Chapter Sixty-Two

Wine with the refreshments had been Harmony’s idea and now she regretted it. It made Len more of a babbler. “I think we should all bond geists, offensive or defensive; they are invisible and reform if dispelled or destroyed.” This was the third time he’d mentioned this as the group poured over the text. It slowly became clear that while they were okay with Harmony being a necromancer, they didn’t want to be seen as possibly having the class.

“That would be ideal. But that’s not how Thorne described how it would work. We’ll draw in potentials based on who we are.” Tyler corrected. But he at least was more interested in the unique oddities listed in the book.

“We’ll have Harmony. She’s a necromancer and can convince them.” Lens speech slurred a little at the end.

Of all the members of this little group, Len was the least expected to have this prejudice. What made it worse was that this was another type of bond that had potential and she was denied. “You know I have no experience dealing with independent spirits. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. When I first met Old Bones I fainted.” Apparently, communing with spirits was innate to being a necromancer, but in Hazeldown Haz'el Ri was the only free spirit around and forced all others to flee to keep their dungeon spirit position. Similarly, in Naewauld they were forced to flee the overly abundant lifeforce. That intersection of those two domains created the Deadwoods.

“But..” Len continued.

“You heard the lady. She said no!” Max gruffly interrupted him.

Harmony checked the oath. Since his class and profession change, and all of the trouble around that, she’d been able to sense it easier. The defensive need to protect was rising up. Max had also gone a little heavy on the wine, probably to attempt muting the oath. Inebriation would not help this situation, as that seemed to have backfired. Time to change the topic.

“Len, can we look at the creatures linked to chaos? I’d like us to know what options fit Maxwell's new profession.”

"We should always strive to find bonds that match our classes and professions." He answered as the other members of the room turned quiet. Len opened Spirits, Geists, and Oddities of the Woods and started flipping pages quickly until he slowed to a stop and froze quietly with the rest of the group. It was like someone cast silence over the group.

Rose broke the silence. “Your new profession?!”

Len and Tyler stared at Maxwell in shock who was flushing as pink as his beard.

“You didn’t tell them?” Harmony asked her agent.

“I didn’t feel like they needed to know,” Max answered.

“I bet you have a new class too. You evolved, right?” Len asked.

“No… no… no… My aunt would have announced this. That side of the family sends letters every time something big happens. Right cousin?” Tyler asked.

“They don’t know. No one needs to know until the Ascendant Games.” Max responded, getting a little frantic.

“How bad was your choice that you need to hide it?” Tyler pressed with a wicked gleam in his eye.

Ashes. Their rivalry. They were working together even if a little dysfunctionally, making it slip Harmony’s mind. “Hey! If Max wants to keep his evolution secret you should let him. Don’t make me tell Thorne you need more team-building exercises.”

Lord Tyler waved that away. He’d been drinking too. “He’s your knight of course you'd… Wait… he’s not a Knight anymore is he?“ Tyler snapped his attention all towards Max. “What are you?”

“Do you really need to know?” Harmony asked.

“Well, you know,” Rose answered a little coldly. “And I think Thorne would want us to know for the team.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you but then it doesn’t leave this room.” Max responded.

Harmony did her best not to look at the multiple servants and bodyguards in the room. Most of them, probably all of them already knew. That was one reason she didn’t know it was a rotting secret, as it's not like she was alone when he spilled his guts about it.

Max, Rose, and Len all nodded eagerly.

“My class is singularly sworn and my profession is agent of chaos.”

Not the full profession's name, but Harmony wasn’t complaining about being left out.

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“Wait… wait… wait… sworn are religious fanatics. When did you join the temples?” Len asked.

“A chaos profession. Your mom is going to faint. I knew you took that skill, but several classes and professions use chaos without it being their main thing.” Tyler finished with a drunken chuckle.

“I don’t get why you wouldn’t tell us. I suppose no longer being a knight made it necessary to tell Harmony. After you’ve sworn an oath it is almost impossible to get a non-knight class.” Rose mused. Outside of Harmony, she drank the least. “Wait... No?”

[Poise and Bearing] helped keep Harmony’s face calm. The princess has figured it out.

“What?” Lord Tyler asked.

”Oh.” Len let out. Drunk as he was, he was still smart.

“What?” Tyler asked again.

“Our former knight here isn’t sworn to any temple, god, or spirit. No, he's sworn for Lady White here, because having my brother as a pet wasn’t enough.” Rose hissed.

Less wine than Harmony wasn’t none. That crack in composure revealed a bit of bitter anger. Adric not enough? She hadn’t asked for Adric or Max. And if Princess Rosaline had wanted to visit during all those months they were struggling in Hazeldown she could have. [Poise and Bearing] kept Harmony's cool rather than initiating a clash she wasn’t in the mood to have.

“I didn’t ask for any of this. Maxwell picked the best he could. That is all any of us can do when making a difficult decision.”

“Then release him from his oath.” Rose challenged.

Maxwell's heart stopped. Through the oath to her, she felt his panic reign. To his credit, the sworn showed none of it on his face, but he also wasn’t breathing. It wasn’t like she hadn’t considered that. But she also wasn’t stupid.

“I would never do that to Max.” He inhaled and his heart started up again. “He’s a sworn. That would probably kill him. Why do you think he doesn’t want to tell anyone? If I die there is a good chance he’ll die too, or go on some crazed mission of vengeance. Adric probably would have the same issue. There is always a chance his next evolution or mine will change his fate and get him out of this mess.”

Hyacinth, Adric, and Max, now there were three lives that relied on her to evolve and survive. Dropping [Poise and Bearing] it was time to let them see how this made her feel. Her lip quivered and the tears she’d held back started to flow a little.

“I didn’t..” Rose started finally seeing it.

“You lucky bastard. You’re doing this just to torture me. You know I…” Lord Tyler didn’t see Harmony at all with his eyes angrily focused on Max.

Harmony slammed her skill-enforced mask back into place. “Some have already used the fact he is sworn to me to take advantage of him. Imagine someone lied to him and said I was in trouble. Or told him the queen wanted me dead. He’s still not under control of his impulses around me so please keep this a secret.“

“Don’t sworn get their powers from their gods?” Len asked.

That started a whole bunch of new questions. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready. I’m still figuring it out and have only had one class and profession choice since evolving.”

“They haven’t told me the details of their skills and I’m not going to ask because I respect Max’s privacy,” Harmony responded with support. She was curious but wasn’t going to press when these fools were around.

That shut down the gathering. Lord Tyler stormed off first, and everyone could see he was quite upset by how Max’s new evolution brought him closer to Harmony. Max hesitated a moment then left to chase after him. Len did start to research the chaos-based entries in the book, but no one was in the mood to talk about it.

“Rose. Can you wait up? I’d like to talk for a minute in private. If that’s okay Len.”

“What, Oh? Interesting as always Harmony. Have a good night.” Len responded, picking up the request quickly.

The princess didn’t respond but stood there waiting for Len to leave.

Prepared speech time. “Princess Rose, I know we’ve been at odds since I’ve arrived at Naewauld. Your letter and working with the others have shown me that maybe we’re not too far apart. We might disagree on how to keep your brother safe, but we both want him that way. I’m hoping…”

“How do you do it?”

That hint of authority mixed with frustration in Rose's voice caused a slight tick in the maid she used to be. But it was weak. Less than what Harmony could access with her skills or at the tip of her tongue.

“Bringing Adric back was an accident. As for Max, chaos, his oath, and evolution were messy. He made his choice.”

“Not that. I need an evolved guard at minimum to help me climb the garden. I thought that Adric was assisting. As a fighter he’s competent. But he’s not. Then what you left at the Grave Society. You’re on the fifth floor already?”

This wasn’t in the plan. Not like what she was doing was impossible. “Tourists climb the tower alone regularly.”

“They send their best with their best equipment to chase after a stupid title, and a third of them end up dying or failing by evolving before they complete the dungeon. How are you doing it?”

Title? None of the guides listed a title. Evolved weren’t talking about why they did what they did. “I’m doing it because I have to. If I don’t evolve quick enough I’ll die. And if I die I don’t know what will happen to Adric and now Max. My hope in talking to you tonight is to get your support so that doesn’t happen. I have a letter for you to give to Countess Maye. I’m hoping you will help me figure out a way to resolve our conflict.”

Bates moved up, the letter prepared on a tray. Since they had no official sigil like some lords and ladies had, they’d sealed it with a black toad on white wax.

Rose snatched the letter off of the tray a bit roughly. “You’re impossible!” The princess yelled and stomped out of the room.

“That went well,” Bates said dryly, filling the silence.

Harmony stuck out her tongue and blew him a raspberry.