<~> CHAPTER 78

Since I spent a lot of the money I gained on armor at the other place, the eight gold tigers the jewelry smith asked for would have cost more than I had left. Fortunately, Piper, Luna, and Maxwell all said they would chip in two gold tigers each and we would pay the eight tigers together, leaving me with six of the gold coins afterward. Eight tigers was pretty steep for that project, the same price as the armor I was getting. That put into perspective how valuable the chunk of corscant crystal we were going to trade all of those other pieces of jewelry for was. I kept the last crystal as well, as the payment for the lantern, and would give her both once she had the other pieces finished tomorrow.

I felt a bit guilty that the three of them had volunteered so much money to help me buy the lantern. "Are you guys sure that was worth it?" I asked.

Piper laughed. "Without a doubt. A mana regeneration field will be useful for all of us. Well... maybe not for Maxwell and Aria directly, but the increased regeneration will give me more healing, which will help them too. If it overlaps well enough with the bracer I'm getting, it might even let me take a more active role in fights more often."

Luna grabbed my arm as her tail swished back and forth behind her happily. ("None of us would have gotten anything from this place if it wasn't for you. Chipping in for the lantern is a small price to pay. Besides, you just got out of the dungeon. It would be a shame if you blew all of your money already.")

"I wish I could have chipped in too, but I didn't come out of the dungeon with as much money as you guys. I'll make it up to you somewhere though! I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me," Aria said.

I sighed. "We still need to spend money on the caravan to Ironcastle, right? How much will that cost?"

Maxwell turned to me in confusion. "What do you mean? We'll be getting paid for that, I signed us up as caravan guards. We're just waiting for placement."

"Oh..." I chuckled. "I suppose I thought we'd be paying for a ride."

"You probably don't have much to compare us to, but all of us are strong Helena," Piper said. "Even if our group is a little odd by most standards, all of us are powerful enough to protect a well-traveled road. People would be more dubious if we were joining an expedition into the wilderness maybe, but anyone that could bring back the spoils we did from the seventeenth floor of the Fallow dungeon can handle a few animals and monsters that we might come across protecting a caravan."

"What kinds of things could we face?" I asked.

"The most difficult things that are possible to come across on the road to Ironcastle are likely bears. It's winter so not many of them should be active, but some of them are really dangerous for .... people," Maxwell told me.

I turned to Luna who quickly explained the word I missed. ("Unempowered. People who fight monsters and delve dungeons are considered 'empowered' relative to most 'unempowered' people. All of us have grown stronger by facing monsters and strengthening our mana.")

"Sure, bears were deadly in my... homeland too," I replied to Maxwell. "What about... people? Do we need to worry about dangerous... people?" I didn't have a word for bandits or highwaymen.

Maxwell shrugged. "There haven't been any recent wars in this region so the chance of running into brigands is low. We're more likely to run into monsters than brigands. And even monsters are unlikely."

"Unless whatever has happened to the dungeon is happening up here too," Piper added.

Maxwell looked meaningfully at Piper before looking around at the few people nearby and lowering his voice. "Best not talk about the dungeon out in the open. Not sure how poorly the ban on independents has gone over, so I'd prefer not to be blamed for it if people are angry."

"Sure," Piper said with a shrug.

"So what now?" I asked. "Is there anything else we need to buy for the trip?"

"Tents," Piper said immediately. "It will be more important for all of us to have our own tents for this trip. We found some decent camping supplies for the two of you in that last chest, which will save us some trouble, but tents will give you privacy on the road."

I couldn't transform openly right now, so sleeping outside while transformed was a terrible idea. I would just have to get used to sleeping in a tent now, I guess. I glanced at my girlfriend. "What if I just shared a tent with Luna?"

Luna giggled but Piper shook her head. "Maybe if you were already married, but that would be inappropriate to do in public even if you were fully committed fiancés." The reproachful tone at the end made me feel a bit uncomfortable but... I suppose I couldn't really argue.

"So... Does that mean no one ever shares a tent?" I asked... perhaps a bit petulantly.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Men and women usually don't comingle but it's a bit more complicated for paired women or paired men. If you're openly courting, like the two of you clearly are, then it's frowned upon to be public about it. It makes the dominant look impatient and makes the submissive look slutty." Luna helped me out with the final word there as her cheeks colored red.

My hackles raised. "Dominant? Submissive? What are you talking about?"

Piper immediately froze and turned to me with a look of confusion... one that I noticed that everyone else shared... including Luna. Her mouth opened and closed before she turned to Luna in a telltale sign of them talking through the rings. I felt a bit impatient and lost, Maxwell and Aria looked incredibly awkward, and Luna looked flustered.

I didn't have to wait long before Piper groaned in frustration. "What do you mean you didn't have that conversation? The two of you are getting engaged, you have to talk about this stuff, you can't just assume she was taking the dominant role, she clearly doesn't even know what we're talking about." Luna turned away with her ears back.

Maxwell cleared his throat and cut into the conversation. "Perhaps we should talk about this in private? We should at least not be talking about this in the middle of the road."

"Uh... Do I need to be included in this at all?" Aria asked. "This seems like it's between you two... or three. Is there anything else we need to prepare before we leave?"

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Piper rubbed her face. "You two can go, let's just meet back up at the bar in the inn later." The two gave mumbles of agreement before slinking off. Piper let out a sigh. "Okay, we're going back to the inn first. We need to talk about this somewhere a bit quieter."

Luna gave me a lingering glance before nodding and following behind Piper. I... wanted to say something to Luna through the rings but the atmosphere felt a bit strained right now. I decided to just quietly walk through town with them. The other two must have gone somewhere else first because I didn't see either of them when we walked through the bar and headed up to our rooms. For now, Piper joined us in the room we were sharing.

"Why can the two of us share a room but we can't share a tent?" I asked when we came in.

Piper turned to me with a deadpan look on her face. "Because this place is private, no one would know if you did anything in here."

"Sure but they would know if we didn't do anything in the tent," I replied.

Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's different..."

"I don't see how."

Luna took my hand. ("Please don't fight. Piper isn't trying to upset you, she's just trying to help... I didn't realize there was a question of which one of us was dominant... We should have talked about it.")

I sat on the bed and pulled off my blindfold so that I could actually look at them with my real eyes. "Why are we talking about a 'dominant' at all? Why can't we just be equals? This is just weird."

The two of them looked at each other in confusion. Piper was the first one to reply. "In a paired couple, you have to decide who will take the role of the husband, and who will take the role of the wife. Both have different expectations and duties to perform, there would be confusion for both the couple and anyone interacting with them if that wasn't decided."

I was getting irritated with this conversation quickly. "Why do we need predefined roles? We could just split things up based on who is better at any given task. Why does one of us have to be a 'husband' and one of us have to be a 'wife?' Why couldn't we both be wives or both be husbands?"

Piper sighed and looked at Luna for help, who looked just as confused as she was. Luna pursed her lips and turned to face me fully. ("Helena, please calm down a little. I think there might be a misunderstanding here. Before we talk about this further, can I ask what is making you so angry? The two of us are genuinely confused.")

I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I'm upset because I don't like the idea of either of us being forced into a subservient role toward the other. If I'm taking you as a wife, I want to take you as a partner, not as a submissive."

Luna glanced at Piper who was cupping her chin in thought before she turned back to me. ("What if I want to be submissive to you?")

I frowned. "I... don't know if I want that kind of relationship. I want us to make decisions and plans together, I don't want to be 'in charge' of our relationship. It should be a partnership, where we can both be individuals, not a master and a slave."

"Woah woah, let's back up a little," Piper said interjecting. "That's not what we're talking about. Maybe the words for this are confusing. This isn't about... controlling your wife. It's about taking on the role of the husband. It's a bit hard for me to explain, I'm not a beastkin."

Luna reached over and touched my hand. I reluctantly held it. ("Helena, beastkin need... hierarchy. Not just in a mated pair but within larger groups of beastkin. And while there are some expectations that come with being the dominant of the pair, for us, what would be important is how we present to others. Being my dominant or my husband for the purposes of others does not mean you would have to make all of our decisions and... it doesn't mean that I wouldn't be free to leave you if I wasn't happy. It would mean that your role would be to protect and maintain our social status, especially regarding beastkin, and I would be in charge of maintaining our home and protecting any children we may care for. Both of these are important.")

I ran my fingers through my hair. "This just sounds so... rigid and... stifling..."

Luna took a pained breath. ("Helena... I'm weak. At least in the ways I would need to be strong in a marriage like ours. I would never be able to have a solid social status among others, especially beastkin, without a partner I trusted. Our marriage will be tested to determine our social status, and among beastkin, that almost certainly means through physical combat. Even in human and dragon lands, there are traditions that require different things of the husband and wife. I... don't really know what marriage means where you come from, but here, this is what marriage is. Choosing to be with each other and taking the roles to fit in and find a place within society. ...I want to be with you, I want you to be my husband, my dominant. That doesn't mean I will be submissive in all things, especially decisions that affect both of us, it just means that you would take the role of the male when dealing with others. Though... they would probably imagine you to be... the one on top... in our bed.") The end of her sentence flustered her... and me as well if I'm being honest... as difficult as this conversation has been, that last part did have some appeal to it.

I sighed and rubbed my face. "So... I wouldn't really need to do anything different? This is just about how others treat us and interact with us?"

("No, nothing should change... I was already behaving as if you were my dominant... We talked about you fighting off other beastkin to prove you could protect me. And, it's normally the dominant that makes the first move to establish the relationship. I had been waiting for you to claim me as your bride... and then you did,") Luna said sheepishly. ("I didn't think to bring it up because I thought that's already how you were behaving. I didn't know there was any misunderstanding between us about this...")

I took a deep breath before replying through the rings to make sure my words were clear to her. ("Fine. I'll accept that this is a cultural difference that I don't fully understand and accept my place as your... 'dominant.' But that doesn't change anything between us. We're still partners and I won't accept you deferring to me because of any hierarchy between us. Is that fair?")

Luna smiled. ("That's fair.") She scooted into my lap and pulled me into a kiss. When she broke it, she looked into my eyes. ("I think I understand you a bit better now... I'll just have to get used to playing the role of dominant too... when appropriate.") She bit her lip as she looked up at me in a way that reminded me of the teasing fox she was when we took that bath together. I liked it when she got that look in her eye.

"So... did you two work it out? It looks like you worked it out. What should I know? You two didn't just swap positions did you?" Piper asked.

Luna giggled and I rolled my eyes before replying. "No. It looks like I'm still the 'dominant' in our relationship."

"Good. Because no offense Luna, it would be weird if you were fighting off beastkin with more muscles than sense to protect your wife with more muscles than sense."

That made Luna laugh so hard she started coughing and I couldn't do anything but roll my eyes even harder.