Reborn: Demon's Heritage by D. W. Jackson

look at you.”
    “Like when you were with your mother?” Allice asked leaning against Ash.
    “I never had a mother,” Ash said his face clouding over slightly. Before he knew what was happening, Allice wrapped her arms around Ash.
    “Ash, can you tell me a bit about it?” Allice said looking up at him with her large eyes wavering.
    Looking into her eyes, Ash felt his chest tighten. Not knowing why, Ash told her that he was an orphan and was move around a lot. He told her how alone he had been until he had met Emelia. He left off everything relating to his own world choosing his words carefully. When he finished he felt something trembling at his side. Looking down he noticed that Allice was crying. “What is wrong?” Ash asked slightly worried.
    “Master is not alone,” Allice said hugging him. “Everyone loves master. Lady Emelia, Yuki, Shina, and everyone else loves master. So master isn’t alone anymore,” Allice said in a consoling tone.
    Ash didn’t know why, but he felt warmth spread through his chest when Allice spoke, but he still gave her a wry grin. “What is my name?” Ash asked, though instead of rapping his knuckles on her head he pulled her in for a tighter hug.
    “Ash,” Allice said, looking up and him and giving him a deep kiss.
    When Ash awoke he found Allice still clinging to him and couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t know when, but it was as if something that had been dragging him down had been lifted away. He wasn’t sure when it happened, but looking back on his life in his previous world it never seemed as if he was living. He was just going through the motions. It was much the same way at first in the new world when he learned that people treated him like he didn’t matter when they learned of his demon blood. Now he could see that it wasn’t until he met Emelia that his life had started to change. Ever since then, he had found numerous people that had become part of his family. Looking down on the young woman, who was sleeping contently beside him, with a smile Ash whispered, “I love you.”
    Allice opened her eyes just as he said the words and her cheeks instantly turned a bright red. Though she didn’t say anything, the unfettered smile on her face showed her feelings.
    Ash quickly dressed and after both he and Allice were ready, they had a quick breakfast before heading to the stable to get their horses. Before they were halfway there, the fort commander ran to meet them.
    “Lord Ash, are you leaving already?” the man asked with a panicked expression on his face. “I had been planning to have you go with our next supply run so that they could see to your safety.”
    “Don’t worry about it sir,” Ash said with a smile. “I don’t wish to keep people waiting so I think it would be best if I arrived sooner rather than later.”
    There was little that the commander could say, but as Ash and Allice left it was clear that he wished that Ash would change his mind.

8-6
    It took four days of hard riding for them to reach the main fort. Unlike the others, it was at least four times larger. The front of it was made of mostly stone, but in a few parts Ash could still see wood sticking out. When they approached the front of the fort, five soldiers stepped forward to greet them. After giving them his name and status just like before they quickly ushered him inside while sending a runner to the fort commander.
    The inside of the fort was much different than that of the last one. Not only was it larger with more open ground, there was also far more buildings within. Unlike the outside of the fort, the inside of the fort still had a lot of logs showing where the wall had yet to be completed. The smell of oil and sweat permeated the air, stinging Ash’s nose.
    Ash could feel the eyes of the soldiers on him as they passed through. Most of the looks he noticed seemed curious, but more than a few were obviously hostile, making the hair on the back Ash’s neck stand up. Before Ash