Aidan
The Realms
Secondday, 1st week of the 8th month, Godless Age 597
Early morning
Starchaser Village, Mistvale Highlands

"I will go with you to get our loot identified, but after that, I will need to return to the forge. There is still much work to be done and little time to do it in. Also, do not forget that the Council will vote again on your citizenship tonight."

"Of course." Aidan nodded. "Although I want to speak to the Council first. Will you be joining me tonight?"

Brighid smacked him lightly on the arm. "You know better than to ask. Just try and stop me!"

"I wouldn't dare," Aidan grinned at her. "Come on, let's haul all this to your mother's so we can figure out if any of it is useful."

Fifteen minutes later, they entered Ailis's home. She greeted Aidan impassively, though she hugged her daughter. As Brighid predicted, Ailis was quite willing to identify their items, and the process only took a few minutes.

"Mine!" Aidan exclaimed, scooping up the backpack and hugging it against his chest. He slung it over his shoulder and adjusted the straps until it was comfortable.

Aidan immediately selected CONFIRM. He didn't feel any different, but having something that would stay with him through death was a huge load off his shoulders. At the very least, he could keep a change of clothes inside so that he wouldn't have to walk back to the village naked next time.

"You should take this, too," Brighid giggled, handing him the silver ring.

He arched an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me something, love? Am I not manly enough for you?"

Brighid batted her eyes at him. "You know you are all the man I want or need. I am just thinking of the future; you will need all the help you can get in a few months."

In a few months...? Ohhh. Aidan blushed, prompting giggling amusement from both Ailis and Brighid. "Yes, well. What should we do with the sword and shield? Technically, either of us could use them, but they don't match our combat styles perfectly."

"You should keep the sword; you at least have the Skill for it, and even as a mage, having a weapon on the side can be useful," Ailis suggested. Aidan turned his skeptical gaze on her, and she shrugged. "I still want you as my apprentice. A little helpful advice is a small price."

Brighid slid the sword over to him. Aidan shrugged and put it into his new backpack. "What about the shield?"

"I will take it, I suppose?" Brighid suggested. "It does not fit my combat style, but I have been thinking about ways to modify my style to be more protective. I cannot say the same for the armor. It is not useful for either of us—I will never be stealthy, and I do not believe you have any interest in heavy armor?" At Aidan's headshake, she continued, "Then we can have Gerwyn act as a factor for us." She pushed the amulet at Aidan as well. "I insist that you wear this at all times. Right now, you are unknown to the outside world. That will not last forever, and this will protect you in ways that I cannot."

Aidan nodded soberly and slipped the necklace over his head. "As for the other ring," he said, "I think it's better served on your hand than mine. You have more Health and Stamina than I do, so you'll get more raw benefit from it, and while I would never turn down extra Health, I appear to be resistant to staying dead. You aren't. When I saw that Hive Guard open your belly like that, I fell to pieces. I don't know what I would do if you died, but it wouldn't be pretty."

Brighid cupped his cheek and bent down to kiss him. The moment stretched out until Ailis cleared her throat, and Brighid reluctantly broke the kiss. "Are you thinking the same as me about the staff?"

Aidan nodded at her, then turned to Ailis. "If you want it, the staff is yours. Brighid can't use it and fight at the same time, and I hardly have any spells to take advantage of it right now. If you already have something better, please pass it along to one of the other village mages who could make better use of it."

"Thank you, both of you. I believe I can put it to good use." Ailis inclined her head to them.

"Do you mind taking the breastplate back to the forge with you, love? I have another errand to run, and it won't fit in the backpack."

"Of course. Once you return from your errands, would you mind cleaning the house a bit, and maybe making some food if you have the time? I will be working until we leave for the meeting tonight." Aidan made a face at her, but Brighid wagged her finger at him and scolded, "Call it partial payment for your clothes if you want. Besides, did you not promise to show me some of the cooking from your homeland?"

Aidan sighed and replied, "Yes, dear."

Brighid smirked at him, hugged her mother, kissed her on the cheek, and then made her exit. "Not a word from you," Aidan told Ailis.

"I said nothing," she replied with a Mona Lisa smile.

"No, but you were thinking it loudly enough for me to hear," Aidan grumbled. He bowed slightly to Ailis and made his own exit.

Aidan's next stop was Siwan's shop. He was getting tired of wearing the same two outfits, and he also hoped to be able to present Brighid her gift before they left for Ceallach Macht. It did not take him long to find the unassuming wooden building, and when he poked his head through the doorway and knocked on the door frame, Siwan looked up from her work and gave him a sunny smile.

She gestured him inside, then gave him a quick hug before collecting a pile of clothing from a shelf. "Here, these are the clothes Brighid ordered for you, as well as the underclothes you requested. I am still working on winter clothes, but they will be ready before you need them. I also finished with your special request; wait just a moment while I fetch it." The friendly seamstress vanished into the back room of her shop, then returned a moment later, holding a small wooden box, which she handed to him and urged him to open.

Inside was a strip of dark green leather padded with a softer, lighter green cloth. The clasp at the back was plain steel, but the ring on the front was braided white, yellow, and rose gold. Aidan closed the box and tucked it into his backpack, along with his new clothes. "Thank you so much, Siwan. It's perfect."

"Oh, shush. It is business. Besides, Brighid is my friend." Then, however, she gave him a mischievous grin and produced a shirt that was decidedly not for him. It was a lacey garment, designed to hug every curve of its wearer's body, with a wide, plunging neckline that would be scandalous if the Starchasers had any sort of nudity taboo. Cut to Brighid's dimensions, it would leave all of her cleavage and most of her breasts on display, and it had built-in support that would only enhance the effect by acting like a push-up bra. Imagining her wearing it made Aidan uncomfortably aware of just how tight his own pants were. Siwan dangled it in front of him and said, "I see you like it. Send Brighid to me one night wearing that collar and with instructions to listen to my orders for a night, and I will send it home with her the next morning."

"Ah, yes, well," Aidan stammered, "I'll give it serious consideration." He made as graceful an exit as he could, then headed home. He waved to Brighid, then slipped inside and spent the better part of two hours sweeping, scrubbing, and dusting the house.

"Just what I always wanted," Aidan muttered to himself. He poked around in the barrels and crates of food to find something to fix for dinner. It wasn't exactly a supermarket, but he could make do.

Aidan
Mid-afternoon

"That was not what I expected when I asked you to cook, but I cannot argue with the results." Brighid smiled at him and took another bite of her griddled not-ham and cheese sandwich. "Thank you, love. Oh! Before I forget, I asked Roark to make you some new armor, and it should be ready. You should visit him."

"Sure, I guess I can head out that way. Once I get back, maybe I can help you some more in the forge?"

She gave Aidan a dazzling smile. "I would love that. Thank you for lunch, it was delicious. And the house is spotless, too!"

Aidan waggled a finger at Brighid. "Flattery is not gonna get me to take over all the household chores."

"Drat. You cannot blame me for trying, though." They shared a kiss and a cuddle, then Brighid went back to work, and Aidan headed the tannery.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination, and once there, he was immediately greeted by Roark. The old centaur gave him a firm handshake, then pulled him into a crushing hug. "I heard what you did, lad. I do not know if my words played a part in you sending Brighid back and going in alone, but it cannot have been easy on you. I do not want to know the details, but know that you have a friend in me."

"Now," he said, "come see what I made for you. I had a little more time to work this go around, so there will not be any hot-fitting needed." He led Aidan into his workshop, then began handing him pieces of armor. They were made of a dark grey, nearly black, leather with a rough, sharkskin-like surface.

"Roark, this is amazing! Thank you." Aidan said, scrutinizing the equipment.

The old centaur grinned and said, "Well, put it on, then!" It took a few minutes for Aidan to don the armor and secure everything, but once the final piece was in place, a new prompt bloomed in his head.

"I..." words failed Aidan. "Thank you, Roark. What is the price for all of this? I can't imagine you have bales of monster leather laying around the shop, and you made it quickly, to boot." He pulled a handful of gems out of his backpack and held them out. "I understand that money is not the preferred means of payment, but unless you need something burned to death, I don't have much else to offer you at the moment. I assure you, it has nothing to do with my opinion of your work."

"Oh, no worries about that, lad, I understand. Adventuring is as good a job as anything else, and I can always use something from the traders." He carefully inspected the gems, then plucked out a ruby no larger than a fingernail. "This should about cover it. More than the armor is worth on the face, but as you say, it was a rush job. Now then," he said, growing more serious, "I understand you are both going back to Ceallach Macht. You have already proven yourself, so I will not make the same request as last time, but please, both of you, be careful."

"We will. Neither of us wants anything to do with a repeat of last time." They shook hands again, then Aidan headed back home. He joined Brighid in the forge, and she began to teach him how to make chain mail. The process was both simple and quite tedious; she heated a thin metal rod, severed a length of it with a wedge, then hammered the ring into a circle using a thicker rod as a form. The next link in the chain is fed through the first before being shaped, and so on. Aidan picked it up quickly, and although his work was nowhere near as quick or high-quality as Brighid's, he managed to produce a fair-sized square of linked steel chain by the time the sun set. Brighid inspected it, nodding in approval, then placed it in a chest to be added to other scraps of mail to make a suit of armor with in the future.

Once everything was cooled down and stored away, Brighid led Aidan into the house and demonstrated what else she was willing to do to avoid chores.

Zurai

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