"Uh. My...what?"

[Objective: Complete your marriage contract with the elven princess Naya of House Anshan: Earn Powerful Patron and Lineage rewards.]

[Temporary Title gained: Betrothed to the fey. A strong symbol of trust…but sometimes distaste…for most elves.]

Mason glanced at the system text and just about choked on his spit. Complete his marriage contract? When had he begun it?

But it did slowly occur to him that he'd used a word like 'alliance', and that back in the days of kings and queens they didn't have 'countries' with agreements, they had noble houses. And the only real union anyone trusted was usually...well, actual union.

So he was maybe an idiot.

And the elven princess and oracle were staring at him like this was all his idea, and he was pretty sure it was time for him to actually say something...

"Oh," was all he managed to conjure up, hoping he didn't look as hot as he felt. "Well..."

"We would of course have to determine all kinds of details," Dariya interjected. "But it isn't appropriate to discuss a marriage contract with the bride present. Even if she is a baroness."

"Yes," Mason said. "I mean no. Obviously."

At this point he found himself actually looking at Naya, who seemed more or less exactly the same as a normal, human woman with slightly longer, pointed ears. She was covered in baggy clothes, but from her time in his arms he'd certainly detected the hint of…everything a man might be hoping for in a wife...

And, of course, she was beautiful. Distractingly so, and almost familiar, like a middle eastern...well…princess. Then it hit him. She looked like that princess from Aladdin, who Mason maybe, definitely had a crush on as a kid. So that was something.

And it would get him what he wanted with the elves, not counting whatever rewards the system had just offered. So it was pretty damn hard to see a downside until he started thinking about the chief's hall. And Haley and Rebecca and Rosa...

"Well," he finally said, mostly needing out of this conversation to think a little. "Do your people need rest? Or should we push on towards Nassau?"

"We should push on," Naya said instantly. "What my people need is safety. We will not rest until the walls of your settlement are around us. We have lost much already."

Mason nodded, seeing the pain in the girl's eyes. He stopped being Mason the man and went back to Mason the protector and patron. These people were exhausted and terrified and they needed his help.

"I'll get you there," he promised. "These are my woods. I promise your safe already."

He activated Speak with Nature, running his perception to the trees, asking them to spread the word and warn him of potential danger for miles. The trees whispered as he asked, the sound like a strong breeze with echoed words, drifting through the canopy in a spreading circle.

Both Dariya and Naya turned towards the trees with wide eyes as if they heard it, and the oracle wiped away a tear.

"I have not seen a druid in hundreds of years," she whispered. "The trees seem…happy, and healthy here, so full of life."

"I feel it, too,” Mason said, smiling despite being slightly embarrassed. “I think it’s because all the great trees are cleansed.” He'd felt the change over the last several days—like an electric current ran through the soil. New life was forming along those lines, swelling as if filled with new nutrients, the older life so sated it was happy to let them grow.

Naya and the oracle exchanged another look, even taking each other's hands.

"Maybe we have found…," Naya started, and the older woman shook her head.

"Do not dare to hope, child. But maybe. Yes, maybe so."

Mason had no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed happy and that was good enough. He stood and held out his hand, and Naya took it rather shyly and stood.

"Can your people travel at night?” he asked, and Naya nodded. "Then we go all day and tonight, and by tomorrow morning we could be in Nassau."

Naya's hand was so small and soft and warm in his he didn't really want to let it go, and took her on for a ways before he finally forced himself. Despite the...challenges he might have back home, and the ridiculous circumstance of so many women, he was definitely starting to come around to the idea.

But first he had to get them home.

* * *

Mason had the elves halfway to Nassau before they needed a rest. Dariya had left them to Wyrdwalk (or whatever she called it, which was apparently a thing the other elves couldn't do), promising she knew her way to the settlement now. Then after at least seven hours of hard travel at about two thirds speed, Naya had turned to Mason and staggered against a tree.

"You move...so quickly. We'll need...a short respite."

He nodded and found them a small clearing. Then he tried not to be too obvious as he really looked at the dozens of elves for the first time. He wasn't sure if Nassau's dating problems were going to get better or worse. They were all incredibly fit and attractive, including the few men, though to his eye these looked a bit...feminine.

In any case the women of Nassau wouldn't be happy, that was for sure. What that meant he didn’t know, but at least a pack of angry civilian women didn't go on murdering, raping, rampages…right?

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Mason sighed. He was sitting only a few feet from Naya, and was about to try and think of something to say to his ‘betrothed’ when the elf went first.

"May I…ask the name of your noble house? I don’t know anything about human nobility. Well, about humans at all, really."

"My..." Mason blinked. "I...don't have a noble house. I mean, I'm just a..." he was going to say 'orphan from Texas', but even he realized this probably wasn't the right thing to say to a princess you were supposed to marry. "It’s different for us. More about…strength? Anyone could be patron of Nassau."

Naya frowned, but recovered quickly. "Then should we create a new one? I don't know your people's customs, but for ours we would require a name, a crest or image, and some words that define your family's legacy. We could consider a structure later, though it shouldn't wait too long."

"Uh." Mason ran a hand through his hair. "My people...we aren't...I mean we don't usually have 'kings' anymore. It's sort of a...one of those traditions we've mostly stopped paying much attention to."

Maya’s dark eyes narrowed in confusion. "How do you rule yourselves?"

"Well. I'm not really an expert, but, we have...democracies, and republics, and uh, well. We let people run for positions, and then we…break that down and vote on it. And then we swap people out every few years."

Naya was staring and Mason held out his hands.

"It's complicated, and not…great. But...I think a man from my...people, said 'it's the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried'."

"And this is how you rule Nassau?"

Mason winced. "I...no."

"Then you rule it as a king?"

"Well..." Mason cleared his throat. "I prefer to think of it as a...temporary, martial law sort of situation." He met Naya's unflinching eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I rule it like a king."

She shrugged as if this were obvious, and asked no more questions. Mason was starting to think that might be that until Naya spoke again without looking at him.

"Do you have any other wives?"

He felt like his tongue was getting slightly larger in his mouth.

"That's...complicated." He fought the heat rising to his face. "I have women, but, they aren’t…formal wives."

Naya didn't look terribly pleased, but eventually shrugged again. "It's not important. The powerful men of my race often take many wives and concubines. As long as you promise to try and provide me with children. I must insist this is in the marriage contract."

Mason's brain was taking a break again, so he just combined some kind of nod and shrug, and the elf seemed satisfied.

With another few moments of silence he realized this marriage was actually going to happen. Obviously he could just say no, but if he did that meant these elves were just not going to join Nassau.

Which meant everyone would lose. Or he could just say yes, and suddenly a whole ‘tribe’ of people—all of whom seemed to have magic, and probably thousands of years of experience in this world—would instantly become his allies.

And all he had to do was...agree to marry a woman about as beautiful as anything he'd seen in his life? Sure, he didn't know her. Yes, she wasn't human. But aside from pointy ears she seemed exactly the same, and in reality however long she lived Mason now technically lived longer. So he probably had plenty of time to get to know her...

So yeah. This was happening. He was going to show up in Nassau, completely out of the blue, and walk an elven princess up to his girls and tell them he was getting married. What the hell would Haley think? The reality was he already basically thought of her as his wife. His 'first' wife.

Except she wasn't. She was his 'bonded' contract—or slave, as she preferred in erotic moments—a reality he was happy to treat as a sexy fiction while he treated her as he would a wife. But would the sudden appearance of an actual wife change things? Would it ruin what they had?

He practically shuddered at the thought. Haley had become a rock for him—the one person he could always rely on, even over Blake, to always look out for his interests, without all the messiness of normal people. He trusted her. He loved her. And he might really hurt her.

And God only knew how Becky and Rosa would react…

Mason sighed, about to try and think of something else to say to his 'betrothed' when Kiaan caught his eye. He excused himself and walked out into the trees with the impressive scout, who looked around with professional scrutiny, then lowered his voice.

"I found something important, Patron, but it must be for your ears alone. There is something the game calls a 'Central Hub' in the heart of a desert beyond the grassland. It contains many important structures to do with the game, I believe including communication and transport. It can be claimed by any settlement patron. The 'guardian' there said you should bring five players and expect a difficult challenge. I came back specifically to tell you."

Mason nodded, a feeling in his gut somewhere between excitement and terror. The Mason who had first come into the great game would not just ignore it, he'd welcome some other fool to the danger and difficulty of owning such a thing.

But he knew now he had no choice. Whoever controlled something like that would automatically gain control of everything near it.

He'd known since he'd first learned about Wyrdwalking that it would change the game. This sounded like Wyrdwalk on steroids, and many other possibilities besides. The ability to communicate with and travel the world, nevermind quickly, when others couldn't do it at all...it was an almost unassailable advantage.

It would mean Mason could keep the players slightly unified, and also afraid of him. Mutual advantage and interest were great. But a healthy dose of fear kept even greedy, vicious morons acting right.

Being in the middle of a desert, however, wasn't awesome. Unless the challenge changed things, or let him 'deconstruct' and move it as he'd been able to do with Sanctuary. That seemed entirely possible, and brought a fresh wave of impatient desire. He looked back at Kiaan, who was smiling as he watched his eyes.

"Was I correct to return, Patron?"

Mason grinned. "You better start really thinking about that reward."

"Oh I have, Patron," the man gave a rare snort of laughter. "I had little else to do but consider it." The mirth vanished as quick as it came, and Kiaan leaned even closer. "Is an elf bride now a possibility? I find them...very pleasing to look at."

Mason cleared his throat, thinking again of what Naya had said about the desirability of elves. "If it is, you'll get it," he said, knowing he owed the man a great deal. And there was plenty more of the world yet to explore. Plenty more for the man to do…

His answer seemed to please Kiaan, who bowed his head slightly and withdrew a step.

"The goblin," Mason said, realizing he'd forgotten. "Did he keep up to us?"

"Yes, speedy human, clever Cliknik watches back, just like he says."

Mason spun towards the voice, finding the goblin almost invisible against a tree. His instinct was to draw a Claw and cut the thing in half, but he kept himself in check and just stared.

"My...apologies, Patron," Kiaan said, looking mortified. "I had no idea he was... I shouldn't have spoken...I..."

"Don't worry," Mason said, not sure if such a thing even mattered to non-humans. Though of course the information might.

The goblin looked back and forth between Kiaan and Mason and seemed to recognize his peril, his ever-present smile slowly fading.

"Cliknik say nothing. To no one. Slave to Big Boss Patron Ranger Druid Mason, yes? Happy slave. No problem. Very good with secrets."

Mason frowned. This creature was far more cunning than he'd given it credit for, and again the Mason who'd stepped into the game would have simply killed it and removed the threat.

But Blake was right. Occasionally. And so was Haley. He needed to make use of the tools he had, and even if that was still just getting it to Nassau to have its mind explored, it wasn't worth killing it now.

"Good," he said, still not sure how the damn goblin had even kept hidden from him. "What secret do you think you're keeping?"

Cliknik grinned. "Secret? What secret? Cliknik didn't hear any secrets. He doesn't even understand humans. Just watches backs."

Mason snorted.

Yeah, the creature was cunning. But considering all the technology he'd seen in the mountain, he supposed it didn't surprise him. He thanked Kiaan and assured him everything was fine again. Then he went back to the elves and found them already on their feet.

"Ready when you are....Betrothed," she said, as if trying it out for the first time and not quite sure how it sounded.

Mason winced, not sure about it either.

He also wondered when exactly the right moment was to tell your future wife 'Oh, I mentioned other wives, but what I meant was I have at least three women I'm sleeping with in Nassau already living with me. Not counting nymphs. Or tree avatars. And I don't intend to give any of them up, or treat you as more special.'

But that moment didn't really feel like now.

"Mason is fine...Naya," he said, and the elven princess smiled.

"Mason it is."