Raul’s eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he heard Raksha’s response and he shot Ellessea a disbelieving look.

Flushing, Ellesdea threw her hands up in the air. “It was over a year ago! All the men here were either taken or not interested in me and I was a little desperate! So I wrote this dorky request and asked the guild to send it out. I thought there might be a chance, but after a while, I just kinda forgot about it. Then…” She paused then gestured at herself, “This happened and everything got crazy... I didn’t think anybody would answer the request. It would get thrown out after a while. It was a dumb idea!”

“I thought it was sweet and honest,” Raksha replied, holding out the letter. “Want me to read it?”

Flushing even harder, Ellessea pleaded, “Please don’t.”

Her traitor brother was saying the opposite, “yes, please!”

It was clear who this evil man would listen to.

He cleared his throat dramatically and read in a slightly higher voice, imitating a woman, “Hello, my name is Ellessea. I am a hardworking farmer with a four acre plot of land. I don’t have much, but I can promise a home, food, love, and family for a man who is willing to come and be my husband in Delnin city.”

Raksha folded up the letter and returned it to his bag, a little smugly. He added, “see the Delnin guild hall for details.”

Ellessea covered her face in her hands and wished she was skilled enough in earth magic to have it swallow her up whole.

“Short and to the point,” Raul commentated, and she could hear the smirk on his face.

“They charged by the word,” Ellessea said through her hands.

There was silence again as Ellessea tried her best to move the earth.

“So,” Raksha said, breaking the silence, “are you not looking for a husband anymore?” Ellesdea looked up at his words and he continued, “I know I am not the most traditional groom, but I do have a lot to offer…

“No, no, no,” Ellessea broke in, waving him off and sitting down in front of him at the table, “its… its complicated. Things have changed since a year ago.”

Raksha kept a blank face as he replied, “I see.”

Ellessea stared back at his scared face, unsure of what to say.

Raul saved her, turning and asking, “have you had dinner yet? I made some garlic lentil soup, it's still warm if you want some.”

Raksha turned and gave Raul a warm smile, “that would be very appreciated, thank you.”

Raul turned and left, but not before elbowing Ellessea hard.

Grumbling and rubbing her shoulder, Ellessea looked at Raksha and collected herself. “Look, a season ago, if you had showed up, I would have been ecstatic.” Raksha gave her a disbelieving frown. “No, I would have! You are, um, very beautiful and, uh, exotic. You look like no man I have ever seen! I don’t care that you used to be a slave, you are free now, right? No men here were interested in me, I would have.” She paused a moment to give herself depreciating chuckle, “I would have acted like a clueless idiot, more so than now, but I would have been happy and would have loved to have, uh, taken…. You….in. yeah, taken you in.”

Ellessea, blushed hard, but then paused and the blush faded. She stared down at the old worn table.

There was silence and Raul came back with a steaming bowl of soup and set it in front of Raksha. Raksha gave Raul a very grateful smile and took an appreciative spoonful.

After a moment, he added, “But?....”

Ellessea sighed. “Half a season ago I awakened as a mana spring”

Raksha looked up at her in surprise, “Wow! Congratulations!”

“Don’t congratulate me,” Ellessea pouted, “Everything has gone downhill since then. I can’t be a farmer anymore, I can’t live here anymore, I don’t have a plot of land anymore, i can’t have a family anymore, everything is being taken away from me now!

Raksha gave Ellessea a disbelieving look and when she didn’t elaborate, he looked up at Raul. With a roll of his eyes, he said, “the house Yilner is going to have her become their younger son’s, err, concubine? What’s the female equivalent of concubine? Anyway, when their son turns sixteen this fall, she’ll be sent to live in the city with them at their estate.”

“I’ll be some woman-whore,” Ellessea said bitterly, “forced to sleep with that arrogant child like some… some kind of breeding cow.”

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Raksha looked over at Ellessea and she saw some real empathy in his eyes. “I am sorry that has happened to you.”

Then it hit Elledsea that the man spent years in the imperial corps as a slave, risking death, and rape and all manner of terrible things for years and years. She knew what it meant for a man to enter the slave corps. Everybody did.

How could their two situations even compare?

Immediately, Ellessea bucked up, “Eh, it's not that bad. I’ll be living in luxury in the city. I get to… be with a beautiful man, no matter how bad his personality. Soft beds, servants, the best foods….” Ellessea’s voice trailed off. “It won’t be a bad life.”

Raksha looked down at the soup and took another spoonful. “Why do they want you anyway? I mean, I see why, but it seems strange for a noble house to stoop so low as to take a peasant, even for this.”

Raul responded to this, “The Yilner house hasn’t had a powerful mage in a couple generations. It makes them look weak, so they are hoping to have Ellessea birth a few mana spring kids to help prop them up. Her kids won’t be full members of the house, but it will certainly help their standing if they have mana springs themselves.”

Raksha grip on his spoon tightened at the words but he didn’t say anything. He finished his soup and pushed the bowl away.

Done with introspection, Ellessea studied the man. He looked back, meeting her gaze. She blushed and leaned back in her chair.

“I am sorry. I should have paid to have the request taken down once I knew.”

Raksha shrugged, “I understand, that's not something you can control. It was an old request, it wasn’t something I was putting too much hope on. It wasn’t the only reason I came here anyway.”

There was a silence, broken up by Raul washing the dishes. Ellessea tried to imagine the what ifs. Not being a mana spring and having this man come into her life today. She shook her head.

“You really wanted to marry me? Based off a stupid note in the guild postings? Where did you even find it?”

Raksha gave him a smile that made her heart thump. She squashed that feeling down. “It was in one of the branches in the capital. I usually visit the main branch, so I hadn't seen it before. When I was leaving the city I went to one of the outlying ones. There was a man there who had kept onto it because he thought it was amusing.”

“He kept it as a joke.” Ellessea snorted, “Sounds about right. A country bumpkin asking for a city man to come out to his farm. The whole idea was stupid.”

“I came.” Raksha stated plainly.

Ellessea looked over at him. “But why? A man as pretty as you shouldn't have a problem finding a wife.”

Raksha gave a light chuckle. “Less than you think. Many take one look at my brands,” he said, pointing to his cheeks, “And label me immediately. An easy pick up? Perhaps for an evening. Material for a husband? No way. They don’t see beyond it. Plus, it doesn’t help that I am as unmanly as they come and a foreigner to boot. Pretty, you say? Not many see me as that, and I'll be the first to admit it.”

“I think you are pretty,” Ellessea, blurted out. Raksha gave him an incredulous look. “Err, uh, in a wild, kind of way.”

Raksha smiled at her again. “That’s sweet.”

Elllesea blushed again and turned her head away. She spoke up. “How did you end up in the slave corps, anyway?”

“The way most people do,” Raksha replied easily. “I was a thief and got caught.” He tapped his right hand. “For non-citizens they give you the choice, lose your hand or join the slave corps. I was a street rat, losing a hand meant death as you became a burden on your gang. Of course, we all knew that the slave corps meant death too. But I was so scared of the prospect of rejection on the streets that I chose the lesser evil.”

“How did you survive? Aren’t the slave corps used to feed the dungeons?”

Raksha laughed, “well, yes and no. Officially we are there to gather dungeon materials. But yes, there is a high turnover rate, our deaths used to fuel the dungeons' growth.” he suddenly grew sombre. “Pretty much everybody dies before they can pay off their debt. Or they make enough to request transfer to a different position. I got lucky.”

“After I earned enough to buy my freedom,” He added, not elaborating, “I got my second brand and decided to join the regular imperial corps. It was either that or the streets again, and I didn't want to go back there. Nothing would have changed. Instead, I served the imperial corps as a regular infantry and eventually earned my citizenship.”

“You are a citizen?” Ellessea asked, stunned. Even she wasn’t one. Although, now that she thought about it, becoming the concubine would also give her and her family citizenship. That was part of the deal.

Raksha nodded and continued, “I had thought for a while I could make a life out of the military, but after a bit, it became clear that that wouldn’t work for me. So I got what I wanted and left, not joining up for another five years. I saw your notice on the way out… I don’t know, something about it struck home with me, you know? It seemed earnest…. And sincere. I’ve never really had a family and your offer of one was very appealing. So I thought I would come out here and check it out. The dungeon is out here too, I plan on being a delver, so it's not a total loss.”

Ellessea stared over at the man, feeling overwhelmed. Her life was pretty simple, until the last few months at least. This man came from a world away, with experiences far beyond what she could imagine. She had so many questions!

And yet, she had to hold herself back. This man was a stranger, and would leave soon enough. It wasn’t her place to pry too deep, no matter what she was feeling. She had to marry that arrogant bitch, it wouldn’t be right to get too engrossed with another man.

So she buried most of her curiosity and asked, “You are a delver? I didn’t think men could delve.”

“What do you think I did while I was part of the slave corps?” he asked with a chuckle. “I lived in a dungeon for three years. We did it often enough in the regular corps too, for that matter. Of course I can delve.”

“But,” Ellessea said, struggling with her words, “You… men can’t cast spells. How do you kill the dungeon monsters without using spells?”

Raksha rolled his eyes and gave her a smirk. “There is more to delving than slinging spells.” He laughed at Ellessea’s scowl and added, “but yes, I can’t cast spells. I have my ways though. A man has to keep his secrets, you know. The rest,” he leaned back and smirked, “Is just pure skill.”

Flabbergasted, Ellessea stared at the man. Was he an idiot? What could he possibly have to warrant such confidence. But then again, he survived the slave and regular corps. He clearly knew what he was doing.

Or he was yanking her chain. The more likely scenario is that he managed to find a woman to stick to, someone strong enough to pull them both through the dungeon.

Before she could formulate a response, she heard yelling from outside their door. The voice was loud and irritated, two characteristics that defined her sister these days.

“What the hell is a sword doing out here?”

“Ah,” Raul said from the kitchen. “Ellane is back.”