Mana Soul: Chapter 59 - The Priest - Aela

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Watching Markus sleep, Aela took careful note of the small details others might have missed or taken for granted. Like how his right side would twitch with every fifth breath or the way his eyelids would tremor every few minutes.

Far leaner than when they had first met, Markus had lost a small amount of weight while putting on less than half as much muscle. No matter how much he ate, Markus seemed incapable of putting on weight, and if it continued it was going to kill him. Aela had watched Markus eat enough for three men his size, but it still wasn’t enough.

Aela had been deliberately relaxing Markus’s training, afraid that the extra activity was responsible for his deteriorating condition. And yet, despite his losing weight, Markus showed no other physical signs of illness that could suggest any sort of disease Aela knew of.

Resolved to raise the issue once Markus woke up in the morning, Aela coiled her tail around his leg and wrapped his arm around her before snuggling up against his chest. Listening to Markus’s heartbeat, Aela did her best to take comfort in the knowledge that whatever was wrong with him was slow-acting and that Markus would still be alive in the morning.

Just as Aela planned, Markus unintentionally woke her up while attempting to discreetly stretch and get out of bed.

“Sorry,” Markus apologised quietly with a shy smile, brushing his lips gently against hers before kissing Aela’s cheek. It was a compromise he had settled on to avoid shredding his lips, and Aela appreciated the gesture.

Aela matched his smile and kissed Markus back in the same fashion, playfully flicking his ear with her tongue before uncoiling her tail from around Markus’s leg.

“I don’t suppose you could maybe skip training with Hilda today?” Markus asked with a dubious optimism while pulling on his pants, “Phillipe is going to be spending most of the next few days with his uncle, and...and I don’t feel comfortable being around his family on my own...”

“Alright,” Aela agreed, trying not to sound too eager.

Markus paused halfway through pulling on a boot, “Really?” He looked pleasantly surprised and had a sparkle in his eyes.

Aela returned his smile and nodded, “I think it’s good to take a break sometimes. Besides, I like spending time with you, even if I don’t quite understand what you are working on.”

“I like spending time with you too,” Markus beamed, “I know I can get pretty distracted sometimes, but I still like knowing you are there. The golems watch out for me because I tell them to. You do it because you want to.”

Aela nearly missed it, but she was almost certain she had seen Hector’s helmet move slightly to focus on Markus. The golems did this from time to time, whenever it seemed like no one would notice. It always seemed strange whenever Aela saw them doing it. Amongst all the golems, it was Hector, Leona, and Arlee’s little Dolly that did it the most often.

Far from threatening, Aela wasn’t sure how best to describe it.

“Are you planning on getting dressed?” Markus asked with a smirk, “I wouldn’t mind if it was just the two of us, but-”

Aela playfully threw a pillow at Markus to shut him up, “They should be so lucky,” she replied while doing her best not to blush. Aela still couldn’t believe how much more comfortable she felt in her own skin since she and Markus had first confessed their feelings for one another. While Markus wasn’t stingy with his compliments, it was the way he looked at her that Aela found the most reassuring. Most of all when he thought she was sleeping and would have no reason to act or exaggerate.

All the same, Aela liked the way Markus watched her while she was awake as well, making a point of waving her hips and bending over as she pulled on her own pants. Discreetly glancing back towards Markus, Aela grinned as his eyes burned with desire.

Once they were both dressed, Aela drowsily followed Markus downstairs for breakfast.

With Arlee’s newfound enthusiasm for her education. Or more accurately, her enthusiasm for completing her daily lessons early. Aela had to wait longer than she would have liked before breaching the potential issue of Markus’s health and eating habits.

“You think I am not eating enough?” Markus asked uncertainly while lifting his tunic and rubbing his hand over his stomach.

Aela nodded.

With Phillipe spending the day with his uncle, Hilda had opted to stay behind, even after Aela revealed she wouldn’t be practising today. “I think Aela is right,” Hilda agreed hesitantly, “You look stronger than when we first met, but also like you would starve if left without food for a few days.”

“Really?” Markus grew more concerned, “I thought I was just getting into better fighting condition...”

Hilda gave Markus an odd look, “You need more than just muscle for fighting, Markus. You need fat for energy and for times without plentiful access to food,” she lifted the front of her own tunic to reveal thick abdominal muscles before lowering her tunic again and flexing her right arm, “A little fat can turn a potentially crippling attack into a flesh wound. It’s why most of the best Warriors are so beefy. Because they have the build to survive.”

Markus slowly nodded, “But I have been eating a lot...” He glanced towards Aela and looked worried, “You said I might be sick and not realise it?”

Aela nodded and wrung her hands beneath the table, “I...I think you might need a Priest...”

Markus froze, a momentary flash of panic in his eyes and an involuntary flinch made it obvious that Markus would not be so easy to convince.

Hilda seemed confused, “If this is about your thing with nobles, Phillipe’s cousin Candice is quite nice-”

“It’s not...” Markus interrupted and then abruptly fell silent again, anxiously running his hand through his hair and looking away in obvious distress.

Hilda looked from Markus to Aela, “It’s not what?” She asked with concern.

“It’s not nobles,” Aela explained quietly, “Not all of them. It’s Priests.”

Hilda only seemed more confused, “Priests? Why would he-” She turned back to face Markus, “Why would you have something against Priests?” Hilda was completely bewildered, as if the very idea made no sense at all, “Did a Priest overcharge you? Steal your Bounties? Heal a bone crooked?-”

Markus had begun to tremble and flinched at the mention of crooked bones. “I uh, I need some air,” Markus declared shakily and hurriedly left the room with Hector right on his heels.

“I didn’t mean to-” Hilda began to apologise.

“Someone tortured him,” Aela explained flatly, a combination of rage, pain and grief swirling around in her gut as she tried to keep control.

“Oh...” Hilda looked towards the door and dryly tried to swallow, “And he looks so healthy because-”

“Because a Priest kept putting him back together again,” Aela confirmed bitterly, “He has so many scars...and he won’t talk about it. He won’t say who did it or why. He just freezes up and gets that terrified look in his eyes...” Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, “Sometimes he cries out in his sleep...”

Hilda left her seat, walked around the table bent down to give Aela a hug, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” She apologised again.

Aela buried her face in the large woman's chest and cried.

After a while, Hilda pulled away and somewhat awkwardly settled back on her haunches, “You don’t think this could be what’s making Markus sick?” She asked worriedly, “I've heard some stories about people that have been healed by Priests a few too many times in a single Dungeon.”

“Like what?” Aela asked quietly, drying her eyes with her sleeves.

“Well...” Hilda shifted uncomfortably, “There was this Jarl’s nephew who kept getting injured in training. So the Jarl gave this Priest in a lavish manor house with servants and the Priest attended to his nephews' wounds. After a few months, the nephew was not getting any better and his conditioning was getting worse. Eventually, the nephew couldn’t get out of bed, complaining of sore joints. The Priest tried to heal the joints, but nothing happened,” she shrugged, “It was as if his joints had aged decades...”

“And you think this could be what’s wrong with Markus?” Aela asked hesitantly, subconsciously refusing to accept Markus’s eventual death as a true possibility.

“Maybe?” Hilda answered with equal reluctance and uncertainty.

Leaving the house, Aela and Hilda found Markus waiting outside, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and sunning his face while Hector stood imposingly nearby. Aela could tell he was thinking, and by the way his hands wouldn’t stop shaking despite being tucked under his armpits, it wasn’t about anything pleasant.

Hilda took a breath and began to step forwards, most likely to offer another apology, but Aela held out her arm and stopped her. Shaking her head, Aela decided it would be best if they just waited for the time being. Interrupting Markus now was likely to require him to pick up where he left off, causing him more stress and anxiety in the process.

After a few minutes, Markus opened his eyes and stared blankly at the morning sky for a few minutes longer before looking toward Aela and giving her a small smile. There was still a lingering haunted look in his eyes, but he seemed genuinely happy to see her all the same. “I think I might know what’s wrong,” Markus stated quietly.

Aela glanced at Hilda, their eyes meeting for a moment before turning to face Markus again, “You do?” She asked warily, worried that Markus had overheard Hilda’s story.

Markus nodded pensively, “I might have accidentally exposed myself to foreign mana during my experiments,” he explained a little awkwardly, “I was thinking, depending on which mana it is, that it might be stealing energy to replenish the mana.”

“You think so?” Aela asked optimistically, glad that there was an alternative solution to the one Hilda had proposed earlier.

“Two different mana in one person?” Hilda asked uncertainly, “Is that even possible?”

“Sure,” Markus replied matter of factly, “It depends on whether or not you want to count assimilated mana or not. Every adventurer, except those at the absolute peak, have some combination of regular mana and the mana of whichever Class they happen to possess.”

“So you could have two different Classes abilities?” Hilda pressed.

“Probably,” Markus replied confidently, “But I am not sure I would want to deliberately give a Warrior the ability to shoot fire. It seems a lot like asking for trouble.”

Hilda opened her mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it.

“A visit with Yiva seemed to be in order,” Markus sighed, “I knew I should have made one of those large crystal panels for myself...”

Leaving the inner bailey walls, they made their way to the Blood Hunter nursery compound. Despite the suspicious looks directed toward Hilda, they were allowed to enter without being challenged.

“It’s like a small fortress,” Hilda joked nervously as she looked around at the large brick buildings.

“That’s the point,” Aela replied with a friendly snicker and then pointed towards the fenced-off play area with the chimaera children playing their games on the other side.

“That makes sense,” Hilda chuckled as she nodded approvingly, “If anything is worth the time and resources, it's protecting what’s most precious.”

“I am glad you approve,” Yiva commented curiously as she escorted a very pregnant Skadi and Beowulf from the midwife building.

“Markus,” Beowulf nodded in greeting, his tail wagging happily, “I can’t thank you enough!”

“I would thank you too, but I think the back pain just about makes us even,” Skadi joked goodnaturedly as she waddled closer before giving Markus a brief hug. “Thank you Markus, truly,” she insisted with a broad sincere smile.

“You’re welcome,” Markus replied happily, “There haven’t been any problems?”

Skadi shook her head, “Just the normal pregnancy things. Right Yiva?”

“Normal pregnancy things,” Yiva chuckled in amusement, “Behaving like it is her third child, heeheehee.”

Skadi blushed nervously as she retreated to Beowulf’s side, “I’ll have had two soon enough,” she muttered with a smile while rubbing her distended belly.

“You mean, we will,” Beowulf corrected with a happy grin.

Skadi stuck out her tongue, “I don’t see your belly bloating like a corpse in the summer sun,” she countered snarkily, still grinning from ear to ear.

“That’s because of all my fur,” Beowulf growled back before chuckling and drawing Skadi in close for a passionate kiss, “I love you.”

Skadi squirmed and giggled, “I love you too you big lug, but let me go, I already told you that my back hurts!”

Making their farewells so Skadi could visit her mother, Beowulf and Skadi left the Nursery.

Hilda seemed confused, “I thought Markus only made that fertility treatment a few months ago?”

“I did,” Markus confirmed, “Why?”

Hilda fidgetted a little, “Well, that chimaera looked positively fit to burst. Even if she wasn’t having twins, she still looks about due.”

Yiva nodded, “Less than a week now,” she declared confidently, “Mixed bloodlines are always a little trickier to predict, but I would say no more than five days unless it is a difficult birth or there are complications.”

“So quickly?” Hilda winced, “Please tell me there is a longer space between pregnancies!”

Yiva shrugged, “That is something of an unknown,” she admitted before deliberately looking to Markus, “Until recently, there was no way of reliably making a follow-up attempt.”

Markus embarrassedly avoided eye contact and blushed.

“Oh, right...” Hilda stated awkwardly upon realising what Yiva meant.

“Speaking of which,” Yiva’s focus on Markus intensified, “How goes your experiment?” She asked quietly, despite her daughters being more than close enough to overhear everything as they made a show of sweeping the paved ground nearby.

Markus coughed to clear his throat before risking eye contact, “Quite promising actually,” he admitted, “I don’t know if it’s a perfect solution, or if chimaeras will fully accept anyone who undergoes the treatment, but, it does work.”

Yiva grew visibly more curious, “What do you mean? Is it because of appearances? Because I think it is safe to say that we are rather accepting on that account,” she stated reassuringly.

Markus shook his head.

“He looks just like any other Shoal Prowler,” Aela explained, “More or less.”

“Then what is the problem?” Yiva asked before gasping in worry, “You didn’t make him sterile?!”

“NO!” Markus barked loudly, before wincing in embarrassment, “No, not as such...”

Yiva frowned, “What does that mean?”

“Well...he's more human than chimaera in that particular regard...” Markus replied awkwardly.

Yiva’s frown deepened as she tried to puzzle out Markus’s meaning.

“He would reproduce like a human,” Aela said with a grin, “No need for treatments, but not a guaranteed successful mating either.”

Markus’s ears reddened and he made a point of avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Yiva’s eyes widened in surprise, “That is...well...” She began stroking her fluffy goatee thoughtfully, before nodding to herself, and fixing Markus with a new stare, “And this man would be able to have children with other chimaeras?” Yiva asked excitedly.

Markus nodded, “The mana is compatible...and Adam is as much, maybe more, chimaera than the rest of you.”

“What do you mean?” Yiva asked, “How can this Adam be more chimaera than we are?”

Markus fidgetted nervously, “Well...This is one of the parts I wasn’t sure chimaeras would be too happy about. Adam is a great deal stronger than most of you are. Like he has destroyed many dungeon cores.”

Yiva’s eyes widened for a second time.

“Granted, he wouldn’t be the strongest, and he can’t rage like the rest of you can-” Markus began explaining in a rush.

“Wait!” Yiva interrupted abruptly, “He can’t rage? What is that?”

Markus blushed with embarrassment, “Ah, right. It’s the name I have been using for the event when chimaeras begin cannibalising their own mana to increase their speed and strength-”

“And he can’t do that? At all?” Yiva prompted earnestly.

Markus nodded, “We tested extensively, and Adama just can’t do it.”

Yiva just stared at Markus for a short while before looking to Aela, “This is true?”

Aela shrugged, “Markus said it was. I wasn’t there when he ran those tests.”

“Breed like humans, stronger,” Yiva began counting off on her fingers, “And no degeneration? Is this right?”

Markus nodded.

“Why would you ever worry that we would be upset?!” Yiva demanded, “He sounds perfect! This...Adam? How old did you say he was?”

“I didn’t really ask?” Markus admitted, “He seemed to be about forty or fifty maybe?”

Yiva tapped her hooves excitedly while gnawing on her finger, “Plenty of suitable matches...” She mumbled under her breath.

“Uh, so, I came here to use the mana detection artifice if that’s okay?” Markus asked a little awkwardly, “There is something I need to check.”

“Hrm? Oh! Go ahead my dear,” Yiva replied happily, “But, ah, by chance, when will this Adam be leaving your care?”

Markus paused for a few moments to think. “Maybe, this evening, so long as nothing unexpected happens?”

“Very good!” Yiva bleated excitedly, “I will send my life-mate to fetch him before sundown!”

Slow on the uptake, Markus seemed confused until Hilda’s snickering seemed to provide the right prompt. “Oh!... Um, alright, but I don’t think he will want to leave his nephew behind. I wasn’t planning on performing Holt’s chimaerafication until I was sure it was safe and had his consent.”

Yiva waved her hand dismissively, “You can tell the boy that the target of his affections has been ‘discreetly’ asking after news on his whereabouts and health.”

“Is that true?” Markus asked, evidently somewhat surprised to hear this news.

“Well, as discreetly as Mjoln relieving himself after a bowl of pepper stew,” Yiva admitted with a grin, “But the rest is true.”

“Hrm, alright,” Markus agreed, “I’ll tell him when we return to the workshop in a little while.”

“Excellent!” Yiva declared excitedly and made for the gate, apparently leaving the nursery under the care of her daughters.

“Come on Markus,” Aela prompted, giving him a gentle shove and pointing to the midwife building.

With a number of large comfortable beds and bedding, Aela was proud that no expense had been spared in furnishing the building.

Markus’s mana detection artifice and the large display were neatly stored away at the far end of the room alongside the mana transference artifices.

The large rectangular display pane was mounted in a cast iron frame with wheels that allowed it to be moved around the room with relative ease. While Markus had provided the enchantments, the frame and wheels had been one of Tina’s recommended alterations.

Wheeling around the display pane while Markus began stripping off his tunic, Aela made a deliberate effort not to stare at his silvery scars.

Activating his tablet and the display pane, Markus began slowly panning his tablet over his chest.

“Woah...” Hilda looked at Markus and then back at the crystal display pane which was now showing a semi-transparent outline of Markus’s internal workings and streams of mana. “Is that your heart?” She asked in awe.

Aela was intently scanning every nook and cranny of Markus’s organs for signs of...something.

Markus continued patiently passing the tablet over his chest, then moved on to his arms and hands, then his head, and finally handing the tablet off to Hector to continue with his back.

“Uh...what happened? Is this what we are looking for?” Hilda asked nervously, pointing at the tangled mess of light silver streaks now dominating the viewing pane.

Aela shook her head, “Those are scars...”

Hilda’s eyes widened in shock, “But there have to be hundreds...” She breathed incredulously before pausing, “There were others...and they were all over...divinities preserve us...”

“Hector, locate foreign mana, exclude Artificer mana,” Markus ordered.

“I obey, Creator,” Hector rumbled in response, “Foreign mana detected.”

“What?!” Aela snapped, looking away from the display to stare at the golem before remembering that it had no facial cues to read.

“Foreign mana is detected in Creator’s skeletal system,” Hector replied.

“Show on the display,” Markus ordered, pulling on his tunic again while the golem followed his order.

The scanned images were compiled into a composite that displayed Markus’s entire upper body in detail. Only this time, his bones were pockmarked with a host of black dots.

Markus frowned, “Show Artificer mana.”

Like stars in the night sky, a host of disparate silver specks appeared amongst the inky blackness.

Markus clenched his hands into fists and began to tremble with a fierce expression of barely contained rage.

“What does this mean?” Hilda asked quietly.

“It means,” Markus croaked, “That his poison is inside of me...” For all his anger, tears began welling in Markus’s eyes, “That’s why I’m sick...His mana is killing me...” He looked down at his hands with a look of pure revulsion.

“Markus...” Aela tried to rest a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but he shied away.

“I’m infected...so just....so don’t touch me, alright?” Markus hissed bitterly, “I need to find a way to get rid of it.”

Aela could hear the hurt in his voice and decided to give Markus his space for the time being. When he was ready, she would be there to help.

Markus stiffly got to his feet and staggered out of the room, stumbling slightly and dragging his right foot.

Hector moved to follow Markus, but for a brief moment, the golem stared at Aela with its inscrutable eyes. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone.

“I don’t understand,” Hilda muttered, still staring at the crystal viewing pane. “If that black stuff is the Priest’s mana, then why are the scars silver? Shouldn’t they be infused with the Priest’s mana and not Markus’s?”

Aela shrugged and sat down on the bed. As much as she wanted to help Markus, Aela had no idea how she could go about doing it. Removing his bones wasn’t really an option and even if it was possible to do so without killing him, the amount of pain it would cause Markus was guaranteed to drive him insane.

After resetting the viewing pane just as Markus had taught her, Aela left the nursery and wandered back to the house. Checking their room, Aela confirmed that Markus wasn’t there and instead assumed he had to be in the workshop.

Hilda was waiting for her outside. “Not there?” She asked sympathetically.

Aela nodded.

“I’m sure he just needs a little time,” Hilda reassured her, “Markus is a rather excitable guy, he just needs time, you'll see.”

Aela nodded again but said nothing. This was the first time she had ever seen Markus so upset. The look of pure revulsion and hatred, it was a whole other side of him Aela would not have known existed.

Noticing Phillipe’s cousins making their way toward the workshop, Hilda gave Aela’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before preparing to intercept them. “I’ll entertain the relations and let them know that there has been a delay or something,” she insisted, “Give you a chance to help Markus sort things out, okay?

“Okay,” Aela agreed quietly, unsure what, if anything, she could do to help Markus with his problem.

“Just make sure he knows you're there for him,” Hilda advised, apparently able to read Aela’s mind.

Aela nodded, “Thanks Hilda,” she tried her best to smile but couldn’t quite manage it, “For being my friend I mean.”

Hilda smiled reassuringly, “You make it easy,” she replied tenderly, “Just hang in there.” Hilda gave her a quick hug before jogging off towards Phillipe’s cousins.

Making her way into the workshop, Aela couldn’t help but notice that the golems seemed, disturbed. Rather than working efficiently at their assigned tasks, every one of them was staring in the direction of the basement. Some of the golems would briefly glance at Aela, but their focus would quickly return to the basement door.

Aela had the distinct impression that they were speaking with one another, only that she didn’t have the right ears to hear their words. The golems’ silence was very nearly deafening and Aela couldn’t stand it.

Crossing the workshop floor, Aela opened the basement door and descended the steps. The portal to Markus’s private testing site was active and remained open, most likely the cause of the golems collective interest.

Knowing that only Markus had the means of opening the portal, Aela took a moment to compose herself before stepping through to the other side.

Now standing on the somewhat familiar mountainside, Aela looked around for signs of Markus and Hector’s passing. With a myriad of tracks making it confusing to tell which way they may have gone, Aela instead opted to rely on her sense of smell.

Tasting the air, Aela easily caught Markus’s distinctive scent and began climbing the mountain.

Aela saw Hector long before she saw Markus. The large golem was standing a ways back from a cliff and initially shielding Markus from sight. As Aela drew closer, she found Markus sobbing pitiably while being held by Hector from behind.

Worried that the golem had somehow broken free of Markus’s control and was hurting him, Aela came up short as recognised the golem's hold around Markus’s shoulders was not the chokehold she had feared but seemed far more reminiscent of a hug.

Hector’s helmeted head turned just enough to register Aela’s presence. Instead of turning away, the golem tilted its head towards Markus while still staring at Aela.

Realising that the golem most likely wanted her to intervene, Aela hurried toward Markus. Still unsure of what she should do or say, Aela pulled Markus into a tight embrace and guided them both gently to the ground as Hector let go with a visible reluctance and stepped away to give them space.

Aela lost track of how long he continued sobbing, his body trembling in her arms as Aela gently rocked him back and forth while stroking his back. Staring at the cliff's edge, she had come to realise why Hector had been restraining him.

Hugging Markus tighter, Aela refused to let him go until he became himself again.

Eventually, Markus fell asleep.

Still cradling Markus in her arms, Aela carried him back through the portal and into the workshop basement. Ascending the stairs and stepping out onto the workshop floor, Aela immediately found herself and Markus as the collective focus of the still motionless golems. However, as Markus was brought into more prominent view, a wave of intense silence passed through the workshop golems like a wave, and one by one they returned to work at an almost frenzied pace.

Leaving the workshop, it took Aela a few moments to realise how late in the evening it was, and that someone was waiting for them.

“Is everything alright?” A deep voice asked with genuine concern.

Aela turned her head towards the voice and found herself staring at an aggressively pronounced set of abdominal and pectoral muscles.

“Did something happen to Markus? Is there something I can do to help?” The voice asked with mounting concern.

Looking up, Aela now recognised the voice as belonging to Dustin, Mjoln’s father and Yiva’s life-mate. All the same, Aela didn’t know what to say. Emotionally exhausted, she fought back the tears and took a deep breath. “I can’t talk about it right now...I’m sorry...” Aela apologised.

Dustin’s expression of concern only intensified, “If there is anything we can do to help, you just need to ask,” he offered gently before shifting his focus towards Markus, “He has given so much for us...to not repay such a debt...” Dustin shifted uncomfortably and snorted while shaking his shaggy mane to express his aggravation.

“I’ll be sure to let you know...” Aela replied somewhat flatly, struggling to express her gratitude in the wave of her earlier panic and grief. “You can talk to the golems inside and one of them should be able to handle things...” With Hector constantly shadowing Markus, it would be a simple matter for the protector to inform the other golems of Markus’s original intentions.

“Are you sure?” Dustin asked quietly, “There is no true need to hurry-”

“It’s what Markus would want,” Aela interrupted, fighting back the tears she could feel welling up inside her.

Most likely realising he was doing more harm than good, Dustin slowly nodded, his blunt brutish features creased in concern, “Alright, but remember what I said.”

Aela nodded silently and took Markus back to the house. Passing through the empty dining room, she carried Markus up the stairs and laid him out on their bed. Stripping him down to his underclothes, Aela did her best to make him comfortable before crawling into bed alongside him and embracing him as tightly as she dared.

Like a flooding river bursting its banks, all the fear, anger and pain bottled up inside of Aela suddenly overwhelmed her and she began to cry. As much as she wanted to deny it, a part of Aela realised how close she had come to losing him, and it terrified her.

As angry as she was with herself for having left him alone, Aela felt equally betrayed that Markus would even consider taking his own life. He had just told her that very morning that he loved her, so why would he try and abandon her like that?

Unable to find an answer didn’t leave her feeling worse than before, Aela cried herself to sleep.

Suddenly waking from a disturbing nightmare, Aela’s eyes snapped open and locked onto a tall figure kneeling beside their bed. Senses dulled by her emotional fatigue, it took Aela a few moments to recognise that it was just Hector. However, the golem’s desertion of its established post by the door was strange.

Stranger still was how the golem was behaving. With tender gentleness, Hector was brushing aside the hair from Markus’s forehead while erratically bobbing its head and shoulders. “My boy...My poor...sweet....boy...” The golem’s usual deep gravelly voice was accompanied by a profound sense of pain and sadness.

Unsure of what exactly the golem was saying, Aela was too shocked by Hector’s strange behaviour to react and gradually realised that she was most likely dreaming. Experimentally closing her eyes, Aela found that she lacked the strength and the will to open them again, her consciousness gradually fading into the void of true sleep.

Waking up to the sounds of activity from outside of the window, the stream of light filtering through the shutters confirmed that it was most likely the early morning. With her arms still tightly wrapped around Markus’s chest, Aela glanced towards the door and confirmed that the golem was precisely where it should be, standing as imobile as ever.

Now thoroughly convinced that she had been dreaming, Aela tried to think of what she would need to do with Markus. Unable to trust him on his own, it was only a marginal comfort to know that Hector would intervene to save him from himself. Why the golem had not intervened sooner was making Aela angrier the more she thought about it.

Pulled from her thoughts by a sudden change in Markus’s breathing that signalled he was now awake, Aela glanced up and confirmed that Markus was in fact now awake.

His face contorted in an expression of shame and anger, “I’m sorry...” Markus croaked, his voice breaking as fresh tears ran down his cheeks, “I’m so sorry...”

Aela hugged Markus tightly and cried, her anger forgotten and just glad that she wasn’t alone and that Markus was alive.

Markus hugged her back as best he could, clinging to Aela like a drowning animal in a raging river.

Hours passed before either of them said another word.

“I’m sorry,” Markus repeated regretfully, shivering as he said the words, “I just...I was so angry...” He tensed and hugged her tighter, “The thought...Knowing...that he was still inside of me...” Markus’s voice broke and he began trembling like a leaf in the wind, “I shouldn’t have run off alone...I shouldn’t have...” Markus’s voice trailed off quietly and he looked away in shame.

WIth only a general idea of what Markus had been through, Aela could only imagine how he had felt. All the same, his obvious regret came as a profound relief. “I’m just glad you're alive,” Aela confessed, giving him a squeeze and rubbing her cheek on his chest, “Just...just promise me you wont ever do it again...” Aela insisted quietly.

“I promise,” Markus agreed adamantly, “I promise.”

Despite feeling hungry, Aela spent the rest of the day in bed with Markus. He really seemed to appreciate the company despite spending most of the day dozing or sleeping. As afraid as Aela was to leave him alone, she couldn’t help but have the impression Markus didn’t want to be alone either.

A golem brought up some food, and Markus and Aela had a late dinner before going to sleep.

Waking up late in the morning, Aela was surprised that Markus wanted to leave their bed.

“I just want to be doing something,” Markus admitted guiltily, “I want to take my mind off of it until I can handle devising a means of getting rid of it...” He shrugged somewhat helplessly.

“Alright,” Aela agreed, understanding Markus’s desire to distract himself rather than brooding in his misery.

Aela helped Markus dress as an excuse to maintain their closeness and provide what she hoped he would understand was intended as a demonstration of affection rather than viewing him as an invalid.

Once Aela dressed herself, she took a firm hold of his hand and they descended the stairs together.

Hilda was waiting for them and seemed profoundly relieved to see Marus up and about. “One of the golems in the workshop is overseeing the mana harvesting, so I thought I might spend the day with the two of you. If that’s alright?”

Markus shrugged somewhat awkwardly, “Alright,” he agreed with slight reluctance.

Aela and Markus ate their breakfast in relative silence before going outside.

“The castle seems to be coming along rather nicely,” Hilda commented conversationally, “I don’t think anyone could manage quite as well as your golems do.”

Aela nodded in agreement. When they had first arrived, the castle had been in a serious state of disrepair, having sustained a great deal of damage during the last war. Deemed too dangerous for workers to even remove most of the internal rubble, a small team of golems had been diligently performing the task until quite recently.

If it wasn’t for the increasing need for an impressive symbol of Markus’s authority as a ruler, that small team of golems would have been left to their own devices. However, with a pressing need to negotiate terms and formally establish relations with Cara’s people, the small team of golems had expanded by close to ten times their original number. No longer just removing debris and rubble, the golems had been rebuilding the castle under the direction of some famous architect.

Having seen a number of castles, from a distance, Aela was rather impressed with how nice it looked without the collapsed and crumbling towers spilling across the yard. She was also somewhat looking forward to moving in and living inside of it. While the stones would likely be quite cold, the increased security and privacy would be very much appreciated.

“All the bricks are enchanted too,” Markus added with a faint sense of pride.

“Really?” Hilda sounded genuinely surprised, and Aela couldn’t blame her since she was surprised as well.

Markus nodded, “The bricks in the town too,” he added.

“Isn’t that wasteful?” Hilda asked, still visibly shocked by Markus’s initial revelation.

Markus shook his head thoughtfully, “Not really. The general wear would be so minor that the drain on the invested mana would be negligible. So investing the initial mana is the only real bottleneck.”

“But that would make every building close to indestructible!” Hilda exclaimed.

Markus nodded, “To a certain point,” he agreed, “But the bricks don’t charge very quickly, so they won't resist a sustained assault.”

“Even then...” Hilda seemed to have an epiphany, “So the nursery could resist a siege?”

“It could,” Markus agreed warily, “But that’s because those bricks have powdered quartzite to increase their capacity for mana, and there are a number of emergency Mana Storage Crystals hidden away as a backup in case the wider supply is disrupted.”

Aela baulked, “I didn’t know that,” she admitted, “What other buildings are made like that?”

“All the public buildings for children,” Markus shrugged, “They can also serve as shelters if the town is actually put under siege.”

“Oh! Of course!” Hilda smiled and shook her head.

Aela could tell by the way Markus was deflecting that the potential use as shelters was an obvious afterthought and not a deliberately intended function. Markus’s soft spot for children was obvious.

“Have you given much thought to using the golems to help with construction projects in the town?” Hilda asked curiously, “You could probably have the whole town built in under a month-”

“No,” Markus interrupted abruptly and determinedly shook his head.

“Why?” Aela asked curiously. It was something they had never talked about before and she was truly curious to hear Markus’s reasoning. The town being built sooner would allow it to be that much safer and a much better place to live. It might even allow the town to grow, rather than most of the incoming settlers being shifted along to the other cities and towns being reclaimed from the monsters.

“Prosperity,” Markus answered quietly, “People need jobs, an income, so they can provide for themselves and their families, shape their own destinies. If I had the golems build everything, then there would be no opportunities for regular people. Artifices have already taken over so many jobs already, so it’s important to make as many jobs to replace them, and preserve as many jobs as possible. Ruling over a nation of paupers would provide me with no benefit whatsoever.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Hilda admitted, “There aren't as many of those artifices in the north, so it hasn’t made much of an impact. But, uh, won’t your selling mana to run those artifices make you part of those jobs being taken?”

“It does,” Markus agreed, “I think it was inevitable that someone would do it, but it just makes it more important that I attempt to make jobs available to compensate for it. Some of Tina’s inventions are going to change the world in ways that are difficult for most people to understand, but they aren’t just going to eliminate jobs, they are going to change them and make living easier, making working so hard in order to survive unnecessary. However, the transition has an immense potential for harm...So I restrict the golems to my personal projects, or supporting skilled craftsmen in those projects where necessary.”

“Like the castle,” Hilda bobbed her head in understanding, “I think I get what you mean. Even with all this land, there can still only be so many farmers. If you had the golems do it, what would the farmers do for a living?”

“Pretty much,” Markus agreed quietly, “And felling all the forests for farmland would be a bad idea for obvious reasons as well. Better to keep the forests, or as much of them as possible, and make good use of what we have in abundance.”

“There are always the other worlds as well,” Aela added curiously, “If we can defeat whoever is making the dungeons, there isn’t really anything that would stop Markus from ruling over other worlds!”

“Which only makes it even more important for people to have jobs,” Markus added with a deep sigh, “Even if there were as many worlds as stars in the night sky, eventually there would be no new world for the destitute and desperate to place their hopes in for a new and better life. Far better to get it right here first.”

Wandering over to the kennels as a group, Aela, Markus and Hilda watched on curiously as Svenn and his father attempted to train a pair of barely domesticated monstrous wolves.

“I hope they figure out how to train them,” Hilda sighed dejectedly, “The one you gave Phillipe is rather energetic...” She pointed to a third monstrous wolf that was gnawing at the enchanted bars of its huge cage.

“I still don’t know why you made them,” Aela admitted jokingly.

Markus shrugged, “I thought that maybe I could make a dragon,” he admitted bluntly.

Aela and Hilda both stared at Markus in surprise.

Markus shrugged again, “It’s one of the strongest monsters there is-”

“No,” Hilda interjected firmly, “They ARE the strongest monster there is,” she corrected.

“Well, as the strongest monster,” Markus amended, “I thought they could make a fitting protector for patrolling the borders of the country. They are faster than Tina’s flying ships and boats, and easily big enough that a saddle would fit a dozen or so riders. So, yeah. I figured that so long as these things can be trained, then why not?”

“Dragons...” Aela repeated, “You wanted to make multiple dragons?”

Markus nodded and then shrugged again, “Different mounts for military purposes could be created as well. But again, only if they can be trained. Which is why this is important.”

“What about asking Cara’s people?” Aela suggested, “They should know how to do it, right?”

“Right,” Markus agreed, “But I thought I might give them time to mourn first,” he replied quietly, “According to the golems’ census, most of the survivors are way too old, or too young. If anyone was to go anywhere, Svenn or his father would be going over there...and I can’t ask them to do that...”

“Why did you leave them on that other world anyway?” Aela asked curiously, “There were so few of them, you could have just settled them in one of those abandoned cities.” It was something she hadn’t quite understood. Risking so many resources to save them, only to then leave them in a veritable wilderness was a little strange considering Markus’s generous nature.

Markus chuckled to himself and leaned on the kennel fence, “Assuming their king would have accepted. Who's to say he would agree to be my vassal? Who is to say his son or his grandsons wouldn’t challenge our children on the grounds that they themselves have royal lineage?” Markus shrugged, “It’s just a risk that can be done away with by establishing an alliance instead. Intervening and resettling the survivors will buy us just as much goodwill, so it’s better not to risk it. That was Peabody’s logic anyway. But I think it makes sense.”

“He’s right,” Hilda agreed bitterly, “Inheritance and title claims to land are an endless headache and can turn fatal when someone you thought you could trust decides to stab you in the back and take what’s yours for themselves.”

Reminded that Hilda’s own uncle had deposed her mother and seized her inheritance for himself, Aela was forced to concede the point. After all, just as Markus had said, the refugees might be thankful now, but there was no guarantee that their gratitude would last.

“I pretty much incriminated myself and Phillipe didn’t I?” Hilda chuckled and shook her head.

“A little,” Aela agreed with a grin.

Markus just chuckled and shook his head.

Aela was happy to see him laughing and smiling, and hoped that they could just put the events of the day before behind them. Unfortunately, she recognised the melancholic look in his eyes and realised that they were only distracting Markus from his problem.

“Arlee is probably due for her midday break from lessons soon,” Aela commented, injecting as much cheer into her voice as she could manage, “Why don’t we go watch her practice?”

Markus’s eyes lit up and he seemed genuinely interested, “Alright,” he agreed with a faint smile, “I haven’t had much time to track her progress. Who does Arlee train with?”

Hilda and Aela exchanged amused looks.

“With Dolly, of course,” Aela explained with a wide grin and began dragging Markus towards the training area.

Having witnessed the little girl chase after the nimble little golem a number of times, Aela was confident that Arlee’s antics would be just the soothing balm Markus needed in order to take his mind off of just about everything. And if that didn’t work, watching Arlee trying to hide from the little golem while still wearing her Prosthetic Armour was sure to do the trick.

Aela didn’t know why Arlee thought she could hide the huge armour behind a four-foot-tall fence, but it held a certain charm that never failed to put a smile on Aela’s face. However, she was now incredibly grateful that the girl had the stubbornness to keep trying.