Loose ends

A few weeks after the feast in Odwaz

Now that his adventure is over, Mihai and Fedler go to the Citadel to visit Yennefer. During their stay there, Mihai receives several job offers.

Two of them are from the Free Government.

The first one is to serve as head of security for the Councilors. He would be mainly stationed at the Citadel, but might have to travel for a few conferences that would take place on the mainland—these events would be far and few between, so he could go back home almost every night. Attached to this job offer is a residence located in the middle of an affluent neighborhood where the Prime Councilor and several other important officials of other nations live. The pay is very good, and he would get access to the best healthcare and education possible in the Free Feathers.

The second offer would be to serve as head of a new division within the Free Army. This unit is being set up to deal with the new monsters who have appeared across the Archipelago; considering that most monsters are hostile and barely sentient, Mihai's role would be one of exterminator. Attached to this job offer is a residence located in a neighborhood at the Citadel, although a little less affluent than the previous job offer—there is however the choice to select a residence in any other major city in the Free Feathers. The pay is actually double what he is offered for being head of security, and it comes with several bonuses and a huge life assurance, but he would need to travel very often across the country. He would still get access to the best healthcare and education.

The third offer is from a private citizen called Tobias Horne. He humbly requests to make his offer in person, but promises peace of mind regarding the safety of his wife and daughter.
Mihai agrees to meet Horne at a public space, wary of anyone who would know about his unborn child.
____________

When Mihai arrives at Dewdrop Park—a lovely park located in the middle of the city, with a big fountain right in the middle of it and trees aplenty—he sees a man sitting on one of the benches near the statue of the first Prime Councilor in the history of the Free Feathers, the meeting place they had agreed upon.
The man is middle-aged, clean-shaven, a head shorter than him, but also muscular enough that he must have done manual labor before. His clothes are quite plain, consisting only of a clean pair of trousers, a gray tunic, and weathered leather shoes. At the moment, he's looking at a few children play in the park while he waits for Mihai to arrive. When notices Mihai, he calmly stands up and offers his hand in greeting.

"Mr. Lowick. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

Mihai shakes the man's hand. "Mr Horne."

The man's grip is firm, but not overbearing. He then gestures at the bench, suggesting that they sit on it. Horne proceeds to do so. "How are you? I understand the last few weeks have been taxing for you and your close ones."

Mihai sits, though not too close. "You're well informed."

"I am. You need not worry; I am not your enemy, nor do I work with them. Although we have never met before, you have heard about me from Van Willis. I'm the one he refers to as ‘the Custodian’."

Mihai's eye twitches, he goes on watching the kids playing for a moment before speaking up. "What was the last conversation I had with Willis about?"

Horne follows Mihai's gaze and sits back on the bench, making himself comfortable. "It was about the Avatars' Champions. It's the reason I am here."

Mihai nods pensively. "...Yeah, that figures." then looks at him for a moment, as if sizing him up before returning his gaze to the park denizens. "You've got the grip of a farmer."

"Hmm. I miss it sometimes."

"Why the Citadel, then? You're a working man, plenty of farmland out in the country."

"Why the Citadel? Are you asking why I'm here instead of out in the country?"

Mihai shrugs affirmatively. "That was my first guess when I heard about you, if I’m being honest."
"Ah, I see. The truth is I've never stopped looking after the land. The difference now being that instead of cultivating the soil, I herd a bunch of sheep."

Mihai nods. "Hmm. So then, you're here to talk about the Champion thing."

"Yes. I'd like you to become my representative and kill any ‘Champion’ who steps over the line."

"If you know my history, you know I’m not an executioner."

Horne pauses to consider his next words carefully. "Tell me, why did you not kill that man when your mother told you to?"

Mihai glances at him somberly for his use of the M word, then mulls it over. "Thought there might be a better way, didn't want to kill an unarmed man, cold blooded murder is not the same as killing in combat." He shakes his head. "All would fit, but the truth is more boring: something inside told me not to."

"Ah." Horne remains silent for a long moment, his eyes still fixed on the children playing in the field ahead. "Then the solution is simple," he finally says. "I give you the power to stand against any Champion you might face in the future, but I also give you responsibility over their fate. In exchange, I will ensure the safety of your wife, daughter, and any other possible children you might have—until they come of age, anyway."

"You're in this mess right now, because I stepped over the line when I accepted Andrei's help - and for the record, I would again. Not only that, I expect sooner or later I’ll have to take up arms against Mimic and Pals again, and possibly make an even bigger mess. Aren't I the worst choice for this job?"

This time, Tobias turns to look into Mihai's eyes. "No. Ever since your conversation with Van, you were reticent to become a Champion yourself, which makes you a far better candidate than you believe yourself to be. As for the incident in Emerald, the Avatars were always going to form a majority that would oppose me. I'd only hoped it would take a few more decades before that happened."

Mihai holds the Uber Avatar's gaze. "And what would stepping over the line entail?"

"You tell me. You would be the one with the responsibility to judge the Champions."

"You know my line. They start hurting innocent people, they're going down. But the way Willis put it, sounds like most Avatars would be on the same page with me."

Horne gives Mihai a tired smile and says, "Then I hope they have the same definition of ‘innocent’ as you do."

Mihai gives Horne a look. "We're faced with genocide on two fronts - that i know of - right now, and they'd go point their blades at normal people?"

"I'm sure they would if they believed it to be necessary. Did you not drop bombs on the rebel army back in Lofell?"

Mihai almost opens his mouth to answer that, but quickly realizes the futility of it. He goes quiet for a moment before answering. "Can't make this decision alone anymore. I can keep the details from Fedler, but I’m not about to lie to her. It'd be pointless anyway, she'd figure out enough on her own."

"I understand. Go ahead and tell her. As long as she keeps it a secret for now, it should be fine. Although, it might not matter for long since the Avatars are now considering revealing their presence to mankind."

"...Was it the 'gods' thing?"

"No. Most of the Avatars have always wanted that."

"Hmm..." Mihai acknowledges ponderingly, then stands up. "I'll let you know my decision tomorrow. Though, I’m guessing you'll know before that."

"I usually try my best not to spy on people; I have Florolf for that. Just call for me, and I'll come."

Mihai considers that, then nods.
____________

Mihai returns to the hotel and finds Fedler in their room next to the balcony, reading a newspaper. The moment she hears him, she turns to smile at him and says, "Hey, Mihai! So, what was the job offer? That one offered you a mansion instead?"

Mihai searches for words for a moment. "Offer wasn't money. But it could be the most valuable. I just met the guy that sent us Florolf."

Fedler doesn't understand at first, but then it dawns on her and her eyes widen in shock. "Wait. Are you saying that...that you met him?"

Mihai nods wearily. "The thing Willis wanted me to keep quiet about back in Odwaz, I’ll tell you now." He then proceeds to tell her about the Champions, about what Horne told him, and his offer.

By the time Mihai has finished his explanation, Fedler seems a little overwhelmed. She moves to the couch to sit next to Mihai and places her hand on his, seemingly at a loss on what to say. "Okay, that...not what I expected. What-what did you think about him?"

Mihai takes a moment to collect his thoughts. "I thought he'd still be a farmer, doing a humble living somewhere - maybe i wasn't far off the mark. The man..." He searches for words. "Could be a big shot like Willis or Landauer, but he looks so... plain. I'll be honest, if I met him on the street and was none the wiser, I’d probably trust him right away. Heck, as it stands, at least I know he's not the Mimic. So... can't say he left me with a bad impression."

"So you're taking his offer."

"Said I’d let him know. It... he doesn't seem untrustworthy. Can't say I was looking forward to be picked out by yet another supernatural entity, but what happens if the other Champions start going on a power trip and we can't stand up to them? Besides, not having to worry about the Mimic coming near Nat? The weight that takes off of me is..."

He lets out a breath, not having the words to describe it.

Fedler tightens her grasp on Mihai's hand and then smiles at him. "You know I'd do the same thing, right?"

Mihai nods. "Yeah." He squeezes back. "He, uh... said to call when I’d decided. Doesn't have to be now, though."

She moves her arms behind Mihai's neck and says, "You better not! It's time for my appointment."

"I'll clear my schedule." He wraps his arms around her waist, pulls her in and kisses her.

Before Konrad departs Myr with the rest of the party, Nadzieja pulls him aside and informs him that she found his niece and nephew; they live in Bronick with a distant relative of the family, a woman named Klara. She’s apparently Konrad’s cousin and has two children of her own. After the tragedy that befell Konrad’s family, his niece and nephew had nowhere else to go, and so she agreed to take them in. From all appearances, she treats them well, and she’s doing her best to help them come to terms with what happened to their close ones.

Konrad returns to Lofell to visit his new estate and get to know the people working there. Although he knows next to nothing about winemaking, his employees are glad to explain everything to him, and he soon learns that he was given a prosperous piece of land. Once commerce resumes in a few more weeks, he’ll be able to bring him some profits, which will complement nicely his new shipping enterprise.

Working for Antoine Kaplan proves to be as simple as he imagined it to be, albeit a little more dangerous because of all the new monsters appearing across the Archipelago. Ships armed like the Vulcan are now in high demand, and business is soon booming. Konrad needs to hire mercenaries to protect his fairy crew, but it’s nothing unusual in these troubling times.

Femke is happy to join Konrad on his journey, which also gives her a good excuse to travel across the Archipelago and gather information for the Tyke network. The two of them become closer, and it doesn’t take long before clients and contacts mistake her for Mrs. Granger.

Konrad writes a letter to his cousin, telling her who he is, and asking to drop by to visit. The only response he receives is a short letter telling him not to contact her or the children, and to leave them alone or she’ll get the Szef of Bronick involved.

While coordinating with Blackcliff for war readiness, he gets Nadzieja in the loop for the readiness of Myr whenever he sails to his homeland.

He looks for mercenary captains who can be bargained down with a favor or favors.

Before thinking about kids, he waits at least a year to hear from Femke's people. They aren't that dumb or slow, surely it won't take them so long to notice the love affair.

While all of this is going on, he studies ways to improve his personal firearm.

Three months after the battle of Feuilledor, Femke tells Konrad that the others know about their relationship. When asked to clarify, they asked her if she was in a romantic relationship with him, and she responded yes. Since then, they haven't brought up the subject again and they've continued assigning her to Konrad. Femke believes they're taking no issue with it.

This is cause for a celebration.

Three months after he learns the news, Konrad visits a jeweler, buys a ring, and has his first mate plan a decent meal for the entire crew and the fairy families. He wants to propose, and he would like to do it with an audience, but because of their unique situation, he decides to propose to her in private to make it easier to turn him down.

Konrad enacts his plan during the trip back to Lofell. He invites Femke to join him in the crow’s nest where they can enjoy the sunset together, and although his suggestion catches her off guard, she follows him without suspecting a thing.  Unsurprisingly, she has no problem with heights, and she quickly reaches the top before him. By the time he arrives, she’s already looking at the sunset, a small smile on her face.

"Finally! Here we are." Konrad takes a minute to steady his breathing. It was no trouble getting up, but it was still a long and laborious climb, and not an issue provided the climber planned to stay at the top and perform the spotter's duty.

Femke turns to look at him. “It’s fun, ” she says, her body gently swaying to the rhythm of the waves.

"I haven't been up here in ages, but I haven't had an occasion to share the view with someone." He puts his arm around her and looks at the horizon with her. "What about you?"

Femke naturally leans her head against Konrad and says, “Never. It’s my first time being in a crow’s nest. ” She pauses for a moment. “Thank you.”

"You're welcome. You've really never been up here? I thought for certain that you would have a reason to."

“No. It’d be too conspicuous. And it’s something we try to avoid.”

"Well, now we both have a good reason to be up here. And we've already been too conspicuous anyway, with the way everyone's talking."

It’s a little hard to tell because of the sunset, but it looks like Femke is blushing right now. “…I can’t help it. I like being with you.”

Konrad smiles. "You don't need to help it. I like it too. These past couple of months have been amazing." He watches the horizon with her for a while. "How long have we been together now?"

“One hundred and eighty-seven days.”

Konrad looks at Femke funny. "Days? One hundred and eighty..." He ponders the number in his head: six months. "When did you start counting? "

“I used our first night together as the starting point, but I started counting only a week after that.” She pauses to look at him. “Why? Is it strange?”

"A little, but it's kind of cute. I wouldn't mind if you kept counting."

“Then I will,” she says with a smile before turning to look at the sunset again.

"I'd like you to do me favor, then. I'd like you to keep counting for as long as you can. And I'll give you a very good reason." Konrad pulls away from her slightly, his other hand thumbing a small box in his pocket, and turns to face her.

"Hmm?" She gives Konrad a questioning look.

Konrad lets go of her and puts his hand on the railing to keep his balance and gracefully lowers himself to one knee. "Femke Locus..." He presents the box in his other hand forward, pushing the lid open with his thumb to reveal a gleaming golden ring, set with a small sparkling white gem. "I would be honored, and the happiest man in the world, if you would agree to become my wife. Will you marry me?"

Femke’s eyes widen in shock and her mouth falls open. She gapes at the ring gleaming in the sunlight and reaches for it with her hand, only to stop herself at the last second. “Konrad, I-I’m not human… I can’t make you happy like other women could.”

The confident smile on his face begins to wilt in confusion. "What? What are you saying?"

Femke takes a moment to compose herself. “I can’t grow old, Konrad. At least, not like humans do. I will most likely live for centuries, and…and like I told you, I can’t bear children. Ever. I would if I could, but I can’t.” She lowers her head, her eyes still fixed on the ring. “Knowing that, do you still want to propose to me?”

Yes, I do! Konrad closes the box. He stands up out of the ceremonial position of proposing and puts his hand on Femke's shoulder to speak closely and genuinely. "Femke, we connect in a way that I couldn't with anyone else. How could I be happy at all with them, knowing we both want this and didn't choose it? Perhaps I don't have long to live, but I would live with the regret for long enough." He opens the box and takes the ring into his hand to show her again. "My plan was to be in this relationship with you for the long haul. 'Ride or die', as the kids like to say. That's what these rings symbolize. They just declare it for all to see. Even without them, people have become quite comfortable assuming we are monogamous...
"You said you would love me for as long as you could. I'm not twisting your arm, but tell me: is that still true?"

Konrad’s impassioned speech has rendered Femke dumbstruck, and she is initially at a loss for words on how to respond to him. But then he reminds her of her own words, and her expression softens. “Yes, I do,” she says with conviction. “You made me understand what it’s like to be human, and I want to learn even more with you. So yes, I will marry you. Because I love you more than anything else in this world, Konrad. More than my own home, even.”

Konrad smiles. "And I love you, Femke. More than anything else." Happy, but worried about her feelings toward herself, Konrad takes her into a full hug. It's gentle, but close, and he holds her for a while.