PftA Book 5 - Chapter 20 - Alliance Marriages

“How’s your disciple training going?” Mom asked as I helped her prepare dinner a couple of weeks after my pill-making class started. Though

“How’s your disciple training going?” Mom asked as I helped her prepare dinner a couple of weeks after my pill-making class started.

Though she had one of the newest versions of the MealMaker, my mother often preferred to cook her meals fresh instead of eating food that had been transmuted. It wasn’t that she distrusted the device. She just preferred eating foods that hadn’t been modified in some way.

Having also grown up without magic, I understood her perception, even if I didn’t necessarily agree with it.

“It’s going well,” I told her before eyeing the food set out on the counter. Knowing she’d find it more interesting than discussing Alchemy, I said, “One of the classes I’m taking is actually a gardening class that focuses on cultivating mana-rich plants. So far, we’ve mostly been learning about how to grow a few specific herbs and vegetables. I think the teacher is a professional Chef, so that probably plays a part in which plants he’s having us focus on.”

“That’s good,” Mom said approvingly as she chopped a bundle of herbs. “Fresh food has got to be better for you than all that processed stuff.”

Though I knew that technically was not true since transmuted foods contained the exact same vitamins and minerals as their fresh counterparts, I simply smiled and continued stirring the pot in front of me.

“What time does Kaylee get off work?” I asked.

The demand for Veterinarians was a lot higher than one might expect, given the lack of mundane animals. Between the domesticated animals that remained relatively docile after being touched by mana and the beasts that had been tamed by Mind Mages (or those who acquired a general Beast Taming spell), there were quite a few creatures in need of care.

“She should be home anytime. She normally closes the clinic a little after five, though a late patient could delay her by a bit,” Mom said before tossing the herbs she’d finished with into the thin sauce I was tending. “Did Amie tell you she’s thinking about getting married?”

The question caught me off guard. I’d kept in contact with Amie pretty regularly, even during the war. But I had no idea marriage was something she was even considering anytime soon.

“No. She didn’t,” I replied with a frown. “I talked to her last week, and she didn’t say anything about getting married. She mentioned Rhona was engaged.”

After decades, my old boss had finally given in to her family’s requests to enter a marriage contract after reaching Tier Seven. I knew that Rhona wanted children, so hearing that she was planning to marry soon wasn’t much of a surprise. If anything, I was surprised she’d waited so long.

Amie, on the other hand…

“Yes, well… you know how Amie is with Lady Rhona.”

Mom’s inflection when saying Rhona’s name seemed a little more hostile than normal.

I knew that Amie had always adored her fellow Mind Mage, especially as a child. But I didn’t realize that her adulation had caused Mom to harbor ill feelings toward the honorary princess. That wasn’t like Mom at all.

“I don’t see what Rhona’s engagement has to do with Amie,” I said while watching my mother carefully. “Sure, Amie serves as some sort of assistant for Rhona, but I don’t see why Rhona getting married would cause Amie to feel like she should do the same.”

Mom sniffed lightly, clearly annoyed by the topic.

“You’d have to ask her. Who knows what the youth of today think?”

“Amie’s like forty,” I said with a snort. “I’m not sure that qualifies as being a ‘youth’.”

“It does when we’re talking about my granddaughter,” Mom said. “Here, give me that,” she said, taking the wooden spoon from my hand. After tasting the sauce, she added a few more ingredients and tasted it again. “That’s better.”

Mom handed back the spoon and shifted her focus to the seasoned fillets of white fish sitting on a piece of parchment paper next to the stove.

“Anyway,” she said, sliding the fish into an already hot pan covered in a thin layer of grease. “Amie’s got herself a few guys who’ve expressed interest. One of them is already married and is trying to line her up to be his next wife, and another actually has an open marriage contract and is hoping Amie will join the little harem he’s building.”

“I hope she isn’t planning to go with that guy,” I muttered under my breath.

I’d never understood why people would want to be married to more than one person. It was hard enough keeping one partner happy, much less dealing with the inevitable jealousy that would come from sharing someone’s affections.

I mean, maybe it worked for some people, but I couldn’t imagine ever being a part of a relationship like that. I didn’t see Amie as being any different.

“No. I don’t think she’s really considering either of them,” Mom said, easing my mind. “The one she’s got her eye on is actually connected to Lady Rhona,” she said with an almost-sneer. “I think he’s in the same party as Lady Rhona’s fiancé.”

“Yeah? So he’s a couple of tiers stronger?” I guessed.

I didn’t see Rhona marrying anyone weaker than her, and for the guy Amie was interested in to be in the same party, they pretty much had to be of a similar strength.

Mom shrugged. “Probably. I didn’t exactly ask since her mom called around the time she told me. Bell would probably know more since I’m sure she dug into the details.”

“Bell’s probably trying to figure out how to convince Amie to join her party instead of getting married,” I chuckled.

“I might have thought that, too, a few months ago. But our Bell seems a bit different lately,” Mom said. “I think she’s seeing someone new. One of those guys she’s been going around with.”

I stopped stirring the sauce and stared at my mom for a moment in shock.

“Are you going to tell me you’ve got a boyfriend now, too?” I asked with wide eyes. “Jeez. I feel like I’m literally the only person not settling down right now.” I shook my head and started stirring the sauce again. “Zavira is getting married. Amie’s talking about marriage. If you’re right, even Bell is dating again!”

“No, I’m not seeing anyone,” Mom said with a sigh. “And I’m not certain Bell is either. It’s just a feeling I have based on how she’s been acting lately. She seems a lot more lighthearted than she has since Justin died.”

“Maybe she’s finally moving on,” I suggested a little dismissively.

It wasn’t that I was against Bell having a boyfriend or anything. In fact, I was all for it. I was just a little surprised at how many people suddenly seemed to be getting married.

Change was still a little difficult for me to get used to, especially when it caught me off guard.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Mom agreed enthusiastically. “And the best way to move on is to find someone new. Nobody wants Bell to stay a widow forever. She’s still young enough to start another family if that’s something she’s interested in.”

“I agree with you, completely,” I assured her.

“It’s too bad you probably won’t ever get around to getting married and giving me grandbabies.”

My expression soured at her comment, but she just grinned at my reaction. Thankfully, she didn’t push the topic any further.

Kaylee arrived right around the time Mom took the fish off the stove. It was almost like Mom had been tracking Kaylee’s arrival and timed things perfectly.

Kaylee already knew about Amie’s potential nuptials, having heard about it from Mom, and we spent the rest of the evening discussing the different possibilities. Kaylee had a lot of ideas about how she might do the ceremony, all of which adhered to the Alliance-style wedding as opposed to something like my parents had done back on Earth.

There were no declarations of oaths or ‘til death do us part’s in Alliance weddings. Instead, the marriage contract was read, with each participant verbally agreeing to the terms. After all the terms were covered, the relevant parties would sign the contract in mana, making it system-enforced.

And it wasn’t just the two getting married who signed the contract. Anyone involved with the various agreements had to be present to sign as well. That was important since a lot of marriage contracts included clauses that dealt with familial obligations.

There were still fancy clothes and a celebration at the end, but the rest was basically finalizing the contract publically.

When the evening finally wound down and Mom appeared to be getting tired, I headed to my demesne and meditated for a while in front of the large portal I’d opened to the Tier Nine Arcane well.

I’d already put some of my lessons to good use in a small patch of the garden. The colorful shoots of flora seemed to drink in the additional Arcane mana, making me wonder if setting up the portal so close to the garden might have been a bit short-sighted.

It was probably too late to do anything about it now, so I left things as they were. It would be interesting to compare the herbs and vegetables grown outside of my demesne with those grown within. Maybe I’d even learn something extra from the endeavor.

The plants weren’t quite ready to harvest, even with Time Dilation advancing them much faster than would be normal. I estimated another six or seven hours would be all it would take for the first harvest to be ready, so I had Lisa set a timer to remind me to come back and harvest everything when the time came.

I could just have Lisa do it for me, but I wanted to handle things on my own since I was genuinely trying to apply the knowledge gained from my classes, and part of gardening included harvesting what was grown.

I’d probably try my hand at cooking with some of the vegetables as well, since I really did need to brush up on my basic skills. Sure, I still had subjective centuries before I’d be eligible to ascend, but I wanted to be ready when the time came.

I’d always enjoyed cooking before, and it was a bit of a shame that I’d let my skills get so rusty. If it weren’t for the occasional meals I helped to prepare with my Mom, Caesi, or Grandma Katherine, I probably wouldn’t get any practice with Cooking at all.