"To be buried in one's home ground,

Is but a luxury few could achieve,

For as you look at the world around,

Far too many had nought but to grieve." - Old Elmaiyan poem, dated from the early first empire.

Inner District

Tohrmutgent

Central Ptolodecca

4th day, 3rd week, 7th month, year 133 VA.

"It's good to be back home," said Artair with a nostalgic, yet relieved voice as he stepped down from the carriage. They stood before a modest two-story house that looked little different from the other houses around it, yet Artair would not have mistaken the scent that by now was deeply ingrained into the place.

It was the house he and Aideen had lived in ever since they got together, over three decades ago now. A house which brought him many pleasant memories, where he had been the happiest in his over sixty years of life so far.

They had just returned from the Empire, after a stay that lasted over five years, where they lived with Artair's family in the family mansion. That extended vacation helped Artair a lot, as he spent time with his family… And said his farewells to them properly.

After all, he doubted he would see them again in this life.

He had sent off his elder siblings, as both Grigori and Zoya had passed away over the last few years. He had been with them, by their side at their final moments. They had passed peacefully, in comfort, and surrounded by family.

Artair knew he wouldn't have such a passing himself. Even if Maria - his only remaining sibling - were notified that he was on his deathbed, it would have taken her at least a couple of weeks to reach Tohrmutgent. Likely far too late by then.

No, when his time came in the end, only Aideen would be by his side in his final moments. Despite everything, that thought alone comforted Artair greatly, and deep within his heart, he knew he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Home was a strange concept for him, in a way. His first twenty years, he spent in the Empire - back then it was still the second empire - where he lived a privileged life in the family mansion with his siblings.

He had since spent over twice that amount of time living in Tohrmutgent, where his late grandfather used to live. There he had met Aideen, had slowly fallen in love with her, and been together with her for four decades now.

Nowadays, the Empire he was born and raised in was completely different. The third empire even welcomed its first empress just last year - they were even invited and present for the succession ceremony - as the old emperor abdicated his throne.

It was a better place than the empire he was raised in, he would definitely vouch for that, yet he no longer felt truly at home there. His heart has moved on, he realized, the privileged life of a noble son long cast away from his mind already.

A simple life, that of a scholar and researcher, just one amongst many such intellectuals working in the Ptolodeccan capital, was one he found fulfilling. It was no pivotal research, more one for the sake of knowledge, one he was immersed in back then.

Nowadays, he was uncertain if he was so fond of the discipline for its own sake, or because it was arguably what got him to meet Aideen and talk to her for the first time back then. They still went and danced in the winter festivals whenever they were in town, in memory of their first meeting.

He sighed with remembrance. All the fond memories he had in the city, and more importantly, with Aideen, came to mind, and subconsciously caused a smile to adorn his face.

He had not expected it at first, as the stories he heard about her had painted a different picture. Yet when he met her in person, the first Unliving was a gentle woman, prone to sentiments, and despite her reputation and stories… was just perfectly normal.

Stories had painted her a bit like a cross between a savior and a vengeful goddess out for blood, yet the person herself, once Artair got to know her, was as common a person as any.

She laughed when she felt happy, cried when she was sad. Supposedly, her heart had fluttered when they had first gotten together - something he wasn't certain about, since to his knowledge her heart does not beat unless she willed it so, and he only had her words to go on - and he had since also learned many more intimate tidbits about her.

By now he could rightfully claim that he had spent most of his life with her by his side. A thought that warmed his heart, and made him look fondly at her as she stood besides him.

She was unchanging, the passage of time leaving no mark on her form. He was mortal, and now that he reached his sixty-seventh year, he had started to feel his age catching up to him. He knew he didn't have that much more time left. A decade, maybe a decade and a half if he was fortunate?

On the other hand, she was already nearly twice his age, and he knew that even if she lived another ten times as long as she had already lived, she would never change. She was on some technical counts not alive, yet any who spent time with her would never call her anything but alive.

As he thought so, Artair came to the realization of what "home" had truly meant for him. It was not a place, nor was it a building. Not even a land, nor a country. No, none of those were his home.

"Something wrong?" she asked, curious that he stood and stared at their house for a while in silence.

"No, nothing," he said in reassurance with a gentle look on his face. "Just remembering some things… and realizing some others. Is all."

Home, to him, was anywhere and everywhere, as long as Aideen was beside him.