“I hope you will forgive me if this is an impertinent question, my husband, but what will you do now?”

Having heard Mei Li’s question before she’d asked it, Lex took a moment to consider his answer.

Thanks to Fail Forward, he was now aware that the Horned King knew who was behind his wife’s disappearance, something Lex had thought would take more time. But with the information the Queen of Air and Darkness had supplied him with, Iubdan would likely track him down sooner rather than later. Particularly if Branwen was right about Sadhbh being a gossip.

“I’ll reinforce the village’s defenses first-”

He stopped in mid-sentence, eyes widening as his foresight warned him of what was about to happen.

Mei Li picked up on the change in his demeanor instantly, taking a step closer to him as concern was transmitted across their bond. “My husband? What’s wrong?”

Lex didn’t answer her, instead gritting his teeth as the future he’d just foreseen raced toward the present, unstoppable and unalterable.

And then it happened.

“I’ve just lost access to Solvei’s cryomancy,” hissed Lex, clenching his claws into fists so hard that his right palm began to bleed.

That was enough to make Mei Li’s eyes widen, turning pale as she misunderstood the situation. “Your bond with Elder Sister-”

“Is intact,” growled Lex, “but every aspect of it is being suppressed! I can’t communicate with her, I can’t sense what’s happening to her, and now I can’t even use her power!”

It was enough to that his emotions threatened to rage out of control again. Worry about what was happening with Solvei warred with anger and betrayal at her having disobeyed him, which brought back guilt and shame over his controlling nature having driven her that far. It was only because he’d just witnessed the effects of his losing control – the chaos and danger it inflicted on everyone else – that he was able to keep himself from breaking down.

Even then, it was a close thing.

“I’m going to go reinforce the village’s defenses,” he repeated a moment later, forcing himself to detach from what was happening, turning toward the door. “I’ve already laid down a number of wards and detection spells around its perimeter, but I have several enhancement and augmentation spells that I can use on Carnelia and the others if I increase their duration. On the adlets too, if I can calm them down by apologizing for my misconduct before-”

For the second time in under a minute, he cut himself off as the future surprised him.

But unlike before, it wasn’t an unexpected occurrence of misfortune that caught Lex off-guard.

Instead, it was how Mei Li was about to gently grab the hem of his cloak, as well as what she was about to say.

A moment later, he felt her take the edge of the fabric between her thumb and forefinger, looking down as she spoke.

“My husband is working too hard.”

The statement was ridiculous enough that he couldn’t help but scoff, glancing back at her in irritation. “I am immortal, beyond concerns of strain or fatigue. It is not possible for me to work too hard.”

But Mei Li shook her head.

“Within the last twelve hours, you have fought not only a pony warrior who was themselves the champion of a goddess, but also faced down a powerful fey monarch,” she reminded him. “Immediately after that, you slew a god of the elves, and after resurrecting Branwen, you journeyed to the realm of your own goddess, only to find that she is missing and that her avatar has gone mad, forcing you to take a new wife as you fought your way out.”

Releasing his robe, she slowly circled him, until she’d placed herself between him and the door, facing him directly, her expression impassive even as their bond told him that she felt sorrow. “And once you returned from these many tribulations, your beloved first wife wounded you with her selfish and faithless actions.”

Reaching out, she gently took his right foreleg in her hands, gently opening his talons. The wound he’d given himself a moment ago had already closed, the blood having completely vanished, but she ran her fingers over his palm anyway, fingers tracing where he’d injured himself.

It was enough to remind Lex about what she’d said so recently, when he’d been lost in a maelstrom of self-recrimination, about how whenever he was hurting it hurt her also.

At the time, he’d thought she’d been speaking literally, about how his rampaging emotions had also afflicted her. But now, clearly registering the grief she felt as she touched where he’d sliced himself open despite it not having caused her any harm, he wondered if perhaps he’d misunderstood what Mei Li had meant.

“My husband is working too hard,” she repeated. “Even for a xianxia with a tireless body, taking on too many hardships still weighs on the heart.”

“And yet those hardships must still be taken on.”

“But not only by you, my husband,” pleaded the vixen. “You have others who will share your burdens, if you will but let them.”

“Those burdens would crush them,” answered Lex dismissively. “Burly Brawl was more than anyone here could handle. Gwynharwyf killed Branwen and would have kidnapped you if Sanguine Disposition hadn’t intervened. And none of you could have stood up to the Night Mare’s other champions, let alone the Night Terror herself. That’s why Solvei...”

He pushed that thought away, shaking his head as he withdrew his claw from Mei Li’s grasp. “I understand that you wish to help, and I would avail myself of it were it sufficient. But only I have the strength to face these challenges.”

But Mei Li had an answer for that as well.

“We can aid you with more than just strength, my husband. Elder Sister Nenet told me that you have placed many spells within gemstones, which others can use. Pass those out to Lady Carnelia and her companions. If you wish to reassure the adlets after what happened, permit my Aunt Yuyan to speak to them on your behalf. She has handled many delicate matters in her time as matriarch of the Pimao Jingzhi; she can represent your authority without shaming you. And I...”

She trailed off, flushing as she raised one hand, covering her mouth with the sleeve of her robe as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

But despite the sudden shyness he could sense across their connection, she made herself finish speaking.

“...and as your wife, I would gladly do all that I can to soothe you...if you would allow me.”

Lex, however, had already made up his mind to deny her request.

And yet, the future where he refused Mei Li’s request showed him that her reaction would be one of extreme dismay.

Just like how Solvei had felt when he’d denied her request to go to Kara’s realm.

That was enough to make his denial die on his lips, wondering if he was about to make the same mistake again.

Logic said that turning Mei Li’s suggestions down was for the best. Although he’d embedded spells within a large number of the diamonds he’d taken from below Hvitdod’s lair, and still had many more left over, there was no reason to use them now. Making use of the thaumaturgical spells he’d prepared in his mental architecture was far more economical. Likewise, sending someone else to own up to his mistakes struck him as cowardly. As much as he hated admitting that he’d wronged someone else, he had a duty to do so when he was at fault; doing so by proxy diluted that responsibility, making his resolve look weak.

To say nothing of how much he hated the idea of being so frail that he needed someone to “soothe” him.

Ideally, Mei Li would accept and understand those reasons. In the event of a conflict between his wishes and those whom he held authority over, his own superseded theirs. That was simply the nature of what it meant to rule over others, and Lex had always expected that those he commanded would make peace with that dynamic. Since his subordinates knew that it was his duty to see to their welfare, it was their duty to recognize that sublimating their wishes in favor of his own was ultimately for their own good.

But like so many things over the course of his life, that theory didn’t match the reality.

Solvei’s disobedience had viscerally driven that point home.

As had the truth that Kara had shown him about himself.

“...alright.”

Mei Li’s eyes lit up, her sleeve dropping away from her mouth in surprise. “T-truly?!”

Lex nodded, waving a claw at the table near the back of the room, sending a cascade of spell-embedded gemstones toward it, where they began arranging themselves into piles. “Contact your aunt. Have her come here and gather these; I’ll mark what’s in each diamond, and who should receive it. And then” – he sighed, resigning himself – “have her convey my remorse to the adlets for the bedlam I caused.”

“My husband honors me,” murmured Mei Li, bowing to him before stepping back and casting a communication spell to contact Yuyan.

Once she was done, she returned to his side. “She will be here very soon; she’s going to have Nayao and several others come with her to help distribute the diamonds.”

Lex nodded wordlessly, and silence fell as he finished arranging the gemstones. It was a waste, but not much of one, and if it made Mei Li happy for him to follow her suggestion – if he could show consideration for her without needing to dominate her – then it was a waste that he could live with.

“A-after this...”

Knowing that she wouldn’t continue unless he prompted her, Lex placed the last of the diamonds in their arrangements, then turned back to Mei Li. “After this?”

She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and in her thoughts Lex could hear her reciting a passage she’d read in a text called The Domestic Lessons about how a wife could calm a distraught husband.

“After this...would you like to have dinner? Or a bath? Or perhaps...me?”

Branwen swore under her breath as she stared at the door to Nenet’s room, trying to work up the courage to knock.

Just finding where the sphinx had hidden herself had been an effort in frustration, the resplendent manor that seemed to be Lex Legis’s new home having an abundance of rooms, most of which were apparently taken up by fox-people. It had taken her three tries to find a vulpine that hadn’t shrieked in fear at the sight of her – the raven design of her armor having been crafted to intimidate all who beheld it – and even then only because the blue-haired vixen with the four tails that she’d stumbled across had been heavily intoxicated.

But at least the drunkard had seen which room Nenet had holed up in.

As it was, Branwen had been able to understand her slurred rambling in what sounded like some sing-song language only because, as a vilderavn, she could comprehend all spoken forms of communication. Even if she didn't recognize the actual words someone was speaking, the meaning was always clear to her, and hers to them. As a knight of the Autumn Court, that made it much easier to challenge someone to a duel.

Now Branwen just needed to work up that same level of resolve that a fight to the death required, swallowing as she tried to figure out what to say.

This is so stupid, she chastised herself. It’s not like I did anything wrong. She interfered with my fight with Gwynharwyf, so I told her off. There are plenty of Autumn fey who would have killed her for interrupting a duel like that. All I did was call her a pathetic little bitch and a weak little nobody; she should be thanking me for being so lenient! Especially with how she embarrassed me by getting all weepy just because she thought I was going to die...

It was almost enough to convince her to turn around and leave, only for the memory of that nine-tail’s rebuke to keep her rooted in place.

“Those words dishonor the lengths my husband went to in order to resurrect you, as well as the tears that Elder Sister Nenet shed when she couldn’t protect you, even after she found out that your ki was laced with death.”

“Damn it,” swore Branwen softly.

Then, before she could change her mind, she rapped on the door.

Seconds passed in silence as the vilderavn shifted from one foot to the other.

Finally, her anxiety rose past the point she could stand, and she knocked again.

Still silence.

Why did I ever listen to that drunken fox? cursed Branwen silently. I swear, the next time I see her, I’ll hex her!

“Nenet!” demanded the vilderavn as she knocked a third time. “Are you in there? It’s me, Branwen. Of the Autumn Court,” she added belatedly, only to immediately cringe inside of her armor.

“Of the Autumn Court”? Because if I didn’t say that, she’d confuse me for all of the other Branwens running around? I can’t believe-

“Go away.”

From inside, Nenet’s voice floated past the door, twinged with irritation.

It was enough to leave Branwen momentarily stunned, not having expected that. “I wanted to-”

“I said go away!” came Nenet’s voice from inside, this time sounding angry. “Why does everyone keep bothering me?! I’m trying to read; leave me alone!”

Branwen clenched a fist, ready to unleash the torrent of vitriol that the rejection caused to well up inside of her, only to lower her gauntleted arm a moment later.

“Fine,” she spat, hating how bitter her voice sounded. “Stay in there until you die for all I care.”

She didn’t wait for a response, instead stalking away, suddenly furious with herself. What had she been expecting? That Nenet would suddenly burst into tears again and start gushing about how glad she was to see that she was okay? She’d given the sphinx an earful for interfering with her duel, and that had put her off of her, exactly like she’d wanted. All of that stuff about shedding tears for her after finding out that she was half-undead had probably just been Nenet getting back at her, telling that nine-tails to say that so she could spite her now.

Which is fine by me! snarled Branwen to herself as she stormed down a hallway. I don’t need her! I don’t need anyone! I’m just here until Queen Penelope recalls me, and then I can be done with her and Lex and those cowardly foxes and pretend all of this never happened!

She continued with that line of thinking as she left, swept up in her anger.

If she hadn’t been, she might have realized that – unlike when the sphinx had tried to save her – she hadn't recognized the language that Nenet had been speaking.

Author's Note

Not wanting to repeat the mistake he made with Solvei, Lex delegates his duties in favor of spending quality time with Mei Li, as Branwen tries to make amends with Nenet only to be unexpectedly rejected!

Which of Mei Li’s activities will Lex prefer? And what’s going on with Nenet?