Things had calmed down at the estate by the time Verdan returned, but he supposed it had been hours since he had left. A lot had happened in that time though, enough that the first thing he did was find Natalia for her advice.

  Somewhat unsurprisingly, she was in her alchemy lab working on her new potions, and was far too caught up in what she was doing to notice him. Taking a seat somewhere out of the way, Verdan leaned against the wall and just watched her work for a little while.

  It was only when she turned to grab a small box full of dried herbs that she saw him and immediately turned away from her work with a broad smile. “You’re back!”

  “I’ve been here for a good fifteen minutes, actually,” Verdan said with a teasing smile as he got up and embraced her. “How’s this morning been?”

  Natalia’s smile dimmed slightly and she pulled back enough to look him in the eye. “Things have been strained, and Nikau has been working hard on organising new protective measures. He asked me about emergency potions for the guards, and I said I’d make them a full set. It won’t change anything like what happened last night, but hopefully they’ll make a difference.”

  “Sometimes having a potion on hand is quite literally the difference between life and death,” Verdan said firmly. “Don’t undervalue your work.”

  “I know, I just wish that I could do more.” Natalia stepped back and gestured to the bench she’d been working at. “I’ve made some progress with my new recipes, and I got a delivery not long after you left. Now that I’ve got the reagents I need, I should be able to make enough Dryd now to make testers for all of the potential potions.”

  “That’s great news!” Verdan felt some of his worries slip away as they began to discuss what she was making and what reagents would best create the Dryd she needed.

  -**-

  Maeve arrived later that evening to let them know that Ciaran would be leaving in the morning. He’d considered delaying to give Verdan more time to prepare, but time was of the essence.

  Anyone could have brought that message, so it seemed strange that Maeve had come herself, until the Chosen began giving Verdan a full report. The Wizard had anticipated having to spend most of the next day catching up on what was happening with the Thrain clansfolk. Instead, he got a concise verbal report from Maeve that was surprisingly in depth and detailed, to the point that Verdan had to ask him to stop while he got paper to make notes.

  It wasn’t that any one thing was especially complicated, but there were quite a few Kranjir and all of them were working hard. None of it was necessarily going to involve Verdan, but he should be aware, just in case. To Verdan’s mind, the more preparation they did now, the better he could deal with anything that went wrong.

  Eventually, Maeve left, Magnus taking it on himself to escort her back.

  Stowing away the notes he’d made, Verdan found himself walking the perimeter of the estate as night drew in. His wards were still as strong as ever, but were all tailored to hostile magic rather than intruders.

  He didn’t really have a way to fix that right now, and that left a sour taste in his mouth. Nikau had his people ready for anything that could happen, but there was a limit to what they could do. More defences would need more space or a way to fortify the estate, which Verdan wasn’t keen on.

  It didn’t feel like a good idea to isolate themselves from the city, not with the rising tensions.

  Heavy footsteps approached from the side, and Verdan turned with a frown to see Rocky looming over him. The big construct came to a stop and seemed to survey the section of wall that Verdan had been looking over, its weapon at the ready.

  “Rocky?” Verdan asked aloud before sighing and realising that the question was pointless. It wasn’t like the construct could respond to him. To his amazement though, Rocky turned to look at him before lowering his sword.

  “What?” Verdan stared in frank disbelief at Rocky, waiting to see if it would do anything else without being prompted. After a few moments, though, it was clear that the construct was simply waiting for orders.

  Focusing on the tether of Aether between them, Verdan studied the spell that formed the core of what made Rocky. It was all intact and there were no issues that he could see. If anything, it was the opposite. The spell had always filled the construct, but it looked even more complex than before.

  Frowning, Verdan stepped right up to Rocky and rested a hand on the ceramic armour of the construct to allow him better access. Working through all of it, Verdan tested the different parts of the spell and found it all to be working as intended.

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  As best he could tell, the change had come from Rocky standing idle for an extended period of time. That, combined with the constant Aether generation of his Sigils, had filled the reserves of the big construct. With nothing else to be used for, the Aether had seemingly allowed Verdan’s spell to somehow join with the Rocky in a more intrinsic way.

  Something about what was happening felt vaguely familiar, but it had been a long time since Verdan had read about the fundamental principles of Aether constructs. Just a handful of his reference texts would be able to help him clear up what was happening, but he might as well wish for a group of trained Wizards to help him.

  Yawning, Verdan mentally sent Rocky back to his corner and reaffirmed his order for the construct to defend the estate. Whatever was happening to Rocky wasn’t a problem right now, and he was fairly sure that the bond had let the construct sense his anxiety, which was why it had approached.

  Regardless, he didn’t have the energy left to deal with this right now.

  Giving the estate a last look over, Verdan went to bed, hoping that he wouldn’t be woken up by another intruder.

  -**-

  Thankfully, Verdan was able to get a full night’s sleep, but was up early to see Ciaran and the others off. At least, he tried to. By the time Verdan got there, they were already gone.

  “They left just before first light,” Dirk said, having spotted Verdan and come over to speak to him. “Ciaran wanted to get as much travelling done today as possible.”

  “That does make sense,” Verdan said with a reluctant nod. “I suppose I just wanted to see them off.”

  “Yeah.” Dirk fell silent for a moment before grimacing. “We decided against a diversionary attack now that the civilians weren’t involved, but I hate being left behind like this.”

  “You’d better get used to it,” Verdan said, clapping his Apprentice on the shoulder. “We’ve been lucky to have them here for this long, and with things taking a slight lull, everyone else will be doing the same.”

  “Like Kai and Gwen.” Dirk turned to look at Verdan. “Did you feel like this for them?”

  “I did. I still do.” Verdan felt some of his worry show through and schooled his expression once more. “I know they’ll be okay, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “Verdan!” Sinead called out as she headed their way, a handful of people behind her. “These are the leaders of the Thrain clansfolk. With the shieldguards gone with Ciaran, they are here to discuss protection for their efforts.”

  “I see.” Verdan sent a message to Nikau and Bastian, telling the former to prepare a meeting room and asking the other to join them. “Let us adjourn to my estate and plan out how things will be.”

  The Thrain Kranjir nodded, following his lead without question. Nodding to Sinead and Dirk, Verdan turned and started back to his estate. He’d made the oath, and now it was time to work at keeping it.

  -**-

  The day slipped by in a series of meetings and discussions, most of which covered things that Maeve had already prepared him for. Thankfully, that prior knowledge let Verdan make more of an informed decision once he had all that he needed.

  The problem then was what to do. Ciaran had set the Thrain shieldguards to patrol the northern woods, hunting monsters and keeping the peace. Under their aegis, lumberjacks, hunters and gatherers had been able to range further than normal.

  Now, that protection was gone, and with it went a dozen other small benefits that Ciaran had either overseen himself or had his people maintain. Benefits that Verdan could replace, but only by relying on Bastian.

  He understood better now what Ciaran had been telling him. He had a relatively small group of people who worked for him directly. Whilst the power that he could bring to any of these individual issues was overwhelming, that wouldn’t help with the rest.

  Still, by drawing on Bastian’s people, patrols were arranged, both in the city and in the woods. The other minor tasks were dealt out between him and Nikau, with a few saved for Magnus and Ruan.

  Once they were finally done, Verdan sent the Kranjir back on their way and retreated to the workshop. He wanted to check in on the Aether storage crystals he’d made and make sure they were working as expected. If so, then he’d make a few more.

  Verdan had barely had chance to get there, however, when Ruan caught up with him.

  “Apologies, Boss.” The grizzled guard turned estate manager looked sheepish as he gestured back towards the entrance. “You’ve got another visitor.”

  Verdan looked longingly at the room with the crystals before turning and motioning for Ruan to lead the way. No doubt it was another of the Thrain Kranjir with a matter for him to adjudicate or take care of.

  Heading back out of the workshop, Verdan was surprised to see that it wasn’t a Kranjir at all, but Brent, Tobias’s bodyguard.

  The tall, dour man was standing stiffly at the gates, his brow furrowed and in the middle of a staring match with Nikau.

  “Brent!” Verdan called out, breaking that particular issue up before it could begin. “What can I do for you?”

  “Wizard Blacke.” Brent turned and nodded formally. “I apologise for dropping by so suddenly. My wife has asked me to extend a dinner invitation to you and Natalia. It has been a while since we saw her, and now that she is more comfortable around the city, we hoped you’d both join us.”

  Verdan stared at the impassive, slightly judgemental expression on the other man’s face before nodding slowly. “I’m sure we could manage that. When did you have in mind?”

  “Tomorrow night?” Brent paused before continuing gruffly. “Natalia knows the way.”

  Verdan forced a smile. “That sounds perfect. We’ll see you then.”

  Brent nodded before turning on his heel and walking away stiffly. Brent had been injured in the fighting when the Cyth attacked, and was clearly still struggling. As much as Brent didn’t seem to approve of him, Verdan had no wish to see the man struggle, he’d see about healing it during dinner.

  “What in the abyss was that all about?” Nikau asked quietly.

  “You’d know more than me, I think,” Verdan said, turning to the Captain of his guards with an arched brow. “What was that staring contest?”

  “An old rivalry,” Nikau said, making a brushing off motion. “Nothing of substance.”

  “Make sure it stays that way.” Verdan gave Nikau a firm look before turning and heading back towards the workshop. The crystals would have to wait; he needed to see what Natalia thought about going out to dinner.