“Funny how simple pragmatism worked better to keep rulers from being tyrants who lorded their status over their people over morals and conscience. Out of the nobles I saw on my first visit to Alcidea way back then, a few were genuinely good people, but more often than not, others were more selfish people who looked out for themselves, first and foremost.

In many cases this meant that the people who lived under their rule were often oppressed and exploited for their lord’s benefits. On the other hand, in some lands, where a constant outside threat loomed over them, it was to the lord’s immediate interest that his people *liked* him and would come to their mutual defense should the threat manifest.

While they would probably be no better than others of their ilk when placed in more peaceful regions, out on the frontiers and borderlands simple necessity forced those nobles to treat their people well, because they understood all too well that without their people, they would be done for should the constant threat finally came over.” - Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden, circa 322 VA.

A couple weeks after her return to Algenverr that year, Aideen departed once more, southwards to Jonkver this time. She was accompanied by Clarissa Nunez, the heir to the Duchy, a dozen knights as her guard, as well as the old healer Asclepius. Their presence was partly due to an idea from the Duchess, namely to capitalize on Aideen’s presence to give a more vivid demonstration of the healing knowledge she possessed, which Asclepius would later further disseminate through the local healers.

With the current situation between the monopoly held by the Guild of Unburdened Healers in most regions near the center and the unaffiliated healers outside those regions, suspicions were rampant amongst the healers, who often had to watch their backs to guard for agents working for the guild. Because of that, Asclepius had mostly spread the knowledge only in Algenverr, where he was known and trusted by many.

Having a live demonstration by Aideen herself on the other hand would likely garner even more trust and desire to learn from the locals. While Asclepius had learned some of her tricks and techniques, he was still far less skilled with them, and most of the improvements he had managed so far were more longer-term ones.

To have a practically crippled person wheeled in and heal them to near-perfect health in less than an hour like Aideen did was still far beyond his capabilities. Incidentally, there was a perfect example to use in Jonkver for those exact purposes.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

It was also the reason Clarissa came with them in her mother’s stead, because said perfect example happened to be the current Duke’s wife, who had broken her hip and spine in a riding accident around a decade ago, and was paralyzed from the waist down since.

Duke Hass Tovmund of Jonkver had been the last of the three border Dukes to adopt a hardline policy against the Guild of Unburdened Healers, partly because his wife was a sickly woman since young, and he paid them exorbitant tithes to preserve her health.

When they proved useless against the injury she suffered a decade ago however, he had permanently banned the guild from entering his Duchy ever again on the pain of flogging, calling them a bunch of charlatans and leeches to their face, and had since tightened his ties with Algenverr and Dvergarder once more.

Duchess Algenverr had regularly lent some of the better healers in her Duchy to the Duke to help treat his ailing wife, though the best they could do was to alleviate her pains somewhat. Asclepius himself had been sent for this task several times, so he knew the Duke and Duchess in person.

“Heya, Clara,” said a young man dressed in fine clothes who met them just as the city of Jonkver came into sight. The man had a darker tan on his skin compared to the Algenverr nobles, and was clearly trying to grow a mustache on his lips, to little success as yet. Aideen pegged him to be maybe a bit younger than Clarissa, at best. “Been a while since you came to play.”

“Joshua. You know how it is. Mom’s been keeping me busy with the lessons all year long these days,” said Clarissa in reply as she smiled at the young man. Joshua Tovmund was the second son of the Duke, and had been sort of childhood friends to both Clarissa and Solenia since they were around the same age. “Part of being the heir. I honestly envy you for not having to deal with that crap.”

“You said it! Big brother Xev’s been pretty stressed out over them of late himself,” replied the young man with a laugh, before his features and tone took on a more melancholic tint to them. “Father’s been… pushing us a bit hard ever since mother had that accident. Not that I blame him, mind you.”

“Speaking of that… We brought someone who can likely help your mother,” replied Clarissa to her fellow noble.

“Please don’t joke about that. Dad would probably throw you out if whoever you brought did no better than the others,” said Joshua with a frown. “He’s been getting crankier whenever anyone touched the topic of Mom’s injuries.”

“I wouldn’t be here in person if I wasn’t serious, Josh,” said Clarissa more forcefully this time. She looked at her childhood friend straight in the eyes as she spoke to him. “Remember the rumors about the assassination aimed at mother last year? That she and father broke their backs was no rumor. I’m bringing with me the healer who healed those injuries.”

“... you’re not kidding,” said Joshua after a moment. Right away, he gestured to his knights, and ordered them to clear the road to the city, so that the carriage Clarissa and Aideen were on could enter the city without delay. “Let us make haste then. I know your mom wouldn’t be giving us this sort of boon for free, but at this point dad would likely pay anything you ask for if mom could really be healed.”

Under the express guidance of the local knights, Aideen found that the carriage had reached the Ducal manor not an hour later, as Joshua ordered for them to be allowed to pass through the gates and checkpoints without delay.