The capital didn't greet them—it swallowed them whole.
Elias barely had ti to step off the carriage before a shouting vendor nearly impaled him with a skewer of grilled sothing. It could've been chicken. It could've been lizard. He didn't ask.
"Five coppers! Two for one if you smile!" the man barked, shoving the food dangerously close to Elias's nose.
Revantra, cloaked and perched on the bench beside their luggage, wrinkled her nose. "Is that thing still twitching?"
"I think that's the seller," Elias muttered, grabbing their trunk and tugging it into the cobblestone street. "Co on. Before we get bartered for seasoning."
The city was chaos. It breathed magic and exhaust in equal asure. Arcane lanterns flickered from crooked alleyways, so pulsing blue, others green. The buildings rose like spires carved from stone and ambition—stacked too tall, too narrow, defying logic and maybe gravity. People wove between carts and creatures and sparks from a nearby enchantnt stall that had just, apparently, exploded.
It was a far cry from their quiet corner of the countryside.
Revantra followed, her little boots clacking in a rhythm that didn't quite match her steps—part hesitation, part fake confidence. She kept her head high, chin tilted, eyes narrow. Regal. Aloof. Exactly how a dethroned demon queen should look when thrust into a ss of humanity and magic.
Inside, she was barely holding it together.
They passed a group of children riding enchanted brooms no higher than two feet off the ground. The brooms zipped in zigzags, their riders laughing.
Revantra glared at them like they'd insulted her ancestry.
"I can fly better," she muttered.
Elias glanced down at her. "You flew once, upside down, into a tree."
"I ant to do that," she sniffed. "It was a tactical spiral."
Their route took them through the Outer District—mostly housing, small schools, and a lot of enchanted laundry lines. Elias had picked this area on purpose. It was close enough to the city's heart to have resources, but not so central they'd risk crossing paths with Inquisitors or divine seers.
It wasn't long before they reached their rented apartnt—a second-story flat above a bakery. The scent of fresh bread greeted them long before the landlady did.
"Oh, she slls like security," Revantra whispered as they climbed the stairs.
"You an the bread?"
"Obviously."
The landlady was a stout gno with a monocle, an aggressive bun, and a voice that could shatter glass. She handed over the key like she was giving them a sacred artifact—and warned them not to "set anything demonic on fire after midnight."
Revantra gave her the world's most sarcastic curtsy.
Inside, the flat was small, clean, and completely foreign. Two beds. One tiny kitchen. A mirror that buzzed faintly if you stared at it too long.
"Ho sweet temporary refuge," Elias said, tossing his bag onto a chair.
Revantra stood in the center of the room, spinning slowly. "It slls like cheese."
"That might be the neighbor's familiar. I heard it purr through the wall."
She paused. "I thought that was your stomach."
He glared. "We're getting lunch. Co on."
The afternoon passed in a blur of overwhelming newness. They registered with the local census under false nas—Elias Vale and his adopted niece, Rhea. They explored the nearby market district where Revantra tried and failed to flirt her way into a free caral apple ("I am a terrifying demon queen, give that" didn't land the way she'd hoped). They passed the gates of Arclight Academy, where she'd be enrolling soon.
She stared at the towering white spires of the school and went very quiet.
"You okay?" Elias asked.
"...Do I have to wear a uniform?"
He blinked. "That's your concern right now?"
"They're itchy," she replied grimly. "I can feel it."
Despite the jokes, she didn't let go of his sleeve for most of the walk. Her hands were cold. She kept looking over her shoulder, scanning the streets like the shadows might rember her na.
They didn't. Not yet.
But the wind whispered strange things in the alleyways. The scent of incense and iron lingered longer than it should. And from the top of a building far behind them, sothing with golden eyes watched them walk away.
That night, Elias found Revantra sitting on the windowsill, staring out at the glittering sprawl of the capital. She hadn't said much after dinner—too many thoughts. Too many mories, maybe. Or none at all. Sotis it was hard to tell.
"You don't have to act tough all the ti," he said, approaching slowly.
She didn't look at him. "I'm not acting."
He leaned against the wall. "You were quiet at the school."
She picked at the fabric of her borrowed cloak. "I thought if I stared hard enough, it would disappear."
Elias smiled gently. "No luck?"
"I think it grew a tower."
They were silent for a while. Outside, the city humd with life. Magic pulsed through the streets like veins.
"I'll protect you," Elias said softly. "We'll figure it out. School, city life... whatever else is coming."
Revantra didn't respond right away.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "I'm scared I'll rember too much."
Elias moved to her side and, after a pause, placed a hand over hers.
"Then we'll face it together."
She finally looked up. Her crimson eyes glead—not with power, but sothing much more vulnerable.
"...I'll allow it," she muttered.
He laughed. "Generous of you, Your Highness."
She gave him a sharp look, but it softened almost instantly.
Outside, the capital roared. But inside that little flat, for a mont, it was quiet.
The kind of quiet that only existed when two people trusted each other enough to be scared in the sa space.
To be continued...
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