“Can you show me some flutterstepping?” Drake asked hopefully.
“Not in here, lord. But if you wish, we can go outside?”
“Let’s do that later.” He really was curious to see her rarity in action, but he needed to focus on finding a way not to die. “So you could flutterstep from birth?”
“No. Not until I could walk. It also took me years of practice to do it properly.”
Drake imagined what Lydia’s parents must have gone through with an adorable toddler warping around their house. A baby gate simply wouldn’t work. “What about Dickcheese? What was his rarity?”
“I do not know, lord. I only know that every servant he added to our manor already possessed a rarity of some sort. Most manor lords require this.”
So every one of his people had divine blood and a superpower. That also explained what Lydia and the others were doing here. Manor lords must recruit, sometimes forcefully, anyone born with a powerful rarity. Just like football scouts looking for good players to draft.
Drake would have to get a list of his current roster and all their rarities later, then see if any of them could be taught. He doubted the other manor lords would teach him anything, but there had to be some way for him to defend himself. He just had to dig into it a bit more.
And he definitely wanted to see Lydia teleport down the hall later.
Drake was also getting distracted by all this talk of divine blood and rarities. There had to be some way to learn magic that didn’t involve being born with it, if he could just figure out the right question to ask. He’d start with the stupidly obvious.
“Where did Lord Dickcheese keep his magic books?”
“I am not aware of any magic books, lord.”
“When he teleported you between realms, did he have anything on him? Like a wand? Or another...” He grimaced before using the word. “Fetish?”
“I did not see anything like that, lord. Only the light. When he teleported us between realms, I remember seeing a brilliant white light.”
So perhaps Dickcheese had been the only person who could teleport between realms. Given how stupidly overpowered that rarity seemed to be, that then begged another question. Why would a realm-traveling manor lord from this realm abduct him?
Drake had to have some bullshit superpower of his own. Otherwise, the blood pact wouldn’t work for him, and Lord Dickcheese would never have gone to all this trouble to abduct him. So Drake was certain he had powerful magic... if he could simply learn what it was.
He thought back to everything that happened between him, Westin, and Lord Dickcheese. Dickcheese had wanted to summon a... leviathan? And Westin had seemed horrified by that notion. Did his power have something to do with demons?
He needed to know more. “Lydia, what’s the underside?”
She stiffened on her couch. “It is a realm of demons and dark magic, lord.”
So it was what they called Hell. Great. He wasn’t crazy to hear he might have demon powers, but still, he could choose how to use them. “And people summon those demons?”
Every last bit of Lydia’s relaxed demeanor melted away. “It is possible, lord.”
She didn’t just look scandalized. She looked terrified. Simply by mentioning the underside, he’d freaked her out. “But it’s probably really dangerous, isn’t it?”
She nodded vigorously. “If one were to attempt to summon a demon from the underside and failed, the results could be catastrophic for the world. Not just the manor.”
“I have no plans to summon a demon. No plans at all.”
She almost relaxed again, but then her brow furrowed. “But... you can lie.”
“We’ve been over this,” he reminded her patiently. “I want to live, and I’m probably not going to live long if I fuck up a demon summoning.”
“No,” she agreed fervently. “No one here would live, and I doubt the other manors would fare any better. An unleashed leviathan could destroy the world.”
Every new fact Drake learned about Lord Dickcheese magnified the man’s asshole level by a factor of ten. That old bastard had been willing to risk his whole world just to get power over the other manors. Drake felt even better about stabbing him to death now.
“So, you can see why I’m telling the truth about never wanting to attempt that.” Drake held his steward’s worried gaze. “When I ask questions about magic and demons and other stuff, I’m simply trying to understand your world and how it all works.”
“I believe you.” Lydia took one more sip of tea before settling the cup on a raised knee. “But... where did this question come from, lord? Where did you hear of the underside?”
“It’s why Dickcheese abducted me. After he put those obedience discs on me and Westin, and before I killed him, he told us he planned to use my soul and Westin’s in a ritual to summon a leviathan from the underside.”
Lydia’s teacup shattered as it smashed into the floor.
Drake jumped as porcelain bits scattered. Lydia now looked pale enough that he worried she might faint. She hopped up, smoothed down her skirt, and took several deep breaths. Drake rose as well, because if they needed to sprint out of here, he wanted to be ready.
“Lord Gloomwood, I need you to think carefully. Does Lord Proudglade also know that Lord Dickcheese intended to summon a leviathan?”
“You mean Westin?”
She nodded.
“He does. He was there when the old fart told us all about it.”
“Then we must send soldiers to intercept his party immediately.”
Drake watched her cautiously. “Why?”
“He knows Lord Gloomwood attempted to summon a leviathan. That crime is unforgivable.”
“Yes, we’ve already established that quite clearly, Lydia. I also stopped Dickcheese from doing that, remember? And Westin saw me stop him.”
“Which means Lord Gloomwood attempted to summon a leviathan into this world, an unforgivable crime. And Westin, the son of our enemy, knows this.”
“And... still not quite following the thread here. I saved Westin. I killed Dickcheese. They can’t blame us for what he did. You people aren’t that crazy.” Were they?
“Even a failed attempt to summon a leviathan places the entire world in jeopardy,” Lydia said. “An unforgivable crime is called such because it can never be forgiven. Even the death of the one who committed that crime does not free the manor of blame.”
Fuck, she was serious. “So they’ll blame me for that?”
“They will blame us. All of us. Unforgivable crimes implicate the manor, not the lord.”
“But that’s insane! Why would anyone design a system like that?”
“It ensures a manor lord cannot simply compel a thrall to commit an unforgivable crime and then execute that thrall to escape retribution. Not even the most ruthless manor lords dare commit an unforgivable crime, because being caught means the destruction of their manor.” Lydia grimaced. “A risk Lord Dickcheese was apparently willing to take.”
“So what are they going to do about it? Send more knights?”
“Not just knights. When they learn what Lord Dickcheese attempted, the manors will come for us as a united front with every warrior they can muster. In such a conflict, I fear their joined armies will raze Gloomwood Manor to the ground.”
Drake couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Yet he already did. “Shit.”
“I understood that curse, lord.”
Drake almost regretted his earlier bravado in blindly accepting a role he didn’t completely understand. Yet he’d known weird shit would happen. He wasn’t going to make it a week as a manor lord if he couldn’t find a way to deal with this world’s insane politics.
“So what are our options?” Drake asked.
“Our options, lord?”
“You’re the expert on this world and its absolutely bonkers justice system. I just got here today, remember? You’re my steward, so give me options.”
“Of course. Forgive me. I was overcome by the jeopardy we now face.”
“Right there with you, believe me.”
“Our simplest and most direct option is to abduct Lord... Westin, again. Lord Proudglade will cry foul and send more knights, but we can match their manor strength to strength. Capturing his son will create a standoff that will allow us to examine our options.”
“So we can convince him not to talk?”
“Doubtful, lord, but you could attempt to reason with him. We could also...”
“What?” He didn’t like the way her expression had just changed, like she’d stopped herself before saying something she feared he wouldn’t like. “Kill him?
She nodded.
“Fuck,” Drake agreed softly. “I don’t like that option.”
“Neither do I, lord, but it is the most efficient way to save the manor. You would then bear the crime of killing a manor lord’s son. That would ensure all in Proudglade Manor remained our enemies, but that crime is not unforgivable.”
“By your world’s standards. But Westin is not my enemy, even if your world and our manor allegiances say he is. So what other options do we have? Do we have allies?”
“Not many.” Lydia glanced down at her hands as if searching for answers. “We could perhaps call for the help we are still owed by Blackmane and Skybreak manors—”
“Friends of ours?”
“They owe us favors. Our spies and armies have come to their aid in the past, and they would be obligated to defend us. Yet once news of Dickcheese’s crime spread to our allied manors, they too would abandon us. Committing an unforgivable crime is... well, unforgivable.”
So basically, everyone in his manor was now in danger of being arrested and executed because of Lord Dickcheese’s actions. The man he’d murdered for this manor had just reached out to fuck him over from beyond the grave. “There has to be another way to stop this.”
“I’m sorry, lord. I cannot think of one. If you will not kill Westin—”
“I didn’t say wouldn’t. I said I needed other options.”
“Then... perhaps you should pass your title to me? I will accept the title of Lord Gloomwood while you flee with a few of our thralls to guide you to safety. You had no part in this crime, and saving you from execution is the least I can do after you... helped us.”
“Not a chance,” Drake said. “I’m not throwing you under the bus to save my own ass.”
“Under what, lord?”
He sighed. “Earth term. Let’s talk about what would happen if these knights showed up. Could I surrender and plead our case to the courts?”
“No. There is no forgiveness for an unforgivable crime. The manor lord is executed first, and then any thralls who knew the crime was being committed or aided in its commission.”
“All right. Let me chew on this a minute.”
He’d solved the blood pact. He could solve this. He was Lord Gloomwood now, and he couldn’t just run away. There had to be some way he could stop everyone from being arrested or murdered by idiot manor lords. He could even lie his ass off if he needed to.
Lying his ass off might be the key to getting his manor out of this mess.
“So who decides all this? What is and isn’t an unforgivable crime? You mentioned trials, so you have courts. Who runs the courts? The manor lords?”
“No, the courts are independent and answer only to the Eidolons.”
“And can we appeal to them? Offer a prayer or something?”
“The Eidolons are beyond us, lord.”
“So if they’re beyond you, how do they make laws?”
“The laws of the Eidolons are passed down to us through the noble court.”
“And can we plead our case to those people?”
“I do not think they would listen to us. The noble court’s decrees regarding unforgivable crimes have not changed at any point in history of which I am aware.”
Drake sat back down on the couch and pressed his palms hard against his knees. As with its bullshit magical slavery, this world had once again presented an easy and straightforward evil option. Murder Westin. Save his manor and everyone in it. One life for dozens.
If Drake had to murder Westin... he’d do it. It was disturbing to realize he was the type of person who could murder a man who’d actually helped him, but these were truly horrifying circumstances. He’d never thought himself capable of ordering a man’s death, but he’d also never expected to be abducted and given charge of a manor full of people.
Murdering Westin would remain a last resort. He had a manor full of powerful people to help him, he possessed an ability to lie no one in this world could even imagine, and he had basic common sense. He could reason a way out of this. He just needed more information.
Getting a complete understanding of this world’s justice system was where he’d start. Because once he understood it... he could figure out how to bullshit his way out of this.
“Can you show me some flutterstepping?” Drake asked hopefully.
“Not in here, lord. But if you wish, we can go outside?”
“Let’s do that later.” He really was curious to see her rarity in action, but he needed to focus on finding a way not to die. “So you could flutterstep from birth?”
“No. Not until I could walk. It also took me years of practice to do it properly.”
Drake imagined what Lydia’s parents must have gone through with an adorable toddler warping around their house. A baby gate simply wouldn’t work. “What about Dickcheese? What was his rarity?”
“I do not know, lord. I only know that every servant he added to our manor already possessed a rarity of some sort. Most manor lords require this.”
So every one of his people had divine blood and a superpower. That also explained what Lydia and the others were doing here. Manor lords must recruit, sometimes forcefully, anyone born with a powerful rarity. Just like football scouts looking for good players to draft.
Drake would have to get a list of his current roster and all their rarities later, then see if any of them could be taught. He doubted the other manor lords would teach him anything, but there had to be some way for him to defend himself. He just had to dig into it a bit more.
And he definitely wanted to see Lydia teleport down the hall later.
Drake was also getting distracted by all this talk of divine blood and rarities. There had to be some way to learn magic that didn’t involve being born with it, if he could just figure out the right question to ask. He’d start with the stupidly obvious.
“Where did Lord Dickcheese keep his magic books?”
“I am not aware of any magic books, lord.”
“When he teleported you between realms, did he have anything on him? Like a wand? Or another...” He grimaced before using the word. “Fetish?”
“I did not see anything like that, lord. Only the light. When he teleported us between realms, I remember seeing a brilliant white light.”
So perhaps Dickcheese had been the only person who could teleport between realms. Given how stupidly overpowered that rarity seemed to be, that then begged another question. Why would a realm-traveling manor lord from this realm abduct him?
Drake had to have some bullshit superpower of his own. Otherwise, the blood pact wouldn’t work for him, and Lord Dickcheese would never have gone to all this trouble to abduct him. So Drake was certain he had powerful magic... if he could simply learn what it was.
He thought back to everything that happened between him, Westin, and Lord Dickcheese. Dickcheese had wanted to summon a... leviathan? And Westin had seemed horrified by that notion. Did his power have something to do with demons?
He needed to know more. “Lydia, what’s the underside?”
She stiffened on her couch. “It is a realm of demons and dark magic, lord.”
So it was what they called Hell. Great. He wasn’t crazy to hear he might have demon powers, but still, he could choose how to use them. “And people summon those demons?”
Every last bit of Lydia’s relaxed demeanor melted away. “It is possible, lord.”
She didn’t just look scandalized. She looked terrified. Simply by mentioning the underside, he’d freaked her out. “But it’s probably really dangerous, isn’t it?”
She nodded vigorously. “If one were to attempt to summon a demon from the underside and failed, the results could be catastrophic for the world. Not just the manor.”
“I have no plans to summon a demon. No plans at all.”
She almost relaxed again, but then her brow furrowed. “But... you can lie.”
“We’ve been over this,” he reminded her patiently. “I want to live, and I’m probably not going to live long if I fuck up a demon summoning.”
“No,” she agreed fervently. “No one here would live, and I doubt the other manors would fare any better. An unleashed leviathan could destroy the world.”
Every new fact Drake learned about Lord Dickcheese magnified the man’s asshole level by a factor of ten. That old bastard had been willing to risk his whole world just to get power over the other manors. Drake felt even better about stabbing him to death now.
“So, you can see why I’m telling the truth about never wanting to attempt that.” Drake held his steward’s worried gaze. “When I ask questions about magic and demons and other stuff, I’m simply trying to understand your world and how it all works.”
“I believe you.” Lydia took one more sip of tea before settling the cup on a raised knee. “But... where did this question come from, lord? Where did you hear of the underside?”
“It’s why Dickcheese abducted me. After he put those obedience discs on me and Westin, and before I killed him, he told us he planned to use my soul and Westin’s in a ritual to summon a leviathan from the underside.”
Lydia’s teacup shattered as it smashed into the floor.
Drake jumped as porcelain bits scattered. Lydia now looked pale enough that he worried she might faint. She hopped up, smoothed down her skirt, and took several deep breaths. Drake rose as well, because if they needed to sprint out of here, he wanted to be ready.
“Lord Gloomwood, I need you to think carefully. Does Lord Proudglade also know that Lord Dickcheese intended to summon a leviathan?”
“You mean Westin?”
She nodded.
“He does. He was there when the old fart told us all about it.”
“Then we must send soldiers to intercept his party immediately.”
Drake watched her cautiously. “Why?”
“He knows Lord Gloomwood attempted to summon a leviathan. That crime is unforgivable.”
“Yes, we’ve already established that quite clearly, Lydia. I also stopped Dickcheese from doing that, remember? And Westin saw me stop him.”
“Which means Lord Gloomwood attempted to summon a leviathan into this world, an unforgivable crime. And Westin, the son of our enemy, knows this.”
“And... still not quite following the thread here. I saved Westin. I killed Dickcheese. They can’t blame us for what he did. You people aren’t that crazy.” Were they?
“Even a failed attempt to summon a leviathan places the entire world in jeopardy,” Lydia said. “An unforgivable crime is called such because it can never be forgiven. Even the death of the one who committed that crime does not free the manor of blame.”
Fuck, she was serious. “So they’ll blame me for that?”
“They will blame us. All of us. Unforgivable crimes implicate the manor, not the lord.”
“But that’s insane! Why would anyone design a system like that?”
“It ensures a manor lord cannot simply compel a thrall to commit an unforgivable crime and then execute that thrall to escape retribution. Not even the most ruthless manor lords dare commit an unforgivable crime, because being caught means the destruction of their manor.” Lydia grimaced. “A risk Lord Dickcheese was apparently willing to take.”
“So what are they going to do about it? Send more knights?”
“Not just knights. When they learn what Lord Dickcheese attempted, the manors will come for us as a united front with every warrior they can muster. In such a conflict, I fear their joined armies will raze Gloomwood Manor to the ground.”
Drake couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Yet he already did. “Shit.”
“I understood that curse, lord.”
Drake almost regretted his earlier bravado in blindly accepting a role he didn’t completely understand. Yet he’d known weird shit would happen. He wasn’t going to make it a week as a manor lord if he couldn’t find a way to deal with this world’s insane politics.
“So what are our options?” Drake asked.
“Our options, lord?”
“You’re the expert on this world and its absolutely bonkers justice system. I just got here today, remember? You’re my steward, so give me options.”
“Of course. Forgive me. I was overcome by the jeopardy we now face.”
“Right there with you, believe me.”
“Our simplest and most direct option is to abduct Lord... Westin, again. Lord Proudglade will cry foul and send more knights, but we can match their manor strength to strength. Capturing his son will create a standoff that will allow us to examine our options.”
“So we can convince him not to talk?”
“Doubtful, lord, but you could attempt to reason with him. We could also...”
“What?” He didn’t like the way her expression had just changed, like she’d stopped herself before saying something she feared he wouldn’t like. “Kill him?
She nodded.
“Fuck,” Drake agreed softly. “I don’t like that option.”
“Neither do I, lord, but it is the most efficient way to save the manor. You would then bear the crime of killing a manor lord’s son. That would ensure all in Proudglade Manor remained our enemies, but that crime is not unforgivable.”
“By your world’s standards. But Westin is not my enemy, even if your world and our manor allegiances say he is. So what other options do we have? Do we have allies?”
“Not many.” Lydia glanced down at her hands as if searching for answers. “We could perhaps call for the help we are still owed by Blackmane and Skybreak manors—”
“Friends of ours?”
“They owe us favors. Our spies and armies have come to their aid in the past, and they would be obligated to defend us. Yet once news of Dickcheese’s crime spread to our allied manors, they too would abandon us. Committing an unforgivable crime is... well, unforgivable.”
So basically, everyone in his manor was now in danger of being arrested and executed because of Lord Dickcheese’s actions. The man he’d murdered for this manor had just reached out to fuck him over from beyond the grave. “There has to be another way to stop this.”
“I’m sorry, lord. I cannot think of one. If you will not kill Westin—”
“I didn’t say wouldn’t. I said I needed other options.”
“Then... perhaps you should pass your title to me? I will accept the title of Lord Gloomwood while you flee with a few of our thralls to guide you to safety. You had no part in this crime, and saving you from execution is the least I can do after you... helped us.”
“Not a chance,” Drake said. “I’m not throwing you under the bus to save my own ass.”
“Under what, lord?”
He sighed. “Earth term. Let’s talk about what would happen if these knights showed up. Could I surrender and plead our case to the courts?”
“No. There is no forgiveness for an unforgivable crime. The manor lord is executed first, and then any thralls who knew the crime was being committed or aided in its commission.”
“All right. Let me chew on this a minute.”
He’d solved the blood pact. He could solve this. He was Lord Gloomwood now, and he couldn’t just run away. There had to be some way he could stop everyone from being arrested or murdered by idiot manor lords. He could even lie his ass off if he needed to.
Lying his ass off might be the key to getting his manor out of this mess.
“So who decides all this? What is and isn’t an unforgivable crime? You mentioned trials, so you have courts. Who runs the courts? The manor lords?”
“No, the courts are independent and answer only to the Eidolons.”
“And can we appeal to them? Offer a prayer or something?”
“The Eidolons are beyond us, lord.”
“So if they’re beyond you, how do they make laws?”
“The laws of the Eidolons are passed down to us through the noble court.”
“And can we plead our case to those people?”
“I do not think they would listen to us. The noble court’s decrees regarding unforgivable crimes have not changed at any point in history of which I am aware.”
Drake sat back down on the couch and pressed his palms hard against his knees. As with its bullshit magical slavery, this world had once again presented an easy and straightforward evil option. Murder Westin. Save his manor and everyone in it. One life for dozens.
If Drake had to murder Westin... he’d do it. It was disturbing to realize he was the type of person who could murder a man who’d actually helped him, but these were truly horrifying circumstances. He’d never thought himself capable of ordering a man’s death, but he’d also never expected to be abducted and given charge of a manor full of people.
Murdering Westin would remain a last resort. He had a manor full of powerful people to help him, he possessed an ability to lie no one in this world could even imagine, and he had basic common sense. He could reason a way out of this. He just needed more information.
Getting a complete understanding of this world’s justice system was where he’d start. Because once he understood it... he could figure out how to bullshit his way out of this.
