Chapter 26 Too Territorial.

“Ahoy!” Isaac called out as he and Lenna stopped just outside of the gate to Outpost Charles. It had been quite a while since Isaac had last been there. Back then he was still alone. Aria and Claus helped him get on his feet but after that he was left to his own devices, free to make his own mistakes that only affected him, lacking a safety net. Now he had Lenna. She was his anchor. She kept him grounded. With her around he thought about long term consequences and not just about what he was going to do the next day. More than that though, she made him feel safe. There was a certain unease that never left a person who traveled alone or only with people they didn’t trust. With Lenna around he could sleep peacefully, he could relax his weary muscles from a long day’s travel or a hundred battles. Thinking back on how he felt before he met her and even for a little while afterwards he had to suppress a shiver. ‘I don’t know if I could survive going back to that.’ He thought to himself.

A slit opened up in the gate and a pair of soft green eyes peered through. “Badges and names?” A voice called out from the other side of the gate. The voice was muffled but Isaac felt like the boy’s voice sounded familiar.

“Long time no see kiddo.” Isaac replied and the pair pushed mana into their badges causing them to emit their signature soft blue glow.

The eyes squinted harder at Isaac but the boy was silent for a long moment like he was trying to place who was on the other side of the gate. “It’s hard to see who you are. It’s really dark out there.” The boy said to Isaac.

Isaac rolled his eyes. “Gregory Windwalker, open the gate. If you don’t recognize these amazing silver eyes I’ll ask if you hit your head on something.” He returned.

Gregory’s eyes went wide as he finally placed the voice and the difficult to make out features with the silver eyes. “Isa- Lord Wexler?!” He seemed like he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be formal or not. It had been a few months since they had seen each other and even though Isaac was friendly he was still supposedly a noble so the safest thing for Gregory to do was to be formal. If Isaac told him to stop being so formal then he would but as it stood he could use being on duty as an excuse.

“The one and only.” Isaac replied with a grin. “Now open the damn gate.”

The slit slammed shut and the bar behind the door was heaved out of the way. A moment later the gate was pulled open wide enough for three people to walk shoulder to shoulder. “Welcome back.” Gregory said with a huge grin. “Chris and mom’ll be glad to see you.”

“But not you?” Isaac teased as he walked through with Lenna right behind him.

Gregory shook his head. “Nope.” He replied sarcastically without dimming his grin. “Who’s that?”

“Lenna V’Nova, meet Gregory Windwalker. Gregory, this is Lady V’Nova.” Isaac introduced them honestly. He wasn’t sure how people in the outpost would react to Lenna’s surname so he figured he’d test the waters with the boy in front of him.

“Nice to- wait.” Gregory began towards Lenna and then abruptly shifted his focus back to Isaac. “Did you say… V’Nova?” He added her surname in a loud whisper.

Isaac nodded. “Yes.” He replied honestly and rapped a knuckle on Lenna’s adventurer’s badge. “And she’s with me.”

Gregory took a moment to fully take in Lenna. Her battle worn armor and platinum adventurer’s badge made him wary of her. He knew at a glance that it would take the entire garrison to put her down if she decided to remove the outpost from the map. He swallowed hard. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked Isaac.

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Isaac nodded resolutely. “Absolutely. Trust anything she says more than something I say.” He couldn’t keep himself from giving Lenna a warm smile before quickly returning to the air of nobility he tried to hold. “She’s a better person than me.”

Gregory watched Isaac like a hawk. He was looking for any signs of magical compulsion or lies in his words. He felt like he was making a mistake letting the woman inside their home. “Does the professor know she’s here?” Gregory eventually asked. If there was anyone he trusted unconditionally it was Aria. She had taught him his numbers and fixed, most of, his spelling problems. She had brought his brother back even when it would’ve been safer for her to leave him.

Isaac nodded. “Yeah. We had to save her and Claus from all kinds of trouble a bit ago.” He explained. “I won’t lie to you and say that she likes Lenna but after a few days traveling together I think she warmed up to her.”

“She tolerates me. It’s mutual.” Lenna added and continued looking around and taking in the outpost. The exposed glowing stones always hurt her eyes to look at. ‘Whoever chose to build here picked a good spot.’ Lenna thought to herself. The type of stone surrounding them was known to the drow to be just the right kind for building under. The stone was a bit less brittle than the red stone that Safeharbor was built in. This meant that there was less stone dust and also that if there was a tremor the odds of falling debris was lower.

Gregory seemed stunned upon hearing Lenna’s deep and smooth voice. “Like a lion’s purr.” He whispered. Lenna pretended not to notice.

Isaac smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Back off kid, she’s mine.” He retorted half jokingly.

“What?” Gregory asked, refocusing on Isaac.

Isaac shook his head. “That’s a good one though, I’ll have to use it at some point.”

“Use what?” Gregory asked.

“Nothing.” Isaac lied. “We’re gonna go see your mom.” Isaac told the boy and took a step away before stopping. “Actually, before that, you know everyone that is out there right now right?”

Gregory nodded slowly. “If they’ve left within the last eleven hours and I didn’t miss them over lunch or anything.” He agreed.

“Is Lisa out or in?” Isaac questioned.

“Lisa?” Gregory asked. “What do you need Lisa for? Aren’t you better at the whole sneaking around thing anyway?”

“Is she in or out?” Isaac pressed.

“Uh, in, I think.” Gregory replied. “I saw her return this morning but I haven’t seen her leave.”

Isaac nodded. “Thanks, don’t let her know I was asking about her. Also, let me know every time she leaves and comes back.” He told the boy.

“Why?” Gregory asked. He sounded honestly confused. “You sound like a stalker.”

“He’s right.” Lenna added.

“Hey!” Isaac dramatically exclaimed with his hand over his heart on his chest while looking at Lenna. “Ouch.” He added and then became serious again and looked at Gregory. “She tried to rob me when I was here the first time, remember?”

Gregory nodded. “Yeah, something about you getting stabbed. Mom said that between you and Chris she was going to have a heart attack.”

Isaac ignored the comment about Jennie and moved on. He wasn’t about to tempt Lenna’s jealous wrath any more than necessary. “Aria said that there have been a lot more thefts recently and she wanted me to take a look. Lisa is the prime suspect.”

Gregory nodded. “Alright. I’ll let you know when I see her.” He agreed.

“Make sure she doesn’t know that you are doing it.” Isaac reminded the boy. “If she really is the culprit then I don’t want anything tipping her off before we get evidence.”

The young guard nodded again. “Understood sir.” He replied like he was receiving orders from his sergeant.

“Good.” Isaac said with a smile and turned to leave again. “Keep up the good work, kid.”

Gregory closed the gate and replaced the bar with a grunt. “I’m, an, adult.” He grunted out while wrestling with the heavy bar.

Once Isaac and Lenna were far enough away that they could whisper privately Lenna spoke up. “He seems like a good kid.” She commented.

Isaac nodded. “He is, so is his brother. His brother lost his legs due to a collection of unfortunate events. Most of them were probably Jala’s fault.” He explained.

“So his mother is the innkeeper.” Lenna postulated.

Isaac nodded. “Yes.”

“The one that likes you.” She continued.

“Last I heard.” Isaac agreed.

“You’re going to let her down right away, right?” She questioned. It was phrased like a question, sounded like a question, and Isaac knew that it was an honest question. That didn’t change the feeling he got that if he didn’t say something to Jennie than Lenna would, promptly, directly, and in an aggressively territorial fashion.

Isaac glanced sidelong at her. “Yes, my dear, my mate and one true love, I will inform her of my relationship status so you can stop being jealous of something that has never and will never be.” He promised her with a slight smirk.

Lenna stopped and Isaac stopped a step later. “I… may be acting a bit too territorial.” Lenna conceded.

Isaac just chuckled and gave her a look that said ‘I know but I still love you.’

Lenna sighed. “I will try to do better.” She promised. “But I will promise nothing.”

Isaac kept chuckling. “That, my dear, is all I can ever ask for.”