Page 74 of Demon Bound

He seemed to come to a realization that night, because the next day, instead of chopping logs into wedges, he went into the woods to do the hard work that the others couldn’t. He felled trees and carried them back to camp, slinging entire tree trunks over his shoulders. Bystanders stopped and stared as he passed. A few trees in, Raiya spotted him wiping sweat from his brow. Finally, he had found something that required effort.

He quickly became quite popular, and people began asking him for help with other things. When a carriage on the road became stuck in a ditch near town, someone came to ask him for help putting it back on the road. When a group went hunting, they asked him to come along as protection from the bandits and monsters that roamed the wilderness. He always obliged. And no one asked too many questions about his origins.

Raiya spent the first day helping Jai with her chores around the camp, but then Fu-lon suggested that her skills might be better spent elsewhere. Raiya took the hint and asked her if therewere any enchantments she might benefit from. She spent that afternoon weaving a heating enchantment into a pair of gloves.

Word got around, and people began asking her for other small items. Heating devices were popular, as were water purification and anti-conception enchantments.

When they’d been in camp for a week, Raiya saw Azreth begin to change. His shoulders became less stiff. He stopped looking over his shoulder so often. He became comfortable moving around the camp on his own without having Raiya nearby.

They slept together every night, but didn’t have sex, even though Raiya craved him constantly. It was difficult to find a private place in the camp.

On the seventh night, lying in bed, she felt him go still and lax in her arms, and when she looked over, his eyes were closed. She didn’t think she’d ever been so pleased by the sight of someone sleeping.

One day, she found him painstakingly carving a long piece of wood with a small knife.

“I didn’t know you did woodworking, Azreth.”

He gave a noncommittal hum. Later that afternoon, she saw him present a small, rectangular wooden object to Madira.

Madira gave it a disinterested look as he took it. “Why would I want this?”

“It is an incense burner,” Azreth said flatly. “It is small, so you can take it anywhere with you. You can make an offering to your goddess even if there is no temple nearby.”

“I know what it is. The Goddess doesn’t care about incense. I don’t see when I would use this.”

Azreth shrugged.

That night, Raiya caught the unmistakable scent of resinous incense burning somewhere nearby.

Later, Azreth came to her in their tent and showed her another result of his efforts. He’d made a bow. It was made of dark wood, smooth and polished, with little geometric designs carved into the limbs that reminded her a little of her rune-covered projects. It was beautiful, though it looked smaller than what she would have expected a man of his size to use.

“I made this for you,” he said, making her look up at him in surprise. He’d divested himself of his glamour, as he always did when they were alone. She was getting used to these two very different versions of him, but she would always prefer his true appearance. She regretted that he had to hide himself.

She took the bow in both hands. “You made this for me?”

“So you can stay practiced with a weapon other than your baton,” he explained, answering the question she hadn’t asked. “So that you can defend yourself and hunt your own food if you ever need to, when another weapon isn’t close at hand.”

Raiya looked down at the bow helplessly. She didn’t even know how to hold it properly, let alone shoot it.

“Do you know how to use it?” Azreth asked, cocking his head.

“I’ve never tried,” she admitted, feeling very sheltered. She struggled to draw it. She wasn’t strong enough.

“I will modify it to make it easier for you,” he said.

“You’re very kind.”

“If you don’t know how to shoot, someone should teach you. You are clever. You’ll learn quickly.”

“Will you teach me, then?”

He pretended to think about it, then nodded and said, “If you wish,” and it was fairly obvious that he’d been hoping she would ask. She suppressed a smile.

He pointed to the carved details he’d made in the wood—unusual patterns of lines and squares. “This part is art,” he said, glancing up at her. “Like the lattices on the windows in town. It serves no purpose but to be beautiful.”

She grinned. “It is beautiful,” she agreed.

Beneath his stony expression, he looked pleased.

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