Hours later, shortly after night fell, Drake was officially in “protective custody”.
His new chamber wasn’t bad at all. He had a full room to himself, one even bigger than his private manor lord bedroom back in his old chambers. While it didn’t include a massive four-post bed like the one back there, the bed in here was big and fluffy.
He had a reading desk, two chairs, a selection of books, some board games he had no idea how to play, and even a selection of fresh fruit and his own barrel of mead in the corner with a shiny spigot and a table of wine glasses. He also had a private bathroom, though it was small. They hadn’t put him down with the rats.
But still, he was alone in here, and he had only Lord Frostlight and her thrall to stop him from being killed. He would never fully trust that woman... but he did need her.
Lydia wouldn’t do anything foolish until she knew more. He also knew that the Judge would allow Lydia to visit him in his new chamber as his steward, where he could relay the new plan. So now, all he had to do was kill a few hours and fall asleep.
That proved far more difficult than he expected.
However, despite his boredom, lack of people to talk to, and his endless paranoia about someone getting into his locked and guarded room and stabbing him in the throat, he eventually dozed off. He snapped awake the next morning when a knock sounded on his door.
“I have breakfast!” a woman called.
That was the oldest trick in the book. “Leave it outside!” Drake shouted. If she was an assassin back in his world, she might as well have shouted “Room service!”
“Yes, lord!” the woman responded. “Good day, lord!”
Drake heard footsteps moving away. He mentally debated, then walked to the locked and reinforced door leading to the single hallway outside. It was the only way back to the wider temple. He slid the tiny slot in the door open to see the hallway unchanged.
The hall was well-lit with torches, two alert capital guards stood at attention at the end of it, and a woman dressed in the white and gold of the capital was departing without looking back. Drake realized then that she could have just slid his breakfast through the slot at the bottom of the reinforced door. She likely hadn’t because he’d ordered her not to.
Dammit. That smelled like bacon and eggs out there. The woman was gone.
“Hey!” he shouted down the hall. “Can one of you guys push my food tray in here?”
The capital guards ignored him.
Drake slid the slot closed to block out that delicious smell. He could open the door himself, but that would require opening the locks to his door, opening the door, and stepping outside. Which would be a great way to get killed by some bullshit rarity.
So it looked like he’d be going hungry this morning.
With nothing else to do, he paced the room and even tried doing a few pushups to keep himself from getting bored. He stopped when that made his stomach grumble even more. He didn’t need to burn calories. He needed to preserve them.
Still, eventually, he got bored enough that he picked up his borrowed sword. The Judge, true to her word, had placed one in his chambers, though she’d advised him to keep it out of sight of the guards. Since Drake was in protective custody and not a prisoner, he was allowed to remain in his “guest chamber” unobserved. He took a few experimental stabs with the blade.
Nope. He wasn’t feeling it. Shooting people was so much better. Still... if someone got past Lord Frostlight and her thrall, at least he’d have a way to defend himself. And since he still carried Samuel’s burnished regrowth rarity, he could probably win a sword fight even if he got slashed a dozen times by his opponent simply because he was so hard to kill.
Drake kept at it. He had even started feeling somewhat comfortable with his thrusting technique when another loud knock came on his door.
“Lord Gloomwood!” That was definitely Lydia. “May I enter?”
She’d gotten his message. The Judge hadn’t arrested her. She’d kept her word to allow his steward to visit... but of course the Judge had kept her word, since she couldn’t lie. And here Drake was, waving a sword around like a kid playing Muskateer.
This was not a good look. “One second!” Drake called.
He debated as he looked around the room, then rushed over to stash the sword under his pillow on the bed. That seemed the best place for it. He then ran his hands through his increasingly shaggy hair, took a breath, and walked to the door. He slid the tiny slot in the door open that would allow him to see outside.
Lydia stood outside in her battle maid best, staring with a mixture of worry and anger.
“Hey,” Drake said. “Just in case you’re Lydia’s evil twin, what did I say you were to me when we were alone in my carriage? The night I asked you if I could trust Samuel?”
Her eyes widened slightly. “You said I was your rock.”
“Damn, it’s good to see you.” Drake closed the slot and unlocked the several locks on his reinforced door. As a guest in protective custody, he controlled his own locks. The moment he opened the door, Lydia stepped inside, kicked the door shut with her heel, and immediately hugged him. Her head only came up to his chest.
That surprised him. “Good morning.”
Having Lydia hug him like this wasn’t weird. Not weird at all. She’d probably been somewhat concerned about him. That was understandable, wasn’t it?
Lydia released him and stepped back. “I’m sorry, lord, but... you worried me. You worried us all a great deal. I barely stopped Emily from going down to the noble guard barracks and soul chopping them. Why did the Judge arrest you?”
“Let’s talk about that over bacon and eggs.”
“You mean the meal outside? It looked shriveled and cold. Is she punishing you?”
“No, that one’s my fault.” He locked all the locks and motioned for her to follow him. “Let’s go sit down over here. I have chairs. There’s more to this.”
“Well...” Lydia frowned. “It is good that they gave you chairs.”
Once they were sitting close enough to speak quietly well away from the doors, Drake quietly explained the plan he’d agreed to last night. When he finished explaining, Lydia clenched her fists. “I could slap you right now.
Drake grinned. “You can, can’t you?” Because he’d changed the blood pact.
“You should have demanded we be allowed to protect you.”
“Our enemies are watching you,” Drake said. “They’re watching all my people. If even one of you isn’t where you’re supposed to be, they’ll know this is a trick. They’re also watching Sky’s people, which means we can’t have any of them protecting me either.”
Lydia glared at him. “So you trust an assassin with your life?”
“Former assassin,” Drake corrected. “And to be clear, I don’t trust her, like, at all. But I do believe, until we’ve found out who’s changing what people see, our interests remain aligned. She wants to keep her manor, and we both want to stop the assholes coming after us.”
“Lord Frostlight could still find out who’s doing this after she lets you die!”
“Point,” Drake said. “But I have a sword now.” He pointed at his bed. “It’s right over there. I’m actually getting good with it.”
As Lydia stared at him with real desperation in her gaze, he felt guilty for agreeing to this. For worrying her. Still, he needed to make a move, and there hadn’t been a lot of moves available. At least with this move, he knew the risks.
“I do not like this,” Lydia said finally.
Drake nodded.
“I would have advised against this.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“But as it seems you must do this, then... as always, lord, you have my support.”
He tilted his head. “Why?”
She huffed. “Because I trust you. Right now, I hate that I do... but I trust you, lord.”
He swallowed an unexpected lump. He was genuinely touched by her seemingly unshakable faith in him. “Thanks, Lydia.”
“But I’m still inclined to slap you.”
Drake leaned forward and turned his cheek. “If it’ll make you feel better.”
Lydia sighed and looked around the room. “So... what else can I do while we wait?”
“Tell me how everyone else is doing. Getting you in to see me wasn’t just a ploy to tell you the plan. I do need to know what’s going on in my manor.”
“Other than the frantic scramble to keep your thralls from going to war with the noble court last night, everyone remains safe. Anna was beside herself when she heard you’d been arrested, but I managed to comfort her. Samuel has disappeared once more, likely meeting with every spy he has in the city in hopes of proving your innocence.”
“And the other maids?”
“Emily got very drunk, so we are allowing her to sleep this morning. Valentia and Nicole are... well, as you’d expect. Also, Lark came to speak with you again this morning, but I wasn’t around to receive her. She didn’t say what it was about.”
“Interesting,” Drake said. “I wonder what that was about.”
“You didn’t ask her to return to conclude your prior engagement?”
“My...” Drake got it, then made a face. “No. Obviously.”
“Then I do not know why she would have come to visit you. Perhaps she wished to speak to her brother?”
“Maybe.” Drake put it from his mind. “What about what went down with the Asp? Any blowback on that?”
“Samuel’s contacts have confirmed that all the mercenaries who worked for the Asp have left the city,” Lydia said. “That supports their decision to cut their losses.”
“Good. They better. And Robin’s come back by now? She didn’t desert, did she?”
“She returned last night,” Lydia said. “She was also distraught to hear you had been taken into custody. Gaby and Carl seem quite upset as well. Nicole is keeping them busy with training, but I will not spare the details, lord. Your manor is in an uproar at how you have been treated. If your deception continues much longer, even I may not be able to hold them off.”
“Aww.” Drake felt a rush of warm fuzzies. “I’ll try to get almost murdered quickly.”
Lydia sighed heavily. “Other than what I have already told you, I have little else to report. Everyone who came here from your manor is either busying themselves with their daily tasks or looking for ways to get you freed. And I can’t tell them why you’re really here.”
“You don’t believe they can keep it a secret?”
“You’ve already made it clear our enemy can make our thralls see anything. I can’t watch them all. Any of them could be touched by this powerful rarity at any moment and see you order them to confess this plot. In the matter of keeping the true purpose of your incarceration to a chosen few, your instincts are correct.”
“So what’s Sky going to do about it?”
“For now, she has registered an official grievance against the noble court.”
Drake whistled softly. “We can do that?”
“Not if one wishes to stay in the noble court’s good graces,” Lydia said grimly. “Lady Skybreak advised against it, but Lord Skybreak would not be swayed. I do like her, lord.”
So did Drake. “Well, the Judge knows the truth, so once we capture who’s behind all this and expose them, I’m sure we can get all that forgiven.”
“I should hope so,” Lydia said firmly. “So... what are your orders while we wait?”
He could still communicate with his manor, so he wasn’t isolated. So what should he have them doing, other than trying to prove his innocence, while he acted as bait?
“Find Lark. Make sure she’s not in trouble. Lord Redbow might be done pursuing Darion, but he could still go after Lark for her part in what went down on the docks. After all this, I’d feel bad if we got her killed because Redbow wanted to make a point.”
Lydia nodded a determined nod. “I will find her, lord.”
“Not you,” Drake said. “You can’t go into the city, because you know the secret plan.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then sighed. “I will order Valentia to do it.”
“Not Emily?”
Lydia offered the tiniest chuckle. “Gods no.”
“I’m sorry I made her drunk. Let her know that, all right?”
“I won’t help. But I will assure everyone you are comfortable here.”
“But not safe?”
“I cannot speak that which I do not believe.”
She was right, of course. So what else did he need her to do while he was bait?
“Also, invite Sky to our chambers. Reveal my plan to her and her alone. She’s going to be mad I did this without consulting her, but she’s the only other person I feel comfortable bringing in on the secret. And since she’s my allied manor lord, I feel like I should.”
“I will, lord. What else?”
Drake pondered. “I think that’s it for now. You should have free access to visit me if something comes up, but make sure you always have an escort. You can’t ever be alone. Just pretend you’re me.”
“Yes, lord. Then... do you require anything more before I return to the others?”
“One more thing.” Drake glanced at the shelf and the boxes on it. “Can you teach me how to play one of those board games before you leave? I’m going out of my mind in here.”
He needed something to do in here, alone. Waiting to be assassinated was boring.
Author's Note: Next week, Drake shares a kiss, escapes from prison, and finally learns who's been making his life miserable.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Read Ahead on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
Hours later, shortly after night fell, Drake was officially in “protective custody”.
His new chamber wasn’t bad at all. He had a full room to himself, one even bigger than his private manor lord bedroom back in his old chambers. While it didn’t include a massive four-post bed like the one back there, the bed in here was big and fluffy.
He had a reading desk, two chairs, a selection of books, some board games he had no idea how to play, and even a selection of fresh fruit and his own barrel of mead in the corner with a shiny spigot and a table of wine glasses. He also had a private bathroom, though it was small. They hadn’t put him down with the rats.
But still, he was alone in here, and he had only Lord Frostlight and her thrall to stop him from being killed. He would never fully trust that woman... but he did need her.
Lydia wouldn’t do anything foolish until she knew more. He also knew that the Judge would allow Lydia to visit him in his new chamber as his steward, where he could relay the new plan. So now, all he had to do was kill a few hours and fall asleep.
That proved far more difficult than he expected.
However, despite his boredom, lack of people to talk to, and his endless paranoia about someone getting into his locked and guarded room and stabbing him in the throat, he eventually dozed off. He snapped awake the next morning when a knock sounded on his door.
“I have breakfast!” a woman called.
That was the oldest trick in the book. “Leave it outside!” Drake shouted. If she was an assassin back in his world, she might as well have shouted “Room service!”
“Yes, lord!” the woman responded. “Good day, lord!”
Drake heard footsteps moving away. He mentally debated, then walked to the locked and reinforced door leading to the single hallway outside. It was the only way back to the wider temple. He slid the tiny slot in the door open to see the hallway unchanged.
The hall was well-lit with torches, two alert capital guards stood at attention at the end of it, and a woman dressed in the white and gold of the capital was departing without looking back. Drake realized then that she could have just slid his breakfast through the slot at the bottom of the reinforced door. She likely hadn’t because he’d ordered her not to.
Dammit. That smelled like bacon and eggs out there. The woman was gone.
“Hey!” he shouted down the hall. “Can one of you guys push my food tray in here?”
The capital guards ignored him.
Drake slid the slot closed to block out that delicious smell. He could open the door himself, but that would require opening the locks to his door, opening the door, and stepping outside. Which would be a great way to get killed by some bullshit rarity.
So it looked like he’d be going hungry this morning.
With nothing else to do, he paced the room and even tried doing a few pushups to keep himself from getting bored. He stopped when that made his stomach grumble even more. He didn’t need to burn calories. He needed to preserve them.
Still, eventually, he got bored enough that he picked up his borrowed sword. The Judge, true to her word, had placed one in his chambers, though she’d advised him to keep it out of sight of the guards. Since Drake was in protective custody and not a prisoner, he was allowed to remain in his “guest chamber” unobserved. He took a few experimental stabs with the blade.
Nope. He wasn’t feeling it. Shooting people was so much better. Still... if someone got past Lord Frostlight and her thrall, at least he’d have a way to defend himself. And since he still carried Samuel’s burnished regrowth rarity, he could probably win a sword fight even if he got slashed a dozen times by his opponent simply because he was so hard to kill.
Drake kept at it. He had even started feeling somewhat comfortable with his thrusting technique when another loud knock came on his door.
“Lord Gloomwood!” That was definitely Lydia. “May I enter?”
She’d gotten his message. The Judge hadn’t arrested her. She’d kept her word to allow his steward to visit... but of course the Judge had kept her word, since she couldn’t lie. And here Drake was, waving a sword around like a kid playing Muskateer.
This was not a good look. “One second!” Drake called.
He debated as he looked around the room, then rushed over to stash the sword under his pillow on the bed. That seemed the best place for it. He then ran his hands through his increasingly shaggy hair, took a breath, and walked to the door. He slid the tiny slot in the door open that would allow him to see outside.
Lydia stood outside in her battle maid best, staring with a mixture of worry and anger.
“Hey,” Drake said. “Just in case you’re Lydia’s evil twin, what did I say you were to me when we were alone in my carriage? The night I asked you if I could trust Samuel?”
Her eyes widened slightly. “You said I was your rock.”
“Damn, it’s good to see you.” Drake closed the slot and unlocked the several locks on his reinforced door. As a guest in protective custody, he controlled his own locks. The moment he opened the door, Lydia stepped inside, kicked the door shut with her heel, and immediately hugged him. Her head only came up to his chest.
That surprised him. “Good morning.”
Having Lydia hug him like this wasn’t weird. Not weird at all. She’d probably been somewhat concerned about him. That was understandable, wasn’t it?
Lydia released him and stepped back. “I’m sorry, lord, but... you worried me. You worried us all a great deal. I barely stopped Emily from going down to the noble guard barracks and soul chopping them. Why did the Judge arrest you?”
“Let’s talk about that over bacon and eggs.”
“You mean the meal outside? It looked shriveled and cold. Is she punishing you?”
“No, that one’s my fault.” He locked all the locks and motioned for her to follow him. “Let’s go sit down over here. I have chairs. There’s more to this.”
“Well...” Lydia frowned. “It is good that they gave you chairs.”
Once they were sitting close enough to speak quietly well away from the doors, Drake quietly explained the plan he’d agreed to last night. When he finished explaining, Lydia clenched her fists. “I could slap you right now.
Drake grinned. “You can, can’t you?” Because he’d changed the blood pact.
“You should have demanded we be allowed to protect you.”
“Our enemies are watching you,” Drake said. “They’re watching all my people. If even one of you isn’t where you’re supposed to be, they’ll know this is a trick. They’re also watching Sky’s people, which means we can’t have any of them protecting me either.”
Lydia glared at him. “So you trust an assassin with your life?”
“Former assassin,” Drake corrected. “And to be clear, I don’t trust her, like, at all. But I do believe, until we’ve found out who’s changing what people see, our interests remain aligned. She wants to keep her manor, and we both want to stop the assholes coming after us.”
“Lord Frostlight could still find out who’s doing this after she lets you die!”
“Point,” Drake said. “But I have a sword now.” He pointed at his bed. “It’s right over there. I’m actually getting good with it.”
As Lydia stared at him with real desperation in her gaze, he felt guilty for agreeing to this. For worrying her. Still, he needed to make a move, and there hadn’t been a lot of moves available. At least with this move, he knew the risks.
“I do not like this,” Lydia said finally.
Drake nodded.
“I would have advised against this.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“But as it seems you must do this, then... as always, lord, you have my support.”
He tilted his head. “Why?”
She huffed. “Because I trust you. Right now, I hate that I do... but I trust you, lord.”
He swallowed an unexpected lump. He was genuinely touched by her seemingly unshakable faith in him. “Thanks, Lydia.”
“But I’m still inclined to slap you.”
Drake leaned forward and turned his cheek. “If it’ll make you feel better.”
Lydia sighed and looked around the room. “So... what else can I do while we wait?”
“Tell me how everyone else is doing. Getting you in to see me wasn’t just a ploy to tell you the plan. I do need to know what’s going on in my manor.”
“Other than the frantic scramble to keep your thralls from going to war with the noble court last night, everyone remains safe. Anna was beside herself when she heard you’d been arrested, but I managed to comfort her. Samuel has disappeared once more, likely meeting with every spy he has in the city in hopes of proving your innocence.”
“And the other maids?”
“Emily got very drunk, so we are allowing her to sleep this morning. Valentia and Nicole are... well, as you’d expect. Also, Lark came to speak with you again this morning, but I wasn’t around to receive her. She didn’t say what it was about.”
“Interesting,” Drake said. “I wonder what that was about.”
“You didn’t ask her to return to conclude your prior engagement?”
“My...” Drake got it, then made a face. “No. Obviously.”
“Then I do not know why she would have come to visit you. Perhaps she wished to speak to her brother?”
“Maybe.” Drake put it from his mind. “What about what went down with the Asp? Any blowback on that?”
“Samuel’s contacts have confirmed that all the mercenaries who worked for the Asp have left the city,” Lydia said. “That supports their decision to cut their losses.”
“Good. They better. And Robin’s come back by now? She didn’t desert, did she?”
“She returned last night,” Lydia said. “She was also distraught to hear you had been taken into custody. Gaby and Carl seem quite upset as well. Nicole is keeping them busy with training, but I will not spare the details, lord. Your manor is in an uproar at how you have been treated. If your deception continues much longer, even I may not be able to hold them off.”
“Aww.” Drake felt a rush of warm fuzzies. “I’ll try to get almost murdered quickly.”
Lydia sighed heavily. “Other than what I have already told you, I have little else to report. Everyone who came here from your manor is either busying themselves with their daily tasks or looking for ways to get you freed. And I can’t tell them why you’re really here.”
“You don’t believe they can keep it a secret?”
“You’ve already made it clear our enemy can make our thralls see anything. I can’t watch them all. Any of them could be touched by this powerful rarity at any moment and see you order them to confess this plot. In the matter of keeping the true purpose of your incarceration to a chosen few, your instincts are correct.”
“So what’s Sky going to do about it?”
“For now, she has registered an official grievance against the noble court.”
Drake whistled softly. “We can do that?”
“Not if one wishes to stay in the noble court’s good graces,” Lydia said grimly. “Lady Skybreak advised against it, but Lord Skybreak would not be swayed. I do like her, lord.”
So did Drake. “Well, the Judge knows the truth, so once we capture who’s behind all this and expose them, I’m sure we can get all that forgiven.”
“I should hope so,” Lydia said firmly. “So... what are your orders while we wait?”
He could still communicate with his manor, so he wasn’t isolated. So what should he have them doing, other than trying to prove his innocence, while he acted as bait?
“Find Lark. Make sure she’s not in trouble. Lord Redbow might be done pursuing Darion, but he could still go after Lark for her part in what went down on the docks. After all this, I’d feel bad if we got her killed because Redbow wanted to make a point.”
Lydia nodded a determined nod. “I will find her, lord.”
“Not you,” Drake said. “You can’t go into the city, because you know the secret plan.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then sighed. “I will order Valentia to do it.”
“Not Emily?”
Lydia offered the tiniest chuckle. “Gods no.”
“I’m sorry I made her drunk. Let her know that, all right?”
“I won’t help. But I will assure everyone you are comfortable here.”
“But not safe?”
“I cannot speak that which I do not believe.”
She was right, of course. So what else did he need her to do while he was bait?
“Also, invite Sky to our chambers. Reveal my plan to her and her alone. She’s going to be mad I did this without consulting her, but she’s the only other person I feel comfortable bringing in on the secret. And since she’s my allied manor lord, I feel like I should.”
“I will, lord. What else?”
Drake pondered. “I think that’s it for now. You should have free access to visit me if something comes up, but make sure you always have an escort. You can’t ever be alone. Just pretend you’re me.”
“Yes, lord. Then... do you require anything more before I return to the others?”
“One more thing.” Drake glanced at the shelf and the boxes on it. “Can you teach me how to play one of those board games before you leave? I’m going out of my mind in here.”
He needed something to do in here, alone. Waiting to be assassinated was boring.
Author's Note: Next week, Drake shares a kiss, escapes from prison, and finally learns who's been making his life miserable.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Read Ahead on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
