Bremondt set the invoice on the counter. “An’ that should be the last of it.”
“Excellent,” Miounne answered, looking over the form before folding it and putting it in the drawer behind her counter. “Things have been picking up here since the lull in the fighting.”
“Best be on my way then,” the hyur replied with a teasing grin.
“Nonsense! There’s a bit of time for a meal--especially with a friend,” Miounne answered, looking past Bremondt, her expression brightening as she waved.
Bremondt turned and after a moment smiled as well, as Aeryn Striker crossed the main room of the Carline Canopy. Regulars--some native Gridanians, some adventurers--paused to watch her. A few obviously recognized her, elbowing their fellows and furtively whispering and watching. Others did not, their attention still caught by a confident adventurer in fine gear, striding over to the desk.
Aeryn nodded to them both. “Afternoon Miounne...Bremondt,” she said, taking a moment to look him over and making sure she had the right brother.
He chuckled. “Aye, it’s been too long, lass; ever since yer order moved out to Mor Dhona, we don’t see ye so often.” He sobered a bit. “Ah, speakin’ of, how’s Master Urianger an’ the others? Word’s been a bit scarce.”
“It’s...complicated,” Aeryn said with a bit of a helpless shrug.
“I can only imagine,” Miounne interjected. “I was just about to make this man sit for a proper dinner; why don’t you join us, Aeryn? You can tell us about your most recent adventures--what you can tell, anyroad.”
“‘Make’ she says,” Bremondt said to Aeryn. “As if anyone in their right mind needs convincin’ to eat Mother’s cookin’.”
Aeryn laughed and nodded her agreement, and they sat at a nearby table together, where she began to tell a few stories--first about her time in the Far East, freeing Doma from the Garleans, and then all that came after Ala Mhigo’s liberation.
By the time Miounne appeared with dinner, Aeryn was about to lapse into thoughtful silence again, debating what she could tell.
“If it’s classified, you don’t have to, no matter how much Bremondt demands,” Miounne said fondly, taking a seat and a plate for herself.
“It’s not that,” Aeryn replied with a shake of her head. She tucked back loose strands of black hair the motion had dislodged. “It’s just so….unbelieveable, and I lived it.”
“Epic, I believe is the term,” Bremondt said. “If it’s got someone as storied as you wonderin’ at it.” He chuckled at her smile and blushing.
That was still easy enough to do, but her smile was different; it was far from the only difference, he realized. The shy, almost awkward foreign girl he had shared a carriage with but a few short years ago had become the confident defender of the realm, power and a quiet weariness traced across her limbs and in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her smile.
“Become the sort of storied personage I can brag about havin' met, an' I'll consider us square,” he had said to her, once upon a time. She had done all that and more, while he and his brothers had watched her career with interest. In many ways, the metamorphosis from that fledgling adventurer to hero of the realm was inevitable.
He still felt a bit of a crack in his heart. He wasn’t responsible for any of it--he had simply recognized her potential for greatness from the outset, how could one not--but at the same time, those words now haunted him, and he had a feeling they always would.
