After his sweltering appointment with his manor’s armorer, Drake was sorely tempted to sneak off and lounge in the bathhouse for a few minutes... or hours. He still needed to have that talk with Zuri (the one where he suggested she stop trying to seduce him and focus on advising him instead) but his talk about her, with Lydia, seemed so long ago.
He had no doubt Zuri had checked out his mystery box to keep him safe just as he’d ordered. Other than her possible honeypot pot, Lydia had reported no other moves by Zuri... and Lydia was keeping a close eye on her. Zuri could wait.
He couldn’t believe seven days had passed since Anna abducted him with her teleport rarity. That was a long time when you were spending them walking, running, or trying not to get killed. So even though it was only midafternoon, he decided to clock out early.
Or rather, to head back to his huge bedroom to check out the mystery box sent to him by the lord of Skybreak Manor. He was very curious about the mystery box. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, even when he was negotiating for his crossbow.
Emily insisted on coming with him, of course. Lydia met them outside the room and Olivia joined them as well, which was entirely unnecessary but absolutely something he was willing to accept. If a monster popped out of the box, his three battle maids would murderize it.
He hadn’t seen Valentia since they had returned to the manor. He understood, from Lydia, that Valentia generally kept to herself unless summoned, but he also knew that wasn’t the case right now. She was spending every waking moment at a sleeping Nicole’s side.
Until Lydia informed him yesterday, he’d had no idea Valentia and Nicole were an item. He also wasn’t sure if it compromised his forces or not. Lydia had assured him theirs was the only romantic relationship among the battle maids.
At first blush, it seemed like allowing two maids to get involved meant they would prioritize each other over the rest of their squad. That was while fraternization between soldiers who served in the same unit was forbidden. Yet Lydia assured him it would not be a problem.
The bond between the five of them, she explained, was already unbreakable. Valentia and Nicole might love each other, but they also loved Lydia, Emily, and Olivia with the same (entirely platonic) strength. So Valentia and Nicole’s relationship shouldn’t compromise anything. Any of them would die for the other regardless of who was dating who.
Drake had no problem with any of that. It wasn’t his business, and he trusted Lydia to let him know if it became so. It also made him wonder how many of his other thralls were secretly or openly hooking up. It got cold here, and it didn’t seem like his people got out much.
Lydia had assured him there was no law against thralls hooking up (even old Lord Crow had tolerated it) and that STDs and pregnancy were not an issue due to magic charms or rather, fetishes. At which point Drake cracked jokes until Lydia politely asked him to stop.
He found the box waiting outside the doors of his master bedroom, along with a note. Olivia snatched them up without a word just before Lydia opened the door. Emily charged inside before he could say anything, then shouted. “Still empty! No assassins!”
She, of course, would be able to see the souls of anyone hiding anywhere inside.
Drake no longer rolled his eyes at their efforts to keep him safe. His battle maids were ferociously focused on protecting him, by choice, and he’d never disrespect their commitment or loyalty. He also had no idea what sort of bullshit superpower would attack him next.
Drake motioned for Olivia to enter with his mystery box and then walked inside. Lydia closed and locked the door behind him, and then Olivia looked to him for further guidance. He pointed at the small dressing table across from the bed.
“Let’s put the box down on that table. If it blows up, I’d rather lose the sitting table than the bed. I like that bed.”
Emily glanced longingly at his massive four-post bed. “I wish I could sleep there.”
Lydia cleared her throat.
Emily glanced Drake’s way and grinned wide. “When the lord isn’t using it, of course!”
Drake looked to Olivia. Emily was simply baiting him again. “Can I have Zuri’s note?”
Olivia peered at the note, then at him. “Apologies, lord, but may I read it to you aloud?”
“Afraid I’ll die of a paper cut?” Actually, a poisoned paper might be a good trick if the poison was virulent enough.
“Well... no.” Olivia’s brow furrowed. “But Emily is watching for assassins, and Lydia is waiting to flutterstep and kill them, and all I can do is set your bed on fire.”
“Please don’t.”
“So may I read the note?”
So she wanted to contribute somehow. That was cute. “Sure, Olivia.”
“Thank you, lord!” She straightened and cleared her throat. “Lord Gloomwood, your trust in my counsel once again flatters me beyond measure.”
Drake was certain Zuri wanted him to think that.
“The box has magical properties as do many charmed containers of its type, but is no different from many we have at Gloomwood Manor. In that way, it is unremarkable.”
These were Zuri’s written words. Olivia spoke almost as Zuri did, pitching her voice down. She clearly intended to sound dignified.
“I was unable to find any traps, physical or magical, that could cause you harm, other than the magical binding on the box itself. For a box of this type, that is expected.”
Drake waited in silence.
“That binding, once sealed, prevents it from opening without the proper key. It will harm you if you attempt to force it open. Unfortunately, I have no way to identify its key, so you will need to rely on the words of the lord of Skybreak Manor.”
Drake knew the key. Sky had said he simply needed to speak of his home in the box’s presence, since he had told her he was from Earth. Only a few people knew that was his home.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Olivia continued.
“Thank you again for trusting in me. I hope this information is of use to you. Zuri.”
He smiled and glanced at Lydia. “So, we should—”
“X O,” Olivia continued, as she read the last of the note aloud. “X O, X O.” She looked up. “Is that a code, lord? Or something to do with the box’s unique properties?”
Drake slapped his hand on his forehead in full sight of his battle maids. Also... that was from his world, wasn’t it? From Earth. Where in the hell had Zuri dug that up?
Lydia chuckled quietly. “You do need to have that talk with her, lord.”
“I will. I promise. Tomorrow.”
“What’s X O mean?” Emily asked. “Is it a game?”
With Zuri, it certainly wasn’t. “Olivia, step back from the box.”
She hurried over. “Do you know how to open it, lord?”
“I think so. We’ll find out. Everyone ready?”
Each of them rapidly nodded their assent.
“Earth,” Drake said.
He expected a brilliant green flash or burst of smoke, or maybe even something even weirder, like flashing lights or singing. Instead, the box simply popped open. Like a normal box did when you released the lock. He’d just opened his first magical box, and it was lame.
Still, what waited inside might not be. As he moved forward to check, Lydia grabbed his bicep. He held back his sigh as Olivia and Emily raced for it.
“Stop!” Drake shouted.
Both froze in midstep and glanced at him, Olivia in alarm and Emily in delight.
“Don’t risk yourselves either,” he ordered them crossly. “Emily, you see what’s in the box, but be careful about it. Olivia, be ready to... burn stuff.”
It felt patently ridiculous to expend all this effort on a gift Lord Skybreak had clearly intended to send him. Still, until they knew who was trying to destroy Gloomwood Manor, even ridiculous safety measures were better than getting teleported into another random field.
Olivia stepped back as Emily poked the top of the box with her finger, eased it open, and cautiously peered inside. Her eyes widened. “Oooh, it’s so pretty!”
“What is it?”
“A mirror, lord.”
From Drake’s recollections, magic mirrors in fantasy worlds were generally not so bad, provided they weren’t big enough to fall through. Unless it would zap him with a magical beam that turned him to stone. As Emily fished it out, it looked to be a handheld grooming mirror.
It had an oval head and a hand-sized handle, and the oval mirror inside the frame was about as big as his palms put together. If he were to hold the mirror up to his face by the handle and look at himself, he would see his face and hair. Not much else.
The frame was silver and not wood, which might make it expensive. But other than that, it didn’t look like anything special. Still holding the mirror, Emily glanced Drake’s way.
“Did you comb your hair before you met with Lord Skybreak, lord?”
Again with the messy hair. He needed to ask Lydia about that barber. Before he could answer, Emily continued. “Because I love how dashing your hair looks when you move! Maybe she did too? And now you can gaze at your lovely hair whenever you like.”
Lydia now looked absolutely pained. “Anything odd about the mirror, Emily?”
Emily pointed the mirror right at her face and peered into it, turning her face this way and that as her eyes stayed locked with the mirror, then gasped. “I have a pimple!”
“Oh no,” Olivia said worriedly. “Is it a big one? Can I look?”
Drake glanced at Lydia, who visibly cringed. Before this moment, and especially when working with them, his battle maids had seemed so focused on their jobs. He rarely saw them all together like this. It was usually one or two at a time.
These women weren’t just completely comfortable with each other. They seemed comfortable with him. Once again he remembered how young they were—only Lydia was older than him, by one year—and he wondered if, before now, they had ever allowed themselves to simply be friends in front of the lord of Gloomwood Manor.
Knowing what a bastard Lord Crow had been, he doubted it. It felt good that his people trusted him like this. Even if it did mean he sometimes had to watch them cry, or let Olivia give him the occasional hug. She hadn’t been greedy about those so far.
Olivia took the mirror next, followed by Lydia who, eventually, handed it to him with a shrug. It was a bit heavier than he expected, but otherwise a normal mirror. And damn. He really did need a haircut. First thing tomorrow.
“All right,” he announced. “We have now confirmed this is a mirror.”
Emily grinned wide. “She must like you. Lord Skybreak, I mean. If I liked a cute man, I’d send him a mirror just like this one.”
Olivia gave her a knowing look.
“Not that I like you!” Emily exclaimed suddenly. “I mean, I do! As my manor lord and as, well, a nice person. But not... I don’t...”
Olivia burst out laughing, but an absolutely murderous look from Lydia silenced them both. Abashed, they glanced Drake’s way.
“I think I’m about ready to retire for the afternoon,” he told them. “I don’t plan to tackle anything else today, but if I do, I’ll let you know.”
“One of us will be directly outside at all times, lord,” Lydia assured him.
“I know.” He nodded at each of them in turn. “But I’m good for now. Go ahead and have supper brought up when it’s ready, and then assume I’ll be relaxing in here for the night.”
He still had the rest of Zuri’s roster to read, and more manor procedures to learn about. And he just wanted some time to himself, boring though it might be.
Lydia inclined her head. “Understood, lord.” She looked at the others and pointed at the door. “Time to go.”
Olivia placed the mirror on the sitting table and smiled his way as she left. “It’s a very nice gift, lord. I’ve never met Lord Skybreak, but I’ve heard many good things.”
Once his overprotective battle maids finally gave him some privacy, he flopped onto his back on his fluffy soft bed and sighed in solitude. He still needed to get word to the noble court about Lord Crow’s demon summoning attempt, and he needed to chat with Zuri.
He also needed to build up his stamina for walking, and learn to shoot a bow and reload a crossbow, and learn the specific strengths and weaknesses of the eight other manors, and learn who their lords were and whether they liked or hated him, and continue to learn the floor plan of his own manor, and bother Zuri for more information about his wererat powers, and...
There was so much to do. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. So for today, he’d just chill in his master bedroom. He’d earned a break. He needed one.
He enjoyed his dinner, relaxed in bed, skimmed the tome on all Gloomwood Manor’s rituals and procedures and history until it bored him to tears, and then settled in for sleep.
He’d almost nodded off when the mirror on the nightstand called his name.
After his sweltering appointment with his manor’s armorer, Drake was sorely tempted to sneak off and lounge in the bathhouse for a few minutes... or hours. He still needed to have that talk with Zuri (the one where he suggested she stop trying to seduce him and focus on advising him instead) but his talk about her, with Lydia, seemed so long ago.
He had no doubt Zuri had checked out his mystery box to keep him safe just as he’d ordered. Other than her possible honeypot pot, Lydia had reported no other moves by Zuri... and Lydia was keeping a close eye on her. Zuri could wait.
He couldn’t believe seven days had passed since Anna abducted him with her teleport rarity. That was a long time when you were spending them walking, running, or trying not to get killed. So even though it was only midafternoon, he decided to clock out early.
Or rather, to head back to his huge bedroom to check out the mystery box sent to him by the lord of Skybreak Manor. He was very curious about the mystery box. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, even when he was negotiating for his crossbow.
Emily insisted on coming with him, of course. Lydia met them outside the room and Olivia joined them as well, which was entirely unnecessary but absolutely something he was willing to accept. If a monster popped out of the box, his three battle maids would murderize it.
He hadn’t seen Valentia since they had returned to the manor. He understood, from Lydia, that Valentia generally kept to herself unless summoned, but he also knew that wasn’t the case right now. She was spending every waking moment at a sleeping Nicole’s side.
Until Lydia informed him yesterday, he’d had no idea Valentia and Nicole were an item. He also wasn’t sure if it compromised his forces or not. Lydia had assured him theirs was the only romantic relationship among the battle maids.
At first blush, it seemed like allowing two maids to get involved meant they would prioritize each other over the rest of their squad. That was while fraternization between soldiers who served in the same unit was forbidden. Yet Lydia assured him it would not be a problem.
The bond between the five of them, she explained, was already unbreakable. Valentia and Nicole might love each other, but they also loved Lydia, Emily, and Olivia with the same (entirely platonic) strength. So Valentia and Nicole’s relationship shouldn’t compromise anything. Any of them would die for the other regardless of who was dating who.
Drake had no problem with any of that. It wasn’t his business, and he trusted Lydia to let him know if it became so. It also made him wonder how many of his other thralls were secretly or openly hooking up. It got cold here, and it didn’t seem like his people got out much.
Lydia had assured him there was no law against thralls hooking up (even old Lord Crow had tolerated it) and that STDs and pregnancy were not an issue due to magic charms or rather, fetishes. At which point Drake cracked jokes until Lydia politely asked him to stop.
He found the box waiting outside the doors of his master bedroom, along with a note. Olivia snatched them up without a word just before Lydia opened the door. Emily charged inside before he could say anything, then shouted. “Still empty! No assassins!”
She, of course, would be able to see the souls of anyone hiding anywhere inside.
Drake no longer rolled his eyes at their efforts to keep him safe. His battle maids were ferociously focused on protecting him, by choice, and he’d never disrespect their commitment or loyalty. He also had no idea what sort of bullshit superpower would attack him next.
Drake motioned for Olivia to enter with his mystery box and then walked inside. Lydia closed and locked the door behind him, and then Olivia looked to him for further guidance. He pointed at the small dressing table across from the bed.
“Let’s put the box down on that table. If it blows up, I’d rather lose the sitting table than the bed. I like that bed.”
Emily glanced longingly at his massive four-post bed. “I wish I could sleep there.”
Lydia cleared her throat.
Emily glanced Drake’s way and grinned wide. “When the lord isn’t using it, of course!”
Drake looked to Olivia. Emily was simply baiting him again. “Can I have Zuri’s note?”
Olivia peered at the note, then at him. “Apologies, lord, but may I read it to you aloud?”
“Afraid I’ll die of a paper cut?” Actually, a poisoned paper might be a good trick if the poison was virulent enough.
“Well... no.” Olivia’s brow furrowed. “But Emily is watching for assassins, and Lydia is waiting to flutterstep and kill them, and all I can do is set your bed on fire.”
“Please don’t.”
“So may I read the note?”
So she wanted to contribute somehow. That was cute. “Sure, Olivia.”
“Thank you, lord!” She straightened and cleared her throat. “Lord Gloomwood, your trust in my counsel once again flatters me beyond measure.”
Drake was certain Zuri wanted him to think that.
“The box has magical properties as do many charmed containers of its type, but is no different from many we have at Gloomwood Manor. In that way, it is unremarkable.”
These were Zuri’s written words. Olivia spoke almost as Zuri did, pitching her voice down. She clearly intended to sound dignified.
“I was unable to find any traps, physical or magical, that could cause you harm, other than the magical binding on the box itself. For a box of this type, that is expected.”
Drake waited in silence.
“That binding, once sealed, prevents it from opening without the proper key. It will harm you if you attempt to force it open. Unfortunately, I have no way to identify its key, so you will need to rely on the words of the lord of Skybreak Manor.”
Drake knew the key. Sky had said he simply needed to speak of his home in the box’s presence, since he had told her he was from Earth. Only a few people knew that was his home.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Olivia continued.
“Thank you again for trusting in me. I hope this information is of use to you. Zuri.”
He smiled and glanced at Lydia. “So, we should—”
“X O,” Olivia continued, as she read the last of the note aloud. “X O, X O.” She looked up. “Is that a code, lord? Or something to do with the box’s unique properties?”
Drake slapped his hand on his forehead in full sight of his battle maids. Also... that was from his world, wasn’t it? From Earth. Where in the hell had Zuri dug that up?
Lydia chuckled quietly. “You do need to have that talk with her, lord.”
“I will. I promise. Tomorrow.”
“What’s X O mean?” Emily asked. “Is it a game?”
With Zuri, it certainly wasn’t. “Olivia, step back from the box.”
She hurried over. “Do you know how to open it, lord?”
“I think so. We’ll find out. Everyone ready?”
Each of them rapidly nodded their assent.
“Earth,” Drake said.
He expected a brilliant green flash or burst of smoke, or maybe even something even weirder, like flashing lights or singing. Instead, the box simply popped open. Like a normal box did when you released the lock. He’d just opened his first magical box, and it was lame.
Still, what waited inside might not be. As he moved forward to check, Lydia grabbed his bicep. He held back his sigh as Olivia and Emily raced for it.
“Stop!” Drake shouted.
Both froze in midstep and glanced at him, Olivia in alarm and Emily in delight.
“Don’t risk yourselves either,” he ordered them crossly. “Emily, you see what’s in the box, but be careful about it. Olivia, be ready to... burn stuff.”
It felt patently ridiculous to expend all this effort on a gift Lord Skybreak had clearly intended to send him. Still, until they knew who was trying to destroy Gloomwood Manor, even ridiculous safety measures were better than getting teleported into another random field.
Olivia stepped back as Emily poked the top of the box with her finger, eased it open, and cautiously peered inside. Her eyes widened. “Oooh, it’s so pretty!”
“What is it?”
“A mirror, lord.”
From Drake’s recollections, magic mirrors in fantasy worlds were generally not so bad, provided they weren’t big enough to fall through. Unless it would zap him with a magical beam that turned him to stone. As Emily fished it out, it looked to be a handheld grooming mirror.
It had an oval head and a hand-sized handle, and the oval mirror inside the frame was about as big as his palms put together. If he were to hold the mirror up to his face by the handle and look at himself, he would see his face and hair. Not much else.
The frame was silver and not wood, which might make it expensive. But other than that, it didn’t look like anything special. Still holding the mirror, Emily glanced Drake’s way.
“Did you comb your hair before you met with Lord Skybreak, lord?”
Again with the messy hair. He needed to ask Lydia about that barber. Before he could answer, Emily continued. “Because I love how dashing your hair looks when you move! Maybe she did too? And now you can gaze at your lovely hair whenever you like.”
Lydia now looked absolutely pained. “Anything odd about the mirror, Emily?”
Emily pointed the mirror right at her face and peered into it, turning her face this way and that as her eyes stayed locked with the mirror, then gasped. “I have a pimple!”
“Oh no,” Olivia said worriedly. “Is it a big one? Can I look?”
Drake glanced at Lydia, who visibly cringed. Before this moment, and especially when working with them, his battle maids had seemed so focused on their jobs. He rarely saw them all together like this. It was usually one or two at a time.
These women weren’t just completely comfortable with each other. They seemed comfortable with him. Once again he remembered how young they were—only Lydia was older than him, by one year—and he wondered if, before now, they had ever allowed themselves to simply be friends in front of the lord of Gloomwood Manor.
Knowing what a bastard Lord Crow had been, he doubted it. It felt good that his people trusted him like this. Even if it did mean he sometimes had to watch them cry, or let Olivia give him the occasional hug. She hadn’t been greedy about those so far.
Olivia took the mirror next, followed by Lydia who, eventually, handed it to him with a shrug. It was a bit heavier than he expected, but otherwise a normal mirror. And damn. He really did need a haircut. First thing tomorrow.
“All right,” he announced. “We have now confirmed this is a mirror.”
Emily grinned wide. “She must like you. Lord Skybreak, I mean. If I liked a cute man, I’d send him a mirror just like this one.”
Olivia gave her a knowing look.
“Not that I like you!” Emily exclaimed suddenly. “I mean, I do! As my manor lord and as, well, a nice person. But not... I don’t...”
Olivia burst out laughing, but an absolutely murderous look from Lydia silenced them both. Abashed, they glanced Drake’s way.
“I think I’m about ready to retire for the afternoon,” he told them. “I don’t plan to tackle anything else today, but if I do, I’ll let you know.”
“One of us will be directly outside at all times, lord,” Lydia assured him.
“I know.” He nodded at each of them in turn. “But I’m good for now. Go ahead and have supper brought up when it’s ready, and then assume I’ll be relaxing in here for the night.”
He still had the rest of Zuri’s roster to read, and more manor procedures to learn about. And he just wanted some time to himself, boring though it might be.
Lydia inclined her head. “Understood, lord.” She looked at the others and pointed at the door. “Time to go.”
Olivia placed the mirror on the sitting table and smiled his way as she left. “It’s a very nice gift, lord. I’ve never met Lord Skybreak, but I’ve heard many good things.”
Once his overprotective battle maids finally gave him some privacy, he flopped onto his back on his fluffy soft bed and sighed in solitude. He still needed to get word to the noble court about Lord Crow’s demon summoning attempt, and he needed to chat with Zuri.
He also needed to build up his stamina for walking, and learn to shoot a bow and reload a crossbow, and learn the specific strengths and weaknesses of the eight other manors, and learn who their lords were and whether they liked or hated him, and continue to learn the floor plan of his own manor, and bother Zuri for more information about his wererat powers, and...
There was so much to do. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. So for today, he’d just chill in his master bedroom. He’d earned a break. He needed one.
He enjoyed his dinner, relaxed in bed, skimmed the tome on all Gloomwood Manor’s rituals and procedures and history until it bored him to tears, and then settled in for sleep.
He’d almost nodded off when the mirror on the nightstand called his name.
