I find it hard to sleep even once I’ve been given leave to catch a bit of rest. Too many thoughts are chasing themselves around my mind. My Intelligence stat might be a lot higher than it was originally, offering me far better comprehension speed, but that doesn’t seem to help when the same thoughts just keep occurring again and again.

  The conversations with the nobles and the honour duel itself occupy my mind, but, oddly, they’re not the main things taking up processing space. Nicholas’ story about House Forestheart is not just ancient history – it has implications on this time, on me. And I have to decide how to deal with it. Behind closed eyes, the conversation replays once more.

  “Forestheart has been in decline for a while,” Nicholas explains, “but it only became noticeable when their bank was absorbed by Goldmine’s – it was a notable sign which greatly embarrassed the family. The lord at the time was arrogant and quick to anger. He was furious that their weakness had been so exposed and so sought to increase their influence once more.”

  “By blackmailing another Great House?” I ask incredulously. “And why choose Titanbend? If it was Goldmine who absorbed the bank, why not attack them for it? If he felt the need to attack anyone at all.“

  “It was Goldmine, but the lord of the time had cleverly negotiated an alliance at the same time as the bank merger, which the Lord Forestheart had not identified – and in his hubris, he had not had one of his law-experts look at the contract before he signed it. Since he already had an alliance in place with Flameform, she was not a possible target. Nor was the Queen of the time – the agreements made with House Starblade which permitted them to rise to the position of monarchy both limit and protect them. Rainpoint was too far away and not rich or influential enough to be a worthy target.”

  “So Forestheart chose Titanbend through a process of elimination?” I ask in disbelief. Nicholas shrugs.

  “So the records of the interrogation between my grandfather and the Lord Forestheart indicate.” I shake my head. Arrogant and quick to anger indeed – more like a mad beast lashing out at the most accessible target.

  “So Forestheart decided to kidnap and blackmail the Lord Titanbend at the time. I take it he was successful? In the kidnapping part, anyway?” If he hadn’t been, I suspect it wouldn’t have become as important a history.

  “He was.” A muscle tics in Nicholas’ jaw. “I shall not go into all the details, but in the debacle my grandmother was killed and my father infected by a blood curse, one that no healer or priest ever managed to cure and which gave him a life expectation far below the norm.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I tell him, understanding his pain. It seems we were both unlucky enough to lose our fathers far too early.

  Nicholas jerks his head in something that might be a nod, or might be an involuntary movement.

  “It is life,” he answers me, his voice stripped of emotion. “But, as you can imagine, he sought justice.”

  “Understandable,” I admit – I’d want it too in those circumstances. Heck, I wouldn’t just settle for ‘justice’, but would want ‘revenge’. Is that what happened, in the end?

  Nicholas continues his story, not acknowledging my interruption beyond the barest of nods.

  “When he took Lord Forestheart’s crimes to the King, my grandfather was awarded an honour duel with the erring lord – no limits. Grandfather brought all of his most powerful Bonded and won easily.”

  I think I see where this is going.

  “And you mentioned that winning an honour duel which isn’t declared by the Titanbend allows us to subsequently use Dominate, right?” I ask warily.

  “Correct,” Nicholas agrees crisply, a faint flash of triumph crossing his face. “He won the Battle of Wills too, and in recognition that Lord Forestheart’s actions had had consequences for more than one generation of our family, the King declared that House Forestheart, and its lords, would remain subordinate to our family for three generations of its line.”

  “Remain subordinate…” I repeat suspiciously. “Is this another exception to the rules governing our use of Dominate, then?”

  “It is,” Nicholas agrees. “Lord Forestheart’s Bond was passed down to my father, and then when the lord perished in a hunting accident, my father conducted the Battle of Wills with his son, who is the current Lord Forestheart. Should I perish before he does, his Bond shall pass to you. Once he passes, his heir will face the Battle of Wills with whoever the current Lord Titanbend is. Win or lose, the debt shall end there.”

  It’s no wonder that Elarion was so wary around me, and the hostility I picked up from him makes absolute sense now. One day, he will have to face either Nicholas or me in a battle for his own freedom, despite him not having done a single thing to us except be the grandson of a foolish lord. Talk about the sins of the fathers!

  And now what am I to do? It feels wrong to use Dominate on people who have done nothing to me.

  On the other hand, this was a sentence passed down by the King, presumably a way of deterring others from repeating the same actions. If someone knows that it’s not only themselves who might be lost, but several generations of their family with them, it’s a strong deterrent.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  But that doesn’t mean it’s right. Nicholas might expect me to Dominate Elarion, but does that mean I have to?

  I suppose I could always throw the battle – who would know if neither I nor Elarion speak about it? Though that risks making me look weak – my House is known to produce those of high Willpower; if I am proven to have failed in that, enemies might see me as a weak link.

  I push the question of what to do to the side – it’s not immediately relevant. I have enough to deal with to spend time considering theoreticals like that. Unless he abdicates ahead of time, Nicholas will be dead by the time I’m expected to Dominate Elarion – perhaps I can ‘forgive’ the family somehow.

  There’s another part of the debate that is more immediately relevant – about Heir Fell. If I win – when I win, I correct myself, knowing the value of positive thoughts – I will have the right to engage in a Battle of Wills with Heir Fell. Everyone will probably expect me to do so But should I?

  Assuming he doesn’t back out between now and three days’ time, Fell will have attacked me and sought to do me wrong, it’s true. In the samurans’ world, I would take him as one of mine to make up for that. But here…he’s just a catspaw of someone else, probably Lord Torrent. In many ways, he’s not my real enemy. He’s pushed the matter, but I’m curious about how much of that was his own will, and how much was being convinced or outright ordered by the lord of his House under the influence of Torrent.

  But it’s not the first time I’ve been attacked by someone on behalf of someone else. There was the small red tribe village who lured me and a group of my combat-inclined Bound away while the bigger red village attacked in my absence. I responded to their attack by Dominating the Pathwalkers who survived, those who had made the decision to attack me, and gave those who were innocent of the decision opportunities which they would never have had. So there’s precedent. Of course, there’s the question of who Heir Fell is in that scenario – the Pathwalker who had the option to walk away, or the Unevolved who didn’t.

  On the other hand, if he was Bound to me, I’d be able to nip his awful behaviour towards slaves in the bud. For that, if nothing else, he deserves to know what it feels like to be that helpless.

  But, in some ways, it’s not just about whether Fell deserves it or not. It’s also about me. This is my debut – what do I want to show of myself? Do I want to be the merciless Titanbend, following in the footsteps of Nicholas’ ancestors? Do I want to wield my Bond as a true chain? Like how it’s been used against Elarion’s family?

  Or do I want to be different? And if I do, then how?

  My thoughts fall apart as sleep finally draws me into its unconscious embrace.

  *****

  “Right,” Mathis grinds out as he studies me speculatively. “Lord Nicholas has told me that you’ll be in an honour duel in three days’ time, facing a swordsman.”

  “That’s right,” I agree, though I’m not sure if he was looking for confirmation. He grunts.

  “I don’t think I need to tell you that it’s going to be bloody hard work to bring you up to an acceptable standard in three days, but I like a challenge.” He gives me a wolfish grin. “The question is – do you?”

  I don’t think the nerves which roil in my belly are unjustified at the look on his face. I swallow.

  “I want to win the duel,” I tell him plainly. “And I’m willing to put in the work necessary to do that.”

  “That’s a good attitude,” he praises. “Let’s hope that you still feel that way by the end of the day. Right. If we’re going to give you a chance of winning, we’ve got to get you using those attributes correctly – that’s one thing. We also need to correct some of those basic errors you’re making – a good swordsman will crack you like an egg with the number of faults you currently have in your form. And finally, we need to cover some good tactics to use against a swordsman – and a Skilled one at that.”

  I sigh quietly at the list – it’s not unexpected, but it does make me wonder whether three days is really going to be enough. Especially since Mathis hasn’t mentioned something pretty important.

  “What about using magic during the duel – are we going to practise that?”

  Mathis gives me another wolfish smile.

  “That’s what you’re going to do with Laeman during the breaks. Buckle up, Markus – you’re going to have about four hours per day to sleep for the next three days. The rest of the time will be spent on preparing for the duel.”

  “Eating isn’t in the schedule?” I ask, raising my eyebrow sardonically.

  “Of course it is – but if you don’t think you can continue to talk tactics even while you eat, then I am happy to inform you that you absolutely can. Now, any questions, or shall we get right into it?” Mathis asks with the sadism of a drill sergeant. I remind myself that I should be grateful to even have these trainers to prepare me – it doesn’t help much.

  “Let’s get started,” I sigh.

  “Excellent. Now, one thing I noticed in your form when we trained yesterday is that you’re not using the spear as effectively as you could. You over-rely on thrusting. A beginner’s mistake, and one that’s holding you back. A spear isn’t only its point – you can use the butt to strike just as easily, or hold it in a wide grip and use it like a quarter-staff.”

  “I do use the butt sometimes,” I object. “And I tried using it like a quarterstaff against Nicholas to block his sword, but he just chopped straight through the shaft.”

  “You’re using other strikes from time to time, yes, but you’re not doing so as fluidly or efficiently as you could. As for Lord Nicholas chopping through your spear, that won’t happen with a decent spear.” He stops for a moment. “Unless the swordsman has a Skill for that, of course,” he qualifies thoughtfully. “Anyway, against a swordsman, you need to take full advantage of the flexibility that a spear has over his weapon. A sword can only be safely held in one place; a spear can be held anywhere along its length. A sword can only attack with its blade, whether point, edge, or flat; a spear can attack with its point in a thrust or slash, its shaft, and its butt. A sword has a limited reach; a spear has a much larger range of reach, depending on the position of the hands – near the head, in the middle, or at the end. Frankly, a sword is a pretty weapon, but a spear is a far more effective one. And a blade staff combines the best of both worlds, though we probably don’t have the time to train you in that.” His voice trails off for a moment, then he snaps back to full focus a moment later.

  “No, we don’t,” he answers his own question decisively. “So, the first thing we’re going to do is to train you in all the different moves you can make with a spear, and then we’re going to work on you incorporating them smoothly in a spar. The best thing? The faster we go, the more you train your Dexterity and Strength.” He gives a sadistic grin.

  I glance over at the side – Ninja and Bastet are both there, providing moral support. I clench my jaw and tighten my grip on my spear. Nicholas warned me that Torrent’s end-game might be to see me dead. What happens in that case to all of my companions? To the ones still at the manor who have no idea of what’s going on?

  “Alright, let’s get started,” I growl. I’ve got three days to learn how to not die.

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here