I let the silence sit for a long moment as I consider the question. As far as I know, I’ve now got all the information that’s reasonably possible to gain in such a short time with which to make my decision. Nicholas is clearly highly impressed with my level and Skills and obviously wants me to say yes. It’s rather gratifying, I have to admit – I’m far more used to potential employers acting more like they’d be doing me a favour if they employed me than seeming so honestly shocked at what I have to offer. In fact, it’s so gratifying that it’s almost too much – it makes me instinctually look for the catch, for the scam. But this is another world, and even if my more paranoid instincts are telling me that there must be a trap, everything else is saying that this is an opportunity I mustn’t let slip me by.

  But of course, it’s no longer just me who’s impacted by my decisions. While my Bound trust me to lead them most of the time, I don’t feel comfortable making a decision of this magnitude without their input, not when this will affect them as much as it will me.

  “May we have some time to discuss between ourselves, please?” I ask politely.

  Nicholas looks a little startled, but he quickly acquiesces.

  “Would you like us to leave the garden?” he offers. I consider it and then shake my head.

  “It’s fine,” I reassure him, then stand up to turn my seat around so I’m facing my Bound. I don’t think that he’s able to hear our mental communications – he’d need a telepathic gift much like Kalanthia’s or Lathani’s if so, and they haven’t indicated in any way that he does. He can obviously read my expressions and body language, but with me facing away and a chair back between him and me, that should be fine. He might be able to get clues from the body language of my Bound, but that should only be broad strokes of emotion. The benefits of him leaving completely are limited so he might as well stay. What do you guys think? I ask my Bound. Stay and benefit, or leave and try to find our own way?

  You must be careful when dealing with a Binder, Kalanthia warns darkly. They twist things to suit themselves. Dark emotions swell within her before she pushes them down again. I will not put myself under the power of another Binder, she warns. I do not understand this ‘heir’ but I understand that it puts you under the authority of this other Binder. If you agree to this, I will break our Bond.

  My heart freezes within me. It’s taken the giant nunda so long to trust me and she’s willing to throw that away because of this? But then, I know enough about her background to realise that her trust in me is the exception, not the rule.

  I understand your qualms, I say carefully to her, trying to be as conciliatory as possible. And though I don’t know everything about ‘heirs’ in this world, I think it’s likely that they do fall under the authority of the lord of their House. At the same time, Nicholas needs me. I can build into our agreement the caveat that those Bound to me are my responsibility and are not subject to demands from anyone else. I hesitate, but then push forward. And…you changed your mind about me over time. Would you be willing to at least give Nicholas a chance? You can break the Binding whenever you like – if you find that he’s everything you feared about a Tamer, if you don’t feel that I shield you enough from him, you can break the Bond and make your own way with all the support I can give you – which will be more if I’m his heir than if I’m just a stranger in this unfamiliar land.

  The moment seems to balance on a knife’s edge; I don’t know which way it will go. Kalanthia is puffed up, her fur sticking out and making her look even bigger. I sense that she needs a little more pushing if I want her to decide in my favour. And from the sounds of it, the Lost Continent would be a better place for you anyway if you do want to break our Bond – an uninhabited place where you can establish a new territory has got to be a better environment than a country full of humans, right? I don’t know that for sure, but this place has certainly got enough people to be considered a ‘kingdom’ and not just a loose collection of tribes. I’m making assumptions, but based just on that, I’d guess that a good portion of the area is settled. I know enough about how animals suffer on Earth when farmland starts pushing into their territories to guess that it wouldn’t be any better for magical beasts. Not even powerful ones like Kalanthia, if the power levels I’m sensing from Nicholas are anything to go by.

  Kalanthia considers my point and then she relaxes a little.

  Very well. She doesn’t sound happy about it, but even a begrudging agreement is enough for now. If you decide in favour of joining this Binder, I will give him the opportunity to prove himself. If he attempts to command me, however, even if it comes through you, I will go.

  Sure, as long as it’s understood that he might tell us about certain ways in which we’ll need to act and places where some of us won’t be able to go – and that will happen whether or not we join him, I warn. I receive another begrudging agreement from Kalanthia, wordless this time.

  Why do we need this prey-beast? We have Pathwalkers and Warriors of our own; we could start our own village, suggests Iandee.

  We are strong, Bastet speaks, a voice of caution as usual, but they are stronger. This is a new place. The smells are not the same, nor is the air. Acting like cubs on their first trip out of the den may get us killed.

  This place is very different from where we were before, Sirocco agrees, sounding unusually uneasy. There are fewer trees. And the ground looks different, more like the place of shelters than the forest. I interpret that and the accompanying images to be that she’s finding the development of the land to be disorientating and concerning. I suppose that seeing gardens is very different from seeing the forest from above the canopy and the difference is bothering her.

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  Several of my other Bound chime in with unease about their new environments – whether it is what they see, smell, or otherwise sense which is bothering them, they realise that they are somewhere completely foreign. I have a feeling that few of them really understood what it meant to accompany me to a ‘new world’. Not that I blame them – I hardly knew what I was going into myself, and I, at least, had jumped between worlds before.

  I know that it will take time to adapt to this new place, I try to soothe them. But we will. Between us, we have everything we need to succeed, wherever we go. The question is, do we want to tie ourselves to Nicholas and his people, and thereby benefit from their resources, but also gain their enemies, or do we wish to try to plough our own furrow – to set up our own village as Iandee suggests.

  My Bound are silent for a long moment.

  It would be difficult to set up our own village, River ventures, a little hesitantly. We have only four Pathwalkers including you, and two Warriors. While our eggs will hatch, it will take time for the Unevolved to grow big enough to help us defend our village.

  Wait, what? I interrupt, lurching forwards in my chair. Eggs? What eggs?

  River looks at me with a hint of amusement playing in her spikes. I thought you knew. You were present in the council where we debated it. Herbalist prepared a special brew for Enchanter, Smith, and me which brought our egg cycle forwards. We mated with as many Warriors as we could before coming. We will lay our eggs in a double moon cycle, here she falters and looks up at the sky where no moons are to be seen. Or whatever that length of time is here. And then in twice that time, they will hatch. In a great cycle, we will have a good group of Unevolved to support our village, but we will need to protect our eggs in the meantime and allow the hatchlings to grow.

  I shake my head in disbelief. How did I not know about this? I must have completely zoned out of that council meeting. I take a deep breath, rejigging my calculations a little bit. Knowing that we’re going to have probably between thirty and sixty eggs to look after in around thirty days, and then hatchlings after that does change things.

  Taking that new information into account, I don’t think we can afford to go it alone even if we want to, I admit. Establishing ourselves will take time. It would do so even if we were still in the other world, where politics are more limited and money is non-existent. Apart from my own introduction of Energy Heart fragments as currency, that is. Here, we will have to take a lot more time to get an idea of the lie of the land, and determine where we can set up a village.

  I don’t say it, but I recognise that we’d probably have to purchase land since in inhabited areas, even the rights to apparent wilderness are often ‘owned’ by the king. Unless Moriax is bordered by a massive, uninhabited area, earning money to buy something for ourselves would probably be a requirement, and that brings its own complications – I don’t know how much the resources I’ve brought with me from the other world will be worth and risk getting taken for a ride.

  Plus, without knowing anything about this culture, I can’t know whether we have skills that we can sell. Surely we do – between Hunter’s enchantments, Happy’s smithing, River’s potions, my Shaping, and the combat potential of everyone else. Certainly, Nicholas’ reaction to my revelation of having Rune-Carving, Enchanting, and Alchemy is good evidence for that supposition. But I can’t be sure. I know that Classes aren’t exactly common even here, but that doesn’t mean the local populations aren’t capable of great things.

  And that’s beside the point that Nicholas wants me, us. Wants me badly enough to commit to what sounds like an expensive and difficult programme of development – if his words can be trusted. Yes, there are downsides to becoming Nicholas’ heir. I’ll have to be involved in politics which I know I dislike from my experience both at the office and with the samurans. I’ll probably have to learn to act and speak in a certain way with particular people – I doubt ‘lords’ are likely to be egalitarian-types. It’s also clear that the House is in a precarious position and if I fail to do well in the competition, or Nicholas scuppers things in the background, it’s likely I – and all of my companions – will go down with the ship.

  And at the same time…something calls me towards the so-called ‘Lost’ continent. I don’t know whether it’s the spirit of adventure which has been kindled in me since arriving in the other world, or whether it’s the prospect of having a new purpose now that I’ve fulfilled my previous ones and moved onto pastures new. But something tells me that if I don’t take part in this competition, I’ll regret it.

  So, when considering that along with all the previous points, I come to a conclusion.

  I want to go with Nicholas’ offer, I say finally to everyone. I think that we’ll be better off with him than if we try to go it alone, particularly with this new deadline of eggs. We will need support at the beginning and I think that Nicholas is the best option for that.

  For just now, or forever? Artemis asks neutrally in her usual short fashion. I get the message, but hesitate over answering it. Short term or long term? Committing just for the competition and until we get our feet under ourselves, or looking towards a permanent situation? The advantage of the short term is that it gives us a definite end date and resources in the meantime. But that’s its only real advantage. We would be fighting on behalf of a House which we’re not part of – mercenaries, essentially. We wouldn’t benefit long-term from our efforts, even if we might receive some money for it and support in doing it.

  At the same time, long-term is a significant commitment considering how little we know about this world and the people in it.

  We don’t need to decide that yet, I tell Artemis in the end. Let’s just see how the next few years go and then decide after that.

  She sends a sense of acknowledgement, but doesn’t appear to have a particular opinion on it.

  So, any objections to going with Nicholas? I check with everyone. Not receiving any, I stand up and turn around, butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I gaze back at the expectant Nicholas.

  “I have our decision,” I announce. Both of the other men’s eyes sharpen. “I’ll be your heir.”

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