It was immediately obvious to Drake that none of the enemy manor lords had expected him to call this particular thrall. Lord Frostlight looked disappointed, Lord Proudglade looked annoyed, and Lord Brightwater actually looked intrigued.
They must all be wondering why he’d call a witness from his allied manor. Given he and Sky could interview each other’s thralls at any time, this meant something juicy was coming. Something Drake wanted to air before the entire noble court.
“He may approach,” the Judge said.
Oswell stood stiffly, using the arms of his seat to help. Another man—Karth, of course—handed Oswell his crutches and then slid an arm underneath the man’s shoulders.
Sky spoke up. “My thrall, Oswell, lost his lower leg in an ambush by mercenaries. I request permission for my thrall, Karth, to assist him in reaching the stage.”
“Both may approach,” the Judge assured them calmly.
Drake waited as Karth helped Oswell walk down the stairs to the stage in the center. Drake also couldn’t be sure, but he suspected Oswell was milking the chamber’s sympathy for everything he was worth. Sky must have instructed him to look particularly pathetic. In this case, that might play to the sympathies of Lord Brightwater.
Once Karth helped Oswell to the wooden stool between two scribes and beneath the Judge, he turned to face her. Drake knew from reading that a thrall had to give all testimony directly to the Judge, even if they were technically answering the question of a manor lord.
He didn’t envy Oswell this task. The Judge remained intimidating as fuck. However... as she looked down on Oswell, Drake actually saw a bit of kindness in her eyes.
He hoped.
“Lord Gloomwood, ask your questions,” the Judge ordered.
Drake focused on Oswell. “Please tell the noble court everything that happened the day Lord Skybreak’s steward, Rodney, was assassinated in the mercenary ambush south of Skybreak Manor... exactly as you remember it.” That last bit was particularly important.
Still facing the Judge, Oswell once again offered his chilling account of death and betrayal. Along with other thralls who served as Steward Rodney’s personal bodyguards, Oswell left Skybreak Manor to meet with battle maids from Gloomwood Manor. Once they met on the edge of a lake, mercenaries ambushed them.
Then Valentia, Lord Gloomwood’s blood thrall, betrayed them by freezing Steward Rodney’s bodyguards and stabbing Rodney himself through the chest with a sword of ice.
Drake didn’t watch Oswell’s testimony. He watched the room. Lord Frostlight seemed bored at first, but as Oswell’s account revealed the betrayal, she grew visibly more intrigued. So unless she was a good actor, which he wouldn’t put past her, she hadn’t known any of this.
Lord Proudglade simply glowered in annoyance. He was now consistently so pissed off it was impossible to tell if he’d known or not. Lost Mistvale remained an unreadable elder vampire, and Lord Redbow’s trademark creepy grin was gone for the first time in the cabal.
That was interesting.
As for Lord Brightwater, she actually looked a bit ill as Oswell recounted the cold-blooded murder of Rodney, the others, and Valentia’s betrayal. When she looked Drake’s way, he saw her sizing him up once more. He hoped she’d defer judgment for now.
Once Oswell finished his account, including how he survived by using his rarity, coagulation, to stop his blood loss after losing his lower leg, the Judge looked at Drake. He might be imagining it, but he thought he saw a hint of incredulity on her face. As if she wanted to ask “Why in the fuck would you incriminate your own battle maid?”
Instead, the Judge asked, “Do you have any other questions?”
Drake took a breath. The other manor lords would be able to ask questions of Oswell after Drake got done. They would inevitably ask why Steward Rodney had been meeting with Drake’s battle maids, and the man would be forced to answer. Now that he’d left Oswell exposed, Lord Gloomwood and Lord Skybreak’s crime of exchanging magical items in secret, while they were not allied, was going to come out no matter what he did.
But the penalty might be less severe if Drake confessed voluntarily.
“Oswell, why was Steward Rodney meeting secretly with my battle maids outside of both your manors, at the lake, where they could be ambushed?”
Oswell said nothing.
“You will answer Lord Gloomwood,” the Judge ordered firmly.
“Answer his question,” Sky called. “It’s fine, Oswell.”
Drake realized something then. While Oswell could answer the Judge’s question any time he wished, since Sky’s blood pact had no power over him, he had waited until Sky audibly gave the order. Otherwise, the other manor lords would have realized something was off. Sky’s thralls had been pretending to be compelled for quite some time.
Oswell took a breath. “On orders from Lord Skybreak, I escorted Steward Rodney to meet with Valentia and Nicole, Lord Gloomwood’s battle maids, to pass on a magical artifact from our treasury.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
The Judge spent a beat watching Oswell before she looked to Drake, and this time, she looked truly vexed. “Lord Gloomwood.”
“Yes, Judge?”
“You are aware that, until just after this morning’s announcement, your manor was not officially allied with Skybreak Manor?”
“I am aware of that.”
“And are you also aware that secretly exchanging magical items between manors that are not officially allied is not allowed by rules of the noble court?”
“I am, Judge.”
“Then, understand, I ask this next question because I am beginning to worry you may be mentally unwell. Do you understand that by calling this witness and asking that question, you have just implicated your manor in a crime?”
“I do, Judge. Lord Skybreak and I both agreed we should not remain bound by the decisions of our predecessors. We regret this crime and confess it as a gesture of good faith.”
He could swear he saw the Judge mentally facepalm before she looked to Sky. “Do you wish to dispute your blood thralls’ accounting of events?”
“No, Judge,” Sky said. “Everything Oswell just said is true... so far as he believes.”
“Explain your words,” the Judge said immediately.
“With respect, I believe a full accounting of the events surrounding my steward’s assassination would best come from Lord Gloomwood and his witnesses.”
Lord Redbow was sweating now. The man was actually sweating. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief and then leaned over to whisper something to a thrall. Drake could barely hold back his grin as he watched the man wriggle in his seat.
The Judge seemed on the verge of asking Sky to explain herself, but finally, she looked to the court at large. “Do the other lords have any questions for this witness?”
No manor lord spoke up. They appeared truly at a loss. Nothing they could ask Oswell would do more damage to Drake’s manor than Drake had already done to it himself... but by revealing this before the other manor lords could cross-examine Oswell, he’d left them no way to seize the momentum for themselves.
Drake also ignored Lord Blackmane, who was currently starting at his box and trying to catch his eyes. Probably to ask if he was actually insane.
“The witness is dismissed,” the Judge said. As Karth helped Oswell back to his box, the Judge continued to glare at them both.
“Lord Gloomwood. Lord Skybreak. Based on this witness’s testimony, this court judges you both guilty of secretly and illegally trading magical artifacts against the rules of the noble court. You will tithe for this crime, and you will both be censured. Do you understand?”
Drake certainly did. Being censured meant he would no longer be able to take any actions at this cabal. He could still answer to the grievances of other manor lords and defend himself, but he could not make announcements, air grievances, or do anything, really.
But since his current grievance was already in motion, he could still complete it. Sky could also complete hers if they needed it, because she’d stood and claimed her grievance before they both got themselves censured. He had made sure to quiz Viktoria all about that.
“Call your last thrall,” the Judge said.
Drake stood once more. “I call Valentia Vincano as my next witness.”
Again the Judge narrowed her eyes. “You do know you only get two witnesses?”
At this point, he wasn’t sure if the Judge was trying to help him out or fuck with him. Either was more amusing than annoying. “I do, Judge. I wish to call Valentia Vincano.”
The Judge all but sighed. “She may approach.”
Valentia stood, nodded Drake’s way, and walked out of the box as Emily opened the door. She strode down the stairs with every bit of self-assured poise Drake would expect from one of Gloomwood Manor’s most experienced and dangerous battle maids. When Drake glanced at Lord Blackmane, he found the man watching Valentia like a wolf in heat.
Drake scowled. If he didn’t need the other manor lord’s vote to keep himself and Sky alive, he’d call a grievance on Lord Blackmane simply for being an irredeemable horndog. Lord Blackmane’s current lady friend was right there, and it was obvious from her frown she knew exactly whose ass her lord was ogling.
Valentia sat herself on the stool and stared up at the judge. Unlike Oswell, he suspected Valentia was directing every bit of her ice queen calm at the older woman.
“Lord Gloomwood,” the Judge said, almost as if she was dreading what colossal mistake he might make next. “Ask your first question.”
“Valentia,” Drake said. “Would you describe everything that happened when and after you met Steward Rodney and his bodyguards to receive a magical item? As you remember it?”
One of Lord Redbow’s thralls rose and stepped out of his box. Drake watched with keen interest as the man hurried out the double oak doors. Where exactly was he going? It looked like turning on the lights was already scaring the rats.
With a cold and remorseless fervor that kept Drake’s ears glued to her account, Valentia described everything that happened the day Steward Rodney died. Including that she did not stab him with an icy sword. Including that she and Nicole were both taken alive by the mercenaries who murdered Steward Rodney after not betraying him.
When she finished, the Judged actually looked pale. Drake suspected he might have taken a year off her life with today’s testimony. He hoped she could afford that. Finally, the Judge’s eyes met his once more.
“What is this?” she asked softly.
Drake hadn’t rehearsed for that question. “I don’t understand the question.”
“Why did you call these witnesses?” the Judge asked. “What is your goal here today?”
The fact that she’d gone straight to the heart of this matter was a good sign. “Judge, I think it should be obvious to everyone here that Oswell and Valentia remember entirely different accounts of Steward Rodney’s assassination.”
“That is obvious to everyone,” the Judge said sardonically. “How does this relate to your grievance with Lords Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow?”
Drake took a breath for dramatic effect. “Judge, the fact that Oswell and Valentia remember entirely different versions of events was intended to trick Lord Skybreak into demanding the execution of Valentia, my battle maid. Had we not uncovered the fact that they remembered differently, our bad blood would have destroyed any chance of our alliance.”
The Judge waited silently. He took that as permission to continue.
“Neither I nor any of my thralls hired those mercenaries to murder Steward Rodney and abduct my battle maids. We do, however, now know the mercenaries were connected to Lord Redbow.” Drake glanced at the man to find him visibly placid once more. “Oswell was tricked into giving the account he gave... into seeing the betrayal he saw... by enemies of our manors who hoped to prevent Lord Skybreak and I from formalizing our alliance.”
Drake looked to the other manor lords. “Our enemies, right now, are Lords Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow. At least one and maybe more have already tried to assassinate me multiple times, which means it was almost certainly one of them who was behind this effort to drive a wedge between my manor and Lord Skybreak’s.”
“What is your proof?” the Judge demanded.
Now for the killshot. “I have secured letters from Captain Ro, the man Lord Redbow has already admitted worked directly for him earlier today, with instructions leading Ro to his targets. We already know from today’s earlier testimony that Captain Ro worked for Lord Redbow... by Lord Redbow’s own admission... and Valentia has verified the men who ambushed her also worked for Captain Ro. That means Lord Redbow was also behind the attack on Steward Rodney, unless Captain Ro once again did it without his knowledge.”
Lord Redbow said nothing. He simply sat silently in his box.
“Yet Oswell saw your battle maids murder Rodney,” the Judge reminded everyone in the room. “How do you explain this?”
Was she setting him up to make his point? It felt like she’d just tossed him the easiest softball ever, and she now expecting him to hit it out of the park. He’d oblige her.
“This strongly suggests Lord Redbow or one of his allied manors has a blood thrall, or has contracted a blood thrall, who has a rarity that changes what people see. That thrall can make anyone see anything, which means any testimony anyone gives to this noble court could be mistaken.” Drake paused. “This suggests not only that one of the lords I named sought to start a war between me and my ally, but that this lord also sought to deceive the noble court.”
That was his bombshell. Attempting to deceive the noble court was, other than a demon summoning, one of the only unforgivable crimes a manor lord could commit. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be possible since no one could lie, manor lords had occasionally attempted to deceive the court through doublespeak or other methods.
Drake had just suggested that one of the four manor lords allied against him had committed an unforgivable crime... and neither the Judge nor anyone else had contradicted him. Drake took the utter silence in the chamber as permission to lob one final bomb at his off-balance enemies.
“I would also ask my fellow manor lords to consider everything they and their thralls remember about the circumstances leading to their alliance with Lord Proudglade with fresh eyes. Because it now seems possible, to me, that some among you may also have been tricked into allying with Lord Proudglade. Because he could make you see things that didn’t happen.”
Lord Proudglade stood. “As the manor lord who called this cabal, I call for it to end.”
Author's Note: Next week, Drake plays with his crossbow and gets drunk.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Read Ahead on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
It was immediately obvious to Drake that none of the enemy manor lords had expected him to call this particular thrall. Lord Frostlight looked disappointed, Lord Proudglade looked annoyed, and Lord Brightwater actually looked intrigued.
They must all be wondering why he’d call a witness from his allied manor. Given he and Sky could interview each other’s thralls at any time, this meant something juicy was coming. Something Drake wanted to air before the entire noble court.
“He may approach,” the Judge said.
Oswell stood stiffly, using the arms of his seat to help. Another man—Karth, of course—handed Oswell his crutches and then slid an arm underneath the man’s shoulders.
Sky spoke up. “My thrall, Oswell, lost his lower leg in an ambush by mercenaries. I request permission for my thrall, Karth, to assist him in reaching the stage.”
“Both may approach,” the Judge assured them calmly.
Drake waited as Karth helped Oswell walk down the stairs to the stage in the center. Drake also couldn’t be sure, but he suspected Oswell was milking the chamber’s sympathy for everything he was worth. Sky must have instructed him to look particularly pathetic. In this case, that might play to the sympathies of Lord Brightwater.
Once Karth helped Oswell to the wooden stool between two scribes and beneath the Judge, he turned to face her. Drake knew from reading that a thrall had to give all testimony directly to the Judge, even if they were technically answering the question of a manor lord.
He didn’t envy Oswell this task. The Judge remained intimidating as fuck. However... as she looked down on Oswell, Drake actually saw a bit of kindness in her eyes.
He hoped.
“Lord Gloomwood, ask your questions,” the Judge ordered.
Drake focused on Oswell. “Please tell the noble court everything that happened the day Lord Skybreak’s steward, Rodney, was assassinated in the mercenary ambush south of Skybreak Manor... exactly as you remember it.” That last bit was particularly important.
Still facing the Judge, Oswell once again offered his chilling account of death and betrayal. Along with other thralls who served as Steward Rodney’s personal bodyguards, Oswell left Skybreak Manor to meet with battle maids from Gloomwood Manor. Once they met on the edge of a lake, mercenaries ambushed them.
Then Valentia, Lord Gloomwood’s blood thrall, betrayed them by freezing Steward Rodney’s bodyguards and stabbing Rodney himself through the chest with a sword of ice.
Drake didn’t watch Oswell’s testimony. He watched the room. Lord Frostlight seemed bored at first, but as Oswell’s account revealed the betrayal, she grew visibly more intrigued. So unless she was a good actor, which he wouldn’t put past her, she hadn’t known any of this.
Lord Proudglade simply glowered in annoyance. He was now consistently so pissed off it was impossible to tell if he’d known or not. Lost Mistvale remained an unreadable elder vampire, and Lord Redbow’s trademark creepy grin was gone for the first time in the cabal.
That was interesting.
As for Lord Brightwater, she actually looked a bit ill as Oswell recounted the cold-blooded murder of Rodney, the others, and Valentia’s betrayal. When she looked Drake’s way, he saw her sizing him up once more. He hoped she’d defer judgment for now.
Once Oswell finished his account, including how he survived by using his rarity, coagulation, to stop his blood loss after losing his lower leg, the Judge looked at Drake. He might be imagining it, but he thought he saw a hint of incredulity on her face. As if she wanted to ask “Why in the fuck would you incriminate your own battle maid?”
Instead, the Judge asked, “Do you have any other questions?”
Drake took a breath. The other manor lords would be able to ask questions of Oswell after Drake got done. They would inevitably ask why Steward Rodney had been meeting with Drake’s battle maids, and the man would be forced to answer. Now that he’d left Oswell exposed, Lord Gloomwood and Lord Skybreak’s crime of exchanging magical items in secret, while they were not allied, was going to come out no matter what he did.
But the penalty might be less severe if Drake confessed voluntarily.
“Oswell, why was Steward Rodney meeting secretly with my battle maids outside of both your manors, at the lake, where they could be ambushed?”
Oswell said nothing.
“You will answer Lord Gloomwood,” the Judge ordered firmly.
“Answer his question,” Sky called. “It’s fine, Oswell.”
Drake realized something then. While Oswell could answer the Judge’s question any time he wished, since Sky’s blood pact had no power over him, he had waited until Sky audibly gave the order. Otherwise, the other manor lords would have realized something was off. Sky’s thralls had been pretending to be compelled for quite some time.
Oswell took a breath. “On orders from Lord Skybreak, I escorted Steward Rodney to meet with Valentia and Nicole, Lord Gloomwood’s battle maids, to pass on a magical artifact from our treasury.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
The Judge spent a beat watching Oswell before she looked to Drake, and this time, she looked truly vexed. “Lord Gloomwood.”
“Yes, Judge?”
“You are aware that, until just after this morning’s announcement, your manor was not officially allied with Skybreak Manor?”
“I am aware of that.”
“And are you also aware that secretly exchanging magical items between manors that are not officially allied is not allowed by rules of the noble court?”
“I am, Judge.”
“Then, understand, I ask this next question because I am beginning to worry you may be mentally unwell. Do you understand that by calling this witness and asking that question, you have just implicated your manor in a crime?”
“I do, Judge. Lord Skybreak and I both agreed we should not remain bound by the decisions of our predecessors. We regret this crime and confess it as a gesture of good faith.”
He could swear he saw the Judge mentally facepalm before she looked to Sky. “Do you wish to dispute your blood thralls’ accounting of events?”
“No, Judge,” Sky said. “Everything Oswell just said is true... so far as he believes.”
“Explain your words,” the Judge said immediately.
“With respect, I believe a full accounting of the events surrounding my steward’s assassination would best come from Lord Gloomwood and his witnesses.”
Lord Redbow was sweating now. The man was actually sweating. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief and then leaned over to whisper something to a thrall. Drake could barely hold back his grin as he watched the man wriggle in his seat.
The Judge seemed on the verge of asking Sky to explain herself, but finally, she looked to the court at large. “Do the other lords have any questions for this witness?”
No manor lord spoke up. They appeared truly at a loss. Nothing they could ask Oswell would do more damage to Drake’s manor than Drake had already done to it himself... but by revealing this before the other manor lords could cross-examine Oswell, he’d left them no way to seize the momentum for themselves.
Drake also ignored Lord Blackmane, who was currently starting at his box and trying to catch his eyes. Probably to ask if he was actually insane.
“The witness is dismissed,” the Judge said. As Karth helped Oswell back to his box, the Judge continued to glare at them both.
“Lord Gloomwood. Lord Skybreak. Based on this witness’s testimony, this court judges you both guilty of secretly and illegally trading magical artifacts against the rules of the noble court. You will tithe for this crime, and you will both be censured. Do you understand?”
Drake certainly did. Being censured meant he would no longer be able to take any actions at this cabal. He could still answer to the grievances of other manor lords and defend himself, but he could not make announcements, air grievances, or do anything, really.
But since his current grievance was already in motion, he could still complete it. Sky could also complete hers if they needed it, because she’d stood and claimed her grievance before they both got themselves censured. He had made sure to quiz Viktoria all about that.
“Call your last thrall,” the Judge said.
Drake stood once more. “I call Valentia Vincano as my next witness.”
Again the Judge narrowed her eyes. “You do know you only get two witnesses?”
At this point, he wasn’t sure if the Judge was trying to help him out or fuck with him. Either was more amusing than annoying. “I do, Judge. I wish to call Valentia Vincano.”
The Judge all but sighed. “She may approach.”
Valentia stood, nodded Drake’s way, and walked out of the box as Emily opened the door. She strode down the stairs with every bit of self-assured poise Drake would expect from one of Gloomwood Manor’s most experienced and dangerous battle maids. When Drake glanced at Lord Blackmane, he found the man watching Valentia like a wolf in heat.
Drake scowled. If he didn’t need the other manor lord’s vote to keep himself and Sky alive, he’d call a grievance on Lord Blackmane simply for being an irredeemable horndog. Lord Blackmane’s current lady friend was right there, and it was obvious from her frown she knew exactly whose ass her lord was ogling.
Valentia sat herself on the stool and stared up at the judge. Unlike Oswell, he suspected Valentia was directing every bit of her ice queen calm at the older woman.
“Lord Gloomwood,” the Judge said, almost as if she was dreading what colossal mistake he might make next. “Ask your first question.”
“Valentia,” Drake said. “Would you describe everything that happened when and after you met Steward Rodney and his bodyguards to receive a magical item? As you remember it?”
One of Lord Redbow’s thralls rose and stepped out of his box. Drake watched with keen interest as the man hurried out the double oak doors. Where exactly was he going? It looked like turning on the lights was already scaring the rats.
With a cold and remorseless fervor that kept Drake’s ears glued to her account, Valentia described everything that happened the day Steward Rodney died. Including that she did not stab him with an icy sword. Including that she and Nicole were both taken alive by the mercenaries who murdered Steward Rodney after not betraying him.
When she finished, the Judged actually looked pale. Drake suspected he might have taken a year off her life with today’s testimony. He hoped she could afford that. Finally, the Judge’s eyes met his once more.
“What is this?” she asked softly.
Drake hadn’t rehearsed for that question. “I don’t understand the question.”
“Why did you call these witnesses?” the Judge asked. “What is your goal here today?”
The fact that she’d gone straight to the heart of this matter was a good sign. “Judge, I think it should be obvious to everyone here that Oswell and Valentia remember entirely different accounts of Steward Rodney’s assassination.”
“That is obvious to everyone,” the Judge said sardonically. “How does this relate to your grievance with Lords Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow?”
Drake took a breath for dramatic effect. “Judge, the fact that Oswell and Valentia remember entirely different versions of events was intended to trick Lord Skybreak into demanding the execution of Valentia, my battle maid. Had we not uncovered the fact that they remembered differently, our bad blood would have destroyed any chance of our alliance.”
The Judge waited silently. He took that as permission to continue.
“Neither I nor any of my thralls hired those mercenaries to murder Steward Rodney and abduct my battle maids. We do, however, now know the mercenaries were connected to Lord Redbow.” Drake glanced at the man to find him visibly placid once more. “Oswell was tricked into giving the account he gave... into seeing the betrayal he saw... by enemies of our manors who hoped to prevent Lord Skybreak and I from formalizing our alliance.”
Drake looked to the other manor lords. “Our enemies, right now, are Lords Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow. At least one and maybe more have already tried to assassinate me multiple times, which means it was almost certainly one of them who was behind this effort to drive a wedge between my manor and Lord Skybreak’s.”
“What is your proof?” the Judge demanded.
Now for the killshot. “I have secured letters from Captain Ro, the man Lord Redbow has already admitted worked directly for him earlier today, with instructions leading Ro to his targets. We already know from today’s earlier testimony that Captain Ro worked for Lord Redbow... by Lord Redbow’s own admission... and Valentia has verified the men who ambushed her also worked for Captain Ro. That means Lord Redbow was also behind the attack on Steward Rodney, unless Captain Ro once again did it without his knowledge.”
Lord Redbow said nothing. He simply sat silently in his box.
“Yet Oswell saw your battle maids murder Rodney,” the Judge reminded everyone in the room. “How do you explain this?”
Was she setting him up to make his point? It felt like she’d just tossed him the easiest softball ever, and she now expecting him to hit it out of the park. He’d oblige her.
“This strongly suggests Lord Redbow or one of his allied manors has a blood thrall, or has contracted a blood thrall, who has a rarity that changes what people see. That thrall can make anyone see anything, which means any testimony anyone gives to this noble court could be mistaken.” Drake paused. “This suggests not only that one of the lords I named sought to start a war between me and my ally, but that this lord also sought to deceive the noble court.”
That was his bombshell. Attempting to deceive the noble court was, other than a demon summoning, one of the only unforgivable crimes a manor lord could commit. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be possible since no one could lie, manor lords had occasionally attempted to deceive the court through doublespeak or other methods.
Drake had just suggested that one of the four manor lords allied against him had committed an unforgivable crime... and neither the Judge nor anyone else had contradicted him. Drake took the utter silence in the chamber as permission to lob one final bomb at his off-balance enemies.
“I would also ask my fellow manor lords to consider everything they and their thralls remember about the circumstances leading to their alliance with Lord Proudglade with fresh eyes. Because it now seems possible, to me, that some among you may also have been tricked into allying with Lord Proudglade. Because he could make you see things that didn’t happen.”
Lord Proudglade stood. “As the manor lord who called this cabal, I call for it to end.”
Author's Note: Next week, Drake plays with his crossbow and gets drunk.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Read Ahead on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
