Blackstone awoke and joined the rest of the house for breakfast as if nothing had happened.

She didn’t even smell of liquor.

After some advice from Sara they decided on a breakfast of roasted potatoes, sausage patties, and a rich broth soup made from beef.

“Good morning, Countess Blackstone.”

“You as well, Harlan. Shall we have our conversation in private after breakfast is finished?”

“Of course, I have just the space.”

“Your table is filled out more than I would expect, are these young women also ministers of yours? You know that filling out your inner circle with too many of them will-”

“Blackstone, please, we both know what people say about me. These are my maids. I would like a nice breakfast, so please be civil.”

“Very well. You don’t keep any drink in your home, do you?”

“I had a single bottle of wine. But you drank it last night.”

“Really? Well, not a worry. You know, I would still like that dinner together.”

“I didn’t expect that, considering what you said last night.”

“Of course, I am certain Sable has mentioned it, but I believe you are the perfect man for her.

Strong, brave, willing to do what needs to be done, but doesn’t want to fall far enough to be really dangerous.”

“I think you are giving me too much credit.”

“You are not giving yourself enough. My husband, when he was still with us.”

She barely lowered her eyes before catching herself.

“He never believed that he was a great man, yet everyone who knew him thought he was.

That is another strong suit, you are not overly prideful. You even invite the help to dine with you.”

“She is playing you.”

“And I want to fall for it.”

“I won’t stop you.”

“Blackstone, I have no interest in Sable. I decided that once I come of age I will enter a relationship of that kind with Adina. So I am asking, because you are my guest and I am your host, that you drop the subject, and that you respect my maids. They are not the help, they are friends of mine who are also employees.”

She placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand, a longing look in her eyes as she

“Were I just 25 years younger…”

Everyone just gave her an odd look and she barely said anything else while they ate.

Once they were done Harlan led her down to the bunker, hoping to see Balor as well.

He didn’t always come to dinners on account of knowing Harlan would be back home at some point and him being unable to eat.

What was odd was that he wasn’t answering his amulet, though after calling others he learned he was in the middle of something.

He had Blackstone sit in a meeting room while he grabbed his book of spells and some paper so he could draw up diagrams and a manual for each of the armors.

When he opened the door to the lab they most often used, Balor was inside with a single blood crystal the size of Harlan.

“I’ve been trying to understand the flow of life in blood after the body has been killed. I’ve put aside the idea of transfering my soul, but if I could make a golem out of flesh and implant myself, it might be better.”

“Interesting. Have you been able to use the sigils yet? I was going to talk with you about it, but I didn’t want to do it if not in person. I got the ritual to work, the change I made was to have a willing subject, but it also worked on a dead body.”

“Perhaps I should try them again, but no, they are still painful to be around. So long as one of them is in my sight I can’t focus well enough to do delicate work.”

“Have you spoken with The Mother about this?”

”I still don’t trust her. So no, I have not spoken with her.”

“I don’t disagree, but I think she can be trusted enough for you to speak with her. If she did harm you, then she risks her champion ignoring her.”

“I don’t feel like having this conversation again. Did you come in here for anything else?”

“Book of spells, pencils, and paper.”

“Of course, everything is where it should be and Isha makes sure we keep them in stock.”

“Thanks.”

Harlan returned to Blackstone and walked her through everything that wasn’t in the book.

Well, everything he was willing to talk about.

“With that out of the way, how did I act last night? I am sorry for anything I might’ve said.”

He spoke without an ounce of hesitation.

“You acted as any noble should, I took no offense.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“You found out how to lie, that is… concerning. I will assume I didn’t do anything too bad, since I doubt you would hold back if I did offend you.”

“You were fine. Onyx gave me a little advice on how to deal with you. He said he would be here by dawn, but he is late.”

“I’m a little surprised, I know I can be… erratic when I forget to pace myself.”

“You spent the carriage ride over here asking me personal questions with your head on my shoulder, then you passed out once you finished the bottle of whiskey.”

“I didn’t… try anything, right?”

“No, you were proper. You did tell me to marry Sable however. Then you told me that having babies was better in my prime and I was going to die young because I was good.”

“You didn’t tell anyone about that, right?”

“Adina was in the carriage with us, but no, nobody else. I know that drink and grief makes people say things they don’t want to say, so I understand that it was just you worrying about your daughter and me.”

“I need another drink.”

“You’ll have to wait until you get home or pick something up when you pass through a town. But, maybe it would be better to talk to somebody so you don’t feel the need to drink.”

After a few minutes of laughing herself sick she called Onyx to ask where he was.

Apparently Jet had something he couldn’t tell their mother about and needed his help with, so he risked her being there with Harlan and in a bad mood for the sake of his brother.

He would be there shortly, so Blackstone wanted to finish up their dealing before then.

“Is there anything else you need then?”

“Not regarding the armors, do you have any questions?”

“With how they swirl and shift like a liquid, why does it matter how the armor itself is designed? Couldn’t you just put the gems in a block of metal and make it work just the same?”

“Yes and no. Yes, that could work, but no, because it would be a bad idea. When you aren’t doing anything, the armor has to have a base form to return to. Just by hiding it under my clothes like I am, there is a minute drain, nothing to worry about, I’m actually replenishing it faster than it drains. But, if the form it wanted to return to was entirely unlike what it now is, then that drain is going to be higher.”

“Alright, now your question.”

“I have nothing to ask.”

“Oh yes you do.”

Harlan leaned back in his seat.

“Why did you laugh so much when I suggested you speak to somebody.”

“Because my drinking isn’t a problem, I’m very high functioning. And I have talked to people, friends and family and so on. I’m lonely, but I’m not oblivious to what I want, who I am, or how others have told me to handle my grief.

Unless I find somebody who I can truly love, it would be pointless to satisfy that part of me.”

Harlan was a little disgusted, things seemed to lead back to this subject far too often.

“Oh don’t look at me like that. I’m choosing to abstain from that path because I know it would be worse than my drinking.”

“I think I’ve heard enough.”

“Yes, you have. I don’t really feel comfortable talking with you about it anyway.”

That, he could tell, was a lie. She wasn’t bothered at all talking about the subject, she was just choosing not to continue talking about it with him because she could tell he didn’t like it.

Once Onyx had arrived they both moved upstairs.

“I am sorry that my mother has imposed on you while in an unwell state.”

“Not a worry, we had business, now it is finished. It would’ve been rude if I hadn’t brought her along and let her rest.”

“If you don’t mind, what business did she have with you?”

“She has requested that it remains private.”

“Very well. I shall see you at the party before you return to the academy I assume?”

“Yes, I planned to go.”

With their awkward smalltalk out of the way Harlan waved them goodbye and decided to walk around the house.

Isha was hanging up clothes outside, with the new workers and spies there was no small amount to wash and dry.

“Good morning.”

“Ah, you’ve finished with Blackstone then?”

“Yes.”

Harlan began to telekinetically clip the clothes onto the line.

“I wanted to say, you don’t need to stand up to people for us. We are your workers to everyone who doesn’t know you, and that is fine.”

“I wouldn’t let anyone short of the king come into my home and insult my friends.”

“There really isn’t any need for that, we are all big kids, we can handle ourselves.”

She turned around to get another basket of clothes only to see them all empty.

“Do you want any help with anything else? I just want to clear my head for a bit.”

“I have more things to wash. I need to clear the gutters, pick things from the garden, clean, cut, and can what we aren’t going to be using. There are fermentations that need to be checked on, meats to be smoked. After that I would just walk around to see what might’ve been missed. Oh, and your things from the academy, you came in so late that we didn’t get the chance to bring all of it in and sort it.”

“What is Sara going to be doing then?”

“Balor has her running errands, she isn’t here that much anymore during the day.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll need to send her out again. I need to make an armor for Amber and I wouldn’t want anyone but Brig making it.”

“You could just call Adina, she went with her.”

Harlan stuttered in his step for just a moment and Isha laughed.

“Is it really that surprising? She has been coming here with you for months, Sara and her aren’t exactly strangers.”

“I just didn’t expect her to want to go out of here at all for a while. She hasn’t even been to Tole yet.”

“Perhaps she knows that you would be watching her like a hawk and she wouldn’t be allowed to get a good sense of the people.”

“I’m really happy then.”

“Oh? I almost expected you to run off after them.”

“If she wants to be independent, maybe our time in Borden helped more than it hurt.”

Another voice came from behind.

“Humans often need to be tempered in fire.”

He took a combat stance and his armor lost all subtly along with the rod he kept on him.

Yet when he turned around it was no enemy.

“Blue?”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to visit you as part of my journey.”

“Oh.”

The steel receded under cloth and he holstered his weapon.

Harlan looked around but there were no more minds besides the ones he knew.

“Did Gertrude not come? Or is she just behind you in a carriage?”

“She passed away, I’ve taken to traveling. Once I go back I’ll pick my new partner.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”

“She went in her sleep. Your magic let her last moments be relatively painless. For that, I thank you.”

“Would you like to come inside? I’m not sure what you eat, but I should have something.”

“No, I was just passing through the area and thought to stop by. This is a nice home, it reminds me of what Jennifer and I once had. But, if you wouldn’t mind, I would take a few peaches.”

“Of course, and, if you don’t mind. How did you hide yourself? Sneaking up on me is…”

“Nearly impossible for normal people. I am aware of what you are and how to get around it. As for the how, I will not be explaining.”

“I was worried my senses were betraying me.”

“Once you get as old as me, you won’t be doubting them anymore, Little Shadow.”

“Odd, you aren’t the first person to call me that. Where did you hear it?”

“It is your true name now. I won’t get into the specifics, but Marigold’s name is an enchanted word, so your name is also now etched among the souls of man and beast.”

“That… feels wrong.”

“Wrongness is just a feeling people have. Don’t ignore it, but don't get too caught up on it either.”

“I’ll think on that.”

“Of course you will, I’ve heard you do quite a lot of thinking.”

“Did you visit people I know?”

“I stopped by the academy last week, the students were gone but the teachers were still there. So I had plenty of them to speak with. I also spoke with Sepul, who has given me a great deal of insight into you.”

With those final words Blue took a few peaches, eating them pit and all, then asked them to step back while he crouched down.

With a movement so fast Harlan nearly missed it the only living Skyfury leapt upwards like a bolt of lightning in reverse.

Once he was a few hundred feet high he seemed to grow tenfold, his body became shrouded in dark clouds that were lit from the inside by the bright blue lightning.

The form gave one massive flap of its wings and a loud boom rang out when the bird instantly left the sight of anyone watching.

Harlan received a call from Adina shortly after.

She was terrified of what that might’ve been, but after a few short explanations she and Sara went back to their errands.

Adina was actually having a pleasant time in Tole, many of the people treated her in a friendly manner on account of the crest clear on the rope she wore.

Many of the businesses had the crest on them to denote that they were under the protection of Balor’s men.

The guards were better equipped than most towns 4 times this size.

“This place is quite unique. Where are we going next?”

“Adventurers guild.”

“Oh? Is it just like the stories?”

“Depends what you mean.”

“A wild assortment of men and women willing to help for coin.”

“More like a den of lechers and people kicked from the army. We are going there to retrieve some items that have been rented but payments have been missed. Balor is pretty forgiving, but we are nearly ready to just not let them rent weapons and armor at all. Breaking it is fine, stealing it is too far though.”

“Am I here as your muscle?”

“Are you kidding? Harlan hates adventurers, if I made you fight some of them he wouldn’t be happy with any of us. The guard will handle them, if not, anyone who helps us get back items like this can get discounts on their own rentals or purchases.”

“This whole system is quite odd to me.”

“People are fine to pay for a little golem to help clean every one in a while instead of the cost of a maid or actually owning such a thing. Farmers can get golems that harvest their fields, hunters get something to watch their back while they sleep or just a little hotplate to cook without needing to build a fire every time. During the winter we actually ran out of kettles. I think it is wonderful what Balor has done for these people. He sometimes gets a little weird when talking about nobility, but I try not to pay too much attention.”

“What do you mean by weird?”

“Well, I just don’t think he likes nobles. I know he doesn’t mind Redwall, but I think he holds contempt for almost every other one.”

“Blackstone?”

“I probably shouldn’t say anymore. Ears everywhere, and not all of them are Balor’s.”

They stepped into the adventurers guild flanked by two man shaped golems and four town guards.

As part of a contract, Balor provided 1 golem per 2 guards and outside of a few situations, it had been working out well for both sides.

Sara had a list of what items they needed to find, a description of the man who had them, and lastly a gem that glowed red in the presence of the item that she was thinking about.

It wasn’t really a secret anymore that Harlan had a way to soulsmith which would let divinations and other magic that required thought to actually be used.

What did bother people however, was both that he wouldn’t give up the new method, and the king had put out a declaration to every noble house that he was not to be forced into giving it out under threat of their entire homes being considered traitors to the crown and that reverse engineering the method was punishable by death.

There were crimes where just the house head and whoever else was involved would be punished, and then there were crimes that got houses razed.

A larger part of why it was being treated so harshly was not just because of the power imbalance that could come from nobles making their private armies stronger with less people, but also because it let Yggdra weed out people with more greed than sense.

The closer he got to his appointed date with death, the more he wanted to leave behind a country which would be easier to rule than the one he was handed.

Hydran had gone missing some time ago, hunting accident was the official story, but in reality he was just an example being made.

No other children of the royal family needed to die, the message was clear.