The manor in Azaarde is as beautiful as the one in the countryside, though a bit smaller due to the restrictions of space in the city – it’s right in the centre of the ‘official’ housing, namely, not the slums. It seems to make up for the reduced size in increased grandeur, though at least it’s somewhat understated grandeur rather than the ridiculous architecture I see on the way to it. Gaudi would have loved some of the local merchants’ houses.

  Our welcome to the estate is warm and I’m half-tempted to kidnap the chef for our trip to the Lost Continent – or, at least, try to give her an offer she can’t refuse. Unfortunately, from the way even Nicholas seems to be intimidated by her, I suspect that any attempts will be fated to failure.

  If not for Lathani joining me as I spoke to her, and being the adorable nunda juvenile that she can be, I don’t think the chef would have permitted my companions to join us for dinner. But it seems that Sera Nolis has a soft spot for cats and Lathani can act like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth when she wants to. Demonstrating that she can speak telepathically helped convince Sera Nolis that my companions are sufficiently ‘people’ to merit dining on her delicious fare.

  We therefore pass a very enjoyable dinner all together. The samurans eat at the table again, joining Nicholas, Healer Jermaine, and I. Watching Trouble squabble with Blaze over the dinner roles and Bastet and Lathani work together to sneak tastes of River’s food just reminds me of how precious they are to me.

  I wasn’t sure why the healer had come with us at first, but his enthusiastic questioning of exactly how I healed myself from being run through, and what I’m doing with Tempest indicate that it might be from pure curiosity.

  At Nicholas’ suggestion, Healer Jermaine – or Jerry as he keeps encouraging me to call him ‘like Nicholas’ – joins me when I check on Tempest after dinner. He clearly finds the experience very interesting, but is just as clearly unable to see what I’m doing in Tempest’s Core space – namely, encouraging the four main strands of his internal matrix to connect to each other at the centre. Jerry is able to follow anything I do that impacts Tempest’s physical body, but beyond that, he’s blind.

  Nicholas joins us at the end, though seems a little distracted when I give him my report. Perhaps he wanted to consult with the healer more than visit Tempest, as he disappears with Jermaine soon after.

  By the time I head off for bed, I’ve arranged to spend some more time with the healer. While he’s interested in learning more about Flesh-Shaping – as apparently he’s never heard of a Skill as neutral as that which can be used for healing – I’d like to see if he has any suggestions for how to get past the natural resistance of non-Bound beings in order to heal them. That, after all, is the main downside of Flesh-Shaping over other healing Skills.

  The bed is extremely comfortable – even better, the bedroom is big enough for all of us to sleep there together. Not including Kalanthia, of course. Alyna and Rory choose to sleep in proper beds in the servants’ quarters but Loran chooses to curl up on a mattress with Trouble, Ninja, Artemis, and Orion. I wasn’t surprised – he’s done that every night he can since the rescue. On the occasions that he hasn’t been able to, he’s slept poorly.

  I wake up early to the scent of fresh bread and the sound of metal clanging.

  “What do you intend to do today?” Nicholas asks me as I sit down at the breakfast table.

  “You mentioned that there’s an enchanter here who does your tattoos. I was hoping you’d give me directions to them.”

  Nicholas raises an eyebrow.

  “Your reaction to my own seemed rather uneasy – I thought you weren’t interested in having them done.”

  “I haven’t made a decision yet,” I emphasise, “and won’t until I have more information. And it will be my companions’ choices in the end. I won’t force anyone to be stuck on me like that.”

  “I should have expected that,” Nicholas remarks wryly. “Do you wish to go out this morning?”

  I shrug.

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Then I’ll ask the guard captain to assign you guards who know the way to Master Enchanter Mirena’s workship.”

  I raise my eyebrows at Nicholas.

  “I do have two Bonded who were born in this city, you know. Do I really need guards to accompany me?”

  Nicholas gives me a look in return that’s clearly questioning my intelligence.

  “Quite apart from the fact that your Bonded who were born here were both from the slums and therefore are unlikely to know much about the more prosperous areas of the city, the guards will make it clear to everyone at first glance that you’re from this House. Or do you think that people who are already panicking about having dangerous beasts in the city with them are likely to scrutinise the crests on your shoulders?”

  He…does have a point. It’s true that the livery of the guards is a lot more obvious than my own crests – and I can take the hint that I should be wearing a formal overrobe, though I’m definitely not wearing one that would have been appropriate for court. We saw enough dressed-up popinjays in the streets on our way to the manor yesterday – I’m not keen on joining them.

  “Fine. Not too many, I hope.”

  “Two should be sufficient, don’t you think?”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  To be fair to Nicholas, two extra people accompanying us isn’t bad at all. And he’s right that their presence will probably avoid a number of other problems.

  “Alright, thanks,” I say with a small sigh.

  “Of course,” Nicholas smiles thinly, taking my olive branch. “Now, I’ve had your letters to the guilds sent off already, but you may wish to speak to Master Mirena about whether she knows any crafters who might be interested in travelling with you. She’s well-connected in the city.”

  “Good to know,” I reply with a nod of gratitude. “How long do you think the guilds will take to respond?”

  “Not much time – the mercenaries might reply within the day. The mages and various crafting guilds are likely to take a little longer, but still, I should expect a response within a few days. Will you continue your spear practice while you’re here?”

  I grimace – I definitely haven’t done as much work on that as I should have and Mathis is likely to kick my butt as a result. But that shouldn’t be a reason to say no.

  “I’d better,” I sigh. “And not just the spear – I should practise with my daggers. Archery too.” That gives me weapons for all types of fights in case someone else calls for an honour duel, this time restricting my magic-use entirely.

  Nicholas nods.

  “Very well. I would suggest setting training for the afternoons. Acceptable?”

  “Sure,” I agree, then a thought occurs. “Can I bring my companions to the training?”

  Nicholas frowns a little.

  “Human or non-human?”

  “Well, definitely the human ones, and maybe the samurans – I know the Warriors would appreciate some practice, and perhaps the Pathwalkers would too. But thinking about it, probably everyone would appreciate some training.”

  I see the lord considering the thought carefully.

  “You will have to ask your trainers directly about if they will accept other pupils in the lessons – and non-human ones at that. As for the others, I would suggest that I call out some of my own Bonded – it would do them all good to get some exercise and test their strategies against each other.”

  The more I think about it, the better the idea sounds – we’ll be facing plenty of beasts on the expedition, after all. Though…

  “They won’t actually try to kill each other if we’re not present, right?”

  Nicholas raises an eyebrow.

  “Mine certainly won’t.”

  I think back to the only time we clashed before and how both sides managed to keep damage within the limits and stop fighting when the limits had been reached. I nod decisively.

  “It’ll be fine, then.”

  After finishing breakfast, Nicholas gives me some directions to the Enchanter and then he heads off to his office to do some administration before he starts his meetings. It sounds awfully boring, and I don’t look forward to going back to that kind of life myself one day. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

  Since it looks like everyone has finished eating, I head out into the courtyard and call for everyone to join me. Trouble and Spot were playing tug-of-war with one of the bones, but come trotting over easily enough. In a short amount of time, Loran, Alyna, and Rory all hurry to join.

  So, who wants to go with me? I ask. You can’t all come. Given the number of narrow streets we saw last night on our way in, Kalanthia, Ivor, and Noir are definitely out. Lathani’s a possibility, but only just.

  I want to come, Hunter speaks up first, her tone definite.

  Sure, I agree – this is an enchanter so that goes without saying.

  Me too, River quickly adds. They might use interesting potions, she justifies. I nod at her and then raise an eyebrow at Happy.

  Want to complete the set?

  No thanks, she replies offhandedly. There are lots of curious new fittings in this manor that I want to inspect.

  With that settled, it doesn’t take too long to decide that Catch will accompany the two Pathwalkers and me while Iandee stays behind with Happy.

  Predictably, Lathani wants to join me, as does Bastet, and Sirocco is also a given. The rest of the non-humans, I manage to convince to stay behind. As for the three humans….

  “Loran, Alyna, do you want to come?” I invite a little uncertainly. Alyna chews on her lip a little, her head bent, but I feel a strong sense of curiosity coming from her. “Alyna? Are you also interested in seeing the Enchanter at work?” I ask, suspecting I know what’s in her mind.

  “If ye want,” she offers offhandedly, as if it doesn’t matter at all to her. I allow her to get away with the pretence.

  “And you, Loran?”

  He ducks his head.

  “I need to head to the courthouse. Would you…be willing to pass by that?”

  “Sure – we can go there first. I’ll even come in with you if you want – or wait outside if you don’t. Or I can leave you to explore the city if you’d prefer.”

  “Thank you, Markus,” he replies with a hint of relief, even managing to lift his head and give me a bit of a tremulous smile. I return a stronger one for a moment before I look at the final human present.

  “What about you Rory?”

  “I…. One o’ the cooks in the kitchen ‘as asked me te help, milord,” he offers a little reluctantly. To my secret amusement, I see a hint of a blush come to his bearded cheeks. Help. Uh-huh. So that’s what they’re calling it these days? Well, far be it for me to get in the way of a potential love affair.

  “Alright, no problem,” I tell him, trying to hide my smile. If we’re lucky, Rory will pick up some cooking tips in the process. If we’re very lucky, he might be able to convince one of the cooks to come with us on the expedition. “We’ll see you later.”

  “Thank ye, milord,” Rory answers, more grateful in this moment than I’ve ever seen him. Interesting.

  The crunch of gravel heralds two liveried guards heading towards us – one man, one woman. The latter is a little unusual, but not completely unheard of. It seems that, though gender roles among the non-Classers largely match medieval Europe, they’re certainly not that strict among the Classers. Magic is definitely the great equaliser and it turns out that both of the guards are Classers. I guess it figures that Nicholas would want to make sure my accompaniment are people who can actually help in an emergency.

  “Thanks for joining us,” I tell the two of them once they’ve introduced themselves with a bow. “If everyone’s ready, let’s go.”

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