______________________________________________________________________________________________

Paden looked at the toothy grin his aunt was giving the shopkeeper feeling his mask of composure under her actions cracking. This was his aunt. Barely into their second week and he had seen her kill three men and brutally cripple another. He silently prayed to the gods in thanks that he was her nephew and not her enemy.

“So, where were we now?” queried Marie with a devious grin. “Ah, I remember. You tried to trick me. Then you tried to set your hired thugs on me. So what should I do with you?” Marie asked ash she played with the dirk on the counter.

The shopkeeper bent down and took out a bracelet and placed it next to the other items. “All yours. No need to pay,” he told her hurriedly in a panic wanting to get as far from the mad woman as possible.

“Do you think I can be so easily placated? Did you think I would so casually forget those guards from earlier? Did you think I did not see the lecherous looks from those guards?” questioned Marie darkly as a faint dark aura emanated from the dirk. The shopkeeper shook in horror. “Did you think I missed your own lecherous look?” Marie asked as she let her words hang in the air.

“P-please. I’ll do anything?” the shopkeeper pleaded as he retreated back some in fear.

“Please? I wonder how many people pled as you sicked those dogs of your on them?” Marie asked as she brandished the dirk. “You can only blame yourself, you know? You should have picked your targets properly. Unfortunately for you I am a woman who does not leave wrongs unpunished,” Marie explained to him as the dirk vanished from her hands.

The man was given no time to process her words as a thin red line appeared across his neck slowly. Marie collected the items and walked away as the man’s body dropped and his head rolled some feet away, spraying blood, painting the shelves behind him.

Paden didn’t flinch at his aunt’s actions. He had mentally prepared himself to see the man die as soon as she told the shopkeeper how he so royally fucked up. The guards were paid? That explained their questionable actions to Paden. However, he foresaw this matter would not end here as his aunt had killed town guards. The city lord wouldn’t leave this matter alone would he?

Marie signaled the guards and they walked out the store into a crowd that had gathered and saw the events unfold from outside. Their guards didn’t have to say anything as the crowds all parted and made way for their group. Paden silently listened to the whispers of the crowd and felt their dissecting gazes on him.

Marie was pouting as she was very unsatisfied. They had one day and night in town and it had been ruined by that unscrupulous merchant. She felt a headache as she foresaw the matters with the guard would probably invite reprisal. Today was not a good day, she thought.

“Halt!” commanded a voice from behind them making Marie and Paden turn around.

Paden looked and observed the voice who called out to their group and his heart sunk. So little time had passed and the response from the guards was swift it seemed. Fifteen men were gathered in a group, a single man in the lead. His armor was slightly better than the common leather or rusty mail of the others.

“Who are you to stop us?” Marie asked with an arched eyebrow giving the man no face.

The Captain looked at her with an unamused expression. He was a direct subordinate to the city lord and possessed a high standing in the city because of it. He heard the woman in front of him was a magician meaning she was likely a noble but highly doubted she outranked his lord. He grew emboldened by his thoughts of their differing positions and decided to press on.

“My name is Reginald. I am guard captain and you are under arrest for the murder of the magic artifact store owner, one of our guards and crippling the other,” he told her with an authoritative tone.

Marie was unamused, thinking how the whole day was an utter waste. She had her nephew all to herself finally but once again someone had come to ruin her fun and what enraged her was the cavalier attitude of the man. Common filth such as he deemed to judge her? Her guards would protect Paden, so she could slaughter the town guards without any regard, she thought.

The Captain raised his hand, signaling his men and as they moved forward a white flash flew through the air. The guard captain watched in horror as the heads of three guards closest to Marie fell from their bodies causing the surrounding spectators into panic. The captain looked as two men accompanied by eight guards, stood of to their side without moving.

Weillin had arrived and saw the guards trying to arrest his wife. He was informed of what happened and was infuriated someone would try to touch her so casually so he didn’t think twice about killing this lot.

The Captain himself was growing anxious seeing Weillin came donned in his noble garb. Aside from the expensive magic thread of his clothes, the captain looked intently at his rapier. The blade itself was pure silver and suited to using light blade like Weillin had demonstrated. However, what was more surprising was the wired hand guard which was made of pure mythril as that was not something a common noble would ever own.

His men looked to him for orders as he hesitated, reevaluating the situation. If the man and woman before him were high nobles like he thought, then this situation can end very badly for him. At worst, the city lord could leave him out for the two to deal with him as they please.

“M-my Lord. Is this woman with you, sir?” the Captain asked meekly. His attitude had turned 180 degrees as he sought to somehow save his neck. His party noticed his change in attitude and realized something amiss. “Sheath your swords,” he quietly instructed.

Weillin looked at him. “This woman is my wife. By what right have you come to take her?!” Weillin asked angrily.

Paden shuddered as he felt there was a certain weight that Weillin’s words seemed to carry. His eyes had become piercing and very cold to look at showing Weillin was no less a dragon than his aunt, perhaps more so at this moment. His wife was being disgraced before him and Paden would not be surprised if he killed all the men here. Paden slightly sensed his common sense shifting as he slowly grew accustomed to the violence.

“Sir, she killed a storeowner and one of my guards. She also crippled the third son of the Town Lord,” replied the captain hastily, his posture no longer erect but more submissive.

“I already know about that. The store owner foolishly tried to cheat my wife with trash made to look like magic items. That nephew you spoke of was lucky not to be killed. So is there anything else?” Weillin asked while walking over to Marie not caring for an answer.

“I’m sorry, however law dictates…” stammered the Captain meekly.

“Law?!” Weillin questioned, cutting off the Captain. “What law was broken? Since when has killing thieves and cheats against the law? As for your guard, it was his fault for offending my wife. Tell your lord he should be grateful neither he nor his son is dead for this offense,” Weillin warned him sternly, his hand on the pommel of his rapier.

The Captain didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t arrest the man, and he suspected he was far out of his league to even entertain the idea. He could only hope he could explain to the Lord and hope he drops the matter. He signaled his men and collected the bodies of his dead men and quickly left the scene.

Weillin looked at their retreating figures and turned to his wife. He couldn’t believe this would happen a second time and almost suspected his nephew was cursed somehow. How was it that they kept finding themselves in such situations? Most people could go their lives without suffering such troubles and they managed to find it a few hours walking about the city.

“This is not over,” Marie informed her husband with a pout as she planned out an appropriate punishment.

Weillin chuckled as Paden listened in confusion. Weillin knew what his wife meant. Although, the town lord was given governorship over the city by the King, he was but a low level baron and not someone they could not kill given his offense. There would be a lot of placating involved afterword but the king would not take action. He couldn’t take action.

Weillin’s family was of the old high nobility. These were families of the ancient lineage of the kingdom. Their roots were deep and not even the royal family could uproot them. Three kings have tried to wrest power from them and force them out of their territory. These actions led to disastrous results for the royal family. Long story short, Weillin’s family was still there.

“Shall we go now and get this over with?” Weillin asked his firecracker of a wife with a smile.

Marie furrowed her brows. “First let’s put the items in our room. We can go after dinner.”

“He was instated by the king. Is it worth it to kill him?” he asked knowing it was in vain.

“I don’t intend to kill the town Lord.” Weillin sighed in relief at her answer. “I will finish off his prick of a son though. He was in league with the shopkeeper and harbored ill intent for me,” Marie told him with a huff, her cheeks rosy. Quietly, she was picking out a spot for him in her garden.

Weillin sighed helplessly. It is going to be a long night, he thought.

They returned and dropped their things off before dragging a reluctant Paden with them. Randolph accompanied them with ten guards as they left for the City Lord’s Mansion. Paden was unenthused about his situation as he would have rather sat back in his room. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what was going to happen.

Their group approached the mansion as the guards tried to stop them but Weillin showed them his ring and they stood aside. Paden looked at this confused, wondering what the ring signified.

They were let into a large foyer where a plump man stormed in to meet their group. The third son lagged behind his father as his elder brother’s looked at the situation indifferently. They were not too fond of their father’s doting on their little brother and were even less enthused about their little brother’s part time activities.

“You!” said the Lord while pointing at Marie. “You will pay for injuring my son!”

Weillin furrowed his brows. He signaled Randolph who moved swiftly and restrained the Lord.

“You cannot do this to me! I was instated by the king!” the Lord cried loudly as his face was planted into the floor. However, his ranting stopped when Randolph whispered some words into his ear. The man’s face drained of color as his body trembled. “I-I’m sorry. I mean no offense. However…”

“However, what?” asked Marie coldly, cutting him off. “It is his fault. He abused his station and supported that charlatan of a dealer. What happens next is of his doing. Interfere and die,” she warned him sternly as she sauntered forward.

The third son watched their exchange with horror as his father helplessly submitted before the two. The woman had threatened him but it seemed his father was going to do nothing. A shiver went down his spine in realization that this was not going as he had expected. However, it was far too late for him to run.

Marie launched a javelin of darkness which impaled the young man in the chest. It slowly melted into a liquid and encased the young man. This spell was a favorite of Marie’s as it would not leave a hollow husk that disappeared with the slightest of breezes. No, the young man would forever be an eternal statue of pitch black. Like a granite statue, he would forever decorate her gardens, a stern warning for her enemies.

Paden watched in silence. The expected crumpling into ash never came. Instead, the man turned into what he could only think of as a statue as he watched Marie walk up to it and wave her hand casually as it disappeared into thin air. Randolph let the Lord go as he recoiled on the ground helplessly as his sons comforted him.

Weillin and Marie took their part and left, not speaking a word of farewell to the Lord. They returned in silence the whole way as Paden walked, lost in thought. He went to bed with a lot on his mind that night. Even a man who was instated by the king as city lord was not put before his aunt and uncle’s eyes. So this is power, he quietly thought as he fell into slumber?