We saw Grandma and Mowd on the path from our apartment building as we approached it. They must have turned back when we weren’t there, only to spot us going there as they headed back to town. I realized those two women represented a lot of family ties within our gang. Rhonda was Arrjee’s and my grandmother and Onre’s mother. Mowd was Covral’s mother and Ferret’s and Sun’s guardian. I suspected they had come here to see me in concern for my misadventure earlier. They probably heard about it from Dad and Mom.
When we got close enough to speak instead of just waving at each other, I began the conversation, stating loud enough for them to hear me, “Hi Grandma. Hi Mowd. We’re all fine. I hope you are as well.”
Grandma replied as our groups continued walking towards each other. “Don’t give me that, Forrest Rhodes! We know you were almost murdered twice. We need to see you, and hug you, and berate you for almost dying. Then we are going to talk.”
When we got close enough, the hugs began. They didn’t just hug me, they hugged their family members and our friends as well. I noticed something new. Well old, but now new again. Grandma had two hands! One was silver, but as far as I could tell it was operating like a normal hand. It was not mechanically connected pieces, like a robot’s. Instead it was a seamless, flexible hand somehow sculpted from silver.
That’s beautiful.
Mista Smithson must have worked with someone else. Silversmithing and tinkering alone, even with those combined magical capabilities, could not have accomplished that single, integrated, artwork.
“After we find a place to talk, maybe I can get her to brag about it. I sure would.”
Lenyet suggested, “One of the apartments won’t be large enough for all twelve of us to talk. We could stand in the open here, or perhaps move to the administration building with its large, round table.”
Rhonda was an approved vendor and Lenyet was staff. Only Quorlin and Mowd lacked a direct connection to the academy. So why not? “The admin building sounds like a great idea to me. Odd even has his own chair.”
No one had any objection, and we headed over. I promised Grandma and Mowd the account of my encounter once we got there. Neither Asiel nor Orian were there, and it was pretty dark. Three magic torches quickly solved that problem, not that those of us with Dark Sight had a problem. That was a quarter of us; Lenyet, Onre, Odd, and I had no problem with darkness.
Ten of us took adjacent seats around the round table, leaving five chairs free. Odd sat in one of the two ‘stone thrones’ specifically there for Earth Elementals. Sun, well, Sun was their own chair, seated next to Odd. The ten of us more or less faced them. Ferret sat on one end, near Sun. Quorlin, maybe feeling less of a part of all this, sat on the other end. Niscus made it a point to sit next to him, maybe sensing some discomfort. I sat sort of in the middle, between Arrjee and Grandma.
Arrjee started us out. “We weren’t in our apartments because we were visiting the corral and meeting Forrest’s new friend, Swagger. He is a sapient horse! He cannot talk, but he understands every word he hears. We’re now all friends of his, too.”
Mowd speculated, “Was he a horse that broke free of a magical bond?” Obviously Lenyet wasn’t the only one who had known about such things. I affirmed that we believe that to be the case, except that his master died, freeing him before he could break free himself. “When I was a girl, such a horse joined our nomadic tribe. It was not immediately apparent that she was so special, but after a couple days her intelligence had become apparent.I don’t know where she escaped from, but we all learned to love and respect her, Blaze.”
Corval said he would introduce her to Swagger tomorrow, and Grandma said she would like to meet him as well. They agreed to gather at the academy gates tomorrow at 9. That would be between his midnight shift for the guard and afternoon shift at the academy. Onre and Niscus would be joining them as well. Others would be meeting with Swagger after school and in the evening. It made me happy that he would not be lacking for company.
After that discussion, Grandma turned to me. “Forrest, tell us everything.” I told her I would like to summarize, since most everyone already knew about it. Kossa insisted on hearing the whole thing from me also, having only heard the events indirectly from Arrjee. Reveal was not backing up my recollection this time, but I still managed to relate the events in a lot of detail. I left out two things. One was the details concerning ‘Leknor’s’ form, but I told them the mercenaries got stuck to him. The other was Interface’s telepathy with Rint, just saying that I was very lucky Ronkel had been in range to witness my imminent rape with her hawk’s vision. I felt it was up to Rint and Ronkel to reveal those details if they so chose.
A certain mental voice broke in, “You’ve certainly had an interesting day, I hope I still have your permissions to take part in mental discussions with you both.”
“Hi Skawa. Yes, of course.”
Welcome, Skawa.
“I am glad you all came to my table to discuss events. I look forward to meeting Swagger.”
Quorlin commented, “I don’t know how you could let that guy strip you like that. No offense meant, but I would have fought back the second he touched me.”
Before I could say anything, Arrjee was quickly defending my honor. “By not fighting, he stayed alive long enough for Ronkel to help him. Forrest has a personality quirk inherited from his first life. He called it ‘FSG’, for ‘Foolhardy Stubborn Grandstand’. He wouldn’t have just fought back; if he had let his FSG take hold, I’m sure they would have had to kill him on the spot. He held back very intentionally, using a lot of willpower.”
“Maybe, but I was about to explode. Only Leknor’s timely arrival prevented it. Interface was cautioning restraint as well, but FSG would have gone off if they touched me again.”
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me Ronkel was on her way?”
When I first contacted Rint, it was not clear there would be violence. Then Ronkel was not near enough to have helped if acolyte had ended up attacking. By the time of your imminent assault, I knew she was just about there, and I did not want a possible change in your demeanor to alert them that something was up.
“Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for trying to keep me calm.”
You are welcome.
Quorlin was puzzled, “Your interface was talking to you?”
I couldn’t remember if Mowd knew either, so I quickly explained that my interface is sapient, and that I call him Interface with a capital ‘I’. “Minor gods,” he responded. “You have a horse who listens and an Interface who talks. And a previous self with an attitude!”
Arrjee giggled. “His previous self talks sometimes, too. He is the one who told us about FSG.”
Grandma connected the dots, remembering our initial interviews in this very room.. “Asiel used Reveal on you earlier, and Jacques spoke again?” I affirmed her speculation.
At that point Interface invited me to a party, and after a few seconds it had thirteen members.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I: Hello, everyone. I am Forrest’s interface. Allow me to confirm Arrjee’s contention that Forrest would have died if he had lost control of his emotions. Those three men ranged from level 25 to 31. Forrest’s level 6 would have proven no more helpful than if he were level 0.
QS: Oh! Hello, sir. Please understand I was not being disrespectful. I was imagining myself in Forrest’s situation, and expressing how I think it would have affected me. Maybe I could have held my emotions back; I was not there.
Arrjee informed him that Interface hears everything that Forrest does, and that the party is only necessary for him to speak to anyone else. “And you don’t need to call him ‘sir’.”
I: Forrest never does.
FR: You wouldn’t want me to. Your unbounded humility would never allow it.
I: You are correct, adequate peon.
Most everyone appreciated our banter and laughed, me included. I think Niscus sensed puzzlement from Ferret and Sun; she did her best to explain it to them. But if you have to explain humor, it is not funny. They sort of got it, though.
Odd wondered, “What do you do with criminals here?”
I replied, “The town has a jail with three cells. Right now each of the three guys is in a separate cell. I am not sure what will happen to them.”
Arrjee added, “People are going to talk to them tomorrow, but not about the crime. Dad hopes we might learn some information about them and maybe the Priestess cult. When Forrest gets back next Tuesday, there will be a trial with him as the primary witness. I don’t know what will happen to them if they are adjudged guilty.”
“If?” Kossa says with almost a snort. Lenyet clarified that since Lord Rose was a royal, punishing him would be harder. Plus he hadn’t hurt me; his death threat was indirect. His most direct crime was assenting to my rape by the two mercenaries. Establishing attempted rape by the two mercenaries was a foregone concussion, however.
“Disguise!” unexpectedly exclaimed Onre. “The ‘Leknor’ form that trapped those two guys must have been a disguise skill. Forrest and Interface mentioned it when they first made me aware of the Ki Prestidigitator class. He said it wasn’t shapeshifting, but it would make other people see me as someone else. But since Shapeshifting is one of Ronkel’s classes, she could probably use both, right? One was a sticky creature they couldn’t see, and one was a ‘helpless’ hybrid boy.”
He figured it out.
Onre has always shown himself to be intelligent.
“Yes.”
I told him, “Your Master knows a lot more than I do, and I am not comfortable revealing her secrets. I won’t say you are wrong.”
“That is because I am right,” he stated confidently. Although his Mom remained silent, I saw pride in her eyes and the ghost of a smile.
With my eyes on her, I remembered her hand. “Grandma, I’m happy to see that you are not missing a hand anymore. How do you like the new silver one? I think it is beautiful, and Interface called it ‘artwork’.”
“I have only had it since yesterday afternoon. Mista Smithson came to the shop not too long after Sun leveled and asked if I had a couple hours for the fitting of my new hand. He said he would have to do it at his shop. Mowd chose not to come, not wanting to distract him. That turned out to be an unnecessary choice, because his whole family was there to watch except for Kossa.”
“I was at apprenticeship, but Kenna told me about it later.”
Grandma continued, “Two others were there, Werol Jorden the Ki Jewelsmith and the cleric Harron Ronvaldt. Werol and Mista have been working together for some months to perfect the making of devices both enchanted and charmed. The jeweler knew Mista was crafting me a hand and approached him with an idea. He could charm a piece of flowstone that could make and keep malleable any metal to which it was attuned. There was a risk the magic of Mista’s crafted hand and the ki of Werol’s stone would not integrate, and lead to total failure of the hand. Worst case was that I would need to wait for several more days for a less complex tinkered hand.”
It sounds riskier than that. They tried something like this before, and there was a fire.
That was substantially different. They were attempting to meld Mista’s tinkering with Werol’s traps. I doubt they included any explosives in Rhonda’s hand.
“That does seem unlikely.”
She rested her elbow on the table with her forearm and silver hand extended upward. The fingers moved and formed a fist, then releasing and going through a full range of hand motions. As that was happening, “I am quite happy with the results. Mista had said a prosthetic hand will give its user about 80% of a normal hand’s capability. Harron has verified that I have over 90%. This is not normal, tinkered, mental-mechanic technology. They brought him on board because of his anatomical expertise and physician skills, allowing him to observe what was happening inside the hand. They like the results so much, they will be offering their services on a broader scale. I am barely paying for this, instead agreeing to be their model and spokesperson in the future.”
Skawa commented, “You mortals are certainly getting most clever! Delightful.”
Mowd broke in, “Yes, yes, dear. The hand is wonderful. You should show them what your talented granddaughter made.”
“I was going to show them. One thing at a time.” Grandma reached into her pouch and pulled something out. She laid a pair of white cotton gloves in front of her. “Carrie made these during the last week. About five days ago she told me what she planned, and took measurements on my remaining hand. We expected Mista’s crafted hand to be much more mechanical in appearance, and a nice pair of gloves might help me avoid questions.” She put them on as she was speaking. They were extra long, obviously to include the two inches of her replaced right arm.
Kossa commented, “Yes, the gloves are beautiful and elegant. But with your hand being so close to normal, it is almost a shame to cover it.”
I gave my opinion, “I think she can be elegant either way. And look at that gold embroidery on the back of her right glove. It provides a very intriguing accent, providing Grandma with a mysterious aspect.”
Corval explained, “That is the alchemical glyph for integrity. Carrie asked me if I could think of something to represent Rhonda and her alchemy. I thought of the glyphs, and we found a book at the school library with pictures of the full set of seventeen.”
Grandma said, “The thread is from the endless gold spool Skawa had gifted to Carrie. She didn’t have time to also embroider the left glove. She won’t tell me what the pattern will be, and I cannot wait to find out.”
Skawa told me, “I’m happy to see my gift being used. ‘Integrity’ was a better choice than Carrie and Corval knew. I am certain they chose it because of Rhonda’s character, which is quite appropriate in itself. Your grandmother has a special physical integrity as well. Over a decade ago, Wisdom provided her a longevity boon, which should add about 25% to her lifespan.”
“Really?! Do gods do that sort of thing often?”
“No. Wisdom was impressed at the ways Rhonda had integrated her Alchemy and Perfumery over the decades, weaving them essentially into one class greater than both were individually. She received the boon as a reward, and in the hope she would have further opportunity to demonstrate wisdom.”
“I remember being very impressed at her poise, grace, and beauty on first seeing her. I could hardly believe it when she said she was 67. She said hybrids tend to look younger in their old age.”
“I am sure that is what she is telling herself, but by now she is probably suspicious. Don’t tell her! We thought it would be fun for you to know; you are sort of the walking embodiment of longevity on the planet. Plus she really liked what you said during our improvisation with Perx.”
“?”
I suspect he means, ‘All are lifted by the presence of gods, as gods are uplifted by lifting others.’
“Oh. That was sort of spontaneous. I forgot I said it.”
“That is correct, Interface. I’m glad somebody was paying attention. When I told Wisdom you said that, she suggested we put it on a plaque placed where all the gods would see it. And having me tell you about Rhonda is just another part of her pleasure. Her longevity boon may have been one of the factors which allowed her to survive the boiling blood curse. By the way, Onre did as well as his skill rank allowed in protecting her brain, but blood vessel damage had occurred deep inside of it. Over time, it would have degraded her ability to think, doing permanent, incurable damage. But Wisdom says she refreshed her boon, and Rhonda’s brain is 100% healthy.”
“Thank Wisdom on behalf of our whole family.”
I heard Skawa’s quick mental laugh. “She knew you were going to say that.”
“Forrest, are you still with us?” asked Arrjee. “Mowd has heard about your intuition, and asked if you had any ideas what would be embroidered on Rhonda’s left glove.”
Okay, maybe I do get distracted.
“Um, I don’t really know. Is there a glyph for health or longevity, something like that? I’m sure Carrie wants that for Grandma as much as the rest of us.” Onre concurred, saying it would be very fitting.
Skawa said, “That is awfully close to a clue about her boon.”
“You put the thought in my mind. But I strongly doubt it will be seen as anything other than a guess relating to her other glove.”
“No harm done. I am leaving to meet that horse of yours. I’ll talk to you beings later.”
Farewell. You might find him occupied.
I managed to hold in a snort as I felt Skawa’s presence vanish. I’m pretty sure this meeting is coming to a close, and we will soon be able to commence some cardio in our apartments.