Chapter 94: Patience

"Sorry for the wait." I mutter to Aren. He offers me a weak smile at this but I know he just wants to get this all over with. 

By the time I'd returned from Maylin's place underground he'd been waiting at the gates for over an hour. The security around this part of the first strata is tight. They won't let just anyone in.

Fortunately, I'd been considerate enough to get him a snack as compensation for the wait, although it was very tempting to stuff my face with it instead.

I let the guards at the gate know he's one of my guests and should be allowed in whenever he comes by, perhaps I Should have done this earlier but that's all hindsight.

By the time we're in the house Aren has eaten his grumpiness away, nomming down on what's left of the meat stick I brought him.

A quick summoning and Anselm is present and accounted for, so is his judgemental glare.

"I'm sorry okay? My talk with Maylin lasted a bit longer than expected."

He harrumphs, arms folded as he waves through the air to get Aren some more food, it's rather obvious he wants some- Truth is…I ate a lot of the sticks meant for him, I just gave him the leftovers.

It's hard. This hunger.

"Where is Kaylin anyway? I thought you'd be coming back with her when you went over to Maylin's place." Anselm hums in the kitchen, soon I can hear the sound of oil sparking over heat.

And I'm hungry.

"Merlara said she'll tell her I came to get her; she wasn't there when I went. Apparently, she went to see some old friend." I shrug.

I look to Aren now and smile, "Sorry about the wait again, Aren, Anselm is cooking something up for you, his cooking is great, I guarantee you'll enjoy it."

He sighs tiredly, "It's fine, I'm sure you had a good reason. Anyway, what now? I've met the Elven North and they're ready to work with you, they didn't even mind that I'm human."

Humming and rubbing my chin at this I cross my legs and respond, "No, they do mind, it's more that they don't have any other choice but to wait it out and see if we're what we say we are."

"Oh yeah!" Anselm yells from the kitchen, "They were planning an attack on the lodge, it seemed…unwise so I had Aren stop them." 

"Stop them?" I repeat, frankly amazed that he could work off script so well and under pressure, "Well, that's great, I need them to abandon their plans and take mine up anyway."

"The Matron, Asher." Anselm drones, the thick drip of disappointment soaks his words.

"I'm sure Audwin could handle them if they did attack."

"Audwin is a D-rank, I could beat him."

"You can beat anyone with time, you're immortal, it doesn't count."

Anselm huffs and Aren lets out an awkward chuckle.

He looks nervous all of a sudden, I suppose he's realized we're still…in a different world than he is. You wouldn't see an immortal soul frying chicken in an average home's kitchen.

"The Elven North will take orders from you Aren, and you'll take orders from Kaylin, I don't think you've met her, but she'll be here soon or tomorrow. Doesn't matter, what matters is you enforce her orders on the North."

"What about my…funds?"

"She'll handle that too. Anselm and I have some place to be."

He rubs his thumbs together, his palms undoubtedly sweaty, "How long do I have to do this?"

At this, I frown, "Has your brief encounter with the Elven North ridden you of your greed? You're being paid, sufficiently aren't you?"

He swallows, "That's not…I mean…it's just a bit…everything is."

"You're afraid." I spit out the words for him. "You're afraid of the Elves. You realize I'm far more powerful than anyone you met in there."

"You should be afraid of me, too afraid to say something like this."

"I didn't sa-"

"But you meant it, you showed your fear…for the elves. Why are you afraid og them and not me? Is it because I'm considerate? Because I got you some snacks and apologized for keeping you waiting? Is it because I'm explaining things and not simply breaking your legs?" 

"Asher!"

"What!" I whip my head towards Anselm and glare. He stares at me pointedly, gripping the tray in his hands…and then I realize. "Right, sorry."

I look to Aren and offer a smile, "I'm sorry…I'm just…really hungry."

Anselm nods at me, slightly satisfied with my control this time, "I'll fill Aren in on the rest. You should go to bed; with any luck we'll be leaving for Frozia tomorrow."

"Right…Frozia." Getting off the couch I head to the room and trust Anselm to handle Aren.

The hunger…it's evolving into something else. It' turning me into something else. Ever since it marked two weeks, I've quickly gotten short tempered and paranoid. It's contained for the most part and within a few minutes of rambling and yelling I slowly come back to my senses on my own.

Anselm obviously helps when it goes off the rail like this but I can see he's afraid of me. Despite our reconciliation at Carbina, the fact that I can control him at any moment is reasonable disturbing to him.

I haven't gone exploring this power with other spirits either but, I can't say it isn't tempting to see how far I can push it. What more I could do with it than just summon spirits to the physical.

With a sigh I fall into bed and trust that everything will be in place by the time I wake…that is…if I can sleep at all.

***

Waking up I feel a presence in the room with me, sitting on at the end of the bed. Looking down with sleep in my eyes it's hard to get a clear view but I'm sure, it's Kaylin.

"You're up." She mutters. 

Breathing deeply, I sit up and resist the urge to scrub my eyes. "You're back, thought you'd be a while."

"I just got here. Mother told me all about your talk…"

My talk with Kaylin's Mother…Maylin…what did we talk about again? Oh. Right.

"She told me you won't leave my side, that's reassuring."

"I didn't say it like that. I just…" the awkward tinge that pervades the air is clear. "All I said was that I think you're doing the right thing; she just doesn't want it blowing up in my face like last time."

"There's been a last time?"

She rubs her arm and shrugs, "Yeah, she thinks you're like my ex-boyfriend and his extreme ways."

"I may a bit more extreme than anything you've seen, and she knows that, what I;m  doing is a lot more than just throwing stones at flatfoots and robbing rich nobles."

"You sound like you don't want me to come, you don't want me here for it."

"I do. In fact, I'm relieved you're not leaving us. I'm just saying, there's merit to what your mother has said."

At this she scoffs, "That you're going to get me killed?"

"I'm likely going to get myself killed if any of this goes awry."

Now that my eyes are clear of the sandman, it's easy to see the downturn in her mood, that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"But you said-"

"I know and that's the reward, this is the risk. A lot of people will be furious to learn that a human Necromancer is helping elves start up a revolution. No one likes their stuff taken from them, not even thieves."

She chuckles at this, "Fine, I get it. Know the risks. You sound just like mother."

That's disturbing.

She sighs and gets off the bed. "You two should probably get going." She says, looking about the room for what I'm assuming is Anselm, "I read the note, I got the ring and I know where the chest is. I'll wait for your orders."

With a nod I summon up Anselm and pause, then glare at him, "Do you watch me sleep?"

He blinks, "Uhh, well…sometimes I've got to stick around for that ball of mana no?"

"Hahah!" Kaylin guffaws.

"I just never thought of it like that…I mean…I never thought of it."

With an awkward, embarrassed look on his face he says, "I'll go get breakfast done, I packed the carriage for the journey already, you should probably wash up, it's a long one."

With that, he and Kaylin leave the room. I seem to have no privacy whatsoever. Anselm watching me sleep, Kaylin walking into my room while I'm sleeping and sitting at the end of the bed.

Such poor etiquette.

Getting a bucket and a pail, I switch on the artificer worked and enchanted tap and let water pour into the bucket. They haven't figured out how to make it a choice between cold and hot water so it's always cold water for now.

They also haven't figured out how to work showers so the bucket and pail is necessary for a bath. But I'm not complaining, it's good to have the convenience rather than not.

And I'll be enjoying it for the last time in likely two weeks. Travel to Frozia is a tough journey, fortunately there's a village we can stop by at and restock if needed.

But with the rain these days, the road will be muddy, not the best for road travel or camping. But we'll make it work, one way or another.

Frozia is where my hunger stops. Three Gamma warriors waiting to be beaten…that is if they don't turn into a Beta.