You could see it working in Abby's head, but then the young woman gave herself a jolt and sat down with us in the pavilion. 
"How much do you two know about the history of Yorkchester?" Angus suddenly asked us and Hannah quickly replied, "I've almost caught up with the last 250 years."
"And I know absolutely nothing. But honestly I never really cared," I muttered and Angus smiled at me, "Then I will give you a quick heads up, hopefully it will help you understand Abby and Sara's background a little better."

"About 250 years ago Yorkchester was known as the Kingdom of York. Back then the country was four times the size it is now and we had a huge land army," Angus started to explain but was interrupted by Hannah, "Let someone who was there tell that part."
"Feel free," Angus nodded and Hannah began her history lesson, "King Stephen the Third of York was desperate to expand and got involved in a war on two fronts. Our organisation had tried everything to stop this war, but the King had people of influence on his side who had given him credible assurances that the army could win this battle as long as the North stayed out of it - which, according to the history books, they did."
"Even today the North stays out of everything," Angus added, " But Em probably knows best. They just don't care about what goes on behind that big mountain range."

"What organisation? It's not the first time you've mentioned it," I asked suddenly and Hannah smiled, "The Order of Aurora. But that's not important right now. Back to more important things."
Although the name of the Order meant nothing to me, Angus raised an eyebrow in surprise, but let it go as Hannah continued, "What the King underestimated, however, was the enormous technological advances made by the individual city-states and countries of the East and West at that time, and the tables were simply turned. According to the history books, we somehow managed to withstand the first attack, but the king was killed in the third wave and the kingdom fell."
"After that, three quarters of our kingdom was divided between the States of East and West, leaving behind the area that is now the Duchy of Yorkchester," Angus continued, "and some concessions had to be made. In the end, there were internal power struggles between the noble families of Yorkchester, and after several decades and much senseless bloodshed, the House of Chamberbride emerged victorious, and they have managed to maintain that position to this day, not always in the cleanest of ways. That would be enough history for one day and the perfect starting point for Abby.

"Where to start," Abby pondered, "The O'Neill family was once a respected aristocratic family here in Yorkchester. We had land, money and a large country house in addition to this mansion here in the city. And before Em makes a sarcastic comment, our main residence was the country house."
"You know me too well now. Would it help if I were to tell you that I would never say such a thing?" I found myself smiling, but Abby ignored me and continued her story, "Twelve years ago, however, there was a great conflict between our father and the other noble families. We had refused to send men from our lands east to reclaim former territories of the Empire."
Hannah wrinkled her nose and said, "Didn't Yorkchester have to stay out of all the fighting? Didn't they have to agree to this so that the former kingdom wasn't completely destroyed?"
"Correct," Angus nodded, suddenly taking over for Abby who was clearly finding it difficult to talk about the past, "But they did try to reclaim the lands through certain subtleties and of course failed miserably. To hide the truth from the more uneducated middle and lower classes, Chamberbride and the other noble families publicly claimed that the lack of support from the O'Neill family was the reason for the defeat. They were also accused of making common cause with some of the Eastern States and harbouring refugees from those countries."

"Abby. You don't have to keep talking if you don't want to. I can take it from here," Sara's voice was suddenly heard, who had already overheard part of the conversation, "To calm the people and find a scapegoat, almost everything was taken from our family - except this decaying mansion. Our parents were publicly executed as traitors and we were stripped of our peerage. There was no real evidence, of course. But it's rumoured that the Adventurers' Guild were promised certain favours if they made the story as believable as possible."
"That would explain why the Adventurers' Guild has such a special position in the Duchy," I said and Sara nodded, "That would be our guess too. But we have no proof. And even if we did, it wouldn't help, because Chamberbride and the nobility would do everything to silence us. Funnily enough, the only two people from the Eastern States our family ever had contact with were Jacky and Hayden, and we met them a few years after our parents died. There were also no attempts by other countries to bring our family and its wealth to safety, as they either had their own problems or did not want to start a pointless feud with the current rulers of Yorkchester."
Although I had no interest in history, I listened intently to the three of them.

"The reason we were given the building was because of its desolate state. No other noble family was willing to put up the money to renovate or demolish this dump," Sara continued, "And it didn't make much difference to Chamberbride whether we owned it or not. Nobody would buy it from us and we don't have the money to renovate it properly. So we're no threat to them in our current state."
"The bad reputation our family has in Yorkchester is also the reason we can't find reliable people to work for us," Abby explained, "And it's also why I'm so reluctant about the old servants' quarters. You wouldn't be doing yourself any good by opening your shop there."
"I don't care," I shrugged, "Now I want to renovate the building and use it more than ever."
"You're nuts," Abby looked at me wide-eyed and Sara smiled, "We knew that already. Do what you want with the building. You have my blessing as head of the family. On one condition - you must continue to renovate parts of the property for us."

Well, apart from the fact that I would have done the work anyway as a practice exercise, this condition seemed a little impertinent to me at first, knowing that the last repairs had already been paid for out of my own pocket. Angus seemed to think the same, because he suddenly said, "And who's going to pay for all the materials? It's all right to ask Em to fix the broken things, but it's certainly not all right to ask her to pay for the renovation. And yes, I know Em mentioned earlier that she was thinking about fixing the rest of the mansion herself. But she could buy a small house in a much better location in Dubstep for less money. That's a fact."
"I don't know how, but I'll find the money for the materials somehow," Sara replied, "don't worry about it.
"In that case, the condition is fine with me," I nodded and Hannah seemed relieved that the whole thing had worked out.

"That settles that," Angus nodded in satisfaction before giving me a serious look, "Em. Would you like to walk a few steps with me? It's time we had a chat. And bring your walking stick, please."
I had an idea of what Angus wanted to talk to me about, and to be honest I had half expected them to let Angus have this conversation with me - especially as I had already noticed that he was a bit of a father figure in the guild. 
Hannah used the time to show Abby how to use the lawnmower and I could hear them trying it out and having fun. Angus walked with me to the building that would be my workshop and held out a knife, "Jacky told me about one of your customs in the North. It's time you got it over with."
"I'm not ready yet," I said quietly, "I'm fine as long as I can work. But the truth is, Cáit still sleeps with me every night and has to calm me down when I've had another nightmare."
"It's all right. The nightmares will continue for a while. I'm afraid that's part of the process. But we have to make sure you come to terms with it," Angus said quietly, "Not everyone is as reckless as Jacky and Hayden. And believe me, I'm actually quite happy that you're not taking it so lightly. But how can I put it - Cáit needs you out there. And we need you to be there for Cáit. You're special to her somehow. For the first time in a long while, we don't have to worry about her being careless or putting herself in danger unnecessarily."
This actually surprised me a little. I had noticed that Cáit always checked on me before she went to the bathhouse or to dinner, but I had no idea that others paid so much attention. "I didn't know," I murmured quietly, and Angus said with a gentle smile, "How could you know? Cáit had never been alone since she joined the Guild, but she had never really fitted in. Kirsty and Abby had been one heart and one soul since they were little children, and although they had accepted Cáit into their circle of friends, it was never really the same. Cáit knows that and so do the other two girls.

I was pondering Angus' words when he suddenly added in a calm voice, "You don't have to do this for the Guild. You can do your bit in other ways. Look at Abby or Kirsty. Both of them are useful in other ways. But Em - do it for Cáit. She's waiting for you. She's even practising with the crossbow again, so she can protect you better in the future, and she's been avoiding it for years."
I knew Angus was right and that I couldn't stay in my shell forever, but I hadn't realised that I had a really good reason for taking this step. 
So I took the knife and carved the first notch into the handle. 
"For Cáit," I said quietly, and Angus grumbled with satisfaction, "That notch will always remind you of what happened in the dungeon. And that's a good thing, because it ensures that you never lose yourself. Before I forget, tomorrow night I'll take you and Cáit back to the third floor and we'll see where that hidden switch leads. We will need your talents there one way or another."