Reader Beware

Chapter 14

            Ahisu looked at her for a moment, then tilted his head towards the grey stone tower looming behind her. “Inside.”

            Rika turned and stared. She couldn’t believe she’d missed something that big. Rising well over seven stories, the tower was made of pale grey stone. With at its centre, she realized they’d landed in the sort of courtyard area, or would have, had the tower been a castle. Surrounding the tower were several lush gardens, their flowers spilling out of their beds, bees buzzing loudly in and around them.

            But Ahisu was already moving towards the lone door in the tower, made of some dark, weathered wood. Rika followed him, hearing Damek’s footsteps behind her, as they walked inside. The first room they walked into was lit with lanterns, much dimmer than the bright sunlight outside, so that it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust.

            To one side lay a huge fireplace, surrounded with some pale stone shot through with darker veins of some sort. It was hard to see because it was currently empty of even wood. What dominated this room was the huge stone staircase that led to the next floor.

            Ahisu ignored the staircase, leading them past it, to a small doorway set just out of sight of the front door. Moving through it, Rika found herself in a kitchen. At least, she assumed it was a kitchen. It matched the descriptions of kitchens she’d always read about. A large wood-fired oven was set against one wall, a counter running between it and the open fireplace with spit still in it. Along the other wall was a hand pump and two large sinks, as empty as everything else here. Hanging up were various pots and pans, most covered with a thin layer of dust.

            On the far side of the kitchen was a large table surrounded by a dozen chairs, in front of another fireplace, this one already lit. A black kettle sat over the flames, the faint noises Rika could hear from it making her think there was water inside. Ahisu led them over to the table, taking a chair facing the door without waiting for them to sit.

            Damek waited until Rika was seated before he dropped into a chair himself. His eyes went to the mage as he leaned forward and asked the question that burning most fiercely in Rika’s mind. “Where are we?”

            Ahisu’s gaze flicked briefly towards the blue-haired man before settling back on Rika. “My tower.”

            “How did we get here? You said you weren’t a travel mage!”

           A chuckle seemed to float down towards them. “Oh, do tell them,” said a light voice, undeniably masculine for all that it sounded like a cross between the rolling beats of several drums and the snap of fire.

            “Shetton.” Ahisu’s quiet voice had an edge of annoyance to it. His eyes were on a point just down the table from them.

            “Yes,” said the voice, stretching the word out. Except now, the voice was coming from behind Ahisu.

            Rika stared at the mage, trying to figure out who and what Shetton was. Damek was quicker on the uptake than she was. “No!” he shouted, jumping to his feet. “You’re a demon summoner!”

            Shetton’s laughter rang around them. “He finally figured it out. I was beginning to think I was going to have to show myself to them before they put it together. I’m his primary demon so we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. Or rather, I’ll be seeing you. I don’t think I’m going to show myself to you.”

            For several moments, the only sound in the kitchen was the crackle of the fire and the hiss of the kettle. Then Rika half raised a hand. “Is there something wrong with being a demon summoner?”

            Three sets of eyes turned to stare at her, only two visible. “Something wrong?” Damek asked, eyes wide. “He summons demons!”

            Rika bit her lip and nodded. “Yes. But without Ahisu and…Shetton? we’d have been in even more trouble than we were. We’d have been caught if he hadn’t done the spell he’d done, so I don’t see what the problem is.”

            Damek could only shake his head mutely as Shetton’s laughter bubbled up again, until the kitchen was ringing with it. Ahisu hadn’t moved since he first turned to stare at her, but as the laughter got louder and louder, he finally said “Shetton.”

            The demon stopped then with a final chuckle. Ahisu looked sideways beside him before standing. “Follow me.”

            Rika stood, stopping just long enough to grab Damek’s hand. He was still staring at her, like he hadn’t ever seen her before. Towing him along behind her, Rika followed Ahisu back out into the entrance hall, then up the stairs.

            She found herself in what she guessed was the dining room, due to the long, elegant table lined with matching chairs. But what dominated the room wasn’t the table, but the painting against the back wall, positioned so it was the first thing you saw when you climbed the stairs. At least as tall as her, the portrait featured a pretty woman with a cloud of dark hair and sparkling green eyes smiling, a baby with hair the same colour asleep in her arms. There was something familiar about it, so Rika asked Ahisu “Who’s that?”

            He stopped, saw the direction of her gaze, then looked back at her. After a few moments, he said “My mother.”

          “Eh? Is that you then? You were so cute! Does your mother still live here with you?”

            Ahisu shook his head faintly. “She’s dead.”

            “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!”

            He shrugged slightly, turning back to the next staircase. Rika followed him, biting her lip and wishing she hadn’t put her foot in it as badly as she had. Maybe if she could get him talking about something else…

            They reached the top of the stairs, entering into a small hallway that had five doors off it, on to the left, the other four on the right. Ahisu inclined his head to the right. “Choose any room,” he said, before opening the left hand door and closing it behind himself. As Rika stared at the door, she heard the lock click into place.