Ronin woke with a start. Sitting up, he reached for his mace as he looked around wildly. His mind was a blur, what had happened? He’d been fighting the queen…and… and they’d fallen. She’d landed right on top of him and…
“I thought we talked about this.” Came a quiet, feminine voice from beside his bed. For that’s where he was, Ronin realized only just then. He was lying in the bed he’d slept in the other day. Blinking away his confusion, Ronin looked towards the speaker.
“I told you; you need to work on not passing out after every fight. Didn’t I?” Brie said, from where she sat on the edge of his bed. Ronin blinked in surprise, when he noticed that she was also holding his hand.
He looked down at her forest green fingers intertwined with his. It was the first time that he could remember seeing her hands. Normally, she was completely armored. Except when they were eating or talking together. He could feel the warmth of her hand now, and he froze up, not wanting to scare her into letting go.
“What… um… is K3 ok?” Ronin said, panicking slightly and just spitting out something. Anything, to break the silence. He cursed himself afterwards, why hadn’t he said something about her? Though he really did want to know what had happened to his guard.
“He’s fine.” Brie said with a soft smile. Not seeming to think there was anything wrong with him asking about his man. “He is just there,” she said pointing to the other bed in the room. “He’s still out though. Was further down and got more of the queen’s weight on him. Still, should be up and about soon enough.” Ronin sighed in relief, looking at the sleeping giant. Then turned his attention back to Brie.
“I’m sorry,” Ronin said then. Not really because he was sorry for anything, it just felt like the right thing to say in this situation. “I’ve been… really focused on preparing for the… um… the underground city raid and I...” His stammered apology was cut off, with a slim finger against his lips.
“I understand,” she said soothingly. “I understood then too, really. I was just… I don’t know… it made me angry that you… I really enjoyed our time in the tunnels.” Ronin was having a hard time following her line of thought, but he thought he understood the last part. It had been simpler back when they first arrived. Just a few of them, adventuring… Now, it seemed like he was busy all the time. Had it really only been a few months since then? It felt like longer.
“I know what you mean,” Ronin said taking her hand from his lips into his free hand. Now, she held one of his hands, and he held one of hers. “It seems like everything grew so fast. From not wanting to kill a few goblins, to…” he trailed off, looking out the window at the bustling town square. There were cook pots set up in rows, and everyone was waiting in line for their locust limbs. “What an awful name,” Ronin thought. Still, it kept the people in his growing… kingdom? City state? … fed. Ronin felt warmth radiating out from his hands, raising a flush over his whole body. He felt his mind tingle and he couldn’t form any more words.
He’d read a Japanese light novel once, about a high school couple. Nothing really happened from beginning to end, but it had left him feeling warm and fuzzy all the same. Still, there was a section in that book about holding hands, they’d made it up into such an ordeal. Ronin had laughed at the time, but now he was starting to understand.
“Listen, I…”
“I wanted…”
They both started talking at the same time. Pausing and smiling at each other.
“Sorry you go…”
“You first…”
They did it again, both starting to giggle. Before Ronin motioned with his head for her to start.
“While I wasn’t talking to you, I realized…” before she got more than a sentence in, the door banged open.
“Boss, your awake.” Guts said as he strode in with Harken and two bugbear females. Ronin and Brie snatched their hands apart at the sound of the door, like they were children caught doing something wrong. Guts didn’t seem to notice and kept right on talking. “So, I was talking to Harken about how busy you’ve been lately, and he said why not get some help? Well, I told him how busy everyone in our party was. And that’s when he let me know about Safie and Vasylia here.” Guts continued pointing at the young bugbear women.
“Thanks Guts,” Ronin started to say feeling a chilly glare coming his way from beside him on the bed. “But I don’t really need any assistants right now.” He wanted to politely shut this down as quickly as possible.
“Oh no boss,” Guts said. “You don’t understand. You see these aren’t assistants… they’re your wives.” Ronin glanced at Brie beside him. Her chilly glare had become downright glacial. “Harken told me all about it, you can ask him yourself.” He finished pointing at the old bugbear. Ronin turned his own glare at the old man, who cleared his throat awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, patriarch.” He said, with a shifting glance between Ronin and Owl five. It seemed that the old man had picked up on the tension in the room, even if the goblin hadn’t. “You see… when a new patriarch takes over the clan, he inherits everything that used to belong to the former patriarch. This includes things like his house,” Harken stopped to motion around the house they were in. “Their weapons and armor, any livestock they might have had, and… their wives and children…” He got quieter as he spoke, until he trailed off into awkward silence.
“Yea boss,” Guts said enthusiastically. “I’ve already gone through the rest of the stuff you got. It’s quite the haul, considering Halican hadn’t been patriarch for more than a few weeks. You got both his and the prior patriarch’s stuff. Safie here was Halican’s wife, and Vasylia was Harknor’s… that was the old patriarch’s name.” He added pointing them out. “They didn’t have any kids either. So, they can spend all their time taking care of you, isn’t it great boss?” Before Guts had even finished, Owl five had shoved passed him and left the building.
“What’s with her?” Guts asked, looking after her in confusion. At about that time, K3 sat up with a grunt, and glared at Guts.
“You really need to learn how to read a room, little friend” he said pointedly. Making Ronin wonder just how long the giant had been pretending to sleep, while listening to Ronin and Brie talking. His face flushed in embarrassment, and he turned his attention to the newcomers for something else to focus on.
Safie was slender for a bugbear. With soft curves emphasized below the thin blue fabric she had wrapped around herself like a robe. She was adorned at her waist, neck, and wrists with silver chains with plates hanging from them, that jangled sweetly when she moved. Her hands looked soft, and her silky white fur looked like she spent hours a day brushing it. She had an aloof, uninterested expression on her pretty face.
Vasylia, in stark contrast had mottled fur in rich chocolate brown and black. It was covered with heavy plate armor that was full of cuts and scratches. What fur he saw underneath looked matted down with blood and sweat. She was thickly built, with pronounced muscle and there wasn’t much femininity to be seen from her. Her face was drawn in a glare, which alternated between Ronin, Harken, and Safie.
“Patriarch White flame,” Harken said to break the ice. “This is Safie, and Vasylia.” Pointing to each in turn, he introduced them again. “Safie is the late wife of our latest patriarch Halican. She is considered a rare beauty by our kind.” He said, doing a poor job keeping the distaste from his face. “Vasylia, is my daughter in law. She’s a skilled warrior, and good in the forge.”
* * *
“How did my life end up this way?” He asked K3 over helmet coms sometime later. He’d finally escaped the confrontation with the bugbears and his over-eager cook and was now back in the gate breach with K3. They’d had to make a few rounds before they could escape to combat, but now that he was here, he didn’t plan to leave it again until the ships came back for the final trip.
The queen had to be dealt with, the issue of eating the locusts as well. Everyone except the fighting wood elves were stuffing themselves to the brim with the white meat. Even they were only holding back because of Unyielding oak. Ronin didn’t think it would take long before they started to cave. The bugbears in contrast, were now wholly won over to his side. The aid during their difficult time, saving them from a cruel leader and now giving them food, had secured their loyalty. All except for his two new wives anyway.
“Vasylia told me that she wouldn’t submit to any man who hadn’t bested her in combat.” He ranted, bringing his mace down with enough force to burst the locust’s skull. He tossed it behind him to a pair of eager hands before shield bashing another one. Yet, he never stopped talking throughout. “Like, what does that even mean? When did I ask for any of this, let alone for some woman I’ve never met to submit.”
K3 wisely held his tongue while Ronin ranted. Helping cover for any lapses in his lord’s concentration. Ronin noticed but chose not to comment because he hadn’t finished getting everything off his chest yet.
“So, now I’ll have to have some kind of grappling duel with her. To prove I’m worthy to be her husband or whatever. I can’t believe all the strange customs there are out there… at least I managed to postpone it until after we get back to the valley.” He chucked a locust corpse behind him with such force that it knocked the bugbear who’d been waiting to catch it right off the crate. He gave the poor man a perfunctory ‘sorry’ before getting right back to his rant.
“Still, she’s better than that other one. That Safie.” He was grinding his teeth together while he spoke, words all but unintelligible. “She actually told me that she doesn’t cook, clean or work the forge. But she’d be happy to warm my bed as long as I could provide her with the lifestyle, she has become accustomed to… not just that. Oh no, she said she’d warm my bed under the condition that I was ‘proportional to a bugbear’ like she couldn’t clearly tell I’m more than a foot shorter than the average bugbear.” K3 looked like he wanted to speak up at that, But Ronin went right on without giving him the chance.
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“When did I ask for this?” he asked again, looking at his bodyguard. “It’s not like I even want them in my bed to begin with… When did it come to this? All I wanted to do was earn enough credits to save Markus, while having a little adventure… I feel like I’m stuck now, trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, yet all the while knowing I’m not good enough.”
“She wouldn’t talk to you, would she?” K3 asked after Ronin had finally fallen silent. Touching on the real reason, Ronin was so upset. He didn’t really care about the bugbears or the opposition from the wood elves. He was angry because Owl five had run away and wouldn’t answer his coms.
“No.” He said, slamming his shoulder into a charging locust with enough force to crack its exoskeleton. “I can’t reach her. Not only that, but my responsibilities have me too busy to even try. Yet, at the same time, I’m upset at her for getting so bent out of shape over something that I have no control over… but my chest is just so tight.” He really didn’t understand relationships. Back in the caves there had only been nine kids born within five years of himself, of those only two were girls. Add to that his desire to avoid his peers at all costs. Found him reading books to escape from his day to day life… added up to his current state of cluelessness about the opposite sex.
“Give her time my lord,” K3 said as he continued to battle beside Ronin. “She’s very young, and considering her sexual inhibitor doesn’t work on you, its no wonder she…”
“Hold on,” Ronin said interrupting the Kaldarr. “What did you just say?”
“Lord? I said she is very young and…”
“No, the part about her inhibitor not working on me?” Ronin asked, interrupting him again. His head was spinning, to the point where he missed an incoming attack and suffered a shallow cut for it.
“Watch out,” K3 shouted getting his shield up between Ronin and the attacker. He didn’t say anymore until they had gotten back into the rhythm of combat. Then, “I’m sorry. I Didn’t realize you didn’t know.” He went quiet again, but Ronin had gathered himself and waited for him to continue this time.
“I heard her talking with Owl two about it while he was upgrading my combat effectiveness.” An over simplification if he was referring to the butchery the android had put him through. “She said she was having trouble controlling herself around you but didn’t understand why. She’d been on the inhibitors her whole life it seems and didn’t understand the feelings she was having. Owl two told her that outside influencers couldn’t affect the pair of them in regard to you. Some kind of anti-betrayal system put in place at their forming, or something? … I didn’t really understand that part.” He said with an apologetic shrug.
Ronin was floored, but at the same time it explained everything that had been happening with Brie lately. She was always flipflopping between hot and cold where he was concerned. Getting close to him during a meal, then putting her helmet on and ignoring him for the rest of the day. Waving at him while running laps but refusing to talk with him when he went over. He’d thought she might just be a tsundere, another term he’d learned about in the high school light novel he’d read. Yet, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
“This whole time…” he muttered. His anger had abandoned him, and he only continued to fight on thanks to the muscle memory he’d gained over the several days he’d spent in this spot. “She’s been dealing with unfamiliar emotions that she can’t control.” He swung his mace and shield on auto pilot, unknowingly increasing his kill count even more.
“…Sir?” K3 was trying to ask him something, but he tuned it out. He knew the man meant well, heck, he couldn’t mean ill, even if he wanted to. Still, this wasn’t news that he’d wanted to hear. “Sir, she wasn’t complaining… she just wanted to understand…”
“And so what?” Ronin muttered, partially to himself and partially to answer K3’s words. “She can’t control her own feelings around me… even if she truly did like me, I’d have no way of knowing if it was really her feelings or a result of her biology… I…” he trailed off again. No longer interested in talking.
The next few days passed in a blur while Ronin came to terms with what he’d just learned. Thankfully, he was kept too busy to wallow in self-pity too much. He washed, ate, slept, and killed until the ships finally returned. Owl five had come to see him once, but he’d brushed her off saying he was tired. Likewise, his ‘wives’ also came to talk with him. He left standing orders with his guards after that to turn them away. He was so fed up with the women in his life, it was almost a relief when Harken approached him while they were loading the final ships.
“Patriarch,” he said with a bow. “We have nearly finished loading our people onto your vessel. However, news from the clan directly above us has come down. They wish to talk to you.”
“Oh? And how exactly do they plan to do that?” he asked in mild curiosity. They hadn’t had any contact with any of the other cities since the start of the conflict. Since each of the cities was virtually an island city of its own, contact wasn’t possible with so many enemies around.
“They, eh” Harken paused, anger clearly registering on his face. “It appears they had a small tunnel dug into our city some time ago. One of their representatives has come through and wants to talk to the owner of the ship.”
“Perfect,” Ronin said with a tight smile. “Lead the way,” he said motioning the old bugbear to take him there. He’d been looking for anything to keep his mind off his own problems, and this seemed like just the thing he needed.
“Do you intend to help them?” looking around he saw Elyria shadowing them as they walked. He hadn’t heard her approach at all, and from the way K3 subtly repositioned himself, he hadn’t either. The elf was just as sneaky as Owl five, making Ronin fervently hope to stay on her good side. He didn’t think he could survive an assassination attempt from her while she was thinking clearly.
“Help them?” he asked, not slowing his pace at all. “Do you think I should?” he hadn’t spoken with the moon elf in several days, not since she spoke for him at the dinner meeting with Harken and Unyielding oak. He hadn’t been avoiding her, and he didn’t think she had been avoiding him. Their paths just hadn’t crossed.
“What I think doesn’t matter.” She said a bite entering her words. “I don’t get to make the calls, you do. That’s why I want to know what you plan to do.” He stopped walking at those words and turned to face her. She’d continued forward a few steps before coming to a halt, so they stood face to face in the stone streets.
“What you think does matter, Elyria.” He said seriously. “I met with Harken and unyielding oak at your word. They fell into line after that meeting, in large part due to your word.” He wasn’t just saying that to placate her, it was true. “You said you would kill me if I crossed the line. Well, the people I have around me are wonderful, loyal friends. But they wouldn’t tell me if I was getting close to any lines. They’d just happily cross them with me… So, I need you to tell me what you think. In a way, it’s really up to you whether you end up having to kill me or not.”
Ronin didn’t know why, but in that moment, he felt closer to the elf than any of the friends around him. Precisely because he knew she would tell him her honest opinion, instead of just going along with whatever he decided. He felt unstable, after recent events, and needed something to cling to. Why not an elf who hated him? after all, wasn’t that what she was doing to him?
“So… should I save these people Elyria?” they looked into each other’s eyes for nearly a minute, each sizing the other up, until.
“No.” she said, looking away from him. That’s all she said, before turning and walking back the way she’d come.
“Good enough for me.” He said to her retreating back, as he also turned around and made his way towards the higher clan’s representative.
“Patriarch White flame,” the representative said, bowing low at his approach. She was a young, attractive, by bugbear standards anyway, woman with silver fur. She stood a little shorter than most of her kind, only around six and a half feet tall. Wearing a thin purple robe very similar to Safies, which matched her amethyst eyes, they caused him to instantly dislike her. He’d learned enough about bugbear customs by this point to know that outfit was intended to beguile him, and he didn’t like it.
“I have come on behalf of the gilded lily clan. We would like to ask for your aid in evacuating our people from this place. As a second-tier clan, we have much to offer that the White mane clan did not. My matriarch has sent me down here to personally show you how deep our gratitude can be.” She said, smiling with pearly white teeth. Ronin noticed her canines were longer and sharper than humans. He supposed the look she was giving him was supposed to be seductive. Perhaps it was, she had a commanding presence, but he still couldn’t get the image of Safie out of his head when looking at this woman.
“Uh-huh,” he said at last looking her over. “Then let me ask you… lady representative… how long the tunnel you used to get down here has been open? You see, my people tell me that it has been there for some time. Yet, you sent no support to the clan prior to now. Even after my people came, there have been no soldiers, no food supplies, no offers to help evacuate civilians away from the fighting. Or am I perhaps mistaken?” he asked.
“Patriarch White flame, we…” she began dipping into an even lower bow that seemed to accidentally loosen the robe she wore.
“Save it, please.” Ronin said, cutting her off. “Let’s cut to the chase here, shall we.” He said not wanting to deal with any more lies or manipulation. “I don’t have enough room to evacuate your whole city on my ships…. Yes,” he said stopping her from speaking, “I could make another trip. But I won’t. It would cost me more of my energy supply than I am willing to waste on people who cared nothing for their fellows before there was something in it for them.”
“Am I to understand then patriarch, that…” she started again, her expression struggling to stay pleasant.
“You are to understand, that I have room for forty-five more people.” He said cutting her off once again. “I will take forty of your children, aged between eight and twelve years old. Along with five adults to help settle them into our schools before joining my military ranks. That is the offer on the table, you may take it or leave it, but I will only give you an hour to decide. After an hour passes, we leave. Send down more than five adults and my men will cut them down. Now, if you will excuse me.” Without even bothering to ask the woman’s name, or hear what she might have to say, he turned and strode away.
“Sargent Karr, could I trouble your squad to handle this please?” he asked Karr, who had been standing by for the meeting. “Bring the scout team in as well, I want guns or crossbows on that tunnel. If there is even the slightest hint of betrayal, light em up.”
“Yes sir,” Karr said, slamming his fist into his chest in the Owl team salute. Before he began barking orders at his men. Ronin continued walking away, knowing the situation would be handled satisfactorily with Karr in charge of it. He was a solid soldier and took his orders seriously. He was also good on his feet and could adapt to unexpected situations. “That’s probably why Owl two picked him to babysit me, come to think of it.” Ronin thought with a smirk for how far sighted the android was.
“I thought you didn’t want to save them?” Elyria asked, materializing out of nowhere again, to walk in pace beside Ronin. K3 looked at her sideways but didn’t interfere.
“I didn’t,” Ronin said looking back at her cold, inquisitive face. “That clan is going to die. All I did was offer to take some innocent kids. Kids old enough to be separated from their parents, yet still young enough to be impressionable. If they send any at all, they’ll make a great addition to my future armed forces.” He didn’t hold back in telling her what he had been thinking. True, they’d have to be raised and cared for, six to ten years before they could enter active service. In that time, he was sure several of them would prove to be better suited to work outside the military. That didn’t change the fact, however, that he would use them to better himself, and gain points for Markus.
“Interesting.” Was all she said, looking over at him. Her face was still as inquisitive as ever. It might have been a trick of the light but for a second Ronin thought it didn’t look quite so cold.