Once Drake’s thralls arrived at the beach, they immediately got to work on setting up a number of thick leather tarps to provide shade for those who needed to get out of the sun. That would ensure the food they’d brought didn’t spoil. The zarovians were rather helpful in setting up the tents, and all of them looked to be enjoying the heat. Drake spotted Xutag as he walked by carrying some big wooden poles. The zarovian waved and bared all his teeth.
Drake waved back. He glanced at his mother to find her already stripping off her tunic, which was a bit alarming at first glance. Fortunately, female “bathing suits” in this world were even more modest than the “drawers” he wore. So it was fine.
His mother’s suit was essentially a one-piece swimsuit, except the top was more like a sleeveless wetsuit and the bottom was shorts that went down to mid-thigh. He saw the rest of his thralls gathering beneath the first large tarp to be raised and pulling off their casual clothing as well. The result was even less scandalous than a college swim meet.
All of the male and female “drawers” were of the same basic design, with tank tops and shorts for the men and slightly more conservative tops and bottoms for women. Drake was glad this world wasn’t so conservative it required women to wear full-on robes into the water, which would neither be fun nor safe. He walked to the tarp to get his sweaty clothes off.
Suits here struck a good balance between comfort and modesty, and given they had no sunblock in this world, showing less skin would result in less sunburn. As Drake pulled off his top and folded it, Emily bumped his shoulder with hers and grinned wide. “Thank you, lord.”
He glanced at her and frowned. “For?”
“Permission to roam around last night. I had a wonderful time.”
Emily’s swimsuit was a bit different from those of the other thralls, likely one she’d customized. It had red streaks along its sides. Ryn would have been tempted to call them racing stripes if she had any idea what those were. Emily did move fast.
He didn’t see any bruises on her face or arms, which led him to hope she’d simply gone out to get laid last night instead of beating the crap out of someone or getting beat up herself. How Emily spent her time when off-duty was also none of his business, so long as she hadn’t killed anyone. That could present a problem in the capital.
“Glad to hear it.” Drake stripped off his pants and settled them by his shirt, comfortable in his own “drawers.” The warm air felt wonderful on his skin. He couldn’t wait to slip into that gorgeous bay and swim in the cool, clear water.
“I also had a question!” Emily said eagerly. “About today.”
“If it’s about dating Darion or Hector, I really don’t care. Get your game on.”
“Oh, it’s not about sex.” She batted her eyelashes at him in what he assumed was an attempt at buttering him up. “Could we have a shrikes and turtles tournament?”
“What’s shrikes and turtles?” If this was an Emily-style game, he was already worried it was going to be way too dangerous for basically everyone.
“It’s a battle game!” Emily said, which wasn’t a surprise. “And it’s really fun!”
“Does it involve hitting people?”
“Oh no, lord. I mean, not on purpose! You simply have to snatch their tail before they get into the sea, or get to the sea without losing your tail. If you’re a turtle.”
This was almost making sense. “So it’s like tag?” Or rather, flag football?
“One team is the shrikes. They start by the water. The other team is turtles, and they start on the beach. The goal of the turtles is to get into the sea without getting their tails eaten by the shrikes, and the goal of the shrikes is to eat all the turtles!”
This sounded like a combination of flag football and sharks and minnows, both of which Drake remembered playing in after school care back in middle school... or had it been elementary? Either way, it sounded harmless enough. It could be a fun way to pass time.
“How does this tournament work?” Drake asked.
“Teams are four people!” Emily grew more excited as she continued. “Each game has two rounds, and you get to be the shrikes one time. If any turtles make it to the sea, the turtles win. If no turtles make it to sea, the shrikes win. You get a point each time you win!”
“So what if you tie?”
“You have a third round with one turtle and one shrike, assigned randomly. That’s the tiebreaker! I’ve been the last shrike before, and it’s so much fun to eat that silly turtle.”
“But we’re still talking metaphorically here,” Drake said. “Just to be perfectly clear.” His zarovians, after all, actually did eat the corpses of defeated foes.
“No one is eating the losers, lord.” Emily sounded amused that he’d ask for such a clarification. “It’s just the way we talk about the game.”
Drake could see no harm in playing a child’s game on the beach, other than the standard risks of people running around attempting to tag or not be tagged. If someone sprained an ankle or got some other injury, his battle maids could take care of it with their healing gloves.
“You know what? That sounds fun. We can do it, but you have to organize it.” He wasn’t about to organize something that complicated himself, and Lydia had better things to do.
Emily grinned hungrily. “I knew you’d be eager to play.”
He saw the trap too late. “I never said I’m playing.”
“Oh, but you have to play! It’ll make everyone happy if you play with us!”
“By everyone, do we mean you? Because then you’ll get to beat me at something?”
“And Lydia,” Emily said. “I bet Lydia would be really happy if you played with her today.”
Drake frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll let everyone know we’re doing the tournament!” Emily already looked like she was ready to take no prisoners. “And if you don’t want to lose, you better pick a good team!”
He sighed. “I take it you’ve already picked your team?”
Emily chortled as she hurried off. “You better pick yours, lord!”
Drake ruefully shook his head. He doubted he was actually going to play in this “shrikes and turtles” tournament. Despite all the progress he’d made in showing his people he wasn’t an asshole, too many of his blood thralls could throw the game simply to avoid any chance of embarrassing or angering their manor lord. Still, he hoped Emily enjoyed herself.
And whoever else was foolish enough to play against her didn’t get too badly hurt.
He was just about to head to the beach and try out that delectable-looking water when Anna rushed back with a big grin on her face. “Lord? Lord!”
He sighed at her continued use of formal address. “What’s up, squirt?”
“Emily said we’re going to be playing shrikes and turtles today!”
How the hell had she heard about that so fast? “You’ve played it?”
“We used to play it back in my village, lord! When I was little! Before...” She trailed off, momentarily lost in the past, and then smiled at him again. “Will you be on my team?”
And now the trap snapped shut. “You want me to play shrikes and turtles with you?”
“I’m going to have the best team, and you’re terrific at running and getting away. You’re so clever and brave! So will you be on my team, lord?”
Drake didn’t want to disappoint Anna, especially after all the disappointments she’d had in her life, but he also wasn’t sure if it would be fair for him to play against other teams of people who still considered him their manor lord. Could he do this?
Still... he’d have Anna on his team, and she was the only child on this beach. That was an obvious handicap. He could also make it clear to everyone that he expected them to do their best to beat his team. In fact... that might be exactly what he should do.
Playing this game might be a good way to gauge how far he’d come in regard to operation Make Everyone Like Me. If his thralls trusted him enough to accept him at face value when he said he expected them to beat him at a silly game, and also trusted they wouldn’t be punished if they beat him, that would be a good sign of progress.
Plus it would make Anna really happy.
“All right,” Drake said. “I’ll join your team.”
“Thank you, lord!”
“But you’re the team captain. So you have to recruit everyone else who’s going to be on our team, and you’re in charge of our tactics when we play.”
“I won’t let you down, lord!” Anna clenched her little fists. “I used to be very good at this game. We are going to crush the other teams.”
Drake hadn’t expected this little girl to look quite this bloodthirsty. Still... she also looked thrilled to have Lord Gloomwood on her team, and now that he’d figured out a way to play this game that wouldn’t be unfair—he hoped—Drake was actually looking forward to it.
With that settled, he knew it would take Emily a while to organize everything. He also didn’t have to organize anything himself, which was the last thing he felt like doing today. He was halfway to that wonderful-looking water when Lydia hurried over.
She wore a swimsuit similar to Emily’s, and though hers was a custom suit as well, it didn’t have racing stripes. She also had her normally long hair bound up in a dark ponytail. That would likely keep it from getting all wet and disorganized.
“Lord?”
He kept walking for the water as she joined him. “What’s up?”
“I’ve heard you told Emily we could have a shrikes and turtles tournament today.”
“That’s right.” Also, how the hell had everyone found out it so fast? He’d just told Emily she could do it a minute ago!
“Would it be permissible for me to participate?”
Drake stopped and glanced at her in surprise. “Why wouldn’t it be?” He was also curious why she wanted to play, but he’d get his first question answered first.
“I am your steward, lord,” Lydia reminded him. “My primary duty should be ensuring today’s outing runs smoothly, not participating in a tournament or other activities. I only ask if I can play because I fear Emily may become intolerable otherwise.”
“Ah, I get it.” Emily must be putting together team battle maids, which meant she was going to do everything to win. “Then that is exactly what you will not be doing.”
She nodded without a trace of disappointment. “I understand, lord.”
“No, Lydia, I don’t think you do. You will not be organizing anything today. In fact, I want you to treat today like you’re just relaxing on the beach without nothing to do. Which means you’re joining Team Emily and playing flag football with everyone else.”
She immediately looked more than a bit uncomfortable. “But, lord, if I do that, no one will ensure today runs as you intend.”
“I don’t care if things run as I intend so long as everyone has fun.” He tried to remember the last time Lydia had been able to just relax... which was likely never. “Also, you need to get better at taking your hands off the reins when there’s no immediate threat. So not only can you play shrikes and turtles today, I expect you to excel at it.”
She glanced at the tarps. “I suppose I could put Samuel in charge of our outing.”
Drake couldn’t help but wince. “Let’s not to do that. If we let him run things, we’ll all end up stuck with a bunch of silly safety regulations.” He considered. “What about River?”
Lydia turned back to him in visible surprise. “You wish me to ask her to take charge of today’s organization?”
“Could she? She’s handled lots of other more complicated stuff, and you did say you wanted to do more tests with her and Hector today. I know you think she’s qualified to run errands or messages, but what about running a day at the beach? Think she can handle that?”
“I...” Lydia pondered. “It would certainly be a challenge that would help me assess her skills in multiple areas of organization.”
“Then that’s what we should do. You tell River she’s going to handle keeping everyone organized today. Tell her we’ll be expecting great things. And to ensure she has a chance to step up, you need to be completely hands off today. No giving her tips. No organizing.”
Lydia sighed. “I will do my best, lord.”
“See that you do. Also, I imagine Anna and I will be facing Team Emily in the tournament at some point? Flutterstep is going to make you unstoppable.”
“It isn’t generally acceptable to use rarities during a game of shrikes and turtles,” Lydia said patiently. “The challenge is physical. Otherwise, there would simply be too many rules.”
So maybe this tournament would be interesting after all. “All right then. You have your orders for the day, which are to relax and have fun. Tell River she’s in charge.”
“You don’t wish to tell her, lord?”
“Oh no. You are more than capable of relaying my orders.” Drake pointed. “I, instead, am going to take a swim in that incredible-looking water.”
“Just don’t swim too far out, lord. We’ve been through so much. It would be devastating to the manor if you accomplished all you had and then were lost to the sea.”
“The water’s like waist deep, and I can swim,” Drake reminded her. “Now relax.”
Once Drake’s thralls arrived at the beach, they immediately got to work on setting up a number of thick leather tarps to provide shade for those who needed to get out of the sun. That would ensure the food they’d brought didn’t spoil. The zarovians were rather helpful in setting up the tents, and all of them looked to be enjoying the heat. Drake spotted Xutag as he walked by carrying some big wooden poles. The zarovian waved and bared all his teeth.
Drake waved back. He glanced at his mother to find her already stripping off her tunic, which was a bit alarming at first glance. Fortunately, female “bathing suits” in this world were even more modest than the “drawers” he wore. So it was fine.
His mother’s suit was essentially a one-piece swimsuit, except the top was more like a sleeveless wetsuit and the bottom was shorts that went down to mid-thigh. He saw the rest of his thralls gathering beneath the first large tarp to be raised and pulling off their casual clothing as well. The result was even less scandalous than a college swim meet.
All of the male and female “drawers” were of the same basic design, with tank tops and shorts for the men and slightly more conservative tops and bottoms for women. Drake was glad this world wasn’t so conservative it required women to wear full-on robes into the water, which would neither be fun nor safe. He walked to the tarp to get his sweaty clothes off.
Suits here struck a good balance between comfort and modesty, and given they had no sunblock in this world, showing less skin would result in less sunburn. As Drake pulled off his top and folded it, Emily bumped his shoulder with hers and grinned wide. “Thank you, lord.”
He glanced at her and frowned. “For?”
“Permission to roam around last night. I had a wonderful time.”
Emily’s swimsuit was a bit different from those of the other thralls, likely one she’d customized. It had red streaks along its sides. Ryn would have been tempted to call them racing stripes if she had any idea what those were. Emily did move fast.
He didn’t see any bruises on her face or arms, which led him to hope she’d simply gone out to get laid last night instead of beating the crap out of someone or getting beat up herself. How Emily spent her time when off-duty was also none of his business, so long as she hadn’t killed anyone. That could present a problem in the capital.
“Glad to hear it.” Drake stripped off his pants and settled them by his shirt, comfortable in his own “drawers.” The warm air felt wonderful on his skin. He couldn’t wait to slip into that gorgeous bay and swim in the cool, clear water.
“I also had a question!” Emily said eagerly. “About today.”
“If it’s about dating Darion or Hector, I really don’t care. Get your game on.”
“Oh, it’s not about sex.” She batted her eyelashes at him in what he assumed was an attempt at buttering him up. “Could we have a shrikes and turtles tournament?”
“What’s shrikes and turtles?” If this was an Emily-style game, he was already worried it was going to be way too dangerous for basically everyone.
“It’s a battle game!” Emily said, which wasn’t a surprise. “And it’s really fun!”
“Does it involve hitting people?”
“Oh no, lord. I mean, not on purpose! You simply have to snatch their tail before they get into the sea, or get to the sea without losing your tail. If you’re a turtle.”
This was almost making sense. “So it’s like tag?” Or rather, flag football?
“One team is the shrikes. They start by the water. The other team is turtles, and they start on the beach. The goal of the turtles is to get into the sea without getting their tails eaten by the shrikes, and the goal of the shrikes is to eat all the turtles!”
This sounded like a combination of flag football and sharks and minnows, both of which Drake remembered playing in after school care back in middle school... or had it been elementary? Either way, it sounded harmless enough. It could be a fun way to pass time.
“How does this tournament work?” Drake asked.
“Teams are four people!” Emily grew more excited as she continued. “Each game has two rounds, and you get to be the shrikes one time. If any turtles make it to the sea, the turtles win. If no turtles make it to sea, the shrikes win. You get a point each time you win!”
“So what if you tie?”
“You have a third round with one turtle and one shrike, assigned randomly. That’s the tiebreaker! I’ve been the last shrike before, and it’s so much fun to eat that silly turtle.”
“But we’re still talking metaphorically here,” Drake said. “Just to be perfectly clear.” His zarovians, after all, actually did eat the corpses of defeated foes.
“No one is eating the losers, lord.” Emily sounded amused that he’d ask for such a clarification. “It’s just the way we talk about the game.”
Drake could see no harm in playing a child’s game on the beach, other than the standard risks of people running around attempting to tag or not be tagged. If someone sprained an ankle or got some other injury, his battle maids could take care of it with their healing gloves.
“You know what? That sounds fun. We can do it, but you have to organize it.” He wasn’t about to organize something that complicated himself, and Lydia had better things to do.
Emily grinned hungrily. “I knew you’d be eager to play.”
He saw the trap too late. “I never said I’m playing.”
“Oh, but you have to play! It’ll make everyone happy if you play with us!”
“By everyone, do we mean you? Because then you’ll get to beat me at something?”
“And Lydia,” Emily said. “I bet Lydia would be really happy if you played with her today.”
Drake frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll let everyone know we’re doing the tournament!” Emily already looked like she was ready to take no prisoners. “And if you don’t want to lose, you better pick a good team!”
He sighed. “I take it you’ve already picked your team?”
Emily chortled as she hurried off. “You better pick yours, lord!”
Drake ruefully shook his head. He doubted he was actually going to play in this “shrikes and turtles” tournament. Despite all the progress he’d made in showing his people he wasn’t an asshole, too many of his blood thralls could throw the game simply to avoid any chance of embarrassing or angering their manor lord. Still, he hoped Emily enjoyed herself.
And whoever else was foolish enough to play against her didn’t get too badly hurt.
He was just about to head to the beach and try out that delectable-looking water when Anna rushed back with a big grin on her face. “Lord? Lord!”
He sighed at her continued use of formal address. “What’s up, squirt?”
“Emily said we’re going to be playing shrikes and turtles today!”
How the hell had she heard about that so fast? “You’ve played it?”
“We used to play it back in my village, lord! When I was little! Before...” She trailed off, momentarily lost in the past, and then smiled at him again. “Will you be on my team?”
And now the trap snapped shut. “You want me to play shrikes and turtles with you?”
“I’m going to have the best team, and you’re terrific at running and getting away. You’re so clever and brave! So will you be on my team, lord?”
Drake didn’t want to disappoint Anna, especially after all the disappointments she’d had in her life, but he also wasn’t sure if it would be fair for him to play against other teams of people who still considered him their manor lord. Could he do this?
Still... he’d have Anna on his team, and she was the only child on this beach. That was an obvious handicap. He could also make it clear to everyone that he expected them to do their best to beat his team. In fact... that might be exactly what he should do.
Playing this game might be a good way to gauge how far he’d come in regard to operation Make Everyone Like Me. If his thralls trusted him enough to accept him at face value when he said he expected them to beat him at a silly game, and also trusted they wouldn’t be punished if they beat him, that would be a good sign of progress.
Plus it would make Anna really happy.
“All right,” Drake said. “I’ll join your team.”
“Thank you, lord!”
“But you’re the team captain. So you have to recruit everyone else who’s going to be on our team, and you’re in charge of our tactics when we play.”
“I won’t let you down, lord!” Anna clenched her little fists. “I used to be very good at this game. We are going to crush the other teams.”
Drake hadn’t expected this little girl to look quite this bloodthirsty. Still... she also looked thrilled to have Lord Gloomwood on her team, and now that he’d figured out a way to play this game that wouldn’t be unfair—he hoped—Drake was actually looking forward to it.
With that settled, he knew it would take Emily a while to organize everything. He also didn’t have to organize anything himself, which was the last thing he felt like doing today. He was halfway to that wonderful-looking water when Lydia hurried over.
She wore a swimsuit similar to Emily’s, and though hers was a custom suit as well, it didn’t have racing stripes. She also had her normally long hair bound up in a dark ponytail. That would likely keep it from getting all wet and disorganized.
“Lord?”
He kept walking for the water as she joined him. “What’s up?”
“I’ve heard you told Emily we could have a shrikes and turtles tournament today.”
“That’s right.” Also, how the hell had everyone found out it so fast? He’d just told Emily she could do it a minute ago!
“Would it be permissible for me to participate?”
Drake stopped and glanced at her in surprise. “Why wouldn’t it be?” He was also curious why she wanted to play, but he’d get his first question answered first.
“I am your steward, lord,” Lydia reminded him. “My primary duty should be ensuring today’s outing runs smoothly, not participating in a tournament or other activities. I only ask if I can play because I fear Emily may become intolerable otherwise.”
“Ah, I get it.” Emily must be putting together team battle maids, which meant she was going to do everything to win. “Then that is exactly what you will not be doing.”
She nodded without a trace of disappointment. “I understand, lord.”
“No, Lydia, I don’t think you do. You will not be organizing anything today. In fact, I want you to treat today like you’re just relaxing on the beach without nothing to do. Which means you’re joining Team Emily and playing flag football with everyone else.”
She immediately looked more than a bit uncomfortable. “But, lord, if I do that, no one will ensure today runs as you intend.”
“I don’t care if things run as I intend so long as everyone has fun.” He tried to remember the last time Lydia had been able to just relax... which was likely never. “Also, you need to get better at taking your hands off the reins when there’s no immediate threat. So not only can you play shrikes and turtles today, I expect you to excel at it.”
She glanced at the tarps. “I suppose I could put Samuel in charge of our outing.”
Drake couldn’t help but wince. “Let’s not to do that. If we let him run things, we’ll all end up stuck with a bunch of silly safety regulations.” He considered. “What about River?”
Lydia turned back to him in visible surprise. “You wish me to ask her to take charge of today’s organization?”
“Could she? She’s handled lots of other more complicated stuff, and you did say you wanted to do more tests with her and Hector today. I know you think she’s qualified to run errands or messages, but what about running a day at the beach? Think she can handle that?”
“I...” Lydia pondered. “It would certainly be a challenge that would help me assess her skills in multiple areas of organization.”
“Then that’s what we should do. You tell River she’s going to handle keeping everyone organized today. Tell her we’ll be expecting great things. And to ensure she has a chance to step up, you need to be completely hands off today. No giving her tips. No organizing.”
Lydia sighed. “I will do my best, lord.”
“See that you do. Also, I imagine Anna and I will be facing Team Emily in the tournament at some point? Flutterstep is going to make you unstoppable.”
“It isn’t generally acceptable to use rarities during a game of shrikes and turtles,” Lydia said patiently. “The challenge is physical. Otherwise, there would simply be too many rules.”
So maybe this tournament would be interesting after all. “All right then. You have your orders for the day, which are to relax and have fun. Tell River she’s in charge.”
“You don’t wish to tell her, lord?”
“Oh no. You are more than capable of relaying my orders.” Drake pointed. “I, instead, am going to take a swim in that incredible-looking water.”
“Just don’t swim too far out, lord. We’ve been through so much. It would be devastating to the manor if you accomplished all you had and then were lost to the sea.”
“The water’s like waist deep, and I can swim,” Drake reminded her. “Now relax.”
