“Are you ready?” Nicholas asks as I come out of my room, followed closely by my companions. I self-consciously smooth my hands over my overrobe – a rich burgundy with silver embroidery to indicate my House affiliation. As if that weren’t gaudy enough, my crest gleams silver on my left shoulder and Titanbend’s on my right. No one’s going to mistake which House I belong to, not tonight. That’s probably for the best. Still, I want to turn around and hide. This is going to be a nightmare, isn’t it?

  At least the overrobe was made by a proper Tailor, complete with all the necessary enchantments – it should cover the fact that the trousers and tunic below are my own work. I don’t know how Nicholas managed to get a Tailor to visit us and create the overrobe in such little time, but he did. Probably by throwing his name – or his coin purse – at the woman. Maybe both. Either way, watching her work was fascinating.

  I can’t help but feel wistful at the realisation that Hunter would have loved to be there and see the runes being stitched into the cloth, the whole enchantment fading away entirely from view when it was charged with magic. I’ll have to settle for sending her the memory instead. But maybe I can convince Nicholas to let me bring her along on another visit to a Tailor.

  “I am,” I answer Nicholas, a little belatedly.

  “Good,” he responds, flicking his sleeves so they fall more naturally on his wrists. They’re longer than those normally on his robes, and I can’t help but feel that these formal robes are designed to make combat more difficult. Maybe they are – to make people think twice about causing trouble at a royal dinner. “And you remember my instructions?”

  “Listen more than I speak, give as little away as I can if I must speak, and be polite to everyone no matter how much I feel like putting a spear into them,” I recite. Those weren’t exactly Nicholas’ words, and he gives me an amused look at my creative interpretation, but he doesn’t correct me.

  “Precisely.” He sighs and a flash of concern passes across his face. “It’s a pity you don’t have your manservant with you. He could have stood next to Sarran and passed you messages about the different people you will be interacting with – we just haven’t had enough time to pass you all the information which you’ll need to have in order to properly interact with other nobles,” he frets. I suddenly have an idea.

  “Loran might not be here, but I have other Bound with me,” I point out. “Perhaps Sirocco can sit on Sarran’s shoulder, or Bastet can sit next to him, and they could be the ones to pass me messages from Sarran.” Then I turn to my companions. If that’s alright with you, that is.

  Of course, Bastet answer promptly. If I can help, I will.

  Sirocco also indicates her willingness, if discomfort with the idea.

  Why don’t I come? Lathani offers. I can even communicate with the human if you need me to pass a message back. Honestly, she has a point, though I’m not sure that a horse-sized nunda will go down well in the royal dining hall. Nicholas eyes my Bound with some hesitation.

  “It is a good idea but animals are not permitted to enter the dining hall. It is one reason why I prefer to keep many of my Bonded on my skin as tattoos – that way they are not excluded and can aid me if it becomes necessary. Not that it ever has, but one must always be prepared.” Especially in this viper’s den, I’d bet.

  It’s a pity that my idea won’t work…but maybe there’s a variation on it that would work better. Honestly, given how little time we had to prepare me for this and how out of my depth I’ve felt in all my interactions with nobles so far, I’d rather not repeat the experiences if there are other options.

  “I know you said that Dominate is heavily regulated by law, but what about Tame?” I ask Nicholas a little cautiously. He narrows his eyes at me.

  “On humans?” I nod. “It doesn’t usually happen. Anything Tame can do, a contract can do just as well and it’s more admissible in court if the other party doesn’t hold up their end of the agreement. Generally we only use Tame with animals.”

  “So there isn’t actually any law forbidding us from using Tame on a human?” I press.

  “No,” Nicholas answers slowly. “What are you considering?”

  “Well, I was thinking that a temporary Tame Bond might solve this issue since then I’d be able to receive the messages directly. I don’t want to misstep again,” I admit honestly.

  “You are capable of communicating mentally with your Tame Bonds?” Nicholas asks in slight surprise. I nod again. “That doesn’t always happen,” he muses, falling into silence for a moment. Then he nods decisively. “It is a workable idea. You will make the Tame Bond with me.”

  “What?” I exclaim in surprise, another voice overlapping my own in an odd double-tone. I glance over at Sarran at the same moment as he looks at me. We meet eyes briefly before Sarran continues speaking.

  “Nicholas, you would form a Bond with…with your heir?”

  Nicholas gives a graceful shrug with one hand.

  “Why not? A Tame Bond is minor enough. It is better that he receives the information from the horse’s mouth, is it not?”

  “Agreed, but you’ll be busy. Let me form the Bond – you know that I know almost as much as you do about the nobles Markus will come into contact with.”

  Nicholas gives a thin-lipped smile.

  “There is a simple solution to this – Markus will form a temporary Tame Bond with both of us. Then, if I am too busy to instruct him, you can take over.”

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  Sarran glowers – I can tell he’s not happy with the idea – but he doesn’t argue further.

  “As you wish, my lord,” he murmurs after a moment.

  “Good. Let us do it quickly – we must leave.”

  The Tame Bonds I form with Nicholas and Sarran are likely the quickest I’ve ever made. All I put in my side of the agreement is that I would like advice in dealing with the nobles and that the Bond will last only until we return to the rooms. Nicholas and Sarran both agree to that and that alone, and then it’s done. Two more Bonds slot into place – both more sealed off than even Sirocco’s was at the beginning.

  Knowing that Nicholas is in a hurry, I quickly turn to my Bound to say farewell to them. I don’t want to leave them, and they feel the same in reverse. None of us feel safe here – the day’s events have made it clear we still don’t know how to play by this world’s rules. Consequently, I feel as adrift as I did when I first arrived in the other world and had to learn to deal with my life being in danger every minute.

  But they can’t come with me, even if Lathani is hopeful that she could sneak in anyway.

  I could hide in the shadows! No one would even know I’m there, she argues.

  And what if the shadows aren’t thick enough? Or there’s another shadow-mage there? Or someone moves a light and the shadow thins – and you pop out and startle half the room? She subsides with an irritated growl. Look, I want you all to be there, but it will just cause more problems, and I think we’ve, I’ve, caused enough of those today. She growls again, but this time it’s grumpily – she’s accepted that I have a point.

  Be safe, Bastet warns me earnestly. And if you need us, call. We will be there.

  I know you will, I tell her warmly, stroking her head and behind her ears. Fenrir presses against my leg and hisses.

  We come, he agrees with Bastet. Sirocco doesn’t speak, but she sends a fierce sense of agreement with the other two.

  Ninja has been silent, but as I draw away from Bastet she lunges and sets her teeth around my wrist. I look at her in surprise, but not in pain – she’s being very careful to not to grip so tightly that it hurts me, though if I pull away, I suspect my clothes won’t be able to say the same. My surprise is more because she’s initiated contact – I think this might have been the first time since Storm was killed.

  When I meet her eyes, a sense of grief, loss, and fear surges along the Bond towards me – I almost rock back at the intensity of the emotion.

  “Oh Ninja,” I murmur, then crouch before her. She releases my wrist and I use both hands to scratch at her head and neck. Previously skittish at physical contact, she seems to have suddenly decided that she can’t get enough of it and presses forwards so I’m giving her a hug. I’ll be back, I promise, I tell her. She growls in my ear, disbelief flowing through the Bond. Perhaps she’s trying to tell me that there’s no way I can be sure of that. Well, no, I agree, but given how much trouble I almost got into earlier for using physical force against someone, I doubt that a formal dinner will end in violence. I might come back with my ego ripped to shreds, but I’ll be back at least, I try to joke gently.

  Ninja presses even more forcefully against my shoulder for one more moment and then she pulls away almost violently, disappearing into the room. I stare at the open door for a long moment before Bastet nudges my hip.

  You must go. I look over at Nicholas and see his impatient expression. She’s right.

  Take care everyone, I tell them, turning away reluctantly. But before we leave the wing completely, I send a wave of affection at Ninja, trying to wrap her in a mental hug even if she’s pulled away from the physical one.

  Still, as I step through the carven doorway that separates Titanbend’s territory from the rest of the palace, I allow myself a flicker of hope – maybe Ninja’s finally starting to emerge from the grief she’s been sunk in since Storm’s death.

  Your Bonds are very undisciplined, Nicholas says as we walk through the corridors. It takes me far too long to realise that he’s spoken mentally – the lack of echo to the words is my only clue. Normally mental speech carries with it at least some emotion, but Nicholas’ words have none. So much emotion flowing between you. No wonder you’ve been reacting so strongly to everything. And while I’m impressed that you’ve somehow managed to enable all your Bonded to communicate with each other, it only exacerbates the problem.

  He doesn’t sound impressed; he sounds disapproving.

  I like knowing how my companions are feeling, and if I can sense their emotions, they deserve to be able to sense mine, I argue with a bit of heat.

  Nicholas glances briefly at me and then projects a pointed sense of distaste, as if he’s trying to demonstrate how to do it in an intentional way.

  How do you expect to be able to control your own emotions if you are constantly awash with those of your Bonded? If you all feel something strongly, you will intensify and enhance that emotion, driving it far past reasonable levels. If it is confidence, you will become over-confident; anger will become rage; sadness will become despair.

  My thoughts slide inevitably to the moment we knew that Storm was beyond saving. My rage that day and my sorrow…. I would have felt them anyway, but I know that I felt them more strongly because Bastet, Ninja, and Lathani all felt similar emotions. It created a feedback loop that left me unable to think straight. And the emotions spilled out over all the Bonds until someone – I don’t even remember who – was able to shout loudly enough for me to hear and told me to close the Bonds.

  So perhaps Nicholas has a point. But I’m not going to stop sharing my emotions, or stop feeling those of my companions. I’ve got used to knowing exactly how everyone feels – I don’t want to return to having to guess how those I care about are doing. And guessing wrong enough times that they grow tired of even trying to communicate. But perhaps I can be more aware of when uncontrolled emotions are washing over my Bonds.

  Thank you for the advice, I tell Nicholas politely, doing my best to keep my words clean of emotion, much as he’s told me to try to keep my face clear of expression.

  Better, he answers with a small flash of approval. Since we now have this link, I’ll use it – I might as well pass as much information through it as I can before we reach the dining hall. I can’t believe that I never considered a Tame Bond for information purposes before, he exclaims, but quietly as if I wasn't necessarily intended to hear the last bit. I can’t believe it either, but I suppose that if he got used to thinking that Tame should be for animals alone, then it’s hard to break the thought patterns of a lifetime.

  Of course, as my head starts to ache under the barrage of information – Sarran jumping in whenever Nicholas misses a detail – I begin to regret ever suggesting the Bond in the first place. Maybe being thrown in at the deep end wouldn’t have been so bad after all….

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