"Must you leave so soon?" Vera asked with concern. "It's only been a day. Why don't you visit for a while longer? A few days, at least."
"We have to g—go help Bridget's p—parents," Thea explained again. "I p—promise we will be b—back soon."
"Hopefully to retrieve me, if for no other reason," Tegwyn joked.
It was approaching noon and Fortune's Favored was nearly ready to depart Cold Brook. While they had originally planned to stay a few days, that plan had changed due to the countess' interference. Jadis would have preferred to give her quiet lover more time with her mother, but they had to prioritize. Dealing with whatever legal trouble was being used as a weapon against Bridget's family took precedence over social visits.
Thea had spent much of the morning in close conversation with her mother. Jadis had given the two space, sensing that the talk they were having was something private between mother and daughter. While Jadis was certain that a variety of topics had been covered in the hours after breakfast that the two women had spent in deep discussion, Tegwyn had no doubt been one of those topics.
Having talked over the idea with her lovers, Jadis had decided that leaving Tegwyn to stay in Cold Brook while they moved on to Bridget's hometown was the best course. They didn't necessarily need him for the countess situation, and he was uniquely suited to speaking with Meli. It was looking pretty unlikely that the two Dryads would be starting a family together, but that didn't mean they couldn't communicate reasonably with each other. Teg would remain behind to smooth out the rough patches that had been created by Meli's misunderstanding while also ensuring no further incidents occurred. While the wild Dryad had not shown up that morning, Jadis couldn't help but feel that she was being watched every time she glanced at the distant woods. That feeling alone was enough of a reason for her to want to leave Tegwyn to watch over Vera and the village.
Of course, Tegwyn had another reason for wanting to stay behind, which was probably why Thea was shooting suspicious looks his way.
"We'll definitely be back to pick up our resident nature boy," Syd said from where she stood a few feet away. "He's still a member of Fortune's Favored."
"And we expect him to conduct himself as one would expect a member of our company would do while we are away," Aila said from Syd's side. "Or else he had best hope we don't return for him."
"You know, considering our company, I'm not sure that's such a great model to follow--"
"Shut up, Syd."
"Shutting up."
Vera embraced Thea, holding her daughter close against her for a long moment before letting her go.
"Come right back, understood? We have a lot more to talk about."
"Yes, mother," Thea nodded with a small smile on her lips.
Then, breaking away from Thea, Vera walked over to Syd. Smiling warmly up at her, she wrapped her arms around the giant as best she could. A fond feeling bubbled up inside of Jadis at the contact, the woman’s easy kindness reminding her of her own mother.
"Thank you for always protecting my Thea," she said with emotion coloring her tone. "You don't know how much it means to a mother to know that her child is with someone who can protect her."
"I think I'm starting to understand," Jadis thought of her own babies growing within her lovers. "Besides, Thea protects me as much as I protect her. She's an amazing woman."
“And you are an amazing… Nephilim,” Vera said, somewhat hesitating at what to call Jadis.
“Woman is fine,” Syd chuckled.
“An amazing woman,” Vera repeated. “And speaking of, so are you.”
Much to Aila’s apparent surprise, Vera pulled her into a warm hug as well. Aila obviously hadn’t been expecting to be embraced, so she fumbled a bit before gingerly reciprocating the hug.
“I know well enough who holds things together in a group,” Vera said quietly. “I can’t say that I ever pictured my sweet daughter involved in this kind of arrangement, but since she is, I’m glad someone like you is involved.”
Aila blushed faintly at the compliment before clearing her throat.
“I… do my best to make sure we all get along. I think we all do that, which is why we work.”
“Good,” Vera nodded before letting Aila go and taking a few steps back. “Now, you had all best be off in your… airship. I expect to see you all safely back here soon.”
With that commandment pronounced over them, Jadis, Aila, and Thea all said their goodbyes and headed for the airship.
“I’m sorry we aren’t spending more time with her,” Syd told Thea as she helped the brunette into the wagon. “Your mother seems like a really sweet lady. I feel bad I didn’t get to spend much time with her, honestly.”
“You w—will have to spend t—time with her later,” Thea said with a soft smile. “She likes you. A lot.”
“Oh yeah?”
“She’s n—normally a lot more, ah, q—quiet. She only t—talks this much around p—people she feels comfortable around.”
“Then I guess she feels pretty comfortable around Tegwyn, too, huh?” Syd grinned slyly at her lover.
Thea frowned, her expression growing cross as she looked back across the field at the two figures standing by the farmhouse.
“I m—might need help k—killing him…”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got your back if something happens,” Kerr clapped Thea’s shoulder as everyone settled inside the wagon. “I’ll pull his twig and berries right off if he fucks with Vera’s heart. She’s too sweet to play around with.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Sabina asked as she poked her head up from the corner where she was working on that strange metal contraption she had been tinkering with for days. “Did Tegwyn do something wrong? He’s a very good and loyal person though, so I can’t imagine Teg would purposefully hurt someone, unless of course they were someone attacking us since he’s very brave, so I guess that means I can imagine him hurting someone, but only bad people! I don’t think he’d do anything mean to anyone otherwise, he’s very sweet. I hope he works things out with that Dryad while we’re gone, she doesn’t seem like a bad person, just kind of rigid. Oh! That’s a pun, because she’s made out of wood. Oh, oh! Twig and berries! You mean Tegwyn’s dick and balls, didn’t you? Since Thea is the one upset… do you think Tegwyn is going to do something untoward with her mother? Was Tegwyn actually flirting with Vera?”
“Good job, Sabby,” Sorcha said as she took a seat near the smith. “I knew you’d get there eventually.”
This time, instead of Sabina taking up the right seat of the cockpit, Bridget had been moved to the front. Her hometown of Brightstone wasn’t actually all that far from Cold Brook, relatively speaking. Cold Brook was off the beaten trail, but it was still well within the massive borders of the established empire. It would have taken ten or twelve days of travel for one of the regular wagon caravans to make the trip between the two places, but by airship it would take a few hours at most. Jadis was fairly certain that with her speed, she could have just run the distance from Cold Brook to Brightstone in a few hours if she had been alone, but only if she didn’t have to pull a wagon behind her.
In any case, since it was Bridget’s home they were heading to, Bridget had been moved to the front seat. A reasonable excuse that had easily placated Sabina who was happy enough to continue working on her surprise side project. While neither Aila or Severina said anything out loud, both seemed relieved to not have the excitable smith crawling all over them and the airship controls, asking non-stop questions.
The villagers of Cold Brook gathered to see the Behemoth take off, all of them cheering and waving in excitement as the airship lifted off the ground and took to the blue skies. The sliding panels on the wagon had been opened and everyone in the back waved down at them as they left, except for Dys who was once again stuck under the fold-out platform.
“Hey, is that Meli right there?” Syd asked as she pointed at a tall tree in the woods to the south of the village.
“Yes, it is,” Thea confirmed a moment later.
As they circled the village and passed the tree, Syd waved to the Dryad, not expecting much of a response. Surprisingly, Meli waved a cautious hand back at them.
Then, the hand wave turned into a rude gesture.
“What the—Kerr? Really?”
“What?” Kerr grinned as she tossed several more varieties of non-verbal expletives at the Dryad. “She deserves it for attacking Alex!”
“You are such a child…”
The trip to Brightstone was simultaneously thrilling and uneventful. Uneventful, since nothing went wrong and conversation between her companions stayed light and upbeat for the most part yet still thrilling since they were flying. Jadis hadn’t quite gotten used to that idea yet. She wasn’t sure if she ever would, honestly. Soaring hundreds of feet over the trees was a glorious experience. The fact that Severina was able to just fly like they were in the airship whenever she wanted was actually making Jadis feel a little envious of the winged woman. Flight truly was something special.
The landscape that passed below them stayed much the same as it had during the trip from the capital to Cold Brook. There were forests and farmlands aplenty, all dotted with villages and small towns ringed by their solid stone walls. Occasionally they passed by what looked like towers or fortresses, but none of the settlements they passed were particularly large. Most were smaller than Far Felsen, in fact, so nothing compared to true cities like Glitnir or Eldingholt. At least, not until they passed near a large city that was situated on the top of a high hill surrounded by a sea of carefully cultivated orchards.
“That’s Hamarrholt,” Severina said as she pointed at the city. “One of the oldest cities in the empire.”
“It’s so weird to see it from up high like this…” Bridget said as she leaned forward slightly to get a better look. “It’s so pretty…”
“Have you been there often?” Jay asked as she also leaned forward to see the city better as they passed by.
“A few times, yes,” Bridget nodded. “We’re not that far from Brightstone now. Duchess Alfrigg’s territory borders Duke Messer’s lands. Duke Poirot is on the other side.”
Duke Messer was the man that Count Holtz reported to, who was in turn the man in charge of the territory Bridget’s family lived in. Jadis felt like she had a lot to say to the two nobles, what with how they were apparently letting Countess Voclain get away with harassing Clan Warsong. She did her best not to get too worked up at the thought, though. Bridget was mad enough for all of them; Jadis didn’t want to lose perspective. After all, they didn’t know all the details yet. There could be complicated reasons behind Holtz not stepping up the way he should that they just weren’t aware of yet.
“Follow that road,” Bridget said some minutes later. “That big one with the wagon train heading south. That’s the way to Brightstone.”
Following the stone paved road to the northeast, it didn’t take long before Bridget’s hometown was visible in the distance.
Nestled in the side of a small hill that had many large, white boulders dotting it, the town was definitely bigger than Cold Brook. Brightstone was a proper town, likely with somewhere around ten thousand people living in it. Jadis could see that the settlement had tall, strong walls with big gates on either side of the town that allowed the busy road to go right through it. The main thoroughfare of Brightstone was lined with inns and businesses, and it was clear that a good number of people were going about their busy day in the streets. Jay could even see a trading caravan parked in an open area inside of the walls that had clearly been set up with large wagons in mind.
“Brightstone, huh?” Jay said as she watched the town grow bigger in the window. “Looks like a nice place.”
“It is, mostly,” Bridget said as she pensively chewed on her lower lip. “Maybe a bit rowdy in the taverns when caravans stay the night, but it’s a peaceful place most of the time.”
“Where’s your home?” Jay asked. “Can you see it from here?”
“Right there,” the orc pointed a green finger towards the eastern side of the town. “That farm on the far side. My clan farms all of the lands from the east side there, all the way to the stream five miles further east.”
“Really?” Aila said with a look of surprise. “That’s a large territory. There must be a lot of people in your clan.”
“Not as many as you might think,” Bridget shrugged. “It’s my Ma and Da, with all us kids. Then there’s Da’s two brothers and his sister and their families, plus my Grand Da and a few cousins who haven’t married. Maybe twenty, twenty-five of us, at most.”
“You don’t know for sure how many?” Jay raised an eyebrow at her warrior woman.
“Well, no, not really,” Bridget frowned. “I have a bunch of cousins and some of them have left to join mercenary companies or the army like me and my sister, while others are too young like my brother. Plus, you never know when someone has come back married or has gotten themselves knocked up. Numbers kind of flex sometimes.”
“Come back married? Kind of like you?”
“Shut it, wanker,” Bridget clicked her tongue at Jay’s joke. “Ma and Da know about you, but I don’t know how much Grand Da knows. He can be… difficult.”
“Well, I look forward to meeting him even if he is a pain in the ass,” Jay smiled. “Can’t be worse than Kerr.”
“We’ll see…” Bridget said ominously.
“Well, before we worry about grandfathers, let’s just focus on landing, first,” Aila said as she adjusted the controls to start their descent. “And let’s hope those soldiers I see massing at the gates don’t start shooting at us.”
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