“Having siblings is either the greatest thing ever, or the worst thing ever, depending on who you ask.” - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.
“Oh, no no, Aunt, definitely not. We actually finished our current lessons with Grandmaster around three months ago,” said Áine almost immediately. The girl knew all too well that despite how their parents were direct disciples of the Bone Lord and they themselves considered grand-disciples of his which he liked to dote on, their Grand-Aunt was positioned even higher up, even without any formal position.
“Got a bit bored without Eilo around, honestly, said Rhys with a shrug of his shoulders. As Rhys and Eilonwy were twins, the two were always close to each other, despite their greatly differing personalities. “So we asked Mother whether we could take a vacation here in the north and maybe catch up with Eilo if we happen to run into her. Both of them were fine with it, so here we are.”
“We only got here like… a week ago or so,” added Áine, the two siblings in sync as usual. As much as Eilonwy hated to admit it, she too was often in sync with the other two like this as well, especially if they’ve been together for the past while. “Caught wind of your activities in Jarah, so we thought we might as well wait here, since you were bound to come to Al-Hassid in the near future. You arrived sooner than we thought, though.”
“Things happened, yeah,” admitted Eilonwy to her siblings. “We originally planned to swing to the south and visit a couple other places first after Vusila, but their war with Assadun made it difficult to take that course.”
“They stopped most travel going in and out of their Empire’s south, so we couldn’t really leave inconspicuously like we preferred, explained Kino. Aideen had pretty much allowed the girls to chart their own course, as this was their mission, while she was mostly a tagalong and a supervisor. “So we decided to change things up and head to the Caliphate first instead.”
“Mind if we tag along as well, Aunt?” asked Áine with pleading, puppy-dog eyes, which was an amusing look on the tall, well-built elven girl well in her fifties. “Promise we won’t cause trouble for you or Kino, or get in the way of your mission.”
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Aideen took a glance at Kino and Eilonwy to gauge their reaction to Áine and Rhys being around. Kino seemed perfectly happy to have more of her friends around, while Eilonwy had a resigned look on her face, yet tinged with some happiness as well. This was a case where the decision fell directly to Aideen as the two’s supervisor during the mission, so she had to make the call for them.
It was uncommon for agents to bring in people from outside the Death’s Hand while on such missions, but it had happened a few times when they needed specialists for fields that the agents themselves couldn’t handle. Aideen guessed that Áine and Rhys had learned that part from their mothers, and while Aideen herself could do what the other two did, she did not count as in this case.
“Fine, you two can tag along, but if I find out that you’re lying to get away from grandpa, just remember that you’re never too old for a little spanking,” replied Aideen in the end with a teasing smile.
“Don’t say that to Rhys, Aunt. Heard he got close with Laire recently,” mentioned Eilonwy, naming a young elven girl around their age who was also a trainee in the Death’s Hand… as part of the interrogation division which specialized in getting people to speak with every means in their disposal, including physical and mental torture. “For all you know he might like it nowadays.”
“Eilo!” yelled Rhys out with a blush on his pale cheeks. The sight reminded Aideen of more relaxed times when the three were still little kids who enjoyed messing with each other often. They still remained that way for the most part, just that the things they teased each other about changed as they grew up.
“Well, we are going to stay in Al-Hassid for a while, at least another week or so, I hope our host won’t mind the intrusion?” mentioned Aideen somewhat offhandedly.
“Not at all, Milady, it would be my house’s honor to be your host during your stay here,” replied the house’s patriarch with a genial smile on his old, wizened face. “I will order the servants to have the guest room next to the young master and madam’s prepared immediately.”
“All right then, in that case, you two will stick with me, understood? This mission is basically training for your sister and Kino, so for most situations we will let them deal with it, while we just watch and support them from the back,” explained Aideen. ”Of course, if the situation ends up being too big for just the two of them to handle, we can help them out as needed as well.”
“Understood, Aunt,” replied Rhys and Áine together.
“Other than that, of course we’ll be expecting you to behave yourselves. Fortunately there’s quite a few people of elven heritage around here and that one grove we passed on the way also stands strong, so people shouldn’t ask too many questions about the three of you walking around,” noted Aideen. “That said, you three should remain cloaked while outside just in case.”
“Anyway, enough of that for now. Patriarch zem Nasril, I presume that the reports from the region had been gathered and prepared for our perusal since you are clearly aware of our impending arrival?” she asked as she turned to the old Patriarch.
“It is as you said, Milady, we have it prepared already,” replied the old man with a smile on his face. “That said, maybe Miladies would like to relax and dine first? The day has grown late.”
“Sure, why not?”