The marriage peace treaty

Chapter 16 On the Road (Part 4)

Lucius: " How many comrades do you have?"

Maryden: " Why do you ask?"

Lucius:" I am curious after all you have mentioned them a few times and by rumors I heard you are called the lone general but by the way you are talking that seems wrong."

Maryden: " No, that is right. In the beginning, i was completely alone but after a year or two I slowly started to gain a few comrades but none of them were achulay soldiers from the army. They are peapole who I picked up and they swore their loyalty to me. Iven is the only one who actually was part of the army although as a doctor the others are not. Besides him, I have 3 others."

Lucius: " So are all of them in the Harsh lands right now as your men?"

Maryden:" Yes."

Lucius: " Then did you bring others along as well?"

Maryden: " Besides my maid Dina I did not bring anyone else along although the queen did send another 10 men by her choosing."

Lucius: " So Few?"

Maryden: " Well, there is no one except them that would willingly follow me. The other 10 are peapole the queen managed to convince to go. I did not really want them to tag along but she was insistent."

Lucius: ... She was probably afraid that you would be bullied as she has so few by her side. But seriously what is wrong with the Avilens, how can they not see how great his wife is?

Once she was done bandageing the bird she carried it to the saddle and opened up the saddle bag and put the bird gently inside it. Just as she was just to hop back on the horse Lucius jumped down his horse and walked towards her. So she stopped and just looked at him questionly.

Lucius: " Maryden, actually i have a gift for you?"

Maryden: " A gift?" She asks with surprise, how long has it been since someone else besides her sister has given her anything only for the sake of wanting to make her happy? She doesn't remember. 

Lucius smiles and says: " Yes, I bought it actually bought it when we were in Airynhill but I never had the timeing to give it to you." He says as she takes out the wooden blue jay and gives it to her. Seeing it her eyes sparkles with joy as she takes it. She takes a closer look at it and her eyes get a little teary but not enough to be considered crying. Lucius wonders why her reaction is so strong as she starts to tear up but he doesn't say anything in the end as he fears that it may be too soon as it may be a very personal reason for it. 

Maryden: " Thank you. I love it. But I dont have anything for you."

Lucius: " I gave it to you because I wanted to. I did not expect to get anything in return."

Maryden: "Hmm, thank you."

Lucius: " When i bought it i was told by the vendor that each of the wooden carvings he sold had a special meaning to the tribe who carved them do you know what the blue jay  means?"

Maryden: " I know, before i moved into the palace my da... my neighbor told me about it as he was once a part of one of the clans from the harsh lands. The blue jay means protection doesn't it?"

Lucius: " It also means faithfulness and devotion. I thought that its meaning was perfect since these are the feelings I want to give to you."

Hearing this she starts to blush a little and gets a little shy.

Maryden: " I am sorry."

Lucius: " What for?" He asks with confusion but also hides a little bit of fear in it.

Lucius: Is she going to reject me?

Maryden: " About you having to marry me and made a blood oath without asking you first. If I did not agree to it maybe you could have found someone to love later on but now you can't."

Lucius: " No, I agreed to it myself you did not force me. Although it is true that I did not like the arrangement much at first but it was still a lot better than the alternative.  It was also still my choice. Also when I met you and spent a little time with you I knew that if I would ever be bound to someone it would not be bad if that someone were you. I made the blood oath willingly not because of obligation. So you dont have to be sorry."

Lucius: Ah, crap did I just indirectly confess to her?

Maryden: "... You are a very good person."

Lucius: " What? "

Maryden: " For you to try to learn to love me even though this is an arranged marriage. You still want to be loyal. How is that not something that only a good person would do?" She says with excitement.

Lucius: "... No..."He tries to explain but gets interrupted.

Maryden: "Don't worry, you dont have to force yourself, we dont need to love each other, we just need to live together with happiness. If we force each other to love one another we may become unhappy. So is it not better to not do so? As long as we help each other out and respect one another it should be enough."

Lucius: " I am not forcing myself."

Maryden: " Oh, so you meant it in a platonic way? Then I dont need to worry, I am happy to be our friend."

Lucius:"..."

Lucius: Sigh, let's leave it be, I have already decided to take it slow after all.

Lucius: "Let's head back."

Maryden: " Alright, let's see if we can find someone who can treat this bird, or else he has to wait until we arrive at the mansion."

Lucius: " I will tell one of my men to ask around."

Maryden: " Alright." She says and mounts the horse, then they slowly ride back to the village as going too fast may hurt the bird.