That night, Drake got his first good long sleep since he’d arrived in this fucked up fantasy world. Lord Skybreak apparently was very busy, which meant no one woke him up. When he did wake in his soft bed, rested and feeling good, bright daylight shone outside.
As he glanced to the reading table, he found Valentia right where she’d been last night, legs crossed, reading yet another book. “What time is it?”
“A bit past noon. Anna has lunch waiting downstairs when you wish to eat.”
He immediately felt guilty. “Please tell me you slept last night.”
“We are deep in territory we do not control facing an unknown enemy who could strike at any time. You do not need to worry about me, and I do need to worry about you.”
So Valentia had spent the entire night and much of the morning going without sleep so he could lounge lazily in bed half the day. As he pondered ordering her to go take a nap, his conversation with Sachi while they hunted passed again through his mind.
He slipped his legs out of bed. “Thanks for keeping watch, Val. If you’d like a nap while we wait for Lord Skybreak to swing by, I’ll take over the watch, but I leave that up to you.”
One elegant eyebrow rose. She acknowledged his order with a nod, then went back to reading her book. Still... he could swear he’d caught a hint of a smile on her face before it vanished beneath her inscrutable calm.
He was going to ask her what she was reading at some point, but at the moment, he simply wanted lunch. He wandered downstairs to immediately be greeted by Anna, who dashed over in her nice blue dress and bowed deep. “Good afternoon, lord!”
“No bowing,” he reminded her.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You said I’m free to do whatever I want. So I’m going to keep bowing to you so long as I feel like it!”
Drake stared at her. Was she actually feeling good enough this morning to be a brat? With a wide grin, she darted off once more. “Lunch is in the kitchen!”
Marveling at this change, he wandered into the small but well-appointed kitchen. Anna had laid out two platters of grapes, raisins, bits of crumbly cheese, and bread. The others must have already eaten. It looked like today would be another platter of snacks, but it was still food.
Bread seemed to be common in this world, but he recalled wheat being a fairly common crop among medieval peoples on Earth, so that made sense. Since most everyone walked everywhere, he imagined they burned an awful lot of carbs. He was certainly going to lose some pounds if he kept walking eight hours a day.
Anna could also certainly stand to gain a few pounds. When they finally got back to Gloomwood Manor, he was going to order his cooks to feed that kid all the carbs she could eat. And make her some cookies, too. Lots of cookies.
He vaguely recalled seeing some documentary claiming wheat was more difficult to grow in cold climates, but perhaps Skybreak had farmers with rarities that kept that from being a problem. He grabbed a platter and gorged on snack food. The cheese was more sour than he liked, so he left it alone. While the idea of wasting food felt wrong, this wasn’t his food.
And just because he was apparently a wererat didn’t mean he always liked cheese.
As he finished (most) of his platter, Drake realized something odd. Today felt normal. Shockingly so. He’d resolved to remain here and serve as a manor lord the first day he arrived, but it wasn’t until just now that he’d noticed how well he’d adjusted. How normal he felt.
This wasn’t Earth. This world wasn’t much like Earth. But everything that had happened today and even in days past no longer felt as odd or strange or unpleasant as it had been. It simply felt like... a day.
He was acclimating to life here faster than he’d expected. He hadn’t thought about his old life on Earth for days, since he was so busy walking all day, despite all he’d given up when he decided to remain in this world permanently. Once again, lost luxuries beckoned.
He might never see his mother again, or any of his friends, or sit in air-conditioning or chill watching TV or eat ice cream. Fuck, did he miss ice cream. Maybe he could teach his cooks to mix up some and have Valentia use her flashfreeze rarity on it.
Still... his decision to stay here remained unchanged. He’d been grateful to learn that while this world did not have toothbrushes as he knew them, they did have sticks that could scrape teeth and tiny leaves he could chew to keep his breath from smelling like ass. He was also getting better at not cutting himself with a straight razor, though he was shaggy now, since he hadn’t packed a razor before he was teleported halfway across the map.
As the afternoon wore on with no one unbarring the door and no word from the outside, Drake snacked and paced and, when he quietly snuck upstairs, found Valentia fast asleep in her chair with her book on her lap. How about that? They really were learning to trust each other.
The waiting left him restless. It seemed to leave Anna restless as well, but she seemed to be remarkably good at keeping herself calm when trapped in a single place. She’d likely had a lot of practice. Thinking about that reminded him he still hadn’t apologized for a few nights ago.
He found Jeremy first, sitting silently in a wooden chair and staring at the closed door. Anna sat on the floor nearby, talking quietly with Robby, the creepy wooden puppet with the cheap emerald eyes. Drake walked over to join them. “What’s Robby up to?”
Anna smiled up at him. “I’m just practicing! I know he’s not real, but I like him anyway.”
Drake sat down beside her, glanced at Jeremy, found the man as focused on everything but them as ever, and looked back at Anna. “Practicing for what?”
“Having a friend! If I ever have one, I want to be a good friend.”
Ouch. That hurt Drake physically. It was well past time for him to make up for being inflexible, and he had been avoiding this conversation on the road. No more.
“I’ve thought about what you asked me about a few nights ago,” Drake said.
She tilted her head. “About what?”
“Joining my blood pact.”
She nodded solemnly. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I know. I have.”
She blinked. “But... does that mean...?”
“Yes,” he told her. “If you want to join us when you turn sixteen, I’ll accept you.”
She hopped up with a big grin, but Drake forestalled any hugging with a raised hand. “There’s something else. If you’re going to stay with us, your father will need to join as well.”
Anna nodded firmly. “So someone else can’t make him hurt or betray us.”
Of course she’d already reasoned that out. Of course she’d known the whole time.
“Even though...” She hesitated. “He has no rarity?”
Drake shrugged. “I don’t care. The important thing is keeping you both safe.”
Anna rushed over then, and no amount of grimacing could stop her from giving him a brief hug. He sighed and allowed it just this once. She wasn’t greedy about it.
She stepped back and beamed at him. “Thank you, lord.”
“It has to be your father’s choice, though.”
Anna nodded firmly and stepped past him. “Daddy?”
That got his attention. His eyes left the door to rest on his daughter. He even smiled faintly, though the smile felt a bit... vacant.
“I want to join Lord Gloomwood’s manor when I turned sixteen,” Anna said calmly. “Will you join me?”
Jeremy nodded.
Easy as that, then. Drake would induct Jeremy as soon as he got back to his manor. He pondered telling them about the way he’d change the blood pact once they were part of it, removing any compulsion to follow his orders, but there was always the chance Lord Skybreak or someone else could spy on him in this guest house. He was, after all, in enemy territory.
“So we’re agreed then.” Drake rose. “Welcome to Gloomwood Manor.”
Anna spun around. “You are not going to regret this, lord!”
Drake certainly hoped not.
After that, things got less exciting. The day dragged on into afternoon with no word from Lord Skybreak. Was she making them wait to make them cranky before their meeting? Or was she just up to her eyeballs in problems and decision making?
Drake still had no real idea what it took to run a manor, since Lydia had been handling all of that for him. Without Steward Rodney to handle the extra work, Lord Skybreak now had a whole little town to run. He’d give her the benefit of the doubt, and besides, the wait was exactly what he needed. His plan was working perfectly.
Sachi must have returned to Gloomwood Manor by now, but it would take a day or more for whoever they sent as backup to arrive. Today’s delay was exactly what he’d hoped for, though he imagined Lydia and whoever else chose to come after him were pushing hard. He hoped they wouldn’t exhaust themselves too badly.
Finally, as the sun began to set, the sound of the bar on the door being removed roused him from lounging aimlessly on a couch on the ground floor. He’d changed into a spare set of silverweave clothes from Valentia’s pack, so at least he wasn’t wrinkled. He looked presentable.
The door was just swinging open when a quiet touch on his elbow assured him Valentia was already in the room. She’d gotten here fast. He glanced at her, found her dressed in her pale tunic, pants, and boots, and nodded. It was time to go be handsome and diplomatic.
They’d agreed to wear silverweave to the meeting with Lord Skybreak—protection from hostile magic was always good to have—but no armor. If she truly wanted them dead, light armor wouldn’t help them. Moreover, showing up not armored would reassure Lord Skybreak they weren’t her enemy and didn’t expect a fight.
Drake also doubted they would be allowed to bring weapons, but Valentia was a weapon. A weapon no one would know could act, since even though he’d supposedly compelled her not to use her rarity, she still could. If it came to a fight, they’d likely have to kill everyone who attacked them anyway, so no one would live to tell the tale.
The sun-browned, dark-haired man who entered first was dressed in lordly clothing as well, though given he was a man, he wasn’t Lord Skybreak. He looked to be in his late thirties. He had a bulky nose and a jaw with a noticeable scar down the side of it.
The man inclined his head. “Lord Gloomwood, I am Head Ranger Cask. Lord Skybreak has set aside an hour for the negotiations you requested. I’m here to show you to her.”
Karth had mentioned this guy. Drake imagined Cask was the equivalent of Cresh back in Gloomwood Manor, leader of House Skybreak’s warriors. With her steward dead, it made sense Lord Skybreak would send the head of her rangers to meet them.
She was showing him respect. If she wanted to insult him, she could have sent some minor functionary to greet him instead. Her Head Ranger probably had almost as much to do as she did, so him coming out here to serve as their guide was an expensive move.
Drake glanced back at his people. “Time to go.”
“One moment, lord.” Cask raised a hand. “While Lord Skybreak is eager to meet with you, she will only meet with you and your battle maid. Your groom and servant will remain here.”
Drake wasn’t about to agree to that. “They travel with me.”
“If you wish me to take this demand back to my lord, I will relay it. But I would not expect a response today. It could be several days before my lord is free to speak with you about this matter again.”
So if he didn’t accept Lord Skybreak’s offer now, he was going to spend more days locked in this stone house, which was basically a nicer than normal prison. He glanced at Valentia for thoughts. “Think the squirt and her dad will be okay on their own?”
She nodded as if that was all he was asking. “They should be fine, lord.”
She was calling him lord now, just like his other maids, but he suspected that was because Cask was present. She was keeping up the appearance Lord Skybreak would expect. She was also assuring him they needed to take this opportunity despite the risk.
Leaving Anna and Jeremy here would cut off their escape route if things went bad in his negotiations with Lord Skybreak, but trying to negotiate further could leave him stuck here for days. It would give whoever was behind this all the more time to cover their tracks.
It looked like he was stuck meeting Lord Skybreak without his escape hatch. At least he could still rat out of things went badly. If they went that badly, Valentia knew to run... but Drake still felt like Lord Skybreak wouldn’t risk starting a war. Not unless he started one first.
Drake glanced back at Anna, who stood in the door leading to the kitchen wringing her hands. “You and my groom will remain here for now.” He didn’t add “until we return” because he wasn’t entirely sure they would be coming back. Plans could change.
Lips pressed tightly together, Anna nodded.
“If you need some fresh air, you’re welcome to take it,” Drake added. “And if you see any more of our friends, feel free to let them know where I am and what I’m doing.”
Anna nodded again. He was telling her that if worst came to worst, she should use her teleport rarity to take her father back to the recall point they had created, with her blood, in the cave they had chosen before they encountered the Skybreak patrol Sachi detected.
Brownie should be waiting near that cave, right where Sachi had left him on her trip to go back and bring help from Gloomwood Manor. If nothing else, Anna and Jeremy would teleport to the cave using Anna’s rarity and meet everyone who’d come from Gloomwood Manor to rescue him. Meanwhile, he and Valentia would escape... some other way.
It wasn’t a great plan. It wasn’t even a good one. But it was the best plan he had.
He looked back to Head Ranger Cask. “Let’s go have a chat with your lord.”
Cask stepped aside and motioned with one bare hand. “Please, follow me.”
That night, Drake got his first good long sleep since he’d arrived in this fucked up fantasy world. Lord Skybreak apparently was very busy, which meant no one woke him up. When he did wake in his soft bed, rested and feeling good, bright daylight shone outside.
As he glanced to the reading table, he found Valentia right where she’d been last night, legs crossed, reading yet another book. “What time is it?”
“A bit past noon. Anna has lunch waiting downstairs when you wish to eat.”
He immediately felt guilty. “Please tell me you slept last night.”
“We are deep in territory we do not control facing an unknown enemy who could strike at any time. You do not need to worry about me, and I do need to worry about you.”
So Valentia had spent the entire night and much of the morning going without sleep so he could lounge lazily in bed half the day. As he pondered ordering her to go take a nap, his conversation with Sachi while they hunted passed again through his mind.
He slipped his legs out of bed. “Thanks for keeping watch, Val. If you’d like a nap while we wait for Lord Skybreak to swing by, I’ll take over the watch, but I leave that up to you.”
One elegant eyebrow rose. She acknowledged his order with a nod, then went back to reading her book. Still... he could swear he’d caught a hint of a smile on her face before it vanished beneath her inscrutable calm.
He was going to ask her what she was reading at some point, but at the moment, he simply wanted lunch. He wandered downstairs to immediately be greeted by Anna, who dashed over in her nice blue dress and bowed deep. “Good afternoon, lord!”
“No bowing,” he reminded her.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You said I’m free to do whatever I want. So I’m going to keep bowing to you so long as I feel like it!”
Drake stared at her. Was she actually feeling good enough this morning to be a brat? With a wide grin, she darted off once more. “Lunch is in the kitchen!”
Marveling at this change, he wandered into the small but well-appointed kitchen. Anna had laid out two platters of grapes, raisins, bits of crumbly cheese, and bread. The others must have already eaten. It looked like today would be another platter of snacks, but it was still food.
Bread seemed to be common in this world, but he recalled wheat being a fairly common crop among medieval peoples on Earth, so that made sense. Since most everyone walked everywhere, he imagined they burned an awful lot of carbs. He was certainly going to lose some pounds if he kept walking eight hours a day.
Anna could also certainly stand to gain a few pounds. When they finally got back to Gloomwood Manor, he was going to order his cooks to feed that kid all the carbs she could eat. And make her some cookies, too. Lots of cookies.
He vaguely recalled seeing some documentary claiming wheat was more difficult to grow in cold climates, but perhaps Skybreak had farmers with rarities that kept that from being a problem. He grabbed a platter and gorged on snack food. The cheese was more sour than he liked, so he left it alone. While the idea of wasting food felt wrong, this wasn’t his food.
And just because he was apparently a wererat didn’t mean he always liked cheese.
As he finished (most) of his platter, Drake realized something odd. Today felt normal. Shockingly so. He’d resolved to remain here and serve as a manor lord the first day he arrived, but it wasn’t until just now that he’d noticed how well he’d adjusted. How normal he felt.
This wasn’t Earth. This world wasn’t much like Earth. But everything that had happened today and even in days past no longer felt as odd or strange or unpleasant as it had been. It simply felt like... a day.
He was acclimating to life here faster than he’d expected. He hadn’t thought about his old life on Earth for days, since he was so busy walking all day, despite all he’d given up when he decided to remain in this world permanently. Once again, lost luxuries beckoned.
He might never see his mother again, or any of his friends, or sit in air-conditioning or chill watching TV or eat ice cream. Fuck, did he miss ice cream. Maybe he could teach his cooks to mix up some and have Valentia use her flashfreeze rarity on it.
Still... his decision to stay here remained unchanged. He’d been grateful to learn that while this world did not have toothbrushes as he knew them, they did have sticks that could scrape teeth and tiny leaves he could chew to keep his breath from smelling like ass. He was also getting better at not cutting himself with a straight razor, though he was shaggy now, since he hadn’t packed a razor before he was teleported halfway across the map.
As the afternoon wore on with no one unbarring the door and no word from the outside, Drake snacked and paced and, when he quietly snuck upstairs, found Valentia fast asleep in her chair with her book on her lap. How about that? They really were learning to trust each other.
The waiting left him restless. It seemed to leave Anna restless as well, but she seemed to be remarkably good at keeping herself calm when trapped in a single place. She’d likely had a lot of practice. Thinking about that reminded him he still hadn’t apologized for a few nights ago.
He found Jeremy first, sitting silently in a wooden chair and staring at the closed door. Anna sat on the floor nearby, talking quietly with Robby, the creepy wooden puppet with the cheap emerald eyes. Drake walked over to join them. “What’s Robby up to?”
Anna smiled up at him. “I’m just practicing! I know he’s not real, but I like him anyway.”
Drake sat down beside her, glanced at Jeremy, found the man as focused on everything but them as ever, and looked back at Anna. “Practicing for what?”
“Having a friend! If I ever have one, I want to be a good friend.”
Ouch. That hurt Drake physically. It was well past time for him to make up for being inflexible, and he had been avoiding this conversation on the road. No more.
“I’ve thought about what you asked me about a few nights ago,” Drake said.
She tilted her head. “About what?”
“Joining my blood pact.”
She nodded solemnly. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
“I know. I have.”
She blinked. “But... does that mean...?”
“Yes,” he told her. “If you want to join us when you turn sixteen, I’ll accept you.”
She hopped up with a big grin, but Drake forestalled any hugging with a raised hand. “There’s something else. If you’re going to stay with us, your father will need to join as well.”
Anna nodded firmly. “So someone else can’t make him hurt or betray us.”
Of course she’d already reasoned that out. Of course she’d known the whole time.
“Even though...” She hesitated. “He has no rarity?”
Drake shrugged. “I don’t care. The important thing is keeping you both safe.”
Anna rushed over then, and no amount of grimacing could stop her from giving him a brief hug. He sighed and allowed it just this once. She wasn’t greedy about it.
She stepped back and beamed at him. “Thank you, lord.”
“It has to be your father’s choice, though.”
Anna nodded firmly and stepped past him. “Daddy?”
That got his attention. His eyes left the door to rest on his daughter. He even smiled faintly, though the smile felt a bit... vacant.
“I want to join Lord Gloomwood’s manor when I turned sixteen,” Anna said calmly. “Will you join me?”
Jeremy nodded.
Easy as that, then. Drake would induct Jeremy as soon as he got back to his manor. He pondered telling them about the way he’d change the blood pact once they were part of it, removing any compulsion to follow his orders, but there was always the chance Lord Skybreak or someone else could spy on him in this guest house. He was, after all, in enemy territory.
“So we’re agreed then.” Drake rose. “Welcome to Gloomwood Manor.”
Anna spun around. “You are not going to regret this, lord!”
Drake certainly hoped not.
After that, things got less exciting. The day dragged on into afternoon with no word from Lord Skybreak. Was she making them wait to make them cranky before their meeting? Or was she just up to her eyeballs in problems and decision making?
Drake still had no real idea what it took to run a manor, since Lydia had been handling all of that for him. Without Steward Rodney to handle the extra work, Lord Skybreak now had a whole little town to run. He’d give her the benefit of the doubt, and besides, the wait was exactly what he needed. His plan was working perfectly.
Sachi must have returned to Gloomwood Manor by now, but it would take a day or more for whoever they sent as backup to arrive. Today’s delay was exactly what he’d hoped for, though he imagined Lydia and whoever else chose to come after him were pushing hard. He hoped they wouldn’t exhaust themselves too badly.
Finally, as the sun began to set, the sound of the bar on the door being removed roused him from lounging aimlessly on a couch on the ground floor. He’d changed into a spare set of silverweave clothes from Valentia’s pack, so at least he wasn’t wrinkled. He looked presentable.
The door was just swinging open when a quiet touch on his elbow assured him Valentia was already in the room. She’d gotten here fast. He glanced at her, found her dressed in her pale tunic, pants, and boots, and nodded. It was time to go be handsome and diplomatic.
They’d agreed to wear silverweave to the meeting with Lord Skybreak—protection from hostile magic was always good to have—but no armor. If she truly wanted them dead, light armor wouldn’t help them. Moreover, showing up not armored would reassure Lord Skybreak they weren’t her enemy and didn’t expect a fight.
Drake also doubted they would be allowed to bring weapons, but Valentia was a weapon. A weapon no one would know could act, since even though he’d supposedly compelled her not to use her rarity, she still could. If it came to a fight, they’d likely have to kill everyone who attacked them anyway, so no one would live to tell the tale.
The sun-browned, dark-haired man who entered first was dressed in lordly clothing as well, though given he was a man, he wasn’t Lord Skybreak. He looked to be in his late thirties. He had a bulky nose and a jaw with a noticeable scar down the side of it.
The man inclined his head. “Lord Gloomwood, I am Head Ranger Cask. Lord Skybreak has set aside an hour for the negotiations you requested. I’m here to show you to her.”
Karth had mentioned this guy. Drake imagined Cask was the equivalent of Cresh back in Gloomwood Manor, leader of House Skybreak’s warriors. With her steward dead, it made sense Lord Skybreak would send the head of her rangers to meet them.
She was showing him respect. If she wanted to insult him, she could have sent some minor functionary to greet him instead. Her Head Ranger probably had almost as much to do as she did, so him coming out here to serve as their guide was an expensive move.
Drake glanced back at his people. “Time to go.”
“One moment, lord.” Cask raised a hand. “While Lord Skybreak is eager to meet with you, she will only meet with you and your battle maid. Your groom and servant will remain here.”
Drake wasn’t about to agree to that. “They travel with me.”
“If you wish me to take this demand back to my lord, I will relay it. But I would not expect a response today. It could be several days before my lord is free to speak with you about this matter again.”
So if he didn’t accept Lord Skybreak’s offer now, he was going to spend more days locked in this stone house, which was basically a nicer than normal prison. He glanced at Valentia for thoughts. “Think the squirt and her dad will be okay on their own?”
She nodded as if that was all he was asking. “They should be fine, lord.”
She was calling him lord now, just like his other maids, but he suspected that was because Cask was present. She was keeping up the appearance Lord Skybreak would expect. She was also assuring him they needed to take this opportunity despite the risk.
Leaving Anna and Jeremy here would cut off their escape route if things went bad in his negotiations with Lord Skybreak, but trying to negotiate further could leave him stuck here for days. It would give whoever was behind this all the more time to cover their tracks.
It looked like he was stuck meeting Lord Skybreak without his escape hatch. At least he could still rat out of things went badly. If they went that badly, Valentia knew to run... but Drake still felt like Lord Skybreak wouldn’t risk starting a war. Not unless he started one first.
Drake glanced back at Anna, who stood in the door leading to the kitchen wringing her hands. “You and my groom will remain here for now.” He didn’t add “until we return” because he wasn’t entirely sure they would be coming back. Plans could change.
Lips pressed tightly together, Anna nodded.
“If you need some fresh air, you’re welcome to take it,” Drake added. “And if you see any more of our friends, feel free to let them know where I am and what I’m doing.”
Anna nodded again. He was telling her that if worst came to worst, she should use her teleport rarity to take her father back to the recall point they had created, with her blood, in the cave they had chosen before they encountered the Skybreak patrol Sachi detected.
Brownie should be waiting near that cave, right where Sachi had left him on her trip to go back and bring help from Gloomwood Manor. If nothing else, Anna and Jeremy would teleport to the cave using Anna’s rarity and meet everyone who’d come from Gloomwood Manor to rescue him. Meanwhile, he and Valentia would escape... some other way.
It wasn’t a great plan. It wasn’t even a good one. But it was the best plan he had.
He looked back to Head Ranger Cask. “Let’s go have a chat with your lord.”
Cask stepped aside and motioned with one bare hand. “Please, follow me.”
