“If you want to find an example of the saying that too many cooks spoil the broth, look no further than the Kingom of Posuin to the west. The king is a mere figurehead, and the nobles in power could never agree on anything, which is why that nation, one that was once considered our glorious Empire’s greatest rival, had fallen to a standstill for centuries now. We had left them so far behind we no longer even consider them a rival, now.” - Helmut Bestengrad, Prime Minister for the Clangeddin Empire, circa 319 VA.

Contrary to Aideen’s expectation, no further attempts on their lives were made during the remaining three days they stayed at the capital, not even one when they left from the eastern gates and met up with the Dvergarder convoy out of sight of the Royal Capital.

Probably the unburdened healers had feared causing too great a commotion, one that would have made some of the nobles view them as a threat rather than a partner. Maybe they had just lost their taste for violence after she returned so many of their hired thugs in pieces, Aideen had no idea which was true. Either way, she and Rodolfo were left unmolested for the rest of their stay and left Oleynuos peacefully.

Pedro, Sandra, and Solenia had greeted her cheerfully when she entered the carriage they were in, each one asking about what she did to get the town in such a tizzy. Apparently the last mess she caused had not been cleaned in time, and caused a scandalous mess which saw many of the city guards punished for accepting bribes and negligence, which in turn caused a backlash to the noble who was their superior.

“I wish I had brought a picture slate with me to immortalize that look of hers, honestly,” said Pedro with a laugh as he recalled the affronted look on Juliana Malevos’ face when he had prodded her about the scandal amongst the guards. “She looked as if she was about to shit out an ostrich egg out of her cunt.”

“Language, brother!” scolded Sandra as she covered Solenia’s ears with the palms of her hands. The way she was giggling hard while she did so clued Aideen in that it was just something said in jest, though. “Though I had to admit it was a memorable look indeed. She looked so red at the end I thought she might’ve burst a vein or three and dropped dead right there.”

“Sounds like an amusing sight,” said Aideen with a smile at the siblings’ antics. They were headed to the north-west, to the Duchy of Algenverr, where the siblings’ mother came from, and the carriage carrying the heir to the Duchy was a couple hours behind them. The siblings had mentioned that they’d introduce them to Aideen the next day at camp. “So we’re headed to your aunt’s place next, right?”

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“Yeah, people generally need permits to leave to the marshlands, so Aunt Melania will handle that for you,” said Pedro with a nod. The current Duchess of Algenverr was their mother’s older sister by blood. “Dad also left us a letter to pass on to her. You should have a smooth passage from there at least.”

“Much appreciated,” she replied with a smile.

“It’s just a trifle. The least we can do for your help along the way. Just Juliana’s face alone had made all this worth it,” said the young nobleman with another chuckle. “That scandal also promised to go a long way. The centrals don’t mind corruption in private, but if one was exposed to have been corrupt openly… they’d descend on them like wild dogs. The backlash will likely hurt those unburdened too, since they’re linked to the mess, and the Malevos definitely ain’t going to take the fall for them.”

“Unexpected, but good news indeed.”

******************************

“Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to intrude,” said Graciela that night when she had snuck into Rodolfo’s tent after most of the others not on watch had fallen asleep only to find Aideen there in the midst of undressing herself. “Didn’t know you already got someone for the night,” said the knight-captain with a blush on her cheeks.

“I knew I forgot something,” muttered Rodolfo with a blush, which Aideen thought just made him look a bit boyish despite his age. “Sorry, Graci, I honestly forgot to tell you that the Miss and I sorta hooked up while we were at the capital.”

“Why would she have to leave anyway?” Aideen asked as she sat down on the bedroll. It was merely a thin bedroll spread over the hard soil, but for veteran knights and travelers it was plenty to sleep on. “The more the merrier, isn’t it? She added with a seductive wink at the old knights.

“You don’t mind?” asked the female knight-captain with a raised eyebrow.

“Why would I? It’s not like I’m sticking around for that long anyway,” said Aideen in reply as she smiled at Graciela. “We’d be going our own ways after Algenverr, and besides, unless I’m seeing it wrong you two seemed to have some old history between you?”

“Sort of, yes,” admitted Rodolfo with another blush as he finished removing his tunic. “I’ve been a widower for over twenty years now, and Graci was widowed around ten years ago. At first we just sort of sought solace with each other, but over time the relationship sort of grew to a friendship…”

“With benefits, eh?” completed Aideen for them, to the blush of the two old knights. She honestly sympathized with them, as she knew all too well what it was like to search for solace after a personal loss like that. “I know the feeling. Honestly, I do. My own husband passed like half a century ago, and I still miss him to this day.”

“So there’s no reason for you to run off just because I’m around,” she added as she got up and took Graciela’s hand and led her over to the bedroll. “There’s enough of him to share for all of us anyway, isn’t there?”

Rodolfo stared at first one woman, then the other with woman with surprise and bafflement, before his expression eventually settled on a silly, childish grin, while Graciela blushed red under his scrutiny.

“Well… if you insist,” she finally said in the end.