Chapter 64. Two of the Finest Knights in the Kingdom Giggled Like Schoolgirls in a Ditch

Chapter 64: 64. Two of the Finest Knights in the Kingdom Giggled Like Schoolgirls in a Ditch

I took a breath... reached out, and clasped their hands in mine.

Alicia’s fingers were warm and strong, rough from sword work. And Laura’s were cool, with a slight tremor of nerves.

I felt them both grip me, and for a moment... nothing happened.

’I had to use it... I guess.’

Then I pushed a small thread of Aether through my body, the way Sharon had taught me.

Not a flood, not a bonfire, just the thinnest possible filament of energy, leaving my chest and traveling down my arms.

Something answered.

It’s difficult to describe... It was as if I’d plucked a string on an instrument I hadn’t known was there, and the sound was running back to me through two other strings, harmonizing, shivering.

A warm, silvery tingle went up my left arm, which I recognized as Laura’s, with a clean, crisp edge to it like cold water.

A golden warmth came from Alicia’s side, steady and bright, like sunlight on a floor.

I felt them in me, and I felt me in them... and I felt the two of them touching each other across the circle.

Alicia gasped. "Oh."

"Yes," said Laura, in an odd voice.

"I can feel your..." Alicia’s eyes were wide. "It’s like a... a cold, quiet, very organized sort of... hum. Like a clock."

"That’s the Valkyrie’s Grace," I said.

"It’s lovely... It’s so tidy."

"I feel it too," said Laura slowly. "Yours is so warm... It’s like being handed a cup of tea."

"It’s the Knight’s Blessing, isn’t it...? It’s like... a hug that goes all the way through."

They looked at each other, in the dark, and I saw a blush spread across both their faces, one in the golden braid and one under the short blue hair, at exactly the same moment.

They both opened their mouths, said nothing, and looked away.

I stayed very quiet. It seemed the wisest thing.

"This is... really weird," said Alicia, after a while.

"Yeah... It’s extremely weird," Laura agreed.

"I like it."

"So do I."

They both burst into giggles at the same time, helpless, breathless giggles that bounced off the walls of the gully.

It was a ridiculous noise, two of the finest knights in the kingdom giggling like schoolgirls in a ditch, and I couldn’t help laughing too.

I pulled my hands back before I did any damage.

The panel pulsed.

[Bond Resonance: Preliminary calibration complete.]

[Resonance Efficiency: 14%]

[Lust: 85%]

[Further calibration recommended. Please do not blow up the camp.

"About an eighth of everything I’ve got," I muttered. "For a light test."

"What was?" asked Alicia.

"The cost... It took about an eighth of whatever the curse runs on, just to link us up for a minute."

"That’s... a lot."

"It’s about what I’d use in a small fight... But I think it’ll get cheaper as we practice."

"We’ll practice," said Laura, with steady determination.

"Of course we will," said Alicia. "It’s a very good party trick!"

Before I could answer, there was a rustle in the underbrush.

All three of us froze.

Laura’s hand dropped to her sword. I felt Combat Instinct flutter, and I turned toward the sound, expecting a scout, an assassin, or at least an angry badger.

A figure stumbled out of the bushes, directly into a tripwire of faint violet light that stretched across the gully floor.

Turns out... It was one of Laura’s glyphs.

She’d laid it as a precaution, a delicate thread of enchantment that lit up when a foot crossed it, and the girl who had just stepped on it let out a high, strangled squeak and fell flat on her face in front of us.

It was... Eveline.

She lay there... spread out on the grass, with her tail in the air and her ears flat to the ground.

For several seconds, none of us moved. And yes... She didn’t either.

"H-hello," she said, into the dirt.

"Eveline," said Alicia, in the calmest voice I’ve ever heard. "What a surprise."

"I was looking for the... for the latrine."

"It’s in the other direction."

"Is it...?"

"It’s about a quarter mile that way."

"Oh no...! I must have gotten turned around." She raised her head, and bits of grass were stuck to her nose.

She took in the scene, three people in dark cloaks standing in a circle in a ditch at midnight, and her expression went through several rapid stages. "I’m sorry... Am I interrupting something...?"

For one dreadful moment, I thought I was going to have to invent an explanation on the spot. My brain had stalled entirely.

All I could think of was ’three people holding hands in a gully, with Aether still fading from our skin. ’

"Evening devotions," said Alicia.

"Evening... devotions...?" said Eveline, but with her head a little tilted.

"It’s a custom. We do it every night... a moment of quiet reflection to center ourselves before the watch."

Eveline’s face took on a look of deep, solemn respect. She sat up slowly, brushed off her uniform, and nodded.

"Oh," she said. "Of course! Which god?"

I opened my mouth. But nothing came out.

Like for real, though... how the fuck am I supposed to explain that?!

"Discipline," said Laura.

There was a pause. Eveline considered this very seriously, as if weighing a profound theological question.

"Oh wow... That’s a good one," she said at last.

"We think so too."

"I’ve always thought we should have more disciplined gods." She stood up, dusted off her knees, and clasped her hands in front of her. "I won’t disturb you anymore."

"I’m sorry about the glyph... I’ll go find the latrine."

"It’s that way," I said and pointed.

"Thank you... May discipline be with you."

"And with you as well," said Laura, without a flicker of expression.

Eveline marched away with great dignity. She made it about ten steps before she tripped over a root and vanished into a bush.

We heard a muffled "I’m fine!" and then the sound of her crashing off through the trees in the right direction... more or less. What a poor rabbit.

Silence fell.

We stood there, listening to her go.

Then Alicia put her hand over her mouth and started shaking.

Laura turned her face into her shoulder, trying to muffle the noise. I leaned against the wall of the gully and wheezed, one hand pressed to my ribs.

We were all laughing... the soundless, painful laughter of three people trying not to wake an entire camp.

Every time one of us calmed down, another would whisper "Discipline," and we’d all start up again.

"Which god," said Alicia, wiping her eyes.

"I can’t believe she bought it," said Laura.

"It’s the most believable lie I’ve ever told."

"It was the only lie you told."

"I’m a woman of many talents indeed~!"

I slid down the wall until I was sitting in the dirt, and the two of them dropped down beside me.

Alicia’s head rested against my shoulder. And Laura leaned on the other side, her hair brushing my cheek.

For a minute, we simply sat there in the dark and caught our breath.

Then Laura turned her head and kissed me, quick and warm, on the corner of the mouth. Alicia did the same on the other side, with a soft sound of satisfaction.

It never gets old when you get two women being all affectionate towards you.

"Go to bed," said Alicia. "You’ve got the third watch."

"Yes, captain."

"I mean it."

"I know you do."

They helped me up, and the three of us crept back toward the camp one by one, a few minutes apart, so no one would see us arriving together.