Chapter 484: Rather Interesting Lives_Millennial Mage

Chapter 484: Rather Interesting Lives

 T and Rane walked through Marliweather, enjoying thete spring day.

 Irondale had been properly anchored, keying off the flurry of trade and traffic that had be a regr urrence whenever Irondale was anchored anywhere but Alefast. This time, there were another one hundred immigrants—across a few families—who would being in for final discussions and approval.

 Apparently a good chunk of these gateless hade from as far away as Manaven. Lyn had guessed that most of the closer gateless who would be at all inclined to join Irondale had already done so.

 Terry was frolicking in the wilds surrounding Marliweather, clearing out the dangerous arcanous creatures as something to do while T and Rane did what they had to do. The Marliweather Guard were incredibly grateful for his help, and that actually seemed to be meaningful to him these days, but T could tell that he was struggling to find a true challenge.

 Charity hunting will only tide him over for so long…

 Lupe was settling in well, and Lisa’s house construction had slowed as a result of him spending a good chunk of his time with the ss-woman.

 -He still doesn’t really trust her.-

 That’s understandable, given what she is, but he should know that we’re watching.

 -He does, but I think spending the time with her makes him feel better.-That’s fair. I can’t say we’re really any different.

 T nced toward Rane. “You know, all this dealing with Lupe—a ss phoenix—has me thinking about the clockwork thunder.”

 “Oh?” Rane raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

 “Well, we’ve had a few good oues from cells, like the deal with Lupe. I was hoping that the clockwork thunder had a good oue too.”

 “That was the one Howlton was hunting for, a few years back?”

 “Yeah. I mean, they might still be for all I know. It’s funny, because I feel like I now understand what they were actually doing. They were looking for the atrium to the cell. They wanted the ‘bribe.’”

 “That was my understanding, too.”

 She frowned slightly in thought. “You know, I’m still confused how it could have been so apparent on the outside of the cell. Isn’t the purpose of cells to fully contain the magical threat?”

 “Yeah.” Rane’s eyes gained a far off look. “Obviously, we don’t really have any record of prisoners in the outer ins, but we do have some instances of bleed-through in the gated-human wilds. There was a heat-based being whose imprisonment in a cell—which was hidden in a hill—created the effect of a constantly flowing mini volcano, even though the hill wasn’t active in that way. The cell didn’t actually cause any sort of eruption. It just melted the rock and created a constant trickle ofva.”

 “Oh? That’s kind of crazy. We haven’t dealt with any cells containing prisoners who are that powerful.”

 Rane made his ‘that’s not quite right’ face. “Well, from what I understand, it’s not about power. It’s more to do with being so deeply connected with a concept, to the point that their mere presence forces the amplification of it. Even their proximity brings it to the forefront.”

 “Well, I hope that Pareshti knows what he’s doing. I’d hate to find out Howlton has been destroyed somehow, or worse, that the clockwork thunder was freed because of Howlton.” She hesitated, checking her own prioritization of cataclysms. Yeah, she would prefer a town full of people she didn’t know get destroyed—knowing that most would probably survive—than a being like the clockwork thunder get free… whatever it actually was.

 Rane grunted, then got a contemtive look. “You know, we could go and check it out.”

 She gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

 He gave her a little smile. “Well, we’ve got our honeymoon after the wedding. What if we took that time to travel a bit? I’d like to see the ins outside the encircling forests, maybe explore a moving city or two?”

 T felt her expression brighten. “Really? That could be amazing. We’d need to pass through the northern forest, though. I don’t particrly want to fight my way through the Leshkin again.”

 “Agreed. So, we could take up the pack on their invitation to visit as well.”

 She grinned at the idea. “Terry will love that, yeah.”

 “Then outward to the ins to explore and track down Howlton?”

 “That sounds amazing. Thank you for suggesting it, Rane.”

 He grinned in return. “Of course. It sounds like a great adventure with which to start our adventure.”

 She chuckled then pulled to a stop as they reached their destination. Right… that’s why I wasn’t in the best mood, this is why I wanted to distract myself.

 -Yeah. I figured that I should let you do so.-

 Thanks… But now she was here.

 She and Rane were at her siblings’ father’s house.

 Rane hugged her around the shoulders. “Well, we’re here.”

 T leaned into the embrace. “Yeah…”

 It was a beautiful house, clearly demonstrating how much the family hade up in the world in the years leading up to its construction. It was well outside of the ‘new build’ timeframe now, but it was also clearly being well maintained.

 T had seen it before—practically every time she was in Marliweather when she came to pick up one sibling or another—but she’d never been inside herself. They generally watched for her and came out when she arrived.

 Until now.

 She was here to go inside.

 She took a deep, calming breath and strode forward.

 Rane released her as she moved and followed a half-step behind. He was there for moral support more than anything.

 T hesitated onest time before she straightened and knocked on the front door.

 Before the second rap, he opened the door.

 There was a beat of silence as they locked eyes. Finally, he broke the silence, giving a tentative smile, “Hello, Mistress T. Master Rane. Would you care toe inside?”

 They nodded in agreement and followed him inside. T swallowed once and gilded herself. “Thank you for having us, n.”

 n stiffened slightly at the sound of his own name, but then nodded, rxing a bit once again. “Of course, Mistress. It is our pleasure to host you.”

 A woman’s voice came from deeper inside the house. “Are you still waiting in the entry hall, dear? She’ll get here when she gets here. Waiting next to the door won’t make it any faster.”

 n reddened slightly. “Marsha, love. They’re here.”

 “Oh?” She poked her head out into the hallway and saw T and Rane. “Oh! Wee Mistress T, Master Rane.”

 She gave a deep bow.

 “We are honored to host you. Iid out tea, coffee, and some light apaniments. Would you care to sit?”

 T nodded and gave a small smile. “Yes, thank you.”

 She saw where they were being led, and began manifesting iron within her aura around the chair that she would sit in, in order to reinforce it. She wasn’t too heavy these days, but it was still unreasonable to expect someone to have chairs capable of easily holding more than four hundred pounds.

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 -You could just use your iron to hold you up some.-

 Yeah, but that takes active mental control. I don’t want a slip of focus to ruin a piece of their furniture. This won’t necessarily be an emotionally or mentally easy conversation.

 -True. That’s fair and kind I suppose.-

 Thank you. I’m trying.

 -You could reduce your own gravity?-

 Yeah, then I’d move oddly. I don’t want to be bounding around if I have to move.

 -Right.-

 Sure enough, they were led to the sitting room, and T was able to take the chair that she’d subtly reinforced.

 The chair still creaked a bit, but not dangerously so. Just like when I’m at a restaurant.

 -Though, you don’t have to reinforce those as much.-

 That’s true.

 -Don’t you get tired of having to be mindful?-

 T gave a bit of an internal shrug. I chose to be this weight. I think it''s good to be so, but that’s my choice. It would be ridiculous for me to expect others to bear the negative side of my choice.

 -You could just find a way to be lighter.-

 Gravity wouldn’t really help, the issue is the mass. I could make it work with less gravity, but again, it would require active thought to not cause issues.

 -Well, you could just find a way to make yourself less massive, then?-

 Don’t be ridiculous, I like myself the way I am.

 -Fair enough.-

 Marsha served T first, then Rane, giving T a mug of coffee that was closer to the size of an alcoholic''s beer-stein and Rane a simrly sized mug of mint tea.

 T looked at the mug askance. “What do you usually use these for?”

 Marsha chuckled. “We like to drink a lot of tea, and they are perfect for brewing just the right amount.”

 “Huh.” T looked at the mug again and smiled. “Thank you.”

 “Of course, Mistress.”

 Rane had taken his first sip, and he was already contentedly taking another.

 n and Marsha got their own mugs, and true to Marsha’s words, they were the same size as T and Rane’s. Then, the te was passed around. For a ‘light’ apaniment, there was a lot of shortbread in various shapes with differing fruit spreads. Additionally, there were other small snacks, but T wasn’t really paying attention. She was too nervous.

 They all drank and ate, exchanging small talk for a few minutes before n leaned back. “Now, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, as we are very d to have you both, but to what do we owe the pleasure of yourpany?”

 Rane turned toward T, and she nodded, taking ast pull of her coffee and setting the mug on the low table that rested between them. “Well, I came to ask something and to rify something. I’m going to be as forthright as I can be, so please let me get this all out. Is that eptable?”

 n exchanged a nce with his wife before nodding. “Alright.”

 T gave a little smile, then nodded again. “Okay. We would like you at our wedding—I assume you have heard that we’re getting married?” She paused for a second so that they could nod in acknowledgement. “Good. As I said, we want you at our wedding. With all my siblings and their families there—and the fact that you two did raise me—it would be odd for you not to be there.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That said, we want you there as guests only, as part of the ceremony, and not as anything more. Would that be eptable to you?”

 T watched as a whole range of emotions yed across n’s face. He clearly understood all the implications of what she’d said. So, she simply let him consider and process.

 Marsha’s expression remained carefully calm and neutral even as she kept oriented on her husband, clearly ready to support him at need.

 n took a deep, calming breath then nodded. “I can ept that, yeah.” He had looked down to contemte, but then his gaze lifted once more. “May I ask who will be giving you away?”

 T nodded in turn. “I was going to bring it up if you didn’t. My soulboundpanion, Terry, will be fulfilling that role in the ceremony. It is a role somewhat often fulfilled by suchpanions in Archon weddings, and Terry, specifically, helped to bring us together and ensure that the wedding actually happened.”

 The mix of emotions flooded across n’s face once more. Finally, his shoulders slumped, and he looked down once more. “I understand. Thank you for taking the time to exin that to me in person.”

 Marsha ced her hand on her husband’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze before meeting T’s eyes. “We do appreciate the invitation, Mistress, and we further appreciate that you took the time toe in person and rify things.”

 “Absolutely.” T gave a hesitant smile. She’d been incredibly nervous about this conversation. Even so, “There are simply too many stories of misunderstandings leading to hurt and public incidents for us to have left it to chance whenmunication could so easily head off most of that danger.”

 -Oh, Enar wants to ask you something.-

 Sure.

 |Hi! Rane is curious if Master Limmestare had anything to do with this. He was curious before, but didn’t want to bring it up, given your obvious desire to avoid talking about this whole subject on the way over here. So, is that the case? Did Master Limmestare have anything to do with this?|

 T had to take a mental moment as she processed the absolute torrent of thought that was Enar’s outpouring.

 -You’ve got this, take a moment. They still won’t even notice that you paused. He’s been getting better, but social situations like this bring out his verbose side more. It can make him speak a lot more than usual these days.-

 |Hey! You’re t, not me. I’m amazing and very helpful. Moreover, I am simply so verbose because I wish to be clear in mymunication and avoid—|

 t sighed in obvious relief at the sudden silence, taking a moment before filling it herself. -Sorry about that. I broke the connection. I’ll still give him your answer, though.-

 You could have given him the answer from the start.

 -You’re right, I could have, but Rane wished to ask you, not simply get an answer, and I felt like it would be a bad precedent to set, speaking to your future husband on your behalf.-

 T blinked a couple of times at that before she collected her thoughts enough to respond. First, thank you for that. Second, I think Enar is rubbing off on you.

 -...I… I see what you mean. So, the answer?-

 Yes. Master Limmestare’sments reminded me of the potential for disaster.

 -I’ll pass that along, then.-

 Thank you.

 n had winced slightly at the exnation that she’d provided, and it took T a moment to realize why—only partially because she’d had an entire internal conversation while he’d been wincing. Thankfully, n didn’t leave the moment hanging. “That is incredibly wise of you. There are many things in my life that would have been improved—and many problems that would have been mitigated or removed—had Imunicated better, more fully, or, in some cases, at all. I am d to see that you are learning from my mistakes, or at least not making the same ones yourself.”

 T gave an acknowledging smile and nod.

 Honestly, that was all that she had reallye to say. She could have put it all in a letter, but something about that had felt… wrong.

 She did not view these two as her father and mother. Not really; not any more, but she did see them as the people who had raised her, for better or worse, and that was something to be honored and respected.

 In this case, that honor and respect was more for the position than the people in it, but that was alright.

 The four fell into small talk, discussing n’s uing retirement from alchemy in the next decade or so. He apparently had always wanted to paint, but he’d never really had the time. With how well the business had been doing, they’d saved sufficiently that he could pursue that hobby in his retirement without finances being an issue.

 They’d also be spending time with their grandchildren, the very idea of which seemed to be a great source of joy to both of them.

 n and Marsha politely inquired about some details of T and Rane’s lives, and the two of them tried to give mundane-ified versions the best that they could.

 They had both been on the receiving end of magical jargon that they hadn’t quite understood at the time, and they remembered just how unpleasant it could be. In the worst cases, it could feel like the person was intentionally trying to show how much more they knew than them—whether or not that feeling was true. So, they did their best to avoid doing the same to n and Marsha.

 When Rane and T left nearly two hourster, T felt lighter, like there was a bounce in her step.

 And, no, it isn’t because I’ve made myself lighter.

 -And you even recovered your iron without n or Marsha being any the wiser.-

 Yes I did. She smiled to herself.

 Rane leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “How are you doing? I’m sure that wasn’tfortable, at least not at first.”

 She leaned into the gesture in turn before smiling up at him. “Yeah, but I’m d that we did this. It would have been odd for them not to be there at all—at least it would have been for my siblings and their families—and there was just no need to create such potential for difort or drama during our celebration.”

 He smiled back at her and nodded. “Exactly. I am d about your choice, and I support you fully.”

 “So, have you decided how much of your family we’re inviting?”

 His smile faded into an only mostly faux grimace. “Well, I’m not really as involved with them as you are with yours, but we’ll still invite them all… and their families.”

 “How many guests are we up to?”

 “To be invited?” His eyes went distant for an instant. “Enar says about three hundred.”

 T gave him a skeptical look even as Rane’s eyes unfocused again, almost as if he’d been struck in the head. “He’s irritated that you rounded his answer, isn’t he.”

 Rane groaned. “Yeah…”

 “Do you want to tell me the precise number?”

 “No. I’m not letting him browbeat me. I’m the one in charge of the physical interface, not him.”

 T gave a small, knowing smile. “Good luck with that.”

 -Hey! You don’t have room to be smug. I’ve been a delight, a delight I tell you.-

 T grinned internally at her own alternate interface. Just keep telling yourself that.

 -I literally am.-

 T snorted within her mind before grinning up at her betrothed. “We’re going to have rather interesting lives aren’t we?”

 A smile came across his face as he held her gaze. “Unquestionably.”

MillionNovel

Chapter 484: Rather Interesting Lives