Needless to say, I went back to Covern House. I was exhausted, not from the duel, but from the healing. I wasn’t really up to attending the dinner anyway. When I got back to my house, I asked Gabriel to get me a quick meal. He went in search of Chef. I made my way to my private office, where I slumped in a chair. I had picked up a very nice desk with a few very comfortable chairs. One of which I was sitting in now. The chair was too comfortable because I was fast asleep before Gabriel returned with my food.

  I awoke in my chair the following morning, expecting to feel tight and very sore muscles, but felt fully refreshed instead. Score one for Regeneration.

  I read my notifications from last night. Some of my skills increased. Combat and Sword are both at six now. Slow-Time is at three, and Heaven’s Heal went up to eight. Pretty significant gains. At least I gained something from last night. Which by the way was a clusterfuck. The Healer’s guild tried to have me killed last night. WTF. How messed up is that! I was getting angry just thinking about it.

  Enough of wallowing. I got up and made my way to the kitchen while trying to determine my next move. Chef saw me come in and asked what she could do for me.

  “I would like breakfast please. Something quick. I missed dinner last night and am famished.” I said smiling to her.

  “I will fry up a nice omelet and tubers. It shouldn’t take long. I will have it brought up immediately.” FYI, tubers aka potatoes.

  “That sounds great, thank you.” I turned and slowly made my way to the dining room.

  Gabriel caught up to me halfway to the dining room. He handed me a small stack of letters, “These arrived last night and this morning.”

  Most of the letters were invitations to diners and parties. However, there were a few that needed immediate attention. First, the Earl requested (demanded?) my attendance at 10 am, no reasoning given. The Church of Kronozo gave an open-ended invitation for a visit. Baron Viktor from last night, sent a request for a healing appointment. He would provide a carriage if I informed him of the appointment time. The rest, I would let my secretary/office manager deal with.

  Breakfast arrived just as I was setting the last letter aside. Chef was truly a miraculous find. I devoured the meal as it was heavenly and I was very hungry. Gabriel came is as I was finishing up and let me know that Ruberm was waiting in the reception area. I greeted Ruberm friendly enough. Officially, the Earl had sent him to ensure I was going to be on time. Unofficially, Ruberm was to get me up to speed on the consequences of last night. We exchanged morning pleasantries in front of the staff and then made our way to his carriage, which was parked out front.

  When we sat down, Ruberm changed demeanor and started informing me of last night’s fallout. Jasper’s outburst during our duel, let everyone know that the Healer’s guild was behind his actions. Whether they wanted to kill me or just humiliate me was unknown, but there was no doubt they were the cause.

  Apparently, the Healer’s guild leadership was unhappy with my healing of the Earl. Viscount Corville wanted to express his gratitude for not killing his son, even though he was disappointed about his lack of a second hand. The Earl is outraged because of the disrespect shown by the Healer’s guild instigating an attack of one of his guests. In today’s meeting, the Earl will be arbitrating the price the Viscount would be paying for sparing his son. The Viscount agreement to “anything” was heard by all. However, since the Viscount and the Earl worked well together, the Earl didn’t want the Viscount bankrupted. The Viscount was powerful, and Ruberm suggested not to antagonize him with demanding too much. Now, the Viscount had a large amount of land outside the city, including several country homes. It wouldn’t be amiss if I insisted one as payment. Rose Flower manor, to be precise. It was situated on a river with a lovely view of the Cakatan mountains and the Viscount never went there. It also contained a large orchard of Murken fruit trees, that would provide a nice income. This was the unofficial reason for Ruberm retrieving me. To provide guidance on what I could reasonably get from Viscount Corville. Rose Manor was a lot. A lot more than I thought, but he did say ‘anything’.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  When we arrived at the Earl’s office, I was led to a room that reminded me of an Earth conference room. There was a table with 12 chairs around it, so I sat in one in the middle, and I waited. And waited. And waited. After about an hour, an attendant came in and said the Earl will be coming shortly. Was there anything I wanted? I answered no, and off he went. A short time later the Earl showed up. I stood as he entered the room and he waved me to sit. With him were the Viscount, Ruberm, and what appeared to be an old man. The old man wearing a very fine version of the Healer’s cloak and I immediately associated him with their guild. What was the Healers Guild doing here, I wondered. Ruberm sat next to me, and the others on the other side of the table.

  The Earl wasted no time in getting started, “We are here to address the fallout from last night’s fiasco. Jaster’s unjustified challenge to Trevor was a travesty. His being used by the Healer’s guild is no justification. Today we will settle this matter with just and reasonable compensation. At the end of this meeting, I expect everyone.” The Earl looked sternly at each one of us, “Everyone to put aside any animosity and any thoughts of retribution. Now, Justinian, you offered anything for your son to be spared. Everyone heard it, so there is no denying it. However, because of your importance to Renovolt, I cannot afford your being bankrupt, so I will ask that Trevor not require everything you own.” Once again, the Earl stared at me as he spoke his last line. Justinian looked somewhat hopeful at the Earl ’s remarks. “Justinian, what do you offer in way of recompense?”

  “My lord, I would ask Trevor what type of compensation is he looking for, gold, properties, artifacts, magical tomes, slaves?”

  Ruberm grabbed my arm under the table, stopping my reply. “You need to speak thru the Earl, just as the Viscount did. Ask about him to expound on the properties, artifacts and tomes. Slavery is illegal in Decharte.” He whispered. This was very clever because it prevented the opponents from arguing with each other. Since both had to go through the Earl, neither would tend to be argumentative, since getting on the Earl ’s bad side could result in the Earl favoring the other party.

  I thought for a bit and said “My Lord Earl,” I used Earl rather than just My Lord to prevent any misunderstanding to whom I was referring, “I would ask the Viscount to tell me more about the properties, artifacts and tomes he would relinquish. I have no interest in gold, and I find slavery abhorrent. Nor do I have any interest in the Viscount stepping down, or giving up his title. I hold no animosity for him or most of his family.”

  The Viscount seemed relieved at my statement. He pulled out a sheaf of paper and handed it to the Earl, “Here is a list of Items Trevor may be interested in.”

  The Earl passed the paper to me. I scanned the list, found the country house Rose Flower was actually on it, and said “My Lord Earl, for sparing Jaster of House Corville’s life, I would request the Viscount transfer the residence of Rose Flower and its Murken fruit orchards to me. The cost of my Heaven’s Healing him would be an additional, but not too burdensome, cost. As I understand it, I left Jaster in stable but fragile condition. With his ribs broken, he will be bedridden for some time. For Aram’s defense, I will forego the existing charges for healing him, and will heal his broken bones.” Aram’s defense was a broach that provided an automatic 360-degree barrier against ranged attacks. It worked against mundane and magic attacks.

  The Earl looked at Justinian awaiting a reply.

  “Earl, that is a generous offer, and I admit to his request for payment in the healing of my son is justified, but I would ask if Trevor can also replace his hand, as he did for his right hand. If so, I would gladly hand over the broach.”

  Okay, so not a one-sided discussion as I thought it might be. Still, the counter offer was not too strenuous on me. The Earl turned his gaze to me. “My Lord Earl, I have not tried to heal an already healed wound, so I do not know if I can replace his hand, without cutting his arm off. But I am willing to give it my best effort.”

  A nod from Viscount Justinian seemed to settle the matter. The Earl summed it up, “For sparing Jaster’s life, the Viscount Corville will hand over the Rose Flower manor and its Murken fruit fields. Viscount Corville will also hand over Aram’s defense to Trevor to pay for the healing on Jaster after the duel, and for Trevor’s healing his broken bones, and his best effort in healing Jaster’s left hand. House Tierre and House Corville will agree to have no animosity toward each other because of the incident and the recompense agreed upon. Do both parties agree.” Of course we did. Justinian got to keep his title, his son would be healed, and he was back in the good graces of the Earl. I got another house and a defense artifact that I believed I would sorely need in the future. Hell, I would have done everything for just the broach.

  Ruberm signaled that I should stand up with the Earl and the Viscount. We stood as one and the Viscount raised his hand and extended it across the table. I also extended my hand and we shook to our agreement. The Viscount then shook the Earl’s hand. I did the same with a nod and a slight bow to both the Earl and Viscount. The Earl and Viscount seemed pleased with my sign of respect. The deal was done, so the Earl, Viscount and I sat down.