I think somebody snuck anti racism into my stupid romance. What the hell?
«She shook out her hands and approached Fallon at his seat on the table. He looked up at her with a bored expression but kept eating. “You… can talk,” she began slowly. “And… and not just basic words either. Like rational spoken words?”
“I tend to save my mindless screaming for Tuesdays,” he replied coolly.
Usha brought a hand to her cheek in a nervous motion before smoothing her skirts again. “OK, so it would stand to reason that you and other demons like yourself have complex thoughts. Hopes and dreams, just like we do. Not… not just mindless beasts?”
Fallon rolled his eyes and rested his head on his hand. “It would seem so.”
“Oh dear.” The innkeeper began to pace back and forth.
Maybe I should have just lied and said Fallon was a particular case, so we could have just left her out of it. Though there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t kill her just to keep her quiet. Usha was eccentric but had been nothing but kind to us since we got there.
After a moment, she stomped her foot and marched up to Fallon again. Then, with a deep breath to steel her nerves, she bowed her head. “I’m sorry!”
“What?” we asked in unison.
Usha kept her head bowed as she replied. “I’m sorry. While I didn’t take any slaves of my own, I thought nothing was wrong with the practice. I thought demons were just mindless animals, and that was wrong. If destroying Myva’s chalice will break the curse, then I’d like to help you while you are here.”
Oh. That took a turn.
Fallon rose from his chair and clapped a hand on Usha’s shoulder. She flinched and looked up at him. “Thank you,” he said simply.
“Hey, Usha, not that I’m complaining, but why are you agreeing to help us?” I asked. Concern crept into the back of my mind. She really had no reason to jump on board so quickly. She didn’t even know us.
The innkeeper’s smile faded. Her gaze dropped to the floor, and her hands clenched the front of her skirt. “I’ve unknowingly walked past fully sentient people being treated as less than animals and did nothing. If it were me at the end of a chain, I couldn’t imagine the kind of monster that would walk past me and do nothing if they knew the truth.”
Her answer left me speechless for a moment. But she was right. Her logic was simple and just made changing one’s entire worldview seem like a mundane occurrence. Maybe it should be. As much as I’d rather stay out of conflict and live out my life in peace, I don’t think I could walk away from someone suffering in front of me.
“So,” Usha began, turning to me. “What’s the plan?”»
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