Wandering Agent
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Chapter 115 Family Learning Time
🕑 Added 2022-04-10 01:33:44 +0000 UTCMom spent hours doting and having me tell her what all had happened, and then doting more. There were a few things I glossed over a bit, leaving out most of the details. The fact that I'd been present for so many attacks had been a particular sticking point with her where she'd pushed to get more information. I simply acted like I was a bit less involved. Saying that during the attack on the party I'd gone to hide before everything got sorted, or that during the attack in the copse our team had taken cover in a creek bed. I also left out how injured I'd been during a few of those outings, so as not to cause her any further stress. It all became, 'Yeah, and there was an attack, so we mostly tried to hide.' rather than the whole story.
She asked about friends and I told her all about Dras, and Kala, and Pinea, how I'd met each and what they were like. It occurred to me that I'd not heard about the last of those, and I made a note to ask dad about it. She insisted that she wanted to meet Dras as soon as possible, my guess was that she'd made the same assumption as dad had, which I'd have to correct whenever it came up.
Eventually I was shown to my new room, which had a huge window. Said window looked out towards Rooke's house. Dad had left mom and I to have our time but had returned now, and he watched me, smiling as I looked about.
"What do you think?" He asked, when I'd finished and looked out the window again.
"Um... do you know what happened to the man who lived across the road?"
"What? No, why?"
"He was one of my teachers and helped me a lot. I wondered if he was okay."
"Give me his name and I'll see what I can find," dad sighed, "About the room though?"
"Oh it's lovely! Kind of big though, not sure what I could put in it."
The room was in fact both massive and beautiful. It was easily as large as our house had been back in Orsken, and even more ridiculous than my room at the academy. I looked about to find the closets, multiple, and even a small washroom attached to the side. It was fairly empty except for furniture though. There was a bed and desk of course, along with a small table and a vanity over near the windows.
I assumed that the noble family that had previously owned this mansion had had daughters and the like at some point and that all the furniture was appropriated from their rooms. That was a bit odd. It felt like I was some kind of thief, moving into someone's home where I had no business being.
Dad ran off again, determined to get a lot of other things in order. Mom on the other hand stayed, and seeing me looking about joined me as I sat on the bed.
"It's a bit odd isn't it dear?" She asked as I ran my fingers over the carefully embroidered covers.
"Yeah, I feel like an intruder or something."
"I felt the same way when we first got to Lord Durin's estate. The rooms we were given there were lovely, more than anything I'd really ever expected to get in my life. Like someone else had let me into their home and I'd just taken over everything. I wasn't prepared for it at all, and I still don't really think I'm there."
"It's not just that it's opulent. It feels like we came in and killed these people, then took their stuff. I don't really know how to process that."
She wrapped her arms around me, holding me close. "That isn't completely different from what your father and John did. If it helps I'm told the man who owned this previously was rather cruel."
"It doesn't really."
"Hmm, well what would we do with it otherwise? The man who owned it died, and it doesn't seem that anyone else had a true claim to it. We could just let the place rot, but that seems silly."
"I guess. What is Lord Durin's home like?" I decided to change the subject, not really feeling comforted at all by her words.
"It's quite different. Not opulent in the same way that places in Lithere or his new capital are, but it is lovely. Perhaps he'll invite you to that estate for some function or other one day."
She eventually left me too acclimate, something I was very appreciative of. Unpacking didn't take all that long, as I still had little in the way of personal possessions and soon I was as settled in as I could be.
Our dinner that night was something else. The dining room was too big and we all wanted to be close and chat, so we ended up close together with huge amounts of table taking up space in the room. John joined us, since even though he was older he would be taking up several rooms here until he was either assigned somewhere else with the army or found his own place.
The food was also a bit odd. Because of dad's status, mom and uncle Barro, who was still living at Lord Durin's estate, were afforded some measure, and therefore mom had gained several servants to help out. These were hired from people of the former empire that had been willing to join up with Lord Durin, and the food the chef made was tilted slightly more towards more eastern flavors than we were used to. It wasn't too different, but some of the herbs that were used were weighted more strongly in one way or the other. A sage-like plant made far more appearances than I would have wanted while the rosemary that was endemic to most parts of the kingdom was almost totally absent.
As an aside most of the plants in this world were exactly the same as in my previous, barring magical plants and a few that might have been there, but I didn't know of them. Those we ate would be intimately familiar to most people of a western persuasion, with things like potatoes, beans, grain, and the like very common. Herbs were much beloved and used in most dishes, which was a bit odd coming from where I did, but they were refreshing. Those too were either exactly the same, or something very close which might have well been a different cultivar.
After dinner we retired to a sitting room where dad and John chatted while mom began to work on some light embroidery. I joined with a bit of sewing, one of my dresses had a small rip from something or other and it was easier to repair it now than later. My mother was horrified at the current state of my sewing skills. She watched me for only a few moments before she came over to check on my work.
"Alana, what is all of this supposed to be?"
"It's a rip, I'm fixing it."
"Poorly. Goodness, look at these." She took the piece from me and began undoing what I'd put in, which was a little frustrating, but I knew for a fact that she could do it better.
"Admittedly, but it still needs fixing."
"Why are you being so sloppy? The work on your dress is quite good." She took a brief look to confirm that the stitching on it was, extremely good.
"Well I didn't make my dress mother. I don't think I've made any of my clothes since Orsken."
That seemed to make her freeze in her tracks. "Have you not been keeping up with your handiwork at all?"
"Er... I spin a bit sometimes, and do a little embroidery here and there..."
"What will you do when your children are born? What will this Dras boy your dating think when he learns you can't even make a basic thing like children's clothing." This seemed to her the highest form of possible failure.
"I'm not dating Dras mother, he's just a friend."
"What?" Both mom and dad said at once.
"Now hold on Alana, you told me you were dating him." Dad said as he looked over.
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did. You said you gave one of those items to your long time friend and the other to the person you'd been..." I could almost see the gears turning, then clicking into place. "Kala..." There it was.
"Mmmhmm."
"Wait a moment. Alana are you..."
"Yup."
"How do you..." My brother, always helpful in his foolish words began.
"We don't, at all. I'm not really into girls like that, but we're still going out."
"Alana," my mother began as she rubbed her head. "You know this can't last, don't you? With your father now in the position he's in, you will have to get married at some point, and regardless of what you think of it, you cannot marry another woman."
"We both know that mother. Kala knows she'll have to do much the same. The Lovers are apparently pretty heavy in their encouragement of experiencing every kind of love, so this is more... romantic, but not, physical."
She looked like she was having a headache right then. "We'll discuss this later Alana."
"I'd really rather not."
"Well," dad looked over, seeming a bit off-kilter, "I may have to have another conversation with young Dras. I believe I may have taken a few years off of his life in our last one." He shrugged, "Good news is at least, I don't have to worry about you coming home pregnant or something like that."
"Oh dad, you wouldn't have had to anyway." If I was going to go in, I might as well hit all the shock at once.
"Why?" He narrowed his eyes as he looked back to me.
"Lover's Mark."
While they froze John looked at me, smiled, and said, "And here I thought I was the problem child. Well, I'll leave you three to it, I'm going far from this." He then made a hasty exit.
You would think that my relationship with another girl would be the big deal, but it wasn't quite on the same level. Both of my parents were up in arms about my acquisition of a Lover's Mark. Both wanted to know who I'd been with at my age that made me make that decision. I considered telling them that I had it for years, but that seemed like a worse idea than any other. I did let my mom have her breakdown for a few moments so she could get it all out before I could get a word in.
"You know that most of the girls who were at the academy have one right?"
"IS THAT SORT OF BEHAVIOR THAT RAMPANT AMONG THE NOBILITY!?" Mom had started yelling a bit ago, and didn't seem inclined to stop.
"Stop screaming a listen. When Lord Durin's armies started taking out cities everyone who wanted one was offered it. They didn't know, and nor did we that he would take such a violently oppositional view to... mishandling captured women and girls. So pretty much everyone who didn't already have one got one at that time."
Mom deflated and sat back down, breathing a sigh of relief. "So that's when you got it."
"No mother, I got mine some time before, for basically the same reasons. I didn't know if I'd have to flee again and thought it was a good preparation to make, just in case, and before you ask, no, it has never actually been relevant that I have it."
"Oh, well then, that was very smart of you dear." Mom was now trying to catch her breath. "If you ever have anything like that you need to tell me again I'll try not to yell."
Dad looked a bit contemplative, and saddened. "It's horrid that you had to think about things like that. I'm glad you took precautions, but... none of Lord Durin's men would do something like that, none that wanted to live for long." He sighed, "I'll admit that there were a few incidents, but every man found to have done that was either executed, or handed over to The Lovers for whatever justice they would enact. I even saw him beat a man to death personally after it was proven that he'd abused several girls in the camp."
"He killed the man himself?" That was a bit stunning.
"Yes, publicly, and it sent a powerful message. Afterwards he gave a speech to the men about how we were to observe the forms of proper war. Lord Durin may be a conqueror, but he's a civilized one."
"That is good to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me, it is getting late." Neither of them spoke, so I followed in my brother's footsteps.
A/N: Sooooo, looks like RR wants me to have 25k new words written in April by the 15th for their writathon. While I'm on the road to actually doing that, to have it on there I'd have to dump most/all of my Patreon chapters there. I am unwilling to do that, as I would view it as a bit of a betrayal to my Patrons. That said, I still plan to write like a fiend until May 5th to see if I can do it.
Comments
Sam Tailor
Why can't Alana marry a woman if she wanted? Are they implying she'll have to marry for political reasons? So: they are going to be very wealthy, very influential, and concerned with creating alliances through marriages.... That's a Noble class.
Deepal
This army is far more civilized than almost any modern army. That guy raped girls, that’s what he deserved. War is bad, best avoided. There hasn’t been a single war in history where civilians haven’t been murdered and/or raped. More civilized armies in modern era Durban’s would be Norway, Sweden. Horror shows would be North Korea and Russia.
Jim Kelly
Alana should have immediately replied that her father’s position would have no bearing on whomever or whenever she married
lenkite
"Lord Durin may be a conqueror, but he's a civilized one."" LOL after beating a man to death. in public. Might want to change that to "a principled one"
Joseph Gratian
I wasn't clear enough in my previous comment. I don't think Durin actually plans to remove the aristocracy, just the hereditary aristocracy. By giving himself the title "Lord" he is signaling to his army and later his subjects how he expects them think to of him. Like I said; he is positioning himself as the supreme autocrat of his new empire. He's also handing out the former nobles' estates to his top lieutenants. He isn't planning a society without any kind of aristocracy.
David Brims
It wouldn't have to be a democracy. But if he's getting rid of the nobility, he should be changing the terminology. Names and titles matter, there's a reason people change them throughout history when they change their political system. He could have "Leaders" and he himself be called "The People's Leader", or he could have Mayors or Councilors or Senators or Revered Citizens or Ministers or Chiefs or whatever, he can create whatever framework he wants, but if he's still a 'Lord' then there's still an aristocracy and he's still part of it, in the view of many people. And we know they have at least one other example of a framework, since they've got relations with the elves. Plus they almost certainly have to have historical frameworks that were different.
Joseph Gratian
I don't think their society really has any other framework to think about their leaders yet. It also seems like Durin is abolishing the concept of hereditary nobility, not creating a democracy. Didn't Alana's dad say that talented people will have power in the new order regardless of birth? Durin certainly seems to be positioning himself as supreme autocrat.
Osiris
They could make unclaimed estates public housing/service units like orphanages, baths, rentable rooms, libraries, administration offices, tourist information etc.
Kapelteta
Abolishing means it isn't abolished yet. Admittedly, him not leading by example isn't a great sign. Do we know if Durin was a member of the aristocracy before he did the whole revolution thing? Them calling him lord might just be a holdover.
David Brims
Random question: why is it 'Lord' Durin? Isn't he abolishing the nobility? Shouldn't he have chosen a different title in that case?
Eofad
With Alana’s magical talent, unless her parents marry her off to an absolute jerk, I don’t think her lack of sewing skills is going to be an issue.
SpaceGoddess76
Chapter Notes: I’m not sure how Alana could bring it up but with all her knowledge of Earth society & politics I feel like she could recommend several things they could introduce. Even someone who just lives in society has knowledge on basic things and any further details would need to be reworked for a new society anyway. I feel like she could recommend a more democratic government. Perhaps a Constitutional Monarchy which would allow for a parliament/senate and still allow the King to have some control over the government. Or have a Meritocracy that way people actually earn their Noble titles and they don’t pass them down to their children, with the only way said children gain a title is through Merit. Also I feel like the Lord Durin needs to make a new Capital near/on the border of the 2 kingdoms borders. It’ll help show that they are now 1 kingdom rather than 1 kingdom that conquered another. Could even have Governors that preside over the 2 former kingdoms from the capitals of the former kingdoms and make each of them a Province/State. Could also help prep things if they intend to conquer other kingdoms.
Wandering Agent
To get your name on the list you have to be at 25k by the 15th, because they only want serious people on that list. I'll put up another poll since I got so many comments.
Riprexe
I support this statement, more story is good, but take the exposure and as much of the prize as you can. While we do have advance chapter, you do not promise a fix amount of them, so even if it diminishes as long as we have some you are keeping your end of the bargain.
SpaceGoddess76
Writeathon Note: I know there is a slight benefit to reaching the first threshold before the 1 due date but to actually complete the Writeathon the only thing you need is to reach the total amount by the very end. So you could hold off until May to post the chapters, then write more than usual for the rest of may to make it up for us on Patreon. Or you could not charge for the month of May. Or who cares?
adam1
Go ahead and dump some chapters if needed to finish the Writeathon, if you want to. It doesn't bother me that Patreon will fall behind, since you're still releasing a lot of content.
SleepingNight
Good luck with the writathon, and don't waste yourself out I've seen what happened to other writers when they did so, physically and mentally.
just_a_potato
Agreed, more support for the author is a good thing all around. I won't complain.
Kedar
I completely agree with this comment. Evan as a patreon supporter I think it is worth it to participate in the RR events fully, even if that means no ahaed chapters for a bit.
Lictor Magnus
I’d be fine with Royal Road catching up a bit. I know how important any level of exposure can be once you’re out of rising stars. You don’t have a set number of chapters you’ve promised to be ahead and I know you’ll widen the gap again within the next month or two. Put up another poll if you want to see how everyone else feels about it.
Kaeson
Thanks for the chapter
