The day of the party was upon them.
The couple was working out just fine with reports on their activities throughout the day, Cuprum tried to say that this would be a new dawn for them and Harlan had to come up with a name for him instead.
He was Jerah now, no particular meaning behind it.
He made one tunnel from near his home, but outside of the wall, directly to Tole.
Harlan reached Tole in a matter of minutes, and then passed over the town and very luckily didn’t hit a tree. Had he not been wearing his armor and had he not taken some precautions such as sanding off rough edges and quickly casting an air cushion, he would’ve died.
Yet it mattered little, his mind was far more focused on the fact that it was so fast, that his spells could send him so far so quickly in a controlled environment.
It was one thing to have seen it on a small scale model, but he expected it would be much slower when scaled up to a 6x4 single compartment death trap.
The acceleration was far too quick and the slow down was far too slow. The first slamming him into his seat and the latter failing as the spells too much more mana than he had expected.
The only other worry with it was that the gems had shattered, dozens of gold worth of materials were wasted.
He was healed, Sepul having been called by Adina to make sure he lived.
It was funny to him, he had never once seen Adina actually talk to him, yet he had given her his contact.
“Other than your clearly very unwell mind, you are healthy. Can you explain how you ended up in such a state?”
“Any chance I could seek your generous contributions to a project to connect the cities with a high speed box that travels on rails.”
“As I said, very unwell.”
“I made something, I just need to keep testing it.”
Harlan tried to stand up and Adina brought her armored fist down like a hammer on his jaw.
“Sit down, shut up, I am banning you from work until we get back from the academy.”
Tears were running down her face.
Sepul set and healed his jaw back in working order.
“I’m sorry.”
“Then act like it, just, shut up and get ready. We need to leave for the party soon.”
“The girl is right, you have other things to worry about. She also needs to leave the room for the next part of our talk.”
“She has a name.”
“So I’m told. As I was say-”
“Apologize.”
“What?”
“I told Isha this once before. I would let nobody short of the king come in here and insult my people. Whatever the second part of this conversation is, it is not as important as me keeping my word.”
Sepul laughed at first, then apologized, he even called her by her name before she left.
“I almost admire your guts, though you shouldn’t repeat that to anyone else. Otherwise you’ll end up with someone seeking a fight and getting it. For this other conversation, Duke Harbinger will be at the Blackstone party. He told me that he was interested in you, and as a courtesy, he asked for my blessing in meeting you.”
“Anything I need to know?”
“You know how they got the family name?”
“They announced the coming of the king when he was uniting as many still standing territories as he could to hold back Reino. Ix the Scythe was the first duke.”
”Have you heard the phrase don’t kill the messenger?”
“Of course.”
“The Harbinger of the king was not a popular man, so often they would try to kill him when they had no intention of joining with Ragne. When they tried, they failed. Now they control secure communication between nobles and the king. Though they are really a family of spies and assassins. Your amulets disrupted the cover, but now they are in charge of maintaining the public communication stations and military communications. I did not ask why the duke wanted to see you, but you are in his duchy, so perhaps it is just a friendly meeting.”
“What are the chances that it is?”
“Almost nil. Same as his name.”
“I know his name. I might not know every noble in the duchy, but I’d be an idiot to not know who he is at least a little bit.”
“Then you should know that he is dangerous, but straight forward, much like Ix. Despite being spies and assassins, I believe they are one of the most honest families who you can meet. If you meet him in good faith, he will do the same for you.
You are going to find another surprise at the party, though I cannot speak of what it is.”
“Thank you for the warnings.”
“Of course, you are my apprentice for another 4 years. By then I imagine that you will be a fully fledged champion and it would be unwise for me to remain above you.”
“Is that normal? That timeframe?”
“No, normally I would require a 10 year commitment. I have been remarkably lenient towards you on account of various factors.”
“Then I thank you for that as well.”
He made more smalltalk, personal anecdotes about Nil mostly.
When it came time to leave he hesitated to cast his gate, as if he still wanted to say something.
Ava still wasn’t talking to him. Yet she came with him in his carriage, as if she wanted to ride just for the sake of glaring at him.
“So, do you two want to talk about what happened between you?”
The four who were riding together were Harlan, Adina, Redmond, and Zella.
“She is free if she wants.”
“I’m not talking to him. Lugh told me what you did.”
“That makes sense, I don’t think he is good at hiding things. He feels too much.”
“I didn’t want to tell her, but… you are scary.”
“I know I am.”
“Alright, so, am I going to hear this story or not?”
“I covered up the killing of the mayor of Dullen by making it look like he would rather kill himself than be captured.”
“Why?” Adina didn’t ask with any anger in her voice, she just wanted to know.
“He threatened Ava despite knowing who I was. Blackstone agreed that he had it coming, which is why she helped me keep it quiet when I admitted it to her.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t get to fucking understand, that wasn’t his choice to make, it isn’t her choice to forgive him.
Harlan killed a man in cold blood and the three of you don’t seem to care.”
Zella averted her eyes, then turned back.
“Harlan was right. What he did was right, you are the only one who doesn’t think that. If you want to hate him, hate me too.”
“Hey now, why don’t we calm down. Ava, you don’t hate your brother, you are just… not able to see it from his perspective.”
“Fuck perspectives.”
“I told Harlan the same thing, please, cut back on the swearing.”
“You too? You really don’t see what is wrong with him?”
Harlan’s eyes went black and his shadow sat on the seat with him.
“Ava, child, live this life which you have. Someday, you may understand your brother, someday you will not. There is nothing which can be forgiven, and there is nothing which cannot be.
Accept his lies, or accept his truth. Harlan, lie to your sister, to your lover, to your mother, to your friends, It will make this easier. You know what you must do, what you have already done.
Tell me, sister of my only child, have you forgiven your master for his lies?”
“Breaken doesn’t lie to me.”
“I am the god of lies. He has lived a lie for decades. Yet these are not that which would upset you. Do you believe him bloodless, that he has not done worse? Would you have the strength to ask him what he has done?”
She gently cradled Ava’s face in her hands.
“You do not know the world, you have spilled blood in the name of justice, real and false.
Would others forgive your sins? Those which you know and do not know? I have seen what my child has not. He did what was right, because doing anything else would hurt you much worse than this little pain. Coddle yourself if that is your choice. But my child, he has seen the bleakness of mankind, and yet looks upon them with such hopeful eyes.
Were you to see it, could you do the same? Could you love peace and hate bloodshed as he does? With all of your heart?”
She faded back into mana and Harlan’s shadow took its place behind him.
Ava really didn’t know how she felt about what happened.
Her voice was calming and beautiful, her touch was gentle and cool, everything about The Darkness made her want to understand Harlan instead of blaming him for the situations he ended up in.
But once the glimmer of being directly spoken to by such a being passed, she really thought about what she had said.
“What did she mean by most of that stuff? Harlan doesn’t want peace, he wants to kill the people he hates. What is the worst thing that he saw? He spent time with the princess and then he has been at the academy. I’m the one who has to deal with bandits and goblins and corrupt people.”
“...”
“What?”
“Harlan’s first mother… she… I can’t tell you. But it made Harlan hurt really bad. He is just scared of you having something like that happen to you.”
“And that justifies what he is doing?”
“Just, try to understand him.”
“Harlan, tell me what happened to your birth mother. Zella and Lugh brought her up to explain how you are. So, from the horse's mouth, why should it matter?”
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The atmosphere in the carriage changed in an instant, one could just look out the window and see shadows of tree darken, animals flee.
“Did they say anything about what happened to her?”
“No, they are both being mysterious and hesitating to even bring her up at all.”
“Ava, I think you should drop the subject. Harlan, you don’t need to tell her. It is just going to ruin the rest of your day and you shouldn’t be around people when you are like that.”
Redmond always kept a lot back when he was on leave so he didn’t burden other people and ruin the mood. He didn’t want Harlan to feel the same discomfort of knowing he brought everyone else down.
Adina tightly gripped his hand.
“I think you should say it. Remember, I’m not supposed to like you, I’m supposed to make you better.”
Harlan took a deep breath and explained everything as quickly as he could then just went silent as he spoke with Dawn.
“Do you think it was the right thing to do?”
“Are you worried about upsetting me, or upsetting her? I saw it all happen, part of becoming me instead of her was to move past what happened. I can’t tell you to get over it, you are still young and confused and the world is just going to get more confusing.”
After an hour Ava finally spoke.
“I’m not going to forgive you. But, I’ll hold off judgment for a little while. Maybe… maybe I don’t know enough about life to be so angry at you.”
“Thank you.”
Harlan thought of a lot of things that he could’ve said, argued to defend himself, but he chose to lie instead.
“Great, now, we’ve all made up. Harlan, you want to tell me about the deathtrap?”
Zella was with Adina in Tole waiting for his arrival, she had seen it fly through the air, the hover barely staying active. The sheer speed at which it moved lit up something inside her brain.
“You want to ride it?”
“After a few revisions, if you can make one that doesn’t kill whoever uses it, yes.”
“Well, for now I’m not allowed to make another one. But, Balor might be able to. He could also make golems to test it.”
“Who said you aren’t allowed? Did your mom tell you no?”
“Adina broke my jaw.”
“Wait, what.”
Zella thought he was just joking, once she realized he wasn’t she laughed even louder and Harlan joined in.
Blackstone and Harbinger met Harlan at the foyer.
He was in his early 40s, black hair, pale skin, sharp features, deep blue eyes, though without magical effect. In the broad strokes, he bore resemblance to Harlan, or a stereotype of a vampire.
The Harbinger crest featured the upper half of skeleton, in its right hand, a scroll, in its left, a scythe.
Though there was no known reason behind it, every member of the Harbinger family, from the firstborn to distant bastards, were left handed.
To the approval of Nil, Harlan flicked little gusts of color magic, painting invisible men and women with a bright white dust that faded after a few moments.
“Come, speak with me.”
“Blackstone, if you would be willing, please talk with Ava, she knows what I did.”
“Of course.”
The room was set up by the Harbinger family, wards and arrays layered in the dozens to ensure an entirely safe and secure location.
“I am not interested in a long and drawn out talk, I want to know. How did you find them? Each of those people out there used a different invisibility spell, not a single one would be easy to break.”
“Oh I didn’t break them. I entirely bypassed them.”
“I just must know the spell. What will the cost be?”
“I was under the impression that I would be speaking with Nil. He can step out from behind that cabinet if he wants.”
“Voi, my dear niece, you’ve failed again. Good afternoon, Sir Fomoria. My wish is for whatever spell you have to bypass what we specialize in.”
“Firstly, it cannot be taught, it is a bloodline ability. Secondly, I do have a lesser form of the spell, which is how I knew that she was not you.”
“And, by your mentioning, I assume that you would be willing to sell this spell to us?”
“Uncle, can’t you just-”
He covered her with a veil.
“She is young, please don’t take anything she says seriously.”
“Though I am young, please take my words seriously. My concern with giving out spells is not cost, I do not do these things for money or fame, I do them because it makes a better world. So, let me hear your argument, why should I let you use this spell?”
“Naive, or is that just the image you wish to project?”
“I am aware I am an idiot.”
“Very well. I believe it makes a better world because we can find the enemies that we don’t know we have. Things are constantly changing, we lose people as the race to make or break new invisibility spells accelerates. I’ve looked into a past incident where your own father was injured by an assassin during an unfortunate lull in which invisibility overcame our ability to break it. Then another incident, two Unseen died due to a new spell giving the assassin an invisibility that could be used while a breaker spell let him divine the location of the men. If your spell is as good as claimed, then assassins will not be able to do what they have done, less people, innocent or otherwise, will end up dead.”
“And what about when the spell is leaked, will you just stop bothering with invisibility? Will the assassin trade just die? How do you think the reaction will be, long term?”
“No man can speak with honesty against the passage of time. But, I imagine the advent of greater firearms will turn assassination into a game of hiding in plain sight or making shots from miles away. They have grown from simple, reliable things that killed soldiers in ambushes, to something that nearly killed you and has killed other mages. In the very long term, this spell of yours will be a great defense until a time comes that it isn’t needed anymore.”
“Reasonable. Now, why don’t I hear your niece's arguments.”
“I do not think that would be a good idea.”
“You, you I trust with this spell. But I am not giving the spell to you, I am giving it to your family. So, I want to hear from someone other than you.”
He hesitantly lowered the veil and told her to explain why they should be sold the spell.
She had dropped the disguise of her uncle.
The family resemblance was clear, though she still had some youthful softness to her.
“I want to know, how did you know I wasn’t him?”
“You smell wrong, your soul is the wrong shade. Your heart rate went up when you looked at me. You failed to maintain eye contact. From what Sepul told me, and from what I’ve read, the Duke Harbinger should not react that way.”
“Now that is impressive. I don’t think Blackstone noticed I wasn’t him.”
“She has reason to not question him, even if you changed quite a bit, she might not call you out.”
“What did you mean about my smell?”
“Women, at certain times, smell faintly of iron to me.”
The disgust was clear on her face.
“I don’t really smell, right?”
“To a normal person, no, they could never smell it. Maybe an Ursa or a Canis would smell you, but I’ve spoken with an Ursa before and she said that mentioning smells is a taboo among her people.”
She blushed and hid her face.
“How embarrassing. What was that about souls though?”
“The souls of women are also more vibrant than the souls of men, I assume it has something to do with their ability to create new souls in the womb.”
“Oh? Interesting, I’ve never heard of that before. Is there anything else unique about people's souls?”
“Well, the Golden all have a tinge of gold in their souls.”
“How interesting, what about beastkin?”
“I don’t want to talk about this subject anymore. Is that your natural hair color?”
“Yes, it is quite beautiful, thank you for noticing.”
“I didn’t say it was. Is that your real eye color?”
She was confused, but answered none the less.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why should I do it?”
“Do what?”
“What is your favorite color?”
“Blue.”
“Do you like light or heavy weapons?”
“I have an extending spear of lightsteel.”
“Why?”
“It is a combat weapon that acts as both a dagger and a spear depending on size.”
“Why?”
“Ligh-”
“Do you prefer your hair short as it is or would you grow it out if you had the chance.”
“I’m not sure wh-”
“Do you like sweet or savory food more?”
“I-”
“Answer the original question, why?”
“Sir Fomoria, please stop bullying my niece. Voi, be quiet. I believed we were meeting in good faith.”
“She was being dishonest, pretending to be something other than what she was.
I do not like that she feigned vulnerability and interest in me to suss out how my magic works.”
“Some manly pride at work?”
“No, I have a girl that I love, I’ve no interest in you in the first place.”
Harlan could tell it stung her ego.
“Now, Voi Harbinger, why do you deserve the spell that I have?”
“Because we are the people who train your Unseen guards, it is in your best interest, for the safety of your family, that you give us this spell.”
“Give? I thought we were making a deal.”
“As I said, this is in your best interest.”
“Maybe I don’t want to. Why don’t we flip a coin for it? No tricks of course.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Of course, good faith, just as my uncle always says. Do you want to flip the coin? Or should I?”
“Bring a maid, someone unaffiliated.”
The maid looked confused and worried that she had been dragged into a noble game.
She flipped the coin, heads for Harlan, tails for Voi.
There was no trick, at least none that Harlan could’ve seen, and it landed tails.
“Thank you for the spell, can you teach us now? Or does this require a class?”
Nil was furious.
“Sir Fomoria, she cheated. Do not teach us the spell. Voi, you need to leave. Return to your father, tell him what happened, and prepare a proper apology for Sir Fomoria.”
“What? You idiot, I had him. You should’ve just shut up and let me do my work.”
“You bring dishonor to your name, your work was to help this deal, and instead you’ve gone against the faith he put in me.”
Harlan listened to them arguing back and forth for 10 minutes before he stepped in.
“You’ve earned the spell.”
“What?” They both said.
“You, girl, you don’t deserve it. But I will teach Nil and he can choose who gets it. He has argued with you, his family, he called you out for your deception even when I had no way to know I was being tricked.
I trust him with the spell, I wouldn’t trust you with the coin we flipped.”
“Listen here you litt-”
Nil injected her with a paralyzing agent.
“I will bring her back home.”
“How old is she?”
“21 this year, she has skills, but lacks the temperament that is needed for our work. I do have one other thing to ask for, golems.”
“Of course, what do you need.”
“Those new golems, not dumb ones. I have a letter from the king saying that you are free to reveal whatever secrets you feel are needed to create them, or you could deny my request.”
“Before that, we discussed the soul sight spell.”
“Ah, so that is what you have to offer us.”
“Yes, pay attention.”
Harlan showed him the movements and spoke the sounds. Nil learned the spell with ease after just a few repetitions, though it was more limited than when Harlan used it.
“Amazing. Her soul is so… small.”
“With the contact based soul searching spell it fills the entire vision outside of the soul with darkness, giving the impression that they are much larger.”
The duke groaned and deactivated the spell.
“There is some backlash, a warning would’ve been nice.”
“Really? I keep the spell active almost all of the time?”
“Even at such a cost?”
“The spell is basically free, isn’t it? Perhaps you need more time to practice, or it is related to what I am.”
“We will need to refine the spell ourselves somewhat. I had heard you were not a businessman, but to give away the spell before uttering a word of coin is a poor idea. You should know better for the future.”
“I believe you aren’t going to be unfair to me. And, you wouldn’t be making an enemy right now if I felt slighted, you would be giving an enemy to your family until I die of unnatural causes. I am the champion of darkness and therefore unaging.”
“What do you ask of me then?”
“Could you, or somebody of your choosing, teach me invisibility?”
“That is a restricted spell, and, simply put, would it be worth the cost of your spell? Now that you know I and any I choose could completely bypass any form of it that I could teach you?”
“Oh it isn’t just for me. I would like most of my golems to have just a simple form of invisibility so people are more comfortable despite them being around. Besides, as you said, you and the people you choose could bypass them. But by that same measure, they could also see you and most of my enemies are likely to not be using invisibility.”
“You want an invisible army of machines?”
“I can tell you are still hesitant, so I am willing to manufacture a smart golem for you as well.
Calling them dumb or smart golems might be better descriptors than first and second generation or simple and advanced.”
“I will speak with Sepul, if he believes that you can be responsible with the spell, I am not entirely opposed to this trade. But, if there was another thing we could give you, just in case, what would it be.”
“Mana gems, the larger the better. I have a few projects that could be handled with a large number of small gems, but those things run smoother with large gems.”
They made a little smalltalk, tried to further refine the spell somewhat, finding some success in the short 30 minutes before Voi regained consciousness and wanted to fight everyone, forcing her to be put under again and dragged home before the party.
Harlan was finally free to visit with Blackstone and wait for the rest of his family.