Orpheus grabbed the trinket she’d made and stared at it with a swirl of emotion weighing heavily in his chest. He didn’t want to use it. He wanted to keep it as a token from her.

She made me something.

He closed his hand around it before gently pushing it into his pocket, planning on finding a way to preserve it well enough that it didn’t decay completely, and he could hang it in his private room. He’d make another when she was asleep to replace it.

Reia used a wooden ladle to scoop her liquid meal into a bowl and then placed it onto the table. She had to climb the chair because it was elevated enough to be able to reach the table, and she had to kneel in it so she could eat comfortably.

“You are going to eat here?”

She paused as she was blowing away the steam from a spoonful of food as a frown creased her brows.

“Where else would I eat?”

His head turned in the direction of her sleeping room, used to most of those in past taking their food to it rather than sit here with him. Not all, but most, and those that did usually looked uncomfortable whereas her shoulders lacked any tension.

“Would you prefer if I eat somewhere else?”

“No.” He shook his head, nearly wincing when it rattled since he knew the humans were uncomfortable of the sound. She didn’t seem to care. “You are welcome to eat your meals wherever you like.”

“Even outside?” Her voice turned higher pitched, almost hopeful.

“Why would you want to eat outside?”

The forest was gloomy. He didn’t understand why she’d want to look at it for a long period of time.

“I didn’t think the sun ever reached the ground in the Veil, but I saw that it would wash over the garden throughout midday.”

“You are correct.”

“Well, I thought it might be nice if I could sit in it each day then.” Her lips turned pouty as she grumbled, “But I’ll miss having eggs for breakfast, though.”

“Eggs, like from a bird?”

He tried to think if birds made their nests in the Veil for him to obtain some for her, but he didn’t think so considering Demons would eat them before they even had time to make them.

“Pfft, no!” Then she laughed, her eyes crinkling at the side with humour at what he said when he didn’t find his question funny at all. His vision darkened when he felt mocked, but he only knew so much about humans. “Eggs from chickens.”

They eat eggs from chickens only?

He didn’t understand the difference.

“Don’t worry about it.” She shook her head before scooping her spoon into her liquid meal, before nodding in the direction of the trinkets. “If humans can make those to protect their houses, how come we don’t know about them?”

He stared down at them. “Humans tend not to ask me too many questions. They are too afraid to want to obtain knowledge from me that can benefit them.”

“It would have been handy for my family to know,” she said quietly, her spoon falling to rest in the bowl as she held onto it.

She stared deeply into her food.

“You said you didn’t have anyone you care for.”

Her back stiffened before she continued eating. “I don’t.”

“But you just mentioned your family. I’ve come to learn that such relationships are important to your kind.”

“Mine are all dead.” Her eyes narrowed when a dark emotion fell over her features. He wasn’t sure if it was sadness or anger, or perhaps a mixture of the two.

He took a long time to ask his question, wary about upsetting her. “Did Demons kill them?”

Her head turned to the side to look away as she said, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

He didn’t press the issue.

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On the third day of Reia living in the Duskwalker’s home, he brought her outside to show her something he had done.

He showed her a tree stump that came to her knee height and the small side table from the living room that had been placed at the back of the house right in the middle of the garden.

“You made me a place to sit?” she asked, turning to him with a frown.

“You sat in the dirt yesterday to eat your breakfast.” He was referencing the previous day when Reia had sat on the ground in the middle of the garden and ate fruit, picking freely from what was available. He tilted his head, before it turned to look around at the garden that was filled with warm sunlight. “I can take it away if that is what you would prefer.”

She could see he’d already gone ahead and placed a bowl with a wooden spoon on the table. Although he produced her bathwater by using a spell with his blood, he would actually leave for a short while to obtain water from a fresh stream not too far away for her to drink.

She figured the water would take too long to carry in loads to fill the tub, and that he’d had issues in the past with people not wanting to drink the water created from his

blood. Reia was a curious person and had tasted the tub water before he started applying the oils to her skin each morning and night, and found it wasn’t good for consumption.

Although it didn’t have a smell, there was a gross taste to it, one that was metallic and bloody.

She knew the cup of water already on the table next to the bowl must be from the bucket of water he carried from the stream.

“No, I like this better.” She sat on the stump and gave him a forced smile to show him she accepted it.

“I can make you a proper chair.”

Reia felt something tug on her heart strings.

“You don’t have to go out of your way for me.”

She turned her gaze down to her lap as she brushed her fingers over the top surface of the stump to feel its roughness. The roots were still connected and looked as though they’d been snaped off to create a firm base so it didn’t tip.

This is really thoughtful.

He was being really thoughtful.