“Al?” Fluff queried, feeling the uncertainty that spiked in him. “What’s wrong?”
“Vicky put forward a couple of ideas I need to think about. You asked to see me, there… I agreed to it.”
Fluff hugged him tightly, “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Karen echoed, squeezing his hand.
“I don’t understand why you want to, but you’re welcome.”
“That nay be all of it,” Stacia said, more adept at reading him than the other two were.
“No. Vicky said that she thought my sentence could be reduced or commuted against time served. If I wanted to fight it.”
The jumble of emotions from the others caused Stacia to stroke Alburet’s hair. “What does tha’ mean?”
“I’m here because I was a test by my other world’s government to see how we would adapt to being in another world for long periods. If my sentence is over, my being allowed to be here or in Delta World all the time might be cut short.”
“No...” Stacia whispered, her arms tightening around him.
“Shh,” Alburet said, comforting her along with the other two. “There’s more. The people who own the gate we use to be here implied I would be placed on their special team, so I wouldn’t be forced to leave forever, but it might mean me being away for a bit of time while things are situated.”
Stacia shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes, “No. Do nay risk it, please.”
“Stacia, he risked worse for us just a little while ago,” Karen said softly, rubbing her back. “He won’t be alone. Fluff or I can be there for him and help him come back faster… if we’re allowed to go to Delta World.”
“Maybe we can talk to Vicky about one of us staying with Stacia while Al steps away to do that?” Fluff suggested, brushing at the tears trickling from Stacia’s eyes.
“I mayhap lose ya all?” Stacia cried.
“I haven’t agreed,” Alburet said softly, squeezing Stacia firmly. “Calm yourself, dear heart. It was a suggestion only. I’m only considering it because the government could pull me at any time as it is.”
“They would nay—”
“They would,” Karen cut her off. “Our government is large and known for doing stupid things all the time. We’ll talk with Victoria and see what she says. We will be allowed to speak with her, won’t we, Al?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied, “but she did say she wanted to wait on revealing some things until she knew if you could all go or not. If you can, you and Fluff will have to step away temporarily to sign paperwork and stuff.”
“We’ll need to set up for being away even longer, too,” Fluff nodded.
“Ya think it be a good idea, Asthore? Fightin’ ya sentence?”
“I don’t know, but it would alleviate the lingering worry that I could be removed from the program at any time.”
Sniffling, she wrestled her emotions back under control with their help. Stacia kissed Alburet’s chest. “I have faith in ya. Iffin ya think it be the right choice, then I be supportin’ ya with all me heart.”
“As will we,” Karen said. “We’ll support both of you during the transition.”
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Alburet smiled. “Thank you Karen, Fluff, and you too, Stacia. I never would have thought I would be surrounded by so much love.”
“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou…” Fluff said softly, letting the words trail off.
“Beside you, along with our loving wives,” Alburet replied, kissing her.
They finally got out of bed, cleaned up and made their way downstairs. Loralee greeted them with a smile and food. “Good morning. I’m supposed to remind you that the Guild will be having their dinner tonight.”
“Marysue or Gerald?” Alburet asked as he seated the women.
“Marysue asked me to remind you,” Loralee dimpled. “Breakfast is eggs, fruit, and bread. I wasn’t sure how long you would stay upstairs.”
“It’s just our nature,” Karen snickered.
“Aye, tha’ be entirely true,” Stacia smiled. “Ya have the same blood as we have, after all, at least in part.”
Loralee smiled, but after a moment, she bowed her head to them. “On behalf of Bob’s family, you have our undying loyalty and love. Thank you for all you have done for us.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Fluff said before the others could. “Bob is family and so are you, Loralee. Even if we leave tomorrow, we will always remember and love you all.”
“Like I told her,” Rachel said, coming from the kitchen. “I will repeat her thanks, but from Tiny’s wives. Though I am curious,” she hesitated, “if you leave, will they both become free Infernals again?”
Alburet paused, setting down his fork, “I honestly don’t know.”
“If there is a way to keep them as your minions so they don’t have to go through the search again, I would be grateful,” Rachel said, bowing her head to them, joined by Loralee.
“I can ask a friend,” Alburet said as he picked his fork back up, wondering if Victoria would agree to this request.
“Thank you, Lord,” Rachel said. “We will leave you to your meal.”
“Do you think she’d let that happen?” Karen asked once the Succubi were gone.
“I don’t know. I wonder if the Dark Lord would approve of it,” Alburet murmured between bites.
“I be thinkin’ he will,” Stacia said. “He be needin’ other Ambassadors soon. Mayhap we can suggest Tiny and Bob.”
“Oh, I like that,” Fluff smiled. “Bob would love to be the Ambassador to Wildwood.”
“Damned right he would, horny Imp that he is,” Karen laughed. “Tiny would fit right in with the Dwarves, so serious and ready to do his duty.”
“Aye, tha’ would fit for both of them,” Stacia agreed. “It be too bad we do nay have a way to complete the set, as I be spoken for already.”
“Damned right you are,” Karen laughed, joined by the others.
“Do we have anything that needs to be done before the party?” Fluff asked after the laughter had died down.
“Not that I know of,” Alburet said and pushed his empty plate away. “We could go see about restocking, but I don’t think it’ll matter in the long run. I should stop by the bank and deposit all the coin I picked up.”
“Aye, tha’ would help me sis,” Stacia nodded.
“We have one stop to make, at least,” Alburet said. “Let’s go get that errand done, then we can come back and relax before the party tonight.”
As they were making their way outside, they saw Bezzle heading their way. “Lord, there is a man here to see you.”
“Who?”
“He claims to be an old acquaintance. His name is Vetenarie,” Bezzle said.
“I wonder what he wants?” Alburet mumbled. “Let him in.”
Vetenarie gave the Destroyers a jaunty wave as he went past them. “Thanks. Lord Darkhand, I come on behalf of the Guild. They figured that since we were getting along and I was the one with the contract, I should come see you.”
“Skippy?” Alburet asked.
“Dead and gone, it seems. The quest to kill him vanished the same time your wife there roasted him. The Guild doesn’t give refunds normally, but in this case, Master Kato thought it prudent to extend an olive branch.”
Alburet stared at Vetenarie for a long moment and shrugged. “Fine. I’ll accept it.”
“Lovely,” Vetenarie said, pulling out a coin pouch. “Here you go. If you need anyone else dead for obscene amounts of coin, let me know.” With a wink, the Assassin strolled toward the gate.
“I kind of like him,” Karen whispered. “He’s got a lot of chutzpah.”
“And moxie,” Fluff added.
“We done admiring the guy who killed me a lot?” Alburet asked with a wry smile.
“You made up,” Karen said.
“Fair enough.”
“Where we going?” Bob asked, landing beside them.
“Just to the bank,” Alburet said.
“How was the hero’s party last night?”
“You have no… well you might, but Gerald has no idea,” Bob said, grinning.
“He be perfectly happy with just Marysue,” Stacia giggled. “Even the Dark Lord has but one love.”
“Yeah, but he ain’t the Dark Lord,” Bob replied, his lips twitching as he fought a smirk off his face.
“He is a good man,” Tiny rumbled. “His path is the one his heart leads him to follow. There is nothing greater.”
“Aww, you sappy goof,” Karen smiled at Tiny. “You’re precious.”
“Rachel said as much many times last night,” Tiny bowed his head.
“Come on, let’s go get this done and then we can come back and take a really nice bath,” Alburet said, pandering to their base ideals.
“Let me help you in, Lady,” Astov smiled as he helped Karen into the carriage.
“I thought that would get you moving,” Alburet chuckled.
“I notice ya stepped closer as well, Asthore,” Stacia said as Fluff was helped in before her.
“Guilty,” Alburet winked.
The trip to the bank was uneventful, though Alburet was surprised when the guards saluted them. Alburet returned the salute while the ladies were being helped out of the carriage.
“Afternoon,” Alburet greeted the guards.
“Lord Darkhand, hello to you and your wives,” the guard replied. “Thank you for your aid to the Crown.”
“It was our pleasure,” Alburet said, holding back his surprise at the greeting.
Entering the bank, Alburet slowed his pace when one of the receptionists came rushing up to them. “Lord Darkhand, are you here to see Warburg?”
“We came to make a deposit,” Alburet said. “I don’t think we need to interrupt the manager.”
“It is no problem at all, Lord. We have standing orders to direct a small set of people to him for any needs they have,” the receptionist said, leading them toward the manager’s office.
“If we’re expected,” Alburet shrugged.
The old Dwarf stood up to greet them, the smile on his face visible and honest. “Lord and Ladies Darkhand, it is a pleasure to see you again. How might we help you today?”
“Just came to make a deposit,” Alburet said.
“We’ll gladly handle that,” Warburg said, motioning them to sit. “Would you care for a drink, or anything else?”
“We’re good,” Alburet said. “What’s going on?”
“Stein is dead,” Warburg replied. “Today is a banner day. I’ll look forward to telling my grandchildren that some of those still standing when Stein fell came to speak with me the day after.”
“We just did what needed doing,” Alburet said.
“Many don’t, lad, many don’t,” Warburg looked away. “On top of that, the new King Hammerhand has declared you all True Friends of the Dwarves. I don’t know the story behind that yet, but I’m sure it will come out in time.”
“The ring,” Karen whispered.
“I don’t mean to delay you,” Warburg said quickly, clearly thinking they might have other needs to take care of. “If you’ll hand over the coin you wish to deposit, I’ll handle it for you.”
Alburet set all the money he had on him on the desk. “There you go.”
“And ours,” Karen said, adding a bag, as did Fluff.
“All to the Noble account. It shall be done,” Warburg said as he took each bag. After a moment he nodded, putting them into a drawer in his desk. Pulling a ledger out, he wrote some numbers. “All done. Can I do anything else for you?”
“That’s it,” Alburet said, getting to his feet. “Thank you, Warburg.”
“A pleasure, Lord, a pleasure.” Warburg said as he walked them out of his office. “If you need anything else from us here, just let us know and have a good day.”
Alburet felt the stares from some of the lower level players and all of the natives as they crossed the bank’s foyer. Stepping outside, he found Tiny, Bob, Astov, and Knitoc talking with the guards. “We’re good to go. Knitoc, please bring the carriage home. We’ll be using our Homestones.”
“As you wish, Lord,” Knitoc said.
“Ladies,” Alburet began, but two of them were already gone. “I see they’re eager to get home.”
“Aye, tha’ be true,” Stacia winked as she took his arm. “Shall we away, me Lord husband?”
“Damned lucky bastard,” one of the guards said under his breath.
Alburet ignored the not quite quiet enough words and took out his own Homestone. “Sounds good, dear heart.”
Chapter Sixty-one
The time they spent together before the party was invigorating, but an underlying tone of worry lingered for them all. Each of them was keenly aware that if they weren’t granted permission to go onto Delta World, this might be the last few days they would have together as a family.
Dressed in their best clothing, they took the Guild Portal to the Keep. The streets of Progress were lively as players celebrated. The guards at the graveyard let them know that the unaffiliated players had been rewarded for their help in the raid and were spending their coin exuberantly.
A coach was waiting for them, and soon, they were outside the Keep. The guards manning the walls gave them smiles and nods. A number of them were the same guards that had accompanied them on their way to the Keep originally.
Making their way inside, they were surprised to see Kim and Rolland waiting by the door. “Kim, Rolland, we would like to return these,” Alburet said, handing over the Heartstone.
Kim took them, “I heard that you gave the King the ring, and that it saved his life, Al. Thank you.”
“Those helped me survive, so thank you,” Alburet replied, kissing Kim’s cheek.
“It really was the right choice for us,” Karen admitted as she gave Kim a hug. “How are you doing?”
“Things are good,” Kim said, touching her belly. “We see a Priest every day just to make sure things are as they should be.”
“I’ve been a bit worried, with my bloodline,” Rolland admitted. “My mother said that the last few months she carried me, I caused more than a few sleepless nights. I’m praying we don’t have the same troubles.”
“It’ll be fine,” Kim said, fastening one bracelet around his wrist after hugging the other two women. “We’ll be connected the whole time.”
“Were you waiting for us?” Alburet asked.
“We’re letting everyone know that the throne room has been turned into the feast hall tonight,” Kim said, her smile fading.
“We miss them, too, even though we didn’t know them as long,” Fluff said, feeling the sadness that rolled off of her.
“Vanessa, Kauree, Deirdre, Chris... so many gone,” Kim sniffled as she held back the tears. “The nightmare is over now, but it’s hard to think that they were all taken from us in such a short time.”
“They helped us do what needed to be done,” Alburet said softly. “I’m sure the King is going to have a monument built.”
“He is,” Rolland said. “If I understand right, Fluff drew the inspiration for it. There will also be one for our fallen friends that Gerald is going to have built here in town.”
Fluff nodded, “It wasn’t much, just a sketch that I thought would look good.”
“It was inspired,” Karen told her gently. “Everyone will remember the one in Stormguard, and our guildies will remember the one here.”
“Brother, sisters,” Violet said as she led Marian into the Keep. “This feels similar to last night.”
“We’re heading to the throne room,” Alburet told her. “It’s going to be a big feast, after all.” Turning back to Kim, Alburet suddenly thought of a question. “Kim, is there going to be a raffle or anything tonight?”
“Of course,” Kim said.
“Where can I drop off items?” Alburet asked.
“I can take them,” Kim said.
“Ladies, if you would like to accompany our sisters-in-law, I�
�m going to duck back home and grab the bags so we can give the Guild more items.”
“Don’t take long,” Karen said, giving Stacia a smirk.
“I will nay seduce him… this time,” Stacia replied with a grin.
“Go on, Al. I’ll keep our shadow in check,” Fluff said as she took Karen’s arm. “Violet, Marian has never seen the Keep. Would you like to give her a quick tour?”
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