. She could feel his eyes on her back and the continued calculations in that gaze, before he finally turned to follow Kohen out.

The crowd shuffled around them as Kohen pushed his way out. The whispers started again.

"That was the young Lord Delim, wasn't it?" asked one.

"A cook saved him?" asked another.

"Look at her staff. What cook has a mage's focus like that?"

"But what kind of mage…"

Cass tuned them out. She didn't care what they thought. Their questions were all benign. Not one of them wondered about what Kohen had been about to say. That was all that mattered.

She set her staff down at her workstation and retrieved her cooking knife. She closed her eyes, inhaling sharply.

"Um, Lady Mage," the older of the two apprentices said, his eyes downcast. "Would you rather I take over that?"

Her hand tightened around the knife. "No. I've got this."

"As you like, ah, Lady Mage." The apprentices shifted away from her, exchanging furtive glances, their conversation from before her outburst entirely lost.

She let them retreat. She couldn't blame them. She could yell at a noble combatant in public and get away with it. How many non-noble noncombatants could say the same?

Her insides rolled with frustration. He shouldn't be her concern anymore. He should be in Velillia, where it wouldn't matter what he said because she'd be long gone already.

And instead he was insulting her behind her back and risking revealing the both of them.

Are you okay? Salos's voice whispered at the edge of her soul.

I'm fine. She leaned against the workstation. She didn't want to explain. She didn't want to hear his opinion. She didn't want him to tell her to kill Kohen.

I saw it, Salos admitted.

Hell. Don't.

You handled it well, he said. A lie and not, all at once. She could feel him shuffling closer.

But she didn't want his approval either.

She forced another deep breath and opened her eyes. She positioned an already peeled paro root—lumpy like a potato, but soft like a pear—on her cutting board and chopped it in half so it would lie flat.

But she had to admit, We should keep an eye on him.

He was a bigger idiot than she'd thought.

Yes, I can do that, Salos said, slipping away again, his soul drifting after Kohen's. Something lurked under his words, but he held their bond tight, letting little beyond the literal words across.

She let him slip away, slicing the halves into inch-long cubes. Dinner would be ready soon. She focused on the task at hand, wishing she didn't feel so alone.