A Broken World [Rewrite] - Chapter Ten - A Dutiful World (Patreon)

**Terrasin deVon Almistraus**

The last six days of travel had been uneventful- at least in terms of Demon sightings.  Her fears that they would be hounded all the way to the Outer Walls was thankfully unfounded.  Though they could hardly drop their guard, even so close to the city.

Still, as Terrasin woke up at their latest waystation- having been quite grateful for the chance to sleep in a bed, however low quality, instead of having to sleep in the carriage for the night- she had to admit that there had been a great deal of surprises aside from the Demons these past days of travel.  Her attendant, the only one she had brought on this trip, was helping lace up her dress behind her in the bare stone room she had slept in.  There had necessarily been some compromise in her wardrobe for a journey like this; she still had quite a few outfits, though not quite enough for a different one each day of the week.  The time it took Lady Versi and herself to dress each morning was somewhat long, and one might have found it debatable whether or not it was worth the effort.  But it was part of the duties of the upper classes to maintain a certain level of propriety and distinguishment; a well put together outfit was both weapon and armor to an aristocrat, and it would not do to go without it.  And, as an added benefit, it gave Terrasin time to think and put her mind in order for the day ahead.

Today’s dress was a floor length red velvet dress, reinforced with samite in places for shape, with long bell sleeves that Terrasin was assured were the height of fashion, but that she privately hated.  It was hemmed white at the foot and end of the sleeve that was decorated with gold thread.  At her wrists and collar, there were also hints of purple that were allowed by, and signalled, her royal heritage.

She often wondered if the people who had designed the outfit- the sleeves especially- had ever considered how immensely difficult the long bell portion below the elbow made trying to eat politely.  Or if they had realised that with the size of the sleeves and the fact that the bottom of the dress was just barely off the ground made it incredibly easy to get caught on objects or trip even on level ground.  They probably did, and did not care; ladies do not walk, they glide after all.  If she was lifting her foot enough to trip on the hem, she had already failed from the designer’s perspective.

Terrasin sighed, and her maid chuckled from behind her.

“Ah Milady,” the maid spoke as she finished with the lacing and had her mistress sit down so that Terrasin’s hair could be done next.  That would be a simple affair on the road at least.  “Every young woman and girl who can’t wear dresses like these wish they could, and every young lady who does wear them finds them a frustrating affair!”

The maid was on the older side, in her early forties, and she had served Terrasin for all of Terrasin’s life.  She could act familiar, give advice, and joke- but she only ever would in private.  She was at the level of professionalism that she knew when her Lady needed her not to be.

“Still,” Terrasin mused as she waited for her hair to be combed and braided.  “I cannot help but think that Lord Jaeger had a point; trying to keep up propriety in this situation is neither practical, nor safe.  A tunic and trousers would make much more sense…”

That last statement drew a light gasp from the maid behind her, the hands pausing with the comb.  When she started again, the maid moved slightly more quickly and with stiff movements; her tone was stern as she spoke again.

“For someone of your station to wear such a thing; it would be such a scandal!”  Despite her agitated tone and movements, Terrasin knew the maid would not make any mistakes, “No disrespect intended Your Highness, but even a peasant woman like meself would not do such a thing!  Lord Jaeger might be a Hero, but him is still a man and he canno’ understand these things!”

“You can relax Amy,” Terrasin smiled, hoping her tone would calm the poor woman who was slipping back into the unrefined accent of her childhood.  “I am not going to do anything rash, I simply think there might be something to consider in Lord Jaeger’s words.”

Lord Jaeger- Lucas, as he absolutely insisted to be called- was an enigma to Terrasin.  It had been a week since Lucas had been summoned; during that time he had already save her life twice and she had spent six full days conversing with him, yet every hour Terrasin felt she understood the man less.  Right now he was probably pulling on trousers, a tunic, and military boots.  Getting ready for another day of swinging between polite speech and diction that was at a level with the upper nobility, and barely contained anger expressed through coarse language and an intimidating glare.

Amy kept talking, making much the same observation that Terrasin had; Lucas’s mood swings were obvious even to people who spent far less time with him.  Her maid’s loyalty was towards Terrasin first, and everything else was a distant second.  So Amy disapproval of Lucas, despite his status as a Hero, came through loud and clear.  Terrasin herself was far more understanding because the old legends suggested that this would occur, although Lucas’s intensity was far more than described.

To the servants and soldiers with the group, the occasional scathing comment towards the nobles they overheard was shocking.  The Hero was a near mythical character to them, and it was well known that Lucas had fought a Demon by himself and saved Terrasin herself twice- but the nobles were who they had been raised to look up to and serve for their entire lives.  The obvious clash between the nobles and Lucas was therefore deeply unsettling to them, and Terrasin wished that she could do something about it.

The problem was, Lucas Jaeger’s words were so cutting because there was a great deal of sense in them.  Both his criticisms of Terrasin's and her colleague's dress, as well as his occasional pointed accusations of being kidnapped, hit particularly close to home.  The former was rueful while the latter was poignant, unfortunately; worse still, there was nothing Terrasin could do about either now, nor would she have done anything any differently had she been aware of the outcome.

As a noble and a princess from the ancient house of Almistraus, performing her duty on behalf of all of her world's people would far outweigh the cost of ruining Lucas's life.  To be born into her family was to have a large weight settled on your shoulders from birth; a responsibility towards the multitudes far beyond other nobles, knowing that the fate of the world could rest upon your actions.

To feel a pang of sorrow and regret in her heart every time Lucas twisted that particular knife again was just one more thing she would have to bear.

"There you are, Yer Highness," Amy said as she finished Terrasin's hair; the princess was amused that her servant had yet to completely master her accent again after that slip.  "It's hardly perfec', but it is all I am able to do in a place like this; no place for milady, it is."

"Your work is as excellent as ever, especially give the circumstances," Terrasin assured Amy gently, though in true she had been distracted by her thoughts and had not been paying attention.  Though perhaps it was a mark in favor of Amy's quality that Terrasin felt assured of her appearance without needing to check.  "Though I will be very much relieved to return to true civilization."

"I am not sure that you can find true civilization beyond the Wall, milady.  I must confess that the journey here has not made me any more certain, if you can pardon this servant's foolish words."

"It's fine, I don't mind, though be sure not voice as much before our hosts." This was, after all, a different kingdom than Terrasin's own.  Humanity was united in alliance against the Demons, but even impending doom was not enough to stop nobles from playing at politics and backstabbing each other whenever the opportunity to do so presented itself.

Terrasin's opinion was that there were two reasons at the core of why this behavior continued despite the danger.  First, only a relatively small percentage of the population was on the front line.  Most of the larger population centers were the warm islands of the south that bordered, or were even in, the High Seas.  The second reason was that the war was a slow grind punctuated by sudden losses; on average the front line did not move from year to year and that brought with it a false sense of security.  The strong sense of national pride had something to do with it as well of course, but that also inspired soldiers and leaders to greatness as well.

It was heavy thoughts like these that Terrasin pondered as her maid opened the door and she left the room.  It was not precisely a coincidence that she met Lady Versi in the hallway outside her room; their rooms were adjacent, their maids had likely come together to wake them up, and while traveling a princess and a Duke's daughter had roughly the same prep time.

"Your Highness," Lady Versi dipped a curtsy and Terrasin noted that she had not seen the dark green dress the lady wore before.  Terrasin had noticed that Lady Versi had been rotating three outfits, and she had not expected to see the fourth until the return to Lyus.  "I hope your night left the morning finding you well."

"Indeed it does, Lady Versi," Terrasin replied, with a slightly more shallow curtsy of her own.  The bounds of courtesy and etiquette were difficult to ascertain on occasion.  It is only right for a guest to lower their head in respect to the host, but for a member of royalty to do so for a noble would not be proper in most circumstances.  Yet, Terrasin was not high in the line of succession so it would often be proper for her to greet the other party first.  However, Lady Versi, while the daughter of the Francean Duke whose Duchy Terrasin was in, was technically untitled herself.  Terrasin’s status was slightly higher than Lady Versi’s as a result.  “And I hope the night treated you kindly as well- we have another day of travel ahead of us after all.”

Terrasin caught the slight twitch that was the only evidence of a grimace from Lady Versi.  She could hardly blame the woman, though Terrasin would never say as much or show any discomfort, she had to admit to herself in private that trying to maintain proper posture while taking extended rides in a carriage was rather painful for her bottom.

“I must confess that I am not a fan of travel; I had rarely done so before this…  adventure,” Lady Versi said as the two ladies walked towards the waystation’s mess hall.  Their servants grumbling behind them at the state of the facilities, which were not befitting the status of the people they now served- not that it mattered particularly much to Terrasin herself.  “But Lord Lucas is, at the very least, an interesting travelling companion.”

“Interesting” was one of those words that could often hide daggers to be slipped into another’s back.  It was so often used as a polite way to describe someone you would mock, but could not because of social standing, that it was hard to use in casual conversation.  The other party would always have to wonder how it was meant, much as Terrasin was doing now.

“He is, isn’t he?” Terrasin decided that Lady Versi meant it literally, and hoped she was correct.  “I grew up being told the legends of the Heroes; seeing Lucas in the flesh makes it far easier to understand how much of a change they each brought to our world.”

Lord Jaeger had, quite obviously, revolutionary knowledge regarding agriculture and medicine.  Terrasin had been aware of that on that very first day, but the five days that followed had led to a realisation: the gap between the Hero and her was so wide that it might be insurmountable.  She had imagined that something like this would be a possibility when she had daydreamed back at the castle about summoning and meeting the Hero, but it was a far more depressing feeling than she thought it would be.

Considering the nature of the knowledge Lucas had, the man seemed to be almost a direct answer to Terrasin’s prayers in many ways, but in others…  Even when he was in control of himself, Lucas’s political acumen left much to be desired.  At his very best, his emotions were obvious in his face and body language; the tone of his voice was always an immediate give away of his actual thoughts.  This was where the man began to confuse Terrasin, because when she had indirectly suggested some ways to change that Lucas had displayed no interest in following the advice.  He had, in fact, replied directly that he thought it a waste of time.

Similarly, Lucas’s absolute- almost fierce- insistence that he not be called lord was also perplexing.  It was tied into his refusal to use their own titles, and asking about that subject had made it clear that Lucas had- much to Terrasin’s surprise as the man had not really seen any part of the government of the land at all- quickly grasped the structure of the feudal system, and held the entire thing in contempt.

In fact, the best word to describe how the Hero seemed to look at the people of Terrasin’s world was “contemptuous.”  It would be a painful feeling- to have the Hero you looked to as a savior- to treat the people he is supposed to save like that, except that Lucas seemed determined to do what he could to, in his words, “modernize” them.  And the ideas he had regarding that were, amazing.

“-aware that you are not a scribe,” Terrasin could hear Lucas speaking as she entered the mess hall.  The smell of breakfast was enticing despite lacking the quality she was used to, a simple fare was sometimes refreshing Terrasin had come to believe.  “But as long as your writing is legible it is the best we can do for now- at least until I learn to write in your language.”

Terrasin noted with some amusement that Lucas’s outfit was just as simple as she imagined it would be.  Plain linen tunic and trousers with boots, compared to his richly dressed companions, and yet he seemed the most comfortable out of all of them.  Lord Moru was across from him, and both were eating their meal as they conversed about last night’s topic.

“I will certainly do my best, Lord Hero.” Lord Moru said, admirably managing to keep his words flowing despite an interjection from Lucas not to call him Lord.  “And I am certain we can hire the best tutors available as soon as we reach Lyus.”

“Still, it may be best to dictate to a group of scribes rather than write yourself Lucas,” Terrasin joined in as she very carefully sat on the bench next to Lucas.  Benches were another thing the designers of these dresses had difficulty imagining, and sitting down on one without raising the hem of a dress above the ankle required either a miracle or to sit at one of the ends.  Fortunately for her, sitting at the end was a proper distance away from Lucas that she could sit beside him without breaking propriety; a Princess does not slide along a seat.  “The more copies of this “textbook” of yours, the better.”

“You know,” Lucas gestured with his fork to emphasise his point.  “I told myself once that I would never become a teacher, and now here I am.  I cannot imagine this will go very well.”

“Fortunately, Lyus already has facilities that can be used.” Lady Versi remarked, likewise joining the table.  “Though they will likely need some refurbishment, the structures of the old Lyus Academy are still standing.  They have not been used since the Academy moved down South after Lyus essentially became a border city several hundred years ago.”

“I will be teaching people from a culture I do not know, using a textbook that I can’t read, in buildings that are most likely ruins.”  Lucas groaned, his mood shifting again.  “I don’t even have the temperment to teach!”

At the core, the plan Lucas had come up with was simple.  Form an institution and teach his knowledge to both farmers and healers; knowledge which would benefit them greatly and would be able to be shared with other cities by spreading copies of the textbook itself.  But despite his proclaimed reluctance, once the idea had been raised it had become obvious that Lucas’s vision for the future of this knew academy was more than just a whim.  He had made it very clear that, outside of his field, he would be mostly unable to replicate his world’s technology- of which Terrasin had heard little about, but what little she had seemed wondrous.  However, what he could do was form departments based on the knowledge of his world and give them the fragments he could remember.  True, it would need to be staffed by intelligent individuals and even with the head start from Lucas progress would be measured in decades and centuries.  But when given to a people who measured war in centuries and millennia, that was hardly discomforting. 

Of course, even with the backing of a Hero, it would not be that easy.  Lucas did not seem to be aware of this himself, but all three of the nobles knew that the arrival of a new Hero would send shockwaves through the political world.  The influence he could wield and the chaos that would follow his passing were like blood in the mists to the seedy underbelly of the nobility.  Like Floatsharks smelling an open wound in a fog, there would be a feeding frenzy- one that Lucas was clearly not able to handle himself.

That was, Terrasin thought as she allowed herself a small smile, her new duty.  The responsibility she had extended beyond the Hero’s summoning; she was to be his guide and warder, and if necessary, his knife in the darkness of society.  Hopefully, she could do well enough that he never noticed at all.