If I thought the canyon region was rough, the desert is an absolute blistering hot hellhole. Within a single day both the back of my neck and face are sunburnt, my lips constantly chapped as I bite down on them irritably, and the dry heat does nothing to treat the itchiness of my throat and burning of my eyes. In fact, it only really acts to ensures such irritable symptomes. Aside from the physical pains, the environment is intimidating for one so unfamiliar with it. The sandy stretch is accented by ripples like that of the bodies of water I have sketched aboard Superior, which pertains to a beautiful yet cruel sense of irony, and the wind is not all that different. While it may appear similarly familiar and potentially refreshing as it picks up and twirls the golden red sand elegantly, the breeze turns out to be nothing but a gust of burning hot air which I did not even think was possible until it scorched my already sensitive skin in its wake. The occasional, gauntly tree will appear on a small island of ground just as desolate as its surroundings, but the small patches of grass unfitting for most other circumstances provide a steady food source for the horses whose owners are already running scarce on food. By the time the first couple days have passed, any lead we had on our schedule is shot down without any chance of return.
"Ah, fuck." I grit by the time that third week of travel has passed, the sun almost finished with its descent in the sky as my hand travels to my abdomen.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Eadric asks, turning towards me.
I shake my head, not all that bothered by the subtle pains in comparison with the other lingering factors of traveling in dry heat like this. "Nothing, just cramps. I'll be fine."
Except when I look back to Eadric, it is clear he is anything but fine as his cheeks heat instantly, his eyes widening in panic. "Oh god. Oh shit." He groans, stopping right then and there.
I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "What's up? Why the hell are you stopping?"
"Because you... well you're-"
"I'm?" I question, stretching the word out to mock his faltering.
"You're, I mean you, well you've reached that... that, uh, t-time of the month, haven't you?"
"I've what?" I gasp, my expression incredulous and grin unmistakable at the pure absurdity behind this random ass assumption being the source of his ridiculous reaction.
"This isn't funny!" He counters immediately, his free hand not currently clamped over the reins of Eileifr now scraping back the sections of his frayed fringe in a panic. "My sister gets insane whenever this happens to her, throwing shit all over the place. Nope, I'm not dealing with this shit. Barons!"
"Yes, Commander?"
"We are to camp out here for the night! Find Lesedi and her team! Aurora will travel with them for the meantime-"
"Eadric!"
"And get the Healing team as well, we're gonna need their services-"
"Eadric! Shut up!" I burst, effectively cutting him off before I turn to the crowd. "Barons, ignore everything you just heard from your King and proceed setting up camp for the night! That is all!"
The few who had stepped forward upon hearing of this unfamiliar term to me exchange wary glances with one another before looking up to Eadric who currently has his head in his hands.
"Need I repeat myself?" I follow when my orders do not seem to translate, to which everyone finally seems to relent and hurriedly turn to their designated tasks for set up.
I face Eadric then, yanking him down towards me by the upper rim of the chestplate as soon as the crowd has begun rapidly dispersing. He swallows, pulling back his face as though worried I will explode and start beating the shit out of him any second now, and I admittedly bristle before checking myself, dropping in volume considerably so only he can hear me by the time I speak again.
"Eadric," I begin in an almost singsong voice.
"Yes, mam."
"Oh for gods-"
"You better not try to hit me!" He frantically orders.
"What, I-I'm not gonna try to hit you! Why would I even-you know what? Just shut up for a second!"
"Will do." He promises.
"Alright. As I was goddamn saying, I am not on my period right now."
"But you said you've got cramps, don't you? That's a sure sign."
"Not when you have an implant." I inform him impatiently, raising my left arm injected with it.
His eyes narrow in confusion if not subtle repulsion at the foreign term as his eyes dart to my arm. He looks over the bulky sleeve for a moment, assessing before he looks back to my exasperated expression, more lost than ever. "A what?"
"An implant. It's like this little chip that gets surgically implanted underneath your skin to regulate your hormones and stop your menstrual cycle." I inform him.
He eyes my arm for a second before shaking his head in denial. "Bullshit. I would've noticed it by now."
"Not if you weren't looking for it. Besides, you can barely see it underneath all the bruises and shit on my skin anyways, but you can feel it. Here," I inform him as I begin unzipping my guards jacket.
He eyes me warily. "You're not gonna throw that at me, are you?"
"Okay, if you don't actually shut the hell up, I will legitimately punch you in the face."
"See!" Eadric points to me as though having proved himself to an entire goddamn court.
"Eadric!"
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Show me the implant." He beckons with a hand on his hip.
"Unbelievable," I mutter with an exasperated sigh before I resume unzipping the jacket. Once finished, I pull the fabric over my left shoulder down far enough so the brachialis muscle over my arm is exposed. I begin pressing the pad of my index and middle finger down the inner side of my arm until I eventually feel that familiar bump right before the base of my joint. "Here, it's here."
I point to the space on my arm where the implant lies, watching amusedly as Eadric's face contort into an expression of pure disgust once he located the solid bump over my skin. "That's insane, and not natural." He concludes by the time he pulls back.
"No shit it's not natural," I scoff, "but it's all we know, and it keeps us protected."
"Protected?" He asks, narrowing his eyes in question. "Protected from what?"
Well, this just got awkward. "Uh... I-I'll tell you another time." I conclude with a pat over his shoulder before walking off with Alfhild in tow.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To find Lesedi!" I call back before resuming my search for this woman who has apparently accompanied all the other warriors on this journey. I saw another woman walk up with the other Barons when they were called earlier as well, but ever since the defeat of the Mountain, woman have taken to celebrating more with their families, and celebrating ensues other responsibilities if one is not careful. Frankly, the amount of female warriors dwindling does not all that much bother me, however, as I know many of them belong to Eerika's troops and could not have ventured here even if I wished them to. As Eerika showed me early on, women can be trained much differently than men in certain aspects of combat, and Eerika excels at every single one of them. I am glad I got to train with her even if only for a short amount of time before everything essentially went to shit. It takes some time, but soon enough I have located a tanned woman with long, graying blonde dreadlocks twisted over her shoulder into a side half updo chatting off to a group of kneeling warriors who seem to be completely enthralled in her story, and I tie off Alfhild along the scraggly tree just aside some of the other horses before approaching group somewhat hesitantly.
"Ita, ut manifesto habebat duobus bibe mihi hac parte. Non verba mea sunt quasi patet dolet caput, et infernum, sed omnes me fecit amen dico huic erat off subtiliter intrare velimus, non cogitas futurum ut in pictura. Manifestum est autem quod non est altera novi, mea, ubi potum est in manu eius usque ad alia scienda procedit ire in unum! Demonstravi nimirum est furore, non mi-"
"Heus, Lesedi, hic est aliquis post te." One of the young warriors informs Lesedi once she has spotted me listening in.
The woman nods in acknowledgement before standing and turning to face me. "Ah, our new little Queen." She mocks before bowing to me with purposeful clumsiness. "Here to join the few ladies who haven't been impregnated or recruited by our young princess, eh?"
"Just observing." I decide, resulting in Lesedi rustling the twists in her hair in objection by the time she looks me over surly.
"No. You sit with us if you wish to join my little ensemble, or you walk away entirely. Which will it be?"
I smirk at her boldness before relenting and walk over to take a seat amongst the others who rise before I have even reached the mat they are all spread out on.
"My apologies, Your Majesty, but it would seem I have errand I have to attend to." One of the youngest girls present blurts before rushing off with haste.
"Me as well." Another follows, and soon enough all but two of the original eight, including Lesedi herself, remain.
The last one present aside from the teacher herself looks to be about my age with big blue eyes and her ashy blonde hair pulled back into an elegant braid down her back with deep red, plump lips that she now bites due to the sudden awkwardness of the environment. She is slightly paler than Lesedi, meaning she must not train outside a lot. Come to think of it, I do not think I have ever seen this woman in the training center once before, at least not in the outdoor portion of it. After exchanging a wary glance with her instructor, the young woman rises, her thin, but tall frame standing a little taller than my own by the time she offers her wrist in greeting. "Iolana." She introduces.
I nod, taking her wrist before responding, "Aurora."
"It's nice to meet you, Your Majesty, but I'm afraid we all are aware of your calling at this point." She smirks, her knowing gaze flitting to Lesedi who looks over our exchange with evident amusement.
"My calling?" I question stupidly, to which her grin widens even more so.
"Your name." She clarifies, where I finally pull back my head in understanding before we release our grips on one another. "I'm sorry about the others departing so quickly upon your arrival." She offers before the uncomfortable silence drags on too long. "I'm afraid they aren't as accustomed to spending much time with the royals. It can be intimidating."
"I see." I nod, realising how the fear of saying the wrong thing around someone you are merely unfamiliar with is daunting enough, but saying it to someone who could have your head in a moment's notice if they wished it I can imagine is probably pretty unnerving. "And you are?" I come to deduct, turning back to Iolana.
"Um, I suppose, My Lady. Eerika and I kind of grew up together."
My lips part on their own accord, the corners tilting up as I question, "so you knew Eadric as well, then?"
I am pretty sure a subtle tint of pink dusts her already warm cheeks, but her expression is all cool by the time she confirms. "Yes, I knew Eadric as well. My family owns some property on the fields, we live near Quod Stabulas so they would always spend the night when things got a little... tough for them."
The pain she tries so hard to hide behind her downwards casted expression is evident enough without my prying. I probably should refrain from asking her anymore on the subject to avoid pushing too hard. "Right, yes. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to pry-"
"No, no, of course not, Your Majesty, you weren't prying by any means, and you owe me no apology. Some things are just hard to reflect on when you see where they are now..." She trails a little longingly. She flinches by the time she looks back to me, as though only just remembering I am still standing here. "My apologies, Your Majesty, I did not mean to go off on such a tangent. I'm not even sure if that made any sense." She mutters a little sheepishly.
"It made perfect sense." I conclude, and tension seems to relieve in her shoulders by the time I look back to Lesedi. Her gaze over the young warrior appears exceedingly saddened for some reason. "That story you were describing beforehand, what was it about?"
She finally looks away from Iolana, her expression seeming to sober by the time her eyes land on me. She seems to recall my question at that moment as she rolls her eyes exasperatedly. "Oh, that was just some tale of a parva prudentia who decided a clever way of catching my attention would start by him taking my drink."
"I have a feeling you weren't all that happy about that." I comment harmlessly, to which the woman smirks.
"Neither was he soon after."
"Right." I grin, truly surprised by the starking similarities between Lesedi and Eerika. "Do you know the Princess as well?"
"I trained her." Lesedi reveals before stepping aside Iolana who she places a hand over her shoulder. "This one too."
"You're kidding. What a small world." I reckon.
"In an ironically large village" Lesedi finishes before jostling my shoulder as well.
I nod, turning to Iolana. "You know, if you wish to see Eerika again, I could always arrange a meeting between you two. For you as well, Lesedi. I'm sure she would welcome the chance to reunite with both of you again."
Lesedi's thin eyes dart to Iolana, her manner a little flustered at she hurriedly begins, "My Queen, I assure you that won't be necessary-"
"You have the authority to do that?" Iolana interupts, her tone laced with a bit of disapproval as she eyes me similarly.
I narrow my own skeptically. "I didn't think I would need authority to suggest to Eerika that she see one of her oldest, not to mention closest friends."
"We're not close anymore." Iolana clarifies. "That was a long time ago."
"Right. I'm sorry."
"Again, I don't need an apology from you." She suddenly snaps, causing me to retreat slightly, shocked by her sudden change in manner. What is this girls problem?
"Iolana, watch your tone!" Lesedi demands as soon as she has seen my halted expression. "That is our Queen you are speaking with."
I raise my chin at this reminder of my status, eyeing Iolana challengingly as though daring her to say something else. Despite this, my expression and Lesedi's warning does nothing to halt the young warrior currently looking me down with an expression that could only be described as nothing short of defiance.
"I realize that." Iolana manages after a moment, her eyes not budging from my own.
"I hope you do." I press, to which she scoffs by the time I turn to Lesedi. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Lesedi. I hope to run into you again before this journey is complete."
"As do I, My Queen. I must admit you are not what I expected when I heard you were from the sky." She informs me, probably beyond her help. Curiosity is a dangerously powerful feeling.
"I'm sure many felt the same as well." I concur. "Regardless, we are traveling in a pretty close knit setting. I'm sure we will see each other soon. Perhaps over tonight's meal?"
"Perhaps." She nods. We join wrists before I part from those two, leaving Alfhild to graze over the plot of land beside us.
Later that night Eadric and I are sat beside one another, our sides pressed together despite the lingering tension present ever since he revealed his true thoughts to me regarding, well, everything the other night. The unnerving edge to the heavy atmosphere does nothing to dim our desires to preserve heat as the fire burning before us is doing little to conserve it against these brutal temperature changes. Honestly, unbearably hot during the day only to end up just above freezing at night, the longer I am in this place, the more it continues to surprise me. We are currently sipping that exceedingly thick stew straight from ceramic bowls. Except this version is much more plain for the sake of both speed in preparation and access the cooks have to certain ingredients and spices this far out.
I watch Eadric carefully as he raises his bowl to his lips, the sound of his gulp diminished by the crackling of the fire that draws shadows over his already constantly scowled face. The fire gives him an eerie glow, his eyes shrouded in darkness creating the illusion of a creature from hellfire itself. It startles me slightly when he finally speaks.
"You could've told me about it sooner, you know." He mutters lowly, suddenly turning towards me.
Quickly I dart my eyes away from his, my mouth dry as I close it quickly, clearing my throat. "Told you about what?"
"About that implant thing in your arm. I still can't fathom the fact that I had no idea of it for this long." He tells me before bringing the bowl back to his chapped lips.
"Well, it's not exactly something you'd think to ask about." I remind him given ten hours ago, he did not even know such a device even existed. I raise my bowl back to my lips, sure to already be downing more of the stew by the time I have finished muttering, "It was funny to see you all panicked though."
He lets out a quick laugh, gruff, a little unsettled but with a tone all firm by the time he states, "I did not panic."
"You absolutely did and it was entertaining as hell." I declare with a mocking grin before gulping down another mouthful.
"Well, regardless of what actually happened," Eadric begins, prompting me to lower my bowl with a heavy eye roll as he sets down his own, "that's seriously one hell of a device to implant in a woman. I can't believe you would consent to having something like that shoved into your arm that could change so much."
"Who says I consented to it?" I comment nonchalantly before raising the bowl back to my lips.
Eadric's eyes widen in a moments notice as he leans towards me, disbelieving. "You're telling me that thing was injected into your body without you even permitting it?" He shakes his head as soon as I have nodded. "I can't believe your people would condone that. When were you implanted with it?"
"At the age of eight. They try to catch you before you get your period, it makes the whole process a little safer, or so I was told."
"When the hell were you told something like that?" He questions angrily, the repulsion I noted in his expression earlier now evident again on his face.
"When I was training to be a doctor up there," I say, pointing to the sky where Superior used to be housed, "and when they were injecting it. You should've seen my dad's face when they were explaining how it works to him. He looked like he was about to hurl any second. Honestly, he was kind of sporting the same expression you are now." I tease, raising a hand to poke the corner of his mouth before catching myself. It feels uncomfortable at my side by the time I have lowered it, regardless of how stupid that impulse may have been.
Luckily Eadric seems to not have taken note of my moment of odd instinct as he sports his sharp, crooked grin without thought. "Trust me, something like that is not enough to make me hurl."
"You sure?" I question with a wry raise of my eyebrows.
"Yes." He hisses before I finally relent and resume finishing up the stew that has cooled some by now. "God," I hear him mutter to himself after some time, breaking the silence that had emerged, "I still can't get over the fact that they do something like that to you at the age of eight."
"That's when you start training warriors, isn't it?" I counter, setting my bowl down with more finality this time.
"Not always," Eadric retorts, his eyes still casted down towards the sanded mat we our sat atop of, "and even then, it's their choice when to start training until they reach of age."
"And what age is that?"
"Twelve. Your profession is to be chosen by then as well, but admittedly some men I know have been pressured into becoming warriors despite their true passions and interests. We can only have so many caretakers tending to the livestock and blacksmiths repairing our damaged weaponry, but protection, defense? Those are aspects of a society you can never put a limit to."
"I realize that," I confirm, sadly in partial agreement with this notion of his people because really, what he said is completely true. Protection has no quota, and in a world like this, sacrifices must be made for it to come first. But his opinion on the implant matter still lingers with me for some reason. "But I guess regarding lifelong responsibilities, my people would rather be safe than sorry, sorry as in stuck with a child as a teenager." I state boldly, finally drawing his eyes form the mat to me.
"Wait, that thing stops you from becoming pregnant?" He questions, pointing to my arms currently holding my knees to my chest.
"Of course."
"So... you can never have kids, then?" He follows, his voice having softened considerably for some reason.
"Not while it's still in me." I tell him straight up, to which his face falls slightly. I do not know why my heart drops at his reaction, why my chest aches when his gaze drops from my own and eyes burn as he presses his burnt lips into a thin line. I do not know why I am in such a hurry to reassure him given I am not even sure that I would ever want to have children in a place like this, or even just generally, that I could even ever be capable of feeling something like love for someone I already have such a crazy, unpredictable history with. And there is of course the looming factor that I am still a goddamn teenager, another matter to which I think should be considered. But nevertheless I find myself placing a hand over Eadric's shoulder, drawing his lowered gaze back to my softened one as I assure him, "The implant's removable, Eadric."
He swallows at this, his eyes traveling back to my arm for a moment as he comments, "Oh, I see."
"Yeah. And it would probably be my decision now, anyways, now that we're on the ground."
"What do you mean?" He asks, taking my chilled hand still over his shoulder into his own.
I falter some at his touch as he quickly slips off the glove before setting it aside. I narrow my eyes in question until he begins rubbing his rough, calloused palms back and forth over the bruised flesh quickly to create friction, his hands already warmed from the fire as well as his unrelenting body heat. "I already told you," I begin by the time I have fully processed his actions, "it's all about population control. Once coupled with someone, they would check your history, genetic build up, shit like that, and if permitted, you could have a child. Or ordered, I guess. I've heard of a couple cases where couples on Superior didn't even want a kid, but the council ordered them. That's the risk you take in formalizing your marriage, or, that was the risk, I guess, now that we're all down here."
"I can't believe you were raised in such a cruel place." Eadric mutters disapprovingly as he raises my hand to his chin, his low, gravelly tone clearly laced with underlying anger towards our ways. The stubble along his jaw grazes my knuckles.
"It's all we knew." I remind him once I have swallowed the lump in my throat. "And it's not like we didn't try to adapt to it as best as we could, but for some of us, the council pushed us too far, so we retaliated. That's why we were locked away in the Skybox."
"I'm sorry you were." He offers.
"I'm not." I reveal with a firm shake of my head. "There were too many problems up there, and I don't even mean the ones I've already told you of. The political system aboard Superior had been abused for a really long time, many were unjustly punished for crimes that should've meant little, titles were manipulated in favor of specific stations regarding Council positions... I'm glad us few who came down here were at least momentarily rewarded for challenging the authority up there, in some manner or another."
"Why were you locked away? How did you defy the Council?" Eadric suddenly asks, dropping my hand as he leans in closer to me.
I shuffle away slightly, unnerved by the invasive question. "Didn't I tell you? I assaulted three guards." I break eye contact with him then, looking down to my hands now entwined in my lap.
He sighs when I do not expand on the matter, finally pulling away with a brisk toss of his hair to get it out of his eyes. "Yeah, but you never told me why you did that." He reminds me, his tone laced with subtle impatience.
"Oh for gods-look, they tried to take shit that didn't belong to them, I tried to stop them. Make sense?" I snap, to which he merely shrugs, unaffected by my sour mood.
"I get it. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Apache already told you most of my story, you revealed to me how you lost your father, that he was executed. I know it's all related. Just give me some time and I'm sure I'll eventually figure it out myself."
"Your nerve is unreal." I comment, looking over to him in awe.
Eadric smirks before echoing his point from earlier. "Did I not say you could save me time by just telling me yourself too? That is still an option, you realize."
"Whatever, it doesn't matter." I mutter bitterly. "I was arrested all the same, wasn't I?"
"Were you?" He presses.
I roll my eyes before confirming, "Yes, I was, and this conversation is over."
"Well, dinner is far from it." He states, quickly motioning to the crowd formed strong just behind us.
I narrow my eyes suspiciously before following his nod towards the serving station, only to see that half of the crowd has not even been served yet. I turn back to Eadric, nodding in acknowledgement at this. "And your point?"
"My point is this may be the last shortened day of travel you receive before we arrive to Lux Cantavit. We've barely talked and instead have spent all of our time just trying to stay awake and alert. If you got anything else you wanna get out of your system, any questions before we go to bed only to be back at it straight away in the morning, now would be the time to ask."
I consider this offer, my mind trailing to a term he had used earlier that I would not all that much mind getting some clarification on. "What's a Baron?"
The corners of Eadric's lips twitch up at my perception. "I'm surprised you took note of that, but then again maybe I shouldn't be."
"Well, what is it?" I press, genuinely curious.
"It's a military ranking based off a system the clans go by. You wanna know the whole thing, or just the one term?"
"Eh, I could use a good Grounder history lesson." I conclude before adjusting myself into a more comfortable position beside him, casually resting an arm over his shoulder closest to me.
He smiles slightly before nodding. "Good. First there are the top of the line; the King and Queen, or, in other words, you and me. We reign over all the Coalition, over every clan, and have the ability to overrule any of the commands given by those below us. We have ultimate power and control here."
"Quite the responsibility." I note solemnly, to which Eadric merely nods, not willing to sugarcoat this matter. "What comes after that?"
"Next there are the Dukes, usually the Ambassadors of the thirteen clans but exceptions have been made in at least one clan pertaining to that rule, but that's just because they have their own system out there. Not many of us outside of it know much about it."
"And that clan is?"
"Lux Cantavit."
"Of course it is." I note dully.
Eadric just jostles my arm still resting over his shoulder before proceeding to explain the role of the Duke. "Their position is like a leader of their clan. They are the military commander with responsibility over their clan and its defenses."
"Got it. What's next?"
"The Counts, or members of my court. Each Ambassador has a court of their own, and they are responsible for the defense of their clan on a local level and the general administration of their area through the guidelines set by their Count, or myself. Eerika and Apache are both members of my court, for example."
"Right. And after that?"
"The Viscounts. They are appointed by the Counts to carry out day to day business and administer justice, keeping people safe through their designated area within their Ambassadors clan. If a Viscount works hard enough, I like to allow them to sit in on Court Hall meetings as a sort of informal training process, just in case I were to lose one of my Court members to war, old age, things like that."
"That concept sounds familiar to me." I note, resulting in Eadric's heavy nodding beside me.
"It should. Lakote was one of my Viscounts prior to his demotion, but that's beside the point."
I swallow at hearing this little rumor finally confirmed by the King himself, but now is probably not the right time to ask Eadric about it. Besides, similar to Eerika, I know this demotion is only temporary and that he still technically holds the position. Yeah, I better at to bring it up again.
"Barons come after the Viscounts. I mean, they are also appointed by the Counts to act as military leaders of their own small units, but technically Viscounts outrank them. Eerika is in a way a Barron by her own appointion given her title as a Countess in my court, but she balances both responsibilities well."
"Doesn't surprise me. There isn't much that girl can't handle." I agree with a pat over Eadric's shoulder to which he smiles weakly, probably a little homesick by now. I give him a moment before continuing. "Any ranks left to explain?"
"Just one more," he promises with a sigh, "the Warriors or Soldiers who are appointed by the Viscounts. You obviously know what their responsibilities are at this point, I trust?"
"Of course." I nod, finally allowing my gaze to break from analysing is solemn expression as I look up to see two familiar figures walking ahead of us after having just received their bowls of mush. "Oh, there's Lesedi. I should call her over."
Eadric looks to me before slowly raising his gaze ahead of us, only to fervently shake his head in objection the second he gets a closer look at the woman accompanying the middle aged trainer. "No, Aurora, they've probably got their own crowd to sit with." He insists, his eyes flitting uneasily to the pair.
I narrow my eyes towards him suspiciously, already aware that he has some sort of history with the young warrior who did not seem to favor me all that much this morning. But hell, I want answers, and what more opportunistic time than now would I have to try to get them? "Well, I'm going to at least call them over to say hi." I conclude, ignoring Eadric prodding and protesting by the time I call to the pair. "Hey, Lesedi! Why don't you join us for a second!"
"Aurora!" Eadric hisses, much to my expectancy.
"What?" I question innocently, playing naive to give him the chance to explain the situation himself. He does not take it but rather merely swallows, the heat already evident in his cheeks as I offer nothing but an unassuming shrug in response.
He releases my arm as soon as the pair have approached us, avoiding eye contact immediately. "Son of a-"
"My Queen," Lesedi greets with a bow, Iolana following a bit unsteadily in her stead.
"Lesedi. Iolana. It's nice to see you two again."
"You as well, My Queen." Lesedi promises, clearly speaking for the pair.
"And, Iolana?" I press, drawing the girls flushed gaze up from the ground as I question, "I trust you've been well also?"
"Of course, My Queen."
"Glad to hear it. Now, Eadric, here was just explaining some of the rankings to me and I couldn't help but wonder, Lesedi, if you're a Baron yourself, if I'm recalling the definition correctly. Am I recalling the definition correctly, Eadric?"
He spares the quickest goddamn glance humanly possible up to the pair before practically seething to me, "Yes, Aurora, you're recalling the definition correctly."
"Alright, cool then. So, you are a Baron, right, Lesedi?"
"I am, yes. But I have heard many tales of you having actually trained with Eerika prior to this fight to get good with that staff." She says, motioning to the weapon set right beside me. "Is this true?"
"Yeah, it is." I confirm, to which her wry grin widens.
"Then we'll have to see how good the youngster is as a trainer." Lesedi suggests mischievously. "Iolana, here, is actually my second. You two should spar some time following this journey. We can see how you match up."
"I'm down with it if she is." I confirm.
"Of course I am." Iolana blurts, drawing a sigh from Eadric at her rashness to join this challenge. "I've been curious to see how a Sky Person matches up against one of our own from Lesedi's unit. It would be an honor to face you, My Queen."
"You wouldn't stand a chance." Eadric suddenly interrupts, looking up from his position sat beside me to greet Iolana with a dangerous glare. The harshness in his expression softens slightly as he realizes what he has done, but he does not give way to the validity of his statement by any means as he elaborates on his reasoning. "Aurora has trained hard for months now, and Eerika surpassed Lesedi long ago. Even with only one victory over Eerika's shoulders, Aurora would win in a match against one of Lesedi's easily."
Iolana swallows thickly at this, her hand tightening to a fist at her side as Lesedi grins knowingly at us. "My, Eadric, you seem to have grown incredibly faithful in the abilities of your wife."
"This isn't faith." He clarifies, his surly expression raising once more to stare the pair down. "It's fact."
Iolana scoffs, walking off with no more than a pointed glare sent Eadric's way as Lesedi chuckles towards the young rulers brashness. "Still as stubborn as ever, My King. I can see how you two work." She says, motioning between the two of us. "We'll have to catch up again, sometime, My Lady."
"Looking forward to it." I assure her with an equally ridiculous grin that falls the second she has turned to walk away. God, pretending to be social out here in these draining conditions is quite the task, but the look on Eadric's face was so worth it. I am afraid he does not find this little stunt of mine half as satisfying, however, as he glares down at me, furious.
"What the hell was that?" He growls, the veins in his neck bulging in his struggle to restrain himself.
My expression is all nonchalant ease, my hands raised in neutrality by the time I respond. "Hey, it's not my fault you're not the only one who knows how to play games."
"What the hell are you talking about? What games have I played that deserved a confrontation as brutally awkward as that?"
"How about the 'just give me two seconds to pry into your entire life story without your permission because I'm sure I can figure it out in no time' game? You've clearly already started without me, I figured it's about time I catch up."
"God, you have a cruel sense of humor." He states with an exhausted sigh as be bundles his crossed legs together with his burly arms.
I only scoff at his blatant hypocrisy. "As do you, apparently. Consider that revenge for all the prying you tried earlier, asshole."
"You never let anything past you, do you?"
"You're the one who told me to be more friendly." I counter, to which he shakes his head immediately.
"I only asked that you keep in mind that you have people as well, that you try talking with your friends." He clarifies.
"So, I can't make new ones?" I challenge.
"No, that's not what I... stop twisting my words." He orders with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"I'm only trying to understand you." I urge with a hand over my heart and expression oozing of bullshitted sincerity.
I can see Eadric trying to check himself as he looks over my expression, only to be able to do nothing in terms of diminishing his wry grin as he mutters exasperatedly, "God, you irritate me."
"So, you've said. Both times smiling now, actually. And you're still avoiding the obvious issue here."
He narrows his eyes, raising his head from where he had dropped his gaze following his sad attempt at hiding his grin from earlier. "What issue?"
"The Iolana issue. What's your history with her?"
"You curious?" Eadric deducts, to which I shrug, simply willing to listen if he is willing to talk.
He nods nonchalantly as I reiterate this to him, taking a moment to compose himself before he reveals the full story, and when he does, he is not exactly quick or by any means graceful about it. "Well, it's just that Iolana is sort of the first person I... I mean, she... I don't know, I guess we-"
"Come on, Commander, spit it out." I press, to which he shakes his head, a rueful grin on his lips.
"I swear to god, Aurora-"
"Alright, alright, my lips are sealed." I promise with a hand hovering over my mouth. I drop it a moment later to urge him to continue. "Now what is it? What happened with her?"
"I guess she sort of, well, she was my amor primus."
His first love. I am not really sure what I expected to hear about this woman Eadric seems to feel so uncomfortable towards now, maybe a tale of a brief, fleeting childhood romance, or a foolish first kiss story. But a first love... that is some very committal language to use, and I cannot help but swallow, knowing he was once capable of such emotions as the man currently sat beside me starring emptily into the fire in front of us looks anything but. "So, what happened?" I continue before the pause grows too long. "Why weren't you guys together when we came down?"
"Oh, we broke up long ago." He informs me brashly.
"Right, but why?"
"Well, my dad was sick," Eadric begins, dusting some sand into the flames, "I had him to care for and Eerika to look after, and besides, none of that seemed to matter to her anyways because she said I had changed, I was no longer the man she fell in love with, or rather the kid she did. Eerika, of course, took my side when it happened as much had changed since Iolana and I had started our relationship. My dad was growing weaker daily and the list of my responsibilities increased far quicker than I felt I could keep up with. Trying to balance out a relationship with the mess that was my life just did not seem fair to her anymore, so we ended it." For a moment a hollow silence takes suit, but then Eadric suddenly grins darkly, catching my attention at his sudden change in mood. "You know, it's funny." He mutters lowly.
"What is?"
"That sometimes, even now, even after I have been declared King and defeated the Mountain and allied the clans with those from space, securing one of whom to be my own wife, I still get this feeling that I don't deserve this rank and all the responsibility that comes with it, like I may very well never figure out the true reasoning behind having been the one accepted by my people for all of this, to lead them. I just get this feeling that I am an absolute fraud, like I have no reason to sit atop that throne because my damning willingness to kill whoever gets in my way and ability to motivate a crowd into action just doesn't seem like a good enough explanation. Sometimes I just hate the words that come out of my mouth when I shout them out to the clans who so stupidly believe it all like it's a goddamn lifeline I am throwing them, and sometimes I wish, so badly, that I could just walk away so I wouldn't have to manipulate anymore innocent souls to go out onto the battle field to die for me, in my name, in the Coalitions name. Sometimes I wish I could just throw it all away, and never look back."
I hate myself for smiling following his dark confession, but truly the irony is too cruel not to. "If only you could have learned what I learned while out there on my own." I tell him, drawing his heavy gaze back to me. "Because looking to where I am now, even with all of my friends against me and potentially only a few days left of my life, I can genuinely tell you with all honestly that leaving you and everyone else behind is the only decision I've ever made in all of this that I regret."
Eadric's expression softens in that moment, his lips parting as he releases a soft exhale. When he speaks, it almost looks as though he is in some sort of trance of remembrance. "I think that's why I was so furious when you walked away," he states, his tone oddly gentle, "but why I let you go. I felt like if I couldn't have that chance to escape, at least the woman I understand most in this world could, even if it meant losing you. That's how I bared it."
"But it didn't last." I finish for him.
He grins wryly. "Exactly. Soon enough the responsibilities of ruling again piled up, I didn't want to accept the fact that I was no longer used to doing it all on my own, but after so much time, I had no choice. I was becoming that person that Iolana told me she hated so much, but that man has always been inside me, and as much as it may kill you to hear this, I saw it in you too.
"That's why I told Apache to go forward with the deal, why I wanted to marry you, a mystery from the sky who looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes until we had to pull that lever together, and then you understood. You understood in that moment what I had been trying to tell you for months, that you have to give up everything in order to lead. It's why I went out of my way trying to stay by your side even when you wanted anything else before the Mountain, why I still try to now even if I know it isn't for all the right reasons. Because whether you realized it or not, we were both walking around with the devil interlacing our hearts, and I didn't want you to have to face that reality alone."
"But you had to." I remind him, my chest aching upon uncovering this realization. "For years before I came down you faced all of this alone."
"No. I had a family who cared for me, a sister I would die for, and a cause as good as any to keep fighting. You owe your people nothing, you were never supposed to grow up like this whereas from the age Apache found me, I was groomed for it."
"It took me a lot of time to accept my role in all of this." I admit after a moment, my voice barely above that of a whisper as though not even certain now that I do.
Regardless, Eadric swallows to accompany his brief nod before finally allowing his gaze to fall back to the sanded mat. "I know." He eventually responds, his tone regretful. He piles up more sand in his hands before continuing, "Look, regarding the whole Iolana issue, I don't know if she's ever moved on, and I wouldn't be all that surprised to hear that she absolutely despises me with right after what I've done in messing up her life. But regardless of her sorrows, she has no right to challenge you with me at your side. This match, while just a spar to you and Lesedi, would mean something far more profound to her, and the last thing I need is her even more humiliated when she lets her emotions get the best of her and you take the opportunity to strike and take her down by her own grief."
"You think I'm capable of that?" I ask him, my dull expression still directed to the flames in front of us.
"I know you are." He answers without a hint of hesitation, and scarily enough I actually smile at that notion.
"Smart man."
"I'm getting there." He promises, mimicking my motion from earlier as he casually rests his forearm over my shoulder closest to him. "You're still a tricky one to figure out, though."
"As are you." I respond without much thought, automatically adjusting to the oddly comforting weight.
He smirks then before suddenly taking a section of my hair at the nape of my neck, his grip gentle as he begins brushing through the strands. My eyes close with a sharp exhale. "What are you doing?"
"I'm putting your goddamn wedding braids back in." He responds gruffly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and I just press my lips together to avoid grinning or doing something else equally as stupid, raising my head slightly to give him better access to do so. I take a moment to revel in the relaxing sensation before finally speaking again.
"You're a good person, Eadric, to care that much about Iolana."
"I don't care that much about-"
"No, I mean, just to be considerate up to a point like that, even with an ex, it's impressive."
"What's impressive is the fact that she hasn't tried anything with you before." He grunts, clearly not favorable of the young woman anymore. "She must've really wanted to stay away from me for you to have not even run into her once before."
"And her having a history with Eerika complicates matters a bit." I note, to which he sighs in irritable confirmation. His heavy exhale grazes the exposed section of my neck.
"That was one of the biggest flaws of our brief relationship together." He continues as he finishes securing the braid somehow with my own hair before moving onto the next section. "When her and Eerika got into an argument, she would always just expect me to side with her no problem, just because of what we had once had together. She wanted me to choose obligation over blood."
"It's not like I would understand either way, no siblings on Superior, and all." I remind Eadric, to which he hesitates a moment before resuming his quick braiding. "But what I can say is even after my father got himself killed through all those lies he chose to keep from me, his own daughter, I would still choose to trust his word any day over my mothers because of why he did it; to protect me."
"That makes sense, Aurora, but how does it apply to my situation? Both your mother and father are your blood."
"Yes, but think about it: one was truly there for me growing up, while the other... she's just an obligation at this point. One I am choosing to put aside for a little bit. My point is, familial bonds can be manipulated just as easily as relationship bonds can be."
Eadric takes a moment to consider this notion, tugging my hair fondly before informing me, "You sound like Baako, you know?"
"I'm taking that as a compliment." I inform him with just as much snark.
"Good, because I intended it as one."
--- A/N
Early update because why not? I'm planning on going through all the chapters to edit and fix them up anyways so I figured if it's all typed up, I might as well get it out there. This chapter was obviously a lot lighter than previous ones have been, but like I said, things are on their way to change in this story, you guys deserve a breather before that all happens. I'm not gonna lie though, I've been second guessing a lot of my actions as I type given I make up a lot of the smaller scenes as I go. I'm a fan of dark novels and movies and such so to go on a temporarily lighter route has proven to have quite its challenges for me, but I've had fun with it, and the various scene requests you guys leave I find help a lot with me adding more variance to the story as well. As I've mentioned before, these stories are to prepare me to write a novel, to get me thinking about character development and world building, aspects such as those that I have much length to go to improve on, so I appreciate you all bearing with me as I work through all the flaws and mistakes in this story. As always, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, are looking forward the the next, and thanks so much for reading!