Chương 49: Interlude: Chael

Abnormalities had always defined Chael's life; her mother was odd and did not belong anywhere close to where Chael was born, her way of life was odd, her family was odd, and her very own attitude was odd. Weirdness was the only thing that kept itself consistent within Chael's life, and she thought that she'd long since accepted that this was simply her way of life. That it was perfectly natural and that she should never resist the strangeness. That was until she met Sobelle.

Chael had never known what it was like to feel love. As after her mother's death, her father chose to live the nomadic life of being a merchant. The constant moving between villages had lost Chael the opportunity to form any meaningful relationships with those her age and she had long since given up on finding someone to be with. Her father seemed to be happy that she chose to dedicate her time learning how to crunch numbers as well so the pressure of marriage never really came Chael's way.

And she herself never wanted to marry anyone, she felt that it was far too tedious to love a person if they were just going to disappear from her life anyway. But what Chael had never thought about was that between that disappearance in death and her meeting with the person she would love was... Time. So much of it could be spent together with the one she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with, they would laugh, fight, work together, and talk about things that only they knew about.

They would share a space that belonged to them and no one else. Chael wasn't sure what the future store had in store for her, but she knew that she wanted Sobelle to be there. This was a truth that buried itself deep into her heart. And while she was shocked to learn about it at first, Chael eventually accepted and even leaned into her new feelings, which remained foreign to her even now.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?" Chael muttered as she skinned another fish, these were supposed to be used to store butter or similar things. Wrap them around fish skin and they'd last quite a while.

"But you had to get injured, didn't you?" She did not hate Sobelle for wasting her time and turning her efforts useless. She did not mind if she went to UnThilen with less supplies than she does now even. Instead, Chael hated the girl because she hurt herself trying to hunt; what was Sobelle trying to prove? That she could fight a feral mother boar all by herself and win? Or how she was capable enough to capture three swinelets and bring them back while bleeding from her abdomen?

Chael was just confused in general, and she hated how it felt. She wasn't meant to be confused about anything, so the complicated blend of worry, caring, and warm affection she felt for Sobelle was enough to make her head hurt. It was something she never got to experience before, and she hated that she did not know what to do about it. No plan would solve this either, as everything that she could come up with involved talking to Sobelle and explaining how she felt. Which was simply never going to happen.

Chael would keep her feelings to the grave and she would never tell Sobelle about the emotions within her heart. It simply wasn't worth the risk. Once more, Chael's life was defined by an oddity. An abnormality that she couldn't quite fix without confronting things that would literally tear her apart. Quite literally in Sobelle's case. Chael felt that the girl was strong enough to rip her limb from limb if they were to ever get into a fight.

Which was almost unheard of really, women were usually dainty and those that chose to be mercenaries carried bows and poultices, not axes and spears. Sobelle was an anomaly. Much like Chael. Was that why she was so attracted to the girl? Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Chael wasn't quite sure how to answer that question.

She stopped flaying the fishes and instead looked at the girl who had taken most of her thoughts these last few days; Sobelle was muscular, though not in the wide way Thetras was. She was best described to be lean, like a healthy rabbit or raptor that moved across tall grass. Her stomach was toned, with clear lines between six abs. Her biceps were too, but they were small.

Completely unlike the arms of men who worked fields all day, it was also very far from the muscular arms of the soldiers and knights Chael encountered in the past. It made them more attractive to Chael in a way. And she wasn't sure why that happened. Weren't bigger muscles better? Why was she so attracted to Sobelle's lean arms? Most women would say that a man with small arms was the sign of a weak future, because he wouldn't be able to hold up the weight of raising a family. But Sobelle wasn't a man now was she?

Which made things worse for Chael by technicality, as falling in love with a woman was nothing like all the flaws she'd had before. This was the kind of thing that would be considered taboo, they were meant to birth the next generation so that humanity continued living on. Two women wouldn't be able to birth anything, there would be no children, and they failed in their purpose in keeping humanity going against the dangers of their world.

Everyone died eventually, but the rate of how quickly some people died meant that they needed to be replaced as soon as possible. Especially now that wars have become frequent and various Kings are starting to challenge each other's territories. Soon, there would be conquerors and that would cause another wave of death to go rampant. Their roles as mothers would be even more important then. Denying it is simply not an option. Chael smiled softly, "will you be okay to do that? For me?" She scoffed.

There wasn't a chance that something like that would ever happen.

"... Probably not, right Sobelle?" She got no answer from the sleeping girl. Later that day, after Sobelle woke up and the two of them headed home to rest; Chael found herself wondering why Sobelle would continue training despite the injuries that hindered her; it simply didn't make any sense. Wasn't it a better idea to recover and then continue where she left off after she had healed? She looked on in worry as Sobelle stumbled her way into the chief's house.

The old man, on the other hand, was just relieved to know that the wounds weren't caused by greenskins, "it's better to be stabbed by the tusk of a boar than to get bitten by a greenskin."

"I suppose so." Chael decided that the chief was right in the end; this was the best possible outcome. She wouldn't have known what to do if Sobelle were to ever get infected by the diseases that riddled a Goblin's body.

"And she brought swines on top of everything! The village will have food come winter."

"That she did." The chief nodded proudly. His eyes turned away from Sobelle and went back to Chael, "come back here later kid, there'd be a small feast. Hopefully that'll get Sobelle to recover faster than before."

"I will, thank you." Chael would have preferred to live here if it was possible really. Much like Sobelle, her current home life left a lot to be desired. It was why she enjoyed spending so much time with her new friend, and this time around, it seemed that things got even worse. Chael rarely expected people to come to the house her father rented, and yet someone was here; the voice of a girl echoed from within. Whores weren't in this village as far Chael was concerned, so what did a woman do here?

She stood outside the door and listened to the conversation happening on the other side. Actually, it wasn't right to call it a conversation, as it was better to say that the woman was guiding her father on something.

"Now, I want you to say that I wish for them to suffer the worst fates imaginable and that they fail the next time they fight something." This seemed to be the last thing the woman needed to be written down so Chael ran away before she got caught. She watched as Sobelle's sister left the house carrying a clay tablet and knew what transpired inside. Who was this woman cursing? Did it concern Chael? Probably not.

Chael had other problems to deal with, so things like petty rivalries between villagers were of no concern to her. She waited outside for a few more seconds before finally entering their house, and she was immediately commanded by her elder brother.

"Chael! Get me some ale!" Discounting the fact that they were losing money quickly, the village was also losing its supply of alcohol.

"Go on! Get some!" Chael sighed when her father nodded at her in approval. The old man really had gone spineless ever since his second wife died. Sometimes, Chael wished she was there when he was at his prime, but alas, no such thing would ever happen and the spirits had chosen to give her such a life. It was best if she were to make good use of what she got and not complain.