System Change

“So…” King Edward said from atop his throne. Derek turned away from Edgar and looked at the man. “Would you mind sharing exactly what happened? You said you paid a visit to them just to threaten them? Would you please explain? Is this something that is going to have consequences for Cydaria?”

“Well,” Derek started. He didn’t mind explaining things in a bit more detail to the king. He knew that Edward was just trying to do his best to protect his people. “As you know, I’ve made Bones and Ogre servants for my shop and such. They are former assassins from the guild and were very worried that the guild still has it out for them. So, I had to go and make sure that wasn’t true anymore. And… it isn’t now.”

“And that’s it?” Edward asked.

“Well, there was the part about Vanessa,” Derek said as he looked at the Shadow Witch. He then explained in detail pretty much everything that happened from start to finish. “And that’s pretty much it.”

“That’s it?” Edward asked rhetorically. His eyes were wide, and Derek was pretty sure if his mouth opened any wider, it would fall off. “I… I can’t believe you did that.”

“Again, brother…” Edgar said from the side. “This is Derek. Why are you surprised? I’m still jealous that he took Vanessa along and not me…” the prince clicked his tongue.

“Wait!” Derek said after realizing something. He looked at Edgar. “You’re not a prince anymore, are you?”

“Uh… I guess not,” Edgar said. “I haven’t thought much about it, but I guess I’m technically a duke now.”

“Duke Edgar…” Derek muttered. “I liked Prince Edgar better. Had a nicer ring to it.”

“Nothing I can do about it.” Edgar shrugged.“Can we please get back to Derek trying to intimidate the Assassin’s Guild and it actually working?” King Edward asked.

“Sure,” Derek said. “But there isn’t much else to it.”

“I know, but there’s something else,” Edward said.

“What?” Derek asked.

“Vanessa, will you please step forward?” Edward asked, and the Shadow Witch did so. “Is it as he said? You no longer have any oaths or contracts, or any real ties to the Assassin’s Guild?”

“No, I don’t,” Vanessa said. “Well, to be completely honest, there are a few people inside the guild that I would consider friends, but other than those few, I have none. As you heard, my uncle is one of the four Guild Leaders, but there is no love lost between the two of us.”

“I see…” Edward muttered. “In that case… Vanessa Hodges, as King of Cydaria and holder of your oaths, I release you from all but the single oath that you, to your best ability, do no harm to the Kingdom of Cydaria.” After that, Edward took multiple contracts out of his storage ring and ripped them up right in front of everyone.

“K-king Edward…” Vanessa muttered with wide eyes. It wasn’t often that people other than Derek did something to surprise the woman, but it seemed like what the king had just done was more surprising to her than anything else. “Why did you do that? Are you sure?”

“I am sure,” Edward said. “According to my brother and Mr. Swan, who I met with recently, you played quite the role in subduing the Raid Dungeon with everyone else. On top of that, you have protected my sister better than I ever could have imagined. She does not even know of the attempts on her life by Astrus once Derek joined in and caused them to panic, nor about the ones that happened shortly after the war ended.”

“Attempts… on my life?” Eloise asked from the side. She was shocked.

“But… after everything I did to you,” Vanessa said.

“You were contracted to do, and yet you never once tried to end my life,” Edward said. “Instead, you were adamant about not doing so, if I recall.”

“No… but your guard…” Vanessa said.

“It is true that you halted them with your shadows, but it was not you who killed them,” Edward said. “In fact, you didn’t do much damage to them at all. It was that vine user and Cliff Aarden who killed them, and we all know how that worked out for those two.”

“It… wasn’t part of the contract,” Vanessa said.

“That may be so,” Edward said. “But it also wasn’t in the contract that you couldn’t kill me, was it?”

“Well… no,” Vanessa replied.

“In my eyes, as King of Cydaria, you have proven yourself to me. Yes, I know that most wouldn’t set someone like you free, but I have been watching you. You’re not evil… not at all,” Edward said. “Also, with the amount of oaths and contracts we had you under, it was beginning to feel like you were a slave, and I don’t like that. Not to mention, I have way too many oaths and contracts with others now. It is nice to be rid of a few.”

“That’s it?” Vanessa asked.

“That’s it,” Edward said. “You are free to do as you wish. The only oath left is the one keeping you from doing harm to Cydaria, and it isn’t that stringent of an oath. Why? What is it that you wish to do?”

“I… I think I would like to continue working for the kingdom,” Vanessa said.

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“Really?” This time, it was Edward’s turn to be surprised.

“Yes,” Vanessa said. “But… I don’t want to be a babysitter any longer.” She looked over at Eloise and said, “No offense… duchess.”

“None taken,” Eloise said.

“If not that, then what?” Edward asked. “Wait… I have the perfect position for you if you would like it. However, and I hate saying this, if you choose to accept it, it will require re-swearing a certain oath.”

“What position is that?”

“It would be Gerald Torith’s old position,” Edward said with a smile. “How would you like to be the King’s Adviser? After everything that happened with Gerald, I refuse to allow someone in that position without the proper precautions, but it is open, and it is yours if you want it.”

“What about Adviser Musgrave?” Vanessa asked as she turned her gaze to the old man standing close to Edward.

“There were two adviser positions before, there can be two again,” Edward said. “However, I believe that Phillip has been working his courage up to ask me to release him from his duties.” He turned to his adviser. “Or am I mistaken?”

“You…” Phillip started. “No, Your Majesty, you are not mistaken,” the adviser said. “I have been in this position far too long. I would like to move back home and have a hand in raising my children and their children. I have learned much from my time beside your father, and I would like to implement it all in the running of my Noble House. That is, if you would allow me to do so.”

“Of course I will,” Edward said, then turned back to Vanessa. “So, what do you say? Would you like to be my adviser, and Head of Information Gathering?”

“Information Gathering…” Vanessa muttered, then smiled the brightest smile that Derek had ever seen the shadow user smile. It wasn’t the same look of appreciation that she had given Derek, but it was more of a look that someone would get when they finally figured out what they wanted to do with their life. “It seems that all my training in the Assassin’s Guild will not go to waste.”

“So, you accept?” Edward asked.

“Yes, I will accept your offer,” Vanessa said with a bow. “Your Majesty.”

“Oh, none of that…” Edward waved the woman off with his remaining hand. “We will do the ceremony later,” he said. “Phillip…”

“Yes, my king,” the adviser said.

“I would trouble you to be my adviser for at least one more month,” Edward said. “I would like you to take Vanessa in and show her around… train her, if you will. Though I suspect that she will catch on rather quickly.”

“Of course,” Phillip said. “I will do my best. And you must know, it has been my honor serving both you and your father. And it was a privilege watching you and your siblings grow into who you all have become today.”

“Aw, shucks,” Derek said from the side and mock wiped away tears from his eyes. “You are going to make me cry.” He was slightly surprised that Edward had released Vanessa from her oaths, but he wasn’t shocked. It wasn’t even surprising to Derek that the man had offered her the position that he did. In fact, as soon as Edward freed Vanessa from her oaths, it had crossed his mind to offer her something similar. She would have made a great spy and information gatherer for him. You win some, you lose some, he thought. He just didn’t act fast enough.

“Way to ruin the moment,” Edgar said from the side with a snort.

“My bad,” Derek replied. “Well, since it seems like you all have a bunch of stuff to sort out, I’ll take it as my cue to get out of here. Vanessa, thanks for the introduction.”

Vanessa turned and looked at Derek. She had been all smiles before, but when her eyes met his, her face went serious. “Let me know what you decide to do about Maven.”

“That wasn’t sinister at all,” Edgar said before Derek could reply.

“It is, and it isn’t,” Derek replied to the former prince, now duke. “It’s something I’m going to have to think about.”

“Well, once you decide to take care of your problem,” Edgar said. “How about taking me with you this time?”

“You really are bored here in the palace, aren’t you?” Derek asked.

Edgar moved closer to Derek and threw his arm around his neck. “You do not know the half of it. Who knew that my brother becoming king would make my life so… dull?”

“I could have guessed,” Derek said. “It’s your fault for showing everyone how useful you really are.”

“It is… isn’t it?” Edgar clicked his tongue. “The horrors of being strong.”

“I feel you,” Derek said before looking around, then said, “I’m out of here. Vanessa, I’ll let you know when and if the time comes.”

The woman nodded. Then Derek forcefully removed Edgar’s arm from around him and left the palace through Void Travel. Moments later, he found himself back in his ‘traveling’ room. He had a lot on his mind, and he needed help to make the decision, so he headed upstairs to find Malorie.

“It’s not that hard of a decision, is it?” Malorie asked after he told her about his current predicament with the Assassin’s Guild.

“It’s not?” Derek asked.

“No, not at all,” Malorie said. “He threatened Brandi, so he dies. It’s as simple as that.”

“Oh…” Derek replied. Maybe she wasn’t the best person to bring the problem to. “What happens if the Assassin’s Guild decides to take everyone off their Black Ledger because of it? That’s my main concern. Everyone but Maven has been pretty reasonable, but if I kill one of their leaders…”

“If they do that, then you cut through them until the guild doesn’t exist anymore, or until they place her… us all back on that ledger,” Malorie said. “Isn’t that the threat you went to them with, anyway?”

“It is…” Derek said. “It’s just that this… premeditated killing thing makes me feel a bit… icky. There’s not a war going on, it’s not in the heat of the moment, he’s not some vile criminal already sentenced to death—at least, as far as I know… I actually don’t have any clue what ‘bad’ things he’s done—it’s… planned.”

“That’s your fault,” Malorie said. “You should have done it as soon as he made the threat. Then it would have been in the heat of the moment and you wouldn’t have felt ‘icky.’ Besides, did he not bring everything that’s coming to him on himself? You don’t even have to do it. The way I look at it, all you have to do is get that Shadow Witch next to him, and she’ll handle the problem. At worst, it’s premeditated… assisted killing.”

“Fine…” Derek said with a chuckle. “I’m convinced. It’s not like he’s a good guy or anything. He is an assassin, after all. I guess him getting assassinated by his own niece would be kind of ironic. And she has every reason to do it, too. I’ll just look at it as helping a friend.” He sighed. “Thanks for the help.”

“I’m glad I could be of use,” Malorie said. “Now, get out of here and let me finish my work.” She stood from her desk and pushed Derek until he was out of her office, then she closed the door.

“How rude,” he chuckled, then walked away. Derek finally had a decision. He knew what he was going to do, he just needed to figure out when. After that, I can take Edgar and Avery on that hunting trip. I have to get Edgar out of that place before he does something stupid. With most things settled, Derek wasn’t in any immediate hurry to do anything. He could finally take his time and do the things he’d been planning to do for a while. Things like taking his friends Void Beast hunting and visiting the Kingdom of the Dwarves—all the fun things he’d plan to do, but wasn’t able to because of raids, wars, and… farewells.

Eventually, Derek found his way into the building’s sitting room and kicked back in his chair. After all, he wanted to wait until the Guild Leader was away from the other leaders and not still in a meeting. And he wanted to wait until he was sure that Bones and Ogre were free of their oaths and contracts.

Since Maven was the head of the Cydaria branch, he was the one who held the oaths, and he didn’t know what would happen to those oaths if he died before dissolving them. Would they default to the guild like mine did with the Adventurer’s Guild? And if they do, will they have to wait until a new leader is chosen before they can be released? If so, then it’s much better to wait. So, the best option for the time being was taking a nice, long nap.