-Akuji-

Javed was such a little sweetheart. I honestly had to stop myself from squealing a few times. I didn't get to interact with many children back in Seastown. They were often huddled up in their houses, learning, or being bored out of their minds. At least, I was bored out of my mind when I was Javed's age. Nobody liked to let their kids roam the streets, due to the amount of crime that went on down there.

Children were tutored until they passed their examinations, and the children who passed their examinations for the year, all got together and ventured into the town. It was a way for parents to showcase how proud they were of their children, and so that the children could learn about the world in a controlled manner.

That was why whenever Javed interacted with the world, it was absolutely adorable.

We reached Neith and Nairn's home quite a bit later. We took our time and talked about whatever we passed. We bumped into Harold, who told us a little about the prices of the vegetables going up, because the harvest wasn't as plentiful as it was last year. When we had said goodbye, Neith turned to me and whispered that it didn't bother them, that the prices had gone down last year because there was just so much that they didn't want them to go to waste.

It made sense, but prices never really decreased in Seastown. Ever since we went to the market, I had been feeling rather homesick. Granted, the person who attempted to, or did, kill me had probably returned there. I wondered if my family were planning a funeral, or if they had put up missing person posters.

Javed raced ahead of us and opened up the door. I thanked him with a bow of my head and a small curtsey, to which he bowed in response. I followed Neith around her house and into the kitchen. Nairn and Musa were nowhere to be seen, a fact I was grateful for.

"Didn't you say we were going to talk to the guard?" I asked Neith. "I thought we were going to do that today?"

"I forgot about that," Neith said with a sigh. "Do you want to head back out?"

I looked at the little boy who was staring at us quietly. He had his arms behind his back and his wide eyes didn't move from the two of us. Even when he caught my eye.

"Should we go later? I'd hate to go out after we've just come in," I replied. She hadn't even taken her shoes or cloak off. We could've gone straight back outside, but where would Javed go? Would he just need to sit in the living room doing nothing? Javed seemed to have so much energy, and I also felt like he wouldn't complain.

"So many trips," Neith said, but she didn't really seem like she was complaining. "More reason to stay out of the house, I'd appreciate."

I nodded in understanding. I wasn't one who liked to stay in the house after I was allowed to leave. I wanted to spend every minute of the day outside, dancing in the sun by the fields which people usually avoided, unless they worked in the farms.

"Can I go on that trip? I want to go on a trip," Javed rocked on his heels.

"No," Neith said plainly. "You'll probably be in bed before that. You and Musa will be leaving soon, I expect."

"Maybe we should stay longer then?" Musa's voice came from the doorway, causing me to jump out of my skin. He leant on the doorframe, wearing his long dark overcoat. He was incredibly intimidating, especially since he was now so close to me. His skin was incredibly pale, and his light blue eyes were piercing. Was that what my eyes looked like?

"Master," Javed greeted with a bow. "Do you mean it? That we could stay longer?"

Nairn entered the room, pushing past Musa with a very unimpressed expression. "No, he's not. You're getting out of here and giving me some peace." Nairn's tone surprised me, even though I hadn't been there long, I didn't expect that tone to be one Nairn ever used. Something must've happened to really set him off.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one to feel this way, as Neith sent her father a strange glance. "Did something happen?" she asked slowly.

"Nothing," Nairn responded automatically. "Absolutely nothing."

"Come on, Javed," Musa beckoned the boy forward. "We'll be coming back tomorrow."

Javed groaned before stomping over to Musa. "Alright, bye everyone." He waved at us as Musa put a hand on his shoulder and let themselves out.

Neith stood up and went into the kitchen, I resisted the urge to follow her, as I did every other time she moved. I had to learn to be a bit more independent and not follow blindly. I had been rather self-conscious of the fact since I cut my finger on a thorn. I really didn't know what I was doing, and I did follow those who I somewhat knew like a lost puppy.

So, I sat awkwardly in the living room whilst observing a very angry looking Nairn. He had his eyes shut and his hands were balled into fists on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. I wasn't going to interrupt whatever was going through his mind.

"What happened?" Neith asked as she entered again. This time she held a cup in her hands, steam floating away from the liquid. "Did he say something stupid again?"

Nairn chuckled bitterly and took the cup from his daughter's hands with a small nod of thanks. "What does my brother say which isn't stupid?" he asked. Taking a sip from the boiling hot liquid.

"Well, when he says mean things?" Neith offered. She sat in the same seat which she sat in when I first arrived at their home. It hit me with an intense feeling of Deja vu.

"I suppose you have a point," Nairn said with a chuckle. "He started talking about necromancy and conjuration. You know, I understand the fascination, but you know, it is very much illegal."

Neith scoffed. "It's not illegal," she pointed out. "It's just very frowned upon," Neith brushed some hair out of her face. "You know, you can't judge him for anything. You've dabbled in some of that every now and again."

"Yes, but I haven't tried to raise all of the corpses in an entire graveyard," Nairn said with a sigh. "I've only tried to do little things. Like Flower, Magic, Moon, Cloud, Sun, and our other pets."

I felt a little out of place, but since Nairn gestured towards the many tanks as he spoke, I assumed that he was talking about the pets that the two of them kept in their house. I wondered about Dalila, which sent a shiver down my spine.

"You do necromancy?" I asked quietly.

The two of them jumped, they had probably forgotten that I was here.

Nairn cleared his throat. "Yes, it's something that I started working on a few years back. I felt like I had already stretched the rest of my magical studies to their limits, so I went for something less talked about." He put his teacup down on the table in the centre of the room.

"It's not illegal," Neith repeated. "It's just not something people like to do. They generally think that bringing dead things back to life is wrong. You're messing with the plans of mother nature, so nobody does it. Creatures which are killed before their time, or animals of low intelligence are exceptions, but quiet exceptions."

I nodded mutely and planned not to speak again until Neith and I were on our way to see the guard. But I ended up receiving a lecture about necromancy instead.

I didn't know what Neith had put into her father's drink, but he sat at the edge of his seat, wildly throwing his arms around as he explained to me how the magic of the universe worked, and how people, or things, could be brought back to life. It was a subject which was a bit personal, as of late, but it was fascinating to hear about. It made me want to go back to where I had left the carriage, to see if there were any signs of rituals there.

The lecture lasted most of the afternoon, and whilst Neith was making dinner, I was trying to convince Nairn not to experiment on me- 'but you're the only living dead person I know'- until I had a dinner in front of me.

At home, I would usually have a big part when it came to mealtimes, it was a family event most evenings. We would give thanks to the fish which had been provided for us whilst we were cooking it, and we would carefully select what to go with the fish each afternoon.

Here, it was very much a quick and silent affair, with the re-occurrence of the previous debate between Nairn and me.

"If I could only examine you," Nairn argued. "It would only take some pokes."

I shook my head, shifting in my seat. "Please, I really don't want any pokes, or anything messing with what I know now."

"Not that you know much," Neith muttered. "No offence." She coughed into her hand.

I found it difficult not to take offence to that. I knew that she was right, I knew nothing about magic, but I wasn't completely useless. I knew how to sew, cook, fish, talk, paint, I could even play the piano. None of those would be useful here.

"Regardless of what you know or don't know, I would be able to know more about you if you were to let me just take some samples."

"I'm not sure what that would entail, but maybe later?" I said in surrender.

Nairn seemed to perk up, his back straightened, and he started to eat quicker. Neith sent me a knowing look. Even Dalila sent me a cunning look, even the cat knew that I had walked myself into something which I will regret.

"Akuji, we're going out in about thirty minutes," Neith said between the noise of metal utensils hitting wooden dishes. "We've got to catch the guard before they actually go on patrol."

I nodded awkwardly. I had already finished eating, so I stood up and moved into the kitchen, to avoid any and all awkwardness. I washed my dishes, which Nairn had been complaining about all through the preparation of dinner.

"You know, he doesn't need a lot of his experiments," Neith told me. "He'll just need some hair, maybe some tears, saliva, the works. Maybe he'll even ask for an arm." A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. She looked very sinister in the minimal light which came from houses and lanterns. The sun had set not long ago, and it was nearly time for the guards to go on patrol.

"Nice to hear you won't fight for my limb," I said jokingly. I wasn't sure how casual I had managed to be. Usually joking about selling limbs was tabooed, because they may actually be stolen by someone and sold on the market back in Seastown.

"No, if I wanted your limbs, I'd be able to take them." She nudged me. "You'd be no match for my magic." I couldn't tell how serious she was, because I truly wasn't any match for her magic. "Cian!"

Her yell made me gasp and twirl around. A group of men stood by the gates, all wearing similar red uniforms, which blended in nicely with the trees. The skinniest of the group turned around, his blonde hair covered by a black cap. His blue eyes looked warm and lively in the light, as though the boy hadn't thought a single violent thing in his life.,

"Neith," he greeted with a smile. He waved, but then promptly held his hands behind his back. "Who's this?" He stared at me curiously, his gaze making me feel self-conscious. He wasn't quite judging me, rather inspecting me.

"Her name's Akuji, and she has a voice too, you know?" Neith replied snarkily.

I didn't miss the fact that Cian's smile became rather fixed, before he burst into light chuckles. "Nice to meet you, Akuji. I'm Cian, as you probably already know." He gave a small bow and held out a gloved hand.

I put my hand in his, my cheeks would've flushed if they could as he raised my hand to his lips. "Lovely to meet you, Cian."

"Yes, he's a real prince charming. Too bad the armour isn't shining," Neith said as she cut between us. "Cian, we have some questions about what happened last night."