“Alright everyone,” I croak out, then clear my throat and try again. “It’s time to go.” Bastet and Ninja both open their eyes immediately. Fenrir takes a little more urging to stop making cute hissing snores, and Sirocco grumbles about not being nocturnal even as she stretches her wings – it’s about half an hour until the fifth candlemark and dawn hasn’t broken yet. We have enough light to see – I’ve been keeping the fire going in the chill of the night – but outside it’s still dark.

  Eyes gritty and tired from yet another all-but sleepless night, I fold the hide I’ve been joining together and wrap a specially enchanted cloth around it. Tying it up carefully, I make sure all of the hide is completely covered and then place it in a chest. According to Nicholas, the combination should protect the hide from the Energy-leeching properties of my Inventory. I think that’s the most useful gift he’s given me since I arrived here.

  Once it's tucked away in my Inventory, I take a moment to lean back against the chair and close my eyes. Sleep is an almost irresistible siren.

  Despite knowing how much work I had to do, I returned to my room after dinner – the rain at nightfall made staying outside an unenviable prospect. When I opened the door, the scents my companions had left behind – animal musk, herbs, a faint metallic tang, and burning – made me grip the doorframe tightly enough that it cracked under my fingers.

  Although we had only spent a couple of days in that room together before I headed off to the capital city, stomach-tugging evidence of their presence litters the space. Fragments of rune-carved pieces of wood and metal, herbs hanging on different pieces of furniture to dry, scorch marks on the mantelpiece…. Even the sight of clawmarks on the furniture brought nostalgic grief instead of anger – though if Trouble and his compatriots do make it out of this situation alive, I’ll be having a stern word with them about damaging furniture when there are plenty of trees to sharpen their talons on.

  Missing my companions was bad enough when I knew they were safe. It’s so much worse now when I don’t even know what state they’re in. I know they’re all alive – the Bonds would have broken if not. But the protections their kidnappers have up block anything else from their sides of the Bonds. Just in case the reverse isn’t true for them, I send a wave of determination down the links, telling them that I’m coming and I will find them.

  By the time I open my eyes again, my companions are all awake and waiting for me. Ninja presses herself against my knee and looks up at me, a plaintive expression in her eyes. She sends me a wave of longing tinged with fear and grief.

  “We’re going to find them,” I promise her. Whether this succeeds or I have to go and beat it out of Torrent, my companions come above everything. I’ll try it Nicholas’ way first – doing damage to my House is just giving Torrent what he wants, after all. But as long as my Bonded are alive, I’ll fight to get them back. And if he kills them? He’ll pay for it – in blood.

  I decide to head out of the room by the window-door – it’s not like I need to lock up. Not only are we not leaving this place empty given the small group we’ll be taking with us, but pretty much all my stuff is stored in my Inventory anyway. I’ve left River’s herbs – I don’t want to risk damaging them.

  Outside, Kalanthia, Ivor, and Noir are already waiting and ready.

  “Are you sure you’re alright with the plan?” I check with Kalanthia as we start walking towards the stables. “Last chance to back out.”

  I wish to make amends. I am willing to cooperate.

  She sounds more resigned than happy, but that’s expected, I suppose. I’m just grateful that she agreed – I wasn’t looking forward to needing a crash course in riding a horse, not given the situation.

  Even if we didn’t go inside, I remember seeing the stables on the first day when Nicholas gave me a tour – finding them now is easy enough. Since we’re not walking through the house, we have to circle around the building a bit to find the entrance.

  Walking into the courtyard, I’m impressed by their size. The horses don’t feel the same way about the scent of predators in the air, and start making a racket. A man who has to be middle-aged at least emerges from one of the stalls. He’s holding a hayfork, bits of straw still attached to its tines. His eyes are flashing and he brandishes the fork as if he’s forgotten it’s in his hands.

  “What’s this about now? Who are you? An’ what, by the gods, are you doin’ bringin’ creatures like that into my stables an’ upsettin’ my horses!” the man demands, stabbing his finger at Kalanthia. She growls menacingly, already not entirely happy and not appreciating his aggression.

  “You’re the stablemaster, I presume?” I check, remembering that Nicholas had mentioned briefly that the stablemaster was ‘ornery, but as good with the horses as he is bad with other humans’.

  “That’d be me,” he replies tightly, his fist clenching even more around the pitchfork in his hand. “An’ you are?”

  If my companions hadn’t been kidnapped, I’d probably find the situation amusing. As it is, it’s irritating. I don’t like pulling rank, but that might be the fastest way to get to Nicholas and be gone. I wonder why Nicholas isn’t in the courtyard already.

  “I’m Lord Markus of House Titanbend. I need to see Lord Nicholas.”

  “I don’t know no Lord Markus of House Titanbend," the stablemaster grunts suspiciously. My jaw clenches – we don’t have time for this!

  “I was led to believe that the steward had announced me to all of the staff.”

  “I rarely go into the house,” the man grunts. “An’ the Steward don’t like visitin’ the stables neither. Besides – Flash was having a difficult birth the last time he called for a meetin’ an’ I needed to be on hand to help her.”

  Great. This is just what I need at the equivalent of five am after two sleepless nights, and with my companions kidnapped.

  “Look, Nicholas took me as his heir a few days ago. And now I need to go with him on a journey. Take me to him, would you? If you doubt my words, he can verify them.”

  He suddenly looks thoughtful.

  “Now you mention it, I do believe I heard somethin’ about Lord Nicholas taking a new…heir.” He looks at me with new eyes and pales slightly below his swarthy skin.

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  “Ah, plough me,” he sighs. His eyes dropping to the ground, he dips a bow. “‘Scuse me, my lord. I hadn’t put the pieces together. I apologise for my words.” Rising out of the bow, he seems to suddenly realise that he’s still holding the fork in his hand and pulls it away, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

  I forcibly relax my jaw and try to give him a smile. It probably comes out more as a grimace.

  “No harm done as long as you take me to Nicholas now.”

  “O’ course, o’ course,” he answers immediately, his stubborn demeanour having melted away. Then he sends a hesitant look at my companions. “Though I wasn’t foolin’ about Flash having had a difficult birth. All respect meant, my lord, but smellin’ predators is the last thin’ she needs.”

  “Understandable,” I answer, doing my best to repress my impatience. I turn to the group following me. “Wait for me here, will you?” They agree, with varying degrees of disgruntlement – I think we’re all a bit on edge about the kidnapping. There’s no reason they should be concerned about my safety, but I suppose our other companions felt the same way and look what happened to them. Still, no one argues and I turn back towards the stablemaster. “Is Nicholas here yet?”

  “Aye, he’s with Tempest.” The stablemaster shakes his head even as he starts leading me across the courtyard. “Such a shame, that.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, curiosity outweighing impatience now that we’re making progress.

  “Oh, Tempest is bein’ retired. Lord Nicholas has been hopin’ he would Evolve but…” the stablemaster shrugs his shoulders and raises his hands into the air – one still holding the hayfork – as if to say that there’s nothing to be done there. “I hear he’s goin’ to break the Bond between them, even. Such a shame – that pair work together like none other I ever seen.”

  “I see,” I murmur, and then we’re entering the stable. Not all the boxes are full, but I can see that most of them are in operation. “How many horses do you have here?”

  “Twenty-seven. No, I lie, twenty-eight, countin’ Flash’s foal,” the stablemaster replies with not a little pride. “Though five are already out, for the journey Lord Nicholas is goin’ on.” Then he sends me a side-eye. “Are you goin’ on the trip too, my lord?”

  “I am,” I answer shortly.

  “Then d’you want me to prepare a horse for you, my lord?” he asks briskly. “What’s your level of ridin’? D’you have any preferences for stallion, gelding, or mare?”

  “I don’t need a horse, thanks,” I dismiss. “I have other means of travelling.”

  “Other means, eh?” the stablemaster repeats, and I get a strong sense of disapproval from his direction – like he’s taken my refusal of a horse personally.

  “I’ve only ridden a horse once before,” I say, feeling the need to explain. “And I don’t want to learn on a journey like this. But when I come back, I’d love to get some lessons,” I offer. The scowl which had been creasing the stablemaster’s brow lightens significantly as I express my desire to learn riding.

  “Then I’ll make sure we have a gentle horse for your lordship when you’re ready to start the lessons,” he promises.

  “Yes, please,” I agree, remembering all-too vividly the disastrous time when I went riding while on holiday with my parents – it ended up with the horse startling and suddenly rearing, causing me to fall off. After that experience, I vowed never to climb on another horse’s back, but the situation has changed.

  Not only have I managed to ride a number of non-horse creatures without a problem, but being able to ride a horse is probably an important noble skill. And hopefully with my new Dexterity, if I do fall off, I’ll manage to fall on my feet. Anyway, my Constitution will mean that I don’t get hurt by a fall regardless.

  We round the corner of a stall and I see Nicholas inside next to a horse even I can tell is a magnificent specimen of the species. His coat is mottled with different shades of grey and a few flecks of white. His mane and tail are both dark grey.

  Just like the other horses I’ve passed, he looks almost identical to what I recognise earth horses to be except for his batlike ears and bright red eyes. They still have the black sideways pupil of an Earth horse which definitely gives the equines around here an oddly demonic look to them. The horse’s eyes are half-shut and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying the attention. Equally, Nicholas’ body language reveals more affection that I’ve seen him give any one else so far.

  “Lord Nicholas, I found your heir wanderin’ about the yard,” the stablemaster announces me with a hint of cheer and I see part of Nicholas’ usual mask slide back into place at the interruption. The stablemaster darts a glance at me. “Perhaps have a word with the lad about bringin’ his Bound in here, if it would please your lordship.” With that, he bobs another bow to each of us and then strides off and grabs a bale of hay as he passes it to match the hayfork in his other. He might be pushing his mid-fifties if he ages the same way as people back on Earth, but he’s still clearly in top physical condition. Or he has a Class.

  I look back into the large stall to see Nicholas eyeing me with a hint of amusement as he brushes the horse down.

  “I see you’ve met Stablemaster Beacon.”

  “One could call it that,” I say wryly. Amusement curls at the corner of Nicholas’ mouth.

  “He’s a character, I know. An excellent stablemaster, though. The horses have never been better since he took over twenty years ago. And I should have told you about the beast rule earlier. No predators in the stables – it causes too much stress for the horses.”

  “Particularly the new mother, I hear,” I comment. Nicholas grimaces.

  “Ah, yes. I forgot about that. Was Beacon too irate?”

  “I managed to calm him down. Though it appeared that he hadn’t heard of me yet, which did cause a bit of a sticky moment,” I relate.

  Nicholas’ frown deepens.

  “Ah, that is my fault. I apologise. Beacon rarely visits the house – I should have ensured he’d heard the news. But I was occupied with other thoughts this morning. On that note, the guards accompanying us should be on the driveway with their horses – did you see them when you arrived?”

  “We came the other way around the building so no, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

  “Indeed. Is Beacon going to prepare a horse for you? I thought it best you choose your own mount.”

  “I’m going to ride Kalanthia,” I tell him. His eyebrows go up in shock.

  “The Tier three? She’ll allow it? Or have you commanded her to carry you?”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” I refute immediately. “I doubt it will be a common occurrence, but given the urgency of the situation and the fact that I can’t ride, she’s willing to take me this time.”

  “I see,” Nicholas murmurs thoughtfully. “It’s good that she is so reasonable. My own Tier threes can be rather…tempermental.” I decide that discretion is the better part of valour in this case and decide to change the subject.

  “How long until you’ll be ready to go? It’s almost the fifth candlemark now.” I’m guessing since there are no candles in the stable, but it’s probably been about twenty minutes since we left our room.

  “I just need to finish brushing Tempest, and then I’ll put his tack on. The journey ahead of us is long and hard and Tempest is starting to get on a little in age – a little pampering ahead of time will do him much good and only take a short time.” His voice is firm and leaves no room to argue.

  I take in a deep breath and breathe out slowly through my nose to control the urgency which insists we must leave now.

  In reality, a few minutes here or there is unlikely to make much difference when we’re headed out on a days-long trip.

  “Alright,” I say when I’ve got my emotions under control. “Can I help you?” Perhaps that would make things go faster.

  “Sure. Here, watch how I do it.”

  I do, and then take another brush and start on Tempest’s other side. Nicholas corrects me a few times, and Tempest himself eyes me for a long moment as if wondering whether to accept my touch.

  When he relaxes again, I feel an unexpected spark of pride in it being at my touch. I still feel impatience about getting on the road, conscious of the long distance between my captive Bonded and me, but Nicholas might have a point – it’s going to be a long road. Perhaps a moment of relaxation now will help us stay calm later when we need it most.

  Because after this, I’m not going to stop until I’ve found my companions.

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here