33 Nearly nothing happened ... again!
It did not take Myra long to get what she wanted. Obviously this Chamberlain Morweena, whatever her position might be about, seemed to be informed about her, or at least about her identity that they all believed in. Myra was not sure if they still believed she was this empire's princess, or a princess of some other one, but it really made no difference.
They soon started on a little journey through the shops and bought all kinds of materials. They did not come cheap, but Myra still had a few funds left, even excluding all the money they would need for paying the workers. Most of her money so far came from turning in those mithril ingots and was all spent on paying for the properties and the necessary tools and materials to build the various holdings.
It should not take long to have a decent income with all these mines and farms and other special gathering spots that they were setting up and Myra wasn't really worried that her little fortune would run totally dry. By now she was confident enough in the prices and her abilities that she could easily make some more by selling some pieces in an auction.
Not only were her items of excellent quality, but most important of all, they were made in ways that were not seen before, which made them unique and expensive.
They were already done with buying various components for Myra's own recipes that they would be using soon and had already sent the guards back to the palace when Myra decided to buy a few sets of clothes for the kids right away.
"Didn't you tell them we will go shopping for clothes with them tomorrow?" Aaron was not sure what her intention was.
"Yes, but did you look at what they are wearing now? It's not much more than rags. You know all these snobbish townsfolk, they would just stare at them and make them uncomfortable if they don't look somewhat presentable."
"Can't you just slap around anyone who makes silly comments?" Aaron still didn't get her point.
"I can, but does it really help? You can't take back words someone said even if you hit them with fists. It won't make the kids feel any better. You and I, we can ignore stupid comments even when we wear something that's not pretty, but these are young kids who didn't grow up like we did. They don't have our self-confidence and they likely never had a family who supported them throughout their life."
"So you grab something reasonable to wear to have a decent first impression, even if the clothes don't fit perfectly it won't matter much?"
Myra nodded. Finally Aaron seemed to understand. "Exactly! I also get to see them once more."
Shaking his head, Aaron didn't mention that not only would they see them tomorrow anyways, but they would likely see them every weekend and sometimes even during the week if Myra really wanted to teach them all.
Pointing all those things out? Aaron was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and just happily follow along. Angering Myra was bad, but angering Myra as her boyfriend was even worse.
She had quickly learned that adding more vegetables on his plate, was not a really good punishment for Aaron, as he would just stoically eat them and ignore the whole thing. Not giving him any hugs and cuddles on the other hand seemed a lot more effective. He was just lucky that she would soon miss them as much as he did and give up on his 'punishment'.
Not that he ever really made her angry so far. Most of the time, it was some misunderstanding that didn't really have any serious repercussions.
There was quite the commotion at the inn when two dozen children were excitedly looking through the clothes, trying to find out what would fit them and what would fit others. With the kids used to sharing and helping each other out just to survive, there was no issue with finding something for everyone.
"Don't forget to take a bath before wearing them!" Myra told them and all of them promised to take one right away, in order to try out their new clothes.
"Aaron, I don't feel like going back to the academy today. Let's just stay here tonight. It doesn't seem to make sense to just travel back and then come here again tomorrow morning."
"Sure, we can do that. My room is really small anyways, the rooms here are the same if not better. I also let the others know to join us tomorrow."
They quickly booked yet another room and then tried to get some rest.
--
Myra was exhausted, but she was also too excited to sleep. The noise of the kids had finally quietened down as they all went to sleep as well. Most of them were still young and it was already a busy day for them travelling through the city and waiting for her. They fell asleep quickly.
The older children didn't have it much better. They were used to taking care of all the younger children and with everything going on today, they had all their hands full to make sure no one got lost or hurt.
With everyone else sleeping Myra did her best to also get some sleep too, but it didn't really work.
"You're not asleep yet are you?" she mumbled to Aaron, who was right next to her. She could hear his steady breathing and feel his arms draped around her shoulders and back.
"No, I'm not asleep yet. Want me to help you relax?" he smirked at her and enjoyed the way she turned red in embarrassment.
"No, I don't need anyone to help me relax! Don't come up with strange ideas."
"Oh, don't need any help? That's fine too, then I just watch you …"
"Ahh you're totally shameless." Myra hid under the blanket again and tried to avoid the topic.
Many expected them to already be lovers, but truth be told, even though they were sleeping in each other's arms quite often, Myra was still not comfortable with the idea of taking it any further. In the end, while she had an easy time and lots of intuition when it came to skills and magic, a relationship was not something she experienced before.
There were no old hidden memories to tell her what to do and it was still something that made her feel insecure. What would happen if they became more than good friends? What if things didn't work out well?
In the end, Myra was still just a girl, or perhaps a young woman in the eyes of many others, when she had to deal with relationship issues.
"I totally am. Don't worry too much about it, just take your time." Aaron once again interrupted her thoughts with his answer.
He was just starting to fall asleep, when he heard a quiet voice next to him.
"How would you help me relax?"
It was an even longer night than he would have expected.
--
The next morning both Myra and Aaron looked like they didn't get much sleep at all. Nell, Liam and Alyn came over to the inn and breakfast was started. Even though Myra and Aaron would have loved to get some more sleep, they couldn't just let their friends and the children eat without them, Myra's principles just wouldn't allow her to miss a meal either.
When they sat down at the table, they immediately got stares from the others. While the children didn't really notice, Nell would make some jokes about their situation right away.
"Ah I see, so now that Myra got to see some adorable kids, she wants one of her own? You look like you worked all night long."
Aaron frowned and Myra blushed and got upset.
She glared at Nell and for moment didn't know what to say. "Nothing like that happened … well we didn't do that!"
"Ohh? Really so what did you do?" Nell's grin got even bigger and Myra didn't answer him anymore.
The one who saved her this time was Alyn. "Nell, don't be rude, even if they did it's none of our business."
"We really didn't … Aaron you tell them."
Aaron raised a brow and looked at Myra. This was the first time she was hiding behind him and used him as a shield. It wasn't even some dangerous enemy, but just their friends who were joking about their relationship.
Aaron wasn't as embarrassed as Myra. "Alyn is right, it's not your business what we do during the night under the sheets."
Myra just got even more embarrassed. "That so doesn't help at all! Now they all think we really did something."
"Well, not to interrupt your discussion there, but why would that even be a problem?" Alyn seemed the only one who didn't get the whole issue.
"In Luminos … people are easily embarrassed about such things. They usually don't talk about it." This time it was Liam who offered some pointers to Alyn.
"Oh so that's why you are so shy." Alyn smirked at Liam and when they were holding hands shortly after Nell was rolling his eyes.
"You know, now that I'm the only one without a girlfriend here I feel a little bit left out." he grumbled a little bit longer, talking about how there was no justice in the world and that all the cute girls his age were taken.
"Anyways, I guess when you're done with your lovey dovey stuff, can we take a look at the tasks I've written down here?"
Everyone returned their focus to the list that Nell made recently.
"With Myra deciding on a school and picking up these children, we need to adapt some things here and here."
"I guess I can easily handle the open tasks about the shop and if Myra and Alyn go shopping with the kids, then you and Liam can work on the paperwork for the workers."
Usually Nell would give out the tasks but this time Aaron seemed to bring up what to do.
"Sounds good. I wouldn't want to be involved with shopping anyways." Nell quickly agreed. "That's definitely something I can go without."
"Let's do this." Myra looked forward to getting all kinds of clothes. She would normally have a very limited wardrobe for herself, but with all the kids around she would have enough 'targets' to look through all kinds of different fabrics and colors and styles and help them pick a variety of things.
--
When it was finally afternoon and they came back from shopping, both Myra and Alyn were aware for the first time, how hard it was to take care of not just one child, but so many of them at the same time. Even though they were all rather well behaved, just their questions and all the energy of these little bodies was really a new experience for them.
From clothes, to accessories and toys they bought all kinds of things for the kids and now that they were back at the inn, the children were all busy playing with them.
Only the young girl Myra healed the day before was still with her, being carried in Myra's arms, as Myra was reluctant to let her down and the child didn't mind being carried either.
The girl had big brown eyes, long brown hair that now once more looked soft and clean after the long bath and sported a thin braid, with a cute green ribbon holding the remaining hair together.
She was four years old and there was a big contrast between her behaviour and her looks. The child had experienced a lot and she was much more mature and self-sufficient than other kids her age, at the same time, with the lack of food and with her weak constitution she was rather small for a four year old.
In the end, Myra decided to no longer keep the little girl from playing with her friends and set her down on her lap.
"Look Rae, all the others are already trying the new games and toys, why don't you join them?"
Rae just shook her head slightly and stayed where she was. She didn't want to go and was afraid that Myra would leave her, like her family did not too long ago. The experience was still giving the child nightmares and now that she had someone else to hold on to, she was always wary of losing sight of Myra.
"Well, if you don't want to, that's fine too. How about I teach you a trick?"
