Lala’s chest stung. It had been stinging for a while now. The pain was familiar but strange at the same time. She knew what this sensation was, and for anyone who knew what to look for, it was also the easiest way to spot those who were bonded to Him. Even the Lady had the curl of her lips falter whenever their human was near. It was akin to witnessing an eclipse, the very light dimming until Barry moved elsewhere.

“Do something.”

The Lady spoke with iron in her voice, and Lala bowed.

“I am not sure how I can be of help.” The tinkerer responded, shivering.

“You are the second closest to him. Be honest, and hopefully that will be enough.” The Lady’s temper faltered as they both could feel the man with flaming red hair approaching.

“And if…” Lala hesitated, lowering his voice. “… it’s not?”

“Then remind him of the mission. He is our best hope to obtain the aid we need to heal the great Lady through non-violent means.”

Lala grimaced, but nodded, sauntering off while the Lady left to avoid meeting with Barry. The relationship between their leader and her bond-partner was one many would speculate upon, but Lala knew none would really understand until they were bonded to him.

She knew it had come as a surprise when she had first noticed it.

A slow, almost hesitant touch of emotions. A sensation not unlike warmth. It had only been fleeting the first time she’d felt it, a day or so after the bond had formed. Back then, Lala had merely dismissed it as nothing more than her imagination, but it had returned, slowly but surely. The more time she spent with Barry, the greater the warmth, the more frequent the sensation that spurred her into action. It, somehow, made training less taxing, and her focus sharper.

The boost in… everything had not been the only effect. She’d felt closer to the others, even to the Lady herself. It was an unspoken thing, a look in the eye, a little secret. Some removed their collars as a way to openly boast to the rest of the Court. A few kept their old useless things for propriety, or perhaps to keep the truth hidden. Lala herself hadn’t much cared, and often would put it on out of habit, but many days she’d forget.

But they realized this gift came with a risk the day the Valkyrie had been killed.

At the time, the Lady had roused every guard and soldier with her commands, but a third of them had spurred into action before she’d even spoken the words. They had felt it in their bones, the danger to Barry. And the blow that came after, of his sadness, of his pain.

Lala knew, deep inside of her, that this was something that went past what the Lady herself appeared to realize. A third, a third of the court’s fighting force, was bonded to Barry, and they had been unflinching in coming to his aid like the clap of thunder. What would the great Lady say when she woke and realized so much of her Court was in such a state?

It was a consideration Lala suspected not even the Lady herself had given much thought. The great Lady was many things, but kind to humans was not amongst them.

“Barry.”

The young human with flaming hair had been wandering off towards the edges of the Court. Again. Lala had stopped him this time, rather than just watching him leave again.

“Do you need anything?”

His smile was a struggle, his gaze distant. If the bond hadn’t been there to remind her of the sting inside her chest, she would have still felt it. “Yes. You.”

“… why?”

“Because you’re like a Doggirl that was left out in the rain.” She pulled at his hand.

“I was going to talk with Kajou…”

The girl from the Coven, who’d locked herself away from the rest. Lala found no pity for the Amazoness, nor empathy. Not when she and the Valkyrie were the cause of this whole mess to begin with.

“Then I stand corrected. You’re a Doggirl that’s intentionally going to meet the rain and then locking herself out.”

He put some resistance in his steps, but she didn’t slow any. “Lala, I appreciate the gesture, but-.”

“She’s grieving her sister’s stupidity, and you’re just sucking up the sad because you feel guilty.”

“Lala, I-.”

“Did I ever tell you about my family?” She ignored his attempt to talk. He was too kind in that regard, but she would use it. “My mother was born back when the Court was still being chased, when they were nothing more than scattered refugees. Do you know how maidens avoid being captured or going feral when we only have submission collars?”

Barry shook his head.

“Humans can’t form many bonds, not unless they happen to be nobility. So when maidens are on the run, they usually have to share a single human amongst all of them.” Her fingers touched her throat, raising her chin to show him the lack of a collar. “They kneel, they grovel, they kiss the human’s feet and pretend to beg, enough to feel a twinge of defeat, and then, minutes after the bond forms, they remove the collar and pass it to the next maiden.”

“But wouldn’t the bond…?”

“It would break instantly, yes.” Lala nodded, holding back the sigh of relief as she realized Barry was relaxing and paying attention. “But it would buy time. A week or so before they went feral. That’s how my mother lived. One week after the next, the curse pushing her to insanity before she’d have to grovel to whatever human they’d managed to kidnap. Beg for another week of sanity.”

“That’s…”

“She was pregnant with me at the time.” Lala continued, eyes roaming around. “She told me that I was the only reason she found the strength to keep going.”

“What… happened?”

There it was, that kindness, that concern for others.

“The shakes took her.” Lala shook her head, dismissing the emotions stirring within her chest. “She didn’t manage to recover and eventually she… withered.”

“I’m so-.”

“My point-” She interrupted, breath fiery as she turned to face him, pulling his hand closer to herself. “-is that my mother was perfectly aware of what she was doing. She was nearly feral half the time, and she fought on because it was her conviction.”

His eyes widened. “If-.”

“No.” she declared. “Barry, the Valkyrie hated humans, all of them, yourself included. She had her chance to live, and she threw it away over stupid blindness.”

“And my actions put her in that position.”

“And will you back off if doing the right thing means someone will get hurt?” Lala responded in turn. “If I were enslaved and freeing me meant someone lost their livelihood? Because that’s what you’re fighting for.”

Barry blinked.

“There are thousands upon thousands of humans out there whose life depends exclusively on maidens being crushed under them. Will you stop trying to free those maidens because those people will starve when the girl uses her freedom and leaves?”

He became quiet, but Lala knew she didn’t need to say anything else. The heavy darkness in his heart that had stung in her chest was dissipating as his emotions stirred in a different direction.

“The Court needs you.” She spoke. “We must find a healer for the great Lady, and the alternatives are dangerous. I don’t like having to tell you this, but the Lady asked me to remind you.”

“When?”

“We leave for Seledo as soon as you’re ready.”