"Okay then, Breandan," I said serenely but my heart thumped too hard and he coked his head as if he could hear it. I went on nonetheless, "What do you want? Why are you in the forest, alone?" The best defense is a good offence, and I could give as good as I got. "This is demon territory y'know. I can admit I was freaked and a bit off course." He snorted a laugh and my temper bloated into righteous indignation. "It's dark out here. I was running away from the Clerics because they had dogs." My eyes darted to and from his now, uncomfortable with the lie. "And Idon't like dogs. They bark. Loudly. And how do you know my name?"
There was a beat of silence as his eyes held mine. "You will have to get out of the habit of lying. You won't be able to do that for much longer. And anyway, you don't have to explain anything to me. I understand. I know you, and that is why we have come for you."
"Are you from the slums?"
For a bad moment there I had assumed he was from the Sect. I would be in a world trouble if anyone saw me out here. I was beyond the Wall, which was forbidden, and I had seen I didn't want to think about the horror I'd seen, and how I'd been foolish enough to get caught seeing the thing I saw. I had disobeyed a direct order from a Cleric, something I, a Disciple training to be a Cleric, should never do. No, I was not so sure anymore. If Breandan was from the Sect he'd have called to the Clerics, not hidden me from them. If he was a civilian, I didn't see how he could come to be lost Outside. After all, you would have to get past the Wall to make it out here. There was not a human alive that didn't understand the dangers of going over the Wall and into demon territory.
I felt stupid then. If there was not a human alive who didn't know how dangerous it was Outside, what the hell was I doing Outside? I was going to have very serious words with myself.
"Coming for you is not something I chose, and believe me, if I could change it I would." He paused and shook his head. "We are stuck. You belong to me," he repeated. "And I to you. Now we have touched it is sealed. Alright?"
Sealed my ass. I decided then and there, I did not like this boy.
"You cannot appear next to me in the middle of demon territory and say such silly things," I said, strained. "You're beginning to scare me."
That was another lie. I was beyond sacred now. My body couldn't keep up a constant pitch of terror, so it had simply gone beyond terror and pressed a big reset button. I was too afraid outside to be anything but calm inside. Voice unattractively shrill, I lowered my clenched fist and took a deep breath. I moderated my voice.
"Let's start with where you're from?"
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his head. "A place not too far from here. You are very lost."
I shifted on the spot. "Are you transferring to this region to be a Disciple?" It happened. Rarely, for it was too hazardous to travel large distances through demon territory, and it was only attempted once a settlement had reached a population density that put all the humans there in danger. But it did happen. He shook his head. "Are you visiting Cleric at the Temple?"
I was reaching, but that could explain how he could be so comfortable in the forest. Clerics were not like regular people and often came from hardy families. The Clerics were the fastest, strongest most intelligent and intuitive of humankind. That is why they managed to keep us so safe.
His face darkened. "No." The word was fired at me like a bullet.
Without preparing myself for the answer I asked with catty aplomb, "Are you a demon then?"
