The king sat at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the dukes and earls, then the barons, and finally minor lords and vassals. There were counts and viscounts, equivalent to dukes and barons respectively, but these were offices appointed by the king and couldn’t be inherited.

“It’s about influence,” I said. We were still in the library, food sitting between the towers of books on the table. “People in power that the king can trust. With positions that are inherited the same can’t be said, like you said about the dukes, they’re secure in their power—”

“And there are other relationships whose ties might be stronger, allegiances they might grant more favour,” Odysseus interrupted. “There are familial ties which bind best, followed by agreements so long in effect that they have become the norm. The duchy of Ashfield is rocky and crops find it hard to grow, but they hold great stores of coal; so compacts have been written between it and the Black and the Green Pastures, sending crops for stores of coal.”

Ashfield and the Green and Black Pastures, much like Haddock, are Forsaken Lands. I could guess in the past that they hadn’t had celestial gems and thus learned to work with what they had; but what about after spatial magic made travel faster and easier through the kingdom?

“Balance me real quick. Why would they be using coal when there are those nifty fire rocks?”

“Tradition are one part,” he said. “The Pastures have compacts between each other, and those have existed longer than the kingdom of Althor. The second, at a guess, I would think that they want to remain independent in some form; if they began to use fire gems or any other gems beyond the most necessary, they would have to depend on their benefactors instead of their own resources.”

I closed my eyes because something still wasn’t clicking, and no matter how much I tried to come at it from the sides it didn’t connect.

“So,” I said. “The duke is at the top but he can be thought of as an executive, right?”

“I do not know what that is, Champion.”

“Okay, my terms might be off because this was stuff I crammed for tests, but… In a business you have the executives at the top, and they deal with the strategy of how a firm should be run, looking at macro decisions and how to maximise profit, that sort of stuff. They don’t do the labour and they don’t even know the labourers because that’s not their job. Below them are the managers, who take the information from executives and sort of streamline it so the supervisors can get a better understanding of the nitty-gritty of what they’re supposed to do. Again, they don’t deal with labourers — though the word manager is so broad that sometimes they do — and just have a series of tasks that they parcel out. Then the supervisors tell the workers what to do.

“With the kingdom, I’m getting the sense that dukes might be executives, way up high, and they set the strategy by the laws they impose and stuff like that; then the barons as managers, and minor lords and vassals as supervisors.”

Nothing about the everyday people, though, who would be the labourers. What does that mean in this place if my go-to is thinking of all of this as a business? I pushed it aside, because knowing about that sort of thing wouldn’t help me survive.

“Is this in any way right?” I asked.

“I will admit that some of what you said is unknown to me,” he said. “But the confidence with which you said it makes me feel that it might be true.”

A snort escaped me. “I’ve been told I do that sometimes,” I said. “Back home, while we were preparing for our final exams I stayed over at a friend’s house a lot – tutoring and that sort of thing. Anyway, people used to look to me to teach some of the stuff even though I was bullshitting for most of it.”

“Surely if you were solely…bullshitting, you would have given bad advice and they would have stopped looking to you to teach them.”

My brow furrowed. “Is that a compliment, Your Highness?”

It felt like the first time he was giving me one, but when I thought about it that couldn’t be true. It quickly dawned on me that it felt like the first compliment he’d given me because it wasn’t backhanded like the others.

Odysseus sobered and sat straighter. “We have become distracted, Champion,” he said. “I feel as though you were drawing towards a conclusion before it tapered off.”

“Okay, so. The barons feel important because even though the duchy belongs to the dukes, they are the ones who work the mines and grow the crops, right?”

“True,” he said with a slight nod.

“What I don’t get is…why do the power plays have to be subtle? Why do the dukes have to play this game instead of, I don’t know, overthrowing the barons or something? Instituting someone else in their place who’ll play by their rules?”

He hummed. “I feel as though your analogy might not work as well as you thought. If a manager were to be unfairly done away with by their executive, what would be their recourse?”

“Contracts would protect them, mostly, and laws to protect people on the lower rungs,” I said, a frown starting to form. “I’m blanking right now on if managers have unions, but I think they should? Everyone has the right to unionise. But if the executive wanted to be a dick about it, I think they would be able to fire them and get away with it. The power disparity is too large.”

“Such a thing could not happen with barons,” said Odysseus. “Not without war, and that might not go in the duke’s favour. The duke might be able to create the laws, but the land a baron holds belongs to them, though the duke does receive taxes as fealty.”

“Does your father also receive taxes on them?” I asked.

“Vassals pay taxes to their baron, then he pays it to his duke until it finally reaches the king,” he said.

“That doesn’t sound like he gets a lot.”

“The Mandaron line is spoiled with riches,” said Odysseus, his tone of affront. “We make our incomes through a variety of means. Selling spatial gems to schools in the Commonality and the Sky Courts, and getting a portion of incomes from the work done by the spatial mages in their travel network.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “Didn’t mean to imply that you were poor or anything.”

“Take care how freely you speak,” he said. “Kings have fallen to the insinuation of debt.”

A part of me wanted to focus on that, but then I would lose my train of thought.

“Just…it feels like this place doesn’t have a centralised government. Which means…does it have a centralised military?”

“No,” he said and at that things made sense.

Each noble in this place had their own army, but were allegiance-bound to serve their duke and the king; that was why the barons had the power they did, because if the duke didn’t treat them well, they could band together to dethrone him — probably with the king’s permission or something.

More things started to click into place. There was an artifice to how people acted in Althor, rules that they were bound by even if they didn’t care about a topic or wanted something else. Thinking back to the hunt, it had been clear that Owain was trying to flirt with Allycea and she didn’t want it, but she hadn’t been able to outright say it. Did the same thing exist in a macro scale with the power structures here?

It felt like a tenuous sort of peace and it suddenly made sense why King Orpheus was so afraid of people turning against him. Now that I thought about it, centring the ‘war’ on the mines also made sense, because as long as his nobles were still benefiting, they would stick with him.

“Baron Owain,” I said as realisation hit. “He’s trying to become king, isn’t he?”

“Many wish to have my sister’s hand in marriage,” said Odysseus. I might have been imagining it, but I felt like he was excited but keeping himself restrained.

“But doesn’t that mean that his father gains a lot from dismissing me?” I asked. Odysseus’ head was starting to bob with vigour, he wore a bright smile. “You said marital ties were the strongest, and the Elemental Line is the second richest duchy, so if there was a union between your two families there’d be less of a chance of people breaking away.”

Your happiness is not the only thing tied to this, Ellora had told me during the hunt. Allycea didn’t want to marry Owain and it probably had something to do with her relationship with Cybill, because I was certain there was something going on there.

Something else niggled at the back of my mind, a suspicion that was scary if it was true. During the fight in the cave, Leonard had spent a lot of his time covering Owain the Younger’s with the spiders. After long enough he’d just killed the carrier mother to end the fight.

He’d done the same thing with the centipede, delivering a large attack to kill the beast. I hadn’t had my sights on their battle, then, but…

No. It couldn’t be, because that would be a different sort of terrifying.

Jaslynn pushed you in the way of death, is it really beyond them?

My heart started to beat faster and I swallowed. This whole situation was fucked up and the sooner I escaped, the better.

“I think we should retire, Champion,” said Odysseus. “Though I have something of a proposition for you. It is of utmost importance that you get a feel of what you should expect from speaking to father, the dukes and the earls; thus I would like to invite you to an intimate dinner I am holding tonight.”

My expression twisted.

Odysseus held up a hand. “Fret not, there will only be four people. Friends.”

“You have friends?” I said, surprised. My eyes widened. I hadn’t meant to say that.

Odysseus frowned. “I will choose to disregard that,” he said. “The people you will meet tonight are the spatial technician, Emery Bower, Lords Jon Mabbitt and Rick Hackley, and one of Sir Norbert’s squires, Anthony Thorndyke.”

“Why?” I asked.

“To prepare you for conversation,” he said. “My sister is brutish at the best of times, and though I told her to pay attention to how you presented yourself, she did not.”

“What’s going to be the intensity level of all of this?” I asked, voice a little shaky.

“Low at best. They are not people of much renown, lower in station than the both of us.”

“That’s good, I guess,” I said and I let myself believe the words. “Okay, but what’s the ploy?”

“Why, Champion,” he said, wearing a roguish grin. “Why would you think there is a ploy?”

“Because you’re you.”

He smiled, bright and genuine.

There was often a similar expression to him when he explained stuff, when he was in his element. Maybe I was being uncharitable, but the impression I was starting to get of him was that he liked being smart. Which probably made sense, his sister was a warrior, and he’d had to find a niche for himself.

It made me wonder more what their family dynamic was like. When I’d first been called into this world the throne room had held seven chairs; two would be for the king and queen, two for Allycea and Odysseus, another for Matthaeus, the first of the siblings, and probably another two no one had mentioned to me.

“There is nothing of the kind,” he said. “This is only a simple dinner.”

“Sure,” I said. “I’ll attend, to make up for how I spoke to you in lieu of gifts or anything extravagant.”

“Then your apology is graciously accepted,” he said. “You should go dress. It won’t do for you to embarrass us.”

***

That’s a harp.

It felt stupid that even in another world — one with magic — I could still be surprised by the mundane.

The harpist was a woman wearing layered clothes that flowed, they were in a variety of warm colours that blended together – red, oranges and a light purple; she had dark, straight hair, barely visible behind a scarf over her head.

Most striking was her skin.

I had been surrounded by white people since my arrival, a stark contrast from back home where I’d mostly dealt with people of other races when I went to school. The woman wasn’t black, but her skin was dark in a way that wasn’t white; brown wasn’t an adjective I heard used often when it came to race in South Africa, but with her skin tone it fit.

I watched as her fingers nimbly plucked at the strings of the harp, her entire attention on the music that filled the air.

“Beautiful, is she not?” Odysseus asked as she came to stand beside me. He was dressed in blue and white, a long coat that was trimmed with gold embroidery and with a collar made of a pelt that changed colour every time he moved.

Dedrick had dressed me and he’d chosen white, navy and black as my colours. My pants and coat were black, embroidered with silver swirls around the cuffs and collar; I had on a white blouse over which was a navy vest that was embroidered with material that caught the light; and the colours of the jewellery were silver and sapphires.

Honestly, I looked good, which buoyed me up when I was feeling nervous.

“Is she from Althor?” I asked instead of answering his question. My mind had chosen that moment to consider everything I knew about this place, and how far back I was in history and the value that could be placed on women.

“No,” he said. “She is from the Sky Cities, but I managed to steal her away from one of their nobles. She is quite gifted with her harp.”

I shrugged. “I’ve never listened to harp music so I don’t know what’s good.”

“How does it make you feel?” he asked.

I waited, listening to the music to see if it evoked anything. There was nothing. It felt background, not bad, but not something I’d write home about.

“Nothing,” I told Odysseus.

“Which is perfect for what it is,” he said. “I have found that bards often want to make themselves the centre of attention. She is different, she knows her role is ambiance and she plays with that in mind.”

“If that’s what it’s for then it’s working,” I said, but I didn’t really care about the music. The rational part of my mind knew that any black people I met here wouldn’t be the same as those back home – the cultures would be different – but I yearned for more people like me all the same. “You said you had met black people before.” I got only confusion. “People like me, was it in the Sky Courts?”

“In the Sunward Empire,” he said. “Especially their port city, though there are lords in the Sky Courts who share the darkness of your skin, and perhaps the curl of your hair.” I wanted to ask more but he cut me off. “Now keep your wits about you, Champion. Our guest will be arriving soon.”

There were too many people moving in Odysseus’s quarters for me to get any useful information, so I pulled things back, narrowing the focus so it encompassed the room we and the hall outside.

I sensed as a pair of people walked our way.

“Yeah,” I said, with a look around the room. It was larger than where Odysseus and I usually ate, lit with luminescent gems in a variety of colours, and paintings with golden frames filling every available space on the walls. The table was circular, the wood a warm, dark brown, and the chairs had cushions made of velvet.

The doors opened and I was proud of myself for not freezing.

It was one of Odysseus’ people, dressed in grey, his expression and voice reminding me of Dedrick’s — impassive and without affect.

“Presenting, the squire, Anthony Thorndyke of Eddington,” the man said before he stepped back to reveal the guest.

A guy stepped through, broad and muscular, with closely cropped red hair; at a guess, he was maybe my age, but his body type had a way of making him look older. He had startling blue eyes, and they widened as he saw us. As nervous as I felt, it was doubly so for him. For a moment he froze, then thrust himself with too much vigour in an attempt to get himself to move.

It helped to lessen my anxiety.

Odysseus didn’t move and so I didn’t either. Anthony closed the distance with long strides, stopped and bowed.

“Greetings to you, Your Highness,” he said, his voice trembling. “And greetings to you, Champion. I am honoured to be invited into your company.”

“Well met, squire,” said Odysseus, smiling.

“Well met,” I added.

Anthony rose after we had returned the greeting — something I hadn’t noticed before and would have to pay attention to in the future. As much as I would have refused if I had a choice, the dinner struck me as perfect. When I was in the company of the king I would on the other side – the lowest rung of the totem pole – and I would have to do all the things Anthony was doing.

The squire didn’t speak after the greeting.

“I hope my invitation has not disturbed any plans either you or your master had for the evening,” said the prince.

“No, Your Highness,” said Anthony, body rigid and shoulders squared. “No plans exist which are above you. I am truly honoured to be in your company. You as well, Champion.”

He bowed again.

In that small bow Odysseus turned to me, his eyes opening wide and willing me to engage.

“You’ll have to forgive me, squire,” I said. “But I don’t know much about you except that you work under Sir Norbert.”

“Of course, Champion,” he said. “I am the third son of Viscount Norston of Eddington.”

I tried to think about where Eddington was and couldn’t remember. I made a mental note to revisit my notes on Althor’s duchies and baronies to refresh myself. Especially when it would be something I had to use now.

Focus, I told myself. He was the third son and since titles didn’t pass down for viscounts, he would need to make a name for himself beyond his father’s position. Which explained why he was a squire. What it didn’t explain was why Odysseus had invited him here.

“As I understand it,” he said, “you are very close to earning your knighthood.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” said Anthony, having trouble keeping eye contact with Odysseus; his eyes flickered to me for a second before they faced down.

The guy could probably beat both Odysseus and me in a fight, but the way he held himself made clear the power that we had. Which felt strange when I didn’t feel powerful. I was starkly aware of all the freedoms closed off to me.

“Master Norbert has been speaking of such a task more and more lately. It will not be long before I am a knight.”

“That must be good,” I put in.

He smiled. “It is, Champion. To be a knight is a great honour, and I hope to pay allegiance to the king and the royal family through servitude in the royal guard.”

“Strange,” said Odysseus. “I had thought you would become a huntsman much like your master.”

“Master Norbert is a great man,” said Anthony. “Strong, skilled and knowledgeable. However he and I are of different outlooks. He lives for the hunt, knowing his prey intimately, learning of the variety of beasts that call the mines and caves home; but I vastly prefer duelling an opponent, learning the inner workings of their minds and thinking of strategies to defeat them.”

“Much like my sister,” said Odysseus with a hint of boredom.

“It honours me—”

The doors opened.

“Introducing the spatial mage, Emery Bower.”

The man was short and had a heavy build; he was on the pale side, freckles lining the bridge of his nose. Emery’s eyes were small and dark, seeming darker still because of the heavy black robes he wore. If I was judging it right, the guy was probably in his mid or late twenties. He came towards us and Anthony stepped back for a bit of distance.

“Your Highness,” said Emery, bowing. “Champion.”

“Greetings, technician,” said Odysseus.

“Graciously met, mage,” I said.

“With us stands Anthony Thorndyke,” Odysseus introduced.

Anthony swallowed. “Greetings, mage.”

“Well met, young man,” said the mage.

“Anthony here squires our master of the hunt,” said Odysseus.

Emery smiled. “Ah, such a service you and your master give the royal family,” he said. “I have heard exciting tales even from our own mages, lucky enough to be in the company of His Majesty.”

The squire didn’t look like he knew what to say to that. I wondered if I looked like Anthony at the worst of times, because I knew exactly what the guy was feeling. Tonight was easy because Odysseus was invested in how I looked and he wouldn’t leave me out to dry; but it felt like the prince was already bored of Anthony.

The doors opened again before the conversation could continue.

“Introducing the lords, Rick Hackley and Jon Mabbitt.”

Two men, both probably in their twenties. I knew they weren’t family, going by the shapes of their faces, but they looked similar: average height and build, dark haired, and with heavy beards. They dressed differently — one in red and the other in a dark, grassy green — but the style of their clothing was similar in a way that made it feel coordinated.

Another set of greetings followed. Rick and Jon seemed to know Emery, but they didn’t know Anthony.

“We are all of us present,” said Odysseus. “Let us sit and dine.”

We moved to the table and Odysseus was the first to sit. He motioned for the rest of us and I hesitated, waiting for the others but they didn’t move — waiting for me. The dominoes fell after I sat: the lords and the spatial mage first and Anthony last.

The top of the table shimmered and without a sound, plates appeared in front of each of us, a goblet filled with wine beside them. Odysseus started eating, I followed and that was permission for the others to do the same.

So many things to pay attention to that I missed in the dinner I’d had with Surefoot.

“Mage,” said Odysseus after a sip of his wine. “I heard that you have recently been promoted.”

I was a little hesitant as I sat. When I usually drank alcohol it wasn’t great and I never knew why people liked it. The wine wasn’t any different, so sweet that a part of me wanted to water it down.

Emery smiled. “You have such keen ears, Your Highness,” he said. “I have only recently received the news myself.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. “The promotion?”

“I have been granted my own spatial column to look over and a team which will serve me,” he said.

“You’ll have to forgive me, mage, but I’m new to this world. You’re going to have to give me more context for these things.”

“Apologies, Champion,” he said. “In the hub there are a variety of spatial columns which are keyed to certain locations. It will be my duty to ensure my team functions efficiently, and that no trouble occurs under my purview.”

“Is the duty not usually given to much older mages?” asked one of the lords. They had introduced themselves, but I already couldn’t remember which was Jon and which was Rick.

“Yes,” said Emery with pride.

“Is the duty local or reaching into the rest of the Commonality?” I decided that he was Rick.

“Local, pointed towards northern Bloomington,” he said.

Bloomington was another of the Forsaken Lands, a neighbour of the Elemental line and one of the duchies that shared a border with Washerton. There were supposed to be disturbances along the border, but I didn’t know if it was true for Bloomington, too, after all they wouldn’t have any mines.

“Ah, what a happy surprise. We have business in Bloomington,” said Jon.

“You have a business?” I said, unable to keep my surprise from my voice.

“Yes, Champion,” said Jon, expression twisting. “Jon and I are suppliers of specialty meats for the restaurants in midtown. Our farms are in Bloomington.”

“There have been a lot of waits, lately,” said Rick. “Movement is slower and the queues long.”

“Yes and it is quite unfortunate,” said Emery. “But there have been major changes within my order and that has affected our duties. Though things are close to being resolved.”

“We should take comfort in that,” Odysseus drawled.

“What about you, Anthony?” I asked. He jumped, his attention had been too focused on his food. “What does your family do?”

“My father is a viscount and my eldest brother aids him in his duties, ensuring that our servants are not derelict in their duties,” he said, then cleared his throat. “The brother born before me is married to Lady Orleen Osmont, and together they serve as vassals for her lord father.”

“Your brother aids your father,” said Rick. “The rumours of his failing health are true, then?”

Anthony swallowed. “They are, my lord.” He glanced at Odysseus. “I know that he has petitioned His Majesty that it be my brother, Dunstan, who ascends him when he can no longer complete his duties. He was taught the finer workings of Eddington from a young age.”

“I am sure father will consider the petition, “said Odysseus. “But it is uncouth to bring up such matters.”

“Apologies, Your Highness,” he said, his disappointment palpable.

“Think nothing of it,” said Odysseus. “Before the rest of our guests arrived you mentioned that it would be soon that you would ascend to knighthood. Has your master mentioned any candidates for new squires?”

Anthony frowned. “Not that I have gathered, Your Highness,” he said. “Master Norbert has mentioned that he has dawdled too much for his liking, and now he dreads finding new squires.”

“If he has such dread I am sure that our friends might have suitable candidates, is that not so?” Odysseus asked.

“I have a cousin whose old master died,” said Rick. “If Sir Norbert is looking for a squire with some measure of experience, then it would be no trouble at all to send a letter.”

“I am sure Master Norbert will be relieved at the convenience,” said Anthony.

And with that I could see how attention drifted away from the squire.

Now I understood, he was here because Odysseus wanted to offer favours without being direct about it. Anthony wanted something – his family to still have their positions in Eddington – and he would likely push to do what the prince was asking in hopes that the favour would be returned.

“If it is not too much of an imposition, Champion,” said Jon. “I wonder if you might tell us of your realm. Stories tell that it does not have magic.”

“Magic as a phenomenon is subjective,” I said, a little distracted. An idea was forming and I didn’t want to lose it. “I think some of the stuff we do with electricity and magnetic fields might be considered magical in this world.”

I didn’t think Anthony would be getting what he wanted, at least not if he hadn’t gotten it already. The position of viscount was something the king did to get more people to his side. The guy had to realise that if he was in any way savvy, which meant there might be other plans.

“Such as?” Odysseus asked, cutting into my thoughts.

The next few courses I got into technology talk — trying to explain some of the stuff that existed on earth even when it was hard because I didn’t know how half of them worked — all while building on my mental framework of Anthony. I tried explaining how cell phones worked to the lords, but it was hard getting them to understand that it wasn’t some advanced form of spatial magic.

The harpist’s music started to take on a sleepier air, making the lethargy of having eaten settle on my shoulders and eyelids, and slowing conversation. Odysseus stood without warning and the conversation stopped as we did the same.

“I thank you all for attending this dinner with me,” he said. “I was gladdened by your presence.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” they said and bowed, before they started to leave.

“Anthony,” I said, heart beating faster. “Wait for me a moment.”

“Of course, Champion,” he said. He and the rest of the lords seemed surprised by that, but they didn’t comment, speaking between themselves in low voices, not including Anthony.

“Ah,” said Odysseus, smiling. “You have taken a liking to him?”

I blinked, then, “This was nicer than I thought it would be.”

“And you did quite well,” he said. “Now that you mentioned it, I have no idea if you were…bullshitting your way through the conversation, but you seemed at ease.” I snorted. “Let me not keep you. Enjoy your evening, we will speak again tomorrow.”

“Sure,” I said.

Anthony was on the other side of the door, shuffling from foot to foot. He stood straighter as I stepped out, falling into step with me as I made my way to the elevator.

Time to really bullshit, I thought as I willed myself to be confident.

“It feels like your family is in a tricky spot.”

His expression evened out. “His Majesty willing, my family will still look over the Eddington barony,” he said.

I hummed. My impulse was to try and be subtle, but that wasn’t me. “How likely is it that that’s going to happen?” I asked, voice low.

Anthony stopped. I did too.

The hall was long and narrow, with suits of armour every so often, paintings on the walls. There were guards but they were further away, but it wouldn’t do to speak too loudly and have them cotton on to this. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with what I was doing, but I didn’t want to take the chance.

“Am I wrong to think that you want to be a knight for the royal family because it’s going to increase your standing?” I asked. Speculation that felt right with the little I knew about him and his family. “So that, even if your brother isn’t the viscount of Eddington, your family still has influence?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Come,” I said and I was happy he followed.

We reached the elevators where my guards waited for me. We rode it down to my floor and I led him to the balcony that looked towards Altheer. The city was alight in the night, though the lowest level seemed dark; the night was chilly but there were air gems in the walls that meant the breeze coming was controlled.

This would have been better if I’d offered him something to drink.

I made a mental note for the future.

Anthony’s expression was tough to read, but all together it felt broody. I really hoped that I hadn’t made a mistake and jumped the gun, but it was too late now to go back.

“So?” I asked again. “How likely is it?”

“I do not know, Champion,” he said, his voice low. “None can say they know the true thoughts of the king.”

“Listen, working for the royal family is good and all, but I don’t think it’s going to matter if you don’t want your family to lose standing. If you join the royal guard, you’ll only be another face in their ranks and it will be years — if ever — before you’re in a position of any prominence. But if you were to become a knight aligned with a Champion…?”

Again he didn’t say anything, eyes in thought.

Much though it didn’t feel like it at the best of times, I had to remember that I did have power, that there was a legacy behind me. It sucked because of the expectations, but people got stuff from being around me and I could use that to get what I wanted.

Anthony would be someone that was on my side. I wouldn’t be able to trust him completely, but he would be better than anything else I had.

If he agreed.

I shrugged. “Maybe I’ve got the wrong read and you just want to serve the king for its own sake; to which, ignore me and do you. But if you are thinking the way I would be thinking in your position, then the offer’s open when you eventually become a knight. You’ll be the first knight in my service, my protector, and that will mean something.”

“I am thankful for your offer, Champion,” he said.

Is that a no? Is it a yes?

“Sure, Anthony,” I said. “You’re free to leave.”

He bowed and left.

I let out a breath, a little tired and wanting to sleep. But I didn’t succumb to the fatigue. I wasn’t sure what the party meant, but there might be useful information. So I dug out my secret notes and jotted everything down.