Kel offered another bemused glance and then walked inside the tent. Drake followed, and Lydia came in behind him. As the tent flapped closed, Emily waved from the bench where she reclined on a pile of pillows. She had her legs up and a book in her lap.
“Good to see you back, lord!” Emily said. “I heard you had trouble in the woods.”
“News really does travel fast,” Drake agreed.
“Did you get to kill anyone today?”
“Just one guy. Samuel got the other one. Sorry you missed it.”
Emily sighed heavily. “Raylan had better hurry his fuck up.”
Drake walked past Kel and led the feral pack leader to the back of the tent, motioned to an empty seat, then settled facing the entry flap to the tent. “We should be able to talk freely in here. You can trust Lydia not to tell anyone what we talk about, and Emily’s another of my battle maids. Neither’s going to spill your dirty secrets.”
“But I do want to hear them!” Emily called from the bench. “I love dirty secrets!”
Lydia sighed in Emily’s direction and waited until Kel awkwardly sat himself on a stool instead of a chair. Probably to accommodate his tail. Drake glanced at Lydia.
“You should sit too,” Drake told her. “You’ve been on your feet a lot today.”
“I would prefer to stand, lord.”
“Well, I can’t order you. Just don’t push yourself.”
She nodded.
Kel huffed and shook his head. “Do you find me so important?”
Drake glanced at him. “You’re the only one who returned my call.”
“So all this is for me, then?”
Drake frowned. “What’s for you?”
“This performance.” Kel gestured angrily at those surrounding him in the tent. “This camp full of happy and compliant thralls watched over by a benevolent manor lord. You arranged all this to impress me?”
“Oh,” Drake said. “So that’s what you think this is.”
Kel smiled grimly and sat back on his stool. “What else would it be? Were you also behind the ambush? Did you arrange that as well to get me alone? Did you hope to convince me, through this, that you are different from all other manor lords?”
“Perhaps we should discuss this with Samuel first?” Lydia cautioned.
Of course Lydia would anticipate where he was going to go next in this negotiation. They knew each other’s thinking pretty well now. She also knew how he’d respond.
“I think I’ll just go with my gut here.” Drake leaned forward in his seat. “This isn’t a performance, and I had nothing to do with that ambush. That was all you. As for what you see here in this camp, it’s just a normal day. My people work for me because they want to.”
“Yet you can compel them to act or say anything you wish. A fine trick.”
“I can’t compel my people to do anything,” Drake said patiently. “Every single person in my manor serves me by choice. Shortly after I killed the old lord and took over Gloomwood Manor, I changed my blood pact so I can’t compel my people to obey a word I say.”
Kel hissed as his ears went back flat on his side.
“You think this is doublespeak?” Drake asked. “Ask me again.”
Kel said nothing. Drake remembered how Sachi had often reacted when he gave her news she wasn’t prepared for, like Samuel being alive. At least Kel didn’t sprint outside.
“No one in my manor or in this camp is compelled to serve me through my blood pact,” Drake repeated. “Every person here serves me by choice. Like I said, I don’t do slavery.”
Kel eyed him suspiciously. “Then how have they not stripped you of your title?”
“Same reason you haven’t, I imagine. Your pack likes you and trusts you to lead them, just like my people trust me. We all work together to protect our manor and each other, just like you and yours. Once you give people a home and a stake in keeping it safe, they’re more than eager to protect it, and you, by choice. But you know that, don’t you?”
“Yet you still lead this manor. You expect all here to follow your orders.”
“I do,” Drake agreed. “I’m still the boss, just like you with your pack, but I’ll only stay the boss as long as my people want me to lead them. That’s how I’m different from other manor lords, and what I’d like you to consider as you mull over my offer to live on my lands. I don’t make people my slaves, but I do need all the allies I can get. I think you’d make good allies.”
Kel’s ears unflattened... a little. “What led you to that conclusion?”
“Sachi.” Drake felt confident in that. “She convinced me I needed more ferals in my manor, not by saying so, but by being absolutely indispensable in both tracking and battle. I probably don’t need to tell you this, but your daughter is a total badass.”
Kel’s ears twitched.
“I also won’t try to convince you I’m being completely benevolent by offering you a home in my silverwood. Sachi’s an incredible warrior and tracker, and I need more warriors of her caliber on my side. The difference, with me, is I’m willing to compensate you for your support and services with a home and a wage. And no blood magic slavery.”
“Lord Mistvale does not require us to join his blood pact to live on his lands,” Kel said stiffly.
“True, but he only allows you to live in his woods because the noble court ordered him to do it,” Drake said. “Nobody ordered me to offer you a home. Some of my people even argued against it, but I make the calls in my manor.”
Kel watched him for a moment, silent save for the slow twitching of his long tail. Finally, the feral pack leader spoke one more. He sounded like he was finally starting to believe.
“You would allow us to live in your silverwood?”
“That’s the idea, yes.”
“We could hunt game freely and make our homes wherever we wish?”
“Not anywhere,” Drake said. “The silverwood isn’t just a forest. It’s a living, conscious being. We’d have to make sure it was okay with the trees we trimmed, but in the space it allowed us to claim, yes. You could live anywhere you wished.”
“And in return, you would expect us to answer a call to battle if your manor were attacked? That is all you ask of us?”
“That’s basically it,” Drake agreed. “Having you living in my woods is going to make them really dangerous... for anyone who comes looking to give us trouble. That’s the reason I’m making you this offer. If I give you some land to call your own, you’ll guard it for free.”
“And you will expect my people to follow your orders?” Kel asked cautiously.
“No,” Drake said. “I expect your people to follow your orders. You’re still in command of your pack, though I might ask you to accomplish important objectives if you have to coordinate with my forces in a larger battle. I’ll trust you to figure out how best to do that.”
“And what if we are attacked in our new home while you are safe within your walls?”
“Then we’ll come out and help you. If you get attacked in my silverwood, I’ll defend you like I defend all my vassals and towns loyal to me. I don’t leave my people out to dry.”
Kel went silent again as he mulled over all Drake had said. Drake knew he had made the best offer he could and the best arguments he had. Continuing to try to recruit Kel would just make him look desperate. He would have to let this man make his own decision now.
“I wish to speak with Sachi about this,” Kel said finally.
“That’s up to you and her. I’m not ordering her to talk with you if she doesn’t want to, and if I did, she could just ignore me. If you want to talk to your daughter, you find her.”
“I...” Kel hesitated. “I need to consider your offer before I give you an answer. I do not simply make decisions for those who run with me. My pack has say as well.”
“That’s fine, but you understand I can’t wait around here for days. I have a manor to get back to and a kromian prince to get settled in a brand new fish tank. Talk the alliance I’m proposing over with your people. If you decide you want to join us, come see me at my manor.”
“You are leaving tonight?”
“No, but we’re leaving at first light,” Drake said. “So like I said—”
“You will have your answer by first light,” Kel said.
“You sure? Like I said, if your people want more time to think about this, take it. I just can’t wait around here for you to make up your minds.”
Kel stood. “You will have your answer by first light. If I return, I will return with my pack, and we will be ready to travel to your manor. If I do not return, we will not be joining you.”
Drake stood as well. “I can respect that. However, I have one request before you leave.”
Kel’s tail twitched. “I must agree to this before I leave?”
“I’d like you to agree to it. My people are more than responsible for saving you from that ambush, and Gaby is why you didn’t bleed out. So, I’d say you owe me a debt.”
“That is true,” Kel agreed. “What would you ask of me in return?”
“Keep this conversation between us. You can tell your people I don’t do slavery if that’s what it takes to convince them to accept my offer to come live in the silverwood, but I don’t want how I run my manor spreading outside your pack. Especially if you turn me down.”
“Because this fact could cause you problems if the other manor lords found out,” Kel said quietly. “Yet if you feared I would share this with your enemies, why share it at all?”
“I’m taking a risk with you because of the respect I have for your daughter,” Drake said. “If you raised Sachi, I can’t imagine you’re the type to sell me out for no reason or for a few pieces of gold. So I’m trusting you not to screw me over since I’ve dealt with you honorably, and like I said, I have a lot of respect for ferals. You folks are badasses. I want you on my side.”
Kel nodded gravely. “I will speak of these matters only to my pack, and only reveal your... unique approach to leadership if they require reassurance. I will also explain why they must never speak of this. I will do all I can to ensure no others learn what you have told me.”
“That’s all I can ask,” Drake agreed. “So, with that all settled, we’re done negotiating. You’re welcome to stay here and get some food before you leave. You won’t do either of us any good if you head back into those woods and get killed by your enemies.”
“I will take some food, Lord Gloomwood. And a few hours of rest before I return to the woods. By that time, my pack will have arrived.”
“Close enough to escort you home,” Drake agreed. “Good. Just tell them not to get too close to my camp without announcing themselves. My people are a little twitchy after all we’ve been through. I’d hate for any accidents to happen.”
“None in my pack will approach your camp, Lord Gloomwood. Or if they do, I assure you... there will be no accidents. If we choose to accept your offer, we will call out who we are and give our intentions before we make ourselves visible.”
Given Sachi hadn’t even been able to detect Sidori, her sister, Drake found he believed Kel’s words. The speed, battle prowess, and stealth ferals possessed were the whole reason he wanted to recruit these people. “Then I’ll wish you a safe trip home.” He motioned to the door of his tent. “Lydia will show you out.”
“And my escort?”
“Do you need one?”
Kel offered a faint smile. “This was a different meeting than I expected.”
“Same here. I hope I see you and your people soon, but if I don’t... stay safe out there.”
Kel walked to the exit. As the tent flap closed, Lydia walked back to him with a frown on your face. “Is it wise to allow him to roam the camp without an escort?”
“I don’t think he’ll try anything,” Drake said. “He’d also feel like we don’t trust him if I gave him a babysitter. The whole point of this meeting was to convince him I do trust him.”
“To convince him,” Lydia agreed. “But do you trust him?”
Drake considered carefully before he spoke. “Let’s just say I’m feeling optimistic.”
He still didn’t know if the ferals who’d attacked them today had been after him or Kel. But if Kel’s pack was involved in a turf war with another pack of ferals... the option to pack up and move to greener pastures might be even more appealing than he’d hoped.
Kel offered another bemused glance and then walked inside the tent. Drake followed, and Lydia came in behind him. As the tent flapped closed, Emily waved from the bench where she reclined on a pile of pillows. She had her legs up and a book in her lap.
“Good to see you back, lord!” Emily said. “I heard you had trouble in the woods.”
“News really does travel fast,” Drake agreed.
“Did you get to kill anyone today?”
“Just one guy. Samuel got the other one. Sorry you missed it.”
Emily sighed heavily. “Raylan had better hurry his fuck up.”
Drake walked past Kel and led the feral pack leader to the back of the tent, motioned to an empty seat, then settled facing the entry flap to the tent. “We should be able to talk freely in here. You can trust Lydia not to tell anyone what we talk about, and Emily’s another of my battle maids. Neither’s going to spill your dirty secrets.”
“But I do want to hear them!” Emily called from the bench. “I love dirty secrets!”
Lydia sighed in Emily’s direction and waited until Kel awkwardly sat himself on a stool instead of a chair. Probably to accommodate his tail. Drake glanced at Lydia.
“You should sit too,” Drake told her. “You’ve been on your feet a lot today.”
“I would prefer to stand, lord.”
“Well, I can’t order you. Just don’t push yourself.”
She nodded.
Kel huffed and shook his head. “Do you find me so important?”
Drake glanced at him. “You’re the only one who returned my call.”
“So all this is for me, then?”
Drake frowned. “What’s for you?”
“This performance.” Kel gestured angrily at those surrounding him in the tent. “This camp full of happy and compliant thralls watched over by a benevolent manor lord. You arranged all this to impress me?”
“Oh,” Drake said. “So that’s what you think this is.”
Kel smiled grimly and sat back on his stool. “What else would it be? Were you also behind the ambush? Did you arrange that as well to get me alone? Did you hope to convince me, through this, that you are different from all other manor lords?”
“Perhaps we should discuss this with Samuel first?” Lydia cautioned.
Of course Lydia would anticipate where he was going to go next in this negotiation. They knew each other’s thinking pretty well now. She also knew how he’d respond.
“I think I’ll just go with my gut here.” Drake leaned forward in his seat. “This isn’t a performance, and I had nothing to do with that ambush. That was all you. As for what you see here in this camp, it’s just a normal day. My people work for me because they want to.”
“Yet you can compel them to act or say anything you wish. A fine trick.”
“I can’t compel my people to do anything,” Drake said patiently. “Every single person in my manor serves me by choice. Shortly after I killed the old lord and took over Gloomwood Manor, I changed my blood pact so I can’t compel my people to obey a word I say.”
Kel hissed as his ears went back flat on his side.
“You think this is doublespeak?” Drake asked. “Ask me again.”
Kel said nothing. Drake remembered how Sachi had often reacted when he gave her news she wasn’t prepared for, like Samuel being alive. At least Kel didn’t sprint outside.
“No one in my manor or in this camp is compelled to serve me through my blood pact,” Drake repeated. “Every person here serves me by choice. Like I said, I don’t do slavery.”
Kel eyed him suspiciously. “Then how have they not stripped you of your title?”
“Same reason you haven’t, I imagine. Your pack likes you and trusts you to lead them, just like my people trust me. We all work together to protect our manor and each other, just like you and yours. Once you give people a home and a stake in keeping it safe, they’re more than eager to protect it, and you, by choice. But you know that, don’t you?”
“Yet you still lead this manor. You expect all here to follow your orders.”
“I do,” Drake agreed. “I’m still the boss, just like you with your pack, but I’ll only stay the boss as long as my people want me to lead them. That’s how I’m different from other manor lords, and what I’d like you to consider as you mull over my offer to live on my lands. I don’t make people my slaves, but I do need all the allies I can get. I think you’d make good allies.”
Kel’s ears unflattened... a little. “What led you to that conclusion?”
“Sachi.” Drake felt confident in that. “She convinced me I needed more ferals in my manor, not by saying so, but by being absolutely indispensable in both tracking and battle. I probably don’t need to tell you this, but your daughter is a total badass.”
Kel’s ears twitched.
“I also won’t try to convince you I’m being completely benevolent by offering you a home in my silverwood. Sachi’s an incredible warrior and tracker, and I need more warriors of her caliber on my side. The difference, with me, is I’m willing to compensate you for your support and services with a home and a wage. And no blood magic slavery.”
“Lord Mistvale does not require us to join his blood pact to live on his lands,” Kel said stiffly.
“True, but he only allows you to live in his woods because the noble court ordered him to do it,” Drake said. “Nobody ordered me to offer you a home. Some of my people even argued against it, but I make the calls in my manor.”
Kel watched him for a moment, silent save for the slow twitching of his long tail. Finally, the feral pack leader spoke one more. He sounded like he was finally starting to believe.
“You would allow us to live in your silverwood?”
“That’s the idea, yes.”
“We could hunt game freely and make our homes wherever we wish?”
“Not anywhere,” Drake said. “The silverwood isn’t just a forest. It’s a living, conscious being. We’d have to make sure it was okay with the trees we trimmed, but in the space it allowed us to claim, yes. You could live anywhere you wished.”
“And in return, you would expect us to answer a call to battle if your manor were attacked? That is all you ask of us?”
“That’s basically it,” Drake agreed. “Having you living in my woods is going to make them really dangerous... for anyone who comes looking to give us trouble. That’s the reason I’m making you this offer. If I give you some land to call your own, you’ll guard it for free.”
“And you will expect my people to follow your orders?” Kel asked cautiously.
“No,” Drake said. “I expect your people to follow your orders. You’re still in command of your pack, though I might ask you to accomplish important objectives if you have to coordinate with my forces in a larger battle. I’ll trust you to figure out how best to do that.”
“And what if we are attacked in our new home while you are safe within your walls?”
“Then we’ll come out and help you. If you get attacked in my silverwood, I’ll defend you like I defend all my vassals and towns loyal to me. I don’t leave my people out to dry.”
Kel went silent again as he mulled over all Drake had said. Drake knew he had made the best offer he could and the best arguments he had. Continuing to try to recruit Kel would just make him look desperate. He would have to let this man make his own decision now.
“I wish to speak with Sachi about this,” Kel said finally.
“That’s up to you and her. I’m not ordering her to talk with you if she doesn’t want to, and if I did, she could just ignore me. If you want to talk to your daughter, you find her.”
“I...” Kel hesitated. “I need to consider your offer before I give you an answer. I do not simply make decisions for those who run with me. My pack has say as well.”
“That’s fine, but you understand I can’t wait around here for days. I have a manor to get back to and a kromian prince to get settled in a brand new fish tank. Talk the alliance I’m proposing over with your people. If you decide you want to join us, come see me at my manor.”
“You are leaving tonight?”
“No, but we’re leaving at first light,” Drake said. “So like I said—”
“You will have your answer by first light,” Kel said.
“You sure? Like I said, if your people want more time to think about this, take it. I just can’t wait around here for you to make up your minds.”
Kel stood. “You will have your answer by first light. If I return, I will return with my pack, and we will be ready to travel to your manor. If I do not return, we will not be joining you.”
Drake stood as well. “I can respect that. However, I have one request before you leave.”
Kel’s tail twitched. “I must agree to this before I leave?”
“I’d like you to agree to it. My people are more than responsible for saving you from that ambush, and Gaby is why you didn’t bleed out. So, I’d say you owe me a debt.”
“That is true,” Kel agreed. “What would you ask of me in return?”
“Keep this conversation between us. You can tell your people I don’t do slavery if that’s what it takes to convince them to accept my offer to come live in the silverwood, but I don’t want how I run my manor spreading outside your pack. Especially if you turn me down.”
“Because this fact could cause you problems if the other manor lords found out,” Kel said quietly. “Yet if you feared I would share this with your enemies, why share it at all?”
“I’m taking a risk with you because of the respect I have for your daughter,” Drake said. “If you raised Sachi, I can’t imagine you’re the type to sell me out for no reason or for a few pieces of gold. So I’m trusting you not to screw me over since I’ve dealt with you honorably, and like I said, I have a lot of respect for ferals. You folks are badasses. I want you on my side.”
Kel nodded gravely. “I will speak of these matters only to my pack, and only reveal your... unique approach to leadership if they require reassurance. I will also explain why they must never speak of this. I will do all I can to ensure no others learn what you have told me.”
“That’s all I can ask,” Drake agreed. “So, with that all settled, we’re done negotiating. You’re welcome to stay here and get some food before you leave. You won’t do either of us any good if you head back into those woods and get killed by your enemies.”
“I will take some food, Lord Gloomwood. And a few hours of rest before I return to the woods. By that time, my pack will have arrived.”
“Close enough to escort you home,” Drake agreed. “Good. Just tell them not to get too close to my camp without announcing themselves. My people are a little twitchy after all we’ve been through. I’d hate for any accidents to happen.”
“None in my pack will approach your camp, Lord Gloomwood. Or if they do, I assure you... there will be no accidents. If we choose to accept your offer, we will call out who we are and give our intentions before we make ourselves visible.”
Given Sachi hadn’t even been able to detect Sidori, her sister, Drake found he believed Kel’s words. The speed, battle prowess, and stealth ferals possessed were the whole reason he wanted to recruit these people. “Then I’ll wish you a safe trip home.” He motioned to the door of his tent. “Lydia will show you out.”
“And my escort?”
“Do you need one?”
Kel offered a faint smile. “This was a different meeting than I expected.”
“Same here. I hope I see you and your people soon, but if I don’t... stay safe out there.”
Kel walked to the exit. As the tent flap closed, Lydia walked back to him with a frown on your face. “Is it wise to allow him to roam the camp without an escort?”
“I don’t think he’ll try anything,” Drake said. “He’d also feel like we don’t trust him if I gave him a babysitter. The whole point of this meeting was to convince him I do trust him.”
“To convince him,” Lydia agreed. “But do you trust him?”
Drake considered carefully before he spoke. “Let’s just say I’m feeling optimistic.”
He still didn’t know if the ferals who’d attacked them today had been after him or Kel. But if Kel’s pack was involved in a turf war with another pack of ferals... the option to pack up and move to greener pastures might be even more appealing than he’d hoped.
