“-don’t care! It’s too dangerous, he’s just a boy!” Liliana heard her stepmother’s voice and grimaced as she walked to the foyer. Entering, she saw Alistair and Emyr standing towards the side, Alistair looking frustrated and embarrassed. Emyr was doing his best to imitate the wallpaper and stay out of the battle raging between the Duke and Duchess. Liliana slid next to the boys, watching the fight and feeling a distinct craving for popcorn.

“How long has this been going on?” Liliana asked quietly, and Alistair sighed.

“Past five minutes,” he muttered, shooting an exasperated look at his mother, who now had tears streaming down her face. Liliana had to applaud the woman’s manipulation abilities. She’d summoned those tears in seconds.

“Just let the girl go! All three of them don’t need to be there for this! What if he gets hurt? Or killed? It’s an entire village of degenerates!” Imogen tried to argue with the Duke, who was staring at her with a frozen glare.

Liliana shivered, even though the look wasn’t directed at her. Her father’s aura was becoming overpowering the longer Imogen talked, the Duke releasing his control on it, but there was no other outward sign of his anger. Like a placid sea that hid deadly riptides, the Duke never showed his hand until it was too late for someone to escape.

“Risk the girl’s life all you want on this, you obviously don-” Imogen started again.

“Enough,” the Duke finally spoke, his voice quiet but holding all the power of a hurricane in it.

Liliana felt her own lungs lock up as his aura was fully released, pressing down on everyone in the room. Next to her, she could hear Alistair choking on air, and Emyr was gasping like he’d forgotten how to breathe. The aura was pulled back moments later and Liliana drank in the air like it was the last she’d get. Alistair had collapsed to the ground and was coughing and sputtering as if he’d just been dragged from drowning and Emyr was bent over, shaking.

Liliana looked up and saw that Imogen’s face was blanched, eyes wide with fear as she looked at her husband. The Duke, for his part, looked as if nothing had happened, as cool and calm as ever as he looked down at his wife. Liliana held back the urge to run far from her father.

He had always scared her a small bit, simply with the power he held over her life, but now she recognized him as the threat he was. She had a feeling it was the same for Imogen, who had also never had to face the brunt of the Duke’s anger, for all her conniving and manipulating ways he’d never struck out at her as far as Liliana had seen.

“I don’t want to hear any more of this. Return to your rooms. You’ll stay there until these… hysterics have left you,” the Duke informed Imogen, but the underlying threat was obvious.

Imogen was being imprisoned in her rooms until the Duke felt like letting her back out. Liliana shivered as her father’s eyes moved to the three of them, dismissing Imogen as clearly as possible as he walked past her shaken form. The Duchess was staring at the Duke as if she’d never seen him before. Shock, disbelief, and fear still clearly painted across her features.

“Now are you three ready?” the Duke asked, looking over at them. Alistair had returned to his feet and Emyr was standing up straight, but the fear was thick in the air. The show of power had shaken them all.

“I-Y-Yes, your grace,” Liliana stammered out, hiding her shaking hands by fisting them and shoving them behind her back. She didn’t want to show her father how badly he had affected her, didn’t need him to know how much power he held over her.

“Yes, your grace,” Emyr answered, his voice a whisper. Alistair nodded after trying and failing to speak.

“Good, then be on your way,” the Duke instructed them. The boys bowed and Liliana gave a curtsy despite her lack of skirts. She’d dressed in her leather armor for this trip.

“Don’t disappoint me,” the Duke told them, and Liliana gulped, then nodded. The Duke inclined his head, satisfied, and turned away, leaving them. The Duchess seemed to regain some of her composure with the absence of the Duke and, with shaking hands, she straightened her dress and hair. Scurrying to her son, Imogen gave Alistair a tight hug.

“Be safe, my heart,” Imogen told him before breaking away. A last glare was sent Liliana’s way before the woman retreated.

Is she blaming me for this? Really? Liliana wondered as she watched the woman leave. Shaking her head, Liliana followed the boys out of the house and to their carriage.

“Why can’t I just ride with everyone else?” Liliana asked, arms crossed over her chest as she sullenly looked out the window of the carriage. Her three companions immediately spoke up all at once.

“You would be a target, my lady,” Jason answered.

“It’s not proper,” Alistair spoke up.

“It’s dangerous,” Emyr said, humming quietly over the chess match.

Liliana shot all three of them glares before harrumphing and returning her attention to the passing scenery. They’d left the day before and Liliana was getting antsy being stuck in the carriage for so long. She hadn’t even had a chance to fight anything with so many guards. The only time she saw a beast was when it was being dressed for dinner.

Liliana looked back into the carriage, Alistair and Emyr were playing chess and Alistair was surprisingly not losing. Jason was watching, for lack of anything else to do with his time. Liliana watched on and raised a brow when Alistair won the game. He grinned victoriously at Emyr, who simply sighed over his loss and set the board back up.

I wonder how it would go if I showed them Monopoly? Liliana wondered, imagining how it would go. A mental image of Alistair attempting to kill Emyr for taking the last of his money flashed before her eyes.

Best make it a rule that you can’t have weapons on you when you play, Liliana noted mentally. The train of thought brought her to other games she might be able to bring to this world. Chess was the only board game she’d seen so far, but she’d seen a multitude of card games using several types of cards so far. It was how Emyr and Alistair amused themselves during the trip.

“Will we be going through any large towns or cities?” Liliana asked, wondering if she could get a woodworker to make her what she’d need for the games.

“We should be heading through several towns. Ariowood is the city we’ll be passing through at some point. It’s under the control of Earl Wilde,” Jason explained, and Liliana nodded. The way this world, or at least the Cista Queendom, did things was that higher ranked nobles were given large amounts of territory. Within that territory, lesser nobles would have their own territories. Overall, the territory was owned by the higher ranked noble, Dukes and Marquess, and the lesser nobles were more caretakers for the overall land owner. Just like how they all were caretakers of the country belonging to the royal family.

It was odd to Liliana, who had never experienced a feudal system, but she supposed it made sense. She’d seen the size of the Rosengarde territory and even with magic, there was no way for her father to manage all of it. The other nobles in his territory made everything flow smoother. However, she knew her father was going to have a severe discussion with the noble who was over Timberborn, Baroness Priscilla Burnington. An issue like this shouldn’t have made its way back to her father because of a merchant. In fact, it should’ve been handled before her father ever heard of it.

Thankfully, meting out justice to the noble over the village wasn’t Liliana’s task. She simply had to be around to see justice done to the villagers and to bond the flowered serpent. She wasn’t sure how high leveled the Baroness and Baron were, but she didn’t like her odds against an adult noble who likely had no less than three ranks on her.

“We’ll be staying with the Wilde’s then,” Alistair spoke up and Liliana tilted her head. She hadn’t realized she’d need to actually socialize with other nobles on this trip.

“It’s considered rude to not inform the noble over an area that you’ll be in their territory. It’s also considered rude for them to not invite us to stay, and it’s rude to not accept and seen as either a slight or like you’re hiding something,” Alistair explained to Liliana and she sighed, frowning at the information. Why were nobles so obsessed with what was rude? Socializing with the Wilde’s would mean more time taken away from their trip. And time was of the essence here. What if the villagers killed the last flowered serpent before they got there?

“Don’t scowl at me like that. You’re a noble. There are rules we have to abide by,” Alistair chastised her, and Liliana glared, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Feral beast,” Alistair responded, and Liliana rolled her eyes.

“Uppity dandy,” Liliana responded, earning a dramatic gasp from Alistair.

“No, no. She’s got a point,” Emyr joined in, his tone droll but his eyes sparkling with amusement.

“What is this? I’ve been betrayed! By my dearest friend! I shall never recover from this!” Alistair gripped his chest, falling over on the carriage bench as he acted out a painful death. Laughter filled the carriage as the antics continued, eventually devolving into a mess that had chess pieces flying through the air and the board being used as a shield from assault.

“Okay, enough of this, we’ve reached the campsite,” Jason eventually put a stop to the egregious misuse of game pieces.

“Finally! Freedom!” Liliana called out, dropping the ammo in her hands to dart out of the carriage, not waiting for the others.

The guards had already tied up their horses and she could see some of them forming a hunting party. They went out to be sure nothing of too high a level was around that could cause them issues, especially since they’d left the relatively safe area around the manor and entered areas that boasted beasts strong enough to be a true threat. Well, a threat to Liliana. She doubted anything dangerous to her would be a problem for many of the guards with them.

Jason was the only guard she’d recognized when they’d joined the group. The rest were far higher a level than was usually around Liliana. Their levels overall were between 140 and 230, more than high enough to handle the beasts they’d come across and deal with a village of lawbreakers.

“Can I come with you?” Liliana asked the group of hunters, vibrating with excitement. They’d denied her the day before, but it didn’t mean they’d deny her today!

“No, Lady Liliana, I apologize, but it simply wouldn’t be safe for you to accompany us,” one guard responded, and Liliana wilted. She trudged away from the guards and to the area her tent was being set up. She wasn’t even allowed to do that much.

“Can’t hunt, can’t fight, can’t even set up my tent. What am I supposed to do?” Liliana grumbled to herself as she summoned Lelantos. He wasn’t fast enough to keep up with the horses and carriage, so he was kept in the stone until they settled down for the night. The big cat emerged and stretched, yawning as he did. Liliana ran her hands through his fur as she pouted at the ground.

“You’re not a child. Stop acting like one,” Alistair ordered her, and she looked up, shooting her stepbrother a glare.

“I feel like one! They won’t let me do anything,” Liliana whined, and Alistair rolled his eyes.

“Don’t you have more research to do? Or some weird plants to find?” Alistair asked, and Liliana groaned. She was gathering plants when they stopped for her alchemy, but it wasn’t the same as being able to hunt and fight.

“Fine, I’ll go find some plants,” Liliana grumbled, jumping into Lelantos’ saddle. Immediately, three guards appeared at her side, and Liliana resisted the urge to scream.

“I’m just foraging! I don't need babysitters,” Liliana informed them.

“My Lady, we must stay with you to ensure your safety,” one guard, a woman, informed her and Liliana glared at the woman petulantly.

“We’ll go with her,” Emyr spoke up, Alistair and Jason with him. The other three guards exchanged unsure glances, but eventually nodded and stepped off. Liliana sighed and set Lelantos off into the woods without a backwards glance. She could hear the other three scrambling to keep up, and she grinned.

When the trio caught up, Liliana was kneeling next to a bright pink flower the size of her head, delicately pulling it from the ground.

Winter Poppy, fairly rare and only found during fall and winter. It gives off a natural heat, and its petals are used for Fire Blood potions, its roots for Exploding Bottles, and its leaves are used for the Dragons Breathe poison. I wonder if there’s more? If not, I’ll have to see if the gardener at the mansion can cultivate more for me. Liliana thought to herself as she put the plant into her bracelet. It would stay in stasis there and should still be almost as fresh as she’d found it when they returned home.

“Lady Liliana! You can’t just run off like that! We’re in Rank 6 territory now. It’s dangerous!” Jason chastised her, and Liliana turned a droll gaze his way.

“If I so much as scraped my knee, five guards would be here before I can say ‘ow’,” Liliana told him as she stood and dusted off her pants.

“Besides, I’d like a Rank 6 beast to attack me. Lelantos needs the levels,” Liliana continued as she got back in the saddle, patting the tiger in question.

“I think I saw some flying squirrels that way,” Emyr spoke up, pointing to the left. Liliana grinned at her friend and nudged Lelantos in that direction.

“Lord Emyr! We can’t fight those!” Jason turned to the noble, face distraught.

“Emyr, don’t encourage her,” Alistair groaned as he looked at his friend.

“Too late, already going!” Liliana called back as she instructed Lelantos to go faster. However, they were cut off when Jason appeared in front of them atop his horse. Liliana glared at the guard as Lelantos stopped short, jostling her harshly in the saddle.

“My lady, no. We can’t fight those. It’s too dangerous,” Jason informed her. Liliana glared and tried to get Lelantos to go around the horse and rider.

“If I have to bring you back to camp tied to my saddle I will,” Jason warned her and Liliana froze, turning wide eyes to the guard.

“I could have you flogged for that!” Liliana said, though there was no true heat in her words. She had seen a flogging, once, in the gifted memories and she never wanted to see one again.

“Your safety is more important to me than whatever punishment I might receive for doing it,” Jason further elaborated, and Liliana’s shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Fine, fine. Let’s just go back,” Liliana said, directing Lelantos to turn back around. The tiger was as disappointed as she at the stop put on their hunting. He hadn’t leveled since they bonded. Nothing in their area was high enough. Now that they finally had a chance to get him levels, they were being stopped to keep her safe. It wasn't fair.

Liliana followed Jason back to camp, being sure to take her time examining every last plant that looked even vaguely alchemical. Even ones she knew were simple weeds. She might have to go back to the camp, but she didn’t have to make it easy.

She could tell, after the fifth time she’d jumped off Lelantos to examine moss, that Jason was beginning to get annoyed at the constant stops, but he held his tongue. She assumed because it was easier if she was chasing plants than monsters. Still, the way his mare was dancing anxiously as the light slowly disappeared with the oncoming night, she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue. Grabbing a handful of the moss, she hopped onto Lelantos and finally let Jason lead them on without interrupting.

“At twelve bells, there’s a guard shift,” Emyr murmured as he brought his horse close to Lelantos. His voice was so soft, Liliana struggled to hear it, but she couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on hearing the words.

“Tonight?” She asked, and Emyr nodded. Liliana leaned forward and sent a mental image to Lelantos of sneaking out at night, garnering the tiger’s interest. Between Emyr’s shadow skills and Lelantos’ illusion abilities, she knew they’d be able to slip out at night without anyone the wiser.