Lesbians Fight the Demon Queen and Also God Maybe - Chapter 5

When he had his heart set on something, Renault could be a stubborn bastard. Luckily, Lyra could be at least as stubborn, and a hell of a lot more persuasive. “Ren, listen.”

“Definitely not.” At the very least, Lyra seemed to consider herself quite persuasive, but things weren’t going according to plan.

“No, actually listen.”

“She’s a complete stranger, Lyra.”

“Her name is Maya, Ren. I thought you said you were going to trust my judgment.”

“That was before you suggested taking a complete stranger with us on an incredibly dangerous journey all because of some dream you had. Especially one who’s already caused trouble for us.”

Rolling her eyes, Lyra snapped her fingers, causing the still suspended Maya to reorient mid-air until she was parallel with the ground, then drift gently to Lyra’s side. With a triumphant grin, Lyra rested her elbow on the immobilized thief’s back, then leaned against her casually as she raised an eyebrow at Ren. “Does it look like I don’t have her under control?”

“Fuck you.” If the street she was currently forced to stare downward at had been at all offended by Maya’s comment, it made no indication.

“You’re doing a great job showing me she’ll be loyal to us by tormenting her. I’m sure she’ll have no reason to want to smother you in your sleep after this.” That sort of talk was classic for Renault. Always so quick to point out that absolute worst case scenario, as though Lyra weren’t already several steps ahead of him.

“Well, maybe she shouldn’t steal people’s things.” Admittedly, Lyra was being a bit of a bitch. But, in her experience, the best and easiest way to keep people from walking all over her was to be a bit self-important at times. Besides, it wasn’t her fault that she just so happened to be absolutely magnificent. And if that meant being a magnificent bitch from time to time, then so be it.

Seeming to concede that his current tactics were getting him nowhere, Renaulr changed course. “And you honestly trust her?” he asked, absolutely knowing better.

“Trust her? Fuck no, but considering my own past, if some man shows up in my dreams and tells me to trust someone I’ve yet to meet, then I actually do meet that person in the future, I’ll at least give them a chance.” If being an accomplished mage with access to mysterious magics had taught Lyra anything, it was that there was far too little she understood. “Listen, we could use all the help we can get, right? We should at least consider it. I’ll take responsibility for her.”

Ren sighed, and cast his gaze down the street, where a scowling Priscilla gazed onward with growing impatience. “Fine,” he said, locking eyes with Lyra. “Two minutes. Two minutes to convince her to join us, then we’re moving on.”

Flicking her wrist, Lyra scoffed, “I could do it in thirty seconds.” She just hoped Renault didn’t call her on her bluff.

Showing absolutely no appreciation for her theatrics, Renault tapped his foot impatiently. “Time doesn’t stop for your antics.” As far as Lyra was concerned, Ren had some nerve not giving her the recognition she deserved, but before she had any chance to bite back, Maya cut in from beside and a little below, her voice slightly muffled simply by the fact that she was pointed straight down.

“Do you two often talk about people like they aren’t right next to you?” she asked.

After sharing one last conspiratorial grin with Ren—one which he, of course, did not return—Lyra flipped Maya upright and addressed her face to face. She was met only with a dismissive sneer, one which she paid no heed. “How would you like to have every last crime you’ve ever committed forgiven, all while becoming very, very wealthy.”

“Now hang on Lyra, you can’t just promise her—”

“When we’re done, I’m going to get whatever the fuck I want. And if that includes a pardon for our new friend here and a lump sum of more money than she’s ever seen in her life, then you’re going to make that happen for me, because you’re the golden boy. And all of us, including Maya, here, will be heroes.” For a moment, it seemed as though Ren was going to protest, but he simply chewed his lip, scowled, then nodded. At that, Lyra’s face bloomed into a chipper smile. “Great! Well then, Maya, what do you say?”

“What’s the job?” That sort of straight-to-the-point attitude was just what Lyra liked in a woman, seconded only by a straight-to-her-throat attitude. Hopefully those would be the only straight things about Maya.

“You, me, him, those two, over there glaring at us, another guy, we’re all going to be spending some time together on the other side of the border. We’ll be scouting out and disrupting the Demon Queen’s army, and could probably use someone with a penchant for getting around undetected, maybe someone who could slit a few important throats if it comes to that.” Realistically, it almost certainly would come to that.

Suspended mid air, Maya sat in momentary silence, considering the offer. “Do I have a choice?” Had Lyra not known any better, she may have thought she’d seen a glimmer of amusement in the thief’s eye.

Smirking, Lyra cupped Maya’s chin, advancing slightly and forcing her captive audience to gaze upward into her eyes. “There’s always a choice my dear. But, since I’m nice, if you say no, I’ll let you go on your way. Hell, I won’t even call the guards on you.” Truthfully, Lyra was no snitch; calling the guards had never really been on the table, but there had been no sense in giving up a good bluff.

“How generous.” The flat, blunt nature of Maya’s tone spoke volumes about how generous she truly saw the offer. “Now, let’s say that maybe, just maybe, I am interested in… material things and, well, not walking around with a price on my head? I’m not particularly confident I’ll come out of this alive. It seems like quite the risk, even with a reward to match.”

Flashing another of her trademark cocksure grins, Lyra gestured to Renault and herself. “Do we look like fodder to you?” While the question may have begged a certain answer, it wasn’t truly necessary. There had been a reason Maya chose Lyra as a target in the first place. Everything from her embroidered cloak to her fine polished boots and the sing of her coinpurse told the story of someone worth something to the people who were actually important. Regardless, Maya took a moment to regard her captors. Her eyes seemed to linger particularly long on the glittering gold of Ren’s armor, and the jeweled scabbard at his belt. Her pursed lips seemed to form half a word, then Maya nodded to herself, and returned her gaze to Lyra.

“You look like rich brats.”

A practiced giggle sounded from low in Lyra’s throat, and she traced her fingers along the length of her finery. “Exactly. And now you, too, have the opportunity to become a rich brat just like us.”

Maya put on quite the show of thinking it over, but it was only a show, Lyra could tell her mind had already been made up. “If I say yes, will you put me down?”

“Deal.” The words had hardly left Maya’s lips before the magic which had ensnared and suspended her dissipated in an instant, eliciting a choked gasp as her feet found the ground. Maya took a moment to straighten out her clothes, then looked from Lyra to Ren and back. “So,” she mused, “what now?”

“Now? Now I collect a bit of collateral. Can’t have you running off with our things or anything of that sort.” Showing an admittedly perhaps too shit-eating grin, Lyra raised her hand and brandished Maya’s necklace, then, with a wave of her hand and a flash, disappeared it.

Maya seemed to be the sort of woman who was well-collected, but in that moment, there was no hiding the fear in her eye. Without pause, Maya’s hand flew to her left cheek, lightly prodding the skin, before some semblance of relief crossed her face. This was not to say Maya seemed particularly pleased; Lyra found herself quite thankful that the old stories of people manifesting the ability to smite their enemies through sheer force of will were simply that. “Give that back.” The low growl Maya spoke in certainly accomplished its intended effect. Unfortunately no amount of intimidation would give the would-be thief leverage.

“Sorry, my dear. It’s not far, and I’ll be sure to keep the spell on it up and running, but until you earn my trust, I’ll need to have some sort of insurance against you betraying us.”

Behind her, Lyra heard Ren scoff. “‘Trust Maya,’” he sneered.

“Would you rather I not give her a reason to behave?”

Ren shook his head. “Didn’t say that. I’d rather she not be here at all, but I can see there’s no convincing you that this is a bad idea and, as much as I hate to admit it, we kind of need you. And admittedly, we could maybe use someone like her.” An admission like that from Ren was rare. He liked being right almost as much as he liked parading around pretending he could so much as put his own armor on the right way without Lyra around.

“Good, well then, after you, my dear Maya.” With a tilt of her head, Lyra indicated her not so patiently waiting companions and, like a cornered fox, Maya picked her way through the crowd down the street. Each step was tense, cautious and purposeful; she had the poise of one ready to strike at any moment at some foe somewhere. Doubtless that foe just happened to be the mage at her back.

Lingering behind, Lyra cast a sidelong, gloating glance at Renault, running her tongue across her teeth and showing her smuggest of grins. “Well, that could have gone a lot worse; at least she didn’t try to stab one of us.”

“What happened to all that confidence, Miss ‘I could do it in thirty seconds?’” His quirked eyebrow and folded arms gave the impression of someone who truly believed he’d made something of a properly impressive jab. Unfortunately for Renault, Lyra had been finding ways to get under his skin for nearly two decades.

With a non committal shrug, Lyra turned her head to follow Maya as she strolled down the street. “Oh, that? Complete bluff.” Her tone was a practiced, apathetic nonchalance which for years had heralded ceaseless frustration for a never-ending parade of overachievers and strait-laced authority figures.

For the briefest of moments, Ren’s face contorted into an exasperated scowl as his fist clenched and his eyes bulged. “Are you fucki—” His gaze fell on his companions down the street, and, with some clear effort, Renault forced himself to calm down. He was, for all his faults and easiness to tease, a leader. An amused half smile cracked his lips, and he looked downward, shaking his head slightly. “You know what? it was impressive nonetheless; I might not be thrilled to have her along for the ride but you sure do know how to put on a show. How did you know to take the necklace?”

“Honestly? Lucky guess. It was by far the most valuable thing on her. Though I was definitely not expecting that strong of a reaction. It’s… curious to say the least.” Despite her careless disposition, Lyra’s interest was only matched by the alarm bells ringing in her head. She couldn’t keep doubt from boiling up from beneath the surface of her mind. At this point there were more mysteries surrounding Maya than even the mission itself, which was certainly quite vague. And, her own stubbornness aside, part of Lyra worried she might wind up coming back from her mission with more enemies than she started with, assuming she survived at all.

As though sensing her apprehension, Renault lay a hand on Lyra’s shoulder. “You’re sure you’re not making a mistake?”

Lyra shook her head. “Not at all, but this way things won’t be boring at least, right?”

At that, Ren couldn’t help but crack a weary smile. “Things never are with you.” He paused for a moment. “I’m still not sure pissing her off as much as you have was the right call.”

At first, all Lyra could manage was a sober nod. He was right, she knew that. But she’d been caught up in the moment. “Listen, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing out here any more than you do. I mean, I’m not even sure how much is riding on this, how dangerous it’s going to be. Maybe I made things easier for us by bringing her along, maybe I showed her strength just then and that’s the kind of thing she respects. I don’t know how to be a leader, or inspire confidence, that’s your thing, but something tells me you’re not her type regardless. I just want to get out of this alive, and help some people in the process. I just hope I didn’t make things worse.”

Renault’s hand, still resting on Lyra’s shoulder, squeezed gently. “Hey, well, ‘Trust Maya’, am I right?”

A bitter cough of a laugh burst from Lyra's throat. “Yeah, I guess so. You think I did the right thing?”

“I have no idea what the right thing is anymore, Lyra. But I trust you. So if you’re going to trust Maya, so will I.” The two shared a quiet moment, and a nod.

Lyra looked from Maya, to Trevor and Priscilla, then back to Renault. “So, any idea on how to break the news to our, err, ‘friends?’”

“I thought she was to be entirely your responsibility.”

“Delightful.”