When we came back upstairs, I made sure to announce that Stephanie had been filled in on the bulk of what was going on.

“She’s going to be staying with us for a while and I hope all of you can get along with her as you do with each other.”

Everyone in the room looked pleased except Emily, who I suspect was still pissed that Stephanie accused her of being underaged.

“Okay, Stephanie, this is Reginald Higgins. He was my father’s most trusted ally and for better or for worse I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Stephanie.”

“Over here is Anabel Townsend, she’s been here the longest of the world walkers.”

“Happy to finally meet you, Miss Stephanie. Eric speaks so fondly of you.”

“The giantess over there is Arduwan the Barbarian Princess. She comes from the fantasy world I left Wraith in. Since I helped her out, she’s sworn a life debt to me and has become my bodyguard.”

Arduwan, who thankfully was put into a bathrobe, replied, “the angel of my master's heart is a friend of mine.”

“How do you do?” Stephanie replied, “just glad to see you with your clothes on.” Everyone laughed, except Emily, who I was about to introduce.

“Finally, this is Detective Emily Grimwood. She’s a super genius investigator and a valued friend,” I said, opting to butter her up as much as I could to try and prevent an outburst. Emily just closed her eyes and turned away before saying, “You know what? I’m not buying it, Eric. This is the great Stephanie I’ve heard so much about? Give me a break. I refuse to believe your chastity is worth the pedestal you put her on.”

Well, that was just great.

Stephanie's mouth hung open and she said, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ll tell you what it’s supposed to mean! It means that you couldn’t possibly be half the lover Eric deserves. He’s fawned over the thought of you so much that he couldn’t see what was right in front of his eyes for the taking,” she turned to Anabel and thumbed, “this girl right here cleans the dirt off the floor behind him when he walks through the house! And I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve thrown myself at him. But all he thinks of is you! And I’m sick of hearing about your ungrateful ass!”

“You little bitch!” Stephanie barked, “Eric, this girl is a slut! Why do you keep her around?!”

“I’m not a slut!” she defended loudly, but then quieted to a whisper, “I’ve just never had sex with the same person twice…”

“Exactly, a slut,” Stephanie pointed out.

Suddenly, Arduwan chimed in with, “Well, I’ve never had sex with the same person twice either, and I’m not a slut. It’s not my fault the survivors ran away like cowards.”

An interesting answer to the question posed by Frederick back at the tavern, although odd timing.

“I don’t understand!” Anabel hollered, “I’ve never had sex with anyone! How are all of you so flagrant about it?!”

She started crying and I patted her back to comfort her.

Higgins jumped in with, “ladies, please. Let’s all remember that we’re here to support Master Noble. Not drive a wedge between him and the rest of you.”

“She started it! I was being cordial,” Stephanie noted.

“I started it?! You’re the one who called me an underaged slut!” Emily shouted.

“Stop! Everyone, for just a minute,” I interrupted, “Emily, shame on you. You know that I just had to break my family’s legacy on the fly in order to keep Stephanie from leaving, knowing how much she means to me. And Stephanie, I think you’re being really unfair to Emily. If only you knew how great of a person she really is and what we’ve been through together. Her tone was really aggressive, but she honestly meant well. She was trying to protect me and Anabel’s feelings.”

I was still standing behind Anabel’s chair patting her back while shouting those two down. Anabel had tears rolling down her face. Everyone got quiet.

Finally, Stephanie said, “look, Eric. You know I’m a ballplayer and want to support you in any way. But am I gonna be disrespected if I stay here?”

“No, you’re not. Emily, this is one of those times where your immaturity needs to be put in check. If you don’t apologize to Stephanie then I’m…I’m…gonna have Arduwan pick you up and put you in your room!”

“You wouldn’t dare? Arduwan, there’s no way you’d follow that order is there?”

“Sorry, Lady Emily. But my oath requires me to defend Eric against all threats.”

Emily had a look of shock on her face, so I decided it’d be best to defend her a little more as well by saying to Stephanie, “Emily is a valued member of my team. I’m not happy with how she addressed you, but can you please overlook it and accept an apology if she gives it?”

“Yes, Eric,” she said, without hesitation, “I trust your judgment and I know you don’t surround yourself with bad people.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Except Ernie right?” I tossed in a little joke and Stephanie and I both laughed, showing our commonality to the others for the first time.

The tension was still in the air, but finally, Emily said, “Okay. Because I respect Eric…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have attacked you like that so heavy handedly without getting to know you.”

“I accept,” Stephanie responded, “and I’m sorry I called you a slut and said Eric should stay away from you. It was really mean.”

“Good, thank you both for doing that. It means a lot,” I said, as I put both of my hands on sweet and innocent Anabel’s shoulders, “And I’m sorry that you got swept up in the middle of this.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Anabel,” Emily added, “I shouldn’t have used you as a pawn.”

“Might I say,” Higgins added, “Master Noble, you keep excellent company. I know things got quite heated there for a moment, but I find it refreshing that you command such loyalty. How about I gather some treats in the kitchen so that we can put this whole episode behind us?”

Whew! That might have been the biggest battle I’d taken part in yet!

* * *

I spent the next couple of days bringing Stephanie up to speed on everything that had been happening in more detail. Fortunately, things had calmed down since the first night she was here. I was supposed to be relaxing from adventuring. She got along well with Anabel and Arduwan, but her and Emily remained cold to each other. Luckily, the remaining open bedroom upstairs was furthest from Emily’s so they wouldn’t be as likely to clash being next to each other or directly across the hall.

On the third day of her visit, Stephanie found Anabel doing dishes in the kitchen. She came into the room and offered to help.

“Let me help you with those. You do so much around here and I don’t want to be an imposing guest,” she said.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Miss Stephanie,” Anabel urged, “you aren’t a bother at all.”

Stephanie walked up to the sink and started helping regardless and said, “why is it that you’re the only one besides Higgins that I see do anything in this house? Don’t the others have chores?”

“Well, we all have our roles. I’ve taken it upon myself to be Higgins' successor and Miss Arduwan aids Eric in his training and has made it her duty to protect him. Besides, she has a tendency to break fragile things,” she said as she held up a plate.

“I guess I can understand that…but I’m mostly talking about Emily. She’s been here the second longest and I don’t see her pulling a lot of weight. All she ever does is sit around reading books. Shouldn’t she help with something?”

Anabel replied, “Miss Emily has a very important role. She’s incredibly intelligent and provides strategy for Eric in his decision making.”

“Hmm, did she tell you that, or is that what you’ve observed? Because it sure seems to me that she just does an awful lot of sitting around. When’s the last time she did anything meaningful?”

“I see where you’re coming from, Miss Stephanie. But there’s more than meets the eye with her. I know that Emily provides just as valuable a role as the rest of us and there will come a time where she is indispensable to Eric.”

* * *

Later that evening, Anabel came to Emily in the drawing room while she was reading and asked, “Emily, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Of course? I’m all ears,” she said.

“Why is it that you don’t like Miss Stephanie so much?”

Emily closed her book and answered, “because I think she’s a player.”

“A what?”

“She’s playing games with Eric’s heart. I’ve kept my mouth shut since that first night out of respect for you and Eric, but the fact remains that we’ve been here all this time for Eric and supported him while he went through some tough situations. Stephanie abandoned him when he was at his lowest, long before we met him and now, she suddenly pops up and wants to be a big part of his life again. Don’t you find it kinda funny that she only did that once he inherited his family's fortune? That’s called gold digging, Anabel. Or maybe she wants to stick around and share in his victory whenever he topples another Devil?”

“I’m not so sure, Emily. If you just get to know Miss Stephanie a little, she’s actually quite nice. I can see why Eric thinks so fondly of her, irrespective of their romance fallout.”

“Oh, Anabel. If only I could be so naive as you. Listen, he is completely hung up on her. Somewhere along the way, he got it in his head that she’s the only one for him and he’s holding himself back while he tries to win her over.”

Anabel looked increasingly agitated and said, “Stop it, Emily! We all care about Eric and want what’s best for him. Including Miss Stephanie. I may not understand all the intricacies of modern courtship, but I trust Eric and if he has history with her and reason to believe she’s a true friend then I’m inclined to believe him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as frustrated as you about getting nowhere with him. But I’m not going to let my personal feelings get in the way of his happiness.”

“Even at the cost of your own?”

“Even at the cost of my own!”

Emily thought for a moment and then said, “did you use the word, frustrated?”

“Why?”

“Come now, Anabel. Let me introduce you to the modern luxury known as, B.O.B.”

* * *

Stephanie sat outside on the patio and watched as Arduwan and I trained with practice swords. At this point, I was as good, if not better, than Higgins. But Arduwan was on a whole other level. The power and force of her blows were off the chart! What she lacked in dexterity she more than made up in precision and stamina. Even with a dummy sword, she would send me flying into a flower bed every time she landed a strike.

After about the tenth time knocking me down, she helped me up and said, “that’s probably enough for today.”

“Yeah, it’s getting hot out anyway.” I said, noting that it was now at the height of the summer.

We went inside to cool off but unfortunately, the air conditioner shut off. Not only was it old, but it was overworked. Higgins called the repair company, but they said it would be two days before they could make it out.

“I’ve got an idea!” I said to everyone, “let’s go into town and visit the mall!” “”The mall?”” Anabel and Arduwan recited in unison.

“Yeah, it’s a big shopping complex. It’ll be nice and cool and there's all kinds of food and ice cream we can get. And perhaps we can finally get some updated clothes for you two. I’ll even buy you some bathing suits so tomorrow we can have a pool party!”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Eric!” expressed Emily, “I could use some new makeup anyhow.”

“Okay, but what’s a pool party?” Anabel asked.

“Well, technically, I don’t have a pool. But I’ve got the pond. It’s basically where everyone has fun in the water, and you grill outside and eat when it’s hot out.”

“Wait a minute,” Stephanie interrupted, “are you sure you’re not just trying to have a houseful of beautiful women sitting around in bathing suits for your own amusement?”

“No! Not at all. I mean, Arduwan is mostly naked all the time anyway. In fact, I was hoping we’d be able to find a way to cover her up more, that way we don’t draw any more attention than we already have to this place.”

“Alright,” she said slyly, knowing full well she was teasing my ulterior motives disguised as a practical suggestion.

“But how will we all fit in the car,” Anabel inquired, “there’s only five seats and there are six of us?”

“That’s easy, Anabel. The person who’s been here the least amount of time will just have to stay home,” Emily smugly implied about Stephanie.

“I don’t know, Emily,” Stephanie replied, “I don’t think you can go out. Your roots are showing!”

Emily, with a look of panic, started feeling the top of her head before running off to check in the mirror.

“Then it’s settled! We’ll have a fun day of shopping at the mall and tomorrow we’ll have a pond party.”