Chapter 3

I'd started a fire as darkness fell, then started lighting the oil lanterns. Fel came out of the big bedroom as I put two buckets near the fire.

"That's... it's... I'm not sure I can do more. M-Morgan."

I heard her almost say the other word. I hated that. There had been slavery in my old world. Even indentured, and I hated it. I hated what it stood for. I felt like I had been trapped by the challenge without any recourse. And Fel? She hadn't even stood up for herself or questioned anything. She was Missy's family's chosen champion? I felt like I should be angry at Fel, but seeing her so exhausted since the duel... I was having a hard time drumming up my righteous ire.

"That's good. Let's get the bed made before you fall asleep," I said, taking the sheets up in my arms.

"I... what about the servant's room?" she asked.

"I'm not worried about that tonight," I told her.

She looked horrified, but I shrugged. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

She followed me with the blankets. She was so small that it looked like a walking pile of thick puffy blankets as she carried them in. She put them down on the trunk, then helped me get the sheets on the bed. Then the covers for the pillows and then the thick blankets. She was wavering, her body swaying.

"My mana is gone, my stamina is bottoming out again..."

"Ok, well it's a good thing we have your room all set up. If you want to wash up, I have the buckets ready for you, and you can change and crawl into bed. I'll go see if the kitchen here has anything I can get you to eat."

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"A four poster bed? Silk? Puffy fluffy blankets? No way, this isn't my style. Get ready, and I'll be back in five or ten minutes. Ok?"

She just looked at me with her jaw hanging open. I closed and locked the door behind me, and headed out to the first floor. I heard voices and raucous laughter as I headed into the common areas, and found the cafeteria half filled with students. I walked up to what looked like a serving counter and looked behind it.

"Cafeteria is closed," somebody called.

"Sorry, was cleaning the room. I think we missed dinner," I said as I turned.

"We?" the voice asked.

The room went silent.

"It's him," somebody said in a hoarse, low voice.

"The necromancer. He probably has his indentured all tied up and is ready to—" "Ah, I figured you'd show up," Zeke said. "You missed dinner in the great hall. It ain't much, but I saved a couple of things."

He handed me a small cloth sack and, without looking, I took it and nodded my thanks.

"Is it true you kissed her to death?" a guy asked as I started out of there.

"Nope," I told him. "She's alive and perfectly fine."

"You've already got her cleaning though," somebody said. "You take her from the finest of the protectors, and turn her into a maid in half a day.

What will you do tomorrow? Put babies in her stomach?"

"If he hasn't already," somebody snickered.

"She hates men anyways," another muttered.

"Doesn't matter, she's his now."

"Missy Blackman's fault, but would you deal with the likes of him?

Bloody fecking necromancer."

I tried to tune it out as I walked. Since finding my class and affinity, I'd been dealing with this. I'd mostly overcome it at the orphanage, but all my progress had slid backwards with the duel today. I wanted to punch something. I wanted to fight somebody. I touched my knife with my left hand, and realized that I hadn't disarmed after the duel. I unlocked my door, and headed inside.

I could hear snores. Soft ones, but they were snores. I shook my head, and locked the door behind me. I headed to the small table under the window next to the fireplace that I'd cleaned off, opened the cloth bag, and smiled. I had no plates in the room, but I did in my bag of holding. I took out two wooden plates, two tankards, and my kitchen knife. I arranged everything on one plate, and then cut it up on the other.

There was dried and cured sausage, a large wedge of cheese, and what looked like hard biscuits. I split everything up evenly, then cut everything up with my kitchen knife. Next I filled both tankards with water, and set one down on the table, taking the other with the prepared plate into the big bedroom. Fel had fallen asleep on top of the covers. She had at least cleaned up and partially changed, but she still had her boots on.

How that happened was anybody's guess. Maybe because her night dress was a thick cotton thing she probably just pulled over her head?

Hesitating and debating, I pulled the covers up and then slid her so when I pulled the covers down she'd not fall off. Then I pulled her boots off. I walked to the window and pulled the shutters, then closed it, noting we'd have to clean her shutters. It was strange how deeply she was sleeping, but she had admitted to her mana and stamina both bottoming out.

Tons of dust and cobwebs had stuck to her shutters in her dervish whirlwind of cleaning. That could wait for another day. I debated on the next part, but went to the living room and took the lit oil lantern and brought it into the bedroom, and put it on the nightstand opposite the food and bed. If she woke up and flailed around, she wouldn't do it in the dark. I knew I was going to appreciate the fire's soft glow tonight when I went to sleep.

I closed the bedroom door behind me, and went to the table. The food was simple, but filling. I was used to eating like this, but knew I was craving some greens. Would it have killed them to have a salad made up? I chuckled at myself, and at how my own sarcasm was biting to even me.

Kicking my feet up, I drained the tankard and thought about the small cask of ale I had bought for the trip. It was my reward to myself. I'd gotten it from the Fabled Glory, an inn run by twin ladies who were half troll, I think?

Between the goblins there, the ladies, and their boyfriend Mitch, they had a very successful business. I thought the ale was going to run me a ton of money, but six silvers for their cheap stuff... Almost nine gallons. I shook my head, and debated my empty tankard. I pulled the ale out of my bag of holding and put it on the table, and used the spigot to fill my mug. I, of course, screwed up and got as much foam as I did beer, but it was mine.

It was an indulgence that I'd got with my own money. I had earned the money myself, and paid the asking price for the product. I was proud of this, and didn't mind it when I got a face full of foam when I went to take my first chug. Today had been an absolute shit show. I'd been called out.

Humiliated. I'd seen how much—or how little—my peers really thought of me. I had hoped, a small part of me, that this place would be different...

but... I was wrong.

I'd been forced into a duel, I had become that which I hated, and the few friends I might have had here, had turned on me for winning the duel.

Despite that, I was sitting in my own suite. It was dingy still, parts of it dirty and dusty... but it was mine. I took a piece of lit tinder and lit another oil lamp, tossing the tinder back into the fire. I put the glass back overtop the lamp, and adjusted the wick. When it was burning well, I went into the small bedroom.

I winced. It was... dirtier. I used my magic a few times to kill all the bugs in the mattress, and then went back out into the living room, shutting the door behind me. I finished off my tankard, and put the lamp on the table next to the cask. I dug through my bag of holding, and came out with my ground sheet, my bedroll, and my pillow. I folded the ground sheet up a few times so it was more or less a mattress, then put my bedroll over that, and then my pillow. Sighing, I put out the lamp.

I was tired. Oh, so tired. I made sure my tankard was on the table, then laid down on my bedroll, staring into the flames of the fire. They danced as the clouds that had been obscuring the moon parted. A beam of light came in the window, lighting up the floor behind me. Dust motes seemingly danced in the air. I watched it all as the crackle of flames relaxed me.

"JUST A MOMENT, he's not quite awake yet." I heard a woman's voice.

Why were there girls in the boys' dorms? Whoever it was, was risking Headmistress Corlina's wrath. The last time I'd tried to sneak a girl into my dorm, I'd been black and blue for days from the extra PT that Blackthorne had put me through.

"We shall wait in the common room. I have to ask though; are you...

well?"

"Yes, of course," a voice I recognized said.

Who was it? That voice? I heard the door close, and I rolled on my back, shaking off the remnants of the dream and sleep. Fel walked into my sight, and she'd changed into blue robes. I almost wanted to make a crack about her being a blueberry, but saw she hadn't realized I'd awoken yet.

She was looking at the wall, biting her bottom lip, wringing her hands together.

I took a deep breath, coughed, then sat up. That should be warning enough, right?

"I..." her words trailed off.

I held up a hand, stopping the conversation, and went into the bathroom.

When I came back out, she had my bedroll situated and my ground sheet folded. My pillow sat on top of the stack. I looked at her and rolled my eyes. I walked up and stored it all in my bag of holding, then noted the cask was still out. I touched it and stored that and my plate as well. Things stayed in stasis in my bag, or spatial storage the smart folks called it. I would wash it later.

"Did we have company?" I asked.

"Yes Mas... Morgan. The dean stopped by to deliver our schedules, and a messenger from the Blackman family is waiting for you in the common area."

"They can wait. What's our schedule look like?" I asked her. "Do we have the same schedule?"

"I... that was one thing the dean mentioned. I can have a different schedule, but you must approve it first. With my status..."

"Let's get this out of the way, Fel. I never set out to ever have an indentured. If I knew how to break a system contract, I would have done it already. I also feel horrible that Missy used you and threw you away the way she did."

"I... why then did you make my payoff so high?" she asked.

I blinked. I remembered the murmurs. The comments from out the window and in the cafeteria.

"I figured rich merchant families like yours and Missy's had loads of money. It took me almost three years to save up two gold, and that was diving dungeons and doing piece work for crafters and unsanctioned guild projects. I figure you guys have loads of money and I could get me a small bit, not that I'd keep most of it. I'd give it back, but the point was, I was being truthful about Missy, and sometimes the truth should hurt."

"I... are you fucking serious?" she asked.

"Yeah...?"

"My family are already considered servants. They serve the Blackman family as personal bodyguards!"

"So no big bucks?" I asked her.

"I don't know what that is, but no, we are not rich. We probably made less gold the last three years than you did."

I thought about that and hated myself a little bit more.

"I'm sorry."

I FOUND the messenger waiting in the cafeteria, avoiding the college atmosphere as much as he could. I could tell it was him, because he wore the same insignia of the Blackman household that Missy had the day before.

Plus, Fel pointed him out.

"Mister Lovecraft. It's unfortunate we have to meet like this, but I have a scroll for you," the functionary said.

I broke the wax seal, and unrolled it. Blah blah blah. You owe us gold for taking our servant. If you don't pay us by this date, we will collect it personally. Blah blah blah. Duke's law says... I looked at the man, and tossed the scroll in his face. It bounced off, and his mouth opened in shock and fury.

"This is bullshit, and a farce. The dean himself was the official who witnessed and judged the match. He's the one who used a system enforceable contract and oath. Missy Blackman herself made the bet, in front of over a hundred witnesses. Let them come try to collect on this debt personally. You know my class? I betcha Missy told you what it was, right?"

"Necromancer," the messenger spat.

"That's right. One who can inflict necrosis and poison on my opponents with a touch, only to bring their corpses back to life a few moments later to fight on my side against the rest of you. No, I don't think the Blackman family wants to come personally to collect this farce of a debt. It's not legal, it's merely petty blackmail to get back at me, because the honor challenge was won, and Missy Blackman is in fact a thunder-twat of the nine thousandth degree. Any more interference by the Blackman family will have me calling for an honor duel with Missy directly, and since she no longer has her ringer... she'll have to fight her own battles."

The man's face had started turning red at my words, but at the end there I could see veins in both temples bulging. I used identify on him real quick, and saw he was a level 9 courier. Our physical stats were close, but he had an edge on me. My identify wasn't high enough to see his skills, but if I had to bet, his weren't in anything to do with fighting. I waited as he huffed and puffed.

"You dropped this," Fel said, handing the scroll I'd bounced off his face as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

He took it without looking, then did a double take when he saw who had given it to him, and the slip of a smile on her face.

"You'll regret—" "Is my honor being challenged here?" I asked him loudly.

He spun and marched off. When he was well and good out of sight, I let out a big breath and fell into the chair he'd just vacated.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"For what?" I asked her.

"In your own way, you stuck up for me. Granted, it wouldn't have gotten me out of the system contract, but..."

"I'm starting to get the feeling you were a reluctant friend of Missy Blackman," I said quietly.

She looked both ways, then nodded.

"I get you. Ok, come on kiddo, let's get breakfast."

"Morgan, you do realize I'm, like, two years older than you, right?" she said.

"I..." I used identify on her for the first time.

Felicity Nesbit – 20 Years Old Level 7 Wind Mage Indentured to Morgan Lovecraft "Miss Nesbit, my apologies," I said, wincing.

"Don't do that—" "I think I need breakfast. Dinner last night was filling, but... I need more than that."

"Thank you for that," she said. "I was... thank you, Morgan."

"No problem," I muttered.

People sort of quit talking around us. Without asking, annoying me, Fel moved behind me instead of beside me. I could feel her in my space bubble.

I looked around and saw a combination of angry looks and absolute disgust as I stood there in line. I didn't have a clock in this world, but if I had to guess, it was close to 7 a.m., since the sun had just come up and already I was getting a headache from the stress.

The line moved slow enough that people started talking again, and instead of about us or around us, they just ignored us. I finally was able to breathe better. For the first time in a while, I wasn't the center of their hatred. I was fine being the outcast and ignored. Hell, I'd been basically abandoned on Earth, and by fate had happened to do a favor for a funny-looking lawyer, who'd turned out to be a hobgoblin, of all things. He was the one who'd got me an appointment with the Duchess, and the Duchess and Duke had got me here.

"Hold on ya git," the... half goblin? um... lunch lady, said to the goblin behind her. "Whatcha have?"

"Eggs, bacon, or ham. Bread and butter?" I asked.

"Not bloody likely. Fruit, porridge, and sausage?" Her voice seemingly challenged me to say no.

"That sounds amazing," I told her.

She gave me a smile, all six of her teeth showing. She slid a tray over to me, and I winced. I remembered one of my last days on Earth. I had been at the hospital, waiting to see if my parents would make it or not. The nurses had brought me food from the cafeteria while I waited for the social worker to show up. I had no other family, and both of my parents had apparently overdosed from a bad batch of heroin. The food in the hospital could have been accused of being cruel and unusual punishment. Like, they fed death row inmates better than that. This... was almost as bad.

"This looks good," Fel muttered as she followed me to the table in the back where the messenger had been.

I sat, and a moment later, she did too. I sighed.

"Miss Nesbit, listen—" "If it pleases you, please... Fel. My mother is Mrs..."

"I… ok."

"As you were saying, though?" she prodded.

I had gotten off track with my thoughts. "This food is terrible. Do you know if we're allowed to like... get something else, somewhere else, or make our own?"

"I... the food... what?" she asked, a large spoonful of the porridge headed to her mouth.

"If you think this is good food, I... I'm sorry. I know you probably hate me, and honestly, I kind of hate me right now too... but if this is good food to you…? I've been wallowing in self-pity and now... I've been an asshole."

"But I like porridge," she said around a mouthful.

I jerked my head to the side and watched as an extremely red-faced Missy walked by, glaring at me. She must have spoken with the messenger.

I'd taken out her reluctant friend, who was a higher level than she was... so unless she had more friends to throw in front of her, she was probably living with the reality that she wouldn't be able to get back at me. I wanted to puff my chest out and do a Tarzan yell, but in honesty... I had been bluffing. My base physical stats were just that... base. Basic. Like, a normal human's. I'd upped my stat points in intelligence, wisdom, and charisma when I'd had the chance.

My thinking was it'd give me a larger mana pool that would regenerate faster, and maybe people wouldn't want to use me as a punching bag so much.

"That's the saddest thing I've ever heard. Also, you have permission to do whatever schedule you want. I'm not going to hound you on that. But...

if you don't mind, I don't know this part of the city very well. Could you...

um... show me the safer areas after class to buy ingredients?"

She cocked her head to the side, then nodded.

"You can cook?" she asked a few moments later.

"Quite well. I spent almost four years at the orphanage. Anyways, before I had an assigned job there, I spent a ton of time in the kitchens. I'm no culinary genius, but I can do a whole lot better than this stuff. Well, the fruit is nice. The sausage... not horrible, but man, if you eat too much of it..."

"Stop, please, I'm eating," she said, her eyes squinted shut.

She reminded me of my little brother. The system had eaten him up before they could get to me. I missed Jeff, and I often wondered where he was now, but he'd been gone long before my parents' deaths.

"Sorry," I murmured.

We ate in silence, and let the flow of the cafeteria mute everything else.

On the edges of the large group of academy students here, it was easy to forget I was an outcast and one of the hated. It was easy to just let the day happen.

"So if I get to choose my own schedule, I actually prefer yours to mine," Fel said after a moment.

"That works for me," I told her, finishing my plate off. "What time is our first class?"

"Um... ninth bell. So... a half mark?"

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked her.

"Darkhollow Hall... room three," she said.

I nodded.