No Need for a Core?

The past week had been emotionally rough for everyone even as the dungeon kept a mostly normal front when dealing with the public. On top of that, they had received a visit from Moriko's parents and Traxalim. Bellona was still amused by Traxalim's irritation when he received an explanation of what had happened. She'd tried to put a humorous spin on it by telling him that he had un-aged gracefully, but that didn't help. "Yes," he'd said wearily, "I am unfortunately aware. I preferred it when my subordinates and trainees thought of me in a more grandfatherly fashion."

That hadn't occurred to her, but she could see it. Traxalim was now a handsome sort of middle-aged and he had the right combination of grace, confidence, and kindliness to make him very attractive to some younger women, and even more attractive to women closer to his apparent age.

While she'd been explaining the situation to the priest, Mordecai had been talking with Jhaeros and Kaoru. Moriko's status as a Faerie Queen explained where Kaoru's new ability to smell magical properties of plants and alchemical ingredients had come from, and why Jhaeros's homunculus familiar had gained fey traits and now looked more like a brownie than an alchemical construct. Jhaeros didn't mind his familiar having a bit more personality, but it had been rather disconcerting of a change to wake up to.

Thankfully these sudden awakenings appeared to only propagate linearly; none of Moriko's siblings had shown signs of fey traits, much to Galan's disappointment.

Unfortunately for Mordecai, they'd also asked how their daughter was doing. Bellona had been entertained listening to him very carefully phrase how Moriko and Kazue had gotten into an interesting adventure with a new friend of theirs going by the name of Ruby.

They'd both given him hard looks when they realized how carefully he'd said that. In the end, he'd stonewalled them with, "There are secrets involved that are not mine. There is more I could say, but I think it best for Moriko to tell you herself after she gets back. Once they return, none of us is planning on leaving anytime before spring, so there is plenty of time."

Once he'd locked down with that, he didn't budge. Standing firm against the reasonable concerns of one's in-laws was not an easy task, but he knew how to hold his ground. It made Bellona wonder how much practice he'd had with being that type of stubborn over the centuries of his life. They'd eventually left off their questioning, though neither looked pleased about it.

Bellona also had been busy communicating with the capital. Sure, Mordecai wanted those troops from Trionea here for training, but officially transporting that many soldiers on orders was difficult to do across Kuiccihan borders, and whatever arrangements Mordecai and the Baron made, both were still limited by politics between Trionea and Kuiccihan.

During that flurry of communications, the dungeon had also received word confirming that Dimitri Igorek had managed to escape. All else being equal, the wards that had been erected should have been enough to prevent his teleportation out, except the compound where the mage lived was not his true safehold. Not when he had an enslaved dungeon nearby.

Examination of Dimitri's rooms revealed that he'd used an expensive one-shot talisman to help power his escape. Combined with his connection to the enslaved dungeon, putting up a ward strong enough to stop a wizard of his strength was nearly impossible. On the upside, Mordecai was fairly confident that Dimitri couldn't use a similar trick for a second escape from the dungeon once cornered there. There was no evidence of him having another fallback location, and without a prepared location to teleport to the same power-up trick wouldn't work.

No, the real trick was going to be making the wizard stay dead once they got that far. Bellona hadn't had to deal with that sort of fight yet herself, but she'd had her training. A prepared wizard was hard to properly kill, there were several tricks that could be used as automated contingencies to prevent an actual death.

At least they shouldn't have to deal with the dungeon having a full break. Mordecai had sent instructions to fire a messenger arrow into the dungeon with a note reading [We have no interest in harming the dungeon, we know you have enough stores that this should not do more than inconvenience you.]

After that, he'd told them how far back to set barricades and rules of engagement to ensure no one got dragged back to the dungeon alive, and other wizards were setting up wards to prevent natural mana flow. This would starve a dungeon in normal circumstances, but Deidre had been able to confirm that she had a painfully large pool of mana she wasn't allowed to use properly. According to Mordecai, 'painful' was not sufficient as a description. Under normal circumstances, there was a maximum amount a dungeon could hold before they needed to use it, but an enslaved dungeon could be forced to hold more than their normal capacity.

There was a clear reason for the dungeon to be forced to hold that much mana; spending it on growth would make the dungeon stronger, which would strain the bindings that kept the core enslaved. But that mana pool was dangerous once the bindings were broken; it would be difficult for a recently freed dungeon to spend or control. But dealing with that part was not going to be her job, and Bellona was glad for it.

For now, her job was to keep training dungeon inhabitants in the arts of war and to deal with the occasional visiting troublemaker. She was pretty good at both and was quite pleased with how the kobolds were integrating with the rabbit clans.

A couple of days after Kazue, Moriko, and Ruby were verified to be safe, Kazue's core caught Bellona's attention right before lunchtime. "You should take the rest of the day off," she said, sounding pleased.

Bellona frowned slightly at the sudden announcement and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"You'll see!" Kazue's mental voice had a sing-song tone to it as she avoided answering the question, but Bellona didn't have to wait long before the answer came walking into the arena a few moments later, wearing a pack. Bellona had been wondering where Xarlug had disappeared to, and Xarlug's slightly nervous smile had her suspicious about what was up.

Still, she wasn't going to take the lead here, he had a plan and Bellona was going to see how this played out. So she simply asked, "Something on your mind?"

Xarlug shifted his weight and cleared his throat before asking, "Well, I thought it might be nice to share a lunch together someplace private, and I know a nice spot for a picnic, so, um, care to take a bit of a walk with me?"

The reddish tint to his skin made it hard to pick out a blush, but Bellona was pretty certain it was there. She smiled and replied, "Yeah, I think that sounds nice. Let me change quickly first." This didn't seem like the sort of situation where armor would be a romantic addition. Bellona also took a moment to sluice some water over her skin before hastily drying off and pulling on a shirt and trousers. Too much sweat wasn't sexy, especially once it had time to dry.

The walk led them into the warrens and eventually down a suspiciously new and unused-looking tunnel that dead-ended at a cozy little cavern smelling of warmth and earth. The uneven floor was covered with a soft and lush mossy layer and the walls were decorated with a mixture of fungal and crystal blooms that gave off a soft glow and left the space just dim enough to help set the mood with the high-end near the entrance large and flat enough to fit a picnic blanket comfortably. From there, the floor gently tumbled downward with a quietly burbling stream feeding into the clear, nearly still pond at the far end. The pond with a collection of colorful stones and a small group of fireflies dancing over its surface, hid beside it a small alcove with towels and changes of clothes. It was as romantic as some of those books the delvers, especially the kitsune shrine maidens, had recently taken to bringing out of the library; and she felt certain that Kazue had designed it.

"It's a pretty place you've stumbled on to here," Bellona teased as Xarlug set down his pack.

He shrugged and grinned, "Alright, you have me there. I asked for it, and Kazue obliged." Xarlug brought a large blanket out of the pack and laid it out before he started bringing out food and drink.

Bellona considered the offered fare a moment as she noticed a pattern for about half of the prepared food. "That's a nice selection," she commented with a neutral tone, "why did you pick these?"

"Ah, your cousin helped there," he admitted, "so I decided to make it half your favorite foods and half mine, and enough to share. You know, a way to get to know each other's tastes better."

Not a bad idea and Bellona could deal with Kansif later. "That sounds fun," she replied, her voice warming as she smiled. She'd have been less pleased if he'd simply tried to include her favorite foods, or if certain selections had been his choice. Oysters and caviar were not particularly high on her list, and in context it made the honey cakes suspect too. The mead she could find no fault with even if it was also supposedly an aphrodisiac; the dungeon made a nice fizzy brew.

They took the time to eat slowly while they talked, which was a bit hard for Bellona at first. Her lunch normally started a good hour earlier and exercise always left her hungry. Once her hunger was sated enough, she made a game out of the 'special' food that Kansif had suggested and insisted that she and Xarlug feed those to each other. He didn't seem to be aware of what they were supposed to be, and it was more fun than just eating them would have been. They ate messily and playfully enough that they required a little bit of clean-up after eating them that way, but that was part of the fun, as was sneaking in the occasional kiss to 'help' clean off a spot of honey.

After their picnic lunch, Xarlug started fidgeting nervously and then finally said, "So, I think it's about time I told you a little more about me, and the man whose name I bear." It was a sudden shift in the tone of their afternoon, but that also told her that this was important.

Bellona nodded and replied, "Alright, I'm listening," as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. It was obvious that this was going to be difficult for him, but there was little she could do to help other than be patient.

"Well, first, the original Xarlug was a warlord, and in his time had banded together a lot of the tribes in the southern plains. Everything I know about him points to him being not remotely a nice person. But he had charisma, and there was a small group of devoted followers that outlived him. They sort of worshiped him and spread stories saying that he was going to be resurrected and become even mightier than before. Which comes around to me."

He looked down and toyed with a fork as he gathered his thoughts again. "I am a clone. I said before that I had his memories, but that was not entirely true. I have the memories that were constructed for me out of the stories others knew; I was meant to become his replacement and a figurehead for a new wave of conquest. But it is worse than that."

She reached over and took one of his hands in hers, and simply held it. Xarlug flashed her a brief, pained smile and then continued, "The woman who created me had her own obsession. Her notes suggest that she was lying to them and telling them she was preparing a resurrection ritual when she was making a clone instead. Her real plan had been to make me a puppet, and to that end, she had also deliberately created a flaw in me, a sort of hole in my brain. If that hole is not properly 'plugged', I can just simply be taken over by anyone who knows how to do it. And the only way to plug the hole is for me to be under someone's sway."

Bellona had a bad feeling about where this was going, but she held his hand firmly when she felt him start to pull back. She wasn't going to let go, not when he was telling her something like this.

Xarlug swallowed hard before he could speak again. "She intended to make me her toy as well and use her magic to support my conquest. And when the time was ripe she'd have had us get 'married', and she'd have born my children with the intent of founding a legacy and maybe an empire. Any woman with even moderate enchanting skills could take advantage of the flaw she'd intended to use for herself, and her books suggest that she was very skilled. I would have been her creature. We don't know what exactly happened to interfere with this plan, I was found in a buried laboratory whose enchantments had held over the centuries. Above this place was a set of ruins that had been the site of a battle. Presumably, she died there."

He took a deep breath and let out a shuddering sigh. "Princess Orchid and Paltira are the ones who found me, though I certainly did not know she was a princess at the time. I was still held inside the chamber where I had been grown and implanted with memories, unaware of anything at all. Orchid was careful, she read the books, she studied the rituals, and she did what she could to minimize the flaw. But it was already built inside of me, grown with me. So when she woke me up, Orchid helped me learn who and what I actually was, despite my initial skepticism."

He looked embarrassed when he said, "I was a mixture of vulnerable and dangerous that could become a disaster, and I could hear those constructed memories clamoring for conquest. So when she made an offer to bind me in a way similar to how her consort was bound to her, I accepted. I had no place in this world anyway, and I could not trust myself. It seemed better to be lightly bound to someone making an offer rather than risk simply being taken and becoming someone's property. It's... not entirely comfortable of a bond because we don't behave or feel the way the bond was meant for."

Xarlug held her gaze while he spoke quietly, "I can always feel her mind and emotions, however distantly, and I have to push that to a very distant corner for everyone's sake. Which brings us to the hardest part. I don't dare to be unbound, but none of us want me to remain connected to Orchid. Which means being bound to someone else, if I can find someone to trust, and they are willing."

That was a lot to ask, but he was putting his trust in her. Bellona closed her eyes as she thought, and when he started to pull his hand away again she drew it up to her lips instead before settling his hand in her lap. She wasn't going to let him run away, but she needed to think and be sure before she did or said anything.

There were some things not being said here. For one, she was pretty certain that a bond meant for lovers involved sleeping together once, though she was pretty certain it was only the one time from the way he behaved. It would also make it very awkward if he could feel Orchid's emotions every time she and Paltira... yeah, best not to think about that part too much.

Going from where they were to being bonded that way would be a big jump. Bellona wanted to progress their relationship and if it worked out she was considering something more long-term or permanent, but this would be accelerating that process a lot.

She eventually came to a decision that would do for now and opened her eyes to smile at Xarlug. "I'm open to the idea, but I think we need to work on a few things first. I am used to taking the lead and pulling others after me and I have to know that you won't just fold to my will. It's clear that Paltira can stand up to Orchid and set some of their rules, so it's not one-sided." Bellona let go of his hand and sat up a little more. "The question is, can you take charge?"

"What?" Xarlug asked, clearly confused.

"I said, can you take charge?" Her smile slid into a challenging smirk as she continued, "and can you make me feel not in control at all?"

His eyes widened as he got it. "Oh. Wait, you know that she'll know, right?"

"Yes," Bellona replied, "but I do hope that's not enough to stop you." She tried to not blush as she said that, feeling more than a little scandalous. Bellona was not inexperienced, but she normally kept such matters private. She also tended to take control and get what she wanted. This step was going to be important for both of them, one way or another.

Then he kissed her and didn't ask any more questions with words. Even their small tusks made kissing a little more difficult, but a bit of roughness was fine by her.

Bellona still had to guide him a little, but he was a quick study. That afternoon in the private little space was going to be a good start, though not enough by itself. She was comfortable with being in charge more often than not in their relationship, but he had to be confident enough to not let her push him around either.

Much later that evening, Bellona caught Kansif giving her a knowing smirk, and Bellona rolled her eyes at her cousin's theatrics. She also made sure to find a private moment to pull Kansif aside and said, "Make sure Xarlug can stand up to me if we ever have a strong disagreement."

Kansif nodded as she dropped the smirk and replied, "He told you then? Good. He's been building up to it for a while." She shrugged at Bellona's expression. "Orchid tells me everything; I don't judge, only offer support, options, and questions. Answers are hers to find. It's not an official duty, but I feel it is my duty."

That made sense to Bellona, given what she'd learned of the princess's skill set. Orchid needed an outside perspective, as Paltira was too close and biased to provide that point of view. "Just don't take on too much, alright?" Bellona said as she laid her hand on Kansif's shoulder, "We can't have you carrying everyone's burdens."

"Says the woman who just gave me another burden," Kansif retorted with a grin. "Come on, let's go get a drink to celebrate a new beginning, and tomorrow I'll figure out what I can do to help push Xarlug in the right direction."