CHAPTER 9.5: A PROPOSAL

***The infirmary underneath the city of Montserrant…***

Lady Ahri finally awakened some time around after dinner. She had been out for quite long that when she rose from her bed, she was hungry. But…

“Damn it!” she slammed the table. “Hospital food tastes like shit! Always!”

“Hey!” the cook on the other side countered, “If you don’t like it, then you can go!”

“Alrighty then!” Lady Ahri grabbed her things and got out of the infirmary. Yet, because she was still starving, the captain of the Army of Stone wasn’t able to go that far. With her head spinning and stomach aching, she was forced to sit on a roadside bench.

“Ah, milady!”

“!!!” Turning around, she saw a familiar figure walking towards her. It was no other than the human that knocked her cold, Kuro. On his hands were bags full of things.

“The staff in the clinic said you went away after tasting hospital food,” he was smirking as he brought out small boxes from the bags. “Good thing I prepared some food for you to eat. But, is your head already good?”

Nevertheless, Lady Ahri’s stomach got the better of her. Instead of answering Kuro, she just grabbed one of the boxes he brought out, and started eating. As she would not reply to his questions, the Black God just watched her wolfed down the contents of the box until it was clean.

“Damn! That’s delicious!” the dwarf commented.

“Glad you liked my cooking,” Kuro revealed. After taking the empty container from her, he gave her a bottle of beer, which she drank in one gulp. With her hunger satisfied, the captain of the Army of Stone relaxed…

“Human, did you really cook that?”

“Hm? Yes, milady,” he replied, even as his mouth was full of food as well. “That’s a dish from my homeland. We call it ‘bulalo,’ and its soup is nice for recovering people.”

Silence. The dwarf commander just stared at Kuro for so long, it eventually became awkward for the human. Uncomfortable that someone was watching him while eating, he asked, “Is…Is there a problem, milady?”

“No, not really. I like your food.”

“T-Thanks!”

“Would you like to give me a child?”

“Pfffffttttt!!!” Not only did Kuro spit the food in his mouth; he also started to choking. It was only through the timely intervention of Lady Ahri that they avoided a ‘choking’ disaster.

“Well, look, I like strong males,” she told once they were back to normal. “And it’s your fault for being a good warrior, and a great cook! I’d like my partner to be like that!”

“Uh…uhm, d-don’t you think you’re rushing things, milady? Do you even know what that means for a human like me?” Kuro scratched his head. “What about Prince Giuseppe? Think about his feelings!”

“His feelings don’t matter here, boy!” she laughed. “That dwarf has already left my house, so he can already stand for himself. Likewise, I will do what I want to do. And human thinking won’t apply here; I know that your kind treats sex like it’s the most sacred thing. We dwarves? Not much. Besides, what’s so holy about a vag—”

“Yes, milady, I understand. You can stop it before it gets too awkward for both of us.”

“Aren’t you overthinking sex? All I care is that it feels good doing it with the person you like, while at the same time, I’m doing my duty to my people by producing additional children, and to my family by giving them heirs.”

“I see…” was all Kuro could say. He was flabbergasted at how casual those words were coming from the dwarf lady’s mouth. Though, to be fair, there were still a lot of things he had to learn from the people he planned to rule over once becoming a god. In any case, Kuro made a mental note in his mind; he would consult about it later with the Lady Helgath.

“And before you humans think I and Giuseppe are fighting, no, we’re not. It’s just how it goes in our society,” Lady Ahri then added. “Once our children can already wield a tool, he or she is already considered an adult. If anything, it’s you humans that are making your children weak by caring too much for them when they are young.”

“Well, that’s how it goes for us,” the Duke of Maverny just shrugged; the significant difference between the two cultures was causing him doubts on whatever information he read about the dwarves back in his library at his palace, and the ones in the Holy Palatial Gardens. “Maybe it was our physical builds, but compared to dwarves, we humans are weaker.”

“I guess, it’s not that bad; though still, I’m not convinced. I mean, how will you teach your children that not everything will be served to them in the future, once they are adults?” the dwarf commander tapped on my shoulder. “In any case, my offer is always open for you. I may be an old dwarf, but my womb is still capable of bearing a strong child.”

At that point, Kuro was getting confused. Though Lady Ahri said she was ‘old,’ she still looked like someone in her prime…heck, maybe even younger! Perhaps it was the difference in time between humans and dwarves, but she appeared ‘youthful’ for the word ‘old.’ Still, there were limits to everything; the Duke of Maverny wasn’t taking any of her offer soon.

“Can I refuse?” he asked.

“Yes, but I’ll get pissed at you,” the dwarf followed with a laugh, though the human was out of his wits, trying to determine if she was really joking or not. “However, let’s have this talk later; we still got a city to conquer, Your Holy Majesty.”

“By ‘Your Holy Majesty,’ you mean…?”

Lady Ahri smiled and winked at me. “I only ask that you protect my liege, the Lady Helgath. She may be a giant, but she’s a softie inside. If you can promise me that, the Army of Stone shall fight for you until our last breaths. I will throw my support behind you for as long as live.”