94. Convalescence

“I am curious to know what price you paid for that miracle that saved my life,” Valerio asked.  We had returned to his mansion, and he was convalescing in his own bed.  He had asked to see me, and then asked everyone else to leave us.  An entire day had passed, and it had been the quietest day I’d experienced since returning to this world from the lobby.

“It’s nothing,” I said, scratching at the mark that Eclipse had left on my hand.

“Deals with the gods are never nothing,” Valerio insisted.  He was in his leonid form; his muscles bulging despite their weakness, the fur on his skin shedding, his face more bestial, despite the kindness and wisdom I had come to expect from the man.  He was in his beastkin form for the sake of his recovery, as the additional Vitality and Endurance would help speed things along.  “Especially not Eclipse.  Had her temple not been so much closer than the others, I would have ridden past it.  But my strength was fading, and I was not thinking clearly.”

“Neither was your servant, when he failed to scan your drink,” I said.  “She was quite clear on that when I spoke with her.  When I asked her if she poisoned you, she said ‘I made that old dog forget to check the drink.  I didn’t put the poison there, and I certainly didn’t make anyone drink it.’  That is a direct quote from Eclipse herself.”

Valerio nodded.  “I can’t simply not acknowledge what has happened, but I will spare Miles as much embarrassment and pain for this blunder as possible.  I, too, failed in my diligence.  I should have cast [Detect Poison] myself on the drink that I offered the guest of my house rather than relying on my manservant.  But Miles will see it as a personal failing no matter how I try to fall on the sword.  Even if the goddess of shadows and misdirection herself clouded his eyes.”

“She did,” I insisted.  “She said so.  She rarely lies when she is explicit.”

“And may that give him some measure of comfort,” my step father said.  “Now then.  What price?  What bargain does that mark on your arm seal?”

“It is really nothing,” I insisted.  “Dungeon cores.  I think you know that I have more of them than I should.  I would still like to avoid saying just how many, but the number that she asked to guarantee your survival was trivial to me.  I might have hesitated a week ago, before I saw how happy you make my mother.  But in the moment, when she listed her price, I was relieved that it was so cheap.”

Valerio blinked, and then lay back in his bed.  “I see.  But the debt has not been settled yet, if I am not mistaken.  Thus the mark on your hand, to seal the contract.”

“I suppose,” I admitted.

“She’s a crafty one.  It’s why some of my people venerate her.  I am not certain what she wants from you, nor will I be until she reveals how her payment for sparing my life will be spent,” Valerio admitted.  “If you believe the cores will be used in a way that will harm Eolstree or the Heartlands, I beg you to welsh on the debt.”

“That was the plan already,” I chuckled.

“Your mother misses you.  She did not like leaving you behind.  There were two schools of thought, in the wake of the great scandal.  One was to protect you from the choice your father made in abandoning you, and the other was to allow you to determine your own fate,” he said abruptly.  “Had you pushed harder, you could have left Zhesa.  The old king’s will to keep you close to him wasn’t absolute, and he would have been persuaded by a child missing his mother.  But the reports said that you were content to train with the sword with other boys in Zhesa castle.”

I blinked in surprise.  “You’re saying I could have come to live here if I had pushed harder for it?”

“The whole ‘murder the cubs of your mate’s previous lovers because they are your rivals’ is reallyblown out of proportion, Hail,” Valerio chuckled.  “I am a Eolstrian nobleman, not a primitive savage.  I would have welcomed you into my home with open arms at any time.  As, indeed, I tried to do the other day.  I am deeply sorry that I inadvertently served you poison.  The poisoner was clever indeed.  If we had both died, it would have looked like I was following the traditions my people are known for by murdering you.  And that I was incompetent enough to somehow succumb to my own attack.  I am greatly shamed to have fallen for this sham, and I am diminished by the result.”

“I thought that you would recover fully,” I objected.  “A few days rest and--”

“Politically, Hail.  I am diminished politically,” he clarified.  “There is no way in which this fiasco looks like anything other than a giant embarrassment to me and my house.  The traditionalists will see me as a toothless, decrepit cuckold who not only resorted to using poison to solve the problem they believe you pose me, but who failed miserably and required the mercy of my rival to survive.  To outsiders, I look weak, unable to protect myself or my guests.  And to the faction to which I actually belong, I look either weak, or like a secret traditionalist spouting words of hypocrisy.  No matter what angle I take, it always looks very bad.”

I contemplated his problem for a moment.  “I’m sorry.  I genuinely don’t know enough about Eolstrian politics to know how to help you.”

“It would shame me further to accept any help from you in this sort of matter,” he admitted.

“Then it is your right to turn it down, I suppose.  But it is still freely offered.  At least, I mean, if it’s nothing too difficult.  I don’t want to duel your political rivals with nothing but slightly sharpened rock for a weapon, for example,” I clarified.

Valerio was quiet for a moment.  Then he said “It would relieve me greatly to know that my wife and child were in the protection of someone who had their best interests in their heart and mind while I struggle to reclaim my standing in the following weeks.  Some traditionalists would see my weakness as an opportunity to strike a coupe de grace, and would not hesitate to strike at me through them.  If my family were enthroned in the protection of a powerful foreign lord, perhaps a young Dungeon Buster with a powerful and swiftly growing faction among the Travelers, then they would not dare.  They would mock me for my weakness, but that is just the sounds of jackals, scavengers, and mongrels who are too afraid to confront the real predator until there is nothing left but the marrow.”

I blinked in surprise.  “That’s a burden I’d take up gladly,” I admitted.  “But my lands are in disarray at the moment.  I have bandits in open revolt, and far too many Travelers who, for some reason, think that it’s perfectly acceptable to pick just any lock in a Native’s house and walk inside, as long as they don’t get caught.  And the manor which I was planning to establish as my residence was destroyed in the battleground. North Shire would not be a safe place for my mother during the final weeks of her pregnancy, I think.”

“Perhaps,” my step father agreed.  “But I do hear that Thornmarch is lovely this time of year.”

“Oh,” I said, having almost forgotten that I had two sets of lands to administer.  “Um, I will have to actually examine my properties in Thornmarch.  To ensure that they are suitable for a noblewoman in my mother’s condition and of her stature and social rank.  But if they are suitable, I would of course love to entertain my mother there for as long as she wished to stay.  She would be under my strongest protection from both your enemies, and mine.”

“And her own, and her second son’s, I hope,” Valerio said.  “I am quite certain that it will be a boy.  If it is a boy, Analise plans to name him Rain, for his grandfather.”

“I think their spirit would like that,” I said honestly.  “This strategy.  How will your political allies view it?  You said that the traditionalists will mock you, but --”

“My allies will come to one of two conclusions.  Either that you and I are indeed close friends,  or that I am weak and pathetic even by traditionalist standards.  They may believe you have a dagger at my throat and I am mewling for your mercy.  But it is the best of all of the options I can think of, and it is also the limit of what I can ask of you.”  He grinned, showing off his fangs in a way that was intimidating despite the lack of malice.  “Besides.  There is a non-zero chance that if my child is a boy, that he will become the next king of Yuikon.  It would be good for his future if he was born in the lands which he may one day rule as sovereign.”

I smiled.  He wasn’t wrong.  “I will leave today for Thornmarch, and begin arranging things for my mother to stay there immediately.  Assuming that I deem that a safe place for her.  If it is not, I will send word and we will have to come to some alternatives.  I do not like the idea of stashing her in an anonymous convent, but if that is what it takes to keep her safe …”

“Go.  Good hunting, Hail Jeoran.  And kiss your mother goodbye before you leave.”

So I left, and I followed his advice to the best of my abilities.

~~~~~~~~~

I was in the process of securing a portal back to Yuikon when Tarisha returned to my world.  While I had always gotten notifications when members of my friends list came online, the notification this time was significantly more prominent, in a different window of my HUD.  When I mentally toggled it, I saw that it was a communication option dedicated entirely to Tarisha, Daemon, and the other players who had signed contracts to become ‘canon’ while in my service.  After a moment of experimentation, I figured out how to use this submenu to send a personal message.

That was actually something I could do with my standard interface as well, but I kept those windows closed most of the time due to the strange number of weird messages I often received from people I didn’t know, and I didn’t know any other way to make them stop.

Tarisha

Good morning Hail.  Heard you had a busy night.  Are you doing okay?

Hail

I have a ticket in to talk with Thomas, but yeah, everything is fine.  The dungeon busting went okay, but did you hear about my step father?

Tarisha

Only a little bit.  He was poisoned, but he’ll survive?

Hail

I think it was Storm.  But yes, he’s going to be okay.  I’ve got to secure Thorn March for my mother though, she’s going to be staying with me for a while I think.  I authorize you to use whatever resources you can in order to protect her!

Tarisha

Not a problem.  Oh, look.  I just got the ability to assign her ten guards, just like I can for you.  Yup, that will be easy.   She’ll have a 24/7 honor guard, I promise.

Hail

That’s great.  The sooner they can start the better.

Tarisha

Hail … There’s a few matters we need to discuss.  About my being Canon.

Hail

Is it a problem?

Tarisha

No.  It’s literally a dream come true.  I still need to talk with Lewis about one of the matters.  I’m planning to drive up to see him this week, and then, depending on how that goes, I’ll come talk with you, or we’ll both come talk with you.

But the matter we need to discuss now is my actual career.  How I earn money in my world.  I … I want you to understand.

Hail

Do you want to meet up?

Tarisha

Actually, I think it’s best to explain this through the message system.

Tarisha

Hail, I said before that I quit dancing to focus on becoming a professional player.  That’s not exactly the truth.  I was injured, so I lost my job for a while.  I started playing while I was convalescing, and I managed to earn quite a bit of money because, well, I’m so damn good.

Tarisha

But I kept looking for a new job that would allow me to return to dancing.

Hail

Oh.  Did you find one?  Is that what this is about?  Because that’s totally okay, if you need to spend more time on Earth.   I’ll manage without you if I need to.

Tarisha

No, Hail, I haven’t found a new position.  I had a few minor jobs along the way, but nothing that allowed me to be a star.

But that’s not the issue.  The issue is that, now that I’m canon, my goals have changed. Fundamentally.

I’m giving up on dance.  I’m going to focus entirely on living in this world and making the best of it.  And I’m really looking forward to it, and I can only do it because of you.  So, thank you, Hail.

Hail

Oh.  You’re welcome.

Hail

Are you sure you really want to give up on dance though?

Tarisha

Professionally, yes.  I’ll stay in shape as best as I can, but I’m not going to be pursuing any new positions like that.

Hail

Okay, I guess.  If you’re sure.

Tarisha

And, Hail?  I also need you to understand that I’m being paid to be canon.  By my guild, and several others.

In a way, they’re paying me for access to you.  So I don’t want to hide it from you.

I don’t want our relationship to change.  I want to continue to serve you in this world, and I will continue to help you achieve your goals within it.

If one of the organizations which is bankrolling me begins to ask for too much, I’ll shut them down.  And I won’t hide it from you.  But this sort of thing is somewhat standard in a world like this.  I hope that it doesn’t compromise your ideals.

Hail

… Will Daemon and the others who signed on to be canon be doing the same thing as you?

Tarisha

I haven’t discussed their goals with them, Hail.  Everything has happened so fast, I’m not certain where the chips will land.   But I was hoping for this exact sort of situation, so I already had my contacts to get this sort of arrangement set up and waiting.

Hail

I see.  I do understand that you need food, water, and shelter in your world, Tarisha.  It doesn’t bother me what you need to do to get those things.  I do worry about corruption, but I will just have to trust that you know where the line is and will not cross it.

And Tarisha?  Thank you.  For everything.

Tarisha

No, Hail, thank you.

I will line up your Mother’s guardians, then I’ll join you in person.