One ballot and a short negotiation later, Luna Corsetti was the new Lord Blackmane.
Drake hadn’t had to do much to win the second vote. All three Blackmane thralls supported him and Sky, but the other two were paramours of the former Lord Blackmane. Samuel’s spies said the two of them had cliques that absolutely hated each other. Having either elected as the new Lord Blackmane would have left the manor compromised.
Luna was the obvious choice. She was among the most senior thralls, liked by all, and not foolish enough to date the boss or her subordinates. Mistvale and Proudglade wanted a weak Blackmane Manor, but once again, Drake had the votes. Lord Proudwater disapproved of thralls who dated their manor lords, and Lord Ashwind would now follow Drake anywhere.
Lord Frostlight and Lord Blackmane had been restored. Eight manor lords now stood together against the kromian empire. Better yet, Mistvale and Proudglade were now more isolated than ever. They would have to offer concessions to stay in the game.
If Lord Mistvale was annoyed that Drake had outmaneuvered him on both manor lord votes, he didn’t show it. Instead, he immediately moved on to the next order of business. “We will now determine how we will fulfill the requests of the noble court.”
Drake was tempted to immediately volunteer for the assault that would re-open the mouth of the bay, but Samuel had advised him not to tip his hand about his eagerness. Ideally, he would trick his enemies into making concessions to talk him into doing what he already wanted. So instead, he simply waited in silence for Mistvale to continue.
Negotiations regarding the refugees proceeded smoothly. Mistvale confirmed he had agreed to take the allotment of refugees assigned to Sky and Drake.
In exchange, Sky and Drake committed the bulk of their forces to reopening the bay, which ensured Lord Mistvale could simply head home with the refugees. While Mistvale likely considered it a win that they would risk weakening their forces while his remained strong, Drake was willing to do that because he wanted to kill kromians. Everything was going smoothly enough until Lord Proudglade looked up from the floor and said something dumb.
“Proudglade Manor will bring Lord Redbow to justice,” the man said calmly. “After we have re-opened the bay, the rest of you may return home.”
Drake frowned and leaned forward. “That’s not happening.”
Proudglade watched him with a flat expression. “You do not have the forces to open the bay and also defeat Lord Redbow in the field. Moreover, you do not know his habits and capabilities as I do. If you attempt to hunt him down alone, you will fail.”
“You were his best buddy, Proudglade,” Drake reminded everyone forcefully. “You really think we’ll trust you to take him down after you two worked so hard to kill us?”
“I had no idea Lord Redbow intended to deceive the noble court. Nor did I know he had taken Lord Ashwind’s son as a hostage.”
“But you were fine with it,” Drake reminded everyone. “You knew Lord Redbow was a snake, and you allied with him because you knew he’d help you seize power for yourself. If you’d wanted to know, you could have learned what he was doing and stopped him. You turned a blind eye on purpose.”
“Yes,” Proudglade said calmly. “I did.”
Drake hadn’t expected Proudglade to just admit it. He frowned instead of continuing to lay into the man. Was Lord Proudglade actually... remorseful?
“Like my son, I allowed myself to be blinded by my ambitions to stabilize our realm,” Proudglade continued quietly. “I grew so focused on uniting us that I forgot why I set out to do so. I would deny your accusations if I could, Lord Gloomwood, but... you are correct. I compromised too many times, and because I compromised, my youngest son is dead.”
Lord Mistvale touched Lord Proudglade’s shoulder. “This is not necessary, old friend.”
“It is, I believe, if we are to serve the noble court as we must.” Lord Proudglade stood and turned to Drake. “Lord Gloomwood, I misjudged you. That I was deceived does not matter. I failed in my duty to the noble court. My failure nearly led to your wrongful execution.”
Drake hadn’t expected Lord Proudglade to fall on his sword so forcefully. He hoped the man hadn’t lost his edge, because as terrifying as he might be as an enemy, they were going to need Proudglade’s edge to defeat the kromians.
“That is why my manor must be the one to bring Lord Redbow to justice,” Proudglade continued. “It is the only way I can hope to redeem myself for my failure. So... Lord Gloomwood, I ask for your concession in this matter. Allow me to fix my mistake.”
From any other man, in any other situation, Drake would have called bullshit on Proudglade’s supposed contrition. Yet there were two reasons he didn’t.
First... Lord Proudglade couldn’t lie. He truly did believe what he was saying. Second, the man was right about one thing. Drake didn’t have the forces to both go after the kromians and go after Lord Redbow, not without risking significant losses.
People he really didn’t want to lose.
Mentally, he’d still been counting Sky’s forces as part of his own, but was it fair to enlist her and all her people on what, for him, was a quest for revenge? Redbow was no longer a threat to either of them politically. His power grew weaker every day. He was ruined.
Tracking down Lord Redbow and killing him dead would be satisfying, but it wouldn’t actually fix anything. The damage the man had done was done, and he couldn’t do much more at this point. All taking Redbow down would do was make Drake feel better.
Finally... Lord Proudglade had given up his son. When Drake had talked to Westin in his carriage after forcing the truth out of him, Westin had used what might be his last words to assure Drake his father was a man of honor and principle. At the time, Drake had dismissed it as a son devoted to his father, but in the days since Westin’s execution, he’d seen for himself.
Lord Proudglade could have undertaken any number of underhanded ploys to dodge responsibility for Westin’s plotting and its disastrous results, especially since he truly hadn’t been aware of what was going on. Yet the man had accepted the consequences of Westin’s actions and shouldered the blame. It was also increasingly obvious sacrificing his son for honor had all but broken the man.
“You really think you can take Lord Redbow down on your own?” Drake asked.
“I will,” Lord Proudglade said calmly. “The shame I feel can only be lifted by serving the noble court in this way, and my thralls feel the same. So, my fellow manor lords, I ask for your trust and consideration this one time. Allow me to deal with Lord Redbow.”
Drake glanced at Sky to find her watching him for his opinion. He appreciated her deferring to him on this matter. Lord Redbow’s mercenaries had murdered her steward, but they’d done that on Westin’s orders. With Westin dead, she already had her revenge.
So did Drake need his as well?
He looked back to Lord Proudglade. “I want to kick Lord Redbow right in the nuts, repeatedly, until he coughs up blood and dies from a brain hemorrhage.” He balanced his feelings against his responsibilities. “But the past few weeks and the kromian attack have already bloodied us, so... you’re right. I might fail, or the cost might be so great it’d ruin me. So if you’re committed to taking care of him, to correct your mistake, I have no objection.”
“Nor do I,” Sky said. “Though if you need support in your effort, Lord Proudglade, I will expect you to call for it. My territory is right next door to Redbow’s. Don’t allow your desire for redemption or your pride to prevent you from calling for aid if necessary.”
“I won’t,” Lord Proudglade assured her. “I will call for aid if I need it, and I appreciate your understanding.” He looked around the room. “If there are no objections, I would call for a vote on this matter.” He walked back to his alcove and sat back down.
“Very well,” Mistvale said quietly. “I now call a vote. All in favor of allowing Lord Proudglade and Proudglade Manor alone to bring Lord Redbow to justice?”
Every last manor lord in the room raised their hand. So perhaps, after all the discord and chaos Westin Proudglade had unleashed in his quest to unite the realm, the earnest and now dead man might finally get his wish. All it had taken to unite the manors was the threat of a kromian empire determined to slaughter everyone with divine blood.
And, surprisingly, the man who brought them all together was Lord Redbow.
Not long after, and far faster than Drake had hoped, the manor lord summit concluded. The official war council would happen tomorrow morning, in the presence of the Judge and the leaders of her capital guard, and the assault on the kromian forces holding the mouth of the bay would launch tomorrow afternoon. The noble court wasn’t in the mood to fuck around.
The manor lords filed out one by one, with Lord Mistvale leaving first... just as it always was. When it was Drake’s turn, he glanced at Sky. “You mind sticking around?”
She raised an eyebrow. “In here?”
“If everyone else is going to leave.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. Did she suspect this was yet another attempt to hit on her? He hoped she thought better of him than that.
“Lord Gloomwood?” Lord Ashwind asked quietly.
“You can go,” Drake assured the man. “I pass... or whatever. Thank you for checking.”
“You may precede us, Lord Ashwind,” Sky agreed. “We will speak more of alliances once we are all back in our manors. I assure you, we will speak of them soon.”
Lord Ashwind nodded and moved past them to leave the room. Soon after, Drake was alone in a small, intimate with Sky and no one else. No chaperones. No blood thralls. Just the two of them, in a room, standing closer than they had any good reason to stand.
It would have been the perfect time to make a move. Fortunately for both of them, Drake wasn’t that much of an idiot. Any attraction he felt for Sky—and he was attracted to her, especially given how great she looked in her formal wear—was nothing compared to the damage he could do to their alliance if she wasn’t interested in getting closer.
“I want to ask you something dangerous,” Drake said.
“Dangerous how?” Sky asked.
“To both of us.”
“I see.” She glanced at the only exit to the room. “I may know what this is about.”
“So you’ve been thinking about it too?”
“And what have I been thinking about, Clint?”
Drake, too, glanced back at the empty doorway before speaking again, then took a step closer and lowered his voice. “What if Prince Varnath really can wipe out blood pacts?”
“If he knew a way to do that,” Sky said quietly, “I suspect it would be more clever than ‘murder everyone with divine blood’.”
“Agreed. But if he could... would you want to stop him?”
“Yes.”
“Even though we both agree blood pacts cause more harm than good?”
“If blood pacts disappeared off the face of the realm tomorrow, I would not shed a tear. You know this. Yet I do not trust a leader who would order his soldiers to slaughter innocents and even children with such a task. We must defeat him. Do you feel different?”
“No,” Drake said. “He’s got to go. But if I could destroy all blood pacts, I’d do it.”
“Making the choice for everyone in the realm is different from making it for myself,” Sky said. “But, in principle... I agree with you. I also know something else. If he does destroy the blood pacts, our defenses will collapse. The entire realm could be lost.”
“And he’d win,” Drake agreed. “That’s another motivation for him doing this I’d considered. It’s not about conviction. That’s just how he’s sold it. He simply thinks everyone in every manor will scatter if he can destroy the magic compulsion binding them to manor lords.”
“In that, I suspect, he is correct, at least in manors where thralls still serve only because of the compulsion. There is also the chance it could be misdirection.”
Drake rubbed his chin in thought. “You mean is his real goal something else? That would make more sense. Could Prince Lorel be deceiving us in some way?”
“He spoke clear testimony,” Sky said. “I cannot see how it was doublespeak.”
Of course she couldn’t, since she couldn’t lie. He remembered how Lydia had described his ability the first time he lied to her. “Even the kromians can’t defy the will of the Eidolons.”
“Let us hope not,” Sky agreed darkly. “Now... shall we head back to our respective manors? Otherwise, the rumors about us may grow even more lurid.”
Drake smiled innocently. “What rumors?”
She tossed him an annoyed look.
“What did I miss?”
“Nothing you should consider seriously.”
One ballot and a short negotiation later, Luna Corsetti was the new Lord Blackmane.
Drake hadn’t had to do much to win the second vote. All three Blackmane thralls supported him and Sky, but the other two were paramours of the former Lord Blackmane. Samuel’s spies said the two of them had cliques that absolutely hated each other. Having either elected as the new Lord Blackmane would have left the manor compromised.
Luna was the obvious choice. She was among the most senior thralls, liked by all, and not foolish enough to date the boss or her subordinates. Mistvale and Proudglade wanted a weak Blackmane Manor, but once again, Drake had the votes. Lord Proudwater disapproved of thralls who dated their manor lords, and Lord Ashwind would now follow Drake anywhere.
Lord Frostlight and Lord Blackmane had been restored. Eight manor lords now stood together against the kromian empire. Better yet, Mistvale and Proudglade were now more isolated than ever. They would have to offer concessions to stay in the game.
If Lord Mistvale was annoyed that Drake had outmaneuvered him on both manor lord votes, he didn’t show it. Instead, he immediately moved on to the next order of business. “We will now determine how we will fulfill the requests of the noble court.”
Drake was tempted to immediately volunteer for the assault that would re-open the mouth of the bay, but Samuel had advised him not to tip his hand about his eagerness. Ideally, he would trick his enemies into making concessions to talk him into doing what he already wanted. So instead, he simply waited in silence for Mistvale to continue.
Negotiations regarding the refugees proceeded smoothly. Mistvale confirmed he had agreed to take the allotment of refugees assigned to Sky and Drake.
In exchange, Sky and Drake committed the bulk of their forces to reopening the bay, which ensured Lord Mistvale could simply head home with the refugees. While Mistvale likely considered it a win that they would risk weakening their forces while his remained strong, Drake was willing to do that because he wanted to kill kromians. Everything was going smoothly enough until Lord Proudglade looked up from the floor and said something dumb.
“Proudglade Manor will bring Lord Redbow to justice,” the man said calmly. “After we have re-opened the bay, the rest of you may return home.”
Drake frowned and leaned forward. “That’s not happening.”
Proudglade watched him with a flat expression. “You do not have the forces to open the bay and also defeat Lord Redbow in the field. Moreover, you do not know his habits and capabilities as I do. If you attempt to hunt him down alone, you will fail.”
“You were his best buddy, Proudglade,” Drake reminded everyone forcefully. “You really think we’ll trust you to take him down after you two worked so hard to kill us?”
“I had no idea Lord Redbow intended to deceive the noble court. Nor did I know he had taken Lord Ashwind’s son as a hostage.”
“But you were fine with it,” Drake reminded everyone. “You knew Lord Redbow was a snake, and you allied with him because you knew he’d help you seize power for yourself. If you’d wanted to know, you could have learned what he was doing and stopped him. You turned a blind eye on purpose.”
“Yes,” Proudglade said calmly. “I did.”
Drake hadn’t expected Proudglade to just admit it. He frowned instead of continuing to lay into the man. Was Lord Proudglade actually... remorseful?
“Like my son, I allowed myself to be blinded by my ambitions to stabilize our realm,” Proudglade continued quietly. “I grew so focused on uniting us that I forgot why I set out to do so. I would deny your accusations if I could, Lord Gloomwood, but... you are correct. I compromised too many times, and because I compromised, my youngest son is dead.”
Lord Mistvale touched Lord Proudglade’s shoulder. “This is not necessary, old friend.”
“It is, I believe, if we are to serve the noble court as we must.” Lord Proudglade stood and turned to Drake. “Lord Gloomwood, I misjudged you. That I was deceived does not matter. I failed in my duty to the noble court. My failure nearly led to your wrongful execution.”
Drake hadn’t expected Lord Proudglade to fall on his sword so forcefully. He hoped the man hadn’t lost his edge, because as terrifying as he might be as an enemy, they were going to need Proudglade’s edge to defeat the kromians.
“That is why my manor must be the one to bring Lord Redbow to justice,” Proudglade continued. “It is the only way I can hope to redeem myself for my failure. So... Lord Gloomwood, I ask for your concession in this matter. Allow me to fix my mistake.”
From any other man, in any other situation, Drake would have called bullshit on Proudglade’s supposed contrition. Yet there were two reasons he didn’t.
First... Lord Proudglade couldn’t lie. He truly did believe what he was saying. Second, the man was right about one thing. Drake didn’t have the forces to both go after the kromians and go after Lord Redbow, not without risking significant losses.
People he really didn’t want to lose.
Mentally, he’d still been counting Sky’s forces as part of his own, but was it fair to enlist her and all her people on what, for him, was a quest for revenge? Redbow was no longer a threat to either of them politically. His power grew weaker every day. He was ruined.
Tracking down Lord Redbow and killing him dead would be satisfying, but it wouldn’t actually fix anything. The damage the man had done was done, and he couldn’t do much more at this point. All taking Redbow down would do was make Drake feel better.
Finally... Lord Proudglade had given up his son. When Drake had talked to Westin in his carriage after forcing the truth out of him, Westin had used what might be his last words to assure Drake his father was a man of honor and principle. At the time, Drake had dismissed it as a son devoted to his father, but in the days since Westin’s execution, he’d seen for himself.
Lord Proudglade could have undertaken any number of underhanded ploys to dodge responsibility for Westin’s plotting and its disastrous results, especially since he truly hadn’t been aware of what was going on. Yet the man had accepted the consequences of Westin’s actions and shouldered the blame. It was also increasingly obvious sacrificing his son for honor had all but broken the man.
“You really think you can take Lord Redbow down on your own?” Drake asked.
“I will,” Lord Proudglade said calmly. “The shame I feel can only be lifted by serving the noble court in this way, and my thralls feel the same. So, my fellow manor lords, I ask for your trust and consideration this one time. Allow me to deal with Lord Redbow.”
Drake glanced at Sky to find her watching him for his opinion. He appreciated her deferring to him on this matter. Lord Redbow’s mercenaries had murdered her steward, but they’d done that on Westin’s orders. With Westin dead, she already had her revenge.
So did Drake need his as well?
He looked back to Lord Proudglade. “I want to kick Lord Redbow right in the nuts, repeatedly, until he coughs up blood and dies from a brain hemorrhage.” He balanced his feelings against his responsibilities. “But the past few weeks and the kromian attack have already bloodied us, so... you’re right. I might fail, or the cost might be so great it’d ruin me. So if you’re committed to taking care of him, to correct your mistake, I have no objection.”
“Nor do I,” Sky said. “Though if you need support in your effort, Lord Proudglade, I will expect you to call for it. My territory is right next door to Redbow’s. Don’t allow your desire for redemption or your pride to prevent you from calling for aid if necessary.”
“I won’t,” Lord Proudglade assured her. “I will call for aid if I need it, and I appreciate your understanding.” He looked around the room. “If there are no objections, I would call for a vote on this matter.” He walked back to his alcove and sat back down.
“Very well,” Mistvale said quietly. “I now call a vote. All in favor of allowing Lord Proudglade and Proudglade Manor alone to bring Lord Redbow to justice?”
Every last manor lord in the room raised their hand. So perhaps, after all the discord and chaos Westin Proudglade had unleashed in his quest to unite the realm, the earnest and now dead man might finally get his wish. All it had taken to unite the manors was the threat of a kromian empire determined to slaughter everyone with divine blood.
And, surprisingly, the man who brought them all together was Lord Redbow.
Not long after, and far faster than Drake had hoped, the manor lord summit concluded. The official war council would happen tomorrow morning, in the presence of the Judge and the leaders of her capital guard, and the assault on the kromian forces holding the mouth of the bay would launch tomorrow afternoon. The noble court wasn’t in the mood to fuck around.
The manor lords filed out one by one, with Lord Mistvale leaving first... just as it always was. When it was Drake’s turn, he glanced at Sky. “You mind sticking around?”
She raised an eyebrow. “In here?”
“If everyone else is going to leave.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. Did she suspect this was yet another attempt to hit on her? He hoped she thought better of him than that.
“Lord Gloomwood?” Lord Ashwind asked quietly.
“You can go,” Drake assured the man. “I pass... or whatever. Thank you for checking.”
“You may precede us, Lord Ashwind,” Sky agreed. “We will speak more of alliances once we are all back in our manors. I assure you, we will speak of them soon.”
Lord Ashwind nodded and moved past them to leave the room. Soon after, Drake was alone in a small, intimate with Sky and no one else. No chaperones. No blood thralls. Just the two of them, in a room, standing closer than they had any good reason to stand.
It would have been the perfect time to make a move. Fortunately for both of them, Drake wasn’t that much of an idiot. Any attraction he felt for Sky—and he was attracted to her, especially given how great she looked in her formal wear—was nothing compared to the damage he could do to their alliance if she wasn’t interested in getting closer.
“I want to ask you something dangerous,” Drake said.
“Dangerous how?” Sky asked.
“To both of us.”
“I see.” She glanced at the only exit to the room. “I may know what this is about.”
“So you’ve been thinking about it too?”
“And what have I been thinking about, Clint?”
Drake, too, glanced back at the empty doorway before speaking again, then took a step closer and lowered his voice. “What if Prince Varnath really can wipe out blood pacts?”
“If he knew a way to do that,” Sky said quietly, “I suspect it would be more clever than ‘murder everyone with divine blood’.”
“Agreed. But if he could... would you want to stop him?”
“Yes.”
“Even though we both agree blood pacts cause more harm than good?”
“If blood pacts disappeared off the face of the realm tomorrow, I would not shed a tear. You know this. Yet I do not trust a leader who would order his soldiers to slaughter innocents and even children with such a task. We must defeat him. Do you feel different?”
“No,” Drake said. “He’s got to go. But if I could destroy all blood pacts, I’d do it.”
“Making the choice for everyone in the realm is different from making it for myself,” Sky said. “But, in principle... I agree with you. I also know something else. If he does destroy the blood pacts, our defenses will collapse. The entire realm could be lost.”
“And he’d win,” Drake agreed. “That’s another motivation for him doing this I’d considered. It’s not about conviction. That’s just how he’s sold it. He simply thinks everyone in every manor will scatter if he can destroy the magic compulsion binding them to manor lords.”
“In that, I suspect, he is correct, at least in manors where thralls still serve only because of the compulsion. There is also the chance it could be misdirection.”
Drake rubbed his chin in thought. “You mean is his real goal something else? That would make more sense. Could Prince Lorel be deceiving us in some way?”
“He spoke clear testimony,” Sky said. “I cannot see how it was doublespeak.”
Of course she couldn’t, since she couldn’t lie. He remembered how Lydia had described his ability the first time he lied to her. “Even the kromians can’t defy the will of the Eidolons.”
“Let us hope not,” Sky agreed darkly. “Now... shall we head back to our respective manors? Otherwise, the rumors about us may grow even more lurid.”
Drake smiled innocently. “What rumors?”
She tossed him an annoyed look.
“What did I miss?”
“Nothing you should consider seriously.”
