Ecdysis

Chapter 2. The First Taste of ‘Home’

The rest of our trip had passed without any other groundbreaking discoveries. I made sure that my mother and uncle had enough food but otherwise left them alone opting out to quietly converse with Albin about the general state of Emanai. As we spoke the rustle of leaves was eventually replaced by the whispers of the wind rolling from the fields and creaking of the wheels of nearby carts.

Closer we got to the capital — more and more traffic we encountered on our way. Merchants were carting their wares and shepherds moving their herds directly into the city for slaughter. Refrigeration was a product of magic as such most meat came into the city alive and by foot. There were also numerous messengers riding from the city: the news of the upcoming celebrations had likely spread among the citizens and many made sure to inform their families and subjects.

As usual, we skipped the crowds and the smells of the main gate that led to the lower city. Taking the auxiliary gates straight into the core of the wermage districts where Kiymetl manor stood among its kind. Walled fortresses surrounded by an even larger wall of the city.

“This is the city of Samat,” I mentioned to the wide-eyed riders in the back. “The capital of Emanai Manorat and the house of Samat Manor.”

Their awe was understandable, up until this moment the largest building they had seen was the manor of Chimgen. And, honestly, that was nothing more than a farming villa of the rather low-ranked Domina. Here, the city walls alone were crafted not only by the sweat and blood of the slaves but by paid artisans and, most importantly, trained earth wermages. And thus they stood proudly, towering over most of the buildings of the city.

Only the seven floating towers were higher.

“From now on, we belong to the branch Kiymetl Manor. Nevertheless, it belongs to one of the seven Pillar Houses that rule the Emanai,” I nodded at the towers that crowned Samat like a magical crown of flying marble. “Therefore our Domina is one of the most powerful beings in these lands.”

I ignored Albin listening with a fake fascination at my speech. The bugger was the Speaker of another Pillar House and thus stood even higher than my Domina on a political pecking order, but there was no way I would acknowledge that right now. The fact that he was a wermage had already been too much for them.

Our cart approached the now-familiar walls of a manor. Up close I could see the newer sections of the outer perimeter. A grand expansion for the sole purpose of giving me and mine a private estate within. A settlement within a manor, within a city, and the literal proof of how far my worth had risen in Aikerim’s eyes. Even many relatives of hers haven’t received something comparable.

Granted most of her relatives didn’t have any plans for production facilities that needed space, nor did they multiply her wealth as rapidly as I did.

I pulled out the golden Gestr from under my tunic and banged at the large doors.

“Ah, the Alchemist, your sight is in my heart.” A guard with the fox ears greeted me touching his chest, “Domina had awaited your return. You are to meet her tomorrow as she needs to…prepare.”

My eyes opened wide as the guard spoke the final words, a tint of jealousy and apprehension in the movements of his tail. A proper show of respect for Domina was to take time and ‘prepare’ for a meeting. And Aikerim was now showing it publicly. An itch ran down my spine, an unpleasant one. This wasn’t done for my sake — I was already enjoying a rather friendly relationship with her. This was a public act through and through.

“Welcome back, Erf,” Albin whispered behind my back, “Enjoy the politics~!”

“Shut it,” I made an angry face in the general direction of his smug mug, and turned back to the guard, touching my mouth, “And your name is on my lips. I am honoured by her benevolence and will be there once she calls for me.”

There, sufficiently deferential and less likely to cause the spread of annoying rumours. I already had her son looking at me sideways, I didn’t need another member of her household to decide that I haven’t given the proper respect to Domina dearest and it was their familial duty to show me my proper place.

Guard nodded and opened the door fully. I let the cart get inside and jumped off, approaching the lone rider that stayed outside.

“Thank you, Albin. For all that it is worth, your actions probably secured the safety of my family.”

“And I would still say it all would have settled peacefully at the end, but you are welcome.” He waved me off with his tail.

“Perhaps,” I reached my hand out, “But I needed help and you gave it, for that you have my gratitude.”

I couldn’t stop but smirk and quip, “And many more tales in the future.”

“You are a tale by yourself, Erf. Make sure it doesn’t end too soon.” His hand slapped into mine, surprisingly warm too. Albin shook it with a silent nod and took off on his horse. “And make sure to pack your own food next time, another week and I would’ve been broke!”

I watched him disappear into the city and only then I quietly swore to myself and walked inside the manor. All his great qualities could sometimes be completely ruined by a single sentence. Did he just wish me luck? Or did he predict some event from my future and I had to watch every shadow not to miss it? And now of all the time, when my family was right here and still extremely vulnerable. I had a nanite infused body that bolstered my survivability and regeneration, they did not.

Truly he was a great friend that you wanted to punch in the face from time to time.

“Take the bags from the cart to the soaps,” I tiredly told the servants near the gate. “I will deal with them later.”

The trip took us about two weeks with most of the time spent trying to buy my family out, while the Chimgen Domina desperately tried to have Albin’s babies. But when I left, my lab was in ruins. And most servants were forbidden from coming in close to it anyway. Soap workshop was a better alternative — it had a storage room with limited access but not to the level of my former lab.

I glanced at my relatives, receiving cautious looks in return, and sighed, “Please, come with me.”

I threw twin medallions into their hands, not with the symbol of scales on my neck but of a tree that looked very similar to Lif. Identical to these that I’ve ordered for Irje and Yeva.

“With this, you won’t have to worry about anyone ordering you around in this compound. Anyone but her. While you are beholden to me in the eyes of Emanai, she is my master and therefore has authority above mine. Don’t get me wrong — I hate this probably just as much as you do, but currently, this is the best I can offer to you. Aikerim Kiymetl Adal had issued a decree that I and everything that is mine would respond to her and no one else. Know it, use it, but don’t abuse it.”

Uncle put it on his neck, “Thank you… master.”

I cringed, “And don’t call me that. Call me Erf, or nothing at all. And I will not hear ‘no’ on this — I have gone through a lot of effort to save you from harsh labour at the fields and I expect at least this much for it in return.”

Strangely enough, he nodded much more confidently in return, “What would be our tasks here?”

Well, I would take this as a good start.

I shrugged, “None for now. You are to eat and rest and enjoy the life of leisure at the quarters that will be provided to you. Hopefully, the estate had been built by now. If it was, then you will have free roam within its borders. If you will need anything else, or wish to do something — talk to me, Irje, or Yeva.”

We walked quietly afterwards, while I silently contemplated on their responses. It was obvious that they were confused and I could grasp a little bit of why that was. They weren’t used to having a benevolent ‘master’, something that they still saw me as. Life on a farm was not pleasant for a slave: these manors provided very little profit for their Dominas yet required a significant amount of labour. Manual labour that had to be fed in turn.

Fed by the same grain they made.

And Chimgen Domina, as many like her, cut costs and demanded more work performed in order to see a better profit. Relying on threats and punishments to ensure obedience.

I didn’t judge them for being cautious, they were still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For me to rip the veil of my sweet promises and to reveal the chains hidden underneath. Like mice that knew that the only free cheese was in a mousetrap.

I understood all that, but it still hurt.

The noise in front of me made my eyebrows rise.

The door to my house was wide open, loud rattle and heavy steps coming from inside. A glimpse of the runes I’ve carved, shining dimly under a handful of grass and dirt thrown on top of it. Before I could open my mouth, a piece of furniture slowly started inching its way out of the door. Accompanied by the frustrated grunts.

I leaned on the nearby tree trunk and watch the process in silence.

Waiting.

And then, when the thief finally showed her face, red and sweaty from exhaustion, I spoke.

“Where are you taking my bed, Irje?”

XXX

It took a bed to be properly stuck inside the door frame, and a wide-open window for Irje`s hands to finally reach my body and yank me into a tight embrace.

Her grasp was firm, it looked like her shoulder healed well.

She spoke a thousand words a minute while my legs dangled in the air. From what I could grasp, the estate was actually complete. At least complete enough that Samat workers wrapped up and left, allowing Irje to actually start furnishing the place into something livable.

With Yeva as an adviser of course.

And the first major decision they made after spending a night in a new place was that they missed the old bed.

I remembered a fond memory when the girls discovered the new bed. Most of the Emanai beds were designed for one thing — sleep. Rich people would have separate but tiny bedrooms to retire for the night but leave as soon as the morning came. While the poor couldn’t afford more than a basic one, to begin with.

I wanted none of that. I didn’t care if others saw me as lazy to own a luxurious bed, or cheap not to have a separate room for leisure. So I used a favour I had with a local carpenter and had myself built a true monster of a bed, large and cosy. Apparently, I also managed to corrupt my wives into a life of luxury as well.

My family was noticed as well, but a simple ‘it’s complicated’ put that line of questioning aside. Irje simply nodded along and kept talking about the completed parts of the estate, while unceremoniously employing me in the task of liberating my own bed from a creaking door frame. I knew she would eventually come back to that conversation, but she was an experienced overseer and could read the atmosphere with a glance. And I loved her for it.

Well, she also had a cheerful and boisterous personality that was pleasant to be around. And a large amazonian build that somehow managed to wrap more than two metres of muscle and femininity into a silky and sun-tanned package. Which made ignoring her even harder. Especially when said muscles and ‘femininity’ had to shift around due to the bulky load we were carrying together.

The cougar ears were cute too.

A teasing smirk on her lips told me that my gaze was quite obvious. Appreciated too.

In the meantime, I was informed that the estate had one building dedicated just for our living quarters, the two-story structure with an inner courtyard and a plethora of available rooms. Yet another place where I put my foot down with vehemence. Outhouses and night buckets had to go and I had grand plans in place to build proper washrooms where I lived. As well as specialized rooms to store books or other important things that should not be seen in public.

I was the Alchemist of the Manor and my ‘alchemistry’ had brought great profit to Aikerim. There were bound to be some items that I couldn’t leave even inside the workshops.

In fact, the security was so important that servants had their own separate building to reside in, as well as a kitchen pavilion to feed not only my family but the rest of the people that would reside here. This was a literal village within the manor, nearly self-sufficient and insulated from other compounds. A ‘village’ that had a few large warehouses, future workshops, baths, and enough free space for greenhouses and other future expansions.

Oh and the aqueduct that Aikerim pressured Samat to provide.

Not the construction of it, that was not something tremendously expensive for either of these families, but the extra daily quota of water that this manor now received. Fresh water, diverted from a small nearby river with a series of aqueducts and sent down the hills into the core of Samat. Compared to the rather ripe waters of the Shara river that Samat grew around. This was a major waterway and many cities were built on top of it. And all of them used it as a sewage outlet. With obvious results.

I nodded along, occupied by the emerging view of my estate. Not at all concerned by the possible expenses it demanded. Samat Manor dug their own grave with their actions and I trusted Aikerim to punch them where it hurt.

It was both impressive and not exactly as I expected it to look. It was one thing to say to yourself that a building had two floors and the other is to stand below it and finally understand that it was all mine. As well as a bunch of buildings standing nearby. At the same time, it was visibly incomplete.

The buildings were built but lacked any visible furnishings and were rather barren on the inside as well. The same could not be said about people. The place was loud with servants running back and forth, most of them carrying some tools or materials for future construction.

“I didn’t expect this level of activity just yet.”

“Domina decided to move your kilns and glass workshops here as well.” The whole bed shrugged with her, “Apparently she had a shakedown with Esca, even dragged that snake back to the Manor, in Flow shackles no less. If it was my will I would have kicked her off the cliff but she kept her away, for now, probably waiting for your return.”

I glanced at the scar poking out of her tunic, I wasn’t the only one who got targeted by the assassins the lamia sent. “Honestly I just want all that to be over with, I am too busy to worry about some family that is jealous of me stealing ‘their’ glass. Do you wish for her execution?”

“I am not sure how likely that would be. After all, she is a wermage.” She set her jaw, “But I refuse to accept a pouch of gold for what she had tried to do, no matter how big it would be.”

“Agreed. where is Yeva?”

Irje smiled, “She got frustrated by the loudness of this place and the constant changes in walkways. Tell you what, leave the bed and your family with me, I will carry it myself and show them their sleeping quarters at the same time. In the meantime, head down to the pond past that building and you will find her.”

I thought about it and quickly nodded in agreement. She was even stronger than she looked, and I shouldn’t be hovering over my family like a helicopter either. None of us here were children in need of supervision. And I trusted Irje too. She might be a wer but she knew how to treat murks, especially murks that were my own flesh and blood, my mother and uncle.

XXX

I didn’t need to wander for long, my ears picked up familiar notes of my guitar and quickly lead me to Yeva. She sat leaning on a tree trunk under the evening sun, my guitar in her hands. Familiar yet unique melodies spread everywhere the ear could hear. Somehow she managed to mix some of the tunes I’ve taught to her and the melodies of Emanai into something new.

A child servant sat nearby, watching her silently with eyes wide open. Mesmerized.

I leaned quietly on a tree as well and allowed myself to finally relax, letting her music wash away my stress. A small tug on my heart as I watched them both. There will be a day when our own child would sit like that as well and listen to her mother playing.

Both Irje and Yeva were my wives. The sadaq, a form of a harem in Emanai, was not unheard of but was also rather unusual for our case. Emanai Manorat was a matriarchal society and sadaq-at were usually a thing for the rich and powerful. Which meant that most of these had multiple husbands married to one Domina. Or even wives, what mattered more wasn’t the gender specifically but who was actually ‘in charge’.

Murks rarely occupied any significant position of wealth, which made the sadaq formation unlikely. Hard to have many wives or husbands if you could barely feed yourself. The difference this time was that I wasn’t just a murk, but a Navigator. And if things happened differently I would be bound to end up in the future sadaq of Anaise.

Except Irje had plans of her own. She was the first to recognize my talent and enjoy my ministrations. And she made sure not to lose me afterwards as I rose through the ranks. Even if that meant joining a sadaq of a mere murk, despite being a wer herself, or allowing Yeva to join later. Thus securing her status as my wife even against future wishes of wermages — sadaq-at were much harder to break apart legally. Thus Irje held on to our relationship, while Yeva instead of being the first loser became the second winner.

While I enjoyed the benefits of having both of them in my life.

Granted, we all enjoyed our company, if I felt that either of them was faking it just to enjoy a free ride I would have never let it happen. But I also wasn’t naive and knew that part of what made me so desirable wasn’t just my roguish looks and charming nature, but the entire set of abilities I so far possessed. Including the knowledge of a space-faring civilization.

A slight smile crept up on Yeva’s lips as she finished her last song, “How long will you stand quietly like this, my love?”

“I am surprised that you heard me, I tried to be very quiet this time around,” I ruefully scratched my head as I approached her.

She laughed merrily like a tinkling bell, “Perhaps, but you also didn’t wash for quite a while. Thank you, Vera, you can go.”

“But…” kid glanced from me to her, unwilling to leave yet unable to say ‘no’ either, “But I am your guide!”

Yeva smiled and patted the frowning child, “I think my husband can do that today.”

The so-called Vera harrumphed, shot me a frustrated glare and stomped away. I shook my head but couldn’t stop smiling at the display, it looked like Yeva wasn’t just treating her well but outright spoiling her.

“She can listen to my songs some other time,” She read my thoughts while extending her arms in my direction, “Come, I’ve missed you.