"You're fired." Markus told Remian straight out.
"But it's not my fault!" Remian protested. "I can't get rid of the slave-bonding even if I tried!"
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is!" Markus said. "The Iron Legion does not keep slaves! That is an ironclad rule!"
"Then… what can I do?" Remian spluttered.
"Pack up your bags, strike your tent, and leave camp. You need to be gone by nightfall!"
"But… but what about the board-and-barbecue?" Remian asked.
"It's over." Markus said sharply. "Take it with you if you like, but from now on it will have no connection to the Iron Legion."
That was as good as rendering it worthless. Without that strict neutrality and the protection of the Legion behind it, there could be no assurances, no reliability...
"This is the reward I get for trying to help someone out of kindness?" Remian grouched as he started to pack. "I lost everything. My job, my shelter, my security, my board, all the progress on my ambitions…"
"Sorry…" Mandy said weakly. "This is all my fault."
Remian didn't say anything, careful not to blurt something he might regret later. Instead, after a minute, al he said was, "Help me carry the board."
"Where are we going?" Mandy asked.
"The church. I still have a field commission in the priesthood." Remian said at last. "And even if I didn't, they might at least offer a pair of homeless teenagers shelter for the night."
"The Circling Ravens…" Mandy began.
"No. Not now. Not yet." Remian rubbed his forehead. "Let me figure this out first. I need to think things through."
"What's there to think through?" Mandy asked.
"There will be consequences. If I join a gang…"
"Then don't join. Just take a room at the inn as a guest." Mandy pointed out. "The Open Frontier Inn at the central zone, not the Raven Tavern."
Remian paused. That did seem like a viable option. "I'll think about it. But where would the board go?"
Mandy glanced back at him. "You're still set on using it?"
"Yes. Perhaps not the same way it was used before, but I still believe in bringing everyone together at a central information terminal."
"A what?"
"Something everyone would look at together every day." Remian explained. "A way to provide jobs and spread important information. Maybe not the high-paying work like before, but if I could set it up at the church and take down Rose's advertisements… the requests from Burning Steel for materials and the Circling Ravens' request for food and such should still be valid."
"And how will you guarantee payment from the Burning Steel without Markus or the Legion behind you?"
"I'll have to figure that out too." Remian grunted. "Give me some time, will you? I just got fired a few minutes ago. I need time to adjust."
He sat down on a bench.
Mandy sat down right next to him. "Me too."
"What?"
"I need time to adjust too. I just became a slave this morning."
Remian shook his head. "That's…"
"That's the plain truth. I'm a bonded slave. The owner of that bond is you, my master. I have to obey your every order." Mandy said simply. "No matter what."
"Huh." Remian glanced at her sideways. "You say that so freely. But you do realize that while I might technically be a priest, I am not a saint."
There was a short silence. Then, "I know."
"And you're still not running?"
"Not running."
Again, another long, ambiguous silence.
Finally, Remian figured something out. When he spoke, his tone was softer. "Book us a room at the inn. I don't think we want to stay at the church tonight."
Mandy agreed. "No, we don't. We really don't."
***
If he wasn't sure before, Remian became very certain that he liked Mandy that night.
The way she placed her arms around his neck. The warmth of her lips. The sound of her breath and her soft, low voice. That redness in her face, and neck, and…
She was obedient in every way. However, she did ask him for something.
"Promise me." The look in her eye was serious at the time. "Promise me you'll never leave me."
"I promise." He meant it.
Things escalated rather rapidly from there.
Later that night, listening to her breathing softly as she slept by his side, Remian took the time to think. Hours passed as he figured out issue after issue throughout the night.
At last, he took out the contract scroll once more and triggered the sigil. Unknown to Mandy, he added a new recording.
"I, Remian Vin, do take Mandy Summers as my lawfully wedded wife…"
It went on for a bit, and he finished it with, "By the authority vested in me as a field priest of the Church of Celestial Light, upon this day the first of October, 2779. May heaven bear witness."
There was a flicker of darkness, and Death appeared. "Since I'm here, you can safely say that heaven bears witness. Congratulations on your marriage. As a wedding gift, I'll do you two a favor and leave you both alone for a long time... unless you do something stupid."
With that, he vanished in another flicker, and the night was silent.
Remian slept.
***
He woke up very late the next day. Going down for breakfast, he overheard a conversation.
"Did he… do anything to you?" the voice belonged to an older woman.
"Nothing that I didn't want him to." That was Mandy's voice.
"Are you really all right?"
"I am, Aunt Sara. I really am." There was a pause. "And I'm happy. Nobody wants to be a slave, but… if it's him…"
"You've only known him for two weeks!"
"But in that two weeks, he has brought more hope and more joy to us than the past two years combined! His ideas of a better tomorrow may be far-fetched, even silly, but it means the world to Mindy, and the others, and… to me. At least he cares. At least he tries."
"Even so, a slave-bond is…"
"It was bound to happen in its time. Already, this outcome is more than I dared to dream of. More like a daydream."
Remian cleared his throat and stepped into the common room of the Open Frontier Inn.
He should have expected this, he guessed. The inn was run by the Ravens, just like the Tavern, so of course word would get around her old gang very quickly. Mandy was seated at a table across from the balding innkeeper, an older woman with streaks of gray in her hair, and two steel-masked men in black leather armor.
"Remian!" Mandy held out hand to call him over. He went to her and held that hand. With a growing blush, she turned to the older woman. "This is Aunt Sara, matriarch of the Circling Ravens."
"Good morning." Remian held out his other hand in greeting.
"Good morning." She shook it. "Now that you've got one of our ravens as a slave, what do you intend to do with her?"
She wasn't referring to night-time activities, Remian was certain. Fortunately, he already thought it through.
"I intend to teach her magic. Then, I'm going to make her queen."