“The sapling was a gift from the silverwood,” Marissa said calmly. “They were given to Lord Gloomwood for safekeeping and protection as they grew into a tree great enough to lead the forest in the place of their progenitor. I assured the silverwood that we, as lords of Gloomwood Manor, would protect and shelter the sapling. Had we failed, we would all grieve.”
Drake sighed. “Mom, you realize, to me, that’s all just fantasy bullshit, right?”
Viktoria frowned in disapproval. “You should show your mother the respect due a former manor lord.”
“And you should mind your own damn business, Viktoria.” Another revelation hit him between the eyes, and then he pivoted on her. “This is why you asked about my eyes and my mother and all that crap during our dinner, wasn’t it? You knew who I was, who my mom was.”
Her features remained calm and unperturbed. “I suspected.”
“And you didn’t share your suspicions with me.”
“There could be more than one woman in your realm named Marissa,” Viktoria said simply. “Until I had more information, I did not want to mislead you.”
That was a load of doublespeak. “You know what? Forget it.” He looked at his mother. “Setting aside whatever this sapling is for the moment, and why you didn’t tell me anything about it, Lydia, was I born here? In this realm? Did we flee?”
“I fled when pregnant with you,” Marissa said. “The journey was difficult, and you were born on Earth soil. You are of Earth, not our realm... yet it seems your divine blood remains.”
“And my rarity? You know what it is?”
“You can mimic the rarities of others. I have always known that.”
“Great. Nice. Sure would have been useful if you’d told me before I got dragged here by Lord Crow, and then he tried to force me to carve Westin Proudglade like a Christmas turkey.”
Marissa looked alarmed. “A son of Lord Proudglade was also captured by the old lord when he summoned you here? Is he all right?”
“No, the noble court just chopped his head off for unforgivable crimes. That man... Westin... is also the reason I almost died so many times, and for some reason, I can’t seem to hate him for it. That is frustrating as fuck, as you can imagine, Mom.”
Viktoria touched Marissa’s arm. “Perhaps the two of you should talk in private before the rest of us plan our next steps.”
Marissa nodded. “I had no idea Lord Gloomwood had faced so many trials in the short time since he arrived. Perhaps a private conversation before we proceed would be best.”
Drake laughed bitterly. “Oh no, it’s fine! Every single way this world has tried to kill me has smacked me upside the head while I wasn’t ready for it, so why break the streak now? Let’s hop right into whatever next world ending crisis I need to resolve. I’ll wing it.”
“Lydia and I will return to Lord Gloomwood’s chambers and await you,” Viktoria said.
“Thank you.” Marissa smiled at her... old friend. “And Lydia? Once again, I would express my gratitude to you for all you have done for our manor and my son.”
“It is my duty as your blood thrall, Lady Gloomwood. Your praise means so much to me. Now.” She smiled at Drake. “I will let you two catch up... so long as my lord has no objections?”
At least Lydia was still taking orders from him. Nominally. Drake waved tiredly. “Sure. That’s fine. You two go on ahead. We’ll catch up after I’m done freaking out.”
It surprised him with Lydia touched his arm. She was trying to offer the comfort a friend might. She remained his friend.
“You are still my lord,” Lydia said firmly. “You will always be my lord.” She squeezed his arm and then looked at his mother. “Lady Gloomwood.”
“Steward Lydia.” Marissa inclined her head. “We will speak again soon.”
Lydia knocked on the door, which opened, and then they stepped out with Atticus and closed it behind them. Before Drake could stop her or fight her off, Marissa marched forward and hugged him. Drake sighed and kept his hands at his sides.
“Really?” Marissa asked in amusement. “Not even a hug after all this time apart?”
“We don’t really hug, Mom.” Or did you forget that?
“I suppose I can’t blame you for feeling that way.” Marissa stepped back, staring at him wistfully. “Just know that it was never pleasant for me to be so aloof with you.”
“How could you be aloof? You were never around.”
“I never knew when I might be found and killed,” Marissa said calmly. “Ensuring we remained hidden and remaining watchful for assassins required discipline. I learned independence at the same age I taught you. Everyone in this world typically learns to depend almost entirely on themselves in their early teens. We simply don’t have so much time here.”
“So you want me to... what? Thank you for letting me raise myself?”
“Simply to understand. It was my genuine hope that neither of us would ever see this realm again, but I always knew it was a possibility. I also knew that one day, you might be called upon to lord over a manor. I needed to prepare you. I needed to know you could handle it.”
“Handle killing people? Sending people to their deaths? Unraveling conspiracies from assholes trying to rip me open or chop my head off?”
“All of those and more,” Marissa said. “I truly am impressed by all you have accomplished, even if I only know the barest of details. I hope you will tell me more about all that has occurred since you arrived. I wish to know more of your victories over our enemies.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re impressed I managed to kill so many people. Really.”
“Had I the power to protect you from all of this, I would have, but how you have survived and thrived in my former role fills me with pride. Those few thralls I have spoken with since I arrived already respect you deeply. You have restored our manor’s hope.”
Drake stared at her. “I just...” He couldn’t even be angry with his mother any longer for keeping all this from him. This was too exhausting. “How did you even get here?”
“It is possible to travel between realms. It is not easy.”
“Yes, but how?”
“Do you feel qualified to teach organic chemistry? Do you know how macromolecules and their reactions are associated with molecular orbital theory?”
Drake stared a moment. “So we teleport using chemistry?”
“I don’t understand the first thing about organic chemistry, or how to teach it,” Marissa continued. “I’m not even sure if what I just said would make sense to a chemist. So if you did have a keen understanding of chemistry, and you attempted to explain to me how some specific and obscure chemical process worked, I would have no idea what you were saying.”
Drake ground his teeth. This was how his mother had always insisted on answering his questions when he was younger, by providing examples he had to reason through himself or by asking questions he had to answer. It was so damn frustrating.
“So basically, you’re saying realm travel is too complex for me to understand.”
“It is too complex for me to understand. I have traveled twice now, and I have only done so by following extremely specific instructions I fear may have shaved years off my life. If you like, I can show you my notes and you can see what sense you can make of them. But I cannot explain how to move between realms because I do not know. I simply... followed instructions.”
Drake frowned as he considered. “Okay. Fine. I can understand that.”
“Thank you.”
“But here’s something else. Something else I have to know right now. Can you...” He hesitated, even in this supposedly private office, and leaned close. “Lie?
“No,” Marissa said just as quietly. “I was born in this realm under the eyes of the Eidolons. I did not know it was even possible to do what you can do until I arrived on Earth. Adjusting to a realm so unlike my own required time and patience.”
Drake could imagine it had. His mother had gone through the past twenty-five years on Earth being unable to lie to anyone about anything. He’d always thought she was just morally and brutally honest, for which he’d been proud of her when he was small.
Yet as he grew up and began to understand how the world worked, how people interacted and how little white lies were often necessary just to get through a day, his mother’s refusal to ever lie to anyone had annoyed him endlessly.
Back then, he’d felt like his mother was full of herself, too good to ever dirty her hands with a lie. He’d even taken advantage of her commitment to truth by lying to her more often than not, knowing he would usually fool her. Now... he just felt like an asshole.
Still, there was only one real question left. “Can we get back?”
“Do you want to go back?” Marissa asked calmly.
She was doing it again, answering a question with a question. “Do you, Mom?”
“So long as you are Lord Gloomwood, I wish only to assist and advise you however I can. If you no longer wish to guide our manor, then... I can send you home.”
“But not you?”
“I left my home due to political calculations that have changed drastically in the last twenty-five years. There is no longer any need for me to remain in exile. My responsibility has always been first to protect myself, my manor, and my blood thralls. I need to be here.”
“Just like all manor lords.”
“And you,” Marissa reminded him warmly. “Once you were born, my first and most important responsibility became to protect you. I placed you above it all.”
“Well, apparently you didn’t do a very good job of protecting me, since here I am!”
He regretted the words the moment they flew out of his mouth. He didn’t miss the way Marissa flinched despite how she tried to hide it, and he didn’t doubt he’d just driven a knife into her as deeply as she had into him when she walked in here like nothing had changed.
“I’m sorry,” he added immediately. “I didn’t mean that.” She also didn’t deserve that.
“I have no excuse for allowing you to be summoned here against your will,” Marissa said softly. “I simply had no idea that anyone could find you, let alone teleport you and themselves between realms. This Lord Crow truly did all that?”
“And then he tried to use me to summon a demon, apparently.”
“Ah.” Marissa nodded. “That makes what must have happened a bit more evident.”
Drake slammed a foot on the floor. “Can you stop being so damn cryptic? You’re here, I’m here, and I’ve got a whole manor waiting on me that I just barely kept from being razed. So what happened? Why did Lord Crow abduct me?”
“I am not comfortable talking of such matters even in this secure chamber,” Marissa said. “The discussion is sensitive enough it must wait until you and I are both back at Gloomwood Manor. It is not that I don’t wish to explain it to you... Drake. Simply that it is too dangerous for us to discuss anywhere but our... your... manor.”
“You took a big risk saying that name.”
“Which should tell you how sensitive the information you ask for is. I will risk saying the name your father and I choose for you in this chamber, even though I know you have told everyone, including the Judge, your name is Clint. But the rest must wait.”
“Whatever!” Drake said. “At this point, maybe it doesn’t even matter. I’m here, and even if I could go back... I don’t plan to.”
“What would keep you here?”
“The manor. Everyone in it. They need me.”
Marissa smiled proudly. “Which is how I know you are and have always been my son.”
“So who was my father, really?” Drake asked. “Was he a battle maid? Or Lord Proudglade? You were sleeping with both of them at the time, weren’t you?”
Marissa colored again. “It is more complicated than that.”
“More sensitive matters?”
“Unfortunately... yes.”
“Then fine. If you’re not going to tell me why you left, why you’re back, or who my father is, there’s not much you can tell me, is there? If that’s the case, we should get back to the others. I only managed to hold onto the manor this long because I lucked into some really smart people who gave me the support not to get my head chopped off.” He grimaced. “Oh, and I ended that blood magic slavery you were using. I told that to fuck right off.”
“I have no issue with the changes you have made,” Marissa said. “The time we spent on Earth allowed me to see... alternative perspectives that were not available to me here.”
“Like slavery sucks?”
“We did not see it that way, but, in retrospect, and especially after hearing rumors of how the blood pact was misused in my absence, I believe you were right to alter it.”
“Well...” Drake wanted to argue with her, but she wasn’t arguing.
“Moreover, your success has not been happenstance,” Marissa continued. “Your name is whispered by many across the city. They speak of you as the brave manor lord from another world who saved the noble court from a terrifying threat. The lord who faced down Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow manors and emerged victorious against all.”
Drake hadn’t received this much praise from his mother at one time at any point in his life. “I mean, sure. I did what I had to in order to protect them and myself, but it’s not like I set out to destroy the other manor lords or kill anyone. Those fuckers brought this on themselves.”
Marissa’s lips quirked. “Have you been talking like this ever since you arrived?”
“Sure have. Is there any reason I fucking shouldn’t?”
“Just that it must sound strange to others, who have no experience with profanity from Earth. What if I were to drop the word ‘bargle’ into every other sentence?”
Drake frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing, to anyone. Like ‘fuck’ means nothing to everyone in this realm. So every time you bargling bargle about bargle, your thralls must think you are strange as bargle.”
Drake groaned. “Not now, Mom.”
“The sapling was a gift from the silverwood,” Marissa said calmly. “They were given to Lord Gloomwood for safekeeping and protection as they grew into a tree great enough to lead the forest in the place of their progenitor. I assured the silverwood that we, as lords of Gloomwood Manor, would protect and shelter the sapling. Had we failed, we would all grieve.”
Drake sighed. “Mom, you realize, to me, that’s all just fantasy bullshit, right?”
Viktoria frowned in disapproval. “You should show your mother the respect due a former manor lord.”
“And you should mind your own damn business, Viktoria.” Another revelation hit him between the eyes, and then he pivoted on her. “This is why you asked about my eyes and my mother and all that crap during our dinner, wasn’t it? You knew who I was, who my mom was.”
Her features remained calm and unperturbed. “I suspected.”
“And you didn’t share your suspicions with me.”
“There could be more than one woman in your realm named Marissa,” Viktoria said simply. “Until I had more information, I did not want to mislead you.”
That was a load of doublespeak. “You know what? Forget it.” He looked at his mother. “Setting aside whatever this sapling is for the moment, and why you didn’t tell me anything about it, Lydia, was I born here? In this realm? Did we flee?”
“I fled when pregnant with you,” Marissa said. “The journey was difficult, and you were born on Earth soil. You are of Earth, not our realm... yet it seems your divine blood remains.”
“And my rarity? You know what it is?”
“You can mimic the rarities of others. I have always known that.”
“Great. Nice. Sure would have been useful if you’d told me before I got dragged here by Lord Crow, and then he tried to force me to carve Westin Proudglade like a Christmas turkey.”
Marissa looked alarmed. “A son of Lord Proudglade was also captured by the old lord when he summoned you here? Is he all right?”
“No, the noble court just chopped his head off for unforgivable crimes. That man... Westin... is also the reason I almost died so many times, and for some reason, I can’t seem to hate him for it. That is frustrating as fuck, as you can imagine, Mom.”
Viktoria touched Marissa’s arm. “Perhaps the two of you should talk in private before the rest of us plan our next steps.”
Marissa nodded. “I had no idea Lord Gloomwood had faced so many trials in the short time since he arrived. Perhaps a private conversation before we proceed would be best.”
Drake laughed bitterly. “Oh no, it’s fine! Every single way this world has tried to kill me has smacked me upside the head while I wasn’t ready for it, so why break the streak now? Let’s hop right into whatever next world ending crisis I need to resolve. I’ll wing it.”
“Lydia and I will return to Lord Gloomwood’s chambers and await you,” Viktoria said.
“Thank you.” Marissa smiled at her... old friend. “And Lydia? Once again, I would express my gratitude to you for all you have done for our manor and my son.”
“It is my duty as your blood thrall, Lady Gloomwood. Your praise means so much to me. Now.” She smiled at Drake. “I will let you two catch up... so long as my lord has no objections?”
At least Lydia was still taking orders from him. Nominally. Drake waved tiredly. “Sure. That’s fine. You two go on ahead. We’ll catch up after I’m done freaking out.”
It surprised him with Lydia touched his arm. She was trying to offer the comfort a friend might. She remained his friend.
“You are still my lord,” Lydia said firmly. “You will always be my lord.” She squeezed his arm and then looked at his mother. “Lady Gloomwood.”
“Steward Lydia.” Marissa inclined her head. “We will speak again soon.”
Lydia knocked on the door, which opened, and then they stepped out with Atticus and closed it behind them. Before Drake could stop her or fight her off, Marissa marched forward and hugged him. Drake sighed and kept his hands at his sides.
“Really?” Marissa asked in amusement. “Not even a hug after all this time apart?”
“We don’t really hug, Mom.” Or did you forget that?
“I suppose I can’t blame you for feeling that way.” Marissa stepped back, staring at him wistfully. “Just know that it was never pleasant for me to be so aloof with you.”
“How could you be aloof? You were never around.”
“I never knew when I might be found and killed,” Marissa said calmly. “Ensuring we remained hidden and remaining watchful for assassins required discipline. I learned independence at the same age I taught you. Everyone in this world typically learns to depend almost entirely on themselves in their early teens. We simply don’t have so much time here.”
“So you want me to... what? Thank you for letting me raise myself?”
“Simply to understand. It was my genuine hope that neither of us would ever see this realm again, but I always knew it was a possibility. I also knew that one day, you might be called upon to lord over a manor. I needed to prepare you. I needed to know you could handle it.”
“Handle killing people? Sending people to their deaths? Unraveling conspiracies from assholes trying to rip me open or chop my head off?”
“All of those and more,” Marissa said. “I truly am impressed by all you have accomplished, even if I only know the barest of details. I hope you will tell me more about all that has occurred since you arrived. I wish to know more of your victories over our enemies.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re impressed I managed to kill so many people. Really.”
“Had I the power to protect you from all of this, I would have, but how you have survived and thrived in my former role fills me with pride. Those few thralls I have spoken with since I arrived already respect you deeply. You have restored our manor’s hope.”
Drake stared at her. “I just...” He couldn’t even be angry with his mother any longer for keeping all this from him. This was too exhausting. “How did you even get here?”
“It is possible to travel between realms. It is not easy.”
“Yes, but how?”
“Do you feel qualified to teach organic chemistry? Do you know how macromolecules and their reactions are associated with molecular orbital theory?”
Drake stared a moment. “So we teleport using chemistry?”
“I don’t understand the first thing about organic chemistry, or how to teach it,” Marissa continued. “I’m not even sure if what I just said would make sense to a chemist. So if you did have a keen understanding of chemistry, and you attempted to explain to me how some specific and obscure chemical process worked, I would have no idea what you were saying.”
Drake ground his teeth. This was how his mother had always insisted on answering his questions when he was younger, by providing examples he had to reason through himself or by asking questions he had to answer. It was so damn frustrating.
“So basically, you’re saying realm travel is too complex for me to understand.”
“It is too complex for me to understand. I have traveled twice now, and I have only done so by following extremely specific instructions I fear may have shaved years off my life. If you like, I can show you my notes and you can see what sense you can make of them. But I cannot explain how to move between realms because I do not know. I simply... followed instructions.”
Drake frowned as he considered. “Okay. Fine. I can understand that.”
“Thank you.”
“But here’s something else. Something else I have to know right now. Can you...” He hesitated, even in this supposedly private office, and leaned close. “Lie?
“No,” Marissa said just as quietly. “I was born in this realm under the eyes of the Eidolons. I did not know it was even possible to do what you can do until I arrived on Earth. Adjusting to a realm so unlike my own required time and patience.”
Drake could imagine it had. His mother had gone through the past twenty-five years on Earth being unable to lie to anyone about anything. He’d always thought she was just morally and brutally honest, for which he’d been proud of her when he was small.
Yet as he grew up and began to understand how the world worked, how people interacted and how little white lies were often necessary just to get through a day, his mother’s refusal to ever lie to anyone had annoyed him endlessly.
Back then, he’d felt like his mother was full of herself, too good to ever dirty her hands with a lie. He’d even taken advantage of her commitment to truth by lying to her more often than not, knowing he would usually fool her. Now... he just felt like an asshole.
Still, there was only one real question left. “Can we get back?”
“Do you want to go back?” Marissa asked calmly.
She was doing it again, answering a question with a question. “Do you, Mom?”
“So long as you are Lord Gloomwood, I wish only to assist and advise you however I can. If you no longer wish to guide our manor, then... I can send you home.”
“But not you?”
“I left my home due to political calculations that have changed drastically in the last twenty-five years. There is no longer any need for me to remain in exile. My responsibility has always been first to protect myself, my manor, and my blood thralls. I need to be here.”
“Just like all manor lords.”
“And you,” Marissa reminded him warmly. “Once you were born, my first and most important responsibility became to protect you. I placed you above it all.”
“Well, apparently you didn’t do a very good job of protecting me, since here I am!”
He regretted the words the moment they flew out of his mouth. He didn’t miss the way Marissa flinched despite how she tried to hide it, and he didn’t doubt he’d just driven a knife into her as deeply as she had into him when she walked in here like nothing had changed.
“I’m sorry,” he added immediately. “I didn’t mean that.” She also didn’t deserve that.
“I have no excuse for allowing you to be summoned here against your will,” Marissa said softly. “I simply had no idea that anyone could find you, let alone teleport you and themselves between realms. This Lord Crow truly did all that?”
“And then he tried to use me to summon a demon, apparently.”
“Ah.” Marissa nodded. “That makes what must have happened a bit more evident.”
Drake slammed a foot on the floor. “Can you stop being so damn cryptic? You’re here, I’m here, and I’ve got a whole manor waiting on me that I just barely kept from being razed. So what happened? Why did Lord Crow abduct me?”
“I am not comfortable talking of such matters even in this secure chamber,” Marissa said. “The discussion is sensitive enough it must wait until you and I are both back at Gloomwood Manor. It is not that I don’t wish to explain it to you... Drake. Simply that it is too dangerous for us to discuss anywhere but our... your... manor.”
“You took a big risk saying that name.”
“Which should tell you how sensitive the information you ask for is. I will risk saying the name your father and I choose for you in this chamber, even though I know you have told everyone, including the Judge, your name is Clint. But the rest must wait.”
“Whatever!” Drake said. “At this point, maybe it doesn’t even matter. I’m here, and even if I could go back... I don’t plan to.”
“What would keep you here?”
“The manor. Everyone in it. They need me.”
Marissa smiled proudly. “Which is how I know you are and have always been my son.”
“So who was my father, really?” Drake asked. “Was he a battle maid? Or Lord Proudglade? You were sleeping with both of them at the time, weren’t you?”
Marissa colored again. “It is more complicated than that.”
“More sensitive matters?”
“Unfortunately... yes.”
“Then fine. If you’re not going to tell me why you left, why you’re back, or who my father is, there’s not much you can tell me, is there? If that’s the case, we should get back to the others. I only managed to hold onto the manor this long because I lucked into some really smart people who gave me the support not to get my head chopped off.” He grimaced. “Oh, and I ended that blood magic slavery you were using. I told that to fuck right off.”
“I have no issue with the changes you have made,” Marissa said. “The time we spent on Earth allowed me to see... alternative perspectives that were not available to me here.”
“Like slavery sucks?”
“We did not see it that way, but, in retrospect, and especially after hearing rumors of how the blood pact was misused in my absence, I believe you were right to alter it.”
“Well...” Drake wanted to argue with her, but she wasn’t arguing.
“Moreover, your success has not been happenstance,” Marissa continued. “Your name is whispered by many across the city. They speak of you as the brave manor lord from another world who saved the noble court from a terrifying threat. The lord who faced down Proudglade, Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow manors and emerged victorious against all.”
Drake hadn’t received this much praise from his mother at one time at any point in his life. “I mean, sure. I did what I had to in order to protect them and myself, but it’s not like I set out to destroy the other manor lords or kill anyone. Those fuckers brought this on themselves.”
Marissa’s lips quirked. “Have you been talking like this ever since you arrived?”
“Sure have. Is there any reason I fucking shouldn’t?”
“Just that it must sound strange to others, who have no experience with profanity from Earth. What if I were to drop the word ‘bargle’ into every other sentence?”
Drake frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing, to anyone. Like ‘fuck’ means nothing to everyone in this realm. So every time you bargling bargle about bargle, your thralls must think you are strange as bargle.”
Drake groaned. “Not now, Mom.”
