Spawn of the Outworlder

Chapter 11-So Faithless, the Tenants Long Betrayed

Luna walked alongside Graham towards the wooden gates of the mountain settlement, the miss Bethsheba standing just ahead of them. The gates were rather splintered, scattered cracks along them showing signs of severe damage. The Drake's rampage appears to have done quite a bit of damage here. Through the cracks, some of the settlement could be seen, although in glimpses too small to properly assess.

At the gate, Bethsheba turned to address the two, one hand lifted to open the wooden door. "Best to let me speak with everyone first. People around her don't trust outsiders much."

Luna relaxed her throat and tightened her cheeks, in order to speak with the voice of Umbral manipulation as she had before. "Oh, of course, miss! I'm sure you'll show them that we mean no harm."

"Of course I will," replied Bethsheba, her voice slightly unsteady. "Because you...aren't, right?" Her tone suggests a bit of shame at having to ask, Luna thought.

"Ah, come on, now," spoke Graham, who once again matched Luna's pitch and rhythm, although a bit unnaturally compared to hers. "If anything, miss, we're more dangerous to ourselves than anyone here."

"Right. Sorry, I'll be right back." As she spoke, Bethsheba turned and entered through the gate, leaving the two to wait for her.

Luna felt a touch of guilt for how easily they'd seemed to entrench themselves in the young woman's mind. I all but commanded her to argue in our favor and she acted honored to do so, she thought. And she seems to have taken to Graham rather quickly.

As if he could hear her, Graham spoke. "So I'm your...brother here?"

"Yes, for now. Those who would come looking for you will be asking for a man named Blackwell, so it is best if we hide your true identity for now."

"I see. Just a bit odd considering..."

"Considering what, dear?" Luna said, her tone shifting to carry a threatening implication.

"Well, nothing, I suppose."

"Good," said Luna, taking note of the disappointment in his voice. To ensure that he would not feel too negative, she offered a compliment. "Now, I must say that you did a good job following my lead with the Goldbeam girl."

"Oh, well, that wasn't much," he responded, his face a bit less sour from the praise. "I just tried to speak how Paul would normally do with strangers. I don't think it suits me."

"On the contrary, dear, I think you played the role perfectly. I believe that the young miss Goldbeam may even be smitten with you."

Graham appeared conflicted at the compliment. His slightly straighter stance suggested to Luna that he found the idea exciting, but his face showed some mix of remorse and guilt. No doubt he still holds hope for some relationship between the two of us. But I now neither can nor desire to allow such a thing. Perhaps this elven girl could be useful in multiple ways. It would not be any real challenge to encourage the two to pursue a relationship, even if only for the few days we will be here.

"I don't think she'd like me very much once I act like myself," he said, trying not to look Luna in the eye as he spoke. "Especially once she figures out that I was using that trick of yours."

"Sorry, dear, a trick?"

"The speech patterns you used. The ones to calm her down?"

Is that what he thinks it was? Well, I suppose there's no harm in letting him.

"Yes, it's a technique my mother taught me. But how did you follow along with it?"

"Well, it took me a minute, but I noticed that you had a certain series of tones you were repeating in three different orders when you spoke, almost like a song to calm down a crying child."