Nadin came back, just as he had promised, and gave them the run-down on the cities answering all the questions they had.

Just as Rolwen had suspected, he had a pretty strong bias against people who lived in the cities. He kept emphasising how they had no respect for the spirits and the fey, and that it had been the Hidan's duty to keep them from stepping out of line in regards to the forests.

Aside from that, they eventually managed to wriggle some information out of him on the culture of the cities. It seemed they worshiped a goddess named Thyrra, who acted as the central deity of their religeon. That was about all he knew about "the outsider gods," as he called them. She was a goddess of unity, which got Rolwen scoffing about something to do with communism. Nadin didn't seem to really understand what he said, but he picked up on the fact it was derisive and seemed to approve of his outlook.

It seemed there was quite a bit of willing ignorance on the subject going on, he had probably just picked up what he had to over his life of negotiating with whatever group the tribe encountered.

So, they switched gears and started asking questions about how those negotiations typically went, and what he had to keep in mind while dealing with them.

As they had heard, it seemed the current situation was regarded as unique among the dealings with outsiders. Typically, they were a rather patriarchal society, and Nadin was used to dealing with male representatives. He confessed it actually felt good to him being able to do what he’d done to that one guy who got in his face earlier, and being able to deal with a female representative for once.

For the most part, the main thing “outsiders” approached the Hidan for was to inform them they were about to move a large force of soldiers through the land, and informing them of their intended destination. Mainly this was to assure the Hidan the destination was not related to the fey. Otherwise, the combined force of several tribes would be coming down upon them.

The balance of power was that the Hidan possessed more military power on an individual basis than those who lived in the cities. However, those in the cities were more numerous. This made it a bad idea for a single Hidan tribe to become antagonistic toward any one city. However, if several tribes banded together, no human military force could oppose them.

The next most common thing for the Hidan to be approached for was for access to the medicinal plants in some elven forest. Elven forests were known for having the highest quality medicinal herbs. After witnessing the capabilities of the elves first hand, Eirlathion being an exemplar of what elven magic can do, Rolwen almost immediately reached the conclusion that this was because the elves engaged in some selective breeding of medicinal plants.

The Hidan would often turn these away, beings they view themselves as being no more worthy of entering the elven forests than some outsider, let alone being in a position to grant permission for entry. However, there are some times that they allow such a person to accompany them to their spirit communion if the request is earnest enough and it comes at a time where they were going to do so already.

There was a third type who approached the Hidan. Those attempting to engage in some form of business transaction, either attempting to forward some kind of trade for animal products or attempting to hire the tribe or tribe members for some form of mercenary work. Both were viewed as outright insults to the Hidan, and these offers were met with varying degrees of hostility. The hopeful merchant communities must have taken the hint from these exchanges, because this third group was by far the most rare.

Then, there are the interactions where the Hidan are the first to approach. These similarly consist of three primary types. Approaching to warn off people who might transgress on fey land, encountering lone travelers who they decide might be eligible for a little short-term hospitality, and situations like the one they are in currently.

The more often scenario actually is them capturing some bandits alive, and then selling them off as slaves to the nearest city. This scenario of returning some rescued hostages is not uncommon, but it is the less frequent version of how things go with bandit encounters. In this case, it was specifically because of all the hostages that the raiders had decided to kill the bandits to the last man. They simply didn’t want the logistical stresses of having to deal with both.

After hearing this much, Rolwen wound up thanking Nandin and sending him on his way.

“Well, that was information we didn’t have before, but it was rather sparse.” He said, and then got a knowing grin on his face. “So, how would you say we get some more information then?”

“Stop that.” Levin snapped at him.

“What?”

“Treating me like that.” He pouted. “I know what we should do, and I know how we should do it because I’ve been learning this stuff just like you have. So stop acting like you know everything and I know nothing and have to be taught like a little kid!”

“Wow, wow, wow! Ok, didn’t know I’d stepped on a nerve there.” Rolwen said in a fluster. “Alright, sure. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it like that. You’re right. So, we gotta get some more information before we decide on our next move. You got any ideas?”

“Yeah, I also know how we’re going to get into the city.” Levin said in a sulking boast.

“Oh? You do, huh? Well then, how we gonna do it?”

“While I was approaching Nandin, he was negotiating with Gwendir on their accommodations. He said they couldn’t come into the camp, but some of the younger boys would come out and teach them how to set up a bed and live out here.”

“Oh! I like this plan.” Rolwen said as soon as he’d heard that much.

“I didn’t even finish!” Levin protested.

“You don’t have to. I can tell exactly where this is going. We just work ourselves in with the other younger kids in the group. We could fit in pretty easy, try to pass as some kids that got caught with everyone else. Perhaps we’re orphans even, and getting taken care of with everyone else. No one even looks twice as we head into the city, and we have the opportunity to ask the ladies there all the questions we like. That sound about like what you were wanting to say?” Rolwen said with a large self-satisfied grin.

“Yeah.” Levin admitted with a growl and a groan.

“Alright. Well, we’d better tell Kiiria and Eirlathion. They’ll pass the word along when Nandin comes looking for us with his tail between his legs after Asa plays her game with them. He’ll be pretty pissed that we went off and just acted on our own before getting permission, but what can he do really?”

Levin was hesitant with this idea after he heard just how gung-ho Rolwen was about this. “Uhh… are we sure that’s a good idea?” He asked. “Should we really go without getting permission first? I don’t know if it’s a good idea to get them pissed at us.”

“If we don’t then I’m sure he’ll find a way to pressure us out of this, even with Asa getting one over him. Sometimes you gotta just move when you see the opportunity without asking about who is inconvenienced by it. We do this and establish our cover early, they’ll have trouble pulling us out and will only try to do so if Asa completely fails by some freak chain of events.

***

[Yes. I already had this discussion with her when she first proposed this training mission. You will notice that I still relayed it.] Rimir addressed the representative sent by the matriarch. This was clearly regarded as a serious matter as she had sent Biara, her own daughter who was in line to become her successor, to negotiate this issue. She had also brought along a small contingent, including representatives form other families and even Kiiria, Asaren’s mother.

As this was the first time the ritual had been practiced, he had taken it upon himself to enforce it’s conditions of no contact with those not involved. As such, he had decided to speak on Asaren’s behalf on the matter of their objections to this training mission. He was unsure if this ritual would prevent an interruption on important matters, but he decide that it would be sufficient for him to address this one as he had already heard all of Asaren’s arguments on the issue.

[I apologize, ancestor. I did not mean to offend against the judgement you made on this issue. However, it does not sit comfortably with those of the tribe to see those two enter the city so blatantly. There are many troubles this could raise, not the least of which is the safety of those boys. Could you tell us what it is that the young Asaren said to convince you?] Biara responded.

Despite being a grandmother, the woman did not appear to be especially frail from age. She had the appearance of a woman that one might call middle aged, with greying hair that had yet to go fully white. She still had the physical strength to stand up tall and had no need for anyone to assist her in getting around.

While it was true that the Hidan practiced a lot of physical improvement exercises and had a rather strong spiritual tradition, having most of the women practicing magecraft and most of the men practicing the path of the warrior, the age reducing benefits of this practice were only half the reason a woman with now adult grandchildren could be in such good shape. It was also common among the Hidan to begin having children rather young.

However, children born before a girl became a woman would be claimed by the mother of that girl. She would not get to claim any child until her ears had reached a sufficient length to resemble those of an elf, allowing her to exchange the stretching ear clasps for the supporting ear splints. Most girls could do this by the time they reached 16 cycles in age. As such, it would not be at all uncommon for a woman of merely 40 cycles to be a grandmother.

Rimir regarded the woman and the question she had asked as he briefly went back over the arguments Asaren had made. Truly, she had not needed to say much. She only responded to a few objections Rimir had brought up, and somehow he felt as though it made perfect sense that the boys should be going on this mission.

[The entire reason for this mission is to subject them to the exact same kind of controlled danger that the recent raid on those bandits does for the boys of the tribe.] Rimir stated. [They are being trained in a discipline that requires them to be exposed to dangers posed by other people in locations like the city. Going in the capacity of traveling with the refugees we rescued will see that the danger is naturally low.]

Biara frowned at this statement, as did several of the others who came along with her. They were all casting her uncertain glances. The situation had boiled down to one where the next move of everyone here would be determined by her lead.

[Yes, I see…] She said, and seemed uncomfortable about what she felt she should say next. [And, then what of the risk of causing trouble in the city?] She asked.

[Well, them causing trouble would be considered a failure in this training mission. Asaren would not have suggested this mission if she felt they were unready for it. This means she has confidence they can avoid causing trouble. And, it is specifically because they have such young appearing bodies that this is the best time for this mission. Any errors they might make will be mitigated by the fact they are children and thus will be dismissed.]

[I see… I hope that is correct.] Biara said. [If that is the case, then we shall inform the men not to get in the way of them. I apologize for attempting to trespass upon this ritual, and for inconveniencing you for having to warn us off.]

After saying this, she bowed and left with the rest of the representative contingent turning to follow her. All but one person left.

That one person was Kiiria, the mother of Asaren. Kiiria remaining behind was soon noticed by Fomire, the daughter of Biara who was assigned to accompany the elven woman so long as she traveled with the tribe.

Rimir looked at the woman and sighed.

[She said this ritual was very important to her, and a part of it is that she can have no contact with anyone who has not participated in the raid and has not taken blood.] He said. [I am afraid this does include you.]

The woman nodded and looked to the ground for a moment.

[She is feeling guilty again.] She said. [I… I cannot help the feeling, she only talks about what truly bothers her with the boys, and when she does she uses the language of the world she came from.]

Rimir gave a knowing nod to the woman as she showed worry for the child. [I understand it is difficult. But, she does not hate you, you know? I feel that she will be able to open up to you at some point.]

Kiiria nodded and held a hand to her chest. She rubbed a wooden bracelet she wore, gazing at it tenderly, and then finally turned to walk away.

Jemini

A note on the impending hiatus.

As I mentioned in an announcement before, I plan to put this series on hiatus once my patreon has the 3rd book finished. At that time, the public release will also go on hiatus 20 chapters short of the book's end, wherever that may be.

I'd previously given an estimate of this hiatus coming somewhere around chapter 100 in the public release, but it is looking like it will likely extend a bit farther than that. I can not say by exactly how much at this point, but I'm sure nobody will be complaining about getting a few more chapters.