“Mm, I noticed when I woke up. I’m not sure if this is as tall as I get, but I’m rather pleased already. Now… I think we should probably chat about a few things over dinner,” Wynne said, rapping a wooden spoon against the cauldron.
“I wasn’t aware you… ate?” Ryker asked.
“I don’t. Normally. Though I’ve noticed a few changes in me as I’ve grown in size. It’s interesting and terrifying at the same time. So, we’re going to try out eating. Do forgive me, I’ve no idea if I did this right. I copied the wife of a guard as she made stew.”
Ryker shrugged.
“I’m game,” he said.
“Go into the dining room then. I’ll be right in and serve.”
Frowning, Ryker did as instructed. Again.
“Don’t be cross. It’s not like you wouldn’t have done it on your own,” Wynne called at his retreating back.
Awkward. I can’t even be privately angry…
“And yes, you can be as upset as you want to be. Just realize that I’ll call you out on it when you’re just being stupid,” Wynne said from the other room. “As a good queen would do.”
Wrinkling his nose at that, Ryker dropped into one of the padded wooden chairs. Looking down at it, he finally realized where she’d gotten almost all of her furnishings. This was all part of the massive horde of magical constructs he’d bought. They were all the unenchanted versions that could be summoned.
A minute later, Wynne came into the room with a bowl, a chunk of bread, and a tumbler. She set both down in front of him and then left.
Checking the drink, he found it was water and nodded to himself.
Pass on alcohol. Can’t afford to lose what little sense we have.
Wynne sat down carefully in the chair next to him, smoothing her dress out. The fabric hung off her upper arms instead of her shoulders, emphasizing her bust and waistline.
Now that he looked more closely, she was dressed in a dress he knew he’d seen in an adventurer’s pack that had died early on.
At least we can outfit anyone or anything at this point by spending some mana to conjure things. Definitely looks good in it, too.
“First, are you aware that every time we use our bond to talk in the city, someone begins to surveil the area immediately?” Wynne asked, picking up her spoon and sinking it into the thick stew. She took the spoonful and then began to chew at the contents with a look of concentration and thought.
“No. I wasn’t. That’s disconcerting. Is it something we should be worried about?” Ryker asked. Picking up his own spoon he sunk it into the stew and brought it up to his mouth.
“It isn’t anything invasive. Or even that strong. Enough to monitor to see if they can determine what’s going on. I haven’t tracked it back but… someone is aware you’re special, I assume,” Wynne said.
The stew was bland, and didn’t have much in the way of flavor. It wasn’t inedible though, and clearly time and effort had been spent on it.
“It doesn’t taste like much, but it isn’t bad,” Wynne said in a half-hearted way.
“If I had to guess, it’s a problem of seasoning. Salt and spices can cost money, and out here where we’re barely becoming a civilized city, it might be in short supply. She probably just didn’t have any.”
“Oh. I see. I’ll remember that for next time. I’m sure we have the patterns for it somewhere,” Wynne said. She shrugged her bare shoulders and took another spoonful. “Regardless, I’ll keep an eye on the watcher. It isn’t anything to be concerned of yet. Just good to know. Next I wanted to speak of Diane and the work she’s doing here. She sends messages to and from her mother and the front. She’s also acting as a supply chain from here.”
That was a surprise to Ryker. He didn’t realize any of that. His brows pinched together and he swallowed his mouthful of stew.
“Alright. That’s… I didn’t know that. I mean, I assumed she was sending messages, but I didn’t know about the supplies.”
“They move far outside of the range of Dungeon, so you wouldn’t know they were there. I discovered it by chance. One of Tris’ girls was testing the range on the dungeon core you made for her. We wanted to see how far we could take it before it stopped feeding Tris, or stopped feeding the Dungeon. As well as how far it could go before you would stop feeding it or… well, a lot of things like that. Suffice to say, it increased the range I was able to watch, and I found a column heading towards the war front.”
Ryker nodded his head, methodically putting away the stew in his bowl. Pausing only to rip chunks off the bread and dip it in as well.
“And… you want to know what I want to do?”
“Yes. I’d be an inattentive queen if I didn’t consult with you. Do you want to help Lauren and take out those messages and supply columns, or just let them go?” Wynne said, getting to the heart of the matter.
“Oh. Uh. Huh. Hm,” Ryker said, staring hard at the table.
Help her out, and possibly put myself in the line of fire, or sit back and do nothing.
“Take out the messengers. Let’s start there and read the correspondence they’re sending,” Ryker said. “Leave the columns alone. I don’t want to risk that.”
Wynne nodded to herself. “I assumed that’d be your answer. Charlotte already tracked down and took care of the messenger who was coming in tonight. We dragged his corpse into the dungeon and assimilated him. His core was uninteresting and he knew nothing. His message detailed the needs of the army, things to be aware of, and the state of things. Veronica seems very concerned about you taking control over her daughter.”
“Hah. I imagine.”
“I already drew up a new letter. It was easy to copy her seal and signature since we took it all into the dungeon. I skewed the things that the army needs to start with. It’ll give the Duchess more of what she already has and nothing of what she needs. In addition, I took the liberty to retract much of what she was saying about you. It’ll take time before I can write positive things. It’d be strange if she went from calling you a simpleton in one letter to a genius in the next,” Wynne said, laying her spoon down next to her half empty bowl.
“Ah… yeah. That’s… good.”
“You really are terrible at all this.”
“I’m a wizard, and a farmer. Beyond that… I’m not much.”
Wynne laid a hand to her stomach and frowned.
“Ou… my stomach feels warm and, I think, full. I did not eat as much as I expected I would,” Wynne said, looking into her bowl.
“Stomach gets bigger the more you eat. Everyone has a different amount they can eat, too.”
“Hmph. I’ll have to experiment with all those food items in the city and that were brought into the dungeon.”
“That sounds like a pretty good plan. I’d be happy to assist next time, but I’m afraid I need to be somewhere tonight” Ryker said, remembering that Adele was waiting for him.
“Ah, yes. Adele. She tracked Claire down pretty quick to get her to agree to switching. Go on then, I’ll clean up here. Oh, and I’d like to see you tomorrow. I want to have sit-down meals here. Maybe invite a few of the girls on occasion.”
Adele did what? Huh.
“Err, I… yeah. I think we could do that. Thank you for dinner, by the way. It was nice. And your uh… your dress… looks… good on you. You wear it well.”
“Thank you, my king. I truly appreciate your words. Your attention and looks as well,” Wynne said, leaning towards him with a wide smile. Her dress slid down her arms a few inches as she did so, revealing more skin than he expected. She made no move to cover herself up either.
Ryker looked down and then back up to her eyes. He found he wasn’t able to do much else other than smile.
***
Bringing the hoe down roughly, Ryker grunted. Levering the tool back and forth, he shifted it around underneath the weed. No matter which way he moved it, it didn’t pop up like he’d wanted.
“Damn you and your fucking roots. Get out of my car
rots.”
Getting down on his knees, Ryker grabbed his small hand shovel and started working at the offending invader.
“Husband, what ever are you doing?”
Ryker looked up at the voice and found Diane watching him from the end of the farm row.
“Farming,” he said simply, looking back to the weed.
Sinking the shovel into the dirt he began to shimmy it around. He needed to get to the ends of the roots and work his way up.
“I can see that. But why are you doing it. You’re a Count,” Diane said. The crunch of soil under her soft leather shoes drew closer and closer.
“That’s…” Ryker paused and then shoved a hand under the shovel. He could feel a large root and pulled on it hard. The dirt shifted and he felt it coming loose. Using his other hand he reached around the other side and moved the hoe out of the way. Pushing his hand into the hole he pulled at the bottom of the weed.
It came out with a rush and a rattling of dirt falling.
“Ah, got it. Why? Because it needs to be done. And I’d been neglecting it. This was allowed to grow far too large. As for why me, I would say it’s because it’s soothing. It’s so mundane that it lets me clear my head.”
Standing up with the weed in hand, Ryker rolled his shoulders. He pitched it underhanded to a wheelbarrow nearby.
“I see. It really does help?” Diane asked, her brow wrinkling.
“Does for me. Can’t speak for everyone,” Ryker said. Taking several steps, he moved to the next weed in the row. It was much smaller than the other one and looked like he could pull it out one handed. “To what do I owe the pleasure, dear wife?”
“Oh, I just wanted to see you. That’s all,” Diane said.
Ryker looked up at that, staring into her face. She started to blush prettily, but she didn’t break eye contact with him.
“Then I welcome you gladly. It’s good to see you as well, Diane.”
A smile bloomed on her face at his words.
“Ah… do you think I could pull this one out?” she said, her words stopping him from yanking out the weed.
“Errr. Sure, but, what about—”
Diane sunk down to her knees, her dress pressing into the dirt. She wrapped her finely manicured and soft hands around the base of the weed. With a pout of exertion, she pulled back with her arms, the weed popping out easily.
“Ah! That wasn’t so bad,” she said, holding up the weed.
Ryker grinned at her, wondering what she was doing.
“What? I’m a farmer’s wife, aren’t I? I think I should learn how to pull a weed. Or are you saying I can’t,” she said, shaking the weed at him.
“You’re welcome to pull as many weeds as you like. Just wasn’t expecting you to do so. That’s all.”
In his heart, he could feel an awkward shame bubbling up.
Diane had never treated him poorly. If anything, she seemed to go out of her way to get to know him, his needs, his wants.
And he was directly sabotaging her.
Knowingly.
“I know that,” Diane said, flicking her wrist and sending the weed at the wheelbarrow. “I want to make this work. I don’t want to be my mother and father. Hating one another and spending as much time apart as possible. I know you didn’t have much say in this, so I’m trying hard to meet you in the middle.”
Damn me, she’s direct to a fault.
“Truthfully, I didn’t have much to say about this either. Mother seems determined to put herself on the throne. Personally I never had a problem with Her Majesty. She was always kind to me. I liked her quite a bit. But it’s my mom,” Diane said.
Then she shook her head, as if realizing she was rambling.
“My apologies. Now, what shall we do next? Is there more weeding to be done or something else?”
“Ah. More weeding. But I was thinking of taking a break. I wanted to go check on a clutch of eggs. Would you care to join me?” Ryker asked, standing up. Brushing his hands off he extended one to Diane.
“Certainly. What kind of eggs?” she said, taking his own and pulling herself up.
“Winged Homunculus.”
“That sounds like an interesting story. Tell me?”
“It isn’t, really. An aged Homunculus sheltered and died on my farm, leaving a clutch of eggs.”
“Ah. These are the tiny familiars that wizards tend to favor, yes?”
“Indeed. They can help and assist with spell casting as well as mana replenishment.”
“So why doesn’t every wizard have one?”
“Because they choose their own masters. You can buy as many of them as you like, but unless it selects you, it’s pointless. So the wealthy have a better chance at it, but there’s no guarantee.”
They walked in silence for a few steps towards the farmhouse. Then Diane grabbed his hand with her own, and interlaced her fingers with his.
He felt a small hiccuping catch in his chest and glanced back at her.
She gave him a shy smile and squeezed his hand tentatively.
It’s like being a young dumb kid again.
And it’s working on me.
Ryker smiled back at her and led her onward. Trying not to think about the entire thing.
Entering into the area set aside for hatching, Ryker immediately went to the small straw bed filled with eggs.
“Shouldn’t they be warmed, or heated?” Diane asked from beside him.
“Normally, yes. But their parent died and they mature off mana anyways. Room temperature right now is more than enough for them. Provided there is enough mana.”
Ryker released Diane’s hand and held both of his hands up above the impromptu nest. Slowly, he began channeling what little mana he had into the area above the eggs. His mana wouldn’t last long and probably wouldn’t be enough to get them to hatch. But he was determined to help them along the way. He saw no reason not to either. His mana would recharge all on its own.
In no time at all, he was as empty as an alcoholic’s last bottle of booze.
Sighing, he let his arms fall to his side.
At the same time, the eggs shifted around and surprisingly began crackling. The shells broke into bits, coming apart as small heads poked through.
“They’re precious,” Diane said from beside him.
He only nodded his head, watching as each and every one of the Homunculi popped free. They were each only three inches long and no more than an inch wide. They resembled winged lizards.
There were seven of them. Ranging in color from green, blue, and black.
As they escaped their prisons, they turned and began to eat the very same shells whole.
It took only two minutes before they seemed ready to be off and on their way. They were magical creatures and needed little time to escape the nest. They’d go live on their own in whatever way they saw fit.
One by one, they extended small wings, and flew out the open doorway towards the sunlight. As the last one fluttered out the door, Ryker looked to Diane with a smirk.
“And that is why people don’t buy them. There’s absolutely no guarantee they’ll bond with you. The vast majori—”
A soft pat landed on his shoulder, interrupting him.
Glancing to one side and expecting a hand, he was surprised to find one of the black scaled Homunculi staring up at him with coal colored eyes.
There was a tentative touch on his empty mana well. An outside source not completely dissimilar to the feeling he sometimes got from Wynne.
Then the world went dark as the Homunculus shattered Ryker’s mana well into a thousand pieces.
Chapter 21- Split Second Choice-
Ryker’s eyes snapped open.
He was staring up at the interior of his bedroom in the mansion he now shared with Diane.
“Huh?” he muttered.
A soft slithering feeling moved from his stomach to his chest.
He stared into the wide black eyes of the black scaled Homunculus.
“Awake,�
� it hissed in his mind
“Yes. I am. And you’ve been waiting?” Ryker thought back to it.
“Awake?” it hissed in his mind again.
“It can’t hear you,” Wynne said. “It can project thoughts, but you can’t.”
“Ah, yes. Awake,” Ryker mumbled.
“Good. Awake. Feed?” came the strange thought into his head.
“Uhm, sure. What do you want to eat?”
“Food,” it gave unhelpfully.
“Link your mana to it. It’ll take its fill, and divert the rest back into your well,” Wynne suggested.
Doing exactly that, Ryker threaded a delicate fiber of mana into its head. Which immediately exploded into the size of a rope and pulled heavily on his pool.
Worried that he’d end up a husk of a wizard he went to check his pool. Only to find that what he would have described as a puddle previously was now a lake.
Ten seconds in, and the flow was directed back into his mana well. The Homunculus now serving as an in-between.
The door opened and swung inward.
“Ah, you’re awake. Your Fairy sent word that she’d felt what happened to you. Said all you needed was rest,” said Diane, walking over to his side with a bright smile. “I’m glad to see it’s exactly as she said. Though you did give me quite a fright.”
“Errr, what happened then? I remember this little guy landing on me, and then… waking up here.”
“According to your Fairy, your Homunculus expanded your magical capacity. Though to do so, he had to practically break it. She said it was a lack of maturity on its part, and a lack of strength on your part.”
“Yeah…” Ryker said, closing his eyes and laying his head on the pillow. “I’m afraid I don’t have the magical stamina I should. If I did, I’d have been an arch-mage of a college by now.”
Ryker smiled ruefully at the stray thought. He’d had these regrets for a while.
“Hmph.”
The noise Diane made was accompanied by a sharp rap to his forehead. “Speak such nonsense and I’ll flick you again,” Diane said as he opened his eyes. “What you are is my husband, and I’ll thank you very much for remembering that. So far you’ve done well by me and I don’t regret this at all. Not to mention you’re a count as well. I think that’d rank higher than an arch-mage.”
Dungeon Deposed Page 22
