She promised to try to think more of herself in the future, and that brought a smile to his face. The bond that they shared, unbeknownst to her still at this point, amplified anything and everything he felt about her. It didn’t matter if it was love or hate, happiness or sadness, or even confusion and doubt, the magnitude of his emotions was heightened exponentially. So the fact that Mai was so negative about herself and called herself helpless made him irate. He wanted her to believe in herself the way that he believed in her, he wanted her to be happy exactly the way she was, or elsewise help her become who she wanted to be. Not that he thought she had to change at all to be perfect… She was perfect just the way she was in his eyes… But if she did not feel that she had yet fulfilled her purpose then he would do anything and everything in his power to help her get there. To lift her up as high as she could go. But his emotions and thoughts had gotten away from him then, and he had spoken out of turn, offering promises he could not ever hope to keep - he offered to find her a master to teach her whatever it was she wanted to learn. At first, when she spoke about healing and medicinal knowledge, he lighted up, with a big grin, but it quickly altered and fled from his façade as realization swept over him.

“I… Well no. Not exactly. A healer… We don’t. What I mean, Mai, is that we don’t exactly have a healer already. We did… We did. But Khaleesi really missed her mother, Hellene, and left to visit her for a time. I don’t think you ever met Hellene, but she was the healer here for a long time, and adopted Khaleesi. That is how Khaleesi knew everything she knew about herbs and healing and the body… And now that Khaleesi left… well all that means is that it would be a perfect role for you to take on in terms of the pack. I just… Right. That’s a problem. I need to find you a teacher. But I can figure this out.”

Aindreas sighed and close his eyes, trying to think of every healer he knew about. But as he just said, Khaleesi had left. And Hellene was in Kalgalath‘s homeland, and calling her back would not make since, especially considering Khaleesi had just only left. Kahlan, the healer from Sawtooth who had briefly taken refuge within the borders of Dierne Hrof back when it had still been Aurora Borealis, was gone. Aindreas had not heard from her in a long while. But her niece… Where was her niece Macaria? A long while ago, there had been a consideration of growing in alliance with Kershov back when he had been king of Abendrot. And Macaria… Macaria had been living there. Now that Kershov had returned and taken Uyaraut, the pack by the sea… There was a chance that Macaria was there. Perhaps she followed Kershov, if she was loyal enough. And being Kahlan‘s niece… There was a chance that she had learned from her aunt. It was a lot of ‘if‘s’… But it was as good of a chance as any. The only thing to do now was to figure out a plan - how to convince Kershov to allow one of Aindreas’ own pack members to train with Macaria. Dierne Hrof and Uyaraut had no standing alliance, and there was currently no reason to form a hasty alliance – no war, no fearmongering. Aindreas would have to give Kershov something in return, and Aindreas knew that Kershov always run a hard bargain.

“I think I may have an idea of a potential teacher for you, Mai. The only problem is that she lives in Uyaraut. And we have no alliance with that pack. I have heard that Kershov is betrothing his own offspring to the offspring of various other leaders… I need to talk to Vladimir about potentially betrothing one of his offspring to one of Kershov’s. Of course, it would only work if they bonded, an Oferweder to his or her soulmate… But it would be worth a shot, wouldn’t it? Not just to make you into a healer, but also to form an alliance for future use. Elsewise, I would have to come up with a different idea. A different bargaining chip. I cannot demand that anyone‘s first born… Or pup in general goes to him. I could never demand that. I could ask but… I’m not sure anyone would be willing given Kershov’s reputation. And the Arcus Irae have been through enough, they do not need to be split up any further. I will… I will go to Kershov and talk to him. I will see if an alliance can be made, and at what cost to us.” Aindreas smiled at her, reassuringly. “Do not feel like this is too much, nor that you are not worth it, because you are If this does not pan out, we will figure something out. Worse comes to worse, I can send for Khaleesi or her mother to return at least long enough to train you. We will get you the future that you wish for, Mai. I won’t let anything stop it.”

WC: 898