Ferodias POV / Ten Years Earlier
The night had dragged on, yet there was so much activity as the militia was set to work clearing the smoldering bodies of the 'bandits' while stripping them of any metals, anything along the lines of weapons and armor to sell for scrap to various smithies in the city. Brasyl even got the chance to search the staff-wielding mage for any goods of interest after Regan ensured that there was nothing cursed or useful to him on the corpse. There were a few baubles and things of worth, not to mention the staff that Brasyl was now intending on pawning off for some extra coin.
Ferodias made arrangements for two-thirds of any earnings from the scrap to be given to the guard woman who prevented the bandits from breaching the walls at the cost of her arm since it was ultimately thanks to her that they didn't have a full-fledged fight on their hands today. Thankfully, Regan had enough mana left within him to jumpstart the healing process for both the injured guards with a mix of life magic and the potions the two had already consumed.
With the morning sun greeting the new day, the villagers, with help from Ferodias' party and some people from the neighboring village, had finished preparing a mass grave for the bandits a couple of miles out. Thankfully, the neighboring village had an old cleric who ran a small chapel that saw attendance from both villages on occasion; thus they were able to ensure the mass grave was properly blessed and guarded against malignant spirits from creating undead after such mass death. With that grim work done, it seemed to be business as usual for both villages, for the most part at least as people set to work loading carts and wagons with goods that were bound for the city.
Ferodias found himself resting in a tree within the village, catching up on the sleep he missed while enjoying the warmth of the morning sun through the cracks of the leaves. He slept lightly yet peacefully, wearing his travel cloak over his face, while his ears occasionally twitched as the villagers milled about, that was until a familiar set of footsteps approached. Ferodias could feel his heart flutter with anticipation, wondering how he already memorized her walking pattern as his eyes opened and peeked out from under the cloak and down at Lady Historietta who smiled up at him. "You look comfortable, Mister Adventurer, sorry to bother you, but do you mind lending me an ear?" She asked pleasantly.
"Oh? Uh... Sure." His ear flicked as he replied, taking a moment to wake up before smoothly dropping from the branch he was on and stepping towards her as he looked her over, checking for himself that the discoloration of her skin has now faded, the remnants of the wounds she suffered a couple of days ago appearing to have never existed in the first place. "By the way, my name is Rodi." He mentioned, having now realized that while his party may have actually introduced themselves to the ladies, he had utterly failed to do so.
Though after he introduced himself, Lady Historietta made a face that looked vaguely amused and almost mischievous in nature, he could swear she almost looked feline for a moment. Though as quickly as it appeared, the look vanished as she appeared to be more composed. "So you say..." She said simply, continuing to speak before Ferodias could ask what she meant by that. "I'm afraid I have to explain a few things to you, I have lied to you, out of omission, but a lie nonetheless." She explained as she gazed into Ferodias' eyes.
He was still mildly perplexed by her first comment, though he nodded intently at her words, having had his own suspicions about a few things now that he's had time to consider them. He leaned back against the tree while watching her. "I see, well, you have my ear, Lady Historietta." He expressed as respectfully as he could manage.
She bobbed her head once, seeming grateful that he was still willing to listen after she made her declaration. "Lady Nerva told you that we were kidnapped for ransom, and while that may have been the case for them, their true target was me." She explained, gesturing to herself as she spoke. "I don't say this out of a place of arrogance or self-importance, but out of an understanding of who my family is." She mentioned, taking a moment to collect everything she wanted to say.
Ferodias nodded once more, though he couldn't help but consider what he knew of the Blackstone family. They were of a count's household, extremely wealthy and influential enough to rival the dukes of his father's domain. Count Blackstone was a lawful man, as far as he knew, with no overtly criminal tendencies or behaviors last he heard, at least before he was cut off from his influence as a prince when he assumed his identity as Rodi, the adventurer. "Okay, sure." He replied simply, keeping his thoughts to himself.
Lady Historietta smiled a little before continuing to speak. "My father has a very black-and-white view of the world, with little room for grey in his life." She started to say before stepping closer, leaning on the tree with Ferodias before slowly moving to sit along the roots. "You are either useful to him or not, and this extends to even his own children." She said as she looked up to Ferodias before looking out to the village and the people going about their life. "I had to prove that I was exceptional and worth funding from an early age, that I was more than a token to be married off. To him, my brothers and sisters are pieces to be used, the difference being whether or not you were a mere pawn or something better. Even my mother and his two other wives were bargaining chips so he would form alliances with certain other families."
Ferodias listened intently, he was surprised, if only a little bit as she talked about her home life. It was ultimately by merit for most households who would carry the family name if not preference or the lack of multiple heirs, as those who would become the heirs of the household would keep the family name even if they married, which was also often the case for noble sons and daughters who 'married down.' The idea of children being bargaining pieces was also not unheard of, yet Ferodias had never directly heard of a household that operated to such an extreme. "So, how did you do it?" He asked as his tail flicked, looking down at where she sat, his eyes lingering on her face while she spoke, though when they began to wander down, he pointedly averted his gaze to look at the villagers who passed them by without a care. "How did you prove yourself, I mean."
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She took a moment to answer, though soon spoke up. "From the moment I understood my place in this world, I did my best to learn and study everything I could get my hands on, language, etiquette, law, and business among many other topics and fields." She said as she leaned her head back against the tree to stare up at the leaves. "Once I proved that I was more capable, intelligent, and knowledgeable than even my older siblings, I received my funding from my father and was finally independent of the allowances granted to me by my mother and her share of my father's wealth. From there, I had no choice but to use that money to grow even more and build myself a foundation to stand on my own two feet." She explained further before sighing as she shook her head. "But I'm getting ahead of myself."
Ferodias couldn't help but consider if he heard something like what she said coming from someone else, it may have sounded like arrogance. But between seeing her battered half to death while the other ladies were almost untouched, and the general way she carried herself with such maturity that was beyond her years, he couldn't help but feel the sincerity in her words. Once more, he found himself impressed and in awe of her, wanting to know more, wanting to just sit with her and listen for as long as she'd let him. But they were having a serious discussion right now, and he needed to focus on what she wanted to say.
She took a slow breath before exhaling as she continued to speak. "You're either useful to my father, or you're not. This practice of his has earned him many devoted followers and partners, those who managed to garner his respect or at least his attention. But for every one person that my father has acknowledged and supported, at least ten have been snubbed, cast aside, and discarded once they proved to be less than useful for any number of reasons." She said before looking over at Ferodias as he stared at the crowd, though during her moment of silence, he turned to see that she was looking at him and curiously met her gaze. "I have no idea who is behind this particular abduction and attack, but with how many people they were able to field for this and the fact that they have magic users, I do not doubt that they have plenty of their own influence to throw around, and they will likely make another attempt, if not in the next three days, then sometime after that." She said with a sigh as she scratched the back of her head while looking out at the village around them. "The only thing I can think of, is that my father recently acquired an iron mine and had kicked out some merchants and other groups who were scalping iron from local miners. I have no doubt that pissed off more than a few people." She considered while shaking her head. "They must be targeting me to use as some sort of bargaining chip, if only those fools knew that my father could care less in the face of such tactics." She then looked back up at Ferodias. "I'm sorry." She said simply as she looked away.
Ferodias wasn't too sure what to make of all this, but what he did know was that Historietta had nothing to be sorry for as far as he could tell. "What for?" He asked as his tail curled and tapped against the bark of the tree behind him.
Historietta smiled up at Ferodias, though his heart throbbed as he saw a deep sadness in her eyes despite the kind expression on her face as she looked away. "I'm sorry for putting those other noble ladies at risk, I'm sorry for using you to save us by leading beasts to you and forcing you all to defend yourselves..." Her voice shudders as Ferodias could see tears welling up in her eyes as her lip started to quiver. "I'm sorry for forcing you to watch out for me and the other ladies at cost to yourself, and for putting this entire village at risk by just being here." She huffed, absently wiping at her eyes, though the tears kept coming. "I'm sorry for not warning you of the dangers as soon I could speak and for all the people that have died for me and because of me." She sniffled hard, the tears not stopping as she let out a shaky breath. "Even now, I just wanted to make sure you would still help me despite everything that just happened, but here I am, spilling my guts because I can't help but think about all the people that died today because of me."
Ferodias watched as she confessed to him her thoughts and sorrows, and ultimately he couldn't help but admire her sincere honesty. After a few moments, he took a knee beside her before shrugging off his cloak, draping it around her and partially covering her face. Though he seemed to have surprised her as she looked up at him, her lip was still quivering as she was doing her best to get her emotions back in check. He flashed a small smile as he reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder as he gazed into the one eye that peeked out from under his cloak. "I don't care about any of that, and you shouldn't blame yourself. It's not your fault that you were abducted, or that you are being targeted or pursued. None of that is something you should blame yourself for. Neither should you take on the burden of their deaths, as you weren't the one that put them in our way." He said as he tapped his free hand in a fist against his chest. "As for those who died for you... Well, you can't blame yourself for them either, as they died doing their jobs. But that doesn't mean you can't remember them and thank them for their service, and the best way you can do that is by making sure their sacrifice wasn't for nothing." He explained as he did his best to reassure her; his ears waggling a bit as he considered his next words, all while slowly shifting around to sit closer beside her, with only a couple of inches of space between them. "Besides, you told me to do whatever it is I need to do to see things through and make sure you and the other ladies are safe in my care." He mentioned before patting her shoulder. "So anything that happens from when you met me and from now on is my fault, blame me for everything; just make sure to compensate me like you said you would." He mused kindly as he flashed a small smile at her.
The Lady was quiet for some time, even as Ferodias pulled his hand away, though he remained seated where he was, keeping her company even as she sniffled and sighed out shaky breaths. After a while, she closed the distance, leaning in closer while still wrapped up under his cloak. He could feel his heart skip a beat as he felt her small frame against him, noting how light she felt. No matter how mature, intelligent, ferocious, worldly, and charismatic she was, she was still just a young lady, who had no right to have to deal with these kinds of burdens and troubles at her age. "Thank you." She said softly under her breath, staying where she was and not planning on moving anytime soon.
Ferodias' ears flicked as she spoke so closely to him, and in response, he slowly nodded. "You're welcome, Lady Historietta..." He replied softly.
After another moment she spoke up. "Call me Tori." She asked though Ferodias couldn't help but feel it was more of a gentle demand.
He smiled a little more and nodded again. "Very well, you're welcome Tori." He mused kindly as he leaned back against the tree to look up and watch the light cut through the leaves above him.