“You’re going to kick us off,” Drake told Lydia. “Give me a theoretical enemy force that’s on its way to attack Gloomwood Manor.”
Her brow furrowed in visible confusion. “Theoretical, lord?”
“Imagine an enemy force that’s plausible. It’s fine to simply invent its composition. Assume we know what their mission is, too.”
Storytelling, of course, wasn’t lying. He still wasn’t quite sure how that all worked here. Did all authors have to preface their books with “This book is not true”? Come to think of it... he would need to find out of these people’s inability to lie extended to written notes.
Lydia leaned down and peered at the model manor with new interest. “Now I see what you might have in mind.” She looked intrigued rather than annoyed.
He picked up one of the yellow squares. “Theoretical force, Lydia.”
She visibly considered. “We shall pretend House Proudglade has decided they want to draw blood in revenge for our abduction of Lord Westin. They’ve launched a raid. A contingent of Proudglade knights even now march up the road to our manor to seize a tithe.”
Drake slapped the yellow square on the road. “Knights.”
“But it’s not just the knights,” Lydia added. “The knights and their demand for negotiation are a feint to draw our forces out of position for their real attack.”
Drake grinned at her devious plot. “So what else are we dealing with?”
“We shall pretend there are multiple Proudglade assassins in place around the manor in the silverwood beyond the wall. They have grappling hooks and poison-proof cloaks, and our vero have informed us of their presence. They, however, do not know this.”
“How many assassins?”
“We’ll imagine three squads of assassins, positioned east, west, and north of the walls.”
Drake picked two purple squares and dropped them into the forest on both sides of the manor, then dropped another purple square in the trees to the north. “Anything else?”
“Yes. We shall also imagine the first son of Proudglade Manor has come to observe the raid personally. He doesn’t plan to engage, but he does wish to watch. He has taken up position to the north of the manor with a small contingent of knights.”
Drake slapped down a pink square for the Proudglade lord and then a blue square next to it to represent his bodyguards. “All right. We’re facing a Proudglade force determined to raid us, but our vero had informed us they’re coming. So here’s what I suggest.”
Drake dropped three red triangles in front of the gates. “A sizable force of zarovians here, in full view. The incoming knights need to think we’ve taken their bait.” He popped down another red triangle by each wall of the manor, east and west. “More zarovians hidden here inside the walls, ready to rock, and a last few here in the barracks.”
Next, he placed his battle maids. “Lydia, you’re here at the gates to command the zarovians. You’re highly visible, and you need to ensure the knights see you. That will help ensure them we’ve committed to defending against their frontal attack.”
She nodded once more.
He took two more white cylinders and placed them in the forest behind the manor, then added a green square by each. “Emily and Nicole are already outside the wall, with vero.”
Emily gasped. “I’m going after the enemy lord?”
“Not yet, murdermaid.” He placed the black rectangle outside as well. “Sachi, tasked with eliminating the assassins to the south while still in the forest.” He placed one white cylinder in the grass between the manor and wall to the left, and one to the right. “Olivia. Valentia. Inside the manor, but hiding just inside the side doors ready to emerge.”
Lydia looked the arrangement over with curiosity. “So what are your orders, lord?”
“Let the knight contingent march to in sight of the gate.” He moved the tile representing them up. “Make sure they see the zarovians and yourself.” Those pieces were already in place. “When they’re in sight of you, or if they charge, close the forest.”
“They’ll hack through that in minutes, lord.”
“And they’ll think we bought their feint. Meanwhile, those Proudglade assassins will use their grappling hooks to scale the walls, certain we’ve taken their bait.” He moved the purple squares on the east and west into the “no man’s land” between the wall and manor.
“Once they are in the open, Valentia and Olivia emerge from each side of the manor.” He moved those cylinders out. “Between flashfreeze and chainfire, assassins on open ground are either extra frosty or extra crispy. Any that escape get pummeled by zarovians.”
“I like your orders, lord,” Emily agreed hungrily.
“Sachi will kill all the assassins in the woods to the north. But if any get through, the reserve zarovians take them down. Meanwhile, while the first son’s attention is focused on his forces getting massacred, Emily and Nicole follow their vero to his camp.”
Drake plunked down a white cylinder near the pink and blue squares. “Emily, you show yourself here. Challenge his bodyguards to a fight.”
Emily stood at attention. “You bet I will!”
“As soon as they move on you, Nicole slips in from behind them using penumbra.” That was his final battle maid’s rarity, which allowed her to turn invisible. He placed Nicole’s cylinder behind the pink square. “She now holds a dagger to the first son’s throat.”
“And then she cuts his throat!” Emily said triumphantly.
Drake side-eyed her. “No, she doesn’t kill him, Emily. We don’t want to turn a raid into a war. However, we do take the first son hostage and force his knights to stand down. Then you march them all back at axe point. We demand tithes for our prisoners.”
“What about the knights at the gate, lord?” Lydia asked. “They’ve hacked through the trees by now. Our gates may be near indestructible, but Proudglade knights also have powerful rarities. We cannot know if some would slip through.”
“Which is why I put you and the zarovians at the gate. Their main force may have been a distraction, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a real threat. So even if they launch a real attack on the gate, we’re in position to repel them. Still, once they learn we’ve evaporated their assassins and taken their leader hostage, they’d have to surrender.”
“And this is how you would like to give orders, lord,” Lydia said. “Using these pieces.”
“This is how I would like to talk about strategy,” Drake corrected. “I don’t know if it helps you see what might occur, but it helps me a ton. Use this to teach me how we fight. Show me how you’ve won battles in the past. Move these pieces. War game it out.”
Emily thumped both palms flat on the table, leaned over it, and stared with grim satisfaction. “I like this game. I want to play it often.”
He smirked. “Then you and I might be spending a lot of time down here.”
Lydia tapped her lips thoughtfully. “This would also be an excellent way to teach Olivia. She has been having difficulty following discussions of more complex engagements. If you would allow her to join us in these discussions, they could benefit her as well.”
“The more the merrier,” Drake agreed. “Hell, we could even get old Cresh in here.”
Emily glanced up at the ceiling doubtfully, then looked at him. “Are you sure?”
Drake was already rethinking his statement. “Well... maybe not.”
Lydia glanced at Emily. “You look enthused. Are you feeling playful?”
Emily grinned wide. “Ooh, you bet I am. After all this talk of battle, I need to battle someone.” She looked to Drake. “It’s interesting to see what type of games you enjoy, lord. Would you allow us to show you our favorite game?”
He frowned. “Is this game going to involve me getting pummeled?”
Emily laughed. “While we can hurt you now, which remains strange, I do not have any particular desire to do so. But I can still duel Lydia.”
Drake looked between them. “You know? I really would like to see that.”
“Then let’s adjourn to the center courtyard,” Lydia said. “And play our game there.”
***
Not long after, Drake stood with Lydia and Emily, who were both now clad in feathersteel armor, in the center courtyard of Gloomwood Manor. Its looming two-story bulk enclosed them safely inside the manor, but that felt reassuring as opposed to suffocating. It was pretty and pleasant in the courtyard, even if it was cold.
There was clean and hardy grass everywhere, and numerous dirt beds set aside for colorful flowers that must hate light and like cold. There were also two square pools in the central courtyard, one at each end, with bubbling stone fountains spewing water streams. There were no statues or columns, but the courtyard had several wooden gazebos and benches scattered throughout.
There was also an assembly plaza in the center of the courtyard, a flat expanse of stone a little bigger than a basketball court. As Emily and Lydia marched out and took up positions on either side, it became clear they also used this as their training ground.
He was relieved to see Emily carrying a mundane axe with a blunted wooden head rather than her spectral soul render. That meant one strike wouldn’t... chop Lydia’s soul. He doubted even Raylan could heal her after something like that.
Lydia had mundane weapons, blunt metal daggers that hung at her hips. He suspected a strike from either weapon would hurt even through feathersteel. He assumed if anyone got seriously injured during sparring, they could heal each other with their magic gloves.
Once in place, both maids looked to him. He realized they were waiting for him to give an order, and he grinned as he abruptly saw something like his favorite fighting games brought to life. He raised one hand, held it a beat, and knifed it down.
“Fight!”
Two things happened simultaneously. First, Lydia vanished in a cloud of spectral purple butterflies that scattered in all directions before fading away. Next, Emily tossed herself forward with the speed of a wrecking ball, landing on one shoulder and starting a roll.
An eyeblink later, Lydia appeared behind where Emily had been. She struck with a snake’s speed with one blunted dagger. Even with Emily’s sudden dive, she almost tagged Emily in her roll. Then Emily completed it and brought her blunted axe swung back toward Lydia’s ankles in a huge arc.
If that axe had connected it likely would have broken Lydia’s ankles. Yet Lydia leapt over the hurtling blade and, still in midair, tapped Emily’s chest once with the tip of each blunted dagger. And instead of landing atop Emily, which would have allowed Emily to grapple her, she burst into a cloud of spectral butterflies before she landed from her jump.
Even as she reappeared on Emily’s other side, Emily’s axe continued its pendulum-esque rotation. Emily very nearly took Lydia’s head off with the swing. Lydia only escaped by diving backward and dropping onto her ass. The axe whistled by inches above her head.
Off balance, Lydia flipped onto her front and scrambled away as Emily charged after her, axe raised. Just before her axe slammed down on Lydia’s back, she burst into butterflies once more. She reappeared paces away at the other end of the arena, then stood and spun about.
Emily twirled her axe in one hand as she grinned madly. “You look tired, flutterfly! Need to catch your breath?”
Lydia was breathing hard, Drake saw. Sweat glistened on her face, so it seemed even four fluttersteps taxed her.
“Two strikes, both fatal,” Lydia called. “Duel’s over.”
“No way! Those would have barely scratched me!” Emily raised her axe. “And I didn’t get my turn.” With a delighted roar, she charged.
“You’re going to kick us off,” Drake told Lydia. “Give me a theoretical enemy force that’s on its way to attack Gloomwood Manor.”
Her brow furrowed in visible confusion. “Theoretical, lord?”
“Imagine an enemy force that’s plausible. It’s fine to simply invent its composition. Assume we know what their mission is, too.”
Storytelling, of course, wasn’t lying. He still wasn’t quite sure how that all worked here. Did all authors have to preface their books with “This book is not true”? Come to think of it... he would need to find out of these people’s inability to lie extended to written notes.
Lydia leaned down and peered at the model manor with new interest. “Now I see what you might have in mind.” She looked intrigued rather than annoyed.
He picked up one of the yellow squares. “Theoretical force, Lydia.”
She visibly considered. “We shall pretend House Proudglade has decided they want to draw blood in revenge for our abduction of Lord Westin. They’ve launched a raid. A contingent of Proudglade knights even now march up the road to our manor to seize a tithe.”
Drake slapped the yellow square on the road. “Knights.”
“But it’s not just the knights,” Lydia added. “The knights and their demand for negotiation are a feint to draw our forces out of position for their real attack.”
Drake grinned at her devious plot. “So what else are we dealing with?”
“We shall pretend there are multiple Proudglade assassins in place around the manor in the silverwood beyond the wall. They have grappling hooks and poison-proof cloaks, and our vero have informed us of their presence. They, however, do not know this.”
“How many assassins?”
“We’ll imagine three squads of assassins, positioned east, west, and north of the walls.”
Drake picked two purple squares and dropped them into the forest on both sides of the manor, then dropped another purple square in the trees to the north. “Anything else?”
“Yes. We shall also imagine the first son of Proudglade Manor has come to observe the raid personally. He doesn’t plan to engage, but he does wish to watch. He has taken up position to the north of the manor with a small contingent of knights.”
Drake slapped down a pink square for the Proudglade lord and then a blue square next to it to represent his bodyguards. “All right. We’re facing a Proudglade force determined to raid us, but our vero had informed us they’re coming. So here’s what I suggest.”
Drake dropped three red triangles in front of the gates. “A sizable force of zarovians here, in full view. The incoming knights need to think we’ve taken their bait.” He popped down another red triangle by each wall of the manor, east and west. “More zarovians hidden here inside the walls, ready to rock, and a last few here in the barracks.”
Next, he placed his battle maids. “Lydia, you’re here at the gates to command the zarovians. You’re highly visible, and you need to ensure the knights see you. That will help ensure them we’ve committed to defending against their frontal attack.”
She nodded once more.
He took two more white cylinders and placed them in the forest behind the manor, then added a green square by each. “Emily and Nicole are already outside the wall, with vero.”
Emily gasped. “I’m going after the enemy lord?”
“Not yet, murdermaid.” He placed the black rectangle outside as well. “Sachi, tasked with eliminating the assassins to the south while still in the forest.” He placed one white cylinder in the grass between the manor and wall to the left, and one to the right. “Olivia. Valentia. Inside the manor, but hiding just inside the side doors ready to emerge.”
Lydia looked the arrangement over with curiosity. “So what are your orders, lord?”
“Let the knight contingent march to in sight of the gate.” He moved the tile representing them up. “Make sure they see the zarovians and yourself.” Those pieces were already in place. “When they’re in sight of you, or if they charge, close the forest.”
“They’ll hack through that in minutes, lord.”
“And they’ll think we bought their feint. Meanwhile, those Proudglade assassins will use their grappling hooks to scale the walls, certain we’ve taken their bait.” He moved the purple squares on the east and west into the “no man’s land” between the wall and manor.
“Once they are in the open, Valentia and Olivia emerge from each side of the manor.” He moved those cylinders out. “Between flashfreeze and chainfire, assassins on open ground are either extra frosty or extra crispy. Any that escape get pummeled by zarovians.”
“I like your orders, lord,” Emily agreed hungrily.
“Sachi will kill all the assassins in the woods to the north. But if any get through, the reserve zarovians take them down. Meanwhile, while the first son’s attention is focused on his forces getting massacred, Emily and Nicole follow their vero to his camp.”
Drake plunked down a white cylinder near the pink and blue squares. “Emily, you show yourself here. Challenge his bodyguards to a fight.”
Emily stood at attention. “You bet I will!”
“As soon as they move on you, Nicole slips in from behind them using penumbra.” That was his final battle maid’s rarity, which allowed her to turn invisible. He placed Nicole’s cylinder behind the pink square. “She now holds a dagger to the first son’s throat.”
“And then she cuts his throat!” Emily said triumphantly.
Drake side-eyed her. “No, she doesn’t kill him, Emily. We don’t want to turn a raid into a war. However, we do take the first son hostage and force his knights to stand down. Then you march them all back at axe point. We demand tithes for our prisoners.”
“What about the knights at the gate, lord?” Lydia asked. “They’ve hacked through the trees by now. Our gates may be near indestructible, but Proudglade knights also have powerful rarities. We cannot know if some would slip through.”
“Which is why I put you and the zarovians at the gate. Their main force may have been a distraction, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a real threat. So even if they launch a real attack on the gate, we’re in position to repel them. Still, once they learn we’ve evaporated their assassins and taken their leader hostage, they’d have to surrender.”
“And this is how you would like to give orders, lord,” Lydia said. “Using these pieces.”
“This is how I would like to talk about strategy,” Drake corrected. “I don’t know if it helps you see what might occur, but it helps me a ton. Use this to teach me how we fight. Show me how you’ve won battles in the past. Move these pieces. War game it out.”
Emily thumped both palms flat on the table, leaned over it, and stared with grim satisfaction. “I like this game. I want to play it often.”
He smirked. “Then you and I might be spending a lot of time down here.”
Lydia tapped her lips thoughtfully. “This would also be an excellent way to teach Olivia. She has been having difficulty following discussions of more complex engagements. If you would allow her to join us in these discussions, they could benefit her as well.”
“The more the merrier,” Drake agreed. “Hell, we could even get old Cresh in here.”
Emily glanced up at the ceiling doubtfully, then looked at him. “Are you sure?”
Drake was already rethinking his statement. “Well... maybe not.”
Lydia glanced at Emily. “You look enthused. Are you feeling playful?”
Emily grinned wide. “Ooh, you bet I am. After all this talk of battle, I need to battle someone.” She looked to Drake. “It’s interesting to see what type of games you enjoy, lord. Would you allow us to show you our favorite game?”
He frowned. “Is this game going to involve me getting pummeled?”
Emily laughed. “While we can hurt you now, which remains strange, I do not have any particular desire to do so. But I can still duel Lydia.”
Drake looked between them. “You know? I really would like to see that.”
“Then let’s adjourn to the center courtyard,” Lydia said. “And play our game there.”
***
Not long after, Drake stood with Lydia and Emily, who were both now clad in feathersteel armor, in the center courtyard of Gloomwood Manor. Its looming two-story bulk enclosed them safely inside the manor, but that felt reassuring as opposed to suffocating. It was pretty and pleasant in the courtyard, even if it was cold.
There was clean and hardy grass everywhere, and numerous dirt beds set aside for colorful flowers that must hate light and like cold. There were also two square pools in the central courtyard, one at each end, with bubbling stone fountains spewing water streams. There were no statues or columns, but the courtyard had several wooden gazebos and benches scattered throughout.
There was also an assembly plaza in the center of the courtyard, a flat expanse of stone a little bigger than a basketball court. As Emily and Lydia marched out and took up positions on either side, it became clear they also used this as their training ground.
He was relieved to see Emily carrying a mundane axe with a blunted wooden head rather than her spectral soul render. That meant one strike wouldn’t... chop Lydia’s soul. He doubted even Raylan could heal her after something like that.
Lydia had mundane weapons, blunt metal daggers that hung at her hips. He suspected a strike from either weapon would hurt even through feathersteel. He assumed if anyone got seriously injured during sparring, they could heal each other with their magic gloves.
Once in place, both maids looked to him. He realized they were waiting for him to give an order, and he grinned as he abruptly saw something like his favorite fighting games brought to life. He raised one hand, held it a beat, and knifed it down.
“Fight!”
Two things happened simultaneously. First, Lydia vanished in a cloud of spectral purple butterflies that scattered in all directions before fading away. Next, Emily tossed herself forward with the speed of a wrecking ball, landing on one shoulder and starting a roll.
An eyeblink later, Lydia appeared behind where Emily had been. She struck with a snake’s speed with one blunted dagger. Even with Emily’s sudden dive, she almost tagged Emily in her roll. Then Emily completed it and brought her blunted axe swung back toward Lydia’s ankles in a huge arc.
If that axe had connected it likely would have broken Lydia’s ankles. Yet Lydia leapt over the hurtling blade and, still in midair, tapped Emily’s chest once with the tip of each blunted dagger. And instead of landing atop Emily, which would have allowed Emily to grapple her, she burst into a cloud of spectral butterflies before she landed from her jump.
Even as she reappeared on Emily’s other side, Emily’s axe continued its pendulum-esque rotation. Emily very nearly took Lydia’s head off with the swing. Lydia only escaped by diving backward and dropping onto her ass. The axe whistled by inches above her head.
Off balance, Lydia flipped onto her front and scrambled away as Emily charged after her, axe raised. Just before her axe slammed down on Lydia’s back, she burst into butterflies once more. She reappeared paces away at the other end of the arena, then stood and spun about.
Emily twirled her axe in one hand as she grinned madly. “You look tired, flutterfly! Need to catch your breath?”
Lydia was breathing hard, Drake saw. Sweat glistened on her face, so it seemed even four fluttersteps taxed her.
“Two strikes, both fatal,” Lydia called. “Duel’s over.”
“No way! Those would have barely scratched me!” Emily raised her axe. “And I didn’t get my turn.” With a delighted roar, she charged.
