The Soul Engine Ch. 36 (Original Fantasy) (Patreon)

A/N: Welcome back to another week of The Soul Engine! Bit of a slow build this week, but not to worry, we'll make it to the Citadel soon enough!

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“We made it!”

Wait, what? From where he’s laid down on the bench in the cart, Mikael lifts his head at Thayla’s sudden exclamation. Both Avina and Bula look equally surprised… and also confused. Once he lifts his head a little higher, he sees why they’re confused. There’s no structure that could possibly be titled something as majestic as ‘the Citadel’ in sight.

… Was their knightly guide going insane? Was she getting stir crazy, being in charge of the horses and cart for so long?

“Err, Thayla? We’re still in the middle of nowhere.”

The Knight of the Rose blinks at his assessment, glancing back at him and then around them before flushing in embarrassment.

“A-Ah! Apologies, I didn’t mean we made it to the Citadel, sorry Sir Mikael. Rather, we’ve made it to the lands that belong to the Order of the Rose.”

Oh? Mikael sits up completely at that, his brow furrowing as he takes in their surroundings again. Thayla, all smiles, is happy to explain.

“You see, the Order of the Rose is Zuveria’s oldest and thus preeminent Knightly Order. Seeing as we were around even before Zuveria itself was born. As such, the Order actually holds more territory than anyone save for the Emperor of Zuveria himself.”

Mikael doesn’t exactly know how much land that is, but it sounds like a lot. In fact, of all the breadcrumbs Thayla and Avina have dropped about Thayla’s Order, that actually drives home just how powerful this Order of Knights truly is to Mikael. For them to own land in such vast quantities that they’re second only to the Emperor himself… yeah, that’s a lot of wealth, power, and influence to be sure.

But then…

“I suppose it makes sense, doesn’t it? For the Order of the Rose to be powerful enough to send solo Knights like you into neighboring kingdoms on missions like yours, they’d have to be a pretty big deal within their own homeland, wouldn’t they?”

Thayla smiles and nods at that, though she also blushes.

“That’s true, Sir Mikael! Rather, the Order of the Rose is incredibly important to the internal stability of the Empire as well as the defense of its borders. Though all things considered, the border with the Savage Lands is obviously the most constantly contested for Zuveria.”

Right. Mikael nods, only for Thayla to bites her lower lip.

“Though… admittedly, I sort of… demanded to be allowed to investigate the rumors that someone was abusing the Hero Summoning Ritual in Alether. Nobody assigned me this mission, nor sent me to Alether. I… forced my way so that I could investigate of my own accord.”

There’s a beat of silence at that confession, before Mikael raises an eyebrow.

“Would that be because you’ve idolized Summoned Heroes all your life, Thayla?”

The female knight goes rigid at that, her eyes widening as she whips her head around to look at him in shock. She’s frozen for a moment before remembering that she’s driving a cart. Facing forward again, but not in time to hide her suddenly very rosy complexion, the Knight of the Rose slowly nods.

“I… yes. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you figured it out, Sir Mikael. You are especially observant, so you likely caught on to my… hero worship quite early, didn’t you?”

That draws a scoff, not from Mikael but from Avina.

“Excuse me? I caught on to your hero worship earliest. All the way back in the basement, it was clear as day that if Mikael asked anything except for the most objectionable actions from you, you would happily do whatever he said. The fact that you killed him was just a convenient excuse for living out your fantasies of being the loyal knight in service to a Summoned Hero.”

Mikael winces as Avina’s blunt, brutal words cause Thayla to hunch in on herself further and further. Until finally, as if to put the nail in the coffin, Bula grunts and speaks up.

“Yes. Even to one such as I, your reverence for what Mikael is, rather than WHO he is has been quite obvious.”

Having Bula of all people casually calling her out really seems to get to Thayla. Letting out a sigh, Mikael shoots both Avina and Bula a quelling look, before reaching out and placing a hand on Thayla’s shoulder.

“Ignore them, Thayla. Even if you started out only following me around out of guilt and because of what I represented, I know you care about me for me at this point. Right?”

Looking back at him, Thayla nods, wide-eyed.

“O-Of course, Sir Mikael!”

Seeing an opportunity, Mikael grins right back at her.

“Great! Then let’s drop the ‘sir’, yeah? After all, I’m no actual knight and you like me for more than just my hero status… so it should be no problem to just call me Mikael from now on.”

Freezing up at being caught out like that, Thayla bites her lower lip for a moment before finally nodding again, this time much more hesitantly.

“As you wish… Mikael.”

Hah, score! Sure, while Thayla’s deference was kind of cute, it also got a little tiring. From Sir Hero to Sir Mikael, to Mikael… he was honestly just glad to have finally gotten to a place where the female knight saw him as a real person, rather than someone on some unachievable pedestal to idolize. Letting out a happy sigh, Mikael waves his hand through the air, willing to change the subject now that he’d gotten what he wanted.

“Wonderful. Anyways, how could you tell that we were entering your Order’s lands? Like, was there some sort of road marker that we missed or something?”

Thayla perks up and turns forward again, before pointing off in the distance.

“Oh! No, Mikael. I could tell because I saw a patrol of knights appear over the horizon coming down the road towards us. They wear the armor of the Order, so I know that we’ve entered the Order of the Rose’s territory!”

Wait, what?! Again, Mikael is caught off guard. He straightens up properly and peers down the road. Sure enough, he can see some folk in golden armor on horseback, steadily making their way towards them. Focusing some energy into his eyes lets him make them out more clearly. Their armor is mostly golden like Thayla’s, but not nearly as fancy or intricately designed as hers is. Does that mean that she’s a higher rank, or something?

Belatedly, Mikael realizes that he probably should have questioned Thayla a lot more about her origins as well as her place within the Order of the Rose before they got to this point. Though in his defense, Avina and Bula hadn’t done so either!

… Okay, so maybe that wasn’t a very good defense. Bula wasn’t the type to do research to begin with, while Avina was the type who seemed to believe she already knew pretty much everything there was to know about most subjects. Still!

Without much time, Mikael makes sure to dispel the teal energy from his eyes and hide his Soul Engine properly so it’s not too obvious under his shirt. Then, he looks to Thayla and frowns.

“Is there anything we should know ahead of time, Thayla? Should we try to have Avina hide, or something?”

Avina scoffs at that, but Mikael feels like it’s a fair request. Sure, the former Princess hates being called a ‘Necromancer’… but she sure looks like a gothic summoner of the dead in appearance. Foss Sangrey naming Avina and her family ‘Trueborn Necromancers’ only made this fact more apparent to Mikael if he was being honest.

And Thayla even seems to agree with him because she considers Avina for a long moment… long enough that the other woman scowls and crosses her arms over her chest.

“What? Is looking a certain way a crime to your Order now, Thayla? Because if it is, this entire venture is doomed from the start…”

Thayla flushes at that and quickly shakes her head.

“A-Ah… no. It should be fine. It’s just a patrol after all, and I don’t see anyone high ranking among their number. Just… let me do the talking, please?”

Mikael, Avina, and Bula all exchange looks at that… and then shrug and nod, one after the other. Thayla looks relieved by their easy capitulation. Then, the relief vanishes as she puts her game face on, turning back to once more face the road… and the quartet of knights fast approaching now.

“Ho there! Hold for a moment!”

With ease, Thayla stops the cart and lets the knights from her Order close the rest of the distance between them. Watching from the back, Mikael sees the surprise in the head knight’s face when he recognizes Thayla by face alone.

“Dame Dawnguard! I thought it was you but couldn’t be sure from so far away! I… err, wouldn’t expect to see you driving a cart of all things.”

His eyes roam over the three of them as well, but if he recognizes them, he’s very good at hiding it. Mikael tries not to appear too hostile or friendly… honestly, he’s not sure how to act right now. Probably for the best that they let Thayla take the lead here.

“Yes, well… my mission didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped. My horse was lost to me, as was everything save for my armor and sword.”

The head knight’s face turns grave at that, even as his eyes slide away from peering at Avina and Bula in particular, instead gazing at Thayla directly.

“… I see. That is a shame, Dame Dawnguard. Still… are you heading back to the Citadel now?”

Nodding, Thayla smiles as she gestures towards the three of them.

“Yes. I and my witnesses have business with the Knight-Superior… and grave tidings from the Kingdom of Ocreatha.”

That seems to surprise the head knight for some reason. He peers at them all again, before blinking at Thayla.

“Witnesses?”

Seeming confused by his question, Thayla inclines her head.

“Yes. Unfortunately, their words are for the Knight-Superior alone. I apologize, but we must be on our way.”

“… Of course, Dame Dawnguard. Allow me and my men to escort you to the Citadel.”

Mikael blinks, not liking the sound of that at all. He’s not sure if the Citadel is an hour or a day away at this point, but concealing the Soul Engine around a bunch of suspicious and likely superstitious knightly strangers for any length of time did not sound like very much fun. Fortunately, Thayla is just as put off by the idea as he is.

“What? No, that won’t be necessary. I and my party can take care of ourselves just fine, especially now that we are on the Order’s lands.”

The head knight, despite clearly being lower ranked and deferential to Thayla up to and even through this point, nevertheless hesitates. His eyes focus on Bula in particular, for some reason.

“… Are you certain, Dame Dawnguard?”

Following his gaze to Bula, Thayla seems uncomprehending for a moment… before scowling angrily.

“I am quite sure, Sir. You and your men are to continue your patrol to its proper conclusion. That is an order.”

“As you say, ma’am.”

With that, they slowly begin moving off and with a flick of her wrists, Thayla gets their cart moving again. The white-haired knight is stiff as a board as they leave the quartet of knights behind them. Mikael, meanwhile, doesn’t dare to look back… after all, he can feel the eyes of the knights burning a hole in the back of his head as they depart.

It’s fifteen minutes later when they’ve moved far enough away that Thayla finally speaks.

“… My sincerest apologies, Bula. I did not… but no, I should have expected such a response. The Order of the Rose is supposed to be an order of good, honorable, righteous people. But some have different definitions of these words. And others hold long grudges after losing family members to the conflicts on our border with the Savage Lands. You still do not deserve such distrust levied at you simply because of your heritage, however.”

Bula blinks and then tilts her head to the side.

“Oh? They wanted to fight me because I’m half-orc? Should’ve said something. Would’ve been fun.”

Mikael snorts in amusement and shakes his head, even as Thayla turns back to give the red-haired warrior an askance look. Meanwhile, Avina huffs rather smugly.

“Didn’t even look twice at me, did they? Admit it, both of you. Just because I prefer black clothes, doesn’t mean everyone is going to assume I’m a Necromancer! Honestly!”

Giving in to his growing amusement, Mikael just chuckles at the women in the cart. From Avina sitting there vindicated, to Bula looking back behind them with a forlorn expression, to Thayla just shaking her head and turning to face forward again with a sigh. Still, after a moment, Thayla does speak up again.

“I do not know what sort of welcome we can expect to receive once we reach the Citadel. I was able to pull rank with those four… but I can only hope that the Knight-Superior will be willing to hear us out, regardless of the… eccentricity of our group. For now, we should probably start looking for a good place to stop for the night.”

Blinking, Mikael raises a brow.

“Oh? Is it that much further?”

Thayla looks back at him at that and Mikael is surprised for a moment because it’s probably the first time that she’s ever made a face that led him to believe she was doubting his intelligence.

“Mikael… I did say that the Order of the Rose’s territory was second in size only to the Emperor’s lands. So yes… yes, we are still a few days out from the Citadel at our current pace.”

Oh… right. A little embarrassed, Mikael just nods and starts helping look for a good place to camp for the night.

When they finally find one, they set up a small fire, hunt down some wild game, and eat heartily that evening. Then, at Thayla’s insistence, they all spar for hours. Well, he, Thayla, and Bula all spar. Avina watches, as is her usual choice.

Still, with the difference in their power, the only chance that Bula or Thayla have to take him down when he’s going all out is by working together. As such, while they do SOME two-on-one sparring like that, most of the time he’s holding back or simply remaining on the defensive altogether as Thayla or Bula try to attack him with all their respective might.

Thayla spars with a single-minded ferocity that night… and every night until they reach the Citadel, in fact. It’s almost as if the female knight is hoping for the best, but at the same time preparing for the worst.

Finally though… they arrive.

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A/N: Next time, The Citadel. I'm sure there won't be aaaaany issues there. It'll all be sunshine and roses and everyone holding hands and singing kumbaya. Right?

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