The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 37: Laden Instincts

Despite her surname being Morningstar, Charlie wasn't particularly a morning person. She didn't hate them exactly, but she was often slow to wake, relying on coffee or breakfast to help her orient toward the new day.

The soft trilling of birds drew her out of sleep and she turned her head, hoping to find a more comfortable position as her pillow was a bit too firm and out of place. Her neck was stiff, and she shifted, blearily realizing she wasn't in her own bed when she felt Alastor's fingers stroking gently at her temple.

"Good morning, my darling," his voice called gently.

"M-morning, Al?" she yawned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. A red blanket fell off her shoulders, and she blinked awake, finally realizing where she was.

"Sleep well?" he smirked, though it was a soft, bemused smile.

"Well, yeah," Charlie mumbled, feeling heat on her cheeks from having used the deer demon as a pillow practically the whole night. "Considering I didn't wake up to a fight."

Alastor shrugged. "I'm admittedly surprised, but can't say that I minded a quiet evening after everything at the Colony."

"Right," the princess nodded, folding up the blanket. "So, what now?"

"Vigilance certainly, at least for the next little while! I don't expect for things to simply lie."

She clutched the blanket in her arms. "I understand your concern, but if anyone comes here I want to give at least a chance for peace, Al."

His maroon eyes were piercing as he regarded her coolly. "I hardly intend to give them an opportunity to get to what they're after."

Charlie frowned slightly at the hiss of static in his tone. "I would never expect you to give up your grimoire!" she defended.

The deer demon's gaze was still sharp and she suspected that, true to his word, he hadn't slept at all. "I don't expect every action to be against it directly," he replied. "But I do expect every action to be for that purpose!"

"Kind of paranoid, don't you think?"

"That's a magician's lot, my dear apprentice! What are we without our crafts?"

It sounded almost like a riddle, but the princess didn't have an answer. "Is it worth having to stress over? If you think there's a danger, wouldn't it be better to get rid of your grimoire for now?" she offered. "I know you said it makes it harder for you if you constantly Revoke and Invoke things, but maybe it's better in this case, to give you peace of mind. I don't want you to have to worry so much."

She clutched the blanket, feeling awful that he was in this position. Despite his assurances last night she knew deep down that he wasn't right, he was just being nice.

This was her fault.

He leaned back in the seat, kicking his feet up on the table. "I appreciate your concern, my dear," he told her, his voice losing the edge that had built. "It's not a bad idea, and if things were different, I would likely take that suggestion."

"Different?" Charlie blinked, leaning back into the cushion beside him.

"Well, you've not worked with that spell before as a Greater Rune, you haven't truly felt it. You'll find when we start working with Revocation that with how the flow of arcane energy works, it's rare that it's more beneficial to deny things from reality!"

She felt a pang of embarrassment and her gaze fell. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be suggesting that when I don't really understand it all."

His hand brushed her knee. "An apology isn't needed, my darling demon belle. You simply wished to help."