The Seven Sins

6. Sword Fighting

I was over a week at Sloth's estate. And for the past week, we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. Sometimes we talked about nothing, just silently eating our food. Other times, Leon joined us, mostly at breakfast, bringing a little humour into the conversation. Sometimes Sevrin talked about his wife, his wedding ring back on his finger as I asked. He never let anything slip about his brothers or what I might expect when I got there. I asked about the wars Leon had mentioned before. He told me a little about them but never said anything about a threat now.

I took my time in the library, going from stack to stack, writing down the books I wanted to read. I spend a lot of late nights in the library, tucked in the oh so inviting armchair. Last night, Sevrin woke me up after I dozed off in the armchair.

"Lady Ava." He nudged my arm softly.

I blinked my eyes open slowly; he was kneeling in front of me, his curls hanging over his eyes. I pursed my lips at him. "How many times do I have to say it? Call me Ava." I pushed myself up, wincing from the pain in my neck.

"Here." He held out a warm cloth.

"How did you know?" I asked. A relieved sigh escaped my lips as I placed it on my neck. He winked at me. "The castle?"

"It would have told me if I didn't figure it out myself." He pushed a few books aside and sat down on the table. "I come in to check on you every night."

I was too stunned to speak. I watched as he took a book from the stack, his fingers grazing over the title.

"I'm guessing you're not going to give up on your research about the wars." I gave him a look. He sighed. "That's what I thought. I have books on the wars in my private chambers. I'll bring them here tomorrow. But you should talk to Wrath or Pride, they were on the front line for most of them."

"What are these then?" I asked, pointing at the war books. Pushing the thoughts away of me talking to Wrath or Pride.

"Folklore, tales being passed down."

"Passed down? I thought everyone was immortal here, haven't they all been through it?"

"Not all. Not all of them are immortal. They just age really slowly, they can live up to two hundred years."

"If they are able to die, shouldn't Ferri be getting emptier with the years?"

"Demons are able to have children. But the chances of them having them are very slim. So, they'll mate with mortals."

"Mate?" I raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled softly. "True demons are immortal but can be killed. A hanner demon; half demon, half mortal. They will age and die, or they can die from a wound. The oldest hanner demon so far turned two hundred-ninety."

"Have you ever made a hanner demon immortal, like Leon?"

"I haven't. None of my employees ever asked me to. But Pride did, so did Greed." He stood up and held out his hand. "It's past midnight, I think it's time to get some sleep."

I took his offered hand and let him pull me up. "Thank you." I said before I grinned up at him. "Or is that a sign of weakness too?"

"Not in my book." He smiled. That's when I noticed he was already wearing his pyjamas. He wore plaid pyjama trousers with a dark blue bathrobe on top. It was strange seeing him like this. I've only seen him in linen trousers, either white or dark colours and linen shirts. He must have seen me eying his wardrobe because he tugged his bathrobe closer to his body. "Leon got them for me." He said, looking ahead as we walked through the empty corridor. "They're comfortable."