“Where is she?” Drake demanded. “Why send you in her place? Did the people who have her mother order her to deliver the ransom to some town in the opposite direction?”
Karth nodded. “The soldiers said she must personally deliver her mother’s ransom to Fort Graystone, an old watch post at the edge of our territory. It is three days in the opposite direction of Korhaurbauten. That is why our lord could not join us in the capital.”
All the more proof their enemies had put this all together specifically to ensure Sky didn’t reach the capital as his ally. Drake was now all the more certain he needed to find some way to fix this, but he didn’t know how. He also wouldn’t figure it out standing out here.
The newest Lord Skybreak and his weary vanguard had traveled a long way under harsh conditions, and it was already getting dark. Drake had no idea what to do about this news, but for now, what he could do was offer his allied manor a place to water their horses, restore their strength, and rest after the grueling ride they must have endured today.
But first, there were the formalities to consider.
“Lord Skybreak.” Drake eyed Karth. “I trust the alliance I formed with the former lord last night remains with you, however, I still need your word that you have come to join us in peace. Neither you or any of your blood thralls will harm my people or betray us. Agreed?”
“Agreed, Lord Gloomwood,” Karth said. “Will you offer the same assurance?”
Drake repeated the same words on behalf of he and his own people, which, had he not been able to lie, would have ensured Karth—or Lord Skybreak—could safely enter Drake’s camp and mingle with his blood thralls. If he ever decided to break bad in this world, his ability to lie was going to make him exceedingly dangerous to literally everyone.
At least until his enemies figured out he could do it.
Yet because he was already a manor lord, Drake could not seize another blood pact even if he wanted to. He’d learned that from Lydia when he asked. While one of his blood thralls could become the lord of Skybreak Manor if they managed to kill Karth, assuming the man had not named a successor, they’d have to go through the army of determined soldiers guarding Karth first. Given their skill, that would be a bloodbath.
Since he and Karth had just agreed to compel their blood thralls not to harm each other, that wouldn’t be possible. Thus, an alliance could be maintained. So far, so good.
Drake looked back at his army of glowering zarovians and the camp his people were already setting up, then back at Karth. “Come get something to eat. You’ve had a very long trip, and we welcome you to our vanguard. We’ll also handle your horses.”
“Our horses stay with us,” Karth said. He took the lead of his exhausted animal and slowly led it to the camp. “But if you’ve feed to spare and water to provide, we’d welcome it.”
Skybreak rangers must be pretty tight with their horses, which was odd given their whole territory wasn’t all that great for riding on horseback. Perhaps they just rode their noble steeds around fields and practiced drills when they didn’t have a trek to the capital to complete. Since he wasn’t going to obtain a loyalty oath from horses, Drake allowed it.
As he walked back to his caravan with Lydia beside him, he found himself increasingly unwilling to accept just leaving Sky behind. Now that she had surrendered her leadership of Skybreak Manor to Karth, she would be as free to be benevolent as her mother.
From what little he knew about her, he suspected Sky intended to be rather non-benevolent instead. Given she’d once promised to crucify the assassin who murdered her rangers beneath a cold sky, he doubted she’d be much kinder to the people who threatened to torture her mother to death. Sky would be out for blood.
In other words, far too reckless for her own good.
Drake wanted to go help her. Were he some basic hero in a basic fantasy story, it wouldn’t even have been a question. Unfortunately, he had the welfare of his entire manor to consider, his alliance with the new Lord Skybreak to maintain, and the fact that the noble court would censure him if he didn’t show up for the cabal on time.
He didn’t have the luxury to simply be benevolent. Moreover, even if the odds were stacked against her, Sky would put up a good fight on her own. She didn’t require a rescue.
So the question that was most important to him now was if Karth could fill Sky’s shoes. Because if not, Drake would walk into the cabal crippled to the point where the other manor lords could roll right over him. He knew Sky could handle the cabal. But could her replacement?
Lord Blackmane, one of his only other possible allies, was dealing with an entire manor in an uproar over him sticking his dick in multiple blood thralls, while Lord Ashwind, from everything Drake had learned in his studies with Lydia, was a massive pushover who would only fight back if someone threatened to take his precious ferrocite mines away.
Meanwhile, the lords of Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow were all ruthless fighters solidly behind Lord Proudglade and out for blood. It was now looking quite likely he would walk into the cabal at Korhaurbauten as one against four, and that was assuming Lord Brightwater maintained her so-called neutrality. Even if he somehow found a way to use his ability to lie to his advantage in negotiations, he doubted that would save him from being rolled over.
He left Lord Skybreak—the newest Lord Skybreak—to get some food and some rest with his exhausted blood thralls. Karth looked to be walking purely through willpower and stubbornness, and while he was now the lord of Skybreak Manor, he didn’t seem inclined to issue any orders. Another sign he might not be the strong ally Drake needed in the capital.
It might not even be that Karth wasn’t strong. He’d certainly shown swagger and resourcefulness in their previous meetings. Now, however, the woman Karth respected more than anything had ordered him to leave her behind, possibly to die, and dropped a manor of responsibility on his head. So far as he knew, Skybreak Manor still didn’t have a steward.
Once he was certain Lord Skybreak and his people were getting settled in, Drake motioned for Samuel to join him and Lydia for another impromptu strategy session in his armored carriage. Once he had them gathered, he quickly filled Samuel in on the current situation. The old man looked none too pleased.
“So?” Drake asked. “What do you know about Karth? Can he pull his weight if he’s the only manor lord we can rely on at the cabal?”
“I know very little about his skill in politics,” Samuel said. “The only thing I can say for certain is that he is a childhood friend of Sky’s. My spies suggest they were inseparable as children, and that while Karth eagerly took the blood pact at sixteen to serve the former Lord Skybreak... Sky’s mother... he always intended to serve her instead.”
“So the reason Sky chose to pass him her blood pact was his very real loyalty to her, rather than his talent for politics or ruthlessness as a manor lord.” Drake grimaced. “If she’s smart, and she is, I bet she’d be hesitant to trust any blood thralls who she thinks would make a strong manor lord with her blood pact. They might be less likely to give the title back.”
“She obviously intends to reclaim her title should she survive,” Samuel agreed. “Whether she will survive her attempt to rescue her mother is another issue.”
“You really think whoever’s behind this could take her down? I didn’t see any of her lady bodyguards in the vanguard, and from what I remember, they stood out. Those women are close in skill to our battle maids, aren’t they? She’s not going after her mother alone.”
“I would not wish to face Mary in open combat,” Lydia agreed. “Her rarity affects blood just like Valentia’s, however, she causes it to course from the pores of her target. She does not suck blood away like the assassin you killed, but anyone who faces her in combat will bleed out quickly if they do not find a way to defeat her.”
“And the other bodyguards?” Drake scanned his memory for the other names she’d mentioned. “When we met inside her manor, she mentioned two other women by name.”
“Kari and Ali,” Lydia offered helpfully. “Kari’s rarity, impact, allows her to increase the weight of any blade she uses in combat, but only for her opponents. So while she cannot simply slice through ferrocite like Emily, a blow from her rapier hits like one from a greatsword.”
“And Ali?”
“I believe she is a shapeshifter, lord, though there are few accounts of her actually shapeshifting.” She looked to Samuel. “We don’t actually know what shifts into, correct?”
Samuel nodded. “In the capital, Ali’s rarity is listed as dire wraith. If anyone outside of Sky’s inner circle has seen what form she takes when shifted, they did not live to report.”
Drake didn’t fail to note that Samuel was calling Sky “Sky” now. Samuel had already stopped treating her as the Lord of Skybreak Manor, even though, so far as most everyone who served her believed, she still was. His butler was a stickler for accuracy.
He focused on what they needed to know. “So if we can’t dig further into what Karth can offer us as the leader of Skybreak Manor, what about Sky? Lydia told me how strongly you wanted to ally with her. Do you think she would be a better ally in the cabal than Karth?”
“Without question,” Samuel said. “Sky has been attending cabals in Korhaurbauten with her mother since she was old enough to walk, and she has trained every moment of her childhood to take over for her mother as Lord Skybreak. Moreover, all reports from Skybreak Manor suggest her people’s respect for Sky is genuine and strong. She is beloved.”
“And her mother?”
“Equally so.”
“But her mother’s still alive, isn’t she? Why’d she hand over the manor to Sky?”
“I do not know for certain. My spies suspect that the reason Sky took the title so young was because her mother contracted a wasting illness, but I have been unable to confirm this beyond the rumor. Others simply believe Sky took the title because her mother judged her rarity strong enough that she should do so immediately when she came of age.”
“And no one knows what her rarity can do? Other than it being called void?”
“Correct,” Samuel said. “However, based on the spy reports I have received from those few cases where those outside Sky’s blood pact witnessed her fight others, she is truly skilled in martial combat. Whether her skill is natural or due to a rarity is unknown.”
“Or it could be both,” Drake said. “Like Lydia.”
Lydia offered a small smile. “There is no need to flatter me.”
“I’m not,” he assured her. “I could say the same of all my battle maids.”
“Regardless, this leaves us in a difficult situation,” Samuel said. “I wish I could say I am surprised that Sky chose to pass her title to a thrall and pursue her mother’s abductors when it was obvious they intended her to do so, but unfortunately, I suspect the spy masters for the manors arrayed against us have the same intelligence as I.”
“Which is?” Drake prompted.
“Sky is ruthless and talented in negotiation and well-versed in battle, but fiercely protective of her people and family. Her mother is the only family she has left. Thus, she can be manipulated into rash action when those she cares for are threatened.”
Drake sighed. “So basically, she’s still too benevolent to be a ruthless manor lord.”
Next Week: Drake hands out a promotion, swaps out a rarity, and gets a massage.
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Chat on the Discord
“Where is she?” Drake demanded. “Why send you in her place? Did the people who have her mother order her to deliver the ransom to some town in the opposite direction?”
Karth nodded. “The soldiers said she must personally deliver her mother’s ransom to Fort Graystone, an old watch post at the edge of our territory. It is three days in the opposite direction of Korhaurbauten. That is why our lord could not join us in the capital.”
All the more proof their enemies had put this all together specifically to ensure Sky didn’t reach the capital as his ally. Drake was now all the more certain he needed to find some way to fix this, but he didn’t know how. He also wouldn’t figure it out standing out here.
The newest Lord Skybreak and his weary vanguard had traveled a long way under harsh conditions, and it was already getting dark. Drake had no idea what to do about this news, but for now, what he could do was offer his allied manor a place to water their horses, restore their strength, and rest after the grueling ride they must have endured today.
But first, there were the formalities to consider.
“Lord Skybreak.” Drake eyed Karth. “I trust the alliance I formed with the former lord last night remains with you, however, I still need your word that you have come to join us in peace. Neither you or any of your blood thralls will harm my people or betray us. Agreed?”
“Agreed, Lord Gloomwood,” Karth said. “Will you offer the same assurance?”
Drake repeated the same words on behalf of he and his own people, which, had he not been able to lie, would have ensured Karth—or Lord Skybreak—could safely enter Drake’s camp and mingle with his blood thralls. If he ever decided to break bad in this world, his ability to lie was going to make him exceedingly dangerous to literally everyone.
At least until his enemies figured out he could do it.
Yet because he was already a manor lord, Drake could not seize another blood pact even if he wanted to. He’d learned that from Lydia when he asked. While one of his blood thralls could become the lord of Skybreak Manor if they managed to kill Karth, assuming the man had not named a successor, they’d have to go through the army of determined soldiers guarding Karth first. Given their skill, that would be a bloodbath.
Since he and Karth had just agreed to compel their blood thralls not to harm each other, that wouldn’t be possible. Thus, an alliance could be maintained. So far, so good.
Drake looked back at his army of glowering zarovians and the camp his people were already setting up, then back at Karth. “Come get something to eat. You’ve had a very long trip, and we welcome you to our vanguard. We’ll also handle your horses.”
“Our horses stay with us,” Karth said. He took the lead of his exhausted animal and slowly led it to the camp. “But if you’ve feed to spare and water to provide, we’d welcome it.”
Skybreak rangers must be pretty tight with their horses, which was odd given their whole territory wasn’t all that great for riding on horseback. Perhaps they just rode their noble steeds around fields and practiced drills when they didn’t have a trek to the capital to complete. Since he wasn’t going to obtain a loyalty oath from horses, Drake allowed it.
As he walked back to his caravan with Lydia beside him, he found himself increasingly unwilling to accept just leaving Sky behind. Now that she had surrendered her leadership of Skybreak Manor to Karth, she would be as free to be benevolent as her mother.
From what little he knew about her, he suspected Sky intended to be rather non-benevolent instead. Given she’d once promised to crucify the assassin who murdered her rangers beneath a cold sky, he doubted she’d be much kinder to the people who threatened to torture her mother to death. Sky would be out for blood.
In other words, far too reckless for her own good.
Drake wanted to go help her. Were he some basic hero in a basic fantasy story, it wouldn’t even have been a question. Unfortunately, he had the welfare of his entire manor to consider, his alliance with the new Lord Skybreak to maintain, and the fact that the noble court would censure him if he didn’t show up for the cabal on time.
He didn’t have the luxury to simply be benevolent. Moreover, even if the odds were stacked against her, Sky would put up a good fight on her own. She didn’t require a rescue.
So the question that was most important to him now was if Karth could fill Sky’s shoes. Because if not, Drake would walk into the cabal crippled to the point where the other manor lords could roll right over him. He knew Sky could handle the cabal. But could her replacement?
Lord Blackmane, one of his only other possible allies, was dealing with an entire manor in an uproar over him sticking his dick in multiple blood thralls, while Lord Ashwind, from everything Drake had learned in his studies with Lydia, was a massive pushover who would only fight back if someone threatened to take his precious ferrocite mines away.
Meanwhile, the lords of Mistvale, Frostlight, and Redbow were all ruthless fighters solidly behind Lord Proudglade and out for blood. It was now looking quite likely he would walk into the cabal at Korhaurbauten as one against four, and that was assuming Lord Brightwater maintained her so-called neutrality. Even if he somehow found a way to use his ability to lie to his advantage in negotiations, he doubted that would save him from being rolled over.
He left Lord Skybreak—the newest Lord Skybreak—to get some food and some rest with his exhausted blood thralls. Karth looked to be walking purely through willpower and stubbornness, and while he was now the lord of Skybreak Manor, he didn’t seem inclined to issue any orders. Another sign he might not be the strong ally Drake needed in the capital.
It might not even be that Karth wasn’t strong. He’d certainly shown swagger and resourcefulness in their previous meetings. Now, however, the woman Karth respected more than anything had ordered him to leave her behind, possibly to die, and dropped a manor of responsibility on his head. So far as he knew, Skybreak Manor still didn’t have a steward.
Once he was certain Lord Skybreak and his people were getting settled in, Drake motioned for Samuel to join him and Lydia for another impromptu strategy session in his armored carriage. Once he had them gathered, he quickly filled Samuel in on the current situation. The old man looked none too pleased.
“So?” Drake asked. “What do you know about Karth? Can he pull his weight if he’s the only manor lord we can rely on at the cabal?”
“I know very little about his skill in politics,” Samuel said. “The only thing I can say for certain is that he is a childhood friend of Sky’s. My spies suggest they were inseparable as children, and that while Karth eagerly took the blood pact at sixteen to serve the former Lord Skybreak... Sky’s mother... he always intended to serve her instead.”
“So the reason Sky chose to pass him her blood pact was his very real loyalty to her, rather than his talent for politics or ruthlessness as a manor lord.” Drake grimaced. “If she’s smart, and she is, I bet she’d be hesitant to trust any blood thralls who she thinks would make a strong manor lord with her blood pact. They might be less likely to give the title back.”
“She obviously intends to reclaim her title should she survive,” Samuel agreed. “Whether she will survive her attempt to rescue her mother is another issue.”
“You really think whoever’s behind this could take her down? I didn’t see any of her lady bodyguards in the vanguard, and from what I remember, they stood out. Those women are close in skill to our battle maids, aren’t they? She’s not going after her mother alone.”
“I would not wish to face Mary in open combat,” Lydia agreed. “Her rarity affects blood just like Valentia’s, however, she causes it to course from the pores of her target. She does not suck blood away like the assassin you killed, but anyone who faces her in combat will bleed out quickly if they do not find a way to defeat her.”
“And the other bodyguards?” Drake scanned his memory for the other names she’d mentioned. “When we met inside her manor, she mentioned two other women by name.”
“Kari and Ali,” Lydia offered helpfully. “Kari’s rarity, impact, allows her to increase the weight of any blade she uses in combat, but only for her opponents. So while she cannot simply slice through ferrocite like Emily, a blow from her rapier hits like one from a greatsword.”
“And Ali?”
“I believe she is a shapeshifter, lord, though there are few accounts of her actually shapeshifting.” She looked to Samuel. “We don’t actually know what shifts into, correct?”
Samuel nodded. “In the capital, Ali’s rarity is listed as dire wraith. If anyone outside of Sky’s inner circle has seen what form she takes when shifted, they did not live to report.”
Drake didn’t fail to note that Samuel was calling Sky “Sky” now. Samuel had already stopped treating her as the Lord of Skybreak Manor, even though, so far as most everyone who served her believed, she still was. His butler was a stickler for accuracy.
He focused on what they needed to know. “So if we can’t dig further into what Karth can offer us as the leader of Skybreak Manor, what about Sky? Lydia told me how strongly you wanted to ally with her. Do you think she would be a better ally in the cabal than Karth?”
“Without question,” Samuel said. “Sky has been attending cabals in Korhaurbauten with her mother since she was old enough to walk, and she has trained every moment of her childhood to take over for her mother as Lord Skybreak. Moreover, all reports from Skybreak Manor suggest her people’s respect for Sky is genuine and strong. She is beloved.”
“And her mother?”
“Equally so.”
“But her mother’s still alive, isn’t she? Why’d she hand over the manor to Sky?”
“I do not know for certain. My spies suspect that the reason Sky took the title so young was because her mother contracted a wasting illness, but I have been unable to confirm this beyond the rumor. Others simply believe Sky took the title because her mother judged her rarity strong enough that she should do so immediately when she came of age.”
“And no one knows what her rarity can do? Other than it being called void?”
“Correct,” Samuel said. “However, based on the spy reports I have received from those few cases where those outside Sky’s blood pact witnessed her fight others, she is truly skilled in martial combat. Whether her skill is natural or due to a rarity is unknown.”
“Or it could be both,” Drake said. “Like Lydia.”
Lydia offered a small smile. “There is no need to flatter me.”
“I’m not,” he assured her. “I could say the same of all my battle maids.”
“Regardless, this leaves us in a difficult situation,” Samuel said. “I wish I could say I am surprised that Sky chose to pass her title to a thrall and pursue her mother’s abductors when it was obvious they intended her to do so, but unfortunately, I suspect the spy masters for the manors arrayed against us have the same intelligence as I.”
“Which is?” Drake prompted.
“Sky is ruthless and talented in negotiation and well-versed in battle, but fiercely protective of her people and family. Her mother is the only family she has left. Thus, she can be manipulated into rash action when those she cares for are threatened.”
Drake sighed. “So basically, she’s still too benevolent to be a ruthless manor lord.”
Next Week: Drake hands out a promotion, swaps out a rarity, and gets a massage.
Read Ahead on the Patreon
Chat on the Discord
