Chapter 8

Tristian and I were made to reflect on our actions whilst Sir Mayron dealt with the captured mercenaries. I could barely hear what they were talking about, but I did overhear some things, the most important of which is their punishment. The captain explained to the mercenary leader that banditry is punished in one of two ways death, or slavery. Death would be too harsh a punishment for bandits who never took a life and who, from what they claim, were hired by others due to their extenuating circumstances. As such the most fitting punishment would be for them to be enslaved or so it would have been if the captain didn’t give them a third option.

“I have the authority to deal with you as I please and so I have a proposal. You can all enlist as volunteer guards for the Duchy where you won’t receive a salary, but I will guarantee you food, clothing, and a roof over your heads. After fifteen years you will be free to go back to being mercenaries or continue being guards only if you choose to stay as guards you will receive a salary.”

Of course, the bandit leader had no choice but to agree to Sir Mayron’s proposal. I can see why the captain is so respected by everyone, instead of permanently being slaves he gave them hope and what they would consider a more than lenient sentencing. He also becomes admired for his generosity and instills in them a sense of them being in his debt, which they kind of are.

After an hour of refection, we were called so that we may start the journey back. I am glad that I didn’t kill any of them as they will now be of some use, especially that mage whom I will steel for myself. She might not be an alchemist but since she is still a beginner at elemental magic it is not too late for her to change magic trees; even if it will be harder for her to learn. I am starting to understand some of the madness teacher Adam was plagued with since I too am starting to imagine what I could only describe as a madness inducing way to train my first disciple.

‘Bahahaha, sorry little girl but you will have to learn as fast as possible if you wish to survive my training.’

Actually, why is she still with the mercenaries? She is a mage; she could get a job just about anywhere she desired. Lords would kill to have so much as a novice mage at their employ. I guess I will have to ask her later.

The return trip took us longer than our departure, this is mostly due to the mercenaries who did not have many horses and as such were not as mobile as us. We returned to a lively town where I believe the entire populace came out to cheer for us. I would be happier if they cleaned the road instead. I mean the smell is truly horrible, I just came from over two months surrounded by nature, so the smell really hit me hard.

Once we entered the castle we were greeted by my father, mother, and Ariel with her now bulging stomach, she should be on her sixth month of pregnancy, but her belly is simply too big, I guess she is carrying more than one child or (and I would never say this to a pregnant women’s face but...) she got fat. I honestly thought that she would continue to be kept away from me, but I am happy to see her. These past few months might have given them the wrong idea, but I truly do see her as family, I simply do not intend to give away what I decided is mine.

“Sir Mayron, you and your men have flawlessly done your duty, I give you praise.”

The captain dismounted and kneeled before answering my father “Greetings my lord and ladies, you honour us with your words.”

“Men I give you the next three days to recuperate after which we will have a feast to celebrate.” The knights cheered and slowly started to disperse some went to the barracks others to their homes and families and others still to the many bars in town. Tristian also said that he would like to take the day off and I gave him permission. I on the other hand had something or rather someone I wished to take care of.

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“You, the mage come with me.”

“M...me? M...my lord, lady... Sir knight...”

She must be terrified of what I would do to her, honestly, she is right to be scared.

“I am no knight; you can call me lady Elizabeth but when we are having our lessons call me teacher.”

“Teacher?”

“From today onwards you will be my disciple, our classes will take place at the top of that tower over there. We will start at dawn tomorrow; you better not be late or there will be consequences. For now, follow me, I will give you a room near mine.”

She looked somewhat confused but at the same time she is completely terrified of me. I did extinguish what she might think is a powerful spell like it was the easiest thing in the world. The little mage gave the captured men a look asking about what she should do but I can’t have that. Permission needs be gotten from me and no one else, I need to drill into her that I am her superior. After all I am not going to train a mage for no reason, but I have to check if she is willing to change her magic tree, if she doesn’t or if she is too reluctant to do so then I will have to give up on the idea as reluctantly learning something will never produce positive results. This phenomenon is even more prevalent when it comes to magic.

“Don’t look at them, I am the one giving the orders around here not anyone else. If I tell you to do something you do it, end of story. Now let us be on our way, you need a bath.” It’s funny how a twelve-year-old girl is giving orders to a girl around the age of seventeen, then again, I myself look more like a sixteen-year-old girl as I grew a lot faster than others.

The girl hesitated a second longer but likely fearing punishment she hurriedly caught up to me. Baths are rare in this world, even I, a member of the high nobility, only take baths once a week, the rest of the time I use a wet towel to clean myself. Why don’t I use my power to wash myself you ask? Simple there is no dedicated facility where I can have privacy. Baths are usually taken outside and to seal off an area to use for such a thing takes a lot of work.

We first headed to my room so that after the bath I will be able to change into some more appropriate clothes, I also took some simple clothes for her to change into. I told a maid passing by my room to spread the word that no one is to go to the back garden then dragged my disciple along. To be honest now that Tristian has taken the rest of the day off, I don’t need to worry about anyone peeping, he is the only one with enough guts to do so in the first place and our friendship is the one reason we have yet to berry his corpse.

I created hot water inside a wooden bathtub the servants took out for me. I slowly dipped my feat in before plunging into the perfectly temperature bath, but even after waiting the girl still did not join me.

“What are you waiting for? An invitation maybe?”

“Lady E... teacher I never bathed with anyone before.”

What did she not have parents? I mean I even took baths with my father when I was younger. Hmm, I don’t even know her name maybe it’s because we are strangers.

“Just come in, also what’s your name.”

“My name is Iris”

“How about you tell me a little about yourself Iris, for example why were you a mercenary when there are lords who would fight over you.”

“I...I was an orphan before the mercenary group took me in, they raised me and protected me since I was no more than a child, I couldn’t abandon them even when they themselves tried to

find me a good job, I just couldn’t leave them behind. After the war I could have left like the other skilled mercenaries, but the majority didn’t have other skills and I am the core of our mercenary band if I had left... they would have been even less likely to find employment and maybe resort to steeling.”

“Well, I guess you staying with them didn’t change their fate much.” For the first time I could see something other than fear and confusion in her eyes and that is anger. “Just pointing out the truth, you don’t need to be so angry.”

“We didn’t have any other choice; it was ether take the offer presented to us or become real bandits.”

“There is always a choice, even doing nothing and starving to death is a choice. Taking that bag of silver was a choice you all made, and this is the result, but the fact remains that you truly are lucky if it was someone other than Sir Mayron you would for sure have become slaves.” Although you already are even if it isn’t formal. The girl stayed quiet, maybe she understood that every action no matter the reasoning behind it is born of their will and thus claiming to be innocent is meaningless.

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“... I know we did bad things and planned on doing even worst but I don’t know what else we could have done, should we have starved to death like you said?”

“Only if you have no will of your own, but as for other options you had plenty. The first and probably easiest is selling your equipment and offering to become surfs under some lord. With the money you get from the equipment you will have a source of money in case of a bad harvest and for the rest you can simply rely on your lord, as long as he is just you will live decent lives. Another option is you helping to support the mercenaries by being employed by a lord or wealthy merchant. Mages, even if they are beginners, get paid many times more than any other skilled worker as such with your salary alone you could pay for the expenses of the entire group and as long as they continue to find occasional employment all of you will be able to live an above average life. These are only the simplest routes you could have taken but instead you were tempted and chose to take the wrong path and for this you are responsible.” The silence persisted after my little talking to, I decided to look up at her once I did, I could see her eyes wide open and her mouth agape, did she not think of any of this.

“Don’t tell me that none of you thought of becoming something other than a mercenary.”

“Emm... no, of course we did but... we always believed that it would have been impossible. But the way you put it made it sound a lot more promising than what we imagined.”

Did I just take an idiot as a disciple? Mages are supposed to be smart but if she is incapable of even thinking of this much than I worry about if she could even unlock a second tree of magic. We continued discussing her situation and my plan for her, she agreed to do whatever I ask her to do. We move on to scrubbing each other’s backs and right before we got out of the bath a noisy girl decided to barge in.

“My lady you are back! Why didn’t you call for me? I missed you so much, I want you to tell me everything that happened. Wait who is this whore currently taking a bath with you, you said that you didn’t want others to see you naked, did you betray me, you betrayed me didn’t you, Waaaaaaa.”

So noisy, “I just got back can’t you give me a few hours before you bore a whole into my head with all your whining.”

“No fair I am the only one who can take a bath with you, did you forget you promised.” Oh yeh, I did but that was when we were kids, and I only did so to shut her up. As for my not wanting others to see me naked I honestly don’t really care, after all Tristian can probably recite my three sizes and draw a near replica of me and he is not the only one. But since we were children, I wanted to instill in her a sense of modestly and what easier way to do so than presenting yourself as an

example to follow. Before anyone says it yes, I am a hypocrite, I did trick Nara into being more modest, but she is basically my little sister and who would want their younger siblings to be seen naked by others?

“Now, now, how about the next time I take a bath you join me, it will just be the two of us.”

“You promise? I will trust you but don’t lie to me again.” What am I your lover?

“Sure, now how about you get a towel and pat me down, I want to go check on Paul’s progress.” I left him in charge of forming my faction along with other secrets and since it has been two months, he should have made some progress. With some luck he will be in the castle if he isn’t then I will need to sneak out and go to the office.

I think that I spoiled Nara too much, at least she does what she is told as my servant. Then again, she is only eleven years old and unlike me she has no previous life experience to rely on. Maybe the way she acts now is how normal children behave?

After patting me dry and helping me put on my clothes Nara gave me a brief summary of the major events that took place whilst I was gone. I am going to get a more detailed report from Paul but it’s good to at least know the basics.

“... so, the doctor thinks that Ariel is pregnant with twins. Other than that, someone poisoned her, but I used the antidote that fit her symptoms without anyone seeing me.”

“Good, if something happens to her or the babies, I will be the first they suspect, even being at the edge of the territory is not enough to keep my relatives off my back.”

On my way out I told Nara to give Iris a servant’s room near me, at which point she grimaced, at least she didn’t complain. Nara is probably the person who knows me best after Tristian, for if she had complained again, I would have scolded or even punished her. This also means that she knows how to push my buttons to get what she wants but I don’t mind, to me she is as much a little sister as she is my friend and servant.

I asked about Paul’s whereabouts but sadly Nara has not seen him in days, in other words he is likely in the office. I will have to sneak out but before I do, I will need to have a talk with Ariel, now that she has shown herself it likely means that I am allowed to visit her. I made my way to her new quarters and this time no one stopped me. After reaching my destination I knocked twice when a servant opened the door for me. In the corner of the room, I can see Ariel knitting little pairs of socks, she truly does look like a mother that will soon give birth.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course, Lapira you can leave us.” The servant hesitated but seeing that Ariel was serious she bowed and exited the room.

“Is that wise? You do know that I could hurt you right?”

“You could and if that was the case then I at least managed to save a life, but I know that you wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh my, confident are we?”

Giggling Ariel replied “If you wanted to bring me harm you could have done at any time, your father might not understand what you are capable of, but I do. If the day ever comes then not even the entirety of the territorial army could stop you. Then again you could have simply left me to die when I was poisoned, instead your little friend came and gave me a cure. I am sure that there are some calculations on your part but none of them would matter since my death would solve all your problems.”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, earlier I said that Tristian is the one who knows me best, but I think that Ariel is right beside him. Her personality plus the fact that she is a realist and

that she has spent the entirety of my childhood by my side means that Ariel is the one person outside of my inner circle to know of my personality and ambitions. But before any of that, that idiot managed to get herself caught, and there she was bragging about how she accomplished her duty without anyone noticing. Honestly, I am glad not to have asked her to poison Ariel or else she would have been caught and have me implicated. Reminder to self, never trust Nara with anything important.

“I see... can I assume that my being able to see you again is the result of you telling father what Nara did?”

“Yes, the duke was reluctant to allow us to resume our relationship, but I managed to convince him. More than anything I missed you and I feel responsible for the problems you now have to deal with.”

“Don’t be, you are in no way responsible. If anything, I want to apologize for what I did during my birthday celebration, I put you on the spot and like I said you are in no way responsible as such it was wrong of me to have humiliated you in public.”

“Elly... you might not understand how I feel... but I hated myself for what I did to you, to me you are family, even if we weren't connected by blood and even without this pregnancy, I always considered you something akin to a little sister and maybe even a daughter. Please don’t say that to the duchess, she would truly be furious.”

I started to feel my eyes moistening but as I retained some of my male characteristics such as not wanting to cry in front of others, I held them in. Instead, I approached Ariel and hugged her, to me Ariel is more of a mother than my biological mother, she was the one who took care of me, she raised me, fed me, changed my clothes, consoled me when Lord Adam did strange things to me. She truly is family.

“Even if I wanted to, I cannot get involved in the matter of succession after all I am nothing more than a freed slave. I also cannot speak for these children, but I must ask this of you, please do not hate or hurt them.

What she is asking for is more demanding than anything else. Eliminating rivals is only natural when it comes to noble society, even I might be eliminated since I made clear my desire to inherit the Duchy. To make such a promise might be too much to ask for but...

“I cannot make an unconditional promise, but I swear this to you, I will never hate them and if the day comes where I am forced to take extreme measures then I would have only done so after exhausting every other possibility, I hope that if that time comes you will have it in you to forgive me.”

A long time passed, and we continued to hold each other tight. I understood from her trembling that she is also filled with regret. It is at times like these where I question my philosophy, is power truly the fundamental of all things? Could I not achieve my goals through other means such as money maybe? The modern Liberal system is based on an intricate web of relations and interdependence between the many countries. Many times, this system has proven itself flawed, not to mention that when weapons that surpass human capabilities are born then war becomes a game of who has the biggest bomb or the fastest gun. I believed that by keeping the world in an era similar to Roman times I could force myself above others and serve as peacekeeper, a greater power, and create an unchanging unipolar world where the price of war would be making the overseer, as in myself, the enemy. For this goal I hoped to gain enough power to tun my ideals into reality. I might need to revise the system I wish to create as even with power I still would be unable to go against these feelings, the pain that urges me to throw everything away and live a simple life among my family, if someone as determined as me could be shaken by emotions then others might also go against the system I wish to create for similar reasons. How can one account for people’s emotion, I can only think of one way, religion. Yes, Religion is the perfect tool to manipulate the masses, but its flaw is the very people who adhere to any given religion as they might take a step too far or misinterpret the ideals imparted, even worst some might use religion to advance their own agendas. This has happened many times throughout history. If all the known systems, from liberalism and realism to theocratic rule, have flaws then is my goal even remotely realistic? Or is war a part of human nature and should it be accepted or even exploited? War can become a tool for peace, as such the most important variable becomes the size of the war. We do not wish to suffer but war is exactly that, suffering in a grand scale, one warring party inflicting greater suffering on the other is the very definition of war. I could I build a system that relies on the undesired outcome becoming reality but then what would happen next? I am human and as such am an incarnation of sin and virtue but which way will I end up leaning?

I was lost in my thoughts for so long that I found Ariel sleeping on my shoulder. As she was likely uncomfortable, I carried her to her bed and decided to stay by her side for the rest of the day. Paul can wait, for now I will take care of one of the people I care most about.