Chapter One

Prince Adric died young and left a beautiful corpse. The details of his death were shrouded in mystery, but his prized pet, a rainbow feathered coatl, is said to have died with him, its feathery dragon-like body sharing his funeral bier. His funeral procession was a parade of mourning damsels, widows, and anyone with a pulse who wanted to get one last look at the celebrity.

Harmony slinked out of the early morning shadows of the sun temple spires and watched the procession from high up there, using her crystal ball to catch and bend light, allowing for a close-up viewing of the event. She had no desire to be in those crowds. Being near the center of attention brought trouble. “No wonder the boy died. He probably unlocked charisma and dumped everything into it despite being a fighting class.”

“Grrrurp!” Croaked her shadow-toad familiar; the inky black beast protested being out and about during the daytime, even if shaded from the sun for something other than work.

“Quiet, Hyacinth, or I’ll lock you up so you can’t hunt the stray cats tonight.”  

Harmony accepted the rumbling purr of acknowledgment and focused on the procession. Where other girls mourned what could have been, she greedily concentrated on the opportunity this presented. Out of her bag, she pulled out her prized possession, a spell scroll she had traded more than she was comfortable to get. [Analyze] displayed its details.

Create and Bond Undead Pet

Requires a minimum of twelve levels in necromancy, three necrotic cores, five ghost laces, a champions tooth, a restoration potion, and three thimbles of the caster’s blood to function.  

*Place materials upon the target, channel mana, and break the scroll.

Pet spells were a dime a dozen, such as Bond Cat Pet and Bond Dog Pet, which are common spells for common animals. Some dreamed of finding rare ones or even took the beast-tamer class allowing them to modify the spells and pets slightly. Ambrosia talked Harmony’s ears off about that and what made her bonded songbirds so special, and since Harmony got the spell, she encouraged her friend to spill all the details.

Familiars like Hyacinth grew with their masters. Constructs and raised creatures stayed static in their traits and abilities. Pets, however, could advance and evolve independently, and until learning of the scroll, Harmony had never heard of an undead pet. The spell wasn’t in Byron’s Index of Common Spells and Scrolls, which meant it was at least uncommon. Anything uncommon found in the local dungeon might as well be rare for the area. Hazeldown was too far from the frontiers, where wild magic and untamed dungeons promised fame and adventure. The dungeon here was even a lowly artificial one, bound to some old spirit.

Harmony committed herself to believing she had something special here. It had to be worth it. Tyler wouldn’t have collected something ordinary, even if he did give it up quickly after she showed interest, all to repay some favors.

“Rrrgrrupt!” This time the toad’s grumbling came with a push through the [Familiar Bond] they shared, a sense that they had a place they needed to be.

“Work! I know I can’t laze about all morning, acting like other foolish girls.” She moved deeper into the shadows and placed her hand on her toad’s back. “You know what to do.”

Hyacinth thrummed with a dark purple glow as he moved through the shadows, taking Harmony with him. The process took all of the toad’s mana but being late meant punishments for both of them. The brief brushing of the shadow world felt good despite the exhaustion of the trip.

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Harmony sneezed due to the sudden change from being on the rooftop to now being in the dank supply closet at Coodly manor.

The door to the closet swung open, briefly blinding the pair of them. “What are you doing down there? If you don’t hurry up, you’ll be late for shift change.” Ambrosia exclaimed, standing there in her frilly work undergarments. Harmony once envied her honey gold skin and bouncing blonde ringlets until she saw how much unwanted attention it garnered the woman.

The supply closet connected to the women’s staff changing room. The other maids were already in a hurried state of swapping their morning clothes.

“Well, look what the frog dragged in.” Fel snipped while adjusting the top of her corset. The fiery redhead had to get the garment specially ordered to fit her proportions.

“Toad,” Harmony surly muttered as she pulled off the dark robe and the nightgown she had worn underneath it. She approached her locker. There wasn’t much to the black and white maid’s outfit except for the lack of it. Stretching or bending at the waist was not recommended. That was one reason why undergarments were part of the outfit. When she’d gotten hired, they’d assured her she would grow into the uniform, but hard work made the outfit looser rather than time having her fill it out as she leaned up with muscle. She was grateful she didn’t have to spend extra time shoving herself into it.

The only bit of color in her gear was a faintly glowing red bow tie she magically affixed to Hyacinth. He’d scared too many people coming out of the shadows that it was required to have something that made him tastefully visible.

She followed the others, trying and sometimes failing to match their demure lengthy strides with her shorter legs.

The four maids joined the four waiting houseboys in the servant’s hall, keeping their backs straight, chests out, and eyes forward.

The heavy thud of the head butler’s cane, as punctual and paced as a ticking clock, informed them all their shift was about to begin. Bates stepped into the room. His tight uniform displayed thick muscles despite gray hair and a worn face. Harmony had seen him use those and his cane once when Yorick, a new houseboy, had been caught stealing. For a long time after that, the boy couldn’t steal again, too busy figuring out how to walk once more.

“Have there been any status changes since the start of the last work week?” Bates asked.

Harmony stepped forward. She was slightly surprised when Jimmy moved forward from the boy’s side.

With a bit of mana, his status displayed, projected in the air. Harmony couldn’t see the details from her end of the girls’ side, so instead focused with her ears.

“A level eight Knight, and you invested in [horse handling]. Your animal care has surpassed your cooking skill. I suspect you want to move out of the kitchens and into the stables. I’ll talk to the steward about having your duties changed.”

Every boy dreamed of working the stables and being noticed by an adventurer or lord so they could be pulled out of the lower classes. Harmony knew it was a futile dream to be recognized for your talents rather than used for them. If you wanted to move up in life, you had to grab opportunity by its bones and wring the marrow out of it.

Harmony stepped up for her turn and channeled mana into displaying her status.

Harmony White

Class: Necromancer (10)-F

Profession: Maid (16)-D

Skills:

Familiar Bond(10)*

Manipulate Dead (10)*

Renew Spirit (10)*

Analyze (13)

Poise and Bearing (7)

Dust (16)*

Beautician (12)

Style and Grace (10)

“I see level ten in necromancy and still exceeding the level cap for your skills. [Poise and Bearing] is severely lacking, but one point improvement is better than none. [Style and Grace], well, sending you to our lady has helped you there. One copper increase for your salary, and if you wish me to transfer all your duties to Lady Coodly, it will take only one word.”

Harmony bit her tongue to keep from saying that one word. Removing herself from Tyler’s clutches would be a step up in making life more tolerable, but she still needed that awkward sleaze. Getting the scroll wasn’t enough. She required his connections to be able to use it. “I’m content with my current assignment.”

Ambrosia let out a short relieved sigh. No one wanted that assignment.

“In the future, that choice may be out of our hands,” Bates said.

Harmony could tell those last words were more to himself than her, but she knew there was such a thing as being too good at your job. Purposely failing wasn’t an option.

With a pound of the cane, they were dismissed and wordlessly went to relieve their replacements.