No Need For A Core?

Moriko took lead on this conversation, now that her headache had cleared up. "Amrydor, why don't you tell us what happened from your point of view, and then we'll fill in the rest. Well, to the extent that we know. We have a couple of things we'll need to find out ourselves."

Amrydor nodded and said, "Well, it started after we got to Riverbridge. This girl started hanging around and asking a lot of questions about the dungeon and what we did here. It didn't seem that unusual at first, even when she started to focus on me to pester with questions. But it started to seem really odd when she kept asking questions about Fuyuko, especially since she kept calling her Princess Fuyuko or Lady Fuyuko."

Moriko was willing to bet that the 'girl' had been cute and she guessed that most girls didn't ask Amrydor a lot of questions about other girls. The boy was handsome, well-spoken, generally confident, and had the right mix of gentle and fierce.

"That was when I got suspicious and started asking her questions back," Amrydor continued. "She gave me strange answers that felt true but didn't make any sense and didn't tell me anything. So while we were talking I tried to be sneaky with a cold iron pin, but I never got a chance to even try to poke her with it before she laughed, snatched it away from me, and then kissed it before handing it back. So, um, not a fey. But she didn't seem offended, she seemed happy, I think."

The boy frowned at the memory and then shook his head. "After that she asked me questions about my loyalty, which seemed strange, and so I didn't answer; instead, I tried to press her on why she wanted to know. That was when she claimed she had a right to know and she insisted that I tell her the truth. I, I think I could have refused her, but I couldn't be evasive or anything, and I felt certain she had told the truth about having a right to know. So I told her my loyalties."

He hesitated before finishing his story with, "She laughed and said most girls would be offended at coming in third, then she kissed me on the cheek and disappeared."

Third? Even as Moriko noted that, she felt echoing curiosity from Mordecai and Kazue. 'Second' should have been correct, if their assumptions were accurate.

"That was when the back of my hands started to itch," he said as he raised his hands to show the back of them. "By the time I found Yugo and Taeko, I had these marks." Two normally invisible symbols blazed to life. On the back of one hand was the symbol for Azeria Mountain, partially covered by a shield. On the back of the other was a three-horned wolf head with fairy wings behind it, and a shield below it as if guarding the wolf's body.

Well, that answered Moriko's curiosity about why Kuiccihan had been 'third', though she found herself less than surprised. She was going to need to have a chat with that boy later, though in her role as a priestess of Sakiya. "Did you notice anything else strange about the 'girl'?" she asked with amusement.

"Yeah," Amrydor replied, "she'd felt like a normal person right up until she kissed me on the cheek. Then for a moment it felt like her life was spread out everywhere that I could sense before it faded. But it was more like it was being hidden than going away."

"Will someone tell me what is going on now?" Taeko asked with annoyance. "When we met with Amrydor and saw his Marks, Yugo said 'Don't tell me she Marked you too?' Then he looked like he had said something he wasn't supposed to say and has refused to talk about it. Why is there a girl who can hand out Marks like that? Don't they just appear?"

"Because," Mordecai said, "Kuiccihan has always been the one handing out her Marks, but as I understand it, this is the first time her avatar has chatted with someone directly before Marking them."

"Wait," Deidre interjected, "Kuiccihan is a... oh, of course. I never crossed, um, you said 'her', borders before, so I never had a chance to realize it." She scowled and said, "None of the bastards ever even took me close enough to get a look. They never thought I might be able to puzzle out something that they couldn't. I might have figured it out anyway, but I tried to not think about things that might help them out unless they made me."

Taeko gaped for a moment before he recovered and asked incredulously, "Kuiccihan is a nexus? It, er, she has always been a nexus? Wait, does this have something to do with the royals being related to Mordecai?"

"And to myself," Satsuki added with more than a little amusement, "through our daughter Norumi, who was the founding mother of both the royal family and the Azeria clan."

Moriko rapidly discarded the idea of making any 'dowager queen' jokes like those that Kazue had made to her mother.

Deidre tilted her head before saying, "You have a daughter with him, but you have become Kazue's knight. That seems... complicated."

"Oh, it is," Satsuki replied, "but that's also a matter for a much later day."

The three boys all looked uncomfortable and Moriko decided it would be best to change the subject. "So," she said, "you've been let in on more secrets than strictly necessary, but they are related and are slowly becoming less secret anyway, you are just ahead of the curve. But you are still not to talk with anyone else about this. Now, what are we supposed to do about Amrydor's Marks?"

"Wait," Mordecai said, "before we get into that, I think it's time to reduce our audience. This gathering was to bring Yugo and Taeko up to speed, and it felt right to let Deidre know now, but I think the rest we should discuss with just Amrydor. Satsuki can fill Deidre in about the nature of the Marks."

Once the room was cleared, Kazue asked, "Amrydor, do you know why you have two marks?"

Amrydor answered slowly and carefully. "I do not know, but I suspect the second Mark is somehow related to Fuyuko."

Moriko laughed softly. "Somehow related? It's entirely about her. We haven't had a chance to talk with Kuiccihan to find out her intentions, but I know the meaning of that Mark. That type of Mark has previously only been given to guardians of those princesses of the royal family who... wait, if she's our daughter, and Mordecai is an ancestor of the royal family, that makes Fuyuko sister to the founding queen. Does that make her a princess of Kuiccihan as well?"

That created a brief discussion which simply ended in uncertainty, though it seemed likely that Kuiccihan thought it counted.

"Anyway," Moriko continued, "that is to mark a devoted guardian of a princess who herself has been Marked to train with the Azeria clan." She frowned at a thought. "I think there's some rules-bending here; Fuyuko doesn't have a Mark, and she's certainly not going to get the type of training Orchid got, but she has also already trained with Aia."

Amrydor looked nervous and unable to say anything. Mordecai and Kazue were staring him down, but Moriko could feel their amusement as they teased the boy. It was tempting to join in, but she did have her responsibilities.

"Before you two worry him to death; Amrydor, we need to talk, and I am speaking as a priestess right now. It's fine that you can be that devoted to her, and I know you are already aware that while she can be a loyal friend, she may not ever be able or willing to be more than that. She and I have talked and I know about the conversation she overheard, so I think you are already on the right track, but I need to be certain you understand this. However devoted you may be or become to her, it's clear that your own romantic passions are fairly strong. You need to keep those feelings directed toward others, for the sake of your own mental and emotional health. Unrequited love is fine for romantic stories of certain sorts, but it will mess with your head over time. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ma'am," Amrydor said, then paused before adding. "Mostly, at least. Um, I don't have any problems with being turned down or anything. Just, she's sticking in my head a lot more than others have."

Well, as long as he was self aware, that shouldn't be too much of a problem. "Very well, but if you have any issues, you should come to me. I don't promise complete confidence of any secrets, but I do promise to prioritize keeping things in confidence so long as I feel it is not detrimental to Fuyuko to do so. You should also seek out Princess Orchid's consort Paltira; he carries an equivalent Mark and can guide you on what to expect. You should have plenty of opportunities to train with him during our trip south as well"

Which brought up a related issue. "Speaking of which, what do we tell Fuyuko?" Moriko asked Mordecai and Kazue. "I'm not sure there's any reason to bring it up to her, and at this point I think she'd find Amrydor's willingness to devote himself to being her guardian confusing. Or rather, understanding how it might be different than what she feels about her friends and family might be confusing."

In the end, they agreed to not mention it to her if there was no reason to tell her. It wasn't a hard secret, just a soft one to avoid any issues. Moriko had been doing her best to help Fuyuko understand what others often felt, but every analogy she could come up with was only a piece of what either romantic love or desire felt like, and even then they were imperfect. The particular devotion that Amrydor was committing to was a peculiar variant that Moriko found a touch confusing herself and had never tried to describe.

The training on recognizing when people might be talking around the subject had been going better at least. Maybe Kazue could talk to Fuyuko about platonic romantic knightly devotion? That seemed more like her thing.

"So," Amrydor asked after that was concluded, "about the first mark, I understand I'm supposed to do some special training related to it?"

"Yes," Mordecai replied, "but to be frank, we aren't certain what sort of training, as you are our first Marked trainee. Kuiccihan's other allies have had a while to figure out what works for them. For the moment, we'll just move forward with our current training plans."

Yet another thing to add on to their pile of 'after we save Deidre' decisions.

After Amrydor left, Moriko decided to take a walk around the faerie side of their realm while she thought. Mordecai and Kazue were helping with the final stages of packing all possible supplies, and they could do a lot more there than Moriko could given their ability to move stuff through the dungeon's territory.

What Kazue had proposed with regards to Satsuki was both interesting and disturbing.

Before she'd met Mordecai and Kazue, Moriko would have been happy to spend a wild night, or week, with Satsuki. All things considered, there probably would have been plenty of happy 'bodies' in their wake. Parting would have left fond memories, but nothing more lingering than with other people whose company Moriko had enjoyed.

On that first night back in Riverbridge, Moriko had made a decision between different things she wanted. After that, she'd had to work on breaking certain thought patterns and habits, and her spouses had certainly been able to keep her physical needs met, but Moriko was still a creature of passion and desire.

That made the idea of expanding their relationship scary.

It felt like it might make it easy to fall back on old habits, and Moriko didn't want that. Satsuki wasn't exactly a stabilizing influence and that created a fear that this might somehow lead to Moriko slipping with someone outside of their relationship.

Moriko knew that wasn't an entirely rational fear; there were so many mental and emotional anchors to keep her grounded that there should be no way for Moriko to forget herself for even a moment. But the idea of ever hurting Mordecai or Kazue like that was terrifying, and somehow the knowledge that they'd probably forgive her anyway didn't make things better.

But Kazue had made a point which made Moriko's heart ache. Mordecai was walling a part of himself off because he didn't want to risk doing something like that to Moriko and Kazue either. If they brought Satsuki in, then Mordecai could make his memories whole, without fear of what that would cause.

But Satsuki would also sit separate from them. Kazue's scenario seemed a little extreme, but Satsuki seemed willing to accept a subordinate position in the relationship. Moriko felt uncertain about that idea; it wasn't something she'd normally consider part of a healthy relationship, but she wasn't certain how healthy a relationship that included Satsuki could be.

However, Moriko was very aware of how she felt about the idea of watching her sweet little Kazue conquer the sometimes rather feral Satsuki. It was a rather potent bit of erotic imagery for Moriko, and she didn't feel any of the jealousy or other negative emotions she would have expected to.

As for Satsuki herself, Moriko found herself rather ambivalent about the idea of sharing their bed with her. Oh, the vixen wielded some potent sexuality, but Moriko found that, for her at least, it was only impactful in person.

Maybe that was the key for her. She needed to care more about Satsuki herself. Which brought up the question of whether she wanted to care that much. But Mordecai did care that much while caring enough about Moriko and Kazue to not let himself feel more than an echo of his original feelings for Satsuki, and Kazue was willing to consider caring enough to let Satsuki in.

Which brought Moriko back to where she had started.

Well, no one said this was going to be an easy decision.