No Need for a Core?

With both of his wives fully occupied, Mordecai found himself with little to do but think for a while. He was lying in their bed and staring up at the ceiling as his thoughts wandered, and he allowed himself this rare opportunity to wallow in his worries. His first concern was this purity cult. If they still knew his name and put the information together to realize that he truly was the same Mordecai, they could be thoroughly screwed if they wanted revenge and/or ‘justice’. Hypothetically he should be pushing for them to grow as fast as possible, but by his estimations it was pointless.

The world had changed in many ways, but it also appeared to be much the same in more ways than it had changed. There were many paths to power, but there were limits to how much power most individuals could gather. When people reached the pinnacle of their power many took leadership or training positions or retired in some form. But they were often still there, still available for many years. If this lot was as fanatical as the ones he had faced, there were an unknown number of powerhouses they could put out the call to. A large team as strong as the likes of Aia or Traxalim could readily clear a twenty-floor dungeon if they did it right, and might be able to clear up to a normal thirty-floor dungeon. With enough resources and effort, no dungeon shy of about fifty floors could be truly considered unassailable.

Which was part of why he was more than happy to be forming these local alliances. Yes, his descendants that were in the know were working towards that goal too, but it took far more goodwill than just them to create a real alliance. So descriptions like efficient, well controlled, challenging but not truly dangerous, and friendly were all words he wanted to promote in their design. Which segued into his other major concern.

Souls like Kazue’s could be incredibly strong and resilient when given time to grow, but they could also be brittle before they reached their potential. And he believed Kazue was still in the potentially brittle stage. So he wanted to protect her heart while she grew in emotional strength, which was why he was hiding something that he was doing from her, and by extension Moriko.

His gaze up at the ceiling shifted to examine the vast network of energy that made up the body of their dungeon, its intricate web tying to their cores. Most of it tied to the center of their shared core, but a few things were centered on one side or the other. They each had a web representing their affinities, his for dragons and hers for cuteness, making it more efficient to create creatures of those types. He had been able to willfully shape the next two webs connected to his core, enabling him to channel a limited amount of magic through any of their inhabitants. The corresponding networks attached to Kazue had been shaped by him nudging her thoughts and actions, first making their split path options more efficient than most dungeons just simply building out that much on a floor, and second enabling the shortcuts Moriko and their inhabitants could use to move around the dungeon quickly.

There was another one he wanted to develop for her, that was only available for her, and even that was a maybe. He’d only known one dungeon that had developed this trait, and Mordecai was pretty certain that Kazue qualified for it, but if she knew it was possible then the feedback of striving too hard for it might cancel it out. Mordecai knew he wasn’t qualified to develop it because he wouldn’t have grieved to kill those bandits, but even with the threat they represented Kazue would have. So he was trying to guide her carefully, and when the time came he prayed that it would be enough.

A sensation of panic from Moriko snapped Mordecai out of his thoughts, and he felt Kazue’s attention shifting towards their wife at the same time as his did. It took only a moment to get a gist of the situation, and relief flowed through them followed by a temptation to laugh. “Go on, take care of our guests. I’ll provide any support I can to Moriko.” He sent across their link, then turned all of his focus to where Moriko was trying to cope with the royal ambush.

Moriko’s edge of panic faded as soon as she felt the mental touch of her husband and wife, and strangely enough, it was their amusement that helped the most. There really wasn’t a reason to be this on edge, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t feel comfortable in more formal, courtly sort of situations. That was part of the reason she’d been more than happy to let Mordecai and Kazue play king and queen of the dungeon when needed, Moriko wanted no part of it.

And it’s not like she wasn’t used to hierarchical organizations, declining the invite by the princess would have been roughly the same as declining an invitation from a high master of one of the other monasteries, but the rules for monks were so much more simple and straightforward. She didn’t have to try and interpret more than two layers of communication between what was said and what was explicitly not said. Everything she knew of more courtly matters suggested there were a lot more layers, and she didn’t even know the languages they were in. But maybe she was just overthinking things.

Her spinning thoughts certainly slowed down her reactions, and she barely got a small bow out to Lady Yuriko in response to the lady’s curtsy before she turned to face the oncoming princesses. Moriko would have tried to curtsy if she’d been in a dress, but she wasn’t sure if she should when she didn’t have any sort of skirt.

The open door revealed several guardsmen waiting outside as the four women entered, with the one holding the door open for them closing it behind them. Lady Yuriko walked around to stand between but off to the side of Moriko and the group of smiling ladies. “Lady Moriko, I would like to introduce to you their royal highnesses; this is first-born, Princess Kagami.” The kitsune gestured towards an almost ephemeral-looking tall woman with pale hair and skin with striking light green eyes.

“Third born, princess Kitiara,” This time she was gesturing towards the shorter but slightly stockier woman with blond hair and ice-blue eyes. The gap in between would be the heir, Prince Ailwin, Moriko kept track of that much at least. She was also certain that Yuriko was helping her out by naming them with their birth order. She felt a nudge of curiosity from Mordecai about the second born being heir, and she thought about it briefly. She knew that their monarchy was a patriarchy and that it had something to do with the Azeria clan being a matriarchy, but she didn’t know the details.

“Fourth born, Princess Tiriana,” Yuriko continued. This princess was the most familiar looking in coloring, with dark hair, eyes, and features that could have fit in with any of the mixed human and elven blood families in Riverbridge.

“And sixth-born, Princess Bridgette.” The final young woman had fiery red hair that grew in a wild, almost feathery style, and dark, brilliant green eyes. This gap should be Princess Orchid, Moriko was pretty certain that the youngest was a boy. Plus Bridgette looked to be close to Kazue’s age.

“Your graces, this is Lady Moriko, late of Riverbridge and now of, well, that’s part of what dinner will be to discuss.” Yuriko turned to look at Moriko. “Your spouses have a claim on an uninhabited section of land along our southern border, technically just outside of our borders in a section of the mountains not claimed by any nation, a matter of treaties as there are many independent tribes who live there. So you may want to ask them to consider an official name for their territory. But that can all be discussed in two days.”

Moriko bowed again to the assembled group, and finally managed to get some words out, her first since Yuriko had startled her. “It is a pleasure to meet you, your highnesses.” She winced slightly as her tongue slid over the doubled ‘s’ sound. Mordecai’s amusement filled the back of her head, and she could feel him suggest that this was why Lady Yuriko had not once used the plural form of princess, and only once used hignesses. Moriko could also feel his curiosity at the strongly varied appearances of the four, and she reminded him that the nobility of Kuiccihan had a lot of mixed lineages, including many that were not human, or entirely mortal. That last thought was triggered by noticing that Bridgette’s hair was closer to flame-like than Moriko had realized before, the tips looking almost like actual fire.

“The pleasure is ours.” Princess Kagami said in a rich, slightly amused voice. “I do apologize for ambushing you like this, but dress and shoes alone do not complete an outfit I am afraid. The dinner will be private, in that the only non-family to be there will be those serving the dinner, but you will still need to make a bit of an entrance as it is an official dinner invitation. So, while Mistress Ula is brilliant and I am not sure she charges us enough, we have decided to help you complete your outfit. Accessories are a must.” Now her smile turned wicked and conspiratorial. “We don’t need the guards for protection you know. We’re all quite capable, and we have our favorite Auntie here too, but someone will need to carry everything.”

Moriko’s plans for the day were slipping ever further away, and she did wish that her dear husband would stop snickering at her. Well, at least she actually liked shopping for pretty clothes. “Thank you for your generosity.” She wasn’t sure how much she meant the formality, that irrational part of her just wanted to run away from the whole thing. But that was stupid. No, the princesses were showing her kindness, she should be grateful. Moriko took a deep breath, then continued. “I apologize if I am a bit awkward. I am not used to the formalities of court.” She gave them the best smile she could at the moment. “I place myself in your hands.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Bridgette, the youngest, said as she bounded forward and took Moriko’s hands in hers. “I mean, you have to worry about it a little when we are in public, but we are in private right now. Well, sort of.” She gestured her head toward the store’s front windows. “But the guards are making sure that no gawkers are hanging about at least.” She grinned at Moriko. “Really, we are here to make friends. Most people won’t know what to make of you and yours, so we want to help make a good impression. And Orchid’s letter said she thought well of you three, though I think she didn’t tell us everything.” Those dark green eyes sparked with mischief. “I hope you’ll be able to fill in what she is not telling us.”

Moriko’s thoughts jumped to a particular moment, and her lips quirked as she felt Mordecai’s thoughts reach the same point. She glanced around and leaned in, which drew the other women in close automatically as they felt the tug of a potential secret being told. “Well,” Moriko said in a quiet voice, “She’s probably a bit embarrassed an earth elemental snuck up on her and punched her in the back of the head.” There were suitable sounds of surprise from them, but no looks of deep shock. They knew and understood that Orchid got into physical danger. Kitiara seemed particularly contemplative as she briefly drummed her fingers on the hilt of the sword by her side.

It felt almost like her vision was clearing, and Moriko looked at the princesses again. All of them were in beautiful dresses of course, but much like the designs she’d just been picking out none of them were truly restricting.

Kagami wasn’t just ethereal and graceful, she gave the distinct impression that she’d practically float out of the way of an attack.

Kitiara had a more solid presence and cooler demeanor, and given the thick-bladed sword by her side, Moriko suspected she was the sort of swordsman who met physical attacks head-on.

Tiriana had a pair of lighter, slender blades at her sides. Given the designs of the hilts and the way they matched, it seemed likely that she was trained in one of the elven styles focused on dual-wielding swords.

And Bridgette, well, her hands felt unusually warm, and with the way her hair looked to almost flicker, Moriko would be surprised if the youngest princess wasn’t some sort of mage.

Combined with how quickly the clothier had jumped to working concealed weapons into Moriko’s dress, she was getting a different impression of the royal family than she had before. Also, she was wondering just how much deadly metal was concealed inside those layers of cloth.