Chapter 345: Earnest Discussion

Words : 1626 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Chapter 345: Earnest Discussion “Jadis, may we speak for a moment?” Aurea’s voice caused Jadis to pause as her three selves strode down the corridor. She’d just parted ways with Sorcha, the two having spent the rest of their date just talking as they walked the winter gardens. Having opened up to each other, Jadis was feeling pretty good about where their relationship was headed. They’d not gone any further than some kissing, but that was fine. Jadis wasn’t in any kind of a rush, and it didn’t feel right to try and push things along between them to something physical when they were still working their feelings out. But that was what the date had been for, and Jadis was looking forward to spending more time with the little witch. For the moment, however, Jadis was intending to meet up with Aila and see what she’d accomplished as far as mercenary recruitment. At least, that had been her plan before the blonde high priestess has called out to her. “Can I help you?” Jay replied for her triumvirate, all three of her selves turning to look at the beautiful woman. “I hope so,” Aurea smiled demurely as she approached. “First, though, I wanted to let you know that we managed to negotiate a reduction on the restrictions surrounding your detainment.” “You have?” Jay asked, surprised. “With who? How?” “With the emperor, of course,” Aurea explained as she came to a stop directly in front of Jadis. “We did make a deal to leverage the temple’s influence in your favor, did we not?” Indeed, they had. Thinking back on their meeting in Glitnir, Jadis had promised to have a fair number of children with a variety of women in exchange for the temple helping her out of the legal and political swamp she’d managed to get stuck in. Now that she’d had a meeting with Prince Kestil, Jadis wasn’t entirely sure she need have bothered. It seemed like Kestil was going to be getting her out of trouble through his own power, no need for the temples to intercede. Then again, considering how manipulative Kestil appeared to be, it was probably a good idea for Jadis to have more than one avenue to get out of the trouble she was in. If the temples were going to back her, that would be a big help if the second prince decided to back out of his promise to her. Plus, even if the prince did fulfill his end of the bargain, having the temples exerting their influence to help her could make for some good cover. If asked, she could say that she didn’t have much to do with Kestil and was just relying on the temples to aid her while she was in a bind. Being able to put that kind of distance between her and Kestil felt like a good idea to Jadis. “Well, that’s great,” Jay responded to the high priestess with a grin. “What kind of restrictions were lifted?” “The number of guards following you when you leave the temple district will be reduced. Oswin argued that considering how strong you are, it made more sense to have only a few elites escort you rather than a whole detachment of soldiers.” That was a surprise. Jadis had thought it would only be Lyssandria and Destarious’ temples aiding her when Aurea and Sholto had negotiated the deal. Oswin’s involvement hadn’t been mentioned, though Jadis supposed Aurea had said “the temples” would help her. She just hadn’t realized that meant all of the temples. “That’s very nice of him to help,” Jay said in a mild tone. “I’ll have to thank him next time I see him.” “He also negotiated a better curfew time,” Aurea continued. “You won’t have to return until the midnight hour, instead of sundown.” That made Jadis genuinely pause in shock. She tilted her heads in confusion, eyeing Aurea with a bit of suspicion. “...Really? That’s... actually very generous.” “I’ve got to ask,” Syd probed the blonde woman, “Were Eir’s parents involved in that decision at all? Because I know they are planning some kind of a ball...” “There were a few unexpected petitions that showed up both on our desks as well as in the emperor’s court,” Aurea admitted. “The various parties who signed them were enough to loosen the hold, if not release you completely. I’m not sure why he’s being so stubborn on the matter, but from what Oswin told me, Prince Hraustrekr is being unusually harsh in his judgement of you and your actions. His opinion has a great deal of sway with the emperor, and I believe that his insistence that you remain in custody is the only reason why you haven’t been freed already. You wouldn’t know what is causing him to take such a contrarian stance, do you?” “Not with any certainty,” Dys answered in a semi-truthful way. “I have the impression it has something to do with my association with Magistrate Vraekae, which translates to my association with Kestil. Kind of a misunderstanding, I guess.” Aila was quiet for a moment, her gentle ministrations not stopping as she thought Jadis’ question over. When she did answer, she spoke with a slow but confident air. “She did at first, honestly. Sabina trusts her completely, which was enough for me to not say anything, but she did participate in at least two attempts to kill you.” “That—” “I know,” Aila stopped Jay from continuing. “Circumstances being what they are, I can see why you don’t hold a grudge against her. In fact, I think that’s one of your better points. You’re harsh against people who wrong you, but you are also quite forgiving to those who repent. Valtar would approve, I think. If redemption wasn’t possible, why would anyone ever try to be better?” Turning head to face Dys, Aila’s piercing blue eyes bore into her. “That said, she did try to kill you. That’s not the sort of thing that I can so easily let go.” “Do you want me to stop pursuing her?” Dys asked seriously. “If you don’t want her around, I’ll cut things off now before they go a step further. I won’t do that to you.” Aila smiled, then gave Dys a gentle kiss on the lips that only lingered for a few seconds. “I know. And that knowledge is a far bigger comfort to me than actually sending Sorcha away would be. Just, take it slow with her, alright? I want you to be completely sure about her before you get attached. I know you’re going to have to have children with a fair number of women, which I can accept. I want those women to be people that I trust, but more importantly, people that you trust. Be certain, is all I’m saying.” “I promise,” Dys assured her sincerely. “Good,” Aila gave her another peck on the lips. “Now, stop distracting me with your damn libido for a moment and I’ll tell you what Kerr and I did today.” “Oh, I’m the distraction?” Dys gasped in mock outrage. “Someone as sexy as you dares to call me the distraction?” Aila gave her a flat look. “Okay, fair enough,” Dys sighed dramatically. “I am actually pretty damn sexy. Forgive me for my flaw of being amazingly attractive and I’ll do my best to contain my overwhelming aura of lewd debauchery.” “Thank you,” Aila replied sarcastically before she recounted the details of her day. She, Kerr, and Noll had spent more time together discussing potential candidates for the mercenary company, though they were more focused on support staff than trained combatants. There were a fare few good options, enough that Aila had scheduled a morning of interviews a few days out. Hans had also joined them, offering his own list of candidates that contained some promising individuals. Even Vraekae had stopped by their little gathering for a brief moment, though she’d mostly just done so to fill Aila in on what was happening in the court as far as Jadis’ case before the emperor went. It turned out that the magistrate had also been involved in the loosening of restrictions, so Aila had known about them even before Jadis. It certainly did suck to have enemies, but Jadis couldn’t complain about having some stalwart allies to rely on. The final bit of news Aila had to give regarded Nevan’s cousin, Íte. The gnome had reached out to her and provided some good leads on affordable property in the capital that could be used for a mercenary company, so long as they didn’t mind not being in the more central and affluent districts. Aila had assured Íte that they did not, knowing well that Jadis wouldn’t care, and had arranged a time for them to check those places out. Jadis had initially worried that they might not have the money to afford a new property in Eldingholt, but Aila had allayed those concerns. The company had plenty of funds due to the rewards the Dryad’s had given them. Maybe not so much that they could spend what they had injudiciously, but not so little that they had to worry about scrimping pennies. It had been a good day, all in all, so far as Jadis was concerned. Relaxing into her comfortable spots while listening to Aila’s clear voice, Jadis idly hoped that the next day would go just as well. She had a date with Kerr to look forward to, after all.

Chapter 345: Earnest Discussion

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