Champion, Chapter 27: A Mother’s Pride

SunnildThe RealmsFourthday, 3rd week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1Mid-AfternoonThe Labyrinth, First Stratum: Viridescent Treetops

Ten streaks of light passed over Sunnild's head, covering the distance to the plant monster in a heartbeat. Even faster, though, was the creature's reaction. Thin tendrils lashed out, intercepting and detonating many of the sparks before they reached their target. Despite its best efforts, however, two tiny fireballs survived to explode inside its center mass. The monster heaved up and reached out with thicker vines, pulling itself forward with surprising speed.

"Why does it always have to be vines?" complained Llwyd as he braced himself for the creature's charge.

"How is a plant so fast?" Aidan muttered from behind her. Before anyone could respond, the monster was upon them. It crashed into Cai and Llwyd, halting its advance, but sent a swarm of vegetal tentacles towards Aidan and Ailis. Sunnild stepped forward, stomping down on the mixture of thrill and terror welling up inside her. She would show Aidan that he was right to believe in her.

She let herself sink into the battle-trance her Mum taught her. Instead of focusing on any single aspect of the fight, she allowed her senses to register the whole battlefield. This approach had its drawbacks, but for someone who fought to defend others, it was ideal. As soon as Sunnild noticed a vine snaking towards one of her charges, she flicked a wing in its direction. The creature was unarmored, and its appendages offered no resistance to her starmetal feathers. Within seconds of the battle's start, the branch pathway around Sunnild accumulated a thick layer of severed vegetation.

Still, the Ravenous Rafflesia, as her combat log named it, seemed to have an endless supply of tendrils to attack with. They came in pairs, trios, and more, relentlessly seeking to punish the human launching fiery magic into its core. Sunnild felt the heat as streams of flames passed close to her, but she was as aware of them as she was the Rafflesia. She twisted, ducked, and spun from point to point, her wings flashing in the sunlight as she denied the plant its prey. A vine looped around her ankle but fell limp before it could pull her off-balance. Another tried to snare one of her wings, but that was even easier to prevent.

Then there were no more attacks. Sunnild stumbled to a halt, let her senses narrow back down to a singular focus, and looked around. The Rafflesia was a smoldering, smoking corpse, its body stripped bare of the mass of vines that once gave it bulk, and the petals from its bright red flower lay scattered across the path. She looked behind her just in time to cancel the magic on her wings before Aidan swept her into a tight hug.

"You were magnificent!" he exclaimed. "It was like being back in the Taig's presence, except this time it couldn't touch us. Not one of those vines got past you!"

Sunnild felt her cheeks burning at his praise. She ducked her head, breaking eye contact, but Aidan would have none of it. He spun her around and put a finger under her chin, exerting gentle pressure until she looked up again. His ruby eyes bored into her, transfixing her while he spoke in a lower tone of voice for her ears only.

"If anyone ever calls you a coward in my presence, I will have words with them. That includes you, my little dove." Sunnild felt a shiver run up her spine as the emotions contained in his words lit a fire in her belly. Aidan continued, not giving her a chance to respond. "I already knew you were brave, but now I know without a shadow of a doubt. There was no hesitation in anything you did."

Then he grinned at her and whispered in her ear, "Also, that armored skirt of yours lifts up when you spin around. I almost miscast one of my spells when I noticed how little you're wearing underneath."

The heat in Sunnild's cheeks turned into an inferno. "But—what—I'm not—" she babbled, unable to form a response. What did he see?! I'm wearing greaves and padded armor! Aidan's lips pressed against hers then, and she surrendered without a fight, leaning into his embrace and parting her lips before his assault.

Awareness flooded back into her a moment later, and she stiffened in Aidan's arms. Sunnild pushed on his chest, breaking contact between them so she could look around her. Everyone was watching her! Llwyd passed Cai a handful of gems—did they bet on her?!—and Ailis had a thoughtful expression as she looked at Sunnild and Aidan.

Sunnild squirmed, trying to break free of Aidan's embrace so that she could find somewhere to hide, but his arms tightened around her. "Ignore them," he told her. "They're friends and allies; they'll still tease you, but it'll be friendly instead of hurtful. I was teasing, in fact; you weren't exposing yourself. I just wanted to see how much I could make you blush."

Sunnild opened her mouth to protest, then closed it with a snap. She smacked a hand against his shoulder, then snaked it behind his neck and pulled him into a kiss. This time it was her tongue pressing against his lips demanding entrance.

When they pulled apart to catch their breath, Sunnild murmured, "Be a good boy, an' I might show ya what it looks like when I do that in parade armor." She stretched her neck, nibbling on Aidan's earlobe, then breathed out, "The parade skirt's panels are weighted at the tips, an' we don't wear all the real armor underneath. The men seem ta like it that way fer some reason..."

Aidan growled, sending another primal shiver up her spine, and his hands tightened around her waist. Before he could do anything else, though, Ailis cut in. "If you two lovebirds are quite done, we should butcher the corpse and keep exploring."

"We are doomed," groaned Cai, "the puns are spreading!"

SunnildEarly EveningCaer Macht, Mistvale Highlands

As she emerged from the portal back into Caer Macht, Sunnild dismissed the various Skill and experience notifications that accumulated over the last few hours. There were only two that she cared about.

"I did it!" Sunnild leaped at Aidan, wrapping her arms, legs, and wings around him. "I got a Class! Thank you, thank you!"

Aidan staggered back a step under her onslaught. He laughed, arms wrapping around her and hands holding her up. "I'm glad you're happy. Is it a good Class for you?"

Sunnild hummed at the feel of her lover's hands gripping her bum under her skirt. "Mm! I don't know what else I might've gotten, but this seems perfect!" She bit her lip, then slid her hands down Aidan's back and murmured, "Will ya spend tonight with me? You've done so much fer me, an' I love ya so much. I wanna get to know you better. I'll understand if ya go back an' sleep with Brighid after—"

Aidan silenced her with a kiss. "I'd love to spend tonight with you, Sunnild, and I do mean the whole night. Brighid and I have talked about this; she'll be fine for one night, just like I was fine when she spent the night with you. I want to get to know you better as well."

Sunnild felt Aidan's grip on her slipping and reluctantly unwrapped her legs from around his waist. She smiled when he continued to hold her bum even after her feet returned to the ground and rewarded him with a kiss. Then she withdrew her wings and ducked under his arm, snuggling into his side. At this moment, everything was perfect. Sunnild knew that there were hard times ahead, full of risk and danger for herself and the ones she loved, but those were concerns for future Sunnild.

AidanNightSunnild's Quarters, Caer Macht

Sunnild's quarters were pretty spartan. Aside from what was built into the room, the only furniture was a big pile of cushions in one corner. Sunnild had her back to him as he entered, cooking something on the fireplace. She spun around when she heard the door close behind him, beaming at him.

"Hi!" she chirped. "I'm almost done with dinner. It's not much; I'm not a very good cook, but my Mum taught me how to make this. It's pretty easy."

"I'm sure it'll be delicious," Aidan assured her, "but should you be cooking naked at a fireplace?"

"I'm not naked! I'm wearing an apron!" Sunnild stuck her tongue out at him. "Besides, I told ya before, I don't wear clothes in my nest!"

Aidan chuckled and made his way over to her. She extended a wing to pull him closer, rising up on her toes to press her lips to his in a tender kiss. There was no heat to it, just the gentle passion of a lover's greeting. A moment later, she released him and turned back to the fire. "Go on an' make yerself comfortable, love."

Aidan settled onto the cushions. They were well-made: soft, but firm and supportive. A thought struck him, prompting a smirk, and he started unlacing his clothing.

Sunnild took the lidded cauldron off the fire and brought it over to the countertop. Aidan's eyes were drawn inevitably to her bare behind as she walked away from him. She ladled out the contents into a pair of bowls, then turned around to bring them to the nest. Her eyes went wide, and she squeaked in surprise, blushing crimson at the sight of Aidan lounging naked on the cushions.

"I didn't mean that, but I'm not complainin'!" she made her way over and sank down beside Aidan, extending a bowl and a spoon to him. "It's bread pudding. Nothing fancy, but it'll fill you up."

Aidan took the bowl from her and blew over it to cool it down. He took a tentative bite and found it still a little too hot, but rich and flavorful. "Hot! But good."

Sunnild giggled. "Well, yeah, yer not supposed to eat it right off the fire, silly! Let it cool down a minute first." She leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed with a laugh. "You said your mother taught you this recipe?"

"Mm-hm! She was a way better cook than I am. We never had any fancy ingredients, but she could make old bread and milk into something great like this."

"What else did she teach you? What was she like?" Aidan took another bite of the bread pudding. It was a savory version with sausage and cheese mixed in. It was a little lumpy and not perfectly mixed, but tasty all the same.

Sunnild hummed a little to herself. "Well, she's why I don't like fighting. She said that violence is the worst solution to a problem, that there's always another way. I think she changed her mind on that later on, but only a little and only fer things like yer Taig."

Aidan nodded. "But she was a warrior, right? I mean, from what you've said about how the Sisterhood works, all the harpies fight while the men do the farming and such, right?"

"Mm," Sunnild reply was soft. "She didn't like it, but she did missions so she could keep me."

Aidan blinked. "What do you mean, keep you?"

"The Sisterhood won't let anyone starve, but a Sister who can't—or won't—work enough to provide for their children has the children taken away from them. Mum didn't want that to happen to me, so she did just enough to keep us fed and clothed. I hated it because it made her so sad, but I knew she was doing it for me, so I never said anything."

Aidan set his bowl down on the floor and pulled Sunnild into a hug. She snuggled into his arms as if by reflex. "I'm sure your mother loved you very much. What else did she teach you? Did she have any hobbies?"

That brought a smile to Sunnild's face. "Mm! She taught me ta sing! She said she was a singer back before she had me. I'm not sure what she meant, but her voice was so beautiful, an' she knew so many songs! Oh! Would ya like me to sing one for ya while we wait fer the food ta cool off?"

"Sure," Aidan said with a smile.

Sunnild shifted around until she was perched on Aidan's lap, then leaned back against him and began to sing.

“Come on, my love, hu il oro,Keep your promise to me, o hi ibh o;Take greetings from me, hu il oro,Over to Harris, boch orainn o.

Take greetings from meOver to Harris –To John Campbell,My brown-haired sweetheart;

To John Campbell,My brown-haired sweetheart –Hunter of goose,Seal and swan;

Hunter of goose,Seal and swan;Of leaping trout,Of bellowing deer.

Wet is the nightTonight, and cold,If the MacNeillsHave to put to sea;

If the MacNeillsHave put to sea –Men of high sailsAnd swift of ships;

Men of high sailsAnd swift ships,And of bannersBlue and green;

And of bannersBlue and green –No left-handerCould take her rudder from you.”

Aidan stiffened as the song rolled over him. His mind recoiled from the notification floating in front of his eyes, unable to comprehend what it meant.