The Demon King said to call him Papa

Chapter Eleven: Sparring

"Papa!" I couldn't help but be excited to see him; his long hair was pulled back behind his shoulders as he seemed to shine in the sunlight.

"Soraya." He bent down to pick me up, one hand checking my forehead as I settled into his arms. "I can see that you are feeling better but why did you come out so far?"

"I-i wanted to s-see you..." my words trailed off a little as I met his concerned eyes; I couldn't help but clench onto my dress- did this bother him?

"Oh?" Papa chuckled a little as he started to walk. "I see." 

"Papa?" I saw that his face was strangely shiny. "A-are you f-feeling oka-ay?" 

"Ah, I must be sweaty." Papa flicks his wrist and familiar sparkles lightly covered him before disappearing. "That must of been uncomfortable."

"N-no!" I shook my head hard. "I-i was j-just worried...." 

I looked down, embarrassed until I felt light pats on my head and slowly met his eyes. 

"I was just doing a little bit of sparring." Papa smiles down at me as we entered a large open area with sounds of sticks hitting wooden figures on poles, a circle in the middle of the space with two people fighting. 

I looked towards them, seeing that they were hitting each other with their fists and flinching each time I heard the impact from the blows. 

"...." 

I could hear someone call out to me as my eyes stayed glued on the two figures, one spitting out blood after getting hit in the face. Memories from the beatings at the castle and by Daddy flashed though my mind as my body instinctively flinched as Papa's hand touched my face. 

"Soraya?" Papa's voice finally reached me, chasing away the images. "Are you sure that you are alright?"

"S-sorry Papa." I tried to reassure him, noticing that the two figures had stopped moving and were looking towards us- not a mark on them. "A-are they f-fighting?"

Papa follows my gaze and seems to quickly understand. "No, they were sparring."

"S-sparring?"

"Its training where you practice fighting skills against a opponent with certain rules: like no weapons or actions that could severally injure them." Papa explains patiently as he sits down and arranged me on his lap. "Sparring is for practicing your skills and technique."

"Oh." I leaned back, kind of trying to hide from the gazes that I could feel on me. 

Papa's chest was much warmer then it usually was but it still felt good against my back.

"Aidan. Nadia." Papa's voice ticked me a little as the two figures quickly approached and kneeled before us.

"Yes, your majesty!" Their voice were in unison as their heads bent forward; giving me a clear view of the animal ears on top of their heads which matched their hair color- a shiny grey.

 "The two of you will be protecting Soraya from now on."

Papa looks down at me then does a small head nod. I stared up at him for a moment, not understanding until it dawned on me.

"I-i'm Soraya." I was really glad that I had been practicing. "N-nice to m-meet you."

"My name is Aidan." The person on the left says, raising his head and showing a scar on the side of his lips with two different colored eyes: one blue and the other brown. "It is an honor to serve you."

"I am Nadia." She raises her head revealing an almost identical face to Aidan's with a scar across her right eyebrow and eye that were also two different colors the same as Aidan.