Naeva-To Fight a Monster

Chapter 2

Just over an hour after leaving home, Polina walked into Lowly Champion's' order home, uncertain how to feel about Naeva's refusal. She'd been straightforward and upbeat, just like when she'd suggested the idea of starting an order to Radley and Erin. So why had Naeva seemed so uncomfortable at the offer?

Erin glanced up from her book She was almost always lounging somewhere, but her position in the front window bay suggested she might have been waiting for Polina. She smiled when the door opened. "So, how'd it go?"

Erin Snell had green eyes and light brown hair worn loose, grown out just long enough to hide her neck. She boasted as perfect a figure as a woman could have without physical detriment, and she stood at five-foot eight: four inches taller than Polina. Men in whatever town they visited always watched her pass, and many had approached to speak with her, but she just never seemed interested. Even around Polina, Erin never spoke much about any typically feminine subjects, especially not appearance. Polina couldn't help but wonder what Erin thought of the men who watched her, but she hadn't yet asked.

Polina shrugged at the woman's question, slumping into one of the armchairs in the center of the living room. "I think I might have taken the conversation too quickly. She looked pretty uncomfortable when I asked her to join."

Slowly, Erin closed her book and sat up straighter. "You complimented her ability, yeah?"

Polina nodded.

"And you made it clear that you really want her with us?"

"As much as I could have without pressuring her."

Erin sat back. "Finstrese are weird, 'Lina."

"I don't know," Polina sighed. "You, Radley, and I were already close when I suggested starting an order. Naeva... Well, I'm sure she's used to being attacked by every group she meets. She lived her whole life avoiding the idea of joining a bandit clan, and then when she's near-starved, I make the suggestion to join an order?"

"Hmm." That was usually a sign that Erin didn't have an argument. Figuring that the conversation was done, Polina let her tired eyes close.

"What did she say?" Radley's voice asked curiously.

Polina opened her eyes to see him standing in the door to the Beck cousins' room, showing some signs of having just woken up, not least of which was the cowlick on his head.

"She declined. We'll have to keep looking."

"Do you know why she declined?" Radley pressed, trying to fix his hair with one hand. "Did she tell you her reason?"

"No," Polina said. "I only have some guesses. Maybe her experience with bandits makes it hard for her to trust groups?"

Radley nodded, lowering his hand from the lost cause that was his bedhead. "I can respect that. Especially with a life like the one I'm sure she's led. Finstrese bandits are pretty dangerous. I've only encountered one group." He shook his head, his expression turning dark. "I was already good with my powers, and there was a river nearby. I still barely made it out alive."

At this, he sat down on the other side of the coffee table and picked up the magazine he'd left there. Polina wasn't sure what the magazine was about. Politics or something like that, she assumed. They sat in silence for a moment before Radley said, "You didn't press her?"

Polina shook her head. "If someone joins Lowly Champion, it will not be because they were bullied or manipulated. That's the difference between us and other orders. They're organizations of employees and soldiers, but in this house, we're family." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Hey, where's Valerian?"