Chapter Forty-Four“It's impossible!” Harmony groahe once red multi-colored dragon skin jacket resisted all attempts to ge it back. She'd burhrough her toolbox of skills, synergies, and es.

  “It should have been impossible for you to have ged the color at all. This is an artifact.” At Harmony’s fused look, Maekus tinued, “A former pair boem brought to pletion. All ges set in sto the bonded’s death.”

  “I’ve tried my best. you please now tell me what your decision on Prince Adric is?” The Exhaustion of having been at this for hours was taking its toll. It was bad enough to wake up and have the room smelling like a wet dog. No one else may have noticed, but there was also a lot of extra hair floating around in the room's dust.

  “Oh, that. I have no idea. He appears human, but a lot of things appear that way. The best I figure is that in the bond with you he gained life as you gained death exging and repelling that part of reality. Simir to how Nae’s Garden and Old Bones work. I’m surprised you didn’t bee an undead abominatiohe scroll activated.”

  That was not Harmony’s perspective of what happened. It would be inappropriate to question the expert who was called in to decide this case. Let alone when it looks like he will go the way she wanted. Enough stig her o a hor's . She poked her arm and checked her pulse. It’s not like she learned nothing from having an actress for a mother and being a maid.

  Maekus tinued. “You also seem alive and human too. I wasn’t only cheg out your pet. After every evolution, I request that both of you report to a charter member anization for evaluation. It would be a shame to have to hunt you down. Other than that, you’re both free to go.”

  “That’s all!” Adric groaned as the potential death sentence was lifted.

  “sidering your family shoved enough anti-neantic potions into you to kill a healthy once-evolved person. You’ve suffered enough. I think the fact that you’re still alive after all that might have worried them more than anything.“ The selor answered.

  “I guess this is goodbye. Sorry, I ruined your outfit.” Harmony said, ready to get this moving and them all back to the Dragonfly Inn.

  Taking his coat back, Maekus slid it ba and ripped open the space with a jagged white line in front of himself.

  “Oh, I’ll be around. I'm not done keeping my eyes on you. This Asdant Games thing needs some attention as well. This er of the world hasn’t been iing in a long time.” With that, he stepped through. The weight the man had carried cleared the room with his exit.

  Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief.

  The double doors to the prince’s fourth-floor suite burst open, a loud crash as they swung in hard crashing into the walls. Tired bodyguards raised their ons protectively around Lady White.

  Pace guards rushed in with ons drawn and skills flickering around them. A wave of ten pushed into the room. Larger than life, tess Maye marched in not in formal wear but a full set of pte armor, minus the helm, her face stern and challenging. Rosaline, bow in hand, arrow nocked, keeping pace at her side. Behind them, ten muards filled the rest of the room.

  “Oh, Adric, we've been so worried.” The tess gushed. “We’d feared the worst, and when we couldn’t access your room I gathered all the best men.”

  [Keen Iigative Awareness] didn’t o tell Harmony this was all bloody corpse rot. But it did make all of this harder to ignore and almost warred with [Poise and Bearing] and its more subservient desire not to cause a se. But if the goal was to not cause a se it was too te.

  What She couldn’t figure out was what was exactly going down. The pace guards departed after their rea to the sudden arrival everyone mistook for an ambush. They knew Von Trell with his many titles was here as a charter selor to decide on Adric's fate. They kwenty guards with the tess and princess wouldn't be enough to stop the man. Hours sealed in the room with Maekus meant everything should have been resolved. Yet the pace guard's ons remained out.

  “Auntie, he said I was free to go,” Adeic responded.

  “Just because he cleared you doesn't mean there aren't dangerous things to protect you from.” tess Maye stomped her foot and an aura of light spread out from her. “And I am the one most fit to protect you.”

  That’s the py? Swoop in after Adric has had hours of intense iigation into his status. Offer prote while they’re hungry, vulnerable, and worried.

  Hyath you do a favor for me? Harmony reyed her iions through [Familiar Bond] to him.

  “Adric, you’re looking a bit u after everything, go get a ge of clothes. I want a few moments to have words with your aunt and sister.“ [Beauti] had been itg, but the truth was Adriever looked too bad and looked wonders better than he had when she first arrived. The scuffle had marred his clothes.

  “Oh, okay.” He mumbled with fusion and self-sciousness as he moved towards the suite's bedroom.

  Maekus Von Trell had been a show-off and the most powerful person Harmony had ever met. That brief iion held several insights into that level of strength. Insights she could feel improving her skills as she processed them. An itch to use [Recall] for her raining session started before the ma. Ohing obvious was his near absolute trol of the enviro around him. Well above her skill level, but it certainly made a statement, and one she could fake.

  [Cold Touch] synergized with [Renew Spirit] spreading a faintly glowing chilling mist throughout the room. The novel iion she'd pyed with at Ambrosia’s shows and to wake Hyath rolled up to everyone’s knees and with it [Final Silence] added a touch of sound dampening she directed towards the unwele guests. Not enough you couldn’t shout through but would produ eerie unfortableness. Internally, the authority was still stable enough that she lent a touch of it to the effect, with a hint of that feeling of death she’d started to py with. She would be paying for that ter, but it didn’t matter.

  Death and Authority echoed in her voibsp; “My darling tess, what a wonderful jest to present, that you would be most suited to protect Prince Adribsp;

  tess Maye tried to speak, but Harmony had expected that and used the st bit of [Final Sileo mute the sounds arouhis allowed Harmony to tinue uninterrupted.

  “Princess Rosaline I’m most disappointed in you for showing up to this farce. After your letter, I’d hoped we could mend some of the rifts between us. We will be in the Asdant Games together as friends or foes. I’ll make sure to let Guild mistress Thorne hear you o work on trust and teamwork some more.”

  The way Rose b that made Harmony gd she wasn’t part of that training. With shaky fidehe princess spoke, “I’m just trying to do what is best for Adric. That attack at the Harvest could have easily hit him. Let us take care of him. I ’t watch him die again.”

  Arguing about how they had beeing her pet for the few days they had watched him wouldn’t advance Harmony’s goals. The sedary effect she’d squeezed out of [Final Silence] ended, so it wasn’t like she’d be allowed the words tue that point now anyway.

  “HOW DARE YOU!” tess Maye yelled in a voiearly as big as her stature. “We won’t let Adric leave this room. I will protect him whether he likes it or not!”

  Done. Hyath sent her.

  Harmo out a long very real sigh as today had been particurly exhausting. “Well, you won’t stop me from leaving. I doubt the guild or city guards would be happy if you tried. In case you haven’t heard, selor Von Trell will also be staying with an i in the games. If you have issues with me, take it up with them first. e.”

  Harmony marched forward, driving her bodyguards and Ambrosia to e with. Eight people moved to ast the twenty toward the exit.

  The groups met and the tess pushed for one more csh of words. “It’s good that you’ve finally learo e to grips with your situation. You may have prote now, but Adriow that he is cleared, is best with his family.”

  “Prince Adriows himself. All you are doing is grasping at the shadows of who you want him to be.“ Harmony responded.

  “Sorry, Harm,” Rose muttered.

  The group stepped out and the doors smmed shut behind them. “We’d better hurry. They’re not going to be happy.” Harmony told her crew as she rushed to the stairs.

  To some, it might have seemed unnecessary to instruct Hyath to make off with all the clothes he could carry while he hauled Adric through the dark. But the man damn well needed somethier than the couple of overly worn outfits he had hanging in his closet at the Dragonfly Inn.