“Something’s bugging me,” I muttered, sliding closer to Mikaela and putting up an audio-shield to keep our words from reaching Reckt.

“You mean the unnatural silence?” Mikaela asked, glancing around. We were walking through the woods, a good distance away from the beaten track, towards the area the guild secretary had directed us towards. In theory, that was where the wolves lived - alongside a bunch of other stuff, like birds and insects and the like, which should have been making noise. They weren’t.

That wasn’t what was bugging me, though, so I shook my head.

“The spiderwebs, then?” Mikaela guessed, next. “I have noticed an abundance of them… It’s possible some arachnid monsters have moved in since the guild last sent someone here.”

“Not that, either,” I replied, rolling my eyes. I mean, yeah, she was right - I must have blasted my way through a dozen spiderwebs in the last five minutes, and that was with Reckt barreling face first into a bunch of them ahead of us. It was bad and it probably meant something.

Again, though, it wasn’t what was bugging me.

“It’s about Reckt,” I explained. “I think… I think I might know her from somewhere?”

“Know her?” Mikaela asked. The look on her face had ‘How stupid are you?’ written all over it. “I know you get around more than me, but this is our first time outside the tower aside from matters of international diplomacy. You can’t possibly expect me to believe you saw her at some banquet?”

“No,” I conceded, “but there is one other event I leave the tower for…”

“You mean the dragon festival?” Mikaela asked.

I nodded. “I think I might have seen her there before… though I can’t exactly recall when.”

“Even with perfect recall?” Mikaela asked incredulously.

I shrugged. “I think it was a long time ago. Like… when I was a kid long ago. Maybe. It’s less like I know her, and more like this niggling bit of my brain insisting that I should recognize her.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve ever exposed your identity at the festival, right?” Mikaela asked. “You and Mama only ever go there to stuff your faces, after all.”

I nodded. That much was true. The Dragon Festival at Gour was a massive collection of culinary delights that claimed to be able to satisfy even a dragon’s hunger. Accurately, too, considering Jahara was a frequent visitor. Not that the public actually knew that. In fact, the one and only time she’d ever shown up in her dragon form it had led to a big fight with Mama that ended in Jahara becoming a willing minion.

Partially because Mama kicked her ass, but mostly because the stuff our chefs could cook was way better than most of what you could get at the festival. Which you’d think would sorta put a damper on attending said festival, but at the same time the festival had something the tower sorely lacked - variety.

Chefs from all over the country would attend Gour’s festival. Even some people from outside of it! Every year, they’d bring out types of food, ingredients, and even cooking styles I’d never come across before. Stuff Mama and I would sample, and - when possible - steal for ourselves, so that we could enrich the food culture of the tower.

…And, y’know, eat lots of good food! Quantity was a quality all of its own, after all!

“You’re getting distracted thinking about the food, aren’t you?” Mikaela accused.

“Yup! But what about you? You used to go to the festival with me and Mama, too, until you got all busy helping out Dam with stuff. Are you telling me Reckt isn’t even the tiniest bit recognizable to you?”

Mikaela didn’t respond at first, choosing to study Reckt - who was currently trying to spit a strand of spidersilk out of her mouth. “I can’t say that I recognize her,” she admitted after a moment, “but there is just a trace of… familiarity there, I suppose…”

“So she’s someone we’ve both met?” I asked, frowning. “That… doesn’t narrow it down as much as I’d like, but… It’s gotta be someone we both met at the festival then, right?”

“Maybe…” Mikaela hedged, “or she just looks vaguely like an acquaintance of mine. We can’t rule out the possibility of our familiarity coming from different places.”

“I guess so,” I conceded with a shrug. “Not that it really matters. All sorts of people go to the festival, after all…”

“Then why even bring it up?” Mikaela asked, side-eying me.

“Because if she was someone we knew, then that would mean our identities have been totally spoiled?” I pointed out.

“You really think Reckt of all people would be able to recognize us as princesses?” Mikaela snorted. “The girl still hasn’t even figured out that we’re about to be facing a spider monster, unless I’ve missed my guess.”

“...Oh… yeah… We should probably tell her that, huh?” I muttered, mostly to myself.

Unfortunately, when I glanced back at where Reckt had been, it was only to find that she’d already disappeared.

Charlotte cursed under her breath, racing towards where Reckt had been a moment before. I didn’t waste the breath to begin with, and as such reached our mutual destination a step or two before my sister. Not that it did me any good when all I could do was stare up into the canopy into which Reckt had apparently been pulled. 

There was webbing in the trees, I realized - more than just the strands we’d wandered into. Rather, the nearly-invisible threads were being used to bind the branches together, creating a canopy capable of carrying quite a bit of weight.

A simple push off the ground was enough for me to test that hypothesis - leaping into the air, and pressing my hands against the branches, I assessed their tensile strength and was surprised to find that they held against me, refusing to allow exit from the forest. Not that I couldn’t have forced my way through it if I tried, but… Well, suffice it to say that the average beast of the forest would find themselves trapped in this section of the woods if they took flight. Blocked by branches and tangled in webbing far stronger than what we’d run onto in the ground. Stickier, too - in fact, it was actually keeping me from falling back to the ground.

“You find anything up there?” Charlotte called up. “Or are you just stuck?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” I called back, frowning. In truth, I was actually caught up in something of a sticky situation… I lacked the leverage or the thrust to easily break myself away from the webbing.

Still, it wasn’t so dire as to require my sister’s assistance. A bit of carefully applied heat did… annoying little, actually. I had expected the webbing to ignite, but perhaps it was best that spider silk wasn’t so flammable, considering my own clothes were made of a similar substance…

It wasn’t as if it was impossible to burn, though. One simply had to up the heat while carefully keeping it constrained to the webbing itself, until at last a flash of fire spread across my body and cleared the webbing from the branches and the trees, allowing me to drop down to the ground. Thanks to my excellent control, I didn’t even singe my clothing, let alone the branches that had helped suspend me.

It did, however, leave a rather large hole in the web. One that its owner wasn’t that happy about, judging by the clicking and hissing I could suddenly hear all around us.

“Do you think they think we’re scared?” I whispered to my sister, a small smile on my face.

“If they think at all,” Charlotte said with a laugh. “Do you think they’ll do a straight forward attack? I’m sorta itching for a fight.”

“They’ll try trickery first,” I warned, pointing to a spot in front of us. Now that I was taking time to actually look for the webbing, I could see it under the leaves ahead of us, connected by slim, but likely surprisingly strong, threads to the trees above. Netting.

“Boo… What are we gonna do if Reckt gets eaten while we’re busy trying to slip our way through traps?”

“Apologize to the guild master, I suppose?”

My suggestion earned me a withering stare.

“What? I don’t like her. It’s also not as if she’s one of my people…” I grumbled, even as I began to spread my magic out. I didn’t try to saturate the forest around me, considering it a waste of magic, and more warning than our would-be predators deserved, besides. Instead, I spread a thin film of magic out about me, searching for anything vaguely human-shaped.

It was true that Reckt wasn’t one of my people - one of the demons I was meant to lead. It was also true that I didn’t like her and that finding her would, in all likelihood, only lead to more annoyances down the road. Even receiving her thanks was likely to be little more than an irritation for me, especially when it was undoubtedly followed by new attempts to get into my sister’s pants…

Still, we’d been the one to push for entering this dangerous place. One could argue that we had a responsibility to her as a result. One would be wrong, in my opinion, as Reckt was supposed to be the veteran adventurer here, and therefore should have known her own capabilities… but still, I’d feel at least a little tiny bit guilty if she were to die when we could have saved her.

“This way,” I said, pointing to the left. “I can’t find Reckt directly, but I did spot quite a number of cocoons. If Reckt isn’t already there, then it’s a fair bet that she’s on the way.”

“Does that mean it’s time to kick some spider ass?” Charlotte asked, punching one hand with the other. 

“After we discuss plans,” I insisted.

“Why plan when we can just kick ass?” Charlotte asked, frowning.

“Because being seen kicking ass is going to get us found out,” I replied, frowning in turn. “Even Reckt isn’t oblivious enough not to question it if we simply punch our way through this problem.”

“So you’d rather risk her dying?” Charlotte demanded. “Just to keep our secret?”

“I don’t think you understand what sort of international incident could come about if it’s revealed a pair of demon princesses have been unleashed to wander about the various kingdoms. In the worst case, it could be seen as an act of war. How many people will die then?”

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure hypothetical future deaths don’t match up to a definite one right now!” Charlotte countered. “If Reckt dies because we’re too busy hiding our strength, what then? What if it’s not Reckt next time? What if it’s a kid, or a building full of people, or… I don’t know… A really cute looking rabbit?”

“A…” I pressed fingers against my forehead, kneading the skin in an attempt to keep a headache from forming. Even though I couldn’t even get headaches to begin with… in theory. “A… rabbit. You think a rabbit is worth inciting war?”

“I think Reckt is worth maybe taking a risk for, if it keeps her out of the afterlife! Just because she’d probably enjoy it up there doesn’t mean I wanna be the one responsible for sending her, you know!”

“You won’t be. You can blame me, if it comes down to it, but I won’t have us ruining our parents’ plans for us this early,just because you wanted to save some idiot who’s only thought is about getting in your pants.”

“And what’s wrong with wanting to get in my pants?” Charlotte demanded. “They’re really nice pants! …You know, metaphorically speaking. Since I’m not actually wearing any.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. I just… I think you don’t put enough thoughts into what your promiscuousness can lead to. The ideas it can put in people’s heads…”

“We’re demons, sis,” Charlotte replied, rolling her eyes. “A game of fucking Monoptopolly is more of a commitment than sleeping with someone.”

“Normally, yes,” I conceded. “But you should know there are people out there who will take any opportunity to get ahead. The mere fact that you chose someone to take to bed with you might not need much, but what about when they start talking to their friends? When they claim to have your favor and use it as leverage to get things they want from others, promising to whisper sweet nothings in your ear in return for a favor or two?”

“...Who hurt you, Sis?” Charlotte asked seriously, looking like she was ready to rip someone’s head off.

“It’s… just a hypothetical,” I murmured, unable to meet my sister’s eyes.

“Uh-huh… Well, it sounds like your big sister’s going to have some hypothetical ass to kick the next time we get home…”

“Just because you came out first hardly means you can claim to be the older sister!” I protested. “We’re talking a matter of hours, if not minutes!”

“Minutes before you, you mean,” she teased, sticking her tongue out at me. “Now come on. First we save my lay, then we beat up yours.”

“I never… actually laid with any of them,” I muttered, softly enough I wasn’t sure if even my sister could hear. In truth, I hoped she couldn’t. Admitting to my virginity felt almost… shameful, even if I knew Mama had been the same way until she turned twenty-one.

Charlotte didn’t seem to notice or care, though, too busy stomping into the woods. In a random direction.

“It’s this way, Charlotte,” I reminded her, hurrying forward to grab her arm. “How did you get it wrong when I literally just pointed it out to you?”

“Guess I’m just lost without you, Sis,” she replied, laughing like it was all some joke to her.

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore how good it made me feel for her to rely upon me. “Come on, then. For the sake of your potentially good lay.”

~~~

Author's Notes

New cover? New cover! Many thanks to my friend Lulla for the art!

I wasn't really sure how to feel about this chapter when I wrote it... At first I worried it was going to be too short, so I tried to add more - but then I worried it was too drawn out? I like it a bit more looking back on it, though - hopefully because the depression goggles are off, and not because I'm looking at it through rose tinted glasses.

Many thanks to FallingLeaf in either case, for both editing the chapter and suggesting the title.

If you'd like to support me - or just read ahead - I do hope you'll consider joining my Patreon! You can read two (admittedly unedited) chapters ahead for this and a few of my other series for as little as a dollar!