Mana Soul: Chapter 60 - The Assassins - Aela

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Two months had passed since Markus’s mental breakdown, and Aela still wasn’t sure if he was actually getting better or just becoming better at hiding his pain. Markus was both more talkative and prone to protracted bouts of silent introspection.

Aela had woken up a number of times and found that Markus was also awake but quietly staring at the ceiling or the window. Sometimes he would raise a hand and just stare at it for hours before falling asleep again.

Peabody had visited Debby a few weeks earlier. Whatever the golem had said to her, it had apparently been sufficient to lift her out of her malaise. Debby had left with the golem the same day and Aela hadn’t seen her since.

If Aela hadn’t been so concerned about Markus, she would have probably cared more.

The castle was completed enough that they had spent the past week moving in their belongings and hiring servants. Despite the fact that golems could have attended to all the tasks, Markus had refused to budge any farther than one golem per four human or chimaera servants. By his logic, golems were more trustworthy and reliable, but he would only be contributing to an unemployment crisis if he didn’t actively diversify.

Aela had relented when she realised Markus was making himself an example for the nobles. While they would not have access to his golems beyond what Markus himself mandated, they would be free to purchase artifices to fill certain roles.

Living in the castle had taken some getting used to. The stones and bricks made the rooms far cooler than Aela would have liked. Even the feast hall was not particularly warm until the great cooking fire was complemented by Markus’s heating artifices.

The trade-off was, of course, the increased amount of space Aela and Markus now had to themselves, and the dramatically increased level of security it afforded.

While no overt threats had been made against Markus or herself, the southern coalition forces were expected to reach the border of Markus's lands any day. The general assumption was held that once Markus refused the southern Prince’s outrageous demands to meekly hand over all of his hard-earned territory, the Prince would deploy a number of assassins to attempt kidnapping or killing Markus to force the issue.

It was now that Aela understood why Peabody had insisted on sourcing clay at the border. The months of intense harvesting had left a huge ragged scar that now greatly impaired attempts to cross from one side to the other. The news of the approaching army had seen a wall built as well, but it wasn’t much taller than seven feet tall at its current stage of construction.

The majority of public works, as Markus called them, were already completed. This created a surplus of labour for building the private housing and other buildings. In some respects, the town at the foot of the castle had seemingly sprung up quite suddenly over the course of a week. Dozens of buildings were seemingly completed simultaneously and many more were close to being completed. Most of the houses were two stories tall and were almost identical, presumably to accommodate extended families and to make the buildings easier to construct.

It was something Aela still found odd to witness. Having spent most of her life in dwellings crafted from rough hewn timber, the process by which the brick buildings were constructed was quite strange in comparison. Bound by a strange paste the labourers called mortar, which would harden when dry, the brick buildings were far more resistant to damage and didn’t take that much longer to build when the weather allowed.

The downside to the brick buildings, as Aela was informed, was that the mortar would take much longer to dry when the weather was cold or wet. Awnings could be erected to provide shelter, and heat radiating artifices could be deployed. However, the artifices were deemed too expensive and often the labourers would just move on to a different worksite while the mortar dried on its own.

The completed houses had brought a fresh breath of life into the town as families happily abandoned their tents and moved into their new homes. The brightening of the overall mood in the town was somewhat at odds with the approaching conflict, but Aela supposed that living in one of the tiny fortresses was perhaps a motivating factor.

What was most surprising of all was the relative degree of acceptance most humans had for the chimaeras in their midst. All too used to overt distrust, fear and anger, Aela considered the present state of disinterest, wariness, or cautious curiosity, to be a dramatic improvement.

This was of great comfort to Aela considering how she had become an aunt six times over with the births of Beowulf, Bjorn and Ulf’s children respectively. What’s more, her mother Svala was due any day now with her’s and Magnus’ child, Aela’s new sister.

This had drawn all the more attention to Markus’s retribution against Magnus and Svala.

Thyra, their daughter, would be denied access to a treatment until Svala and Magnus both gave a public apology in front of Markus’s full court sometime in the coming week. The apology would then be followed by a stint in the recently constructed pillory. Having to spend time away from her newborn was an unintended cruelty that would drive Markus’s punishment home for any chimaera offenders.

Fluer had already endured the same general punishment. Zoe, Fluer’s daughter and the target of Holt’s affection, had earned an experimental treatment in exchange. Given the potential risks involved, it was less a gift so much as a potentially devastating consequence. However, given Holt’s uncle Adam had successfully impregnated his recently acquired lifemate Regina, and that Markus had refused to allow Fluer’s family members the existing treatment, she didn’t really have much choice.

Now the chimaera clans within Markus’s realm had a keen eye on the younger chimaerafied human’s relationship. Should Zoe become pregnant, there would be an overwhelming demand for the new treatment. As such, almost every chimaera was on their best behaviour. Grisha, Svala’s longtime rival, and his family, were now shunned by the Iron Skulls. It was obviously a political move to prevent the clan from being denied the treatments by association. However, seeing her family’s long-time rivals brought low gave Aela a smug sense of satisfaction all the same.

The sudden influx of cubs had made no one happier than Yiva and her family, not least of which was because one of those infants was her own granddaughter. The originally daunting size of the nursery now seemed somewhat conservative. With the other Clans still building their own nurseries, Yiva’s nursery was rapidly approaching general capacity.

This was partially because Yiva and her daughters were teaching other midwives how to use Markus’s artifices, causing the space around the beds to be quite crowded as expecting mothers were given scans to track their pregnancies and hunt for any signs of possible complications in advance.

Two complications thus far, infants resting side on in the womb close to their anticipated birth, had been resolved thanks to the mana viewing artifices and the midwives' experienced hands. Curiously, it was learning of these interventions, and his indirect contributions, that had begun to restore Markus to his former self.

Despite the imminent danger of the approaching army, Aela and Markus had made a point of strolling through the town each afternoon to take note of the progress being made. It also served to give the newcomers a face to put to Markus’s name and title of King.

For his part, Markus wore an intricately braided band of silver with pale sapphires nestled in the foremost coils as his crown. Aela wore an almost identical crown with citrines in place of the sapphires. Perhaps less garish at first glance than the paintings and tapestries Aela had seen that depicted the crowns of royalty, the silver braids were actually deceptively expensive. While a crown was made by flattening the metal, the threads of the silver crowns were made by stretching them, and then losing that length by creating the lavish and intricate beadwork. The level of artisanship alone was breathtaking and only second to each crown's beauty.

Somewhat ironically, Markus had chosen the design for the crown because it was considerably lighter than the majority of the alternatives and wouldn’t overstrain his neck or give him headaches.

Aela still found it strange to be wearing something so incredibly expensive out in public, but the effects upon the townsfolk were unmistakable. With only a single article of jewellery each to serve as their credentials, Aela and Markus were recognised and given deferential treatment wherever they went.

“Which has nothing at all to do with the fact that you are the only chimaera in town with a scaly tail?” Markus joked with a suppressed smile.

Aela grinned and gave her tail a wriggle. She was forced to admit that Markus had a point, so far as Aela knew, she was the only chimaera, period, that had a scaly tail.

“I didn’t expect everyone to be so productive,” Markus admitted, changing the subject as he watched a team of labourers steadily pave a new street to establish boundaries between a completed row of houses and the open plots marked for construction.

Aela nodded, “The work doesn’t seem difficult, but I don’t think I have seen anyone slacking off,” she agreed.

“The wages are good, but I think it has more to do with the fact that they will be living here, that this will be their town and home,” Markus observed thoughtfully.

“Probably,” Aela agreed, unable to think of an alternative explanation beyond the already mentioned generous wages. “Do you think it is the same in any of the other reclaimed cities and towns?” Aela asked curiously.

“For the most part,” Markus agreed thoughtfully, “Most of the buildings are probably salvageable, the sewers too, so the work will probably be focused on removing debris and replacing rooftops I would think. Then again, brick production is barely staying ahead of demand, so I could be wrong,” he admitted with a shrug.

“Really?” Aela hadn’t been aware of that but was only mildly interested in why it might be the case.

From her observations, Aela vaguely recalled visiting one of the brick factories outside of the walls of the town. They were giant buildings attached to the wood drying warehouses, symbiotically sharing the intense heating and fanning artefacts to produce their respective goods at an accelerated rate for sale.

With some basic mathematics, Aela multiplied the number of brick factories by the contents and then imagined how many houses might be made from those bricks. Her eyes widened in surprise and she realised the scope of how many bricks were in fact being produced. It should have been more obvious given the size of the excavated chasm outside of the city, but Aela had not really thought much about it in that respect.

“Maybe some of the city walls need to be repaired?” Markus suggested with a shrug, “Not all of the cities would be in good condition-” Markus was just in the process of looking back towards her when he suddenly froze. One instant Markus looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack, the next, his eyes had turned black and silver. With an expression of implacable determination, Markus dove at Aela, wrapping his arms around hers and pinning them to her sides as he used his body weight and leverage to drive Aela to the ground.

Before Aela had time to react, the golems were on the move.

Five golems spun on the spot and formed a ring around the both of them, interlocking their arms and legs to form a tight cage. With the golem’s capes blocking her line of sight, Aela couldn’t see what was going on. However, less than a heartbeat later, a rattling clatter sounded from behind the golems and the shaft of a broken arrow flew over the heads of the golems.

They were under attack.

Fueled by anger and adrenaline, Aela tried to shrug Markus off of her so she could get to her feet and fight. Only, Aela was profoundly surprised to find she couldn’t shift him at all. Intimately familiar with precisely how much strength she could bring to bear before she would risk hurting him, Aela didn’t understand how Markus was able to keep her securely pinned.

There was another scattered clatter of impacts and then cries of alarm rose up from all directions.

Aela tried to move again, but stopped immediately when she felt Markus’s joints begin to give out. Terrified that she was hurting him, Aela tried wriggling free of his embrace instead. Only succeeding in turning herself partially onto her side, Aela froze for a second time when she saw Markus’s face.

Still wearing the same determined expression, Markus was staring blankly at the ground, somehow focusing on something unseen and nothing at all at the same time. Aela then realised that he was barely breathing and that in spite of the danger, his heartbeat was barely elevated at all.

“Markus?” Aela’s voice was barely above a whisper, but it generated an immediate reaction all the same.

Suddenly thawed from his frozen state, Markus’s expression relaxed before shifting to one of panic, “Aela?!” He cried out in concern before realising that she was already in his arms. Visibly relieved to find she was safe, Markus’s expression suddenly became pained and he looked away, “Blurk!”

Aela reflexively recoiled and fought back against the urge to gag and retch as she tasted a foul stench on her tongue.

Markus slumped weakly on top of Aela, no longer supporting his own body weight and breathing somewhat hoarsely, “I’m...okay...” He croaked, the same foul scent carried on his breath, “I...just...I just need...to...rest...my...” Markus went limp.

Sitting up, Aela took care to hold Markus against her chest and cradle his neck. Glancing over her shoulder, Aela winced and recoiled as she spied the black puddle of foulness that had been expelled from Marku’s mouth.

Fighting back the urge to panic, Aela willed herself to remain calm. Markus’s heartbeat had grown weaker and his breathing had become shallow, but both were remaining steady. As much as she wished there was another means of accelerating his recovery, Markus was right. He needed rest.

“The threats have been eliminated,” Hector growled with what sounded like grim satisfaction, prompting the golems surrounding Aela and Markus to slowly unweave their arms and step away.

The golems' minor retreat revealed several other golems that were dragging bloody and cloaked bodies into the street. All but one was dumped hard against the pavings. Leona held the man that proved to be the exception.

More bloody than the others, the terrified man had a large wad of cloth bound securely in his mouth, muffling his almost silent screams as the golem tied tourniquets above his elbows and knees. Despite the lack of visible injuries to warrant the intervention, the golem’s reasoning quickly presented itself. Using the strength of its hands and arms alone, Leona began removing the man’s fingers and toes, one knuckle at a time, depositing the pieces into a badly stained sack.

Aela would have been sickened by the sight if she wasn’t convinced that the feebly thrashing man and his fallen compatriots hadn’t just made an attempt on hers and Markus’s lives.

“Transportation is on its way,” Hector declared to no one in particular, although it was clearly intended for Aela’s benefit.

Despite the man passing out before Leona ran out of toes to pluck, the golem continued and began working her way up his arms and legs. By the time the Armoured Wagon had arrived, the would-be assassin was little more than a torso.

Accepting the assistance of the golems to help Markus into the Armoured Wagon, Aela decided that she wanted to know what Leona intended to do with the assassin.

“Send a message to his employers,” Leona replied bluntly, the golem’s tone ringing with a deep and almost perverse degree of satisfaction and anticipation.

Golems that supervised affairs in the town began arriving to dispose of the bodies through the otherwise locked sewer grate at the end of the street. As the wagon began taking them back to the castle, Aela wondered what Markus would think if he found out what his sewer slimes were being used for.

After stripping Markus down to his underclothes and settling him into bed, Aela used a damp cloth and a bowl of water to clean out his mouth as best she could. It was surprisingly easy. For whatever reason, the black filth would begin evaporating once removed from his mouth. She recalled that it had been the same with each of the other times as well, but Aela still didn’t understand why.

Watching Markus sleep, Aela winced as she noticed the joints in his arms and hands had begun to swell. Feeling more than a little guilty, Aela removed her broach and used cold stones and her own rapidly lowering body temperature to reduce the swelling as best she could. Markus would probably still be in at least a little pain, so Aela made sure to prepare something for him that would be ready when he woke up.

Feeling sluggish from the cold, Aela snuggled into bed alongside Markus and began to doze. The first warning she had that Markus was awake, was a muted grunt.

“Ow...” Markus hissed quietly, awkwardly lifting his right arm very slowly and stiffly moving his fingers with a pained grimace.

“Sorry...” Aela apologised quietly, recoiling defensively in anticipation of his expression of disappointment.

“For what?” Markus asked, looking quite confused and more than a little worried.

Aela couldn’t help but look at his hands while trying to formulate a reply.

Markus followed her eyes and made a visible effort to look sheepish, “Ah, no...I just...I must have banged them hard against the street,” he lied while avoiding eye contact doing his best not to grimace as he moved his elbow or shoulder.

Unsure of what arguing would accomplish, Aela thought it might be best to do something about the pain. “I made you something for the pain,” she explained while crawling out of bed. Pulling on a fur lined robe and tying it off at her waist, Aela sluggishly made her way over to Markus’s side of the bed. Swirling the cup a few times, Aela held it to Markus's lips and slowly emptied the contents into his mouth.

To his credit, despite wrinkling his nose and making a disgusted expression, Markus didn’t complain while downing the admittedly bitter brew. “Thanks,” he smiled somewhat wryly and kissed her fingers as Aela was withdrawing the cup.

Aela smiled and bobbed her head before putting the cup away and crawling back into bed.

“I think it’s safe to assume that negotiations won’t be made in good faith,” Markus commented dryly while shaking his head.

Aela nodded in agreement, “What are you going to do?” She asked with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, “You can’t just let them get away with it.”

“Agreed,” Markus frowned and winced slightly as he rucked his arm back beneath teh blankets. “As much as I would hate to provoke an outright war, I don’t really see any option that won’t result in callous escalation from their arrogance.”

“You mean, because they think they can push you around, they will just keep making bolder attempts?” Aela clarified in general agreement.

“Exactly,” Markus agreed bitterly, “Bloody nobles think they can do whatever they want. Give them an inch and they take a mile, all while believing it's a divine mandate.”

“So what are we going to do?” Aela asked supportively.

Markus paused for a moment to give her a thankful smile. “We send them a message in return,” he insisted darkly.

His words caused Aela to remember Leona’s earlier reply. “I think one of the golems was already working on something like that,” she commented uncertainly, “But I don’t really know what Leona’s full intentions were.”

Markus looked curious, “What was the golem doing?”

Aela shifted somewhat uncomfortably, unsure if she should tell the full truth, “Leona was roughing up the surviving assassin and said that it was going to use him as a message,” Aela answered a little evasively.

Markus frowned disapprovingly, “I don’t think roughing up one of the hired help is really going to deter the nobles, or the prince, from trying again,” he replied dubiously.

An image of the assassin reduced to little more than his head and torso, and the sack of his assorted parts, briefly flitted through Aela’s mind. She decided to elaborate.

“I honestly doubt anything short of one of their own being cut down publicly will make the others reconsider their position,” Markus sighed irritably.

“Then that’s what we do,” Aela agreed firmly, “They tried to kill you-”

“Or you-” Markus interjected before being interrupted in turn.

“-Or me,” Aela agreed, “Or both of us if they could manage it. And what if Arlee had been with us?” It made her feel profoundly uncomfortable to manipulate Markus like that, but it was a reasonable assumption that the assassins wouldn’t care much or might even be motivated to actively pursue collateral damage.

Markus’s right eye twitched and lips curled in a feral snarl before settling into an uncomfortable frown, “You’re right,” he agreed angrily, “Our response needs to reflect their intended actions.”

Aela nodded.

“The prince is out,” Markus grumbled bitterly, “But we can probably make a real example out of one of the lower nobles in his coalition without the risk of earning the Prince more support. I’ll have a team of golems take on disguises and infiltrate the enemy camp, let them select an appropriate target after scouting out the nobles in the Prince’s coalition.”

“Peabody could probably provide a list of names,“ Aela suggested helpfully, reminding herself that the primary motivation for the reprisal should be deterring another attack and not indulging their desire for vengeance.

Markus nodded in agreement as he stiffly retrieved his communication tablet from the nightstand on his side of the bed. He repeated a summarised version of their conversation to Peabody before replacing the tablet back on the nightstand and settling under the covers. “Peabody was already looking into it,” Markus explained somewhat smugly, “Said it had found just the right target, a real bastard with only a few real connections worth a damn, but nothing we will need to worry about.”

“Good,” Aela agreed, already feeling somewhat better about what had happened. It never ceased to amaze her how good it felt to lash out at those who tried to hurt her and those she cared about.

Phillipe woke them up early the next morning but waited for them to get dressed before entering their room and taking a seat on the chair from Markus’s desk. “The coalition army has set up camp on the other side of the...er...clay pit?” He paused for a moment before shaking his head, “An envoy is requesting a meeting to discuss your allegiance to the Southern Kingdom. Their words,” Phillipe added dryly.

Markus frowned bitterly, “What do you think the chances are that they will just try to murder me again?” He asked bluntly.

Phillipe scowled and fidgeted uncomfortably, “Quite high, but probably not during the meeting itself,” he replied honestly, “How erm...How are you doing by the way?” Phillipe asked with concern.

“I’ll live,” Markus replied glibly but made a point of giving Phillipe a brief smile of thanks for his concern.

Phillipe looked relieved and released a sigh. “How did they even get into the town without being spotted?” He asked with concern, “I would have thought with so many golems around, that breaking into a town of this size would be basically impossible without being spotted.”

“Golems aren’t omniscient,” Markus countered, “They share information with one another, but they still have finite fields of view. With all the reconstruction efforts of the town, it's never been easier to avoid those fields of view. Besides, most of the golems deployed in the town prioritise watching the citizens that are on good behaviour parole agreements, or generally lookout for crimes in progress.”

“Right...” Phillipe nodded his head in understanding, but he didn’t seem altogether comfortable with Markus’s answer.

“The golem bodyguards reacted before the assassins had a chance to loose their first arrows,” Aela pointed out supportively, in spite of the fact that Markus had somehow reacted before the golems did, or had otherwise managed to act first.

“Well that’s a relief,” Phillipe sighed, “However, with a hostile army so close to our borders, we will need to heighten security to prevent additional acts of aggression and attacks of opportunity against the general population.”

Markus nodded in agreement and took a few moments to think. “We can temporarily scale back reclamation efforts and divert the remaining combat golems to patrolling the border and the walls of the town,” he suggested hesitantly.

“And how many golems would that be?” Phillipe asked somewhat hesitantly, “Because I was thinking that we could begin deploying some of the better-trained soldiers-”

“About three hundred or so,” Markus interjected somewhat absently while looking like he was mentally double-checking his sources.

“...Three hundred?...” Phillip echoed somewhat quietly before shaking his head and chuckling, “Of course there are,” Phillipe sighed with an exasperated smile, “I keep forgetting just how many of the things your workshop is capable of creating in a week, let alone a day.”

Markus shrugged, “The more golems the workshop makes, the better they get at it. One of the carpentry apprentices made a little filing tool a week ago that now saves about 3 minutes of crafting time on each finger or toe socket. Not to mention the small mill saw that was brought in a month ago. It all adds up.”

“I am not particularly familiar with the overall goings-on in the workshop,” Phillipe admitted readily, “But I’ll take your word for it.”

Markus shrugged again.

“Am I right in assuming you won’t be going to this proposed meeting then?” Phillipe asked, shifting the conversation back to his original cause for waking them up so early.

Markus briefly glanced toward Aela and then nodded, “It’s not worth the risk.”

Aela felt an intense wave of relief. She had been prepared to argue in order to stop Markus from going, but was glad that he had come to the decision on his own and that it would no longer be necessary.

Philipe gave an exaggerated show of slumping and releasing a long tired sigh, “Which I suppose means that I am the one heading into danger instead?” He asked with a wry smile.

“With a dozen disguised golems for your protection,” Markus agreed apologetically.

Phillipe sighed, “Are they disguised for my protection? Or to keep their true nature a secret?”

“Both?” Markus shrugged with an amused smile.

Phillipe chuckled again and pushed back his hair with a strange expression on his face, “I suppose this makes me your high chancellor or something right?” Phillipe commented with amusement, “Given that I am now officially representing the crown?”

“Sure,” Markus agreed, still smiling in amusement, “But I think this about makes us even by my reckoning, don’t you?”

Phillipe smiled and nodded, “If you say so, Markus.”

“We can spend the day with Hilda while you are away, if you like,” Aela offered.

Phillipe looked surprised and then very relieved, “I hadn’t considered Hilda,” he admitted, “I would appreciate it, thank you Aela.”

Aela smiled and shrugged, “It’s probably for the best anyway. With Hilda’s temper, who's to say she wouldn’t rip that princeling's arms off and start a war after the first round of insults.”

“That’s probably true,” Phillipe chuckled nervously, “Ever since Markus increased her level, Hilda has considered herself practically invincible. I wouldn’t doubt that she would take the first excuse any of the attending nobles might give her.

”To be fair,” Markus interjected, “At her level, and with her powers, Hilda is quite literally invincible, albeit for a limited time.”

“It’s that last part that worries me, Markus,” Phillipe replied with genuine concern.

“Well...At least her clothes will be stabproof so long as she remembers to wear that broch,” Markus rationalised somewhat contritely.

Phillipe looked surprised, “I pretty much forgot about those...” He admitted, “I guess we have just been taking them for granted.”

Markus shrugged, “So long as you have been wearing them, then that’s enough. If you want, I can have the disguised golems in your escort carry extra Mana Storage Crystals.”

“You know what? I would really appreciate the peace of mind, Markus,” Phillipe accepted gladly, “Uh, my uncle also wanted to attend the meeting, to get a better idea of his potential competition. He is still convinced that at least a few skirmishes are inevitable.”

“If you are confident you can stop him from escalating things unnecessarily, then you can bring him with you if you want,” Markus agreed, “And if he has a suitable broach, I can enchant it the same as yours before you leave.”

Phillipe looked both appreciative and profoundly relieved, “Thank you Markus, that would really give me peace of mind if things began going awry.”

“We will be in the war room in an hour or so,” Markus replied with a tired yawn, “Just tell Hector on your way out, to make sure a golem brings etching tools.”

Phillipe bobbed his head in agreement and saw himself out.

“Why are we going to the war room?” Aela asked curiously.

Markus seemed a little surprised by the question, “So we can watch the meeting and get a good look at our enemy,” he replied.

Aela took a few moments to consider what he had said and then grinned as she realised why Markus was sending so many golems, “You are going to spy on everything with the golems, aren't you?”

Markus grinned and nodded as he laid back down on the bed, “Exactly. I figured it would be much safer than going in person, but we can still hear and see everything. We can also give Phillipe one of the Monster Hunting Communication Artifices so we can talk to him if needed-”

“And the princeling won’t be any the wiser!” Aela finished excitedly.

Markus’s grin widened further, “Exactly! If we had more time, maybe I might have been able to figure out a way for one of the experimental golems to take his place. But they aren’t nearly ready just yet, unfortunately.”

Aela somewhat recalled how the experimental golems in question were an attempt at fusing monster creation with golems in order to somehow fully mimic human appearance and to a lesser degree, bodily functions. Strangely enough, Markus was having far more success with having the golems emulating bodily functions. As Aela understood it, he had only really needed to create a hollow internal cavity for food and drink to enter, embed a crystal inside of it to serve as the catalyst for creating the slime as needed, and ensure there was a means of food and drink entering and exiting the internal space.

After lounging on the bed for about an hour, Aela and Markus finished getting dressed and made their way to the war room with both Hector and Leona silently falling in step as their escort.

During the somewhat lengthy walk, Aela had the same impression of the feeling she had felt in the workshop close to two months ago. Aela wasn’t certain how or why, but she was convinced that the pair of golems were communicating with one another. Not nearly as intensely as the golems had been in the warehouse that day, it was still there.

Glancing at the golems from the corner of her eye, Aela frowned slightly as she confirmed that both Leona and Hector betrayed no signs of acting out of the ordinary. Markus was otherwise occupied in his own thoughts and noticed nothing. However, as they passed the open door of Arlee and Abigail’s room, the small golem, Dolly, watched them pass by with what Aela could only attribute to intense scrutiny.

When they arrived at the war room, a spread of hot food was already waiting for them, as well as Hilda, Phillipe, and his uncle Welard, who were eating their own breakfast.

“Majesty!” Welard declared with deference shooting up from his seat, pressing one hand over his heart and bowing his head.

Looking somewhat embarrassed, Phillipe copied his uncle.

“Good morning,” Hilda waved a greeting from her chair at the refreshment table and motioned for Aela and Markus to join them. With no one else present besides a handful of golems, it was very likely that Hilda didn’t see the point in needlessly making Markus feel uncomfortable with the more formal greeting provided by the others.

“Morning,” Aela replied happily and sat down at the head of the table while Markus took a seat opposite Welard and Phillipe.

This earned a somewhat shocked expression from Welard, who then looked between Markus and Aela for a few moments before turning to his nephew for an explanation.

“This is just an informal gathering, uncle,” Phillipe explained reassuringly, “Markus doesn’t really like doing the whole pomp and ceremony when it's in smaller settings like this.”

“Ah,” Welard nodded his head in understanding, his large waxed moustache bristling, “I see, quite right. Best to save the formalities for when they carry the most weight!” He agreed good-naturedly, “My sincere apologies, Majesty, I shall endeavour to remember this in the future.”

“It’s fine,” Markus replied with a hint of embarrassment, “You weren’t to know.”

“What’s the problem?” Aela asked Hilda quietly. Not quite having understood what had caused the original misunderstanding.

Hilda took a moment to clear her throat by downing a cup of what smelled like mead, “Royalty are usually quite pedantic about who sits at the head of the table. It’s about status and authority. When Princes visit foreign courts, there are often silent power struggles over who is allowed to sit at the opposite end as well,” she explained quietly while smearing clotted cream over a slice of bread already heavily overladen with preserved fruits, “So hungry lately,” Hilda muttered offhandedly.

Somewhat familiar with the custom already, Aela had forgotten about it after being around Markus for so long. His indifference or avoidance of just about all forms of deference and ceremony had rubbed off on her.

After a few moments, and just as Aela was beginning to stack her own plate with food, she suddenly paused and turned back towards Hilda. “Hilda?” Aela glanced towards the men at the table, who were already discussing details of Phillipe’s protection detail. “Have you gotten checked?” She asked quietly.

Hilda was already two-thirds of the way through her next slice of bread and assorted toppings when she paused and gave Aela a curious look, “Checked?”

Aela pointedly glanced down towards Hilda’s waist before meeting her eyes again.

Hilda looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes widened in clear understanding. Hilda set down her food and began silently counting her fingers, her lips moving in time to the count. Hilda repeated the count a number of times before turning back to Aela with a clear expression of surprise and worry, “I’m late,” she whispered, “Very late...I thought I was...I must have lost track...We have just been so busy with everything...”

While chimaera did not share precisely the same reproductive cycles as humans, Aela was at least passingly familiar enough to follow Hilda’s scattered explanation. “You need to get checked!” Aela hissed insistently and looked towards the large panels of crystal mounted on the walls and embedded in the huge solid table in the middle of the war room.

Hilda timidly nodded, seeming to be succumbing to shock.

Slipping away from the table, Aela and Hilda went to the other side of the large room before Hilda carefully laid herself down on the floor.

Hidden from all but a pair of golem guards, Hilda loosened her belt and dragged up her tunic to reveal her hardened abdominal muscles and then shimmed her pants down enough to afford Aela a better view of her lower abdomen.

Aela pulled her tablet from its custom holster on her belt and activated its mana detection enchantment. Thanks to Yiva’s suggestions over the past month and a half, Markus’s latest tablets were much easier to use by non-Artificers and Aela had become rather well practised in its use so she could better perform routine checks on herself.

Slowly moving the tablet over Hilda’s abdomen, Aela stopped when she found a small clustered blob of mana. Thumbing the image enlarging sigil, Aela did her best to keep the tablet centred and pressed against the freeze function that would capture the image and keep it in place.

“So?” Hilda asked nervously.

Aela grinned and carefully held out the tablet so Hilda could see. The cluster of mana was smaller than a bean, but Aela had seen enough of the confirmations and checkups made by Yiva to confidently nod her head in confirmation, “You're pregnant.”

Hilda gulped hard and somewhat numbly accepted the tablet. Staring at the enlarged image of the blob of mana, her eyes began to tear up and she used her free hand to stifle a sob. Clearly overcome with emotion, Hilda palmed away the unshed tears and smiled, “Thank you Aela!”

“Is everything alright?” Phillipe called out with concern, apparently having just noticed their absence or grown worried enough to begin investigating.

Hilda hurriedly pulled up her pants and fumbled with the buckle for a few moments before accepting Aela’s help to get to her feet.

Seeing that Hilda was crying, and likely assuming she was upset, Phillipe began hurriedly making his way across the room towards her, “What’s wrong?”

Hilda shook her head and wiped away more tears with her forearm, “Nothing,” she sniffled, still smiling, “I...I’m pregnant!” Hilda exclaimed and held out the tablet.

Understandably surprised, Phillipe held Hilda with one arm and stared blankly at the tablet for a few moments before seeming to come to his senses, “Pregnant?!” He exclaimed excitedly, “You’re sure?!” Phillipe stared at the tablet with some confusion, apparently not quite understanding what he was looking at.

Hilda nodded excitedly and kept waving the tablet a couple of inches in front of Phillipe's face, “Of course! We are going to have a baby!” She hugged his arm tight enough that Phillipe was quickly rendered breathless.

“Congratulations!” Markus declared as he slowly made his way across the room

Phillipe’s eyes widened in surprise and he nearly outright snatched the tablet from Hilda’s hand, “This!...This is our baby?!” He demanded with trembling hands.

“It is,” Markus confirmed while looking down at his own tablet which appeared to have a copy of the same image.

“Congratulations nephew!” Welard barked happily, his moustache twitching so violently that it looked like a small furry rodent was attacking his face.

“I need to tell my mother!” Hilda exclaimed excitedly, but made no signs of letting go of either Phillipe or the tablet.

“Markus can handle that!” Aela replied excitedly and looked at Markus expectantly.

Markus smirked and nodded his head in agreement before turning to Hector, “See to it,” he ordered.

Hector’s reply was drowned out by Hilda’s squeals of delight that in turn preceded the deep passionate kiss between herself and Phillipe.

Initially, Aela was overcome with happiness for her friend. However, as the minutes wore on and the focus remained on the child growing inside Hilda’s belly, Aela began to struggle with her own poorly suppressed jealousy.

As if he could read her mind, Markus moved Aela back to the table and embraced her from behind, resting his head on Aela’s shoulder. Aela could tell by the look in his eyes that Markus was trying to decide whether or not to tell her something. Clearly deeply conflicted, Markus wrestled with the decision for the better part of ten minutes, all the while hugging her tight. “I might have found a solution...A treatment I mean...” His voice trailed off apprehensively.

“A treatment?” Aela pressed, uncertain she had truly heard him correctly.

“Mm...” Markus replied apprehensively.

“What...What’s the problem with it?” Aela asked hesitantly, somehow managing the feat despite her desperate jealousy.

Markus fidgetted uncomfortably, “It will require tolerating a certain degree of pain...” He explained reluctantly.

“Pain?” Aela snorted derisively, “Childbirth isn't exactly pleasant, Markus.”

“This is...different,” Markus warned, “I can’t use the current treatment because neither of us has available capacity.”

Aela recalled how Markus had previously spoken about tiny crystals inside of their bones that stored mana. However, she wasn’t quite sure what Markus was leading up to.

“I might be able to artificially increase your maximum capacity...But you would need to deliberately trigger a state of degeneration,” Markus explained reluctantly, “While your body is...degenerating...artificially introducing powdered crystal to your bones should cause your body to absorb it when you begin to recover...you also might become a little...bigger.”

“Bigger?” Aela asked uncertainly.

“Well...Chimaera’s are a blend of raw parts and mana. The mana is what binds everything together, but the raw parts are what determine your overall capacity. Does that make sense so far?” Markus asked somewhat anxiously.

Aela nodded. Theoretically, it was why chimaera offspring physically developed far faster than humans.

“Introducing powdered crystal on its own wouldn’t change much, and would probably hurt, a lot. But so long as the crystal is primed with a certain blend of your mana, your body will hopefully use it as material for reinforcing your existing bones, and use the newly incorporated mana as part of, erm, everything else,” Markus flushed, and Aela felt his pulse quicken.

“And that will work?” Aela asked hopefully.

Markus was quiet for a few moments and then nodded, “It should.”

“But you aren’t sure?” Aela guessed, more than familiar enough with Markus’s ways of thinking to understand the true cause for his reluctance.

Markus nodded.

“I want to try,” Aela decided and stated her desire aloud.

Markus winced, “I would feel better if I could test it first,” he countered, “It shouldn’t be hard to find a volunteer. I mean, if it works, then the latest treatment will be a part of it. I’m sure Skien, or maybe one of the newly arrived chimaeras would be willing to take a chance on it.”

“Which means more waiting...” Aela observed dejectedly.

Markus was about to say something, but stopped himself and nodded, “It would,” he agreed apologetically.

“What if I can’t wait anymore? What if...” Aela struggled to force down the lump growing in her throat, “What if I want to be the volunteer?”

Markus flinched and his pulse began to race, “Something could go horribly wrong,” he cautioned in a pleading tone, “It shouldn’t take any longer than another month at most.”

“Just one more month?” Aela asked guiltily, a little ashamed of how she had just attempted to strong-arm Markus into a decision when she hadn’t had sufficient time herself to even truly think it over and seriously consider his concerns.

“One more month at the most,” Markus promised, squeezing Aela reassuringly and nuzzling against her neck, “I promise.”

Aela gnawed at her lip and nodded reluctantly. As Markus had just made a point of clarifying, she wasn’t guaranteed to need to wait a full month, just long enough for Markus to be sure that it worked and didn’t have severe drawbacks. Aela had been waiting for close to three months already, and for a time had accepted that it probably wasn’t going to happen. So what was another month longer?

“I’ll find a way,” Markus promised, “We just need to be patient a little longer.”

“Okay,” Aela agreed, making a deliberate choice to try and relax, leaning back into Markus’s embrace and taking comfort in the fact that she knew he would do just about anything in order to keep his promise.