Aide Me

Extra Chapter: Aide Learns Something About Emaia

So I saved the best one for last! It's a few weeks after they all won the battle, and Hanke, Dashel, Tessmia, Aide and Emaia are all busy setting up the new legislations for the new world they want to create. Plans are being made, but all the while that's happening, the universe has made other plans for Emaia. And now she has to tell Aide...

~*~

Emaia stepped into the strategy room, her nerves on edge. It was probably the worst time ever, but she couldn't keep it hidden. She had been nervous for a whole week, but this morning had confirmed it. She was still a little shocked.

As she pushed the doors open to the strategy room, she found Hanke, Dashel and Tessmia all leaned over the large map of Senwarth Kingdom, that looked to be covered with scrolls and pieces of parchment. But no sign of Aide.

Hanke was sifting through a large stack of papers, while Dashel was rubbing his chin. Tessmia was running her hands over the map, pointing at some locations. As soon as Emaia stepped in, their conversation stopped and they all looked at her. Their faces told her something was wrong.

"What?" She asked, stopping dead. Had her own face given her away? "Is something wrong?"

"Ye' timing is impeccable," Hanke said, setting down the large stack of what looked like letters, on closer inspection. "A few days ago we sent out letters to all the cities and towns, inviting their town lords to come and add their voices on the new legislations - ye' know, so we ensure that every town feels a part of the new world, and that they get heard, too."

"Okay?" Emaia said, a little confused. "That sounds brilliant, so what's with the sympathetic faces?"

Dashel moved a little uncomfortably. "Uh, well... The thing is Em, we uh... We've received a reply from all the town's, except... Except Rochess. Your home."

"Oh." Now she understood. She felt her heart sink and land heavily like a stone in her lower abdomen. "My parents aren't responding."

Dashel looked down, pained. "No... I'm sorry."

Emaia looked down too, watching her feet for a moment. "It's... It's okay. I didn't really expect it. My father, he's... He's a man of the old days. He probably doesn't approve of everything that's happening, and my mother..." Her voice faltered by the memory of them. They were her parents, and she loved them. But apparently, they didn't love her anymore.

"Well in any case, it leaves us in a difficult situation," Hanke spoke up, after clearing his throat a little. "We need a respond from all the towns, and with nothing from Rochess... well..." Hanke coughed a little. "Me Lady, technically ye're still the heir to the Rochess legacy. When ye' parents pass away, Rochess city is yers', so we thought--"

"No," Emaia interrupted fiercely. "I love Rochess with all my heart, but I don't want to rule anything. I can't decide what's best for Rochess, not when I don't want to be their Lady."

There was a short silence, where all of them just stared at her. Emaia stood her ground, because she refused to go back to being a public figure. She just wanted to live a quiet life with Aide, the man she loved, and settle down some place nice. But not Rochess. That was in her past.

"Alright," Hanke sighed. "We tried. That means Rochess is without an heir. What do we do then?"

"I've heard Rochess is such a beautiful city, we can't let it be without a Lord or a Lady," Tessmia spoke up, looking down at the map and brushing loving a hand over the etched letters that marked Rochess. "Think of the people, and the beautiful seas... What are we going to do?"