Chapter 39

**Merianna**


Things have been... interesting around the Order after that day. And no, not exactly in a good way... but also not in an entirely awful way either.

When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted by Zerial and a hot plate of breakfast right in my face. Nelia nearly had a heart attack when my screech woke her up from a dead sleep.

I ranted and demanded to know why he was in our room at the crack of dawn. He was hurt that I accused him of being a lecher when all he did was make and bring breakfast. I had a second of surprise, wondering how on earth he managed to get past Dorris to use her holy space, also known as the kitchen. Then Ela came crashing into the room soon after my scream, commanding him to basically die. Nelia was confused out of her mind. Nana Ara came rushing in next and let's just say... Nelia and I now had a few new glass-less windows overlooking the forest out back.

Nelia and I could hear Fog cursing his way down the halls to our room demanding to know what was going on. While the two Angelics and Nana Ara were up in each other's faces in our room, I shared the breakfast with Nelia while it was still warm. Nothing in this castle really surprised me too much anymore, and I wasn't going to let a good breakfast go to waste.

When Fog arrived on the scene, Nelia and I were seated on the floor in a corner eating. Zerial and Ela were clashing swords over our shredded beds with Ela growling like a demon, and Nana Ara was flinging chemical bombs at Zerial's head whenever she saw an opening of any sort, all the while ranting about how a Man should not just pop into a young girl's room and called him lewd names.

Needless to say, as soon as Fog demanded a ceasefire and looked just about ready to tear them all to shreds himself, both Angelics disappeared into the Ether and Ara jumped out one of the new holes she created.

Nelia and I were moved to new rooms slightly further down the hallway, since our own room was now... "under construction". Other rooms on the floor were smaller so we agreed to sleep separately this time.

The morning after that, I woke up to Zerial bringing me breakfast again. I really didn't know what to make of his behavior. It felt so surreal to have him coming in and out like it was nothing but a daily routine. And WHY all the servitude?! It was making me highly uncomfortable.

I have NEVER seen Ela doing things like this around Noch. She mostly badmouthed him and mumbled to herself about how useless he was and how badly she wanted to clobber him to death. She would be more likely to stab him than bring him a drink.

On the other hand, the training with Noch was going exceptionally well. We have started to implement my element alignment into our sparring sessions. He has also taught me a few incantations for my specific element which I have been taking great interest in.

It had been nearly a week since my herb "incident" in the mountains, and I was pining for another bounty to try my new techniques out on. I've been bugging Noch the entire week for a bounty, but he kept brushing me off and saying that nothing was available. Even though I could clearly see the heaps of bounty papers staked on either side of his desk.

"Argh!" I yelled out in frustration while throwing my arms over my head. "I can't take it any more! There has to me a bounty for me somewhere on that desk!"

Nelia made a humming noise in the back of her throat as she patted down the soil around a new seedling. Yes, I didn't really have anything better to do than to bellyache to my poor sister who couldn't care less.

I had followed her dejectedly into the garden at the back of The Order in the hopes that she would at least be a tiny bit sympathetic to my plight, and also mostly because I didn't have anything better to do at that moment. My hopes were dashed within the first 5 seconds of ranting though. She was completely engrossed in the garden and her new seedlings.

"Why not riffle through the stacks of Bounties yourself and have a look?" She suggested offhandedly.

I raised my eyebrow at this little suggestion. Nelia was never one to egg me on into trouble. "The sentiment is nice Nelia, but I have beat you to it. Mission failure on that front."

She gave an amused snort. "Hand me that pot over there."

"You should have seen it Nelia. The nerve of that man! I swear!" I exclaimed while handing her a clay pot that had been standing next to my feet.

"While I was snooping, he suddenly came falling into his chair from the ceiling with a peeved expression already fixed on his face. It must have been Strider. That cat always had a knack for catching me in the act. I swear, one day I will find out how Noch manages to move through the order like a blasted poltergeist. We already have enough of them roaming about the place, he doesn't need to be one as well."

Throughout my speech, Nelia had been filling the pot with some loose soil. "You aren't even listening are you?"

"I am. It's true that we do have a few noisy spirits hanging around, but Noch is flesh and blood. Sadly you aren't able to exorcise him just yet. Also, you did break into his office and riffle through the documents on his desk."

"You just suggested that I do just that!!!" I yelled accusingly while pointing to her.

She gave a shrug. "You are easy to read, and even if I suggested something else, you would have resulted to trespassing anyway. I'm sure a bounty will be coming your way not too long from now. In the meantime," she heaved the now filled pot into my arms "you can help me out in the garden. We also need to do some harvesting for antiseptic herbs."

I gave a long suffering groan as I followed her to the next patch of herbal beddings near an ancient Sylvan tree in the middle of the garden. "Cheer up Meri, enjoy the peaceful time you have now for as long as you can. I bet you will be drowning in bounty requests before you know it." She said with a giggle.

"You know what? I believe that Noch is sadistic enough to do just that. Make me suffer in my restlessness now only to dump unmanageable amounts of work on me when I actually want peace."

"I must agree with you on that statement my Lady."

Nelia gave a squeak and I just about jumped out of my skin when we heard Zerial's deep voice come up behind us. Before I could even turnaround and face him, he snatched the pot right out of my grasp and smiled as if he had been a part of the conversation from the very beginning.

"Where did you come from?!"

"The Ether my Lady." He answered honestly while giving me a funny look, like I must have known the answer all along.

"No-what I mean, is- Urgh!" This angelic was certainly going to drive me crazy one day.

"I think what Meri is trying to ask is, why you are following her about wherever she goes? And take over small tasks from her, like taking a pot that she was carrying and carrying it in her place instead?" Nelia pointed out while eyeing the pot that had ended up in Zerial's sturdy hands.

"YES! THAT!" I yelled while pointing to Nelia in agreement.

"I refuse to let my Lady handle laborious tasks. They are too far beneath her to warrant her attention." Zerial genuinely seemed to believe what he was saying.

"I was actually meaning to ask you. Why do you feel such a strong need to serve me? I'm still not even sure if I'm really your Lady or if you're just mistaking me for her."

I almost felt bad after saying that. Zerial's face lost its cheeriness and he looked slightly dejected. The look soon fell away though as he looked me in my eyes.

"I serve you My Lady, because you gave me something precious beyond words, while I was in my darkest frame of mind, and on the verge of loosing my glory and truly turning into a cursed fallen."

Zerial didn't waver in the slightest. His eyes were steady and sure, never breaking my gaze. He believed every word he said, and he was rock solid in his belief that I was indeed the one that accepted his oath of Guardianship and saved him. His words tugged at my heartstrings, and made feelings of sadness, and joy well up from within me. Still, I had no clear feeling of confirmation in me to say for sure that it was me. I had no memories of a past life, and if I did, I was sure that his being here would have opened up a floodgate of some sort at least.

He smiled sadly down at me. "The bond that a Guardian shares with his charge, is unlike any other bond you can find in this realm. We are bound to the soul of the person we have chosen to safeguard. There is never mistaking one soul for another, no matter what mortal form that soul resides in at any given point in time. That is how I know that it is truly you, who is my one and only Lady."

I almost felt choked up at his words. I felt that it was so unfair to him that I have no memory of ever meeting him before now if all this were indeed true.

"How many past lives has Meri lived Hezerial? Both her and I have never really shown any signs of having lived past lives before." Nelia asked when she saw that I was incapable of saying anything back.

He gave a sly smile that most definitely didn't suit the current situation. "I promised not to tell." with a wink he started walking again to our original destination.

"That's not a satisfying answer!" I yelled at his back while he happily waltzed away with my pot.

Nelia's giggle had me turning my glare to her instead. "Oh come now Meri. I'm sure he will come clean with all his secrets at some point."

I couldn't help but feel a shiver of foreboding skitter down my back at her harmless remark. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered if I really did want to know about my past lives that Zerial kept referring to. Maybe keeping what was forgotten buried, was better than tilling it back up.

"Merianna!" I nearly jumped out of my skin once again at Noch's booming voice that shattered the quiet of the garden.

"What?!" I turned and shouted back reflexively with clenched fists.

"I have a bounty that has your name written all over it!" He said with a devious grin.

"I know I should be happy, but why does it feel like you are sending me to the slaughter?" I asked suspiciously while walking up to him.

"Oh who knows. Maybe you are overreacting to my charmingly good looks." His devilish snicker was not lost on me.

"Or maybe I'm just getting smart enough to recognize trouble when I see it."

"Trouble? Me? You jest." With a flourish he pulled out a rolled parchment and shoved it in my face.

I snatched it out of his hand and started reading the fluid scribble of quilled words. "This looks like your handwriting." I remarked.

"Mhm." Noch hummed in agreement.

"This is your name at the bottom of the request." I noted.

"Mhm." He hummed again.

"This is a request for spying." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well..." Noch hedged. "Not exactly spying per say. I need someone small enough to fit into tight spaces if needed and with common features that could blend into a crowd."

My eyebrow twitched. "Common? My hair is white blonde. My eyes are practically silver. And you say I won't stand out in a crowd?"

"All we need to do is dye your hair and eyebrows black, and you will be as common as they come where I plan on sending you." His grin was so big that I wondered if his lips might start splitting at the edges and become even wider.

The bounty did look decent, and I have wondered previously what I would look like with black hair. But first... "What will I get as a reward?"

His grin actually got impossibly wider. "How does a customized scythe of your own sound?"

"I'm in."

Noch laughed. He knew that I had been pining after the Rune Reaper for years now, but still he refuses to part with it. Nothing better to get me off his back than to give me my own scythe.

"I shall accompany My Lady. After the last "bounty" you assigned to her, I don't believe that I can trust you with having her safety well on the forefront of your mind." Zerial announced with a scalding look directed to Noch.

"She's a big witchling, she can take care of herself. And besides, this bounty is only for information gathering. Nothing threatening in that, is there?" Noch shrugged.

"That depends on the area you intend to send her to." Zerial did have a point there. The mountain was enough of a reminder.

"Just the boarders of a normal witch coven to the east. I smell something fishy in the air, and I would like to know what it is." He said with a grin. I had the distinct feeling that Noch was actually more informed on what was happening than he let on.

"I'll take it." It would be great to be in on the loop and find out what Noch was involved in these days.

"But my Lady!" Zerial interjected.

"No. This is my decision to make. If you are so worried about my safety, then you don't need to worry. You can stay in the Ether until I call for you. That won't be a problem would it?"

Zerial pondered my suggestion for a minute and then sagged his great wings in resignation. "It is as you say my Lady."

"Very well then! Let us go and turn your hair black! I'm dying to see how it will turn out." Noch said happily as he clapped his hands together.

"Not dying fast enough though." I retorted as I started making my way back to the castle with everyone on my heels.

"Now that was just hurtful!" Nelia laughed at Noch's retort as he pouted the rest of the way.