Chapter Forty-ThreeThe post-battle recovery was much more anized as the pressure Maekus created slowly lifted, allowing each person to stagger up as their strength allowed. It was hard to be defiant after one man crushed everyone nearly at ond you had to strain to stand up. During the process, the divide between the pace guards and Harmony’s assigned bodyguards became clear as the pace guards took the opportunity to leave Adric’s suite when they could stand. Hers moved to stand beside the weighed-down form of the dy maid.

  Embarrassingly the st to stand, Harmony bined [Style and Grace] and [Poise and Bearing] to do her best gracefully. The selor olite or wise enough to not ent during the process. If he wao see if she could reverse the damage doo his clothes that was the bare minimum of what would be required. But protocol still o be held as much as it galled her.

  Harmony curtsied. “selor Von Trell, it is an honor to officially meet you. I hope we get this small issue resolved with no fuss.”

  Maekus snorted much to Harmony’s chagrin. The bodyguards attag him had been an ho mistake. This should be the proper reset. “Well, aren't you an unusual little spark?”

  When it was clear he wouldn't expand further, Harmony started in. “Prince Adric’s unventional healing was a shock for everyone. What should have been a simple bonding with a pet scroll turned into this miracle. I meant to bond an undead pet, not even a human one, but clearly and to the best of my senses he is alive, and reized as mine by right of our primal bond and the ge of his profession.”

  “You're not the one who gets to make that judgment. I was assigned by the Charter to resolve this. I have the experiehis was never a simple bonding.”

  “look, I used a scroll, like everyone who wants a pet does.” Harmony pulled from her css feeling the es with neancy, finality, ah. You could speak with authority, with subservience, and now with the roots of her css. “And I do uah.” The ft hollow voice there did not echo but reverberated in the room in a way that spread a silent chill.

  “Nothing simple about any of this. Create Undead Pet scroll, found seven hundred and sixteen years ago after defeating the Shackles of Fate dungeon. No other instances of such a scroll in any records. Bought by the local guild and pced in their restricted Vault.

  After three hundred years of gathering dust and fuild masters, it is sold to make space but really budget shortfalls. From there, it spent four hundred years boung from colle to colle until it ended up in this little er of hat happeo have the resoureeded to attempt to activate it. There it nds in the hands of a young lord who covets obscurely rare items. In an unusual instance of parting with a piece of their beloved colle, they trade it for the ce of some favor with a aid.”

  In no way did Harmony snort at that, but she might have huffed a little.

  “Okay, unaid. Who took that scroll with no choice of [Raise Dead] and the barest levels required to use and created that…” Maekus Von Trell extended his arm in a full gesture toward Adric.

  “That is Prince Adrid he is alive and well now, perhaps at the cost of being my pet, but I challenge you to prove he’s dead.” Harmony stated firmly.

  “Un-dead, un- as in opposite of dead. Perhaps a bit more definitive in this case than how we use it to describe zombies. Prefixes and suffixes matter so much when makiions and with magieancer. My decision has yet to be made, and first I want to hear from the returned.”

  Harmony bit her cheek to keep from talking. Outside of knowing with the certainty that [Manipute Dead] couldn’t touch Adrid that he was a void more thahose life-infused pnts in Nae’s Garden, she hadn’t fronted what he was or what she’d do had been veo ignore. No one came knog at their manor door with pitchforks and torches. Up until the royals had house arrested him, there had been ers demanding they show up. He was happy to be her helpful pet, and she was grateful for the effort he put in. And she was focused on her life-ah situation. Adric probably delved more into who and what he’d bee than anyone else. It was his right to speak.

  Prince Adric stepped forward bridging the empty space between the Maekus and Harmony and her cluster of guards.

  “I died. I died the moment I evolved into the mourned prince. I'm surprised I didn’t drop dead the moment I made the choice. Worst was that I could feel people's grief, worry, and sadness as every potion, charm, and expert failed to find a solution.

  Being happy, eager, aed for the future helped lessen their s. But I was dead with my body no longer healing as life creeped out of me, uo hold on.

  Arriving in Hazeldown was like going to where I belohat's why I didn't go home after I failed there. I stayed to die. I was only able to keep going for so long because of Bowe. But finally, I became fully acclimated to being the mourned prince, dying.”

  “Yes, yes. That's all very sad. The perfect lesson for everyone on why you should be careful about what you choose at evolution. Ary worthy of the history books. Now tell us what happened .” Maekus pressed on, his voice coated with an effect Harmony didn't reize, not authority, nor pulsion, but from a pce far above any of them in power.

  “Time passed without having a cept of time. Now it feels like a bnk spot in my memory. Then I returned, primal bonds burning inside of me. Bowe’s faint bond, hibernating, near death, closer to death than living by far. I thought they'd given their st bit of life t me back, as they'd propped me up after my evolution.

  I couldn't let them do that, so I tried to return what I thought they gave through our bond. There was so much life… After that, I found Harmony. My css ged. I… I don’t know what I am. There are a lot of things that I'm not.”

  Maekus rubbed his in thought for a moment. “Well it's a good thing I'm here to decide exactly what you are.” He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

  Harmony, Adric, Ambrosia, and the bodyguards colpsed unscious onto the floor.

  “Grroak?” Hyath hopped forward croaking questioningly.

  “Don’t worry. I'm not going to hurt them. But this is all easier if They're not awake for this part.”

  Five distorted ripples in space Start to crack open. Furry arms and hands exploded out, pulling and pushing to get through.