Westin appeared lost. “Do you have any idea why he would pass you his blood pact?”
“None. I’m still working to uncover his plans and motives. What I do know is prematurely making me the new Lord Gloomwood was the only way he could...” He leaned very close. “Control the you know what, Westin.”
Westin’s features twisted in alarm. Drake kept his features calm and confident. He had to sell this and sell it hard.
“How would making you Lord Gloomwood allow him to control... that?”
“I don’t know,” Drake said truthfully. “As to the former lord’s motives and plans, all I can do right now is speculate.” And make up convincing bullshit.
Westin’s eyes looked intrigued. He was speculating too. He really believed this!
“Once I find out what the old man was up to,” Drake lied, “I’ll share it with you. I’d like us to be friends, to share intelligence, even if our manors must remain opposed. I don’t have many friends in your world, and I’d like to count you among them.”
Westin nodded thoughtfully. “I would like that as well.”
“The important thing is that because I was Lord Gloomwood before I arrived here, it was Lord Gloomwood who saved you. Not Clint Eastwood. As I inherit the old lord’s debts, so do I inherit what they are owed. In this case, you owe Lord Gloomwood your life.”
“I see,” Westin said quietly.
“And the old lord, when he attempted what he attempted? He was not Lord Gloomwood then. He had already passed the title to me. Do you understand why I had to speak to you now, Westin? Why I needed to clarify what occurred in that room?”
“I do.”
“The old lord committed an unforgivable crime. One for which I, Lord Gloomwood, executed him. This is what I plan to report to the noble court.”
Westin’s eyes widened again. “You cannot bring this to the court!”
“I must. I would be a poor lord if I kept such grave information from them.” Dropping this little nugget would also caution Westin and his dad from spinning a different story.
“But what will you tell them?”
“I will tell them what the former lord attempted to do, and how I punished him for it. I intend to redeem the name of Lord Gloomwood. I am going to make up for the crimes the prior lords committed. My first step was saving you, but it will not be the last.”
Drake actually hadn’t thought about redeeming anything—he was going to protect his own people and his own manor, not run around randomly doing good deeds—but this sounded good. It was a good way to sell Westin on this lie.
Westin watched him with newly cautious eyes. “That would be something to see.”
Westin believed him. He’d won! It felt risky to push this “negotiation” further, but he was on a roll. “There is one other matter before I leave you to your journey.”
Westin now looked truly worried. “There’s another matter?”
“Before I saved your life and released you, one of your knights seized an axe that belongs to my zarovian. Given you owe me, I’d like that axe back.”
Westin nodded as if empathizing. “I do owe you, and I would give it back to you under better circumstances. But you know I can’t simply hand it to you.”
Drake made himself look very disappointed. “Why not?”
"Your mediator did not explain this to you?”
Drake actually hadn’t asked Zuri about retrieving Cresh’s badass magical axe, but he didn’t want to just say that. At least Westin couldn’t lie to him. “I’d like to hear you explain it.”
“This is a rule of the noble court. Only manors that are allied may freely exchange magical items. Otherwise, magical artifacts may only be taken in battle or as tithes.”
Drake scowled. “So I have to kick your knight’s ass to get it back?”
“I wish it were otherwise, I truly do, but to simply hand you Blood Woe would be a crime. And as you have guaranteed us safe passage home, no battle can occur.”
Can’t it? Drake thought silently. Though... he wondered.
If he ordered his folks to attack Westin’s knights, would that mean he had lied earlier? What if he’d just changed his mind? Could people even change their minds here?
He could attack them. He felt that. But could other people?
And if he did order his folks to start a fight, and if trying to get the axe back showed he was capable of lying, he might lose his unique advantage before he could even learn to use it. Plus, if Westin got killed in the battle, Drake would have this kid’s dad gunning for his head along with everyone else.
Dammit. It was too much of a risk. He didn’t want to just let these assholes leave with Cresh’s awesome magical axe, but his new manor and everyone else had to come first. Unless...
Drake hid his sudden smile. He had said he would guarantee these idiots safe travel. He had said he wouldn’t impede them on their way back. He hadn’t said he wouldn’t just have someone steal back the axe back while the knights were all asleep.
Which seemed like a task rather well suited to Sachi.
“Of course.” Drake smiled... benevolently. “Now, I’ve taken up enough of your time. How are you faring on your journey through my woods? Is there anything I can do to aid you?”
Westin looked surprised Drake had given up so easily. “I don’t see how.”
“Really? I expected you to be out of the woods by now.”
“It’s been slow going,” Westin admitted. “Your woods are thick, and Orson immediately suggested we leave the main road. He still believes you intend treachery.”
“If you wish to avoid the main road without slowing your progress, I think I can help you.” Drake rose. “Will you permit me to offer you a guide?”
Westin rose as well. “I would be very grateful.”
“I’m going to call for a friend now. A vero. It will look like a small child made of wound sticks. Please ask your knights not to attack it.”
Westin raised his voice. “Lord Gloomwood has graciously offered us a guide to aid us in these woods! A stick child! No one will raise a blade against it!”
Drake projected his voice with all the confidence he was feeling now. “As per our sacred pact, I ask one vero not holding my tunnel open to enter the firelight!”
For one slightly panicky moment, Drake was worried he’d misjudged his new power. Then, a single vero toddled out of the dark woods and into the light. A knight gasped and drew his sword before a sharp glance from Westin arrested his movement. Good.
As the stick child skittered into the firelight, Drake once again suppressed a shudder. Shadowed like that, it really did look like a furry little spider.
“As per our sacred pact, I ask you to stay here until the knights break camp. When they do, please lead Lord Proudglade and his knights toward Proudglade Manor until they exit these woods.” He looked to Westin. “You will not harm the vero after?”
“We will not,” Westin assured him. “Thank you for the guide.”
Westin didn’t add “I swear it” or “You have my word”, but that was likely because such oaths would be superfluous in a world where people couldn’t lie. This felt like enough. Vero might be creepy, but they seemed nice. Drake didn’t want one used as firewood.
Drake offered his hand. “Then I’ll let you return to your rest.”
Westin clasped Drake’s forearm eagerly, all smiles. “And I thank you for your generosity. Rest assured, my father will know of it. I hope to see you again under warmer circumstances.”
That seemed to be it for talking. Drake didn’t want this to turn awkward. He incrementally inclined his head, spun toward the vero who was still holding a bent tree branch tunnel open for him, and strode confidently away. As he did so, he reached back to pop his hood up over his head again. He hoped he vanished into the night as he left.
Branches creaked quietly as they closed behind him. Good vero, Drake thought silently. Good little creepy spider child. He kept walking through the tunnel until he was a good ways from the light and anyone who could follow. There, he crouched and waited.
And grinned. Pulling off that particular ploy was almost as satisfying as taking down Lord Dickcheese. Granted, Westin was basically a baby when it came to bluffing, but still. This was the second time Drake had faced a massive problem and bested it.
He could do this. He could crush this. He was going to excel as a manor lord.
Sachi was the first to join him. She slipped out of the dark directly in front of him, and he still didn’t see or hear her coming. Her tail and ears twitched, but it wasn’t so much an annoyed twitch as one that looked reflexive.
Sachi, he thought, was now looking at him with fresh orange eyes. She no longer looked quite so eager to eat him. Perhaps she respected his bravery in walking right into a camp of Proudglade knights, unarmed. Or she just found his recklessness amusing.
Emily arrived not long after, then thumped him on the shoulder. “I don’t know what you said to them in that negotiation, but you had their hearts aflutter. That was magnificent.”
Drake offered her a smirk. “As a manor lord, you’re going to find I’m pretty good at negotiation.” That was the fucking truth.
The sound of branches rustling above was his only warning before Lydia dropped down beside him from somewhere up in the trees. Drake looked up to find several branches still wobbling, likely from someone stepping on them. Had she climbed those?
No. She’d used flutterstep. Lydia had bamfed right up into the trees, maybe even warped around up the canopy so she could see Drake, the Proudglade knights, and anyone else who might be approaching. Hers was a useful rarity. He needed to see it in action.
“Anyone coming after us?” Drake asked her.
“No,” Sachi said, practically in unison with Lydia.
The two women glanced at each other. Sachi grinned eagerly, and Lydia simply sighed. She turned back to Drake. “That was reckless.”
“And magnificent. Don’t forget it was magnificent.”
“Did your ploy work?”
“It did. Westin accepted the deal I offered to keep the news we discussed secret. Gloomwood Manor is safe.”
“What deal did you make, lord?” Emily asked eagerly. “And when were we not safe? Nobody told me we weren’t safe.”
“Better I not tell any of you the specifics. Just know you don’t need to worry. I, your manor lord, just solved this little problem.”
After all, none of these women could lie. So far as he knew, Lydia hadn’t been around when the old Lord Gloomwood teleported him from his truck. She hadn’t been in sight. He’d ask her later what she had seen during his abduction, then decide if he could trust her to testify or not.
Come to think of it, he probably should let the noble court know what happened. His particular version of events. Bringing his bullshit story before them and the other manor lords had only come to him as he spun the lie to Westin, but it seemed like a good idea.
If he reported the unforgivable crime of demon summoning himself, not even the most pompous nobles in Proudglade Manor could accuse him of trying to cover it up. It would also ensure his version of events got spun before any others. Westin really did seem to be on his side now, but there was no telling how his father might twist Westin’s account.
There was no longer any way to pin Lord Dickcheese’s attempt to summon that leviathan on “Lord Gloomwood” et al. Drake had just solved a problem not even the most powerful lord in this problem could have solved... because none of them could lie.
As he turned to Sachi to ask her to steal for him, limbs creaked behind him. All three women spun faster than he could blink. Emily’s spectral axe burst to life, and twine creaked as Sachi strung her bow. Glowing yellow daggers appeared in Lydia’s hands.
Drake was the last to turn, just in time to see a single vero toddling toward them from the woods. It had a tunnel behind it, and there was a figure inside it. Stumbling. Barely keeping their feet. Drake soon recognized feathersteel armor, but this armor had been savaged.
As the brown-haired woman reached the bare edge of the distant firelight, he saw blood all over her. Wet and glistening.
Lydia gasped. “Nicole!”
She and Emily dashed forward and caught the figure—Nicole, his other battle maid—as Drake hurried to join them. He remembered Nicole had the penumbra rarity, though he still didn’t know what that did. He did know she’d had the shit kicked out of her.
Another manor problem had just landed in his lap. Worse yet, where was Valentia? Had they been together? He’d totally forgotten to ask Lydia about why his maids had left the manor and what they’d gone off to do together.
“Where’s Val?” Emily whispered urgently. “Talk to me!”
Nicole collapsed in the arms of her fellow battle maids, and Emily supported her as they slowly helped her to the ground. Drake came as close as he dared. Lydia raised both white-gloved hands and lit the forest as she ran her hands above Nicole’s armor. Healing her.
Lydia’s jaw clenched. “She’s lost too much blood. We have to get her back to the manor at once. Raylan can do the rest.”
“Too late,” the woman named Nicole croaked.
“Don’t be so dramatic!” Emily ordered. “You don’t get to die so easy.”
“They took Val,” Nicole whispered. “Soldiers from Redbow. Know I’ve escaped, so they’ll be...” She coughed blood. “Moving fast now.”
Lydia glared. “Why were you engaged with Redbow Manor? Your orders were to secure the item.”
“Ambushed,” Nicole whispered. “Somehow knew. Rest are dead. Only took Val and me.” More blood splattered as she coughed. “Help her.”
“Where were you ambushed?” Sachi demanded.
“South of Skybreak Manor. Lake shore.” Nicole shuddered in Emily’s arms. “A day ago.”
Sachi’s tail twisted dangerously. “I will find her.”
“We’ll go with you!” Emily insisted.
“You can’t keep up,” Sachi said firmly. “If Val can travel, I will free her and return. If she can’t...” The demihuman’s lips curled back. “I will ensure she does not suffer.”
Westin appeared lost. “Do you have any idea why he would pass you his blood pact?”
“None. I’m still working to uncover his plans and motives. What I do know is prematurely making me the new Lord Gloomwood was the only way he could...” He leaned very close. “Control the you know what, Westin.”
Westin’s features twisted in alarm. Drake kept his features calm and confident. He had to sell this and sell it hard.
“How would making you Lord Gloomwood allow him to control... that?”
“I don’t know,” Drake said truthfully. “As to the former lord’s motives and plans, all I can do right now is speculate.” And make up convincing bullshit.
Westin’s eyes looked intrigued. He was speculating too. He really believed this!
“Once I find out what the old man was up to,” Drake lied, “I’ll share it with you. I’d like us to be friends, to share intelligence, even if our manors must remain opposed. I don’t have many friends in your world, and I’d like to count you among them.”
Westin nodded thoughtfully. “I would like that as well.”
“The important thing is that because I was Lord Gloomwood before I arrived here, it was Lord Gloomwood who saved you. Not Clint Eastwood. As I inherit the old lord’s debts, so do I inherit what they are owed. In this case, you owe Lord Gloomwood your life.”
“I see,” Westin said quietly.
“And the old lord, when he attempted what he attempted? He was not Lord Gloomwood then. He had already passed the title to me. Do you understand why I had to speak to you now, Westin? Why I needed to clarify what occurred in that room?”
“I do.”
“The old lord committed an unforgivable crime. One for which I, Lord Gloomwood, executed him. This is what I plan to report to the noble court.”
Westin’s eyes widened again. “You cannot bring this to the court!”
“I must. I would be a poor lord if I kept such grave information from them.” Dropping this little nugget would also caution Westin and his dad from spinning a different story.
“But what will you tell them?”
“I will tell them what the former lord attempted to do, and how I punished him for it. I intend to redeem the name of Lord Gloomwood. I am going to make up for the crimes the prior lords committed. My first step was saving you, but it will not be the last.”
Drake actually hadn’t thought about redeeming anything—he was going to protect his own people and his own manor, not run around randomly doing good deeds—but this sounded good. It was a good way to sell Westin on this lie.
Westin watched him with newly cautious eyes. “That would be something to see.”
Westin believed him. He’d won! It felt risky to push this “negotiation” further, but he was on a roll. “There is one other matter before I leave you to your journey.”
Westin now looked truly worried. “There’s another matter?”
“Before I saved your life and released you, one of your knights seized an axe that belongs to my zarovian. Given you owe me, I’d like that axe back.”
Westin nodded as if empathizing. “I do owe you, and I would give it back to you under better circumstances. But you know I can’t simply hand it to you.”
Drake made himself look very disappointed. “Why not?”
"Your mediator did not explain this to you?”
Drake actually hadn’t asked Zuri about retrieving Cresh’s badass magical axe, but he didn’t want to just say that. At least Westin couldn’t lie to him. “I’d like to hear you explain it.”
“This is a rule of the noble court. Only manors that are allied may freely exchange magical items. Otherwise, magical artifacts may only be taken in battle or as tithes.”
Drake scowled. “So I have to kick your knight’s ass to get it back?”
“I wish it were otherwise, I truly do, but to simply hand you Blood Woe would be a crime. And as you have guaranteed us safe passage home, no battle can occur.”
Can’t it? Drake thought silently. Though... he wondered.
If he ordered his folks to attack Westin’s knights, would that mean he had lied earlier? What if he’d just changed his mind? Could people even change their minds here?
He could attack them. He felt that. But could other people?
And if he did order his folks to start a fight, and if trying to get the axe back showed he was capable of lying, he might lose his unique advantage before he could even learn to use it. Plus, if Westin got killed in the battle, Drake would have this kid’s dad gunning for his head along with everyone else.
Dammit. It was too much of a risk. He didn’t want to just let these assholes leave with Cresh’s awesome magical axe, but his new manor and everyone else had to come first. Unless...
Drake hid his sudden smile. He had said he would guarantee these idiots safe travel. He had said he wouldn’t impede them on their way back. He hadn’t said he wouldn’t just have someone steal back the axe back while the knights were all asleep.
Which seemed like a task rather well suited to Sachi.
“Of course.” Drake smiled... benevolently. “Now, I’ve taken up enough of your time. How are you faring on your journey through my woods? Is there anything I can do to aid you?”
Westin looked surprised Drake had given up so easily. “I don’t see how.”
“Really? I expected you to be out of the woods by now.”
“It’s been slow going,” Westin admitted. “Your woods are thick, and Orson immediately suggested we leave the main road. He still believes you intend treachery.”
“If you wish to avoid the main road without slowing your progress, I think I can help you.” Drake rose. “Will you permit me to offer you a guide?”
Westin rose as well. “I would be very grateful.”
“I’m going to call for a friend now. A vero. It will look like a small child made of wound sticks. Please ask your knights not to attack it.”
Westin raised his voice. “Lord Gloomwood has graciously offered us a guide to aid us in these woods! A stick child! No one will raise a blade against it!”
Drake projected his voice with all the confidence he was feeling now. “As per our sacred pact, I ask one vero not holding my tunnel open to enter the firelight!”
For one slightly panicky moment, Drake was worried he’d misjudged his new power. Then, a single vero toddled out of the dark woods and into the light. A knight gasped and drew his sword before a sharp glance from Westin arrested his movement. Good.
As the stick child skittered into the firelight, Drake once again suppressed a shudder. Shadowed like that, it really did look like a furry little spider.
“As per our sacred pact, I ask you to stay here until the knights break camp. When they do, please lead Lord Proudglade and his knights toward Proudglade Manor until they exit these woods.” He looked to Westin. “You will not harm the vero after?”
“We will not,” Westin assured him. “Thank you for the guide.”
Westin didn’t add “I swear it” or “You have my word”, but that was likely because such oaths would be superfluous in a world where people couldn’t lie. This felt like enough. Vero might be creepy, but they seemed nice. Drake didn’t want one used as firewood.
Drake offered his hand. “Then I’ll let you return to your rest.”
Westin clasped Drake’s forearm eagerly, all smiles. “And I thank you for your generosity. Rest assured, my father will know of it. I hope to see you again under warmer circumstances.”
That seemed to be it for talking. Drake didn’t want this to turn awkward. He incrementally inclined his head, spun toward the vero who was still holding a bent tree branch tunnel open for him, and strode confidently away. As he did so, he reached back to pop his hood up over his head again. He hoped he vanished into the night as he left.
Branches creaked quietly as they closed behind him. Good vero, Drake thought silently. Good little creepy spider child. He kept walking through the tunnel until he was a good ways from the light and anyone who could follow. There, he crouched and waited.
And grinned. Pulling off that particular ploy was almost as satisfying as taking down Lord Dickcheese. Granted, Westin was basically a baby when it came to bluffing, but still. This was the second time Drake had faced a massive problem and bested it.
He could do this. He could crush this. He was going to excel as a manor lord.
Sachi was the first to join him. She slipped out of the dark directly in front of him, and he still didn’t see or hear her coming. Her tail and ears twitched, but it wasn’t so much an annoyed twitch as one that looked reflexive.
Sachi, he thought, was now looking at him with fresh orange eyes. She no longer looked quite so eager to eat him. Perhaps she respected his bravery in walking right into a camp of Proudglade knights, unarmed. Or she just found his recklessness amusing.
Emily arrived not long after, then thumped him on the shoulder. “I don’t know what you said to them in that negotiation, but you had their hearts aflutter. That was magnificent.”
Drake offered her a smirk. “As a manor lord, you’re going to find I’m pretty good at negotiation.” That was the fucking truth.
The sound of branches rustling above was his only warning before Lydia dropped down beside him from somewhere up in the trees. Drake looked up to find several branches still wobbling, likely from someone stepping on them. Had she climbed those?
No. She’d used flutterstep. Lydia had bamfed right up into the trees, maybe even warped around up the canopy so she could see Drake, the Proudglade knights, and anyone else who might be approaching. Hers was a useful rarity. He needed to see it in action.
“Anyone coming after us?” Drake asked her.
“No,” Sachi said, practically in unison with Lydia.
The two women glanced at each other. Sachi grinned eagerly, and Lydia simply sighed. She turned back to Drake. “That was reckless.”
“And magnificent. Don’t forget it was magnificent.”
“Did your ploy work?”
“It did. Westin accepted the deal I offered to keep the news we discussed secret. Gloomwood Manor is safe.”
“What deal did you make, lord?” Emily asked eagerly. “And when were we not safe? Nobody told me we weren’t safe.”
“Better I not tell any of you the specifics. Just know you don’t need to worry. I, your manor lord, just solved this little problem.”
After all, none of these women could lie. So far as he knew, Lydia hadn’t been around when the old Lord Gloomwood teleported him from his truck. She hadn’t been in sight. He’d ask her later what she had seen during his abduction, then decide if he could trust her to testify or not.
Come to think of it, he probably should let the noble court know what happened. His particular version of events. Bringing his bullshit story before them and the other manor lords had only come to him as he spun the lie to Westin, but it seemed like a good idea.
If he reported the unforgivable crime of demon summoning himself, not even the most pompous nobles in Proudglade Manor could accuse him of trying to cover it up. It would also ensure his version of events got spun before any others. Westin really did seem to be on his side now, but there was no telling how his father might twist Westin’s account.
There was no longer any way to pin Lord Dickcheese’s attempt to summon that leviathan on “Lord Gloomwood” et al. Drake had just solved a problem not even the most powerful lord in this problem could have solved... because none of them could lie.
As he turned to Sachi to ask her to steal for him, limbs creaked behind him. All three women spun faster than he could blink. Emily’s spectral axe burst to life, and twine creaked as Sachi strung her bow. Glowing yellow daggers appeared in Lydia’s hands.
Drake was the last to turn, just in time to see a single vero toddling toward them from the woods. It had a tunnel behind it, and there was a figure inside it. Stumbling. Barely keeping their feet. Drake soon recognized feathersteel armor, but this armor had been savaged.
As the brown-haired woman reached the bare edge of the distant firelight, he saw blood all over her. Wet and glistening.
Lydia gasped. “Nicole!”
She and Emily dashed forward and caught the figure—Nicole, his other battle maid—as Drake hurried to join them. He remembered Nicole had the penumbra rarity, though he still didn’t know what that did. He did know she’d had the shit kicked out of her.
Another manor problem had just landed in his lap. Worse yet, where was Valentia? Had they been together? He’d totally forgotten to ask Lydia about why his maids had left the manor and what they’d gone off to do together.
“Where’s Val?” Emily whispered urgently. “Talk to me!”
Nicole collapsed in the arms of her fellow battle maids, and Emily supported her as they slowly helped her to the ground. Drake came as close as he dared. Lydia raised both white-gloved hands and lit the forest as she ran her hands above Nicole’s armor. Healing her.
Lydia’s jaw clenched. “She’s lost too much blood. We have to get her back to the manor at once. Raylan can do the rest.”
“Too late,” the woman named Nicole croaked.
“Don’t be so dramatic!” Emily ordered. “You don’t get to die so easy.”
“They took Val,” Nicole whispered. “Soldiers from Redbow. Know I’ve escaped, so they’ll be...” She coughed blood. “Moving fast now.”
Lydia glared. “Why were you engaged with Redbow Manor? Your orders were to secure the item.”
“Ambushed,” Nicole whispered. “Somehow knew. Rest are dead. Only took Val and me.” More blood splattered as she coughed. “Help her.”
“Where were you ambushed?” Sachi demanded.
“South of Skybreak Manor. Lake shore.” Nicole shuddered in Emily’s arms. “A day ago.”
Sachi’s tail twisted dangerously. “I will find her.”
“We’ll go with you!” Emily insisted.
“You can’t keep up,” Sachi said firmly. “If Val can travel, I will free her and return. If she can’t...” The demihuman’s lips curled back. “I will ensure she does not suffer.”
