The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 508 - Preparing Others For Opportunity Is Like Leading Them To Luck
Warden Patrician Qatrand was still using the same abandoned quarry shaft to send people to visit with Elua er Goltbred as she had from the beginning. It was simply the most private location she could bring others to within any short period, thanks to a series of new stone extraction camp that had been placed in an area that Yatrel had suggested. Which kept the needs of the settlement separated from her own.
The surroundings of the old one had been deemed off limits and placed on record as awaiting an investigation that would likely never come - using a rumor of landslide risks from a deep shear plane within the high cliff to scare those familiar with those sorts of geological dangers. Lying to her people wasn’t her favorite thing to do, but protecting her wife’s secrets... was also perhaps not the most *fun*!
Yet, it was a kind of purpose she never regretted carrying out. Even if letting the important people being sent her way into the truths they needed to know to deal with her was often an enjoyable time for the swordswoman. Qat had spent the week talking to her siblings about her El, preparing them as best she could.
Stories about Elua’s teaching methods... not just the way she had dealt ’sweetly’ with her ’beloved’, but anecdotes from those she had spoken with after they came back from the Astral Exclave. Getting across how exacting she could be at times and how whimsically off-handed at others was easy enough with examples. How she could be frustratingly demanding, but never cruel for cruelty’s sake was a story she called Aleck up to tell.
He didn’t explain it very well, the young woman thought once it was over. But she’d also asked him to avoid speaking too many *details* about what they would experience. It was hard to explain how he was knocked out over and over again by ’her training’ without mentioning the machine nightmares... and without making it seem like she personally had been the one to strike him and drag him away to recover each time!
Another thing that did not come across as positively as the former Yecine wished was how the brunette could very much be *petty* and ’vindictive’ seemingly just for the sake of it. Nysoi and Zonnel’s attempts to talk to the two young boys... really didn’t make them understand the difference between someone having a mean-hearted attitude and someone ’pouting’ cutely who could be coaxed as long as you recognized the signs.
After all, just like Qat at their age they hadn’t really interacted with girls.
Ajoreal did not, anyway, but Kaland seemed to have a *lot* of specific questions and examples he discussed openly - once the ice had broken - regarding his time in the Youth Guild so far. Like why some would get together and giggle while avoiding looking at him, which he’d been thinking was because of family rumors. Or why he kept finding little tins of medicinal salve placed in his hands before they ran off screaming to hug one of their friends.
It was to the point that even his younger brother looked at him like a stranger with a malfunctioning brain. His much shorter experience attending lessons outside the estate so far had not garnered him ’that’ sort of attention, but it took *very little* talking to people just to learn the latest fads among their cohort. Ajoreal had honestly thought Kaland already knew how he was unexpectedly popular for no clear reason and that it was why the other boys avoided him!
However, while they had started to open up a bit and grow used to conversation with their often busy elder sister, the time came all too quickly for them to wait for the realmshard to activate. Heavy backpacks full of goods - both for themselves and to share with the ancient cultivator they would be imposing on - were worn along with new practice blades made by the territory’s blacksmith. Partly because she wanted to show off the man’s skill to Elua... and partly because she wanted her brothers to have something good.
They had been through their Witness ceremonies, but neither had yet taken their First Blood thanks to family tensions. It wasn’t that she wanted them to slaughter a helpless animal specifically, though she respected some of the intent behind the traditions. However, that *was* the point in their martial family that they would have received their better-made partner blade until their Arena Trial was taken.
’And I have a feeling sending them there is at least as spiritually informative and physically tough as those two events...’
"Remember what I told you. You continue your training while you are there. You listen to her the same way you’d listen to any instructor, regardless of how strange her advice might seem. My wife will expect you to work for every lesson she gives. Ask questions that show you’re thinking things through, not just looking for her to solve it for you." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
A short pause came, before her low voice added on what should be the loud part quietly. As a final advice for how interacting with Elua worked.
"And if you show admiration for me despite everything you know about our family situation... she’ll be more generous with her instruction. If *she* believes that, everything will go smoothly."
Both of them gave an Ironclad Order style salute, though they were not yet members. It had grown obvious to her, over the days, that they actually did think quite highly of their oldest sibling. But the blonde still knew in her heart that it was more important for her mint-drop to believe it, even should it only be *slightly* true. After all, some praise had been enough for a Clairvoyant and Empath - Aspects that she knew her wife had reason to dislike - to last months before coming back safe and stronger.
And lovey-dovey. Which occasionally annoyed Qat on a personal, just a *little* ’envious’ level. That feeling was more complicated when watching Rezzue er Yecine. Because while the former member of that family was sure that El held a kind of love for herself that surpassed anyone else’s, she’d also seen a rather gentle but strong sort woven between the red-haired woman and Navuill.
