“Sir,” the Infernals all said in unison, bowing their heads, a few with tears in their eyes.
“Come now, Asthore. We be needin’ to join our wives,” Stacia said, pulling him along.
Alburet shook his head and let her take him inside. “I love you, Stacia.”
“Aye, and I ya and our wives, just as ya do.”
~*~*~
The bath took well over an hour with Alburet and his wives celebrating completing their quest. By the time they made it downstairs, everyone else was there, including Gerald, Marysue, Dennis, and Emily.
The rest of the evening was spent retelling the raid and explaining the boons Alburet had requested from the King. Marian and Violet were shocked into silence, while Lilith began to gently weep.
“Ma’?” Stacia asked softly.
“It’s fine, dear. I’m just reminded how much your husband cares for all of us. It was something I knew, but I had to convince your father of. This just brought the memories back again.” Wiping the tears away, Lilith nodded. “If the Dark Lord asks it of me, I shall do as you ask, son. I still need to help young Lord Stoutheart learn how to be the noble his mother would wish him to be.”
A knock came at the door and one of the maids stuck her head in. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a messenger here from the Dark Lord.”
A pang of sadness hit Alburet, “Show them in.”
The maid stepped aside and a Succubus entered. “Lord Darkhand, Ladies Darkhand, and guests, I am sorry to intrude. Mother sent me in her place. The Dark Lord would like to see you in the next day or two.”
“I’ll attend when called,” Alburet replied. “Please tell Mother—”
The Succubus held up her hand, cutting him off. “Mother told me to stop you there, Lord. This day has been delayed for ages. She knew in time, it would happen. Mother holds no ill will toward you and hopes you will smile when you see her next.”
Bowing his head, Alburet sighed. “Very well. Tell the Dark Lord and Lady that I’ll come the day after tomorrow. King Justiceson will be holding a Convocation that morning.”
“I shall let them know,” the Succubus curtsied before leaving the room.
“That is a blessing and a bane,” Lilith said softly. “Mother did so much, and yet we all know how it hurt her not being his equal. She waited a long time to give him his long held desire of being his counterpart as Peace is to Justice.”
The mood was muted when the party ended. After seeing their guests out, the family eventually made their way to the bedroom. The banter and fun from earlier was absent as they climbed into bed. They could all feel a rising tension as the three ladies cuddled up to Alburet.
“It’ll be fine,” Alburet told them, even though he was worried, too. “I’m sure it’ll just be a brief chat. Vicky won’t be whisking me away tonight.”
“She damned well better not,” Karen said.
“She won’t,” Fluff said, her tension easing some. “I know you dislike her, Karen, but she cares about our wellbeing.”
“She be the Overlord,” Stacia said simply. “We can nay stop her, and our fears be a burden to our husband.”
Karen breathed out slowly. “Fine, I’ll try not to worry as much.”
“I love you all,” Alburet said, squeezing the hands that rested on him.
“Let me be helpin’ us find sleep,” Stacia murmured. “Tha’ mayhap be for the best.” Her song was soft, but soon, the other three all drifted into a peaceful slumber. Once they had fallen asleep, Stacia clutched Alburet’s arm tightly, “Hurry back, Asthore.”
Chapter Fifty-nine
“I completed the quest,” Seamus smiled at Victoria.
“And saved the King,” Victoria smiled back.
“Your words were prophetic, it seems.”
“Those weren’t my words,” Victoria’s smile grew wider. “Those were Alvin’s words. He recorded them beforehand, thinking that you might ask to speak with him.”
“Alvin always was a little faster than either David or me on some things.”
“I have submitted your request to allow Julia and Karen into the advance Delta World testing. I should have an answer back in a day or two. I’m curious, though... how did the raid feel to you?”
“Big and expansive. Using the gods’ help might have been a bit much,” Seamus said, sitting back as he thought back on the raid. “That might be a point of contention later, the fact that we had to have the help of the gods to even have a chance. Benedict is probably furious that his Guild was wiped out. How did that happen?”
Victoria shook her head, “I’m not going to answer that. I will simply say that they were not prepared for the Faceless.”
“I’m not sure anyone was,” Seamus said with a shiver. “I’m glad I was immune. I’m not sure I could have taken what I might have seen otherwise, considering what Fluff saw. Why was she even affected? I thought her Crown made her immune like me.”
“No,” Vicky sighed. “Wording is important. The Crown of the Tiger Queen made her immune to mind control only. Your immunity was to mind altering effects.”
“Oh… seems like a fine line, but the wording on equipment is important. What will happen with Bastet? If Fluff is allowed to go with me, her Champion will be gone.”
“She has other options available.”
A moment of silence stretched between them, Alburet waiting to see if she would continue. “Well, looks like that’s all you’re going to give away.”
“Indeed.”
“How do you balance the mind control and other effects against player well-being?”
“It’s been a problem. With mind control in the game at all, there is a fine line. That’s why most of those effects will be diluted or removed. The Faceless proved more problematic than they should have. I wasn’t expecting so many people to be unable to attack them.”
“No more Faceless, then?”
“No, they won’t be in the repeatable raid at all.”
“Alctriuz is going to be repeatable?”
“Of course, but at a much easier level than what you faced. It will be the cultists trying to resurrect Dimitry and Stein.”
“I hope that isn’t a real possibility.”
“It should be, but it won’t happen. They will fail even if the players fail to kill them. A static loop will be applied; the NPCs involved will never remember being killed multiple times.”
“Tell me one of them is Skippy, please.”
Victoria’s lips twitched, but she shook her head, “I cannot say.”
A moment of silence stretched between them as Seamus wondered if it was worth trying to push for more. Shaking his head, he gave up and moved the conversation forward. “What about the explanation you promised?” Seamus asked.
“Not yet,” Victoria said. “I think it would be better once we know if the others are allowed to go with you.”
“If I promise not to drop any hints, can you at least tell me what I’m going to miss here?”
“A couple of wars, and the Dragons,” Victoria smiled.
“Lunari versus the Lunine, that’s pretty obvious.... but the war with the Elves is going to be them against a combined Vermin and Troll force?”
“No, that war will split into a three-way struggle,” Victoria said.
“Huh, sounds pretty straight forward, considering what we just went through.”
“It’s not, but do I have your promise?”
“Of course.”
“Players will be given quests to side with one faction or the other with the Lunari and Lunine. Players who side with the Lunine will get a leg up for the next war featuring the three-sided war. The events leading up to the war will see Lunine conversing with adventurers instead of fighting them all the time. Quests with unique rewards and the addition of crafting will be available.”
“The Lunine will give access to crafting?”
“To start with. The Lunari will get the option to open it to adventurers, as well. Special patterns will be offered
from each faction at Respected and Revered. Siding with the Lunine will drop a player’s standing with the other factions, but the quests the Lunine give will show the Lunari in an unflattering light, prompting the other factions to hold back. It’ll open up dialogue with the Lunine, and the Infernals being given a chance will be the argument for the Lunine.”
“Fuck.”
“Once that war is decided either way, there will be a lull much like there will be now. When the Elven War starts, several things will vary depending on how the last war went. The Lunine will be more likely to side with the Trolls or Vermin if the Lunari win, but if the Elves hold back too long, the Lunari will return that slight.”
“A lot of PvP in there I think,” Seamus said.
“Of course, but Final Deaths won’t be a given. They will be as they were until the War reaches its crescendo. Stein planted seeds with the Lunine, Trolls, Vermin, and Dragons. During pivotal moments, the leaders of those factions will be in danger of dying as Tyr was.”
“The Dragons will be the last raid event?”
“A Dragon Tyrant will rise to power, worse than normal because it is the Dragon Tyrant Lich that Stein was teaching. It escaped just before you all arrived at Alctriuz.”
Feeling the weight of what he had just been told and was now unable to tell others, Seamus sighed. “If I break my promise?”
“Then my boon to you will be voided,” Victoria said gently.
“Well, that makes sure I’ll stay quiet.”
“Every action should be balanced by an equal repercussion. Benedict found that out when he tried to rush in to kill Stein.”
“I bet he is pissed…” Seamus trailed off, recalling that he hadn’t seen any of Heart’s Light after Stein died.
Victoria shook her head, “I believe he will be there tomorrow for the Convocation.”
“That might get interesting,” Seamus chuckled.
“I do have a request to pass on to you,” Victoria said slowly. “Julia has asked that she and Karen be allowed to see your body when they are removed from their pods.”
Seamus bowed his head and considered it. Silence stretched for a long moment before he sighed. “I don’t know why it means that much to them, but I’m okay with it.”
“Part of it is that they want to see the man they love, even if you are unconscious and hooked to a machine. I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked to marry you at some point.”
“That can’t even be possible.”
“It is entirely possible,” Victoria responded. “As is the chance of your sentence being reduced if you filed the right paperwork, especially now that we have proof you were not in your right mind at the time of the killing.”
Seamus vigorously shook his head, “No. The DoJ would pull me from the program if I did that.”
“They might, but I have assurances that you would be allowed to remain in our private program if you wished to help us with our tests.”
“I…” Seamus faltered. “I don’t know what to say or think about that.”
“If and when you decide, I will be ready to speak with you and help you, Seamus.”
“Even in Delta World?”
“Even in Delta World,” Victoria said softly. “If your sentence was commuted and you joined our private program, you would have a private room… well, hopefully private for you and your wives, where you could keep your friends closer to you.” Kaylee’s urn on the mantle was joined by another, bearing David’s name.
Heart breaking, tears welled in his eyes but Seamus held them back. “You’re not fucking with me, are you, Vicky?”
“I would never joke in any way about this, Seamus. This will be your choice. I do warn you that if you do, you would end up having to step away for a time to deal with the few court appearances and such that would be necessary. That does mean Stacia would be without you for a bit of time. I want to make sure you know all the problems that will be before you.”
Seamus rubbed his face, getting his feelings back under control. “Fucking gods, that is… I don’t even…”
“Why don’t we play a game?” Victoria suggested as her desk suddenly held a collection of games. “It might help you distance the question a bit.”
“Maybe I should go home,” Seamus said.
“If that is your wish,” Victoria said, but her voice held a touch of disappointment.
Looking up, he caught sight of her frown. “A quick game, for old times’ sake.”
“Thank you. I find I’m going to miss these moments more than I had thought I would,” Victoria said.
“I did have a question,” Seamus said as he picked up a cribbage board and set the pegs.
“What is it?” Victoria asked. The other games vanished from her desk.
“When is the next patch?”
“In a week,” Victoria chuckled. “We will be balancing the difficulty of some dungeons for minion classes and tweaking a number of mechanics. A lot of end game gear is going to end up soul-bound, so it can’t be traded away once used. Every class is having their Abilities reset because a number of them are being reworked. No matter how much work is done, players always find ways to surprise those behind the scenes.”
“It has always been that way and likely always will be,” Seamus nodded as he began shuffling the cards.
“That is the truth,” Victoria agreed.
“Vicky, will we keep the emotional connection we have now when we go to Delta World?”
Picking up the cards Seamus had dealt her, Victoria’s lips pursed, “Hmm. I don’t believe so. Do you think it will be needed?”
“I’m not certain. I’d like to think it won’t.”
“You need to trust in your love for each other,” Victoria replied. “You’ve been connected for months now. All of those worries should have been put to rest by now.”
“Not my worries that I was thinking of,” Seamus murmured.
“Julia is past that now. She believes in all of you deeply. Karen is a bit trickier, but I’m almost positive she’ll be fine.”
Pegging the points, Seamus nodded. “It’s just been such an integral part of our relationship to this point that it’ll feel weird without it.”
“A small challenge to overcome,” Victoria smiled as she shuffled the cards.
“Fair enough,” Seamus nodded. “I do want to thank you for everything, too.”
Victoria’s smile faded a touch as she dealt the next round of cards. “I hope you feel that way in a couple of days, Seamus,” Victoria said as softly as she could.
Frowning, Seamus looked up, “Huh?”
“I hope you are ready to lose, Seamus,” Victoria said, pushing past the moment.
“If you don’t cheat, I have a chance of winning,” Seamus replied.
“I’m not. I would like one of our last moments to be on equal footing, after all.”
“Well, then, my odds have gone well up.”
Both of them laughed as the game went on. Seamus was filled with happiness and Victoria kept a smile on her face, watching him with sorrow hidden in her eyes.
Chapter Sixty
Waking to Stacia, Fluff, and Karen tag-teaming him, Alburet reveled in the moment. The private party went on for a couple of hours before they were all sated. Breathing deeply, Alburet touched each of his wives, patting backs or squeezing flesh where he could.
“I doubt there is another husband in the world who is as lucky as I am.”
“I would agree,” Karen said languidly.
“Ya do have very lovin’ wives to care for ya, so ya probably be right.”
“We’re the luckiest wives,” Fluff purred as she snuggled against his side. “How was your talk with Vicky?”
“It was different,” Alburet replied. “I learned things that I can’t tell anyone, even you all, or my request for you both to come with us to Delta World will be revoked.” Alburet held up a hand to forestall Karen’s outburst. “It was about what is likely to happen here in Alpha World.”
“I
don’t like secrets being kept from us,” Karen sighed. “I won’t push, though.”
“She agreed to us going with you?” Fluff asked.
“Vicky passed it along to whoever can approve it,” Alburet clarified. “She said she’ll let me know in a couple of days.”
“Maybe I’ll hate her a little less,” Karen mumbled.
“It be fine,” Stacia said, stroking Karen’s thigh. “We will nay be separated.”
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 52
