Omrak tugged on his neck, the high collared coat and tunic beneath uncomfortably tight and restrictive. Court fashion had kept to its love for tight clothing, for which the extra tight breeches and codpiece ensemble was certainly unflattering to many. Not for Omrak of course, but for other smaller Southeners, it seemed a foolish thing to wear.
Then again, Southerners were very foolish. Look at this entire tragedy, the way it had impacted his friend and the prince. It was not even to take over the kingdom—the royal family was too secure for that—but to gain a minor advantage.
Fools.
He had done his best to avoid getting involved in the discussions, playing the uncultured and foolish Northerner. Unfortunately, he had played it all too well. Too many nobles and Adventurers felt it safe to discuss politics within hearing range of himself, and even if he had wanted to avoid it, lessons from Lady Nyssa had permeated his consciousness.
As such, he knew of the retaliatory attacks. The use of the royal family’s Daggers, the sudden rash of suicide among certain noble families. Suicide by strangulation, poison, and disemboweling. Very painful ways to go, all of them. Obviously the shame had taken them.
Obviously.
Rather than dwell on that, Omrak turned to look at his team. Everyone else was here, dressed up in well-fitting clothing and looking much more at ease. Even Asin looked comfortable in the clothing she wore—and what a scandal that had been, when the Royal Tailor himself had taken time out of his busy schedule to work on her clothes. It seemed he had meant to make a statement, since no Beastkin had ever been invited to the court in this way.
Statement was definitely the thing. Her entire ensemble was green and gold, with the gold dominating her dress, tunic combination. The entire thing was body hugging, emphasizing her thin and svelte figure without actually hiding it, with carefully placed cutouts and lacing doing the job. The entire clothing ensemble emphasized her Beastkin nature and her stark beauty.
As for the others—well, Johan looked put together as he always did, though his mother hovered around him, pulling and prodding at his clothing. Quite unmanly, to be primped at so much, but the nature of parent and children’s relationships was not something Omrak intended to discuss.
Nor was he getting involved in the entire thing going on between Charles and Lady Nyssa. Matters between the pair had grown tense since Charles’s near death and his forced retirement as her bodyguard. The fact that he had been forced out of her service but promptly applied for a spot on the team as an individual had caused quite the friction. It still had yet to be resolved since their erstwhile team leader was . . .
Well.
“Remember, when the horns blow you should . . .”
“I know,” Daniel said, snapping at the protocol officer standing beside him, reiterating the ritual they were forced to memorize multiple times already. “I forgot everything that happened before, not everything ever. I’m not stupid.”
“Of course not . . . uh . . . Adventurer.” The officer sketched another bow, this time lower.
Daniel glared and then turned away, and if Omrak was the only one who saw the flash of irritation give way to sudden sympathy and a deeper fear, he was not about to tell anyone. He understood Daniel’s feelings, a little at least. Coming down South, being trapped in a place that was new and different, without the moorings of the familiar had been hard for him.
How much harder was it for Daniel, who had lost so much of who he had been? He was barely a Level 3 Adventurer now, all his Levels in Miner gone. He had a pair of Healing spells left and a smattering of other skills. All his hard-won work . . . gone.
Along with memories of smaller, lesser things. Like faces, names, social incidents. The first few weeks after he had finished healing the prince and had collapsed had been tough. A strong man, thrown into confusion, fear, and anger constantly as he faced a world and a mind that made little sense.
It had been hard, for Omrak and the team, for the Healers and nurses that worked with the ex-Healer, till he had gained some modicum of balance. If anything, Daniel should still be there, in that small compound, relearning the extent of his memory losses—reading, talking, socializing, and training slowly.
Not here, being paraded around by the royal family.
But what did he know? He was just a dumb Northerner.
Horns sounded, the doors were thrown open and the group announced. And once more, their team was put on stage.
Hopefully for the last time.
***
“… and for sacrificing his Erlis-given Gift for my son’s sake, we bestow upon Daniel Chai, Adventurer, the rank of baron, to be passed down along his lineage forevermore. During his lifetime, we too waive all taxes on his holdings and furthermore, grant him a stipend from the Crown of five hundred Platinum pieces a year and the usage of one of our Stewards in the running of his holdings, for we are informed the Adventurer shall continue his duties, cleansing our lands of the taint of Ba’al.”
The man droned on and on, though Daniel barely heard him. Not since the first line. Not man. King. It didn’t matter; it was all the same to him. Oh, he understood he was supposed to care about his station, about the fact that he could kill him or that he ruled over everyone but . . .
It was all so pedestrian.
He had stripped himself of his own memory, sacrificed a Gift that supposedly had made him the most powerful Healer in the entirety of the land. What could a little threat of death and dismemberment mean to him after that?
Anyway, most people were fine if he was a little more irate, a little more distracted than he actually was. They were willing to make excuses for how he acted, what he remembered or when he broke a social cue. They were willing to make a lot of excuses.
Too bad he wasn’t.
It would be a lot simpler then, to not get frustrated over being so far behind everyone else. To wake up, day in and day out, with notifications constantly plaguing his day as he gained all those easy skills and skill levels that everyone else had taken for granted as kids.
Easier to forget about that single, broken notification that he had yet to minimize.
Gift: Martyr’s Sacrifice Lost
Damage sustained to memories and Gift too great. Loss of Gift has been enacted to preserve soul of user.
And the one after that.
Hidden Quest Achieved: Make Use of My Gift Properly
Reward: (Unknown)
He had told others of the first notification. It was hard to hide such things and in the first few days of his recovery, he had not even considered that he had anything to hide. All but that last notification. Something deep within him told Daniel that he was to keep that notification to himself. Even the one time he wanted to mention it to Asin, he had felt something press down on his soul, forcing him to stay silent.
“Kneel, Daniel Chai and accept your title.”
Daniel blinked, feeling a tiny sharp claw digging into his side, to realize that others were looking at him. He had a vague memory that this was not the first time someone had called him. He stumbled forwards, moving towards where the page indicated and knelt.
Head bowed, Daniel waited as the king descended, drawing the sword from his side. As the man approached, Daniel felt the pressure of the king’s aura press upon him, forcing him to clench his jaw. Even retracted, the pressure was too great for him at his current level.
Cold, the steel of the sword was cold against his skin. One shoulder and then the other, words passing over his head, more rhythmic words of ceremony and ostentatiousness. When the sword was pulled back and sheathed, the king spoke again.
“Stand, Lord Chai.”
Daniel rose, his head coming up a little to eye the man’s doublet. Then, the king spoke, not out of rote, his voice filled with passion.
“Look up. You, of all people, have the right to look at us without fear. You have sacrificed all that we could ask and more, in saving our child.”
Daniel raised his gaze slowly, meeting wintry grey eyes. The king smiled and lowered his voice, his next words for Daniel only. Well, Daniel and the Catkin with her extended senses.
“Know that you’ll always have a favor owed to you. Ask, if you ever need it.”
A bow, a dismissal, and even more words. It took all too long, for a ceremony that Daniel had no desire to be part of. They spoke of sacrifice, of things lost, of saving the prince. And none of it, he could remember. Even if he knew it was him in truth who had done it all, still, he could not help but feel a fake.
After all, he had no memories of any of it.
None at all.
All he had, Daniel realized as he walked out of the reception room was his team, those who had been with him through every step of his recovery. People who, for their own reasons, had stood by him when he had fallen and raised him up, even when he had no desire to rise.
Perhaps he might have no memories, no Gift, no Levels. He might only have the barest knowledge of who and what he had been, but Daniel realized, the man who he had lost, he was a man deserving of respect and loyalty. Who had deserved the prizes and nobility gifted to him.
It seemed to him, as he left with his friends, to a new life, that he had much to live up to.
Luckily, he had a lot of friends who could help him do that.
###
The End
And that’s all, folks. This is the series end!
Daniel and team will continue Adventuring, but I don’t expect to return to this series anytime soon.