Chapter 636: A Mont of Respite
The stables were not nearly tall enough to house the giant frost wolf, Blueberry. Not that the stable master would dare voice a complaint to Lord Veres or his cousin, Lady Elise. If there was anything the two Veres were known for, it was the brutal and effective way they dealt with their enemies. Not that the stable master was their enemy and he was certainly eager to avoid falling under that very short list.
So, instead, the stable master had reached out to the head accountant of the manor and garnered permission to build a new pen that could house the giant wolf. Despite his size and general ravenous nature while eating, Blueberry was actually quite calm, so long as no one bothered.
The head cook had thankfully set up a courier system with several local butchers to drop off a couple of wagons of at every day at the front gate. Servants would pick up the at and carefully drop it off at the edge of Blueberry’s enclosure. None of the servants dared get too close, not after one servant had tried to pet the giant only to get their arm bit off instead.
The stable master had claid that Blueberry had simply thought the servant had been trying to steal his food and acted out in defense. Not that it made much of a difference. Ever since the incident, servants had learned to skirt around the enclosure, never wandering too close.
Nobody dared enter the enclosure save for when the lord was visiting his pet. Everyone else kept their distance, all except for one. Lady Elise Veres had opened the gate and walked inside the enclosure once again.
Few people knew Elise ca to visit frost wolf and she would keep it that way. She didn’t even let Lynnette, her Shadow, accompany her, so as to draw less attention. The couple of guards and stablehands that were on duty had learned to carefully look the other way when the woman in a deep red cloak walked by.
Like clockwork, at the crack of dawn, Elise would walk into the frost wolf’s territory. And like every morning, she would find Blueberry asleep, his head resting on his front paws.
The wolf’s cold breath exhaled through his snout in powerful bursts, like an icy wind. Elise had to step aside before frost covered her eyelashes. She sat down, cross-legged, at a respectful distance. Close enough she could admire his thick black fur, but not too close to feel the cold air cascading down his body.
Blueberry’s ear suddenly twitched and he huffed at sothing that had no doubt bothered him in his dream. Perhaps he was chasing a deer? Or killing Undergrowth soldiers. Elise couldn’t tell.
Nonetheless, she was content to simply watch him. “Sorry, I couldn’t stay long yesterday. It’s been a couple of rough days. The party was going off without a hitch, and then Lady Blackvein had to make a scene. Nothing I couldn’t deal with, until Aurelia threw a dagger at her vassal.”
Elise shook her head. “Of course, a duel ensues and surprise, surprise, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Aurelia is an Ebon Lord, the first since Atreus Thorn. That’s a good thing, right? Except, I didn’t know, and guess who had to deal with the backlash of a hundred guests trying to get their mont with the most powerful archmage in the city, without any preparation?” She groaned and stretched her sore back.
“If that wasn’t bad enough, soone destroyed the Gale-Veres gardens in the most spectacular botched-up assassination attempt. Yes, it was an assassination attempt, the guards said Stryg walked into the gardens with a stranger that no one else had ever seen or seen since. It would be easier to deal with unexpected threats if Stryg told what had happened, but no one seems to want to talk about it. How am I supposed to protect my cousin and guide him to beco the lord who will bring glory to our House, if he won’t tell anything?”
Blueberry huffed again.
Elise nodded. “My point exactly.”
Suddenly, the giant wolf cracked an icy-blue eye open and looked at her. Elise froze. Despite the cold temperature, she felt a bead of sweat slip down the side of her head. “H-Hello, Blueberry.” Slowly, she pulled out a small pouch from her waistband and pulled out a slice of seasoned steak. It was the usual offering she left him while he slept. Hopefully, he’d recognize her as a guest and not an intruder in his space.
Blueberry lumbered to his feet. It only took a single step to reach Elise where she sat. He lowered his head and huffed, blowing the hood of her cloak and dark hair away. She forced herself to smile, “I’m friendly. Not a threat.”
The wolf bared his giant fangs the size of daggers. She swallowed hard.
“Blueberry, stop that,” ca an unexpected voice.
The wolf blinked and licked Elise’s face and torso, before sitting back on his haunches. Plum walked up from behind Elise and tossed the wolf an entire waterlon. Blueberry snatched it up and crushed it in his maw, before swallowing in one gulp.
“You’re…? Plula,” Elise recalled the drow’s na.
Plum adjusted her glasses and grinned. “He eats lots of at, but he prefers sweet things like fruits, especially blueberries.”
“Blueberries?” Elise nodded slowly. “…Yes, I suppose that makes sense.”
Plum walked over and patted Blueberry’s cold fur. “Don’t worry about him, he may be a glutton but he’s a big softie.”
Elise furrowed her brow. “Why are you here?”
“Sa reason as you. I like to drop by and give him so sweets. Also, it’s really nice to stand next to him when it’s really hot outside. The air around him always stays nice and chilly.”
Blueberry yawned and settled back into his sleeping position, head over his paws.
“Were you listening to my conversation earlier?” Elise asked, suspicious.
Plum’s grin cracked. “Um, well, a little? Okay, all of it.”
“How did I not notice you? Where were you hiding?”
“I an, I was right over there. I sort of just— I’m pretty good at illusions, particularly cloaking spells…”
“So you just skulk around the manor while invisible?” Elise cocked an eyebrow.
“It’s not actual invisibility, only a solid cloaking spell, and it helps that it's in the dark.”
“Do you do this often?”
“I an…?” Plum laughed awkwardly. “Sotis? It’s not that weird. Stryg can always tell when I’m nearby.”
“And you didn’t think to announce yourself in my presence?”
“It’s not like you usually care—” Plum winced, “I an—”
“Usually? How often are you here with in Blueberry’s enclosure?” Elise narrowed her eyes.
“Not that often, really.”
“How often?”
“Just once every couple of days, y’know, not a lot,” Plum muttered quietly.
“Are you spying on , Miss Plula?”
“I’m not a spy.” Plum blushed. “I was here first. And you just so happened to join . Trust , it happens way more often than you think.”
“You spying on ?”
“No, walking in on awkward situations.”
“So you walked in after I was already here?”
“No! That’s not what I ant.” Plum took a deep breath. “Okay, look. Growing up, I wasn’t really noticed by a lot of people. I an, who cares about the weird awkward girl with glasses, am I right? I sort of got used to people not even noticing I was there. When I learned magic, it beca even easier not to be noticed. Don’t get wrong, I’m not that shy little girl anymore, but when it cos to catching the attention of dangerous, scary scions of Great Houses? Yeah, I’d rather not be seen.” Plum grimaced, “Not that you’re scary. Not what I ant. Am I talking too much? I’m talking too much.”
Elise studied her for a long mont before finally speaking. “You’re Stryg’s friend, yes?”
“I am, yeah.”
Elise patted the spot next to her. “If you’re going to spy on , you might as well get a good spot.”
“Not a spy. But if you insist—”
“I do.”
Plum nodded awkwardly and joined her, though she could not stop fidgeting. “Soooo… How are you?”
Elise cracked a small, amused smile. “Stressed. Things are not going the way I had initially planned. But having Aurelia by our side will help our goal to enthrone Stryg as the first Ebon King of Hollow Shade.”
“Right, First Mother Aurelia is not soone you wanna ss with. You should have seen what she did to the frost trolls.” Plum shivered.
“Hm, I gathered. You know, Miss Plula, you are not the only one who has grown up in the shadows, unnoticed by others. What people don’t realize is that won like us, see more than those blinded by the light. Let us use our gifts to help the ones that matter to us, hm?”
Plum looked at Elise. “You know, you’re not as scary as I thought.”
“Oh, I am terrifying.” Elise winked, “The trick is to not look it.”
~~~
“...thank you for informing us, I’ll have the rest of our swordmasters on high alert. We’ll take shifts to cover the Veres manor and your family without fault,” said Gian.
Aurelia shook her head. “You both our family and I do not think there is anything you can do to stop Stryg’s father from coming back if he so pleases.”
“Is he really that powerful?” Gale asked.
“You haven’t seen the true extent of a god’s power, they are more dangerous than you can imagine. And Stjerne? He and the rest of the Calamities are in a realm of their own. If you see him, run and find Lunae. It’s our best shot at stopping him,” said Aurelia.
“Understood. If that is all, I should find Stryg and give him this.” Gale held up a sealed letter. She bowed to Aurelia and Gian, before leaving the room.
“Lady Aurelia, if you have a mont. I’d like to ask you about sothing,” said Gian.
“Is this about my status as an Ebon Lady?”
“Not quite. I wanted to ask you about this.” He pulled out a small vial filled with a golden liquid.
~~~
“Die, bastard!” Rhian leaped into the air and sank her spear straight into the heart of a straw-filled dummy.
Stryg clapped from a nearby bench. “Well done! How did it feel?”
Rhian pulled the spear out and gave it a quick twirl. “It feels a little light. I feel like I could strike harder without worrying it might break if it had a little more weight. The last one broke against a golem.”
Jahn nodded from beside Stryg. “I’ll get our weapon smiths to adjust the spearhead and alter the shaft's weight.”
“Thank you, uncle,” said Stryg.
Jahn bade him farewell and went off to find the smiths. Rhian ran around the training grounds to pick up speed before charging back into the line of straw dummies, shouting death threats the whole way.
“She’s getting faster,” Gale noted as she walked up to them.
“Sister, good to see you,” Stryg inclined his head.
Gale paused at the greeting, before breaking into a wide, bashful grin. “I see you’re up early.”
“I’ve slept enough in that book of mories. Rhian and I wanted to do a little bit of training to start the day.”
“Then I hope you have enough energy to deal with this.” Gale offered him a letter.
Stryg stared at the green seal, it seed familiar. “Is this Cornelius’?” His old dwarf teacher had always worn the seal on the golden clasp of his cloak.
“It’s the seal of his family, House Rotrusk. They are a powerful Great House in Frost Rim. I can only assu they wish to know about his whereabouts, or rather, his death. We should tread carefully with them. The last thing we need to do is give a reason for Frost Rim to attack us. They are already eyeing Hollow Shade after the siege weakened us.”
“Right…” Stryg sighed, opened the letter, and skimd through it.
“What does it say?”
“The Rotrusks are coming to visit.”
“When?”
“Today…”
Gale frowned. “That’s— sooner than I thought. Alright, we can deal with this. I’ll speak with Stellan and Willow, and have a retinue of our best ready by the end of the hour.”
“We need to get Loh.”
“What? No, we don’t need her. We can deal with this ourselves.”
“She was the last one to see him alive.”
“And?”
Stryg waited by her side, without saying a word.
Gale twitched, hung her head, and sighed. “...Fine.”
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