Once I was alone in my study I took out a pice of my favorite paper, a quill I had felt comfortable with ever since the moment I first touched it and the ink I treasured the most. Then, I started to write down the most important names for the next two years:
»Alexis Oberon (Alex)«
»Izarra Tendril (Iza)«
»Lizbeth Red (Beth)«
»Flynn Rose«
»Xavier Nervaya«
»Chrisander Aeyal (Chris)«
»Flora Blanche«
»Amber Noir«
»Kai«
Nine names. I honestly didn't want to have much to do with either Flora nor Amber or Beth this time around, so I scratched them out again. Just one neat line, I still needed to be able to read the names. That left Alex who had already arrived, Iza whose ire I wanted to avoid this time, Chris who I originally didn't have much to do with but wanted to have on my side rather than against me this time, Kai of whom I only knew what I had read in my second life, Xavier whose view of me I now knew wouldn't change no matter what I tried, as well as Flynn who… Well.
One quick movement of the wrist later, there were five names remaining.
Alright.
Kai was probably the one I should deal with first. If I recalled correctly, it should be around this time that he was dragged here. If I didn't move quickly, it may very well be too late to grasp him for myself. And while I could make due without him, he would become a valuable asset if I did this right. And if I didn't manage to get him on my side, well, at least I would be able to avoid bringing him against me.
He also was the most uncertain variable in this entire situation. I had never met him, I didn't know him, and I as he had not been a main character my information was very slim. There was also the problem of recognizing him. He was, after all, described with just the bare minimum in regards to his appearance. Still, he was a once-in-a-lifetime talent. And I did not mean a human lifetime when I said this. A human who could see magic. Not feel it, not smell it, no, see it. And with a bit of training he would even be able to touch it, bend it around ever so slightly. Not much, but that was more than enough. Magic was in its essence fragile like barely anything else.
Kai. I remembered that name well from what I had read.
Kai, the future leader of the human's rebellion. Kai, who would the only one among them to accept the truce and joined operations with the treacherous demons' fraction. Kai, who would be able to reach highs unparalleled to any other human by just getting someone to lay the foundation he could build on by himself. Kai, who would soon become the hero of my region's humans. Kai, who was currently being dragged around as a slave - just before he meet the magician who would take him in and give him that first fateful push.
Maybe, I thought, maybe I would have known more about him if I had not stoped reading after the first volume of that stupid novel. Someone like him wouldn't just disappear into the background forever.
With a nod, I hid the piece of paper in the top drawer of my desk. No one would be stupid enough to dare and try to look into these drawers. Not if they had anything to loose at all, even if it was just their sanity. Therefor it was fairly safe. Safe enough to leave it like that, at least. So I stood up, making sure that I was looking alright. I did. I looked good. Ah, I'd missed this body so much!
When I left my study, I was wearing a slight smirk. Alright then. It was time to go out for now. "I'll be back soon, do not wait for me." This one sentence was enough to startle every one of my servants. There was a pause in which they waited for me to elaborate. And I didn't. Because I didn't have to justify going wherever I wanted in my domain. Yet another thing I had missed after my death.
Still, there was one more thing I had to do.
"As for my guard, well, one should be enough. Hm… You. Blonde hair, purple wings." I pointed at a startled young woman, who was very obviously demons' angel. They were a rare breed as they were born from a demon and an angel, those beings with divine skills but dark magic, those unlucky few without a place they belonged to. Usually, they flocked to devils like me. Their magic demanded such from them. Still, neither side liked them or put any faith in them. And this woman was definitely one of them. Hair like a piece of golden silk, wings in the color of thrall magic, skin like amber bleeding into obsidian in both their fingers and feet. Beautiful and unique, stunning, but something that would shun her for all her life.
Yes, this woman was someone who would know the pain that came with being abandoned. Besides, who cared what her bloodline looked like? After all, those few demons' angels that existed were strong and loyal. And then there was the thing about my own heritage…
"Your name?" I asked her, not caring about the looks I received from all around me. She looked at me for a while, her eyes somewhere between hesitant and nervous. Poor thing… It was so cute. I chuckled and walked over, taking her chin in between my thumb and index finger. "How brave of you, to stay quiet like that. Are you trying to provoke me, perchance?" I let go of some of the control that held back the charm aura I always carried around. "Or maybe you just didn't want to talk to me?" I leaned closer, breathing against her ear. "Do I make you uncomfortable, perhaps?"
I felt her flinch, but didn't address that. Instead let go and took a step back, moving towards the door again. Enough toying with her. Even if the way she had leaned into my touch had been delicious. "Well, it's not like I need to know your name. I'll just be calling you my knight. Come now, I do not like to waste my time."
She gasped audibly. I wasn't sure what it was that made her gasp or whether it was the good or bad kind, but in the end she nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes, you highness!" I, satisfied with her response, turned around on my heel and pushed open the large entrance doors. I didn't say anything else as I walked towards the stables, but I noticed that she was following me. Good.
There were a lot of horses there, but I'd never payed much attention to any of them. They could not compare to my mount, after all. These were just presents I'd received, or animals that were used by my knights or to pull a carriage. But my mount? He was someone I'd found back when he was still just a cub. He'd been on the verge of death, shunned by his kind because he had been born unable to change form. And that may make him more of a monster than a magical creature, but he was a kind and loving thing all the same. Always had been.
Originally, I had only wanted to help him get back on his feet. There had been very few eggs that year and I had not wanted to deal with extinction of a species again. But when during his recovery we formed a bond, and he decided to stay with me as my mount. It'd been many years since then. Thinking about it, wasn't his hundredth birthday coming up soon? I smiled to myself. Well, if everything went well I would actually be alive by then. What should I get him? One hundred was a special one, after all.
When I arrived, he was laying down in his box in the end of the stable house. It was the largest one, naturally, and decorated by raw stones to look like a cave. Most of them were, as per his own preference, precious ores. It almost looked like a sparkling cave full of jewels no one had picked yet. The floor was stone too, obsidian to be specific. I had offered him to get him something more comfortable, but he liked this the best. And, well, as long as he felt content that was all that mattered, wasn't it?
I could hear my knight gasp behind me as she saw him, and couldn't help but smirk. Yes, even though everyone should know about him, when you saw him he was something else. "Eve" I called out to him. His golden head lifted up to look at me, green eyes blinking sleepily. "I wanted to go out for a bit. Will you take me there?"
He huffed in what sounded like a mixture of annoyance and amusement, and rubbed his head against my side. His scales were rough but smooth, an inexplainable sensation that could not be compared with anything in this world, or in the other world called earth for that matter. "Sure." That was the answer that I heard inside my head, a single word like always. His voice was deep and young, and it reminded me of the black smoke of a suddenly extinguished bonfire on a foggy morning. Just like the one I had found him next to back then on that cold mountain.
I smiled. "Thank you, Eve. You're so nice to me, my dearest. This one will come with us today. She'll be protecting me."
He flinched. "Me?"
"Oh, no. No, Eve, I know you will protect me very well." I shook my head to dispel his thoughts. No way would I let him continue to think like that. "You always do. But you can't follow me inside the city, can you?"
"Small?" His head tilted to the side, still the cute little cub he had been all the time I had known him deep at heart.
"You could do that, sure. But, Eve, my dearest, aren't you forgetting something?" I giggled a bit. "You always stick out so much. People will get scared if they see you."
I could see it the moment he understood in his eyes. "Dragon!" He called out and nodded.
"Right! You're so smart. People react strongly to you because you are a dragon. So, you can protect me and follow me, but you have to remain unseen. And since that could let bad people think I was unprotected, I also need another guard that remains by my side. That's her." I pointed to the girl that hadn't told me her name again.
He growled, smoke pouring out of his nostrils as his eyes started to glow a bit brighter in the dim light. "No! Safe!"
I chuckled again. "Of course you'll keep me safe, dearest. But it's still a hassle that I'd rather avoid. Don't you think so?" This made his huff, but he didn't say anything else. So I smiled at him and turned around to my knight to introduce the two of them to each other: "Knight, this is Evelaphane, my dearest friend ever since he has been but a small cub. I call him Eve for short. Eve, this is someone whose name I neither know nor care about, my guardian knight ever since a few moments ago. I call her my knight for convenience."
Eve huffed again, smirking and butting his head against the palm of my hand, as if to tell me that that was typical for me. I still had my skill activated, but I could tell that Eve had noticed how I would have worn a big smile otherwise. He'd always been good at telling what my natural expression would be, regardless of any skills or acting I put on. I suppose that was because he was my friend. My one true friend in this world, the only existence that didn't jus fake his adoration for me. As far as I knew, at least.
Tearing apart from that thought, I clapped and ushered the two of them out. "Well then, come now, we have a city to go to." And a slave to catch. Though I did not voice that last part out loud.