I’m jogged out of my thoughts when Nicholas returns.

  “Healer Jermaine is coming?” I ask, noticing that he’s alone.

  “He is,” Nicholas replies shortly, climbing into the wagon behind me. He eyes the array of my companions who are present. Loran and Alyna are back there – Rory is with his sweetheart in the servants’ wagon – as are the raptorcats and the samurans. The others are still outside, either eating or intending on running next to the wagons instead of riding within. “I wish for us to be alone,” the lord says stiffly.

  I eye him, then nod slowly – perhaps he’s embarrassed about the whole thing. Or perhaps he just doesn’t want to reveal a weakness to beings not Bound to him. I would have thought he could have just used Seal to block their view as well as the sound, but perhaps his Seal hasn’t developed like that.

  “Alright,” I agree. Sorry all of you, but can you give us some space? I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back, I project to all of those present.

  Trouble sends me a sense of annoyance while Bastet projects a feeling of caution. I ignore the male raptorcat and send reassurance to the matriarch. She eyes me for a moment and then stands, nudging Trouble none-too-gently. The younger raptorcat yowls quietly in protest, but obeys, every movement a protest. With him rise the three others, all objecting in their own ways.

  I shall see if Master Mirena needs any help, Hunter announces, rising to her feet.

  So shall I, River agrees. Alyna, will you come?

  Aye, the girl assents, tucking her rune-trainer into her belt-pouch.

  Smith takes a different approach.

  I shall take a turn running, she decides. It will probably do me some good. I have been less active in this world than in our last one and I feel it when I work in a forge for any length of time.

  We’ll join you, agrees Catch with a glance at Iandee.

  That leaves only Loran.

  Is there anything you’d like me to do? he asks me.

  I shrug.

  Not especially, though physical conditioning is always a good idea if you’re up for a jog, I suggest. I doubt he’s hit his physical limits.

  Then I shall join the runners, he decides. He bows to me, and then, after a moment, to Nicholas. Turning, he steps out of the wagon and disappears from sight.

  Nicholas watches him go.

  “Is he still your manservant, Markus, or not,” the lord asks bluntly, turning back to me.

  I hesitate, a little taken aback by the question. I hadn’t really considered it and I wonder at Nicholas’ motivation for asking it now of all times. I would have thought he’d have more questions about what is about to happen. Perhaps he’s trying not to think about it. In which case, I don’t mind playing into the distraction.

  “I haven’t asked him,” I reply honestly. “I know he wants to learn carpentry, but I haven’t asked whether he wants to maintain his current role as well.”

  “I would advise you to do so, and soon,” Nicholas presses. “It is an unusual situation, but if it works for you, I will not object in any way. But you must have a manservant.”

  “Why?” I object, keeping my calm at his authoritative declaration since I know this is just how Nicholas reacts under pressure. “I can dress myself.”

  “Do you think Sarran’s only responsibilities are dressing me? No, though defending me from attempts at assassination by doing so is also part of his duties. He’s responsible for managing my schedule, ensuring that only tasks I need to deal with personally reach my desk, and speaking with those whose rank is low enough that I should not need to deal with them. Particularly as the leader of the expedition, you will need one.”

  “I thought you were sending Sarran with me to help with those things?” I ask with slight confusion. “And if he’s so important to you, why are you sending him in the first place?”

  “He won’t be with you for the full five years – only until you have your feet under you,” Nicholas clarifies. “And I have several competent assistants who will take on the bulk of Sarran’s tasks – what they cannot do, I can. I will be fine. But you need someone of your own – ideally, someone who will apprentice under Sarran while he’s with you.”

  I’m silent for a long moment – it’s something I hadn’t considered.

  “I’ll ask him,” I say in the end. Nicholas accepts that with a nod. He fidgets briefly for a moment, glancing out of the open wagon, then sits down on a bench, pulls out a lap desk and bends his head over a piece of parchment and a pen.

  “Here,” he says after a few minutes, and taps a piece of parchment on his desk. Looking closer, I see that it’s the declaration we talked about earlier – Nicholas has managed to create it rather more quickly than I would have been able to. I take a quick look through what he’s written – it’s clear and to the point, stating exactly what we agreed to do. I can only hope it will be enough if anyone ever finds out what’s happened here. Actually, I’ll need to be careful if I don’t want the rest of my Bond network to realise that Nicholas has just been added with a different Bond than before. “Are you satisfied with this?” Nicholas asks, a slightly impatient note in his voice.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Oh. Yes, I am,” I reply quickly.

  In answer, Nicholas presses his finger to the declaration and marks it with his magical signature. I quickly do the same. Then, he pulls out something that looks uncommonly like a short, stubby wand. He taps the signed declaration with it twice. The declaration glows silver and then, abruptly, there are three copies of it instead of just one. The only difference is that the two copies don’t bear the magical signatures of the first.

  “The device isn’t able to copy the magical signatures,” I note.

  “No,” Nicholas agrees, moving to sign the other two contracts. I follow suit. “That personal magical signatures can’t be copied is the main reason they’re used as security measures. There are some devices that can record active magic use and use it to imitate magical signatures, but that’s far less exact and would never be able to be used to sign a contract.”

  I frown, distracted myself now.

  “What are they used for, then?”

  “Usually to try to muddy the waters as to whether someone was present in a place or not – few are good enough to actually make it seem that someone else was in the area who wasn’t truly.” Perhaps he sees my concern as he moves to reassure me. “They’re fairly rare, though – both expensive and illegal.”

  That’s not as reassuring as he probably thinks it is. The bank manager had made it seem like magical signatures were inviolate, but perhaps she only meant in terms of contracts. I tuck the possibility into the back of my mind and then focus on current events.

  “So, three contracts?”

  “One for me, one for you, and one for Sarran to keep on record just in case,” Nicholas details while sealing all three declarations with the same magical enchantment that he used on the scroll I took to the bank. I make a mental note to ask about that some time – it seems useful.

  “Ah. Makes sense,” I agree. Even with nothing else to provide a distraction, Nicholas doesn’t stand up or look at me. The silence stretches and I shift slightly from foot to foot. “So,” I continue a little awkwardly since it looks like I need to be the instigator. “Shall I just…get it over with?”

  Nicholas grimaces, then stands, making his copy of the signed declaration vanish into his Inventory.

  “That would be best.”

  I suppose that I should take it as a sign of trust that he doesn’t insist on handing Sarran his copy first. Technically, once he’s my Bonded, I could prevent him from telling anyone about it. Not that I’m going to betray him like that.

  The moment he meets my eyes, I activate the Skill silently.

  The usual grey space of the Battle of Wills materialises around us. Immediately, I feel the difference between my Willpower and Nicholas’. It’s almost as difficult for me to stay in place as it was when I faced Kalanthia the first time in this space – and I don’t get the sense that Nicholas is even trying.

  I still don’t know his exact level, but I suspect he must be level fifty or above based on hints he’s dropped. Knowing what Skills our family has available – and how most of them depend on Willpower – he probably has dedicated all or almost all of his points to that stat since the beginning. He could easily have half again my Willpower, even with my percentage increases. Maybe even double.

  The consequence is that I can’t make any headway against the pressure, even without him actively fighting me.

  “Can you reduce your resistance any further?” I call through gritted teeth. “Or do we need to tie you up first and then try this again?” Though whether even that would work when the target isn’t actually struggling, I don’t know.

  Fortunately, Nicholas is able to do something as the pressure drops noticeably. It doesn’t make forward movement easy, but at least it’s now possible where before it wasn’t.

  I stumble forwards, feeling like I’m trying to run a sprint up a steep hill. Even with everything helping me, I can feel my grip on this whole construction becoming strained by the time I’m approaching Nicholas. I thank the twelve points I’ve added to Willpower since arriving in Moriax for the fact that I’m able to keep it going that long.

  “You weren’t kidding about me not being able to hold you against your will,” I pant – I might not need to breathe here, but habits die hard. Just as well I wasn’t intending on betraying him – I’m suddenly certain that I would have failed miserably.

  No, he agrees calmly. His emotional control is impressive – I can only feel the faintest hint of apprehension in his aura. Though it is rather interesting being on this side of the Battle.

  “I bet,” I agree, my curiosity suddenly making me wonder about what it’s like – not that I’ll be asking him to return the favour in order to know. At the thought of being completely in his power, I gain an appreciation of why he was so reluctant to do this at all – and a recognition of how desperate he must be.

  Sensing that the space is moments away from collapsing around us, I force myself forwards just a little faster and reach out to touch Nicholas on his forehead. I sense his surprise just as the Battle of Wills fractures around us and I feel the Bond snap into place.

  Immediately, I narrow it down to its minimum – Nicholas has always tightly limited the information that travels down our Tame Bond. Even if I’m now the controller, I don’t want to betray his trust and see more than he’s willing to let me view. Much like how I still haven’t looked at Kalanthia’s Core space even though I’m highly curious as to how it compares to others I’ve examined.

  “Why did you touch my forehead?” he asks me before I can say anything. I blink.

  “Isn’t that what we have to do to activate the Bond?” I reply with my own question, confusion running through me.

  “No – any part of the body works. Strictly speaking, by Master, you shouldn’t need to touch the projection at all – as soon as you have subdued your opponent’s will, you can activate the Bond.”

  “I didn’t know that,” I admit.

  “Evidently. Your space was also curiously…peaceful,” Nicholas muses. “I was aware of its attempts to calm my emotions, but the influence would have been hard to fight even if I’d chosen to.”

  “Now, that’s something that developed as a result of my preference to negotiate rather than overpower,” I explain.

  Nicholas looks like he wants to ask more, but that’s the moment Healer Jermaine appears at the foot of the wagon.

  “Lord Nicholas, you sent for me?” he asks, his eyes roving over both of us. When he sees no sign of injury, he smiles cheerfully. “How can I help?”

  “Markus is going to see what he can do about my curse, Jerry,” Nicholas tells him quietly. The healer’s smile falters and his expression becomes serious. He climbs into the wagon and comes close to where we’re standing.

  “Do you think you can do anything?” Jermaine asks me solemnly. “My lord has tried everything else he can think of without success.”

  “I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “I’m just going to look.”

  “I see,” the healer replies. “Then might I ask why you called for my presence, my lord?” he asks Nicholas. “You know that I am unable to help.”

  “We want you to watch however you can while I work,” I tell Jermaine. “Perhaps something I do will have an effect you can see – and maybe even replicate. Or perhaps it will just be a big waste of time,” I admit.

  “Then I will do so gladly – even if I am incapable of seeing these Energy channels you’ve spoken of before.”

  “Then let’s get started,” I prompt, eager to move on. “I think the best arrangement is for us all to sit on the bench with Nicholas between the two of us. That way, we can both be in contact with him.”

  “Of course,” Jermaine replies agreeably. “If Lord Nicholas is open to the idea.”

  Nicholas just grunts.

  “Let’s just get this over with.”

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