Dahlia first dropped the men off at the jail. Then she went to the couriers to send a message. Officially it was to the crown, but with a wink and a nudge she was telling the couriers they could get involved if they wanted. And they absolutely did, Harlan wasn’t just the kid, he was allied with them and looking for answers that could solve many issues some of them simply had to live with.

10 minutes later a night watcher used the tunnels under the town to get to the treeline and then head back into town in full gear.

The man in question was a local doctor and alchemist, they couldn’t have their subjects dying before they answered all the questions asked.

The local guard were unhappy and turned the man away, only to be scolded by Dahlia. While the night watchers only had as much authority as the local people in power let them have, Dahlia had the authority to command any local guards without question.

She led the man into the questioning room which she had warded to prevent the noises from escaping, other than of course to the cell where the other man was.

She watched and questioned him the entire time, the doctor not asking a single question, just following her lead.

After an hour the man had more flesh on the floor than on his body, some spots blistered from fire, blackened from necrosis due to the cold, artificial gangren had set in and the doctor simply stabbed at it with needles every now and then, the man was without fingernails, sacks of pus were grown under them, separating them from his soft flesh underneath.

He did not die, nor could he pass out from the pain, The doctor made very sure of these things. Yet he refused to speak.

But they knew that from the start, he was the older, more experienced soldier. The real plan was to let the other man see what was awaiting him if he did not speak, and speak he did.

Dahlia hated the answer, it was always too much work, too much red tape and wasted time, assassins and merchants were fast and easy to dismantle, these people wouldn’t be.

Back at the redwall mansion things were much calmer.

They were talking about more normal things, Harlan asked questions about the academy.

“Do you want me to make anything for you? I am planning to make kettles and hotplates for Zella and Redmond. If you want a nice rug I could buy one for you also. What about your friends? Do you have some tips for making friends? Can you give me information on teachers and their personalities?”

“Slow down. I don’t know what a hotplate is but sure if you want you can make me things. A rug would be nice. Are you going to threaten my friends like Ibery?”

“Ibery had it coming but I think she left on friendly terms.”

“I will have to talk with her about that then. Making friends is how you do it anywhere, talk to people who look like they could be a friend and don’t brush off people who try to be friends with you. Lastly I am not talking about my teachers, and your phrasing makes it sound more like a profile than friendly information.”

“Sorry. I feel like I wasted so much time on… All that happened. And I barely talked with you.”

“You saved someone’s life, that isn’t a waste of time. Besides, I am sure that when news spreads more Confederate students will warm up to you. On that note, the formal event whatever they want to call it for students about to head out to the academy is tomorrow, I hope you have everything ready.”

“I have clothes, I have little odd items so I can have a presence there. I need to ask Redwall if he has a guest list already so I can look into everyone.”

Autumn chimed in.

“Not going to happen. I tried to do the same thing when I got into high society, but some things are only really able to be learned by experience. Unless they are haughty nobles most of them understand that not everyone else has been going to these events all their lives. But I am going to say that Blackstone will be there and her youngest daughter is quite nice, around your age, and looking forward to seeing your magic.”

“Oh? Does she have a certain element she likes? I still have time to make stuff tonight. I don’t have any stops along the way so I can be there on time even if I am leaving a little later.”

“Well. I am sure she would enjoy a fire hair clip like you made before, but if you could make it white to contrast her hair it would be best.”

‘And Blackstone?“

“I doubt she would care for anything. She is… Simple. Jewelry is less likely to impress her than a weapon would and I am going to say not to give her a weapon, that would be like telling her that you want to either go to war with or against her.”

“Got it.”

Harlan started thinking about how to make something for her.

“How have the twins been? I haven’t even held them yet.”

“They are growing up faster. But nothing I can’t handle, they like crawling around after your foxes.”

“That’s good.”

Things were mundane, only spiced up by Harlan showing off his little magical tricks.

Finally after an hour someone came in to tell him Redwall was available to talk.

“I hope I’m not interrupting any other meetings you might have.”

“Nonsense. I keep a few slots open for either research or unplanned meetings. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“I have been working on a project, Transformation specifically. I accidentally had an experiment turn a rabbit into a… Well I don’t know what to call it, but it was turning into a deer-like hybrid.”

“Was it a viable animal? I mean, was it capable of living as whatever it was?”

“It was like that for a week, before that it was just a giant aggressive cannibalistic rabbit for a month. I think if I let it out it would just eat everything in sight.”

“I assume you have been very careful to not let anything like that outside? I would hate to find out there was a group of them ruining the woods.”

“I only once brought it outside, and it was sleeping at the time and then we butchered it. The meat was pretty good, took on some of the deer flavor and heartyness but wasn’t gamey.”

“You ate it?”

“I know it sounds odd. But Redmond was there and he had spells to check that things are safe to eat, and there was a Tytoan doctor there who also watched everyone who ate it, no one got sick and there were no bad reactions. I should’ve brought the skeleton here. Or the pelt at least.”

“Yes, I would like to see that. Any chance you can bring it here before you leave for the academy? Or even before we leave for the event at Blackstone’s home? Wait, no. We should get us back on track, what was the reason you came to me specifically?”

Harlan liked how Redwall showed genuine excitement for magic beyond how to make a hotter, more explosive fireball or how to make a spell 3% more efficient on average.

“I wanted to know about bloodlines. I heard from the doctor I was working with to heal the Tytoan Matriarch that the soul of the thing I made reminded him of how a bloodline formed, he said it involved forcing a spot open in the soul so that you could put in new information in it. I worked with bloodlines but I never made them, I was handed already complete spellforms that were different from others I used. I even made my own structured spells but I didn’t really learn how to make a bloodline.”

Redwall leaned back in his chair and thought on his answer for a time.

“I am not going to teach you anything, not yet. Making a bloodline improperly can have consequences that I do not trust you with yet. Your work is interesting, but I know how reckless you can be at times.”

“What is the worst that can happen?”

“You form a bloodline and lose control of it, leading to it settling in your soul. Bloodlines have a much harder time settling in non-human souls due to those powerful geas that non-humans have, but an improperly settled bloodline is a far worse result than an accidental bloodline settling. You wouldn’t know anything about their geas, would you?”

“I don’t think I should talk about them. It is very important to them is all I will say.”

“Unfortunate. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but what else have you been doing? Autumn seemed quite impressed by your home. And I know you purchased some very large mana gems.”

He thought it was a little odd that Redwall knew about what he was buying, but everything was moving through his lands. He wasn’t worried about Redwall, but the thought that other nobles also tracked his purchases did bother him.

They spoke at length about the home appliances and general quality of living inventions of his.

The count decided that selling such high end things to nobles might be worth looking into, the cost of constantly buying and storing wood for fires would let him justify selling the stoves and other heating products at a high cost.

By the time Redwall had his next meeting Harlan decided there were other things he should make as gifts for Blackstone.

Time passed, Harlan finally got to hold his niece and nephew, though they didn’t seem to like him much.

They had a nice dinner, and then they decided it was time to leave since they had a big day tomorrow.

Amber came back with Harlan to his home, she knew if she went along with Autumn they would be stopping at other nobles homes to greet them as they traveled through their lands and after years dealing with nobles while only being the sister of a first generation noble without what they considered a proper title she was more than annoyed at the thought of having to spend extra time around them.

When they returned to his home everyone else decided to go to bed.

Meanwhile Harlan went into town, hoping that Brig was still awake.

It was odd for him to be out so late at night, but he wasn’t worried. Well, he was a little worried, so he took a few golems with him just in case.

Luckily as he got closer he could hear the banging of a hammer.

But it wasn’t Brig.

“Who are you?”

“Blacksmith. Call me Shim. what do you need?”

“I need to know where Brig is first off.”

“Old man collapsed, just getting old is what I hear. Doctor has been looking after him for a while. I was told to work here until he came back. Baron wanted to make sure the town had a blacksmith for weapons and armor working. You need something?”

“A kettle, shadow steel if you can, with a gold floral pattern like this.” Harlan made a model of dirt and stone and handed it to the man.

“And you should have blackstone, right? For arrowheads? I want however much you have.”

“I can do shadow steel, seems a waste for a kettle though. When do you need it? And I am not starting until I get gold in hand.”

Harlan gave him 5 gold coins, he had no desire to be haggling at the moment.

“I need it by tomorrow morning, I will be coming into town then to pick it up. Can you get it done?”

“I’ll get your kettle.”

“Good night then.”

Harlan ran over to the doctors and got in line, seems she stayed up late with her work as well.

He waited for some time, even covered up his crest to avoid anyone leaving when they saw him.

Finally Elanor came out to speak with him, once she realized who he was she brought him to her personal office.

“Sir Fomoria, how can I help you tonight?” She had the same false calm Harlan remembered from those years ago.

“I heard Brig was here. I wanted to know if he is alright.”

“Yes. I can wake him if you would like.”

“No, I don’t want to bother him. What is wrong with him? Does he need anything?”

“Well… I don’t think there is anything to be done. He is getting older, and his life is just nearing the end. I could do more to keep the symptoms at bay, but that is an extra cost. He said to stop him from dying and he would get better on his own. I tried explaining that wasn’t how it works, but he is a… Head strong man.”

“He is an old goat.” Harlan thought about laughing, but he couldn’t force himself to.

“How much to get you to get rid of the symptoms? Can I pay for that at least?”

“I don’t think he is going to make it longer than 6 months. A cost of 1 gold a month is all that it costs, he simply doesn’t want to waste his money as he says. If you gave me 6 coins I would treat him for 6 months, and if he lives longer than that we can renegotiate prices. I know you are going to be leaving for the next 10 months so if you want to pay more I am willing to hold that extra gold until you return, should he not live past whatever you pay me for.”

“If there is money left over. Just consider it payment for people who are short on theirs.”

“Of course, thank you for your patronage Sir Fomoria. Should I tell people it was you?”

“If they ask, sure.”

Harlan gave her 30 gold, everything he was carrying at the time. He hated that talk. He hadn’t really lost anyone close to him yet. He wasn’t even really that close to the old man, he just liked that he didn’t judge him and insulted everyone who came to his shop to ask dumb questions, he was honest with him, and by the time he came back, he would likely be months dead.

Harlan returned home and went to work.

Trying to keep his mind occupied.