"Wait, please!" called a voice from the stairs, and the elven princess rushed out and stood awkwardly. "We didn't mean to offend you. It isn't unusual to exchange soldiers between elven houses. But..."

"Well you have offended me," Mason said sharply. "I won't be giving you my people's 'loyalty' under any circumstances. Not if you held a knife to my throat. Do you understand?"

"I apologize," said Naya, though of course it wasn’t actually her who’d asked for anything. Then her eyes flashed with emotion and she gestured at Haley. "Since we're speaking plainly, you should know you offended me the moment you brought your mate to a marriage negotiation. It's an insult…to me, to any future children we might have. A bastard already grows in her belly."

Mason glanced at Haley, then back at Naya and the oracle.

It was probably the word 'bastard' that did it. Technically, Mason was a bastard. He didn’t know who his parents were and never cared to find out. They’d abandoned a little boy and that was all he’d ever needed to know.

He felt the already simmering heat crawling up his spine, clawing its way with a kind of inevitable violence. He was wondering how exactly he'd gotten from 'saving some elves' to 'negotiating how he conducted his life and settlement with a stranger'.

The word bastard was bad. But she'd also just insulted Haley right to his face.

"Mason..." Haley stood and put a hand on his arm, clearly recognizing his expression. But his tolerance for all this shit had come to an end.

"OK," he said. "You want plain speech? I'm not actually playing whatever game this is, sweetheart, I was just being nice. I didn’t mean to ask you to marry me. I'm not a 'baron'. You're not a 'baroness'. Those are just words and they don't mean a thing. My game is blood and iron. I could rip you and your elves apart with my bare hands. When you were all running around terrified with those centaurs, I was having fun. You understand? You might as well be made out of fucking cardboard to me." He took a few deep breaths, but it didn’t help much.

"I'm not interested in your contracts. Enjoy the settlement. You're safe here unless you hurt someone. But stop bothering me with your horseshit because I have whatever’s left of humanity to save. OK?"

Again he turned for the door, and again the princess called for him to wait. He turned and she dropped to her knees, her head lowered and hands together.

"Please, Mason. Please forgive me. You're right. We have behaved...arrogantly, and we know nothing of humans of their ways. But...please, don't end our marriage. We're...I'm...desperate."

"Princess Naya..." said the oracle sharply, but the girl shook her head.

"My people have not had children in a hundred years, Mason," Naya said, her voice on the verge of tears. "Once we had many cities across this world. We were strong and wise, and we helped the other races. But...the elvendom I was born into is a weak, crumbling thing, terrified of everything and everyone, too proud even to ask for help," she gave a reproachful look at Dariya, "and to admit its own weakness."

Mason clenched his jaw, not sure what to say.

"You say...you are trying to save your people?" Naya asked, meeting Mason's eyes. "That's why I'm here. Why we're all here, in this magical place, where we feel the life of Gaia as I have not felt it once in my lifetime. I am also trying to save mine."

He looked between her beautiful green eyes and slowly felt the anger fade, stepping slightly towards her. He was beginning to realize he had a weakness for women who needed his help. That made it no less impossible to resist.

He took her hands and pulled her to her feet, trying not to smell whatever incredible scent she was wearing, or notice the thin silk of her clothes as she pressed slightly against him.

"We still have a problem, princess, because I'm not giving you any people. I'm a shit negotiator anyway but frankly I'm not interested in even..."

Naya put a finger to his lips and smiled.

"Will you promise to try to give me and my people children? With all your magic and power? Whatever we can do? That's all I truly ask."

Mason blinked, a hell of a lot more comfortable with the new terms of their arrangement.

"Yes," he agreed. "I'll do everything in my power to give you and your people children. As many as you want."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Naya smiled, and her eyes went slightly watery before they glazed. Then Mason watched his 'House' tab glow like he'd dropped the damn thing in a fire.

* * *

[Title gained: Elven Patron. Gain the House loyalty of an elf. +2 presence.]

[Title gained: Elven Lord. Gain the House loyalty of at least ten elves. + 3 Presence]

"Naya!" Dariya practically sagged at the table and put a hand to her head. "Oh, child, what have you done?"

Mason had no idea what she'd done. Except by reading his new titles. But when he clicked into his House icon he saw, firstly, it now had approximately twenty members with names he didn't recognize. His 'prestige' had shot up until some kind of bar filled, and a variety of the other tabs blinked for attention.

"I cannot condemn my people for their ways until I've changed mine," said Naya, still holding Mason's arms. "My father would have understood."

"You could have at least kept me," muttered Dariya, looking slightly dejected. "The man's House is younger than my indigestion."

Naya smiled and finally let go of Mason's arms, backing away with a shy glance.

"It will grow soon enough. I have given you all my people, Mason. Though...not all have accepted. I hope it is an adequate gesture of my trust. And my...contrition." She looked at Haley, who still stood somewhat awkwardly by the table. "Please accept my apology. I should not have...I can only apologize."

"Of course." Haley smiled. "You'll find Mason can be a little...overprotective."

"I have seen it in action," Naya said as she returned the smile. "A very fine trait in a husband, I think."

"Well." Mason cleared his throat, not at all comfortable with being talked about, nor with gaining the ‘lordship’ over a bunch of people because Naya said so. "If that's all settled, I have a lot to do. There's a building I need to inspect, and all kinds of things blinking in my face." The elves looked at him strangely and he shrugged. "Leader duties, I mean. If it's alright I'll…maybe talk to you later?"

"Of course," said Naya, looking a bit surprised and maybe overwhelmed. "I'll have to…speak to my people. But, would you...perhaps...we should both speak to them later, if you have the time. You are their new liege lord. My people have rituals for such things. It would do much to put them at ease if we had a show of unity, and if they could...hear you say a few words of welcome? Many still need to accept the change in allegiance I've offered them."

Mason practically groaned, though he was at least glad to hear they had a choice. 'Making speeches' was possibly first on his list of hated duties. Though something about risking his life over and over made the idea a little less daunting.

"I'll make time," he said, and Naya smiled a little. "But, uh, maybe...you could help...I don't know...guide me, on what they might like to hear, a little?"

The princess's beautiful smile got a little wider, and she bowed her head. "It would be my honor, betrothed. I'll be here most of the day."

Mason nodded, already no idea what to say. Just talking to people was bad enough, and not something he’d much enjoyed in his former life. How the hell had he signed up for winning over elves? He tried smiling with as much enthusiasm as possible, then took Haley's arm and escaped through the door.

"Well that went wonderfully," Haley said, clutching him like a giddy schoolgirl. "I think maybe you should shout at everyone about how scary you are during negotiations."

"I wasn't..." Mason sighed. "If I do that," he said teasingly, "what would I even need you for?"

His blonde beauty stuck out her tongue, moving closer to whisper in his ear and rub a hand down his leg.

"To celebrate with after your victory?"

"Down girl," he said. "I really do have a lot to do. Though maybe you can help me with some of that. There are a ton of things blinking."

Haley reverted back to professional assistant mode, pulling back with a nod.

"Let's multi-task." Her eyes glazed then widened as she whistled and hopped with another giddy grab at Mason's arm. "Oh, patron, I know you think this 'other' part of the game doesn't matter, but you have no idea what you just gained. Let's go inspect your building, and I'll start walking you through it. You have some choices to make."

As they walked arm in arm towards the new training hall, Haley explained everything they were seeing.

First of all, now that the elves had joined his house, they'd also officially joined Nassau, and Mason gained a hell of a lot of patron points. And it looked like he had a few new building options with new icons, including something called an 'Oracle Stone' and a 'Scout's Enclave', plus a few more that seemed crafter oriented. If that was all he'd gained he would have been fairly happy.

But his new 'House' icon had a lot more. His 'Edict' list now had options that weren't greyed out. Apparently whatever 'laws' he could make were defined and dependent on his people and not whatever he happened to come up with. He could make specific edicts, it looked like, just for elves, which wouldn't necessarily affect other members of his house.

He certainly saw some future headaches down that road...

His eyes bulged a little when he saw some of the law options. He could command the elves to change which gods they worshipped, what they could access in his settlements, their marriage laws, their military service…

He had a choice of 'penalty' for everything, which ranged everywhere from a small fine to the death of their entire family going up and down a generation...

He snapped the edict tab shut and clenched his jaw.

Seeing how draconian the system could be was not remotely comforting. It made him think maybe he shouldn't ever use the damn thing at all. What was even the point? They could make their own laws without the system, without interference.

The only use he could see was if the settlement became truly enormous. But even then, he could use players like police, make laws just like a city would on earth.

"Is everything alright, Mason? I get the impression you haven't been listening..."

Mason blinked and gave Haley an apologetic smile. "It's a bit overwhelming. I'm not much of a multi-tasker. Maybe let's check out the training hall, then we'll do some more 'House' management."

Haley squeezed his arm with a nod, then they walked to the huge new building.