Chapter 131: Champion, Chapter 62: Old Traditions, New Methods

Aidan

The Realms

Secondday, 3rd week of the 10th month, Age of the Chosen 1

Noon

Outside Caellach Macht, Mistvale Highlands

Once free from his morning lessons with Ailis, Aidan sought out Sunnild. He hadn't seen much of her since defeating the Labyrinth's first boss. Part of that was because she went to the harpy district to get specialized healing for her broken wing. Even after Sunnild returned to her quarters under the hill, however, Aidan only caught the occasional glimpse of her.

A quick question to the guards on duty at Caer Macht's entrance led to Aidan making an expedition out into the burgeoning city. He walked past the open-air court where the City Council continued to hash out formal laws acceptable to all parties. To Aidan's gratification, a small audience of centaurs, harpies, and even catfolk watched from the stands. None of them took notice of him as he passed by with his entourage.

That did not remain the case once they emerged into the central plaza, however. The city's center was by then a popular bazaar and meeting place among the residents, so several dozen people milled around, talking and shopping. Conversations broke off as the speakers spotted Aidan, followed by a rising murmur and a stir of activity.

People turned to watch Aidan, edging closer, pushing children forward to see him. No one approached him, wary of Lail and her fellow guards, but the bravest among them shouted out greetings, queries, and even a request for his blessing. Aidan smiled and waved to the crowd, returning his citizens' greetings, but did not stop.

Quite a change from a few months back when I had to debate someone right outside Brighid's home, Aidan thought to himself. I'm glad I can walk around without being afraid of someone attacking me. Then again, I have even more bodyguards now than then... The thought depressed his mood a little, but Aidan refused to let it take hold of him. Life was good, if stressful.

The same scene repeated in miniature as Aidan walked along the restored city's streets. Every time he passed a cluster of townsfolk, they stopped and watched him. Most offered at least polite greetings, although there were still a handful of people—all centaurs, and even then, none of them warriors—who glared and muttered at his back.

You can please some people most of the time, most people some of the time, but never everyone at once, Aidan reminded himself. There would always be individuals who resented his rise to power, refused to trust him, or disagreed with his policies. As long as all they did was talk and go through proper political channels, they were more than welcome to disagree.

Aidan was sure that most of the townsfolk didn't realize it, but he wanted to encourage dissent. Even leaving aside his confidence issues, his parents taught him to mistrust echo chambers. Ideas needed the same sort of natural selection as living creatures did; if a plan or project was born with only closely-allied thoughts as its foundation, it would crumble when exposed to the wider world. Only through healthy competition would things stand the test of time.

The people of the Highlands, or at least his corner of it, weren't ready for true democracy yet. According to his political studies with Ailis, representative government wasn't an unknown concept in the Realms, but variations of feudalism and dictatorships were by far the most common.

It made sense, too. This was a world where power was quantifiable. There was logic following someone strong enough to enforce their claim with their own strength, especially given how dangerous the world could be. When dragons came from who-knew-where to conquer your land, you needed someone who could protect you. When you didn't know when that might happen, it made sense to look to those protectors for leadership.

The apparent existence of magical bloodlines that were superior, in turn, promoted aristocracy. Back on Earth, aristocrats relied on tradition to support their superiority. Here in the Realms, according to both Ailis and his own Progenitor specialization description, there were inheritable Traits that provided significant advantages to their lineage.

And when the world itself enforced land ownership, that added yet another bit of mortar to the oligarchic wall. No one could dispute the fact that Aidan owned Ceallach Macht and its surrounding land. Whether he should own it, yes, but not that he did.

Even with all those factors in favor of hereditary aristocracy, Aidan was still sure that absolute rulership was the wrong path. It was too easy for an absolute monarch to fall into the echo chamber trap. No, Aidan had no intention of taking the easy route. For Ceallach Macht to prosper in the long term, he had to show his people that their voices had weight and meaning.

Aidan's musings were cut short as he caught sight of sunlight glinting from metallic wings. He raised his hand to shade his eyes and squinted, trying to make out what Sunnild was doing out here beyond the inhabited sector of the city. His curiosity was answered when he saw an inky tendril of dark magic surge skyward in pursuit of his lover.

Sunnild spun in mid-air, spiraling out of the way of Wulfryn's attack, then pulled her wings in and dove toward the ground. An umbral dome sprang up in her path, forcing Sunnild to pull up, which put her in the way of the shadowy tentacle as it whipped downward. Aidan winced as Sunnild plummeted toward the ground, but Wulfryn's magic formed a net underneath the falling woman, catching her before she could be hurt.

By the time Aidan got close enough to talk, Sunnild's feathers were back to their usual grey hue, and she and Wulfryn were performing cooldown stretches. Ysbail watched the pair from nearby, taking an occasional sip from a canteen. Rather than interrupt the harpies' exercise, Aidan made his way to stand next to the oversized Adventurer.

"Found yourself another disciple, eh?"

Ysbail smirked. "I seem to be collecting misfit Sisters, yes. I hope you do not have a problem with it?"

Aidan raised his hands to ward off the question. "No, no, not at all. I take it she came to you and asked you to train her?"

"Yeah. She was not happy with her performance against Rakkatorak. Rather than try to argue with her—she did fine, really—I decided to let the two of them tire each other out. What Sunnild lacks is confidence for the most part. The Sisterhood did a number on her."

Ysbail's face twisted into a scowl at that last. Aidan nodded, his own lips tightening in displeasure. "I'm glad she's found a new friend, doubly so with Wulfryn being another harpy. I worried a bit that she would become too isolated and dependent on Brighid and me. And I appreciate you taking the time to help her."

It was Ysbail's turn to wave off Aidan's words. "No worries, boss. If everything goes to plan, I will have a whole pack of them soon enough." At Aidan's questioning glance, the centaur shook her head and chuckled. "I forgot to mention it to you? The reason I am so keen on exploring the Labyrinth is for my Prestige Class Quest."

"Oh?" Aidan tore his eyes away from admiring the way Sunnild's shirt clung to her sweat-soaked curves and arched an eyebrow at Ysbail.

"Yeah, I could have completed a different one years ago, but the Class I want required me to lead a party through five consecutive levels of the same dungeon. Until the Labyrinth, I never found one around here with enough levels—wild dungeons tend to start spilling out into the countryside by the time they get a third floor. The Starchaser Council prefers to prune them before they even got to a second."

"And what Class are you aiming for?"

Ysbail's teeth gleamed white. "Guildmaster. I know that the human Kingdoms to the south have established adventuring Guilds that function like a cross between a school, a tribe, and an army. I have always believed that is one of the things that keeps them stronger than us."

She already had Aidan's attention, but the mention of a school got him excited. "And once you get your new Class, you plan to start one here?"

"Assuming I have the boss-man's permission," Ysbail responded with a teasing smirk.

"Not only do you have my permission, you have my enthusiastic support! I've been considering how to get formal schooling started here and coming up blank. As long as you're willing to teach them more than just fighting and looting, I'll foot the bill for your Guildhall."

Ysbail shrugged and said, "I may be the best Teacher in the Starchasers, but I can only teach what I know. Mostly, that means identifying monsters, swinging my sword, butchering the leftovers, and enjoying the profits. If you want the Guild to teach math or history or whatever, you will need to find someone qualified to do it. I have no objection to the idea, though."

"Deal," Aidan agreed. "I'll send some feelers out. It's too bad Ailis is so busy; she could teach both magic and history."

Ysbail threw her head back and laughed. "If you even mention taking on yet another job to her, Ailis might turn you into a newt, Vassal or no."

Aidan opened his mouth to retort that he'd get better, but a pair of sweaty arms wrapping around his waist interrupted him. He turned and hugged Sunnild back as she beamed up at him. "Hi!" she chirped, then tilted her head back and pursed her lips.

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Never one to ignore such an obvious invitation, Aidan dipped his head down and kissed Sunnild, smiling against her lips as she wriggled happily in his arms. "Hi you," Aidan replied a moment later. "I missed you the last few days, so I decided to hunt you down. Have you been doing this training all day since the Labyrinth?"

"Mm!" Sunnild nodded. "I need ta get better. I know you and Ysbail don't agree, but I was a liability. You would've been better off with Anwn or Ceirios or Ailis or Brighid along. I don't want to be the one holding everyone back again, so I decided to do something about it. Wulfryn saw me trying to train myself and ... invited me to join her here."

Aidan snickered at the short pause in Sunnild's explanation. "She volunteered you, did she? Still, it looks like she's a good training partner for you."

"Mm! I haven't managed to beat her yet, but I will soon." Sunnild dropped her arms from around Aidan's waist and tried to take a step back, but Aidan held her tight. She giggled and smacked his chest, saying, "Lemme go, I'm getting you all sweaty!"

"Don't care. I'm going through Sunnild withdrawals, and the only cure is a solid hour of snuggling with my favorite songbird."

"Aww, you two are so cute!" Aidan looked up to see Wulfryn smiling at him.

"You two don't mind if I borrow Sunnild for a while, do you?" Aidan asked Ysbail and Wulfryn.

"Go on," laughed Ysbail. "But if you wear her out, you will be taking her place this afternoon. You need some combat training yourself, Lord Aidan."

"I need training in everything, but there aren't enough hours in the day. You can go argue with Ailis if you want to make your case."

"Pass."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't worry, I'll return her in the condition she's leaving in. In fact, we won't be going far; I just want to get in my daily dose of sunshine."

"Cute!" repeated Wulfryn with a wide grin. Sunnild ducked her head, hiding against Aidan's shoulder. She still clung tight to him, however, Aidan noted with a soft internal smile.

A few minutes later, Aidan drew a tablecloth out of his haversack, followed by a plate full of finger foods. "Lunch is served, my lady," he intoned.

"Thank you, kind sir," she replied, then plopped down cross-legged onto the tablecloth.

Aidan sat to Sunnild's right, slipping his left arm around her waist and plucking a steak kabob from the plate in front of them. He held it up to Sunnild's mouth for her to take the first bite from, then ate the next himself.

Sunnild leaned into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Her cuddliness combined with her enthusiastic greeting earlier eased Aidan's heart. He'd been worried about what her reaction would be once he tracked her down, but clearly, she wasn't upset with him.

After feeding his lover a few more mouthfuls, Aidan broached the subject. "I'm happy that you've made a new friend and that you're working to improve yourself, even if I think you're not giving yourself enough credit," he began. "That said, Brighid and I have been worried about you. Neither of us has seen more than a glimpse of you for the last few days. Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

When Sunnild didn't answer right away, Aidan added, "If you don't want to, that's fine too. We just want you to know that we love you and miss you."

"No, it's okay," Sunnild responded, shaking her head against Aidan's shoulder. "I was just trying to figure out what ta say." She took a deep breath, then let it out in a prolonged sigh. "I think it's how sudden everything changed on me. Don't get me wrong," she hurried to add, "I don't regret our relationship at all! But..."

Sunnild sighed again and nestled deeper into Aidan's embrace. "I feel like I've lost my foundation. Back at the Ayrie, I knew what was up, what was down, how to act and react. Life here with you is so much better that I can't express it, but at the same time, I dunno the rules anymore."

Aidan nodded and kissed her forehead but let Sunnild speak uninterrupted.

"Like, fer example, ya told me that I wouldn't get ta sleep with you an' Brighid right away. And that's fine, I understand. But then I find out that Aoife sleeps in yer chambers, even though ya gave her a place elsewhere. I'm not jealous, but I wonder what's different, ya know?"

Aidan winced. Yeah, he deserved that. He could shove Brighid under the bus since technically it'd been her decision, but that would be dishonest. Everyone involved knew that he could've put a stop to it if he wanted.

Instead, he said, "For the record, she has her own bed in a different room. But that doesn't change anything since we could have done the same for you. There are some extenuating circumstances—you don't have sudden attacks of intense pain if I say or do the wrong thing—but in the end, it's because I'm a weak man when it comes to affairs of the heart. She presented it to me as fact, Brighid backed her up, and I didn't have the will to tell them both no."

"Hmm. So, if I showed up with my nest cushions and a few changes of clothes and told ya that I'm moving in, you'd let me?" Sunnild squirmed around until she sat astride his lap. Wide gray eyes shimmered at Aidan from mere inches away.

"... I plead the fifth," Aidan hedged.

"I'll take that as a yes." Sunnild's lips pressed against Aidan's, followed a heartbeat later by her tongue. Minutes passed before the young harpy leaned back away from the kiss.

"That helps, but it was just an example. I'm in a situation where none of my old knowledge works anymore. Back in the Ayrie, I was the coward, the last one picked for any job, a virgin who would never find a man, let alone gather a harem. Now it's all different, and I need to figure out how to make it fit together again."

Aidan nodded. That all made sense. It still left him with one question, however. "I understand. Why have you made yourself a stranger, though? Brighid was beside herself last night when she couldn't find you for your date."

Sunnild stiffened, her eyes going wide. "Wait, today's Firstday, isn't it? That's tonight, right?" At Aidan's solemn headshake, she moaned in despair and buried her face against his chest. "Please forgive me! I lost track of the date! Oh, I need to do something to make it up to her!"

Aidan laughed and squeezed her tight. It looked like there wasn't any trouble in paradise after all.

Zurai

Aidan's current status screen:

Sunnild's current status screen:

Pronunciation Guide (infinitesimal spoiler warning, names only without any details)

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