Age of Victoria, page 18
Throwing open the oak door I marched into the dark-toned room and straight up to the Colonel who was standing over a sitting Robert and yelling, his voice far clearer without the thick wood door blocking his diatribe.
“Colonel! Robert did nothing wrong, he was only rescuing me! If-“ I said, the surprise of the interruption only allowing so much to escape before the Colonel responded.
“This doesn’t concern you. Robert disobeyed, he risked everyone's life for the sake of only your own,” the Colonel began while Robert looked up from his bent sitting position. The look Robert directed my way begged me to let the fight continue without my input, but I was going to have to refuse him in this instance.
“No! Listen. It was my fault. I rushed ahead, I pushed forward, and it wasn’t-” I began.
Without waiting for my argument, the Colonel stood and grabbed my upper arm and started to drag me from the room! I was stunned for only the shortest of time, the Colonel had never been so rude as to grab me like that. The sudden change of demeanor was alarming, but I wouldn’t let him direct me from the room. Stopping, I planted my self in a stance used for stability, a stance I had become deeply familiar with over the many hours of combat. The Colonel was brought up short when I went from an easily moved young woman to an unmovable rock. His look of annoyance turned to one of befuddlement when I refused to budge even when he started to press against me.
Using the now routine request for the Colonel’s information told the tale.
The Colonel
Markus Collingwood
Warrior - Lvl 3
This opponent is beneath you.
The Colonel hadn’t leveled in all the time we had been gone! Did he just huddle in the mansion without venturing out at all? Even only a few of the Grass Beetles would have increased his level in short order.
“Have you just been hiding in here the whole time?” I asked in confusion.
I knew the moment I said it that it was a mistake. I didn’t mean to imply that the Colonel was a coward, but it was clear he took it that way. His suddenly flushed red face and then darkening countenance was nearly as bad as Robert’s white-faced pallor as the Colonel gripped me.
“How dare you! You spoiled child! I’ve been defending your father’s property and the people here while you have been galavanting off like a little twit!” he shouted while his facial hair bristled with every word.
His words had Emma and Annie rushing through the partially closed door, a door they had obviously been hiding behind during the short-lived argument.
“And you!” the Colonel said as he noticed Emma, “I will have you thrown out on your ear! You abandoned your post to go…to…go running off after this twit!”
Uncurling from my hunched position I stood tall. I had made mistakes. I had rushed forward, but Emma? Annie? Robert? They had only done what was right. What was brave. It was possible to argue the Colonel had made the right decision to defend the mansion and those living in it, women and children, but to claim that they had made the wrong decision was false.
When Annie moved around Emma’s now flinching form, standing slightly in front of her to defend her, the Colonel’s jaw dropped open in surprise at her maimed arm.
Turning on Robert, the Colonel continued, “Look what you have done! Your fiancée is now scarred for life because of your actions! You should have followed orders!”
That was the last straw. Of everyone, I was the most responsible for Annie’s injury, not Robert. Robert had more than once been the reason we had survived a blow. He had been there each time, a healing spell ready to protect each of us. He had decided to risk the dungeon and rescue me, and he did it knowing the reception he was likely to receive from the Colonel.
No more.
Striding forward I grabbed the Colonel’s towering form, one hand on his jacket overcoat and the other on his belt, and then I lifted. I didn’t have offensive stance enabled, but I didn’t need it to understand the best way to throw the raging blowhard. Ducking my shoulder slightly I pulled the now screaming Colonel into the air and threw him as best I could at the overstuffed furniture.
“Vick!”
“Markus!”
The Colonel bounced off of one of the sitting chairs and landed on the ground, no red numbers raising from his body telling me that he was uninjured, but the look he gave said he was wounded in more than physical form.
“Annie will heal shortly. Robert rescued us. It was my fault, not his. The world has changed! Get used to it!” I shouted before petulantly stomping from the room and leaving silence behind.
Chapter 26
My dramatic exit was ruined halfway down the hallway when I burst into tears and ran upstairs to my room. Owen tried to stop me in the hall to see if I was alright, but I dodged him and continued past. Throwing myself onto my four post bed, I began to cry as I tried to block out the world. I had power, strength, and the capability to demand my point of view be taken seriously, by the Colonel or any other man, but doing so could cost me my relationships just the same. Would Robert hate me for attacking the Colonel? Would the Colonel hate me? I sniffled into my goose down pillows as I thought of how many times as a little girl the Colonel had lifted me over his head and spun me around. As I had grown those lifts had become hugs instead, but he had always been a substitute father figure. His friendship with our father, as well as the Collingwood families traditional association with the Blythe family, had led him to spend almost as much time around the mansion or London home as Robert. The death of Robert’s mother and the Colonel’s perpetual bachelor-hood had him overseeing Robert’s upbringing and by extension, Annie and I.
Mother’s death pushed father into further military postings, an effort to escape his pain as much as the demands of duty. This left me isolated and refusing to conform while Annie decided to take control of London’s social scene. I dreaded the thought of losing yet another parental figure, yet another person I depended on leaving. Was my pride and demand for freedom worth the loss of my friends and family?
“So, you came crawling back. The world is scary out there isn’t it. Dangerous. Frightening.”
Rebecca Northrop was standing in the doorway to my room, her arms crossed while a frightful scowl puckered her lips. Her words should have driven me into further tears, but oddly they didn’t. It might have been that I no longer considered her an authority ever since her thefts had been uncovered. It could have been that if it came to blows, I would be able to defeat anyone in the house, with her likely being only stronger then young Rufus. All of that was in my mind as I turned over on my bed and wiped my tearless eyes, but in truth, it was the sound of her voice and the fear in it, the hunched shoulders and the way her eyes darted around the room as she tried to avoid my gaze.
She was afraid, and she was trying to garner strength from dominating me with words. This world was one in which words would always take second place to action.
Reflexively wiping my eyes again, I slowly stood from my bed, my approach moving Rebecca back a few steps from the door before she squared her shoulders and calmed herself.
“What are you wearing? You look like a streetwalker! Nearly your entire bossom is exposed. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? What would your father think if he saw you now?” she said, her question ending with a sneer.
I was brought up short, but only for a moment. What would father say? Father would say that manners are the glue which holds society together, that we must always act well mannered since a community is fragile. That the loss of society results in a quick descent into barbarism and violence and that it must be avoided at all costs.
But he would also say that barbarism is here and that once society has failed, pragmatism becomes the watchword.
I knew this was what he would say. I could remember every lecture on battle and society he had ever opined. I remembered every long-winded diatribe on hygiene on the battlefield and how it related to societies niceties and etiquette. Father had little-enough he could teach his daughters, fully admitting his failings on raising the fairer sex, but he meant well, and he passed on what stories and knowledge he had. This was a subject he held dear and was clear on. Treasure culture, society, and manners for they are easily lost and what remains is nature; brutal in tooth and nail.
Stepping close to Rebecca, my face inches away from hers, I replied, “I’m wearing the newest fashion trend. It’s survival, and you look underdressed.”
I was so close to Rebecca that I could watch her pupils dilate in fear and her breath accelerate. My satisfaction was short lived as Rebecca turned and rushed from the room; her soft crying still easily discerned as she left. I felt terrible for my outburst and threatening demeanor but not my bullying of the ex-governess. Strangely enough, I felt guilty that I didn’t feel guilty for threatening her. Shaking my head, I sat on the edge of my bed and looked out my windows at the slowly darkening night.
My plans hadn’t changed, and I knew that the others agreed, we had discussed it on the walk home. We would go out and fight and level, if we failed to reach level ten before the time limit, then all our work till now was virtually without a point. Our suffering, pain, and the risks to our lives in the dungeon would be meaningless. I was worried that the Colonel would convince Robert to forgo our outing, the Colonel being a role model and father figure, but he had seemed adamant to push forward, almost more than even I. His glances at Emma spoke his reasoning.
I suspected that if the damage to the world was as bad as I thought, then Robert’s concerns were moot. If his family was mostly dead, a likelihood given that no one had arrived at the mansion, and if London had been exposed to similar waves of monster attacks as we had, then his family fortune was likely gone. As was ours. Refusing to follow the family demand’s of who to marry had little weight when only his uncle remained, and there was no fortune to be excluded from -a poor silver lining to that cloud, but still a real one. Likely Emma and Robert would be able to marry and live out their lives in this mansion with the rest of the household, locked to this zone as the tutorial claimed, and they could live a happy life together for as long as it was possible. But I knew the look in Emma’s eyes, it was the same as mine, and I thought that Robert had seen it as well.
Emma had gained power, the ability to control forces that had for so long been the realm of God alone, and she had gone from a powerless maid to a deadly and destructive force. She may have been less vocal of her demands for power and control than I had been, but her want of control was clear to see. I wasn’t as sure what was driving Annie, but it was likely a similar wish for power and control. Certainly, her enjoyment of her spells was evident if her cackling laugh as she lobbed fireballs was any indication.
My rambling thoughts were brought back to the mansion when a new window appeared in my mind.
Event - Defend the Mansion.
The Blythe mansion has been targeted by the Shan-Dar Goblin Clan. Someone within the estate has given the goblins detailed defensive information. Discover evidence of the traitor and inform the Colonel of the coming assault.
Objectives:
Find evidence of Traitor 0/1.
Inform the Colonel of the coming Assault 1/1.
With an unladylike snort, I realized that the quest had been updated. Robert must have explained to the Colonel about the quest we received while spelunking through the goblin caverns. I could just imagine the Colonel breaking down why the ‘traitor’ couldn’t possibly exist and why the idea was ludicrous at best. My gentle laughter was short-lived however as the quest objectives updated once again.
Event - Defend the Mansion.
The Blythe mansion has been targeted by the Shan-Dar Goblin Clan. Someone within the estate has given the goblins detailed defensive information. Discover evidence of the traitor and inform the Colonel of the coming assault.
Objectives:
Find evidence of Traitor 1/1.
Inform the Colonel of the coming Assault 1/1.
My befuddlement was interupted by the quest awarding experience. This pushed my experience meter to nearly halfway to level ten, but the real concern was the new window that appeared upon completion of the quest.
New Zone Event - Siege of the Mansion!
The Blythe mansion has been targeted by the Shan-Dar Goblin Clan. The goblins are amassing to attack the only near human settlement, the Blythe mansion. Gathering their horde outside their Den the Shan-Dar Goblin Clan prepares to march for war! Survive the goblin horde waves and defeat the Goblin champions and Chief!
Objectives:
Waves survived 0/10.
Champions defeated 0/5.
Chief defeated 0/1.
Time until the horde attacks:
2 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, 43 seconds.
The timer in the window slowly ticked down as I read over the new event description in growing horror. Rising from my bed I rushed from my chamber and to the game room, I had to find out what Robert had done and what we needed to do in order to survive.
Chapter 27
“What’s going-” Rebecca asked as I passed her in the hall.
I never even slowed as I rushed by her, throwing up a bare hand to block her forward movement and reject discussion. Annie and Emma were standing at the end of the hall near the kitchen when I reached the hallway to the game room. Between us, the door to the game room opened and Robert glanced both ways at us then gestured us to join him.
I was brought up short when I entered, seeing the Colonel almost swallowed by one of the cushioned chairs, his head down and held by one hand. Emma and Annie pushed me to enter the game room, my pause in the doorway having blocked their entrance behind me. The Colonel didn’t shift though he had to know we were here. In my mind, the Colonel was a large man, strong, capable, loud, and boisterous, his limp only underlining the image of a man who could walk through withering enemy fire and come out the other side still shouting for action. Now though, my girlhood view was being replaced by the image of the man who sat before me.
The Colonel was tired.
I kept trying to see the Colonel as young, healthy, and boisterous. Sadly, this man had thinning hair, and his waistline had started to expand though he was yet still fit. The tide though was turning, the shape of things to come could be seen in the changing cut of his clothing. Even as he pulled his head from his hand and looked up, straightening to show signs of confidence, I could see that his conviction was a sham. His left hand held his cane in a white-knuckled grip, and his mouth was locked in a stoic granite façade.
“Well, we know who the traitor is now. I should have seen this, it’s unnatural, but the signs were there if we had only known,” The Colonel said while looking to Robert.
Robert frowned before he nodded to the Colonel.
“It was Buttons,” he said with a disgusted look.
Emma asked the question before I could, “The barn cat? What?”
Robert nodded then gestured us to a seat at the nearby card table. Instead of sitting to the side at the table while Robert and the Colonel discussed the situation, I grabbed one of the thickly cushioned chairs and dragged it to the circle of the fireplace and next to the smoking chairs that the pair had been using. Emma followed my lead and then assisted Annie in pulling a chair over for her as well. The Colonel watched our actions with a frown but failed to mention our rude response. I did notice that when the Colonel turned to Robert that our cleric’s face slipped back into a neutral look instead of the slight smile that he had been wearing during our moving of the furniture.
“A while after you left to rescue Victoria, Rufus came to me and asked if he could make one of the horses his pet. I told him no, and that they were the Blythe families animals. I thought nothing more of this. We were dealing with more important issues,” the Colonel said while running a hand through his hair.
Looking around at us as he talked he continued, “Later that night he told me that he had made the barn cat his pet since the animal didn’t belong to anyone.”
“The next day Rufus was upset because the cat rejected him after he had refused to give it food from the house. I ignored his complaints about this. I thought he was acting out because he was not allowed to go outside to play.”
Stomping his cane on the ground Markus stared at Robert for a moment then sighed before explaining, “Later I noticed that the cat was spending a lot of time in the mansion instead of the barn, and it seemed to return each time it was thrown out, but I just figured it was trying to find a safe place. Rufus kept saying the cat was muttering about helping ‘the small people,’ how was I supposed to know that his Beast Tamer Class allowed him to speak with animals. I thought he was just an imaginative child!”
Bowing his head, the Colonel was silent while he stared at the ground.
Robert leaned back before he responded to his uncle, “Sir, you couldn’t have known. The moment we told you of the quest you realized what was going on and the quest updated. We know now, and with this information, we can start taking steps to defend ourselves instead of being attacked without warning.”
The Colonel seemed to take strength from this, straightening in his chair he nodded then looked to Robert again, “Agreed. Very well. We will have to defend the mansion. We will gather furniture, barricade the windows, and leave only the back door from the kitchen as an entry point. This should allow us to funnel the attackers through our defenses and whittle them down! This will let us keep the women and the boy safe upstairs and away from the fighting.”
Throughout the Colonel’s speech, I sat silently waiting for when he would suggest what we could do in defense. I was surprised by his final sentence, but I wasn’t going to allow that idea to stand.
“No,” I said while looking the Colonel directly in the eye.
“Your actions have gotten your sister maimed and risked everyone’s life; you will wait with everyone else and leave this danger to the men. You will not interfere and risk anyone else’s life!” the Colonel said, his voice rising as I refused to back down.
