{-Rennyn-}

By Mira’s suggestion, they took an alternate route back to the capital. She’d pointed out how she didn’t want to make a scene with her return, so they should stay out of sight as much as possible until it was officially announced; Rennyn had to agree with the sentiment. They had more important things to do than be stopped by whatever civilians were going to try to come up to talk to Mira.

“You’re going to get King Merith to give us the Goddess’s Shield, right?” Rennyn prompted as they walked down the halls of the castle. “I have a feeling that, if we just ask on our own again, he isn’t going to budge. We’re probably going to need some more outside help.”

Mira nodded. “I’ll try everything that I can. You need it in order to complete your own mission, don’t you?”

“It’s vital if we plan on defeating Dhymos,” Kaylin confirmed. “It, and the other items from the goddess, are our only hope in being strong enough to face Dhymos on our own. Without them, well… I don’t think I have to tell you that no one wants to know what the other scenario is.”

“You won’t have to worry. Even if it takes a little while, I’m sure I’ll be able to get Merith to see the truth of it. Sometimes he’s capable of putting aside his own desires, if it’s clear that making the sacrifice at that point wasn’t just going to lead to more setbacks later…”

Just then, Mira stopped at the door to the throne room, and knocked.

A guard opened the door, and only really seemed surprised for a minute. “So the heroes were able to bring you back, huh, Lady Mira? I’m guessing you’re ready to talk to King Merith now?”

She nodded. “I assume he’s in there? It won’t take too long, we just need to ask him something. These kind people came here for a reason, and I want to make sure they get what they need.”

“Of course. Right this way.” He stepped aside and gestured for them all to enter the throne room. “King Merith, Lady Mira has returned.”

“Oh, my dear cousin! Thank goodness that you’re alright.” Merith waved them in without looking, and it was clear in his tone that he honestly didn’t care for them. It was all just a part of a performance for him—as if anyone watching wasn’t already aware of his true feelings. “I was nearly about to send more guards to look for you. Isn’t it wonderful that these kids were actually capable of something?”

“I don’t believe you’re fooling anyone,” Mira pointed out. “We might as well get to the point, if you’re only going to pretend like the rest of the nation is watching.”

“So, what is it that you want? Here to properly complain about wherever you’ve been? Demand something on behalf of these kids?”

“I’m not going to demand anything, except for what these people—these heroes—need in order to move on in their journey. You just want them out of Astiri again, right? I’m not going to let them move on until they have what they need.”

Rennyn muttered, “We wouldn’t be able to leave without it, anyway. The whole thing would be useless if we don’t have everything.”

Merith dismissively waved his hand around. “So, what is it? Money? The promise of safe passage? Some old relic or another?”

“Queen Vaeri must’ve told you about it,” Kaylin said. “We need the Goddess’s Shield.”

“Pretty sure we’ve told you about it already,” Lyrei remarked. “You said you could give it to us once we found Lady Mira.”

“Yes, I suppose I recall something like that…” Merith shrugged. “I should probably tell you some grand story about being gifted it, or give you another trial to prove your worth as heroes, shouldn’t I? But I’ve more important things to do. Mira, you know where we keep it, don’t you? We’ve got to get you in front of the people to tell them you’re still alive, but after that, I expect you to show these kids to the Goddess’s Shield.”

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Mira turned to the others. “Will you be alright with waiting a little bit longer?”

“We’ve done all of this,” Rennyn remarked. “It’s not exactly like we have a choice, now do we?”

…

They were ushered into a different room—one that must’ve been on the other side of the castle though, from the sounds of it, not really close to where the Goddess’s Shield was. Merith’s announcement about Mira’s sage return echoed through all of the halls, though… and it highlighted everything he left unsaid, as well as the role he had in all of it. Perhaps it was just because Rennyn knew what actually did happen, but he had to wonder why none of the citizens seemed to have the same suspicions—or, rather, they didn’t voice those opinions more openly. Not like he would’ve wanted to deal with the setback if they did.

After what sounded like the least passionate speech Merith had ever given about the continued well-being of the people of Astiri, the castle fell silent for a few minutes. Then, footsteps were heard getting closer to them, until they were able to see Mira approaching.

“Apologies for the wait,” she said. “I’m sure you’re ready to get to the next part of your journey—you don’t have forever, after all. Just past here is where we’ve been keeping the Goddess’s Shield. Allowing you to use it is the least we, as a nation, can do, given what you’ve done for us.”

“I don’t really feel like we’ve done anything in the long term, though…” Noa mumbled. “This seems like something that happens pretty often, and just because we did it once, doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen again…”

Mira shook her head. “Usually, I’d have to agree with you, but this time… I think it’s going to be different. I doubt you would’ve noticed much in the speech Merith gave just now—besides how obviously fake half of his statements were. There are usually only two layers to those kinds of announcements: what he tells the people at surface value, and how he more or less had a hand in all that happened. But there was something else this time, too. A little bit… of honesty. He didn’t want this to happen again. I think he realized that he couldn’t keep doing this.”

“Why now, though?” Lyrei prompted. “What he should and shouldn’t be doing didn’t seem to stop him any other time. What made this one so much different? I didn’t think the five of us did anything special…”

“You’re right—it wasn’t really you. It was the people themselves that Merith is beginning to understand he shouldn’t keep messing with.” Mira stopped at one of the doors, mumbled something about it being where the Shield was, and leading the way inside. “Of course, I want to avoid as much conflict as possible, but… it only takes so many repeatedly broken promises for my words of reassurance to start to lose their meaning. The people are ready to fight for me, if they need to. And they’re not going to tolerate the behavior of the king and the other members of the council forever. Merith’s afraid of losing his control so, from now on, I imagine he’s going to try a little harder to get in their good favors… as long as he doesn’t have to sacrifice too many of his own pleasures.”

She ended up walking to a specific chest at the corner of the room, and opened it up to reveal the Shield. “This is what you’re looking for, isn’t it? There’s a story behind this—how it came into the possession of the Astiri royal family. I don’t remember all of the details—it’s not something the nobles now are interested in sharing—but I can tell you what I remember, so long as you’re willing to listen.”

“Go on and tell us,” Rennyn said. They’d heard these stories for both of the items that they’d received before. Aside from it simply becoming something of a tradition, a part of him hoped that it would hold some kind of valuable information inside of it; that this story could tell them more about this goddess, or the two other goddesses who had founded the nation, or even Dhymos.

Mira nodded. She carefully pulled the Shield out and gave it to Rennyn. “It was right before the founding of our nation—when spirits guided us to this land, and told us to prosper in it. We were told that, one day, a hero was going to come that would need this in order to defeat a great evil. There were… many people in the past who claimed to be this hero. Some were mercenaries, hoping that the carelessness of the Astiri ruling body would lead to them giving away something so valuable. Some were nobles, or even council members and kings, who thought themselves worthy of such a title. But none of them were truly capable of having it, and everyone knew that. The spirits told us that the one who was going to come would be more than someone simply in it for fame, but someone who truly cared about the people here… and one who would come with four companions, even if the descriptions of them were lost to time.”

She was quiet for a moment after that, to show that she had no more left to tell. “Do you know where you’ll be going after this?”

Kaylin answered. “Askoria is the most reasonable option. Could you put in a word with King Dain for us, if it’s not too much trouble..?”

“It won’t be a problem at all,” Mira confirmed. “I’ll do it myself, so that you know that it’s sent.”

Seldir sighed. “Can’t say I’m all that excited for going to a place with a ruling leader younger than us, though…”

“King Dain is young, but I don’t think that makes him a bad leader,” Noa offered. “I heard what Lord Aymer and the others would say about him. I think he’s adapted to his situation quite well, considering all of the things that happened to lead him there…”

“Either way, he has something we need,” Rennyn pointed out. “Can’t be any worse than King Merith.”