I first check with Bastet that she’s finished her meal.

  I have eaten enough, she tells me when I ask, pushing herself to her feet and coming to stand near me. I appreciate feeling her warmth leaning against my hip, her feathers brushing my skin softly.

  Nicholas is already moving towards the door of the dining room so I step away from the table to follow him. I then pause and turn to look at Loran as a thought occurs to me.

  Have you eaten breakfast? I ask, perhaps a little belatedly. I really should have thought about that before now. If he hasn’t, then standing there silently while I’ve been eating must have been tortuous for him.

  I ate before I came to wake you, sir, thank you for asking, he answers, a little hesitant as if he’s not sure whether he’s done the right thing. I can also feel his surprise that I’m even concerned about whether he’s eaten yet. Ah, can you hear me?

  Loud and clear, I answer easily. And good to hear. Standing rule – if you’re hungry, tired, or in pain, I want to know. OK?

  As you wish, sir, Loran answers and I get the feeling that he would have given me the same response regardless of what I told him to do. But in this case, I can tell that he’s tentatively willing to do so, even if he’s wondering a little at why I’m so interested in the needs of a slave.

  I turn away so he doesn’t see my grimace, walking quickly towards Nicholas. I hadn’t realised how different it would be having another human in the Bond with me. I don’t know if it’s because he’s so low level – without a Class at all – or because as humans we have more similarities to our thought processes despite being from two different worlds, but I’m picking up far more of his thoughts than I’m used to in a new Bond. And while it’s useful in some ways, it’s an uncomfortable invasion of privacy which I’m not sure he’s even aware of. I’m trying to block him out a little, but it’s hard when I’m used to being so open with my Bound. At least I don’t think it’s going both ways – he hasn’t given any indication that he’s getting my thoughts as much as I’m receiving his.

  When Nicholas pauses on the threshold of the room and turns back to look for me, I hastily wipe my expression clear – I don’t want to answer questions about why I might not be happy. Or worse, not be asked questions but instead have incorrect assumptions made.

  Bastet and I draw level with the lord, Loran a couple of steps behind, and then we head through the corridors together. Since we have space to talk, I find myself asking about something that made me curious earlier.

  “What did your earlier gesture mean? This one.” I demonstrate the movement of crossed wrists with fists, though I don’t have a tabletop to press them to. Hopefully that’s not an integral part of the gesture. The question seems to take Nicholas a little off-guard and he raises an eyebrow at me curiously though we don’t pause as we walk through the decorated corridors.

  “You do not do this?” he asks, sounding surprised.

  “No.”

  “Hm. It means ‘peace’ or ‘my intentions are peaceful’,” Nicholas explains then tilts his head questioningly to one side. “Do you have a gesture which means the same?”

  “We do this,” I answer, turning towards him and putting up my hands, patting the air placatingly. Nicholas recoils, stopping in place and lifting his own hands into the air with the palms facing me, his face settling into hard lines. “Yes, like that,” I respond, though with a little uncertainty. I stop moving as well. Fortunately, Loran and Bastet are paying attention and our sudden halt doesn’t accidentally cause a pile-up.

  Nicholas is tense, his gaze wary. My eyes narrow – this seems closer to my experience of smiling at the samurans than it should be. Closing my hands into fists, I cross them at the wrists, and lower them to waist-level.

  Nicholas eyes me for a moment and then relaxes, resuming his forward motion. The three of us join him.

  “Don’t do that,” Nicholas advises me with tension still in his voice.

  “It’s threatening?” I guess. The lord nods once.

  “Very much so. Yet it means ‘peace’ in your world?” he questions incredulously.

  “It does,” I confirm, then shrug again. “I suppose it’s because it shows the person that there is no weapon in our hands.”

  “Ah,” Nicholas replies with an air of dawning comprehension. “Whereas in this world, it indicates that the person is about to attack with magic. In certain situations, it can even be considered as provocation for the other person to defend themselves by launching the first offence.”

  “Oh.” OK, that actually makes sense, though it does surprise me in its implication: that the people here have to use their hands to do magic. I certainly don’t have to, though I sometimes find myself making certain unconscious gestures with my hands or fingers. And I suppose it’s easier to channel my mana through those than anything else. Is this another result of this world’s lack of awareness of Energy channels? Maybe they don’t realise they can use anything else to direct magic. Returning my thoughts to the topic, I resign myself to once more learning a whole new set of gestures – and unlearning others. It’s a pity that non-verbal language apparently wasn’t included in the language stone. But perhaps that’s me being greedy – I’ve just become fluent in another language in less than a day. Learning a few non-verbal gestures shouldn’t be too difficult.

  The route to the library is fairly simple. It’s in the opposite wing of the manor from the dining room, but that just means we have to walk for a while and cross the entrance hall.

  Inside, the room is very different from what I would have expected based on my experiences of public libraries. It’s much darker for one and the walls are lined with books. To reach them, I would have to jump to reach the top shelves – or stand on the ladder which I see folded next to the door. Half of the room is divided into relatively narrow aisles – three of them. The books are stacked high on these shelves too. The other half of the room has a fireplace with a fire flickering merrily in the grate and a set of soft-looking armchairs around it with a low table between them. In one corner of that side of the room is a desk and a chair – clearly a good place to study. A light which looks much like the touch-activated ones in my room is set above the desk.

  And the books themselves are far more reminiscent of a period house with their dark leather bindings than the brightly-coloured issues I’m used to seeing in public libraries. Of course, there are no computers – I wonder idly whether magic has a solution for looking up books.

  Nicholas sits down in one of the armchairs and gestures towards the other in an obvious invitation. I sit down in it, almost groaning in pleasure at how comfortable it is. Even the sofas in my room have nothing on this softness. And unlike my bed, it’s not too soft.

  Bastet happily lies down in front of the fire, and I sense pleasure emanate from her. I also sense Loran come to stand behind my chair. I twist to look at him again.

  Do you need to be somewhere else? You don’t have to follow me around all the time. It’s not that I don’t want him to follow me – though if I’m honest with myself, I’m not sure that I like it either – but if he has other duties, I don’t want to get in the way of that. Perhaps I accidentally send that across to Loran as he addresses my concerns directly.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  My duty is to do whatever you desire. There’s a hint of bitterness to his words, but I sense him push that away almost as quickly as it appears. If you wish me to do something, or prefer me not to be with you, please tell me. Otherwise, my place is at your side, waiting for your command. Again there’s that flash of bitterness accompanied by a flicker of resentment. I can completely understand why those emotions might be present, but I’ll need to talk to him about them. They’re the sort of things which can rot someone from inside – I know that far too well. But not now when we’re still practically strangers.

  For now, I consider the question of what to do with him, I don’t think that I need him here – I can communicate with him wherever in the building he is, so it’s not like he needs to be at my side to receive my ‘command’. And actually, it might be better for him to be with the rest of my Bound – they have no way of speaking to those around him or making requests without me or him being there.

  I’d like you to return to the room – be the interface between the rest of our companions and the humans around. If they’re hungry, organise food for them. They will probably want to go out into the gardens – they’re not used to being cooped up. Is that something you can organise for them?

  Since I’ll be obeying the orders of Heir Titanbend, no, it shouldn’t be a problem. Unless Lord Nicholas objects, that is.

  I’ll check. “Nicholas,” I start, speaking aloud. He makes a questioning hum in response, his sharp eyes on me and Loran, clearly aware that we were conversing. “Do you have any objection to my Bound leaving my rooms, accompanied by Loran?”

  “As long as they will not pose any danger to any of my people, no,” Nicholas answers easily. “My own Bonded know well enough how to behave and my people are used to seeing them roam around. I would not send them near the village, however – it is too easy to cause a panic. And just as a reminder, if any hunting is done in the woodland, please let the gameskeeper know. It should go without saying that livestock from the farms should not be touched.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” I agree, then turn to Loran with my eyebrow raised in question. “Any more concerns?”

  “No, sir,” he answers quickly, his tone more submissive than it was when we were speaking mentally. “Is there anything else, sir?”

  “No, just take good care of our companions, alright?”

  “Yes, sir,” Loran responds, then bows and quickly leaves the room.

  I turn back to see Nicholas looking at me.

  “You’ve taken well to communicating mentally, but you must learn to make your conversations less obvious. Our ability to silently communicate with our Bonded and do so at a distance is an immense advantage in many situations, but only if no one else knows that that is what’s happening.”

  I shrug.

  “It hasn’t been an issue so far. But I take your point and I’ll work on it.” Because he’s right – this is a very different world from the one I’m used to. “Now, how about that agreement?”

  Nicholas regards me for a moment longer and then pulls a scroll out of his Inventory. I wonder when I’ll get used to seeing things just appear in someone’s hand out of thin air. Perhaps as quickly as I got used to pulling items out of thin air myself. He lays the scroll down on the table and unrolls it.

  “This is an agreement I drafted last night based on our conversation yesterday. I hope that it meets with your approval.”

  I lean forward to read it. Fortunately, it appears that whatever the language stone did to me, it allows me to read the local language too. Drawn in Nicholas’ strong hand, the symbols on the page are at first completely nonsensical to me, but after a moment they almost seem to shimmer before my eyes and suddenly I can understand their meaning. It gives me a bit of a headache, though. I have to hope that the headache isn’t something that will always appear when I try to read – I’ve always found reading to be a pleasure and since I’ve read the books I took with me to the other world several times each, I was hoping for some new material now I’m back in civilisation.

  To my relief, the agreement is written in clear and plain language without any of the lawyer-speak that I’m used to seeing in contracts on Earth. I had to work for years with that kind of language but I’m not eager to do so again anytime soon.

  After reading it a couple of times, I sit back, satisfied that it has distilled the essence of our discussion yesterday without adding in any obvious traps. It outlines the responsibilities I will have as heir of the House, as well as Nicholas’ responsibilities to me as heir. Most importantly, it makes it clear that I remain my own person, capable and encouraged to make my own decisions, as long as I bear the House’s good in mind, and that Nicholas is not entitled to force me to do anything that I disagree with.

  “Alright, this looks fine. What do we do now?” I ask expectantly.

  “We must clasp forearms.” So saying, he offers his right arm. I reach out with my right arm too and grip his forearm as he grips mine. “I will invoke the Goddess and then, assuming she blesses us with her presence, we each speak our part of the contract finished with the words ‘so I swear, so I bind myself’.” He closes his eyes. “Neutral god Binder, and patron of my House, she who weaves the only unbreakable bonds. I beseech you to bless the agreement between myself and the outsider Markus Luke Wolfe.”

  For a long moment, nothing happens, and then it’s like a cloud has descended. The light quality doesn’t actually change, but it feels like it should have. There’s a heaviness to the atmosphere, and I hear the clinking of chains and the rustle of paper on the edge of my hearing. I feel a constriction winding itself around me, but for some reason it doesn’t make me panic; instead, it feels more like a safety harness that is stopping me from falling into a chasm below – though there is the implicit threat that it could become much tighter at any moment.

  It’s intrinsically disturbing and I briefly have to fight the urge to hightail it out of the room.

  “I hear you, my follower. It pleases me that you have come to an agreement with this outsider, that you will weave him into the bonds of this world. For my blessing, I require you each to make one new Bond in the next tenday – or break a Bond.” A cost? Nicholas didn’t say anything about that. But it’s too late to object as Nicholas is already speaking.

  “Of course, Goddess.”

  “Then speak your agreement.”

  Nicholas motions to me.

  “I, uh,” I swallow and take a deep breath to allow my recollection of my side of the contract to resurface. “I agree to become the heir of Nicholas’ House and to work towards its benefit as much as I am reasonably able. I expect that I and my Bound will be treated with the respect and value that I offer House Titanbend, and that Nicholas will never try to force me into an action or inaction that I disagree with. I reserve the right to defend myself as necessary if attacked, but I promise to do my best to consider the House in reprisals where I reasonably can. So…so I swear, so I bind myself.” If there are loopholes in this, I hope that Nicholas was right when he said that Binder considers the spirit of the agreement as well as the letter.

  “In return for his respect and efforts on behalf of my House,” Nicholas says when it’s clear I’m finished, “I swear to respect and value Markus Luke Wolfe and his Bonded as my loyal heir. I promise to respect his decisions and never try to force him into an action or inaction that he has made plain he disagrees with, though if I feel the situation is worth it, I will tirelessly try to convince him to make a different decision. I promise to make available to him the resources necessary for him to carry out his duties, and to defend him as he defends my House. I will give him my name, my heritage, my resources, and, eventually, my House itself if I die during the course of his agreement with me. Markus Luke Wolfe may choose to leave with my blessings at the end of the competition if he has acted to advance my House to the best of his abilities during it. So I swear, so I bind myself.”

  “Witnessed and Bound,” the Goddess answers, the sense of ropes wrapped around me tightening briefly. For a moment, they get to the point of discomfort, and then they release in all but one place – where Nicholas and my forearms are pressed together. I look down and see that there are actually lines of shadow wrapping around our arms. As I watch, they sink into our skin. For a moment, they look like bruises or tattoos, and then they’re gone.

  The presence of the Goddess vanishes a moment after that. I guess that’s it, then.

  Nicholas and I release our grips and I can’t help but stretch out that arm and twist it this way and that as if the shadows which wrapped around it might have left traces of their presence. As far as I can tell, they haven’t.

  “How do you feel?” Nicholas asks quietly. “Meeting a goddess is always an experience, and this is the first time you have done so.”

  “Glad she’s withdrawn,” I admit. Her presence wasn’t objectionable in any way, but it was difficult to bear mentally. And I feel rather off-balance at having such visceral confirmation that deities indeed exist and are very active in this world.

  “It’s good you have such high Willpower,” Nicholas comments. “It helps you resist her presence. Those with low Willpower can become easily overwhelmed.” Is it an influence on the soul then? I wonder to myself.

  Nicholas takes a second scroll from his Inventory.

  “Here is a copy of our agreement – feel free to compare the two if you wish. And then we have another task to get to, one almost as important as making the agreement in the first place.”

  “What’s that?” I ask, holding the two scrolls open but looking up at Nicholas for a moment.

  “Your magical adoption.”

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