Heather tensed as she looked across the table at the people she had left behind weeks ago. Lydia smiled curtly as if amused by their meeting again, but Frank wasn't at all happy.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded and went right to the side of the table. He leaned on it and glared at the three intruders to ensure they knew he wasn’t happy to see them.
“Your hostility is not warranted,” baron Durmont replied as Frank turned his gaze on the man.
“None of you are welcome here,” Frank said to ensure the point was in the open.
“Then perhaps we made a mistake in coming here,” Lady Dellaquin said as she put a hand over one of Baron Durmont’s.
“Why did you come here?” Frank demanded as he didn’t budge an inch on his hostile body language.
Heather was taken aback by Frank's aggressiveness, but then, why would they welcome this group? They had played a dangerous game, luring Heather and Frank into a trap to kill or contain them. Then they would have been handed over to paladins to be used for practice and training before being reset. Who knew how many this had happened to already or for how long it had been going on? Finneous might have explained some of it, but did it justify what they did?
“I suppose I should explain it,” Lydia said as she stood up to glare back at Frank. “You and your friends have cost us our home.”
“We didn’t do anything but try to cross your land,” Frank countered. “You stole the palanquin, forced us into a confrontation, and then tried to sell us out.”
“In our defense, we had no choice,” Lydia hissed and pointed a finger at him. “But if all you had done was defeat us and run away, it would have been fine, but no, you had to unleash a goblin hoard on the paladins.”
“What does that have to do with it?” Frank demanded as she finally leaned back and folded his arms.
“The goblins have aroused a great deal of concern,” Lady Dellaquin explained. “That a paladin hunting party was attacked and slain by goblins has riled up concern that they are massing again. On top of that, they say a scythe-wielding devil woman somehow summoned them to her aid. So a lot of questions are being asked, and we are implicated in aiding you. If Kevin's paladins lay their hands on us, we will rot in a holy prison for the next thousand years.”
“After they force us to answer questions about your little party,” Baron Durmont added.
Heather watched as Frank tensed and went to his side before he leaped over the table to throttle the man. She had never seen him respond to somebody with so much hostility to anyone he wasn't about to attack. She wondered if this was a reaction to the change in their relationship. He was willing to kill to protect them, and now all four girls were under his care. These three represented a threat to his women, and he was more than ready to defend them.
“Maybe we should hear them out,” Heather urged but shot Lydia a heated glare. “Besides, I have questions, like how on earth you found us here.”
Lydia glanced at Finneous as his smile changed to one of nervousness.
“You led them here?” Heather asked as she turned on him. “Why would you do something like that?”
Finneous looked tired and placed his fingertips on his forehead as he collected his thoughts.
“These people are my friends,” he began. “When our kingdom was first founded it was all in good fun. We never killed players, and even when Lydia fed on a player, she often left them with a reward. It was a good time, but then the whole necromancer thing happened, and players began to choose sides.”
“It divided down clear lines,” Lady Dellaquin added. “Hero against monster players.”
“But it included the necromancers and other classes like them, as well as beastmen of every variety,” Finneous said. “In early confrontations, many hero players were defeated, and the necromancers reigned supreme. They even struck back, wiping out local hero kingdoms and driving them out. Heros players were humiliated and looking for some way to vent that anger. They took their frustration out on local monster players, persecuting them for not being heroes. Thus, the monster players rallied to the necromancers in droves and made players hate them. Then Kevin launched a massive campaign of cruelty.”
“Like I need another reason to dislike this man,” Heather grumbled. “So tell us, what did he do?”
“He encouraged players to reset and become paladins, or holy priests and similar classes,” Lydia said. “He created a small army of fanatic holy-wielding players who bought into his madness.”
“What good would that do?” Frank interjected. “An army of level one players in a time of war is useless.”
“Did you see nothing when you came through our land?” Baron Durmont asked. “Kevin knew they would be too weak to turn the tide, so he created a way to power level them.”
Heather immediately knew what was coming next but held her breath as Lydia resumed explaining. Kevin allowed some monster players to exist in small, contained areas. These were used as training grounds for his fledgling army, the monster players cannon fodder to the holy mob. That's why Lydia had been allowed to persist and was forcefully reset periodically. She was imprisoned in a training camp for Kevin's private army.
“So why are you here now?” Frank demanded.
“Are you blind?” Lydia hissed. “After your little incident, we lost all credibility. They didn't trust us after Finneous's little stunt and threatened to cap us at level five if they caught us sheltering fugitives again. Then you come along to not only kill a pack of their trainees but do it with a force of goblins. The whole order is up in arms and demanding answers, so we had to choose to flee.”
“Why now?” Frank said as he was unmoved by her story. “You could have run at any time and escaped the noose. Why did it take this to motivate you?”
Heather thought that was an excellent point and was impressed by how well Frank was handling this. He was a stone wall to their advances, throwing them back at every turn. It was affecting them as their faces soured to have to explain themselves. Even Finneous looked alarmed at how cold Frank's reaction was and began to fidget nervously.
“We were being watched,” Lydia finally said and looked away. “But thankfully, you tore out their eyes and gave us a brief window to run.”
“What do you mean I tore out their eyes?” Frank demanded as he sounded tired of their game.
“The hunt master you slew,” Baron Durmont replied. “He was not a trusted ally as Finneous was. He was put into our group to keep an eye on us and never reset. He was easily twice any of our levels and given a magical token that could disable our undead powers.”
“So that’s why he had that item,” Heather gasped. “He was your jailer.”
“Indeed,” Lady Deloquin said. “And his cruelty was sanctioned by those who seek to keep us under control.”
“They have a process where one of those coins is magically bonded to an undead player,” Baron Durmont added. “You will never be able to manifest your full power again.”
Heather couldn't believe how wicked these players were. This was a world meant for everyone to enjoy, yet they had spent time and effort looking for ways to strip that enjoyment from others. They would only allow things to progress how they wanted, and everyone else could burn. How had Hathlisora driven Kevin to this level of madness? What really happened that put so many on this path of self-destruction?
“Suffice to say, none of us could go anywhere without him discovering it. He had keen senses and packs of wolves prowling the forests. He kept us under constant watch and was aided by spies that we never discovered,” Baron Durmont finished.
“Spies?” Heather asked.
“More like ghosts,” Lydia said. “Though whatever they are they aren't undead, or I would be able to detect them. All we know is they are resourceful and impossible to locate. They leave no trace of their passing but occasionally like to leave a calling card to let us know we are being watched.”
“They would slip into the castle and even our ability to detect players in our regions wouldn't reveal them,” Lady Deloquin said. “We started laying traps and using other means to find them, but somehow they always remained undetected.”
“They were using some kind of magic to hide?” Frank asked, but all the group could do was shrug.
Heather turned to Fineous and asked about the spy from his story. He explained that Kevin had a team of spies and spymasters, but one, in particular, was known for his cunning. Nobody knew his name or what he was, but it was rumored he would stalk a target for months or years if necessary. He'd never been caught or had a glimpse of his identity revealed, but he always got his target. The spies that were haunting Lydia now were likely sub-agents of his. Rumor had it the master was on a mission of special importance and hadn't been seen in some time.
“So, if your boyfriend is through interrogating us, we would like to make an appeal,” Lydia said.
“Husband,” Heather corrected and took his arm. “A lot has changed since we last met.”
“I see,” Lydia replied with her smile returning. “Congratulations.”
“Save it,” Heather said dismissively. “What do you want?”
“Safe refuge,” Lydia replied. “Finneous has told us all about your little home here. We want to set up our kingdom on your borders.”
“You can’t be serious,” Heather protested. “After what you did?”
“We showed you how to escape,” Lydia persisted.
“Only when you had no choice,” Heather countered. “And only after that animal tried to attack Quinny.”
“His name was Lord Gislaw, and we admit he a little brash,” Lady Dellaquin agreed. “But he never forced a woman into his bed.”
“That’s what it looked like he was doing when I found him,” Frank snarled as his hands clenched into fists.
“And why didn't you use this tunnel to escape before?” Heather asked. “Or for that matter, how do I know one of these super spies hasn't followed you here?”
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“The tunnel was a last resort,” Lydia said. “We were trying to endure the situation, assuming it would change sooner or later. Despite the image the paladins give about the northlands, there are a lot of good players there. We were trying to rebuild our network and perhaps smuggle a few key people out.”
“And the spies?” Frank asked.
“I was very careful about bringing them here,” Finneous cut in.
“What good is being careful?” Heather asked. “You already said you can’t detect these spies, so you have no way of knowing if they were followed or not.”
“Look, they told me about your encounter with them and how badly it ended,” Finneous pressed. “But remember, they were originally working with the necromancers. The situation you found them in was their punishment for that loyalty. They could have run and probably gotten away, but they could do more good by waiting. There are still people sympathetic to the necromancers in the north, and when they are discovered, they flee south. They only ran now because you and the goblin attack has made them the target of reprisals. Lydia would have been stripped of her kingdom and kept under arrest if they had stayed. The other two would likely have been sent to a forced reset and class change.”
“Hmm,” Heather said and looked to Frank, who still looked upset. “What do we do?”
“What do you need, exactly?” Frank asked as he turned his cold gaze on Lydia.
“Just some land and a region in the mountains to build my castle,” Lydia replied.
“We could put her between Finneous and Quinny’s forest,” Heather said as she considered the options. “But that makes it a little crowded.”
“Put her in the north of Gwen’s forest,” Frank suggested as he finally relented. “That puts her outside the swamp and in relatively unused land. She can build her small region in the mountains and make a road to Gwen's city.”
“What about connecting with us?” Heather asked. “She would have to go all the way to the south and then through the lower swamps to get here.”
“See if Gwen will make a tunnel or pass through the mountains into the upper swamps,” Frank suggested. “It would create a way for players to reach us without the long muddy march through the swamps.”
“If we created a northern road, it could come through the mountains directly into Quinny's forest,” Heather said.
“I would prefer that,” Lydia said. “My castle could watch the northern road into your homes, with my village the gate.”
“I want to ask Quinny first,” Frank said. “She should have a say in you being so close to her.”
“Agreed,” Heather said. “She was the one most traumatized by our encounter.”
“Be sure to tell her Lord Gislaw was no friend of ours,” Lydia said. “And we will be the first to kill him if he shows up again.”
“What are the chances of that?” Heather asked and turned to Finneous for the answer.
“I think it’s safe to say he has been tasked with locating them,” Finneous said.
“Which makes me wonder how you found them?” Frank asked.
Finneous smiled in his usual way and explained that he had a small network of allies scattered across the land. Lydia made contact with someone in his network, and a message was relayed. He received it just before the wedding and went to meet them right after.
“So that's where you went,” Heather said as she took it all in. “Well, I think Frank and I are agreed that we're not saying yes unless Quinny does. So, we will ask her and figure it out from there.”
“We expected a warmer welcome,” Lady Dellaquin scoffed.
“After our last encounter, you should hardly be surprised we are apprehensive,” Heather remarked. “But we will ask Quinny and return with your answer soon.”
Finneous escorted them out and pleaded their case the entire way. Heather could see that they were put under immense pressure by Kevin, but it still made her skin crawl. Frank was upset by the idea as well, even if he did suggest a good spot for them. What the werewolf man tried to do to Quinny was still angering him, and Heather needed to address that pain later. The werewolf was obviously forced on them, but they still played along, pretending to be loyal supporters of Kevin's will.
They bid Finneous goodbye and headed back, talking about the situation the whole way. Frank was practical about it, admitting they were not directly to blame. However, he felt they could have escaped and that this story about needing to stay to help others was likely a lie. He believed they were afraid to run and committed those crimes on other players because it was easier. He didn't trust Lydia and worried that her presence here would bring unwanted attention.
Heather found it humorous that somebody might bring more attention than she or her mother did. Gwen had all but declared war on the north before the wedding and Heather was a necromancer in hiding. How much more attention could they possibly draw by letting Lydia and her friends stay?
When they reached the forest, they immediately started calling Quinny by name, knowing she might be watching. A few minutes in, she and Breanne appeared from behind a tree, with Quinny wearing her sexy witch outfit.
“Hey, guys,” Quinny called and ran up to Frank. She leaned in to give him a hug, which he warmly reciprocated.
“Why are you wearing that?” Heather asked with a hint of suspicion.
“I happen to like it,” Quinny said as she leaned back to look at herself. “Besides I know Frank likes it.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to impress your boyfriend,” Heather said and nudged Frank.
“Did you need something?” Breanne asked as she approached in a simple but elegant green dress.
“Yes,” Heather said and took Frank’s hand. “We have something serious to discuss.”
Heather and Frank explained the encounter, including the stories of both Finneous and Lydia. They answered the two's questions, especially Breanne, who wanted to know why they hadn't run. Frank explained their answer to that as well as his own belief that their explanation was suspicious.
“So, that hunt master guy was only there to keep them in line,” Quinny said as she looked down.
“If you say no, we will stand by your side,” Frank said and swept her into his arms. “I will run them off myself.”
Quinny smiled as she enjoyed her hug, savoring the attention. Heather could see they were indeed growing together and wondered how long it would be before they just admitted what they had.
“I don’t want you to be upset,” Frank said.
“Nah. I'm not upset,” Quinny replied and looked into his eyes. “To be honest, that day is special to me. You came in like my knight in shining armor and saved me from him. I will always treasure that moment when you fought to protect my honor.”
Frank nodded as she lay her head back on his shoulder. “Let them build wherever they want. So long as they swear that wolf guy isn't welcome here.”
“That will officially make them part of your mother’s kingdom,” Breanne pointed out. “She will have the final say on anything they do.”
“I am aware,” Heather replied as she considered the possibilities. “So with another lesser noble under her influence, she should be able to expand her borders even further. I wonder if her sudden rise back to power has the north nervous?”
“Kevin probably has a hundred or more lesser nobles in his region of influence,” Breanne remarked. “Not to mention the allied kingdoms with even more.”
“So he has a lot more power,” Heather grumbled. “We're still growing, and this is a step toward greater influence.”
“Ha, I never thought I would see the day you wanted to play politics,” Breanne said. “You were always so focused on getting out.”
“I had a change of heart,” Heather replied as she approached the tall elven woman. So far, Heather had kept pushing Frank to embrace the changes while she watched. She knew that if this was going to work, she needed to participate too. With her heart racing, she took Breanne's hands and stared into her eyes, hoping to make an impression. “I want to stay here because of Frank, Quinny, and you.”
Breanne smiled slightly as she ran her thumbs over Heather’s hands. “Don’t rush yourself,” she urged.
“Maybe that’s exactly what I need to do,” Heather sighed. “Rip the bandaid off and get it over with.”
“I will rip it off for you,” Quinny volunteered.
“Let’s get back to the topic,” Heather suggested and went a step bolder by putting an arm around Breanne. “So, we are all agreed they can stay?”
Everyone looked at each other before Quinny finally nodded and said it would be good to have a shorter road to Gwen's city. It would encourage players who didn't want to brave the swamps to come in, and a second nearby village would double the number of players.
“Well, I am glad that’s been decided,” Heather said as she thought back to the conversation. “But what do you make of all that spy talk? How was somebody able to spy on them and be completely undetected?”
“Magic, I assume,” Breanne said.
“But there are ways to block that sort of thing,” Quinny pointed out. “I bet Gwen has those kinds of protections built into her castle.”
“It's still based on power and levels,” Frank said. “A much higher caster using a magical ingredient or device can still break through.”
“An actual spy would ignore all of that,” Breanne said.
“But we can detect players who enter our homes,” Heather argued.
“Again, skilled players or special abilities can hide you from that,” Frank said. “If there was a rogue or some kind of stealth class of super high level, he could walk right in, and we would never notice him.”
“So somebody could be standing in our bedroom watching us in bed?” Heather asked, aghast.
“It could be,” Frank said with a shrug. “Or they could be using magic.”
“Like those mirrors as the adventure party,” Quinny pointed out.
“Great,” Heather groaned and slapped her face. “Some pervert could be broadcasting my love life to a crowd of hundreds.”
“I doubt anybody is bothering to watch us,” Breanne said to soothe her. “And besides, nothing unusual goes on in your bedroom, does it?”
“Could we stay the night and find out?” Quinny asked with glee.
“You two are not helping,” Heather groaned and squeezed Breanne’s waist.
“Well, if you want help, I suggest you talk to your mother,” Breanne said. “She needs to add them as nobles of her domain and assign the region to them.”
“And make the pass through the mountains,” Frank added.
Heather agreed but suggested they all go and spend the rest of the day in the city. It was a simple matter to get there as Quinny allowed them to forest step directly to the bridge by the tower. They were in the city a short walk later, climbing the steps to Princess Hannah's gardens. Heather took the crown and collar off before anyone saw her and entered the castle as her normal self.
Gwen was delighted to see them as always and listened intently to their story. She asked a few questions, especially about these spies but wasn't satisfied with the answers. She agreed to give them the land in the north along the mountains and create the road that would pass into Quinny's forest. She asked how their own city was coming along, and Heather let Frank fill her in. He spoke excitedly about how big it was and how they saved a ton of points by using the goblins.
Heather loved to see his boyish enthusiasm return and hoped he would never lose it again. Gwen looked impressed by his progress and their choice to add her unicorn motif to some of their flags. Once the city was ready, they would link them by magical gates allowing the free flow of people between the two.
“I am looking forward to opening the adventurers guild to the public,” Quinny said.
“I bet you are,” Gwen said with a smile.
“Why do you say it that way?” Heather asked, noting her mother's strange response.
“Oh, I assumed you would play along,” Gwen said.
“Play along how?” Heather pressed.
“Dress up as other people and pretend to be regular adventurers,” Gwen said. “Then you can have fun with random people and enjoy yourselves.”
“We can do that?” Frank asked.
“Why not?” Gwen said. “You can program the guild leader to address you as anyone you want. Just make up a fake identity and have fun. I used to do it in the early days of my kingdom.”
“That sounds amazing,” Quinny said and looked to the others. “Can we please do that?”
“I don’t see why not,” Heather replied and turned to Frank. “You ready to take your girls out on an adventure?”
“As if we haven’t been on plenty,” Frank replied.
“This could be fun,” Breanne said. “I have my bow and that rangers outfit.”
“We could all use the collars to disguise who we are,” Quinny said.
“And Frank could be our conqueror master,” Heather teased and batted her eyes at him. “Leading his slave girls on adventures.”
“I told you I don’t like the collars,” Frank insisted.
“Oh, we just wear them for a disguise,” Heather insisted and went to a nearby window to look over the kingdom. “This is going to be fun, especially when players start posting adventures.”
“You can create dynamic quests,” Gwen said. “It takes some points, and you have a lot of parameters to set, but the system can spawn minor adventures inside your region for you and others to do. You can link it to the message board in the guild, and the guild master will post them as they spawn.”
“That's amazing,” Heather said and looked at Frank. “We could do all sorts of fun things, and nobody would know it was us.”
“I still don't like passing you off as my slave girls,” Frank sighed.
“I think it’s rather charming,” Gwen interjected. “They obviously don’t mind calling you master.”
“But….” Frank began but was silenced by a raised hand from Gwen.
“You are looking at this all wrong,” Gwen said. “It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally see why it upsets you that they wear those collars. It's because they are Blackbast's collars and not yours. You don't like the idea because wearing her collar implies serving in her temple. If you were a class who could collar them and you could ensure they never had to do anything you disagreed with, you would be happy with it.”
“I suppose,” Frank agreed and looked down.
“Hmm,” Gwen said as she tapped a finger on her lips. “What we need is a way for you to take them for yourself.”
“I don’t need slaves,” Frank argued.
“Then stop calling them that,” Gwen insisted. “You can call them whatever you want. The collar is nothing more than a sign of trust. They are saying they trust you to take care of them. In many ways, it is a much stronger sign of devotion than even a wedding ring is. They are giving themselves to you in every possible way. Now, be a man and accept that gift graciously, then spend some time trying to appreciate the gift. Once you start feeling gratitude, you will be in the right place.”
“Wow,” Quinny said. “You made that sound beautiful.”
“Isn't it?” Gwen asked. “A woman gives herself wholly over to a man because she knows he loves her so much she will never have to worry. I wish I could find someone I felt that strongly about.”
“I never looked at it like that,” Frank admitted. “I always saw it as how Blackbast used them.”
“Frank,” Breanne said and took his arm. “We know you would never make us do that. We just want to be yours every way we can.”
“Yeah, big guy. We’re kind of sweet on you after all,” Quinny said.
Frank sighed and nodded as he finally began to understand.
“You can keep the collars,” he said.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Heather sighed.
“You seem awfully pleased,” Gwen remarked.
Heather blushed and tried to look away as Gwen started to laugh. She asked them if there was anything else they needed, and Frank stepped up and said there was.
“I want to take my pets out to eat,” he said, causing Quinny to laugh.
“We’re pets now,” she giggled.
“It had better be a nice place if you want me to answer to pet,” Heather insisted.
Frank nodded and took her hands as he looked deep into her eyes.
“I was thinking we could get pizza,” he said.
Heather smiled and stood on her toes to give him a gentle kiss.
“For pizza, I would let you walk me on a leash,” she said and took out her collar.