I could not resist before His impressive, powerful, and dominating sight

His red eyes bore into mine, and made my mind thoughtless

Strong hands undressed me with a touch impossibly light

And a night of passionate sin commenced as he ripped away my bodice

- Beware the Everlasting Tyrant (For He Is a Knave), Third Stanza, Banned outside of Secv Serith, and widely considered to be a true story

Lysis Silvurium was a brat.

She had no respect for anyone, didn’t care what people thought of her, and had no issues with telling others what she thought of them. Except for me, that is. When I introduced myself to her she gave me a look of such disdain that I had trouble matching to the grin she gave me when her grandfather introduced the little girl.

I suspected it was because she knew I was a Chosen One.

She was, I realised, a lot like me if I was seven or eight years younger and actually took care of my hair. The casual disdain for people of importance and or self proclaimed authority was very refreshing to see from another person. But it stung that it was directed at me.

So I liked Lysis’ spirit, but I hated her character. I much preferred self deception to this tiny mirror.

But perhaps I was overreacting. She had mostly ignored me so far, but my opinion had been formed upon our introduction.

The old man had waved me in her direction, I had said “Hello. My name is Amber.” And I had crouched to match her height while I said that.

The menace of a girl continued to make a tiny pegasus statue fly about for a count of ten seconds before landing it, and only then paying me any mind. She pointed at a damaged girl doll with black hair, looked at me and said, “That’s you.” Then picked up a knight and a wolf and used them to beat the girl doll into the ground.

And that was about the extent of our interactions so far.

Old Man Silvurium had chided, “Lysis, you’re being rude.” But all that did was make the girl stop beating up the innocent doll.

Since then I’d retreated some distance and left Lysis to play. One of the other maids came over and explained that I was essentially there to fulfil any requests the young ‘lady’ had of me. As I understood it, my duties ranged from picking up a stick for the girl if she was so inclined, to cooking impromptu meals and emergency laundry.

Until such a request came through, I was to wait. That’s all I’d been doing, and it was pleasant if I ignored the omnipresent tension that came from the fact that my quest was on hold, and I had no disguise to rely on if Avien happened to travel through Luzi Lake. To say nothing of the war that had sprung up exactly when I’d wanted it to, but was realising how foolish that desire was now that I was blessed with hindsight.

The place where I was standing afforded me a view of the countryside beyond the limits of the Silvurium estate. It was a nostalgic feeling, to be standing by a grand mansion and to only see the signs of civilisation from far away. Overlooking Veliki from Taranath’s front door had been a lot like this. Though even this grand building I was shadowed by wasn’t as big as the blue monstrosity.

I think I remembered that blue elf talking about how that was an essential component of his power once.

Regardless, all the land that I could see was tamed, with only sparse lines of trees dividing what I assumed were property lines on the gently rolling landscape. From where I was standing I could see five other large buildings, all nestled atop a rise, presumably so that they would have views similar to the one I was enjoying now.

My eyes lingered on the rightmost mansion, its colours seemed wrong somehow.

“You have sharp eyes, young lady.” The voice of old man Silvurium sounding from right behind me made me flinch. Since I was putting effort into my disguise, I had been relaxed in both body and mind, and the flinch became a jump and a yelp.

I quickly turned and made to bow after putting a half step more distance between us. “Old man Silvurium! I didn’t hear you walking up.” It felt like my disguise would keep talking, so I picked something generic to say. “Thank you for letting me stay here until I remember. I wish I could do more to repay you.”

Bleh. This was the kind of thing Avien would say. It tasted like spoiled milk running off my tongue.

Silvurium chuckled and gestured placatingly. He wore an easy smile on his wrinkled face that was too disarming to work properly on me. “Amber, if you’re going to insist on protocol, you should know how to perform that etiquette first.”

I froze since it seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

The old man let out more laughter. “Your bow was something between greeting an official and expressing gratitude to a comrade, done by men. For women you would rather…” He turned to Lysis and raised his voice. “Lysis, could you please demonstrate a proper curtsy?”

The girl looked over, face expressionless. Then she stood up and demonstrated a curtsy similar to what I’d seen my mom do a few times to the Waterlilys. It wasn’t one I’d ever practiced because it required wearing a dress and as I was once more learning, I hated dresses. That done, Lysis sat down and picked up the wolf again.

She made direct eye contact with me before slamming it into another doll. I’d bet my dagger I knew which one got hit.

“She’s…” I trailed off. I didn’t say ‘a vicious little shit’ because that would’ve run counter to my disguise.

“She is very honest with her emotions.” Old man Silvurium agreed with a wry smile. “Do not let it disturb you, she is here on holiday until the drama with her family dies down. Lysis is smart, so while she may not understand what is going on, she knows something is happening.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Normally I didn’t ask to hear the stories of other people, a symptom of being raised in a town where anyone would talk your ears off with their overblown accomplishments given half a chance, but with the prospect of being stuck here for a minimum of half a week…

“May I ask what’s going on, then?” I asked. It felt like the other me would justify the question, so I didn’t. I hated playing to her tune. She may have been my disguise, but I was the one in control. Spouting false concerns about a troublemaker’s background would’ve left a bad taste in my mouth, and I already had enough with just the bad milk.

Silvurium hummed. “Forgive me, but you don’t appear to be versed in city life.” Ah. Noble speak for ‘dumb’. “It’s a bit difficult to explain if you don’t understand certain things. Where exactly did you come from? If I’m to answer that will help me tailor my answer.”

I smiled apologetically. It felt strange to do that voluntarily. “I’m sorry, but I don’t quite remember.”

Amnesia, I was coming to find, was a fantastic excuse to not answer. I’d have to use it more in the future.

“I see.” He said with disappointment. “Well in any case, it’s a battle of inheritance. My daughter married a businessman from a lower house, only he married into our family. Now they both have claims for my estate, along with the rest of my sons and their wives. You must be from some country village, where the only danger is from monsters. Inheritance battles will therefore be a foriegn concept to you.”

I made a show of thinking for a few moments. “Is that anything like the sixth generation of the Vitorian Dynasty? I read a story once about that, where the crown prince was assassinated and the rest of the king’s children fought for the throne. Wasn’t there... demon summoning involved?” That knowledge I owed to history lessons in the school of paper.

Silvurium gave me a look of muted surprise and I gave him a bashful smile. That must have taken him off guard. He regained his composure quickly, though now there was a tinge of suspicion mixed in. “Yes, quite like that. Without the armies, of course. I did not realise you were well read.”

I laughed in an attempt to wave it off. “Oh, I- I suppose I am. I don’t remember when I read it though.” There was amnesia being a perfect excuse again. “It feels like I… didn’t… read it?” It was technically true. Avien had dictated it to me while I took notes. Now, years later, all I remembered was the stuff I just said. Curious that you didn’t deny any demon summoning.

“I must say I am very curious as to your quest now.” Silvurium admitted. “Please take no offence, normally we get brutes washing ashore and we were worried you’d be the same.”

“I’m nothing like that, I would never!” I gushed, very aware that if I was told Avien was sleeping in the mansion, I would set it alight with alchemist fire and flee into the night.

“Please take no offence, it’s only because of the reputation of people that are not you.” Silvurium assured. I nodded with a smile, but inside I was thinking of ways to be petty. “But yes, the Silvurium estate, this mansion, my riches, and the scores of buildings I own back in Scorn. Every one of my once beautiful children are fighting and scheming amongst themselves and more for the right to inherit it all.”

He sighed and gestured, seemingly aimlessly until a maid wearing the same cut of clothes as me suddenly appeared with a platter bearing a tall glass of dark drink. I looked at the liquid, internalising my frown as I wondered if it was wine or ooze.

Silvurium took a long sip before continuing. “I told them I’d leave it to the best noble, then left to wait until it all dies down. Or they all fall from the poison they give each other. Whichever happens first, the businesses I have a stake in should remain relatively safe. No point ruling the ashes, after all. Little Lysis would’ve been caught up in it all if I hadn’t brought her with me, and I’ve decided that if the worst comes to pass and there are no survivors, I’m defaulting it all to her.

The girl in question had stopped playing, and was looking our way as though she could hear her grandfather as clear as day. That shouldn’t have been possible. I knew that children and recently regenerated creatures had better hearing than the rest, but without something like Serfle’s eavesdropping glyphs, hearing something said that loud from that far away shouldn’t have been possible.

I kept my eyes on her. “I think she knows more than you would expect.”

Silvurium laughed. “I’ve been getting that feeling since I first saw the little gem. Children surprise you in the most unexpected ways, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised! That’s why she’s here while her cousins aren’t.” He sighed and took another long sip. Another like that and he’d need a refill. “Unfortunate sods, Lysis might end up being the only one of her generation at this rate.”

“If I may?” I asked gently. “If you’re here for safety, then where are your guards?”

“Patrolling out of sight.” He answered easily, gesturing outward vaguely. “And a few simply being shadows. And even more undercover.”

So even the maids? I thought. Then I remembered the ease with which Lavenner found and attached the straps to conceal my dagger, as well as the apt advice she gave about it. So that’s basically everyone?

“The pay cheque is fiendish, but it’s worth it.” Silvurium chuckled, turning away to overlook the countryside. I took that to mean every single person here was trained to fight, and I was far less safe than I’d been led to believe. “But we’ve gotten awfully sidetracked, haven’t we? You were wondering about that little phenomenon over there.”

“Yes, I was going to ask…” I trailed off. He was pointing at the strangely coloured mansion that had captured my attention.

“I haven’t the specific details. That little scandal happened at a time when I was home.” Silvurium took another sip, but just a small one this time. “Belonged to the Mantiums, if you would believe it.” I immediately started paying more attention. “The duchess’ third son was the one residing there if I’m not misremembering, and he had the fortune of chancing across a boy washed up on the shore on one of his many walks.”

He laughed and glanced meaningfully at me. “Many nobles take such walks around here, you see.”

“Whatever for?” I asked innocently. None had explained Luzi Lake’s peculiar significance to me since I awakened in the Silvurium’s care.

“Our own reasons.” He chuckled mysteriously. Or he thought he did. “But regardless of any similarities to little Lysis finding you and the Mantium boy finding the hero of this story, the next part is very different. The details are unclear as I mentioned, but that night all inside the mansion failed to leave the next morning. Those that entered the morning after also failed to leave. Some more were sent in to investigate, none returned, and suddenly the colours changed.”

I peered at the mansion once more and noticed something new. “It’s not just the mansion, it’s a magic field!” Slivers of the sky just above the roof were black, not unlike the night, and the ribbon surrounding the building waved slightly with the wind.

Silvurium chuckled, but I could tell he was disappointed I took the wind from his sails. “Quite so. Many wizened mages have traveled here to attempt to dispel the field, or at least figure out the peculiarities behind it. Needless to say, none succeeded. It’s my humble opinion that it’s going to stay that way until All decides on an interesting enough happenstance to change it.”

Well, I could tell from just this that it wasn’t demonic, angelic, fey, primordial, elemental, or necromantic in nature. There would be an impossible to miss tinge in the air if there was, even at this distance, to say nothing of the disturbing frissons that would be running up people’s spines. That didn’t narrow it down all that much. It could still be arcane, astral, influenced by any of the countless sideways planes, or even be something from the far void beyond such places.

It also wasn’t my problem to solve. Just a distraction.

“How strange. The world truly is larger than I thought.” I trailed off, allowing Silvurium’s condescending chuckle and nod to pass without issue.

“Maid!” Lysis shouted at us after the silence had dragged on for a short while. Apparently it was time for my work to finally start, not that even wearing this uniform hadn’t been an ordeal.

I smiled at Silvurium apologetically, as if I was sad to leave the company of this old person who hired nothing but attractive warrior women and dressed them all in revealing clothes. Seriously, I hadn’t seen one butler or male worker besides the old man in my entire time here.

Thoughts wondering at what a good adjective starting with M or W for Silvurium’s maids could be, with the intent of furthering the alliteration, were set aside when I arrived in front of Lysis. She was standing now, and it seemed she had thrown some of them all around. I couldn’t see the black haired doll with a short glance.

“Yes, little Lysis?” I asked with the generic smile the Heavans enjoyed painting on my face. Despite how I loathed it, it was the very picture of innocence. The effect of that along with the nickname she clearly didn’t enjoy put a pained expression on her face, and I resolved to address her like this for the rest of my stay.

“I want cupcakes.” She said shortly.

Such was her first request.

\V/

It didn’t end there. Little Lysis had first made me gather all her dolls before getting her any cupcakes, and had taken to scattering them as I gathered them in a basket. She only stopped after another maid told the little girl I wouldn’t be getting her any cupcakes until I was done, which rankled because I’d told her that ten minutes before.

Getting the cupcakes, once I was allowed to do so, was easy. They didn’t have any, and I didn’t feel like going down to the little supply outpost nearby when I realised I had full access to a stocked kitchen. I never thought I’d be grateful for Adjutant’s cooking lessons, but the sour expression of Lysis’ face when I finally told her the cupcakes would be ready in twenty minutes almost made them worth it. Cooking wasn’t all that tasking to me.

Then she ate the cupcakes, and I caught an expression of contentment. Then the sour look came back with a vengeance, and I was tasked with cleaning up the kitchen, her room, the hallway around her room for laughing. I was told to do her laundry, which somehow included six expensive looking dresses, one of which looked too small to fit the young girl, and all of which looked like they’d been thrown around in the dirt, rather than worn. The dress she’d been wearing when we’d met was belatedly added to that pile.

Once I was done with that, I was told to dust everything. Even the clothes.

The clothes that were still drying.

It seemed she was telling me to do things for the sake of it. In all, I took my time, didn’t put much effort into it, and smiled innocently when Lysis beheld results beyond her expectations and became increasingly frustrated because of it.

Until now, I hadn’t really believed what some adventurers had said about success being the best kind of revenge. I still didn’t, seeing how landing a dagger into the hearts of the Shepards was my greatest desire and how the memory of piercing Sathteels eye was quickly becoming one of my favourites, but I could not deny the satisfaction I wrought from this inane circumstance. It did nothing to change how exasperating it was to be at this girl’s beck and call, but she was nothing like Mary, which was the only reason it was bearable at all.

My control over my expression did break when the menace ripped her drying dresses from the line, threw them on the ground, stomped on them, and told me to do it again but this time with perfume.

That truly put me at a loss. Thankfully, she wasn’t facing me and thus missed the anger that flashed across my face. I improvised and sprayed a bottle one of the other maids had retrieved for me once over the front of each dress. It made this sweet smell that clung to me even though I had definitely sprayed the damn bottle away from myself each time, and that was apparently enough to satisfy Lysis.

Then I cooked her dinner, brushed her hair, and offered to read her a bedtime story. It obviously got rejected, but the face she made when I made the offer was worth it.

With the little menace finally put to bed, I made to leave and finally spend some time not stressing out over following the instructions of a seven year old. If circumstances allowed, I even intended to relax. The devil of a child had spent hours making me do the most senseless things and I didn’t have much endurance to begin with.

“Amber.” Lysis called after me right before I left the room. She spoke softly enough that I’d have missed it if I wasn’t enhancing my hearing.

I turned, curious. That was the first time she’d used my name. “Yes, Lysis?” If she was using my proper name, I could return the favour.

“You’re alright. Not trash. Don’t go outside tomorrow night.”

I waited to see if an explanation would follow the warning, and soon realised she was asleep when I heard her breathing through my listening glyphs. After another awkward moment I quietly clicked the door closed and stood in the hallway wondering just how serious that warning was.

Any conclusions eluded me until I happened to glance out the window on the way to finding dinner for myself. It was already dark out, and through the sparse cloud cover I could see the light of Rugic, Santoria’s second moon, currently waxing to fullness.

A long howl echoed through the valleys of Luzi Lake moments later. The timing was impossible until you considered the truth that All had a sense of dramatic timing, but it told me what I needed to know.

It seemed there was a werewolf problem.

\V/