NOVEL NEXT Chapter 155 – The Distance between Mortals and Immortals
"You'd think that after having experienced it many times, seeing those you care and love about grow old and die would get less painful. For some, that might well be the case. For me, it never did. I felt every loss as keenly as before, and mourned those I have lost in my long life, yet again.
I would not have it any other way." - Written in the Diary of Aideen Fiachna, the First Unliving, circa 132 VA.
It was not difficult to find Maebh's residence. She had lived in their old mansion, the same house Aideen grew up in. Her "office" was the study room her grandfather used to work in when he was the pope, now appropriated as the governor's office.
They also passed by the old grand cathedral since it was on the way to the family mansion. The old building had been rebuilt bigger and better, and the new decorations showed the main difference between the past and the present.
Where the old cathedral was painted in pristine white, the refurbished building combined white, black, and various shades of gray in its decoration. Even the altar, where a statue of Vitalis used to be placed, now housed two statues placed next to one another.
On one side was a statue of Vitalis carved out of white marble - a new one since the old statue was destroyed during the Antemeian rule of the city back then - while next to it, was a statue that depicted Tohrmut, expertly crafted from fire-blackened bones.
Where the original inhabitants of the city were tense and distrustful at first, when they had liberated the city nearly thirty years ago, nowadays Aideen saw harmony, as the clergy of both deities worked hand in hand like old friends. Some literally even had their hands in each other's as they walked.
The sight warmed her heart and soul, to see the people of her homeland finally achieve some peace and prosperity - even if it came with the loss of sovereignty - after all the efforts and sacrifices her family had made for so long.
With much nostalgic feeling, Aideen opened the door to the old house she once lived in. The door was unlocked, which wasn't uncommon for people to do in the day, and she saw a few clerks running around with papers in their hands, as well as a couple young children playing in the living room.
"How time flies," she said with another sigh. It sometimes still caught her off guard that Maebh, her little niece that she watched grow up from an infant to a young woman who fought alongside her, was a grandmother by now. Aideen recognized the little children as Maebh's eldest grandkids, the children of her first and second child respectively.
She thanked Artair as he gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder, and walked straight towards Maebh's office, since she was all too familiar with the layout of the house. Not before she gave the kids a couple of hugs and kisses, of course.
"Oh, hello, Aideen," said Clovis as he ran across her on the way to Maebh's office. The half-orcish disciple of the Bone Lord had aged visibly in the past three decades, with his head thoroughly bald at the top, and the hair that remained at the fringes mostly interspersed with gray.
"Been a while, Clovis," replied Aideen politely to her nephew-in-law. He had worked together with Maebh to govern the former Vitalican territory all these decades, to the point of neglecting his own pursuit of power, something Aideen felt gratitude for, yet also somewhat guilty about. "How's the family?"
"Oh, we're all fine. Hugh's wife's pregnant with their second, and Bernard's getting married next year," answered Clovis, naming the two sons he had with Maebh, a wide smile on his face. "Even little Deidre found someone she fancied of late!"
"I know," said Aideen with a nod as she returned his smile. "We ran into her on our way here, her boyfriend as well. Seems like a pretty nice kid."
"He's a local blacksmith's kid, ain't heard anything bad about him either," said Clovis. "Looks like he cared for Deidre pretty well, tho the kid's got no stomach for violence. Then again… it would be good if they can live peacefully and grow old without having violence in their lives at all."
"It would be a blessing, yeah," replied Aideen. The times where her people had to struggle for their existence and violence was a daily occurrence was pretty much over, for the current people in the city at least.
Ptolodecca remained a tamed, safe land, and none of its neighbors were foolish enough to risk the Bone Lord's ire, at least for the time being. She only wished that these people, the younger generations especially, could enjoy idyllic, peaceful lives in her stead.
"Anyway, is Maebh still in her office? Came to visit her today," Aideen finally asked after some more small talk with Clovis.
"Yea, she's still at work. Grainne's with her as well. I'll not delay you and be on my way then," said the half-orcish man. While in name Maebh was the governor of the region, in practice Clovis shared half the burdens of the office with her. Maebh mostly concentrated on the local people, while he handled their relation to the rest of Ptolodecca. It was an arrangement that has worked well over these decades.
"Thanks," said Aideen as she walked past and headed to Maebh's office around the corner.
She opened the door to Maebh's office after she knocked and heard an "enter" in reply, and saw her niece for the first time in four years. Maebh had grown old, her once brilliant red hair now interspersed thoroughly with gray, and her once solid, trained body softened by decades of peaceful life. Age lines marked her face, which to be fair, was to be expected, as the woman was now in her fifties.
Standing next to Maebh was her eldest daughter Grainne who looked almost identical to her mother in her younger days, if broader at the shoulders and more powerfully built. The two small tusks that peeked out from her lips made her heritage more clear as well.
Both women's faces brightened as they saw Aideen, and Maebh walked out from behind her desk to give her an embrace, while Grainne waved with a smile. Aideen reciprocated her niece's embrace, carefully holding her niece in her hands.
She watched Maebh's aged visage and felt a pang of melancholy, especially when she thought that she had not looked any different than the day the girl was born...
