"Quite simply, no." Calanthe shakes her head at Aiden as she stands before him in his office.
Aiden frowns over at his knight. "Please explain."
"It's not something that can just be flipped on or off, Aiden." She responds, dispensing with formality in this private setting. "We're talking of an incredibly complex series of workings that have been in place for over ten years, interwoven between you, the cantrips themselves, and the anchors. I'm not sure that I CAN remove it. Not without causing irreparable damage to your psyche, and quite possibly also the hold itself which is linked to you."
"There must be a way." He insists.
"Aiden, why bring this up now? Has it not been working as intended? All is running smoothly."
He sighs, and casts a brooding look out the window. "I am no longer a whole man. Too much of me has been locked away."
Calanthe shakes her head and responds, "I would beg to differ. You are a strong leader and Silverwolf is thriving. Why risk all that you are, and all that you hold? For a girl who is too young to even know her heart, and cannot even swear her love?"
He opens his mouth to argue, but Calanthe holds up a hand to forestall and continues, "I do not doubt that you care for her. But... consider for me, two things. Firstly, that you may just be a passing attraction for the young Varich." Delicate fingers extended for each as she names them. "And secondly... if we did withdraw the support of the cantrips, and you returned to your former self? A BIG if, there. Perhaps she would no longer care for the man she then sees."
Aiden sits back in his chair, perturbed. "I have faith in Nadeen, and that she is not the sort to flightily flicker from one fancy to another."
"And so you would hold her to you, even if you turn into a different man? Perhaps it is in her favor that she cannot swear an oath, for that would be tragic if she swore and was bound to a man that isn't who he seemed - a stranger for whom she cares not." Calanthe smoothly argues back.
The baron's frown deepens, as Calanthe continues. "The new changes to the hold that have caused it to thrive of late. The knight you have attracted, the new fledge who chose you over Fiona. Nadeen herself - not just as a lover, but as Reeve who serves the hold. They all chose the Aiden that they know now. Do not see it as being less, but as simply.. this is who you have grown to be."
"I... will consider what you have said." He says after a long pause. "However, if I do choose to remove the cantrips... I have faith in your abilities as a magician, to be able to undo what you have done. You will not disappoint me." This last, partly a statement of confidence, but also, a thinly couched order.
She bows to him, the motion hiding the scowl on her own face. "As you wish, my lord."
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