Book 2: Chapter 42: Negotiating The Future

    In the next moment Arthur found himself inside his Personal Space.

    Penn and Echo stood like living dolls in the middle of the room. Arthur turned away from them and instead went to the pile where he kept his tools.

    Though he shoved everything into the Personal Space, the items collected more or less according to a category. He had not been thrifty during the impromptu shopping trip and he''d gathered everything he could think of from extra utensils to basic tools he thought would be useful for roughing it out in the wilderness.

    New skill gained: Fork proficiency. (General class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Spoon proficiency. (General class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    He had no idea what a fork and spoon competency would grant him, why he hadn’t gained these before, or even if any of these skills would stay with him once he gave up the card. He hoped his Master of Skills card would take over from there.

    Plates offered no competency, neither did the bowls or glassware. Apparently, those items didn''t count as tools.

    He moved onto more traditional items.

    New skill gained: Garden Sheer proficiency. (Herbalist/Alchemy class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Shovel proficiency. (General/Miner class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Trowel proficiency. (Herbalist/Alchemy class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Letter Opener proficiency. (Scholar class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Rope proficiency. (General/Sailor class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through N?o?v€l--B1n.

    New skill gained: Needle and Thread proficiency. (Tailor class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    New skill gained: Quill proficiency. (Scholar class)

    Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 13. (+3 Master of Skills, +10 Tool Competence)

    Sadly when picking up items stuffed into a traditional first aid kit yielded nothing. He''d hoped to get some alchemy skills out of the salves, but again, that didn''t count as a tool.

    Hopefully, these skills had a chance of sticking. The sword and dagger skills had gone gray and inaccessible once he dropped those items. But Penn had the Combat card. Arthur was the one with the general skills card.

    Lastly, he turned to the still and silent visitors in his space.

    They were utterly frozen in time. Penn was in the middle of blinking, which gave him a strange sleepy-eyed look. Echo was even more disheveled and worn out than Arthur remembered.

    Arthur was severely tempted to go through their pockets. He wouldn''t take any cards -- the one he truly wanted was in Penn''s heart anyway -- but what if they had some money, some tools or surprises up their sleeves to help them?

    Arthur wavered, shame, greed, and cold calculation warring through him.

    He turned away.

    No. He''d promised to keep them safe. He wasn''t going to steal from them when they were at his mercy.

    Even if they were fabulously wealthy by his standards.

    "People aren''t that hard, really," Arthur said. "And how''s this for another trade: You don''t worry about how I got my hands on your card, and I won''t tell your minders about the Wind Release."

    Marion smiled shakily. "Are you sure you''re not the one who sees the future? That''s what I was going to suggest."

    "People really aren''t that hard to figure out," Arthur said. "Now, I think it''s time Penn and Echo joined us. I gotta tell you what happened -- and figure out what we''re going to do next."

    "Fortunately," Marion said as he tucked both cards away in his anchor, "I''m rather good at predicting the future."

    Penn and Echo had much less dramatic arrivals than Marion.

    Once they were assured they were out of danger and were, in fact, in Buck Moon hive Penn immediately went for the feast. Echo headed for the closets which were stocked in generic clothing in different sizes for men and women. Arthur''s room was luxurious, but meant for guests of all types.

    She joined them a few minutes later with hair brushed and in a pretty green dress.

    No one asked how Arthur came by so much food. All seemed to accept it as natural they''d be presented with a table groaning with plates.

    Nobles.

    Arthur was hungry too. Between bites of perfectly seared beef, greens so fresh they had to have been picked from the gardens hours ago, and a delicate fish hand-pie, Arthur told them the broad strokes of what happened. He left out the details of his skills, of course.

    Luckily, Echo and Penn were much more interested in the mega-scourge eruption, and the aftermath.

    "Harvest Moon got the new Legendary card?" Penn asked. "That will annoy the other hives. They''ve got, what, the last three of those?" He looked around the table for confirmation.

    "Four, I believe. Of course they gave the cards directly to the King," Marion said. He smiled sarcastically at Echo. "More future heirs for us to worry about."

    She rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Future babies have to wait twelve years to receive them anyway."

    "I doubt the King has any plans to abdicate within twelve years," Marion shot back.

    Arthur listened to the two of them, interested to get this glimpse of upper noble politics. He idly twined the fork he held through his fingers.

    New skill level: Fork proficiency. (General class)

    Level: 14

    Arthur hurriedly swallowed the bite and reached for a thin glass of bubbling fruit juice to cover the moment. He checked his skill list.

    Every skill he added -- with the exception of the combat-based tools such as the dagger -- was still there.

    It really was a shame he had to give back the Took Competency card, but he''d certainly received a boost while he had it.

    Eventually the bickering wound down and Arthur told them the news he dreaded the most: The interview with the King''s Men.

    "That''s not good," Penn said, echoing Sams''s earlier statement.

    Echo''s face had taken on a pale cast. "You don''t think they''ll blame us, will they?" she asked Marion, "For not stopping that terrible mind-mage? I know we''re royalty, but we don''t even have a dragon yet..."

    "I believe it depends on the King''s mood," Marion said. "Also, as he currently thinks two of his possible heirs are dead, his mood won''t be good."

    Penn rose from the table. "I need to send a message to my father, in case news has reached his estate." He headed for the pole near the balcony to change the flags.

    Echo rose as well. "We should do the same."

    Marion sighed, "The moment we do they''ll send our minders to watch over us."

    "So?" Echo asked. "You want to hide forever?"

    "No, but I would like one night where I''m not being watched like a toddler around breakable glassware." Marion said, gaze flicking to Arthur. "But go on, this will be good."

    "You can''t say things like that!" Echo said, "You can''t even think it. The King''s men will likely have thought-sensors--"

    "Actually," Arthur said, "I... had a plan for them, too."

    Echo and Penn turned to look at him. Marion just raised his glass in a silent solute. "Arthur, you are full of surprises."