Chapter 126: Chapter 112 – Parting for the Night

"Probably because I became what I am in a fundamentally different way than the Unliving, I find myself unable to share much of their attachment to their mortal forms, and the enjoyments linked with it. To be fair, I do enjoy a good meal from time to time, while some of the unliving - especially those that originated from my domain - had favored to remain in skeletal form, probably emulating myself. I… am not sure what to think of their obvious idolatry towards me when it reached such an extent." - Nec Aarin, The Bone Lord.

Without Aideen realizing, she spent the next few hours chatting while snacking together with Artair, even as the festivities came to a peak around them, then started to wind down. Neither cared that much for the festivities, as they just sat, ate, drank, and traded stories with one another. Probably it was because he was related to Myrddin who Aideen had known for a long while, that she felt comfortable talking to him.

 

To be fair, Artair was a pretty good conversationalist, and it had been a long time since Aideen had just sat down and talked with someone outside of her few remaining family… or grandpa Aarin. Perhaps that also let her relax a bit and simply talk freely with him instead of worrying about the burdens on her shoulder.

 

Maybe it was also the alcohol she allowed to affect her mildly, but talking to Artair, who was pretty much a stranger to her, was a bit of a relief, compared to talking with people who had known her for decades now and thus were accustomed to her worries.

 

She herself shared some of the lesser issues that bugged her, only to find sincere encouragement from him, supportive words where he felt certain that someone like her would be able to overcome her troubles with time. In a sense that is true, for time was the one thing she possessed in plenty.

 

By the time they stopped talking and parted ways amicably because they noticed the festivities dying down around them, it was nearly midnight, and most of the townspeople had already gone back home, with mostly junior members of the clergy left as they cleaned things up.

 

Aideen and Artair said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways after exchanging addresses and Aideen telling him to seek her out in case he had some trouble he couldn't solve. She figured it would be the least she could do for the grandson of an old acquaintance like Myrddin.

 

"Heeey, aunty Aideen~" Mimia said when she ran across the half elven girl on her way to the palace interior. Mimia had been walking slowly, clearly somewhat inebriated from how she slightly staggered as she walked, and from the smell of alcohol im her breath. The girl was holding Éirynn up with one of her arms around her shoulders, as the latter was clearly much drunker than her spouse. "Who's the charmer that got you so happily chatting till midnight?"

 

"What? Oh, you mean Artair? He's Myrddin's grandson," said Aideen in reply as she helped shoulder Éirynn's other arm and the two practically carried the slender girl between them. Aideen didn't have to lower herself since Éirynn was as tall as she was, though notably slimmer and lighter. All three women were roughly the same height, fortunately, which made supporting Éirynn between them as she drunkenly stumbled forward less awkward. "And you two really need to drink less, I say."

 

"Didn't even know old sir Myrddin had one," mumbled Mimia under her breath as they walked. Éirynn in between them didn't join the conversation as she was barely conscious, and only stumbling along as she was half carried purely by instinct. "And hey, it's a celebration! Would be bad manners to go to one and not drink till you're drunk as a skunk!"

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"So you're saying I have bad manners huh? Maybe I ought to discipline you girls a bit more as your elder…" muttered Aideen with a smirk. She naturally wouldn't take half drunken words to heart, but teasing the girls during their next sparring session was definitely fair game, all considered. A little petty teasing was what family is for after all. "And yeah, apparently sir Myrddin only found out himself when Artair arrived here four years ago. He lived in Elmaiya before that."

 

"Oh right, now I vaguely remember him having a daughter I saw a few times when I was young since she was my age or so," Mimia said after some thought, the girl looking nowhere near what someone in her fifties should look like, though that was mostly because of her half elven heritage. "Did remember that I never saw her much after I returned from Vitalica, and never met her again after I turned twenty. Sir Myrddin didn't seem like he wanted to explain why so we never asked."

 

"He was always quiet about his private life, indeed," said Aideen in agreement to Mimia. Lately the younger girl had been addressing her as "auntie" since by her logic, she's married to Aideen's niece, so it wouldn't do to call her "big sister" like when she was younger. "Anyway, let's get this drunk sleepyhead tucked into her bed. She's going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow unlike us."

 

"You're right, auntie. Wouldn't do to leave her on a bench somewhere and make her even grouchier than need be," replied Mimia with a quiet laugh. Éirynn and Mimia had gotten along tremendously well even for a couple, though both loved to play silly pranks on one another at times. She honestly somewhat envied their close relationship. "Uh-oh. I think she fell asleep. Can you help me lift her leg up so we don't end up dragging her through the dust?"

 

"Sure," nodded Aideen as she noticed that her niece was indeed fast asleep even as they carried her along, even with a slight line of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. With her left hand she held up both of Éirynn's legs by the thigh, a feat she could do easily enough, and the two of them carried her sitting like that to the bedroom Éirynn and Mimia shared.

 

After she put Éirynn down on the bed, Aideen bid Mimia farewell, leaving it to her to tuck in her niece, as she herself made her way to the room reserved for her use at the palace of bones. That night she had one of the most peaceful slumber she has had in the past decade or so.

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