By the time their second ’training’ session was over, the night was almost gone.

Damon barely managed an hour of sleep before the sun had risen, and a soft knock came at his door, soft enough that it might have been missed if he’d been sleeping properly, which he wasn’t.

He became aware of two things at the exact same time. The soft knock at his bedroom door and the faint weight on his chest.

Ning Xiaoyu was still asleep, her dark hair spread across his shoulder, her breathing slow and even in the particular way of someone who had no intention of waking up for at least another hour.

The knock came again, slightly louder this time.

Her eyes opened.

For a single unguarded moment, the expression that crossed her face was one he’d never seen from her before. It was pure, undisguised panic, the kind that bypassed composure entirely and went straight to instinct.

She dropped behind the bed almost immediately.

Damon stared at the space she’d occupied a second ago, then at the floor where she was now presumably hiding, and then finally at the door.

He got up and opened it.

The attendant at the threshold was young, unfamiliar, and doing an admirable job of keeping her eyes at a professional height, though they did drift, briefly and involuntarily, to the state of the bed behind him.

"Lady Aria has requested to see you," she said carefully. "She also asked for Ning Xiaoyu to come with you."

"Sure," Damon replied without a pause.

The attendant nodded and left with the practised efficiency of someone who had decided not to form any opinions about what she’d seen.

Damon closed the door the second she left and turned around.

Ning Xiaoyu was already standing. Unlike a few moments ago, she was now wearing her armour, with her longsword already on her back. But there was something about her that made her composure seem rather forced. Her already pale by nature face grew even paler.

"Aria wants to see us," Damon finally said.

"I heard."

The second she replied, the girl was already moving toward the door. Damon decided not to linger behind, and after summoning his armour, he followed after her.

The walk to the throne room was quiet. Ning Xiaoyu’s pace was slightly faster than usual, which was the only sign that anything was different, but Damon chose not to mention it.

When they entered the small but luxurious chamber, Aria was already waiting.

She sat on her throne with the same crossed legs manner, her heel hanging off her foot as she played around with it. Her green eyes moved between the two of them as they entered, with an expression that said she had already reached several conclusions and found them all amusing.

"Good morning," she said pleasantly. "I trust you both slept well."

Ning Xiaoyu remained silent. She nodded her head slightly in a greeting, and her face stayed completely neutral, and despite all that composure, Aria’s smile widened as if she already knew the answer.

"You asked to see us," Damon said, coming to a halt just in front of the throne.

"I did," she replied, her gaze locking purely on Damon now. "I’ve made my decision..." She took an unnecessary pause before giving her answer, watching Damon’s expression harden as he awaited on what she had to say. "The truce is accepted."

The simple answer caught Damon slightly off guard. For a second, he wanted to ask what changed, clearly remembering the girl’s visit and conditions for truce, he didn’t quite understand, but then she shook the idea away.

No point in making his life harder by questioning her decision.

"You made a wise decision," he finally said.

Aria waved a hand slightly, as though gratitude was a formality she found mildly unnecessary.

"Oh, and one more thing..." her smile slightly widened. "Ning Xiaoyu will go with you. Consider her the representative of our citadel. She will help deal with the matter of the quest."

Damon glanced briefly at Ning Xiaoyu, whose expression had remained carefully neutral throughout the conversation. As though the decision made no difference to her.

"I can agree to that," he said.

Aria nodded, satisfied.

She then leaned down a little, putting her loose high heel back on before rising from her throne. With the same unhurried ease she did everything else, she took a moment to smooth her mini dress before descending the small steps toward them, stopping only when she was merely a step away from Damon.

"You’ll leave today, I assume," she said.

"Yes."

"Then I won’t keep you." She looked at him for a moment with the expression that always implied she knew considerably more than she was saying.

Then her gaze shifted to Ning Xiaoyu.

Something passed between them, it was a brief and wordless communication that only existed between two people who had known each other long enough to have an entire language in a single look.

Then, without saying a single word to the member of her citadel that she was sending away, she turned back toward Damon. "Take good care of her."

The way she said it left considerable room for interpretation, but Damon nodded nonetheless.

Aria turned without wasting a second, the clicking of her high heels echoing across the entire chamber as she walked back toward the throne with her usual unhurried manner.

Ning Xiaoyu wasn’t much different.

The second she saw Aria turn around, she too was ready to leave, heading back toward the exit without waiting for Damon who lagged a step behind.

The two of them made a short stop at their rooms, grabbing whatever they thought necessary, which for Damon was basically nothing and for Ning Xiaoyu was a large backpack filled to its absolute limits.

"Let’s go," she said as she stepped out of her room.

Unlike in the throne room, there was now something different about her expression. A faint warmth that hadn’t been there before, like someone trying not to show they were pleased about a certain outcome.

This time, Damon didn’t lag behind, and the two of them wasted no time heading for the teleportation device outside the castle and leaving the citadel above the clouds.