Ignite the Sun

Nickolas was staring at Damien with a flabbergasted expression.

"I must say, when you said you wanted to talk to me, I wasn't expecting this."

"I think it's fairly on brand for him, actually." Leon chuckled. "In fact I'm a bit surprised it took him this long to stumble into a kid he wanted to adopt."

"As far as I'm concerned the position is his if he wants it." Patrick shrugged.

"Well she has to first decide whether she even wants to do it." Damien pointed out. "I just wanted to check whether you're all okay with me taking the position in case she does."

"Like I said, I'm all for it."

Leon sighed but nodded.

"The hunts without will be terribly boring, but I'm not selfish enough to keep you for that reason."

Everyone looked at Nickolas for his decision – their leader has a complicated expression on his face, one that didn't quite betray his thoughts.

"You said you're going to give her one day of training so that she can decide?"

Damien nodded.

"She might be a kid but I believe no one should agree to something they have no idea about."

"Would you mind if I sent someone to observe you two?"

"Not really I suppose, but why would you want to do that? I thought the decision hinged on how important I am to the order."

"No offence, but a single knight makes no difference for the Order – if we couldn't afford to leave someone behind for a long time the position of an ambassador wouldn't exist at all." Nickolas shook his head. "However I really dislike wasting things, and I want to

send someone impartial to decide whether training this girl is a waste of time – yours, hers or both."

"If you really want to then sure, I'm not sure what you could even gleam from the first day since she never even held a sword before, but whoever you appoint is welcome to come and watch." Damien agreed.

"Leon, go with him – you're his friend and I trust that you'll have his best interests in a mind and will report everything you see faithfully. Shadow him for the day and I'll hear your thoughts at dusk."

"You could've phrased that in a less creepy way, but okay." Damien looked at Leon. "Come on then, I'm probably already late."

***

The Elder Keg was much more lively than during the night, but it was still nowhere near full; people eating their breakfast were mostly those who stayed at the inn and not many were brave enough to travel between settlements.

In fact out of the already thin crowd only a handful of people here came from outside the city – the rest were those who wanted to spend a few days in a place different than their house or people who simply decided that paying half their salary to stay permanently at the inn was preferable to taking care of a house themselves.

It didn't take long before they found the people they were looking for – at a table near the counter sat a young brunette woman and a red-headed girl.

Ginny didn't look much different than the last time Damien seen her, maybe a bit more tired but she was still smiling and trying to engage the girl sitting with her in a conversation.

Speaking of which, Alison looked almost unrecognisable – gone was the grimy feral child with tangled hair and dressed in rags, in her place stood a perfectly clean girl with meticulously braided hair and new well-fitting clothes.

She was was happily eating an oatmeal and attentively listening to Ginny, who by the looks of it was telling her some sort of a story.

"I see you went above and beyond in terms of taking care of her." Damien commented as he approached them.

Ginny nodded in greeting and then shrugged.

"I only offered her the same services we offer to every guest, the clothes are just some hand-me-downs mom had laying around."

Damien somehow doubted that – sure, the outfit wasn't particularly girly but it was perfect for physical activity and in perfect condition, as if it was the first time someone wore it.

When he raised an eyebrow she shrugged again.

"They technically are, they were made for my younger brother but he wanted to dress more flamboyantly so he never put these on." Then she noticed Leon standing behind Damien. "Sir Leon, are you here to help with her training?"

"I'm only observing on Nickolas' orders, act as if I'm not here."

Ginny raised an eyebrow but didn't press him for details, instead she turned to Alison.

"Your master is here, finish up your food and get ready for training."

"Aww, but the story..." The girl pouted a little.

"We can finish it later – or better yet, your master can finish telling it. I've heard it from him after all, I'm sure his version is even better than mine."

That line picked Damien's interest; he did tell quite a few stories to Ginny through the years, but frankly none of them was suitable for a child this young.

"What story were you telling her?"

"The dawn of the Order."

"Ah

It wasn't a particularly happy story, nor an exciting one – it described the fall of the human civilization after all, but it also spoke of human perseverance and everything the Order stood for.

Perhaps it was a good choice to tell it to the girl, Damien lived through the events described in the story and understanding them would help her understand him.

"Where will you take her to train?" Ginny changed the topic.

"I was thinking either the arena by the Verdant Watch's headquarters or one of the training rooms in the Fortress."

"Choose the latter." Leon commented.

"What happened to not being there?"

"It's not much of an interference to tell you which place is better – at least I hope so, otherwise I've already fucked up my task."

"Leon, there are children here."

"Oops."

Damien released a heavy sigh – with some luck Alison won't be swearing like a sailor by the end of the day.