B2 Chapter 9:

It took me a few hours and almost an entire notebook of scribbling the different forms of the runes down before I was satisfied. I felt I had made some progress in understanding. Not really, but kind of like someone who doesn't fully speak a language but has learned all the connecting words. They can kind of understand that something is being said, and maybe even the form of what was being said. But if you don't know any nouns in a language, it's impossible to actually know what the sentence was. The content was completely indecipherable, but there was some structure, and fuck me if that was weird.

My head ached and pounded, but I made more progress than, from what I could tell, anyone had ever—at least in recorded history—because I wasn't able to fully understand the runes or even see them properly, but I was able to see several of their intermediate shapes, understanding why things shifted from one way or the other. Reading them or trying to write something similar was far beyond me. The most I could manage was a similar twist of mana that would shift as well. But that was about as far as I would go.

One had positioned herself behind me and, eventually, through pokes and prods, got me to sit and lean back into her as she knelt behind me, rubbing my shoulders, neck, and lightly running her hands along my temples as I focused. She seemed more than content, despite the fact that it was still chilly out and she was not wearing a jacket. Perhaps that's why she wanted to be pressed up against me for warmth. But at the same time, it seemed she was more than content with just helping me focus and be comfortable, and I couldn't help but love her a little bit more for it. There was no one like One to help support me, even when I didn't know I needed it myself.

When I stood up and turned around, One’s eyes looked with surprise as she reached up and wiped a little bit of blood running from my nose with the corner of her sleeve. She examined me closely, and to interrupt her worry, I bent down slightly and kissed her forehead. She seemed to melt slightly with that, and practically skipped as she held my hand as we walked back towards the carriage.

The way that One especially—but all my numbers—seemed to switch between bubbly, happily girlfriend-supportive and comforting, homey even, to cold and hard when it came to business was a little bit jarring. But it was a good reminder that I had a part to play, and I was anything but normal. I could never be normal. If I tried to be normal again, I would be dead. But still, moments like this made it seem like all the blood and mystique, all the derring-do, was worth it.

“Did you get what you needed?” Two asked from the roof of the carriage.

I nodded and let go of One's hand to step up and offer mine to Two. She grabbed it and hopped down, using my hand as a way to make it slightly easier to set. I was confident she could just jump down herself and be totally fine. Whatever training she'd gone through was clearly sufficient, but it felt right. She half clung to me before she hit the ground.

“What were you doing up there?”

She winked at me. “Hiding from Three. You were gone longer than I thought.”

I raised my eyebrows, and she just gave me a smirk as she pushed open the door and yelled, “Honey, we're home!”

Three glared at her as I walked in, covering her ears, as the carriage was not exactly large, and Two is not exactly quiet. Two snickered and hid behind me as I took a seat, One sitting over by Three. Three gave Two a look, telling her that she would pay for that later, but Two just stuck her tongue out at her.

“How old are you?” I asked Two.

She cocked her head. “Twenty-two. Why do you ask? I don't think you ever cared before.”

I shrugged. Well, at least she wasn't as young as she acted, somehow. Not that she exactly looked young, just small.

***

That night, our optimal route actually took us through a small town near evening. We had planned to have made it a little further that night, but because of my long delay with the runes and investigating the portal, I had set our schedule off a little bit. Though it was an advantage, as instead of camping in the wagon at night like we usually did, we would have a little bit more space, as there were a few inns in this small town. The servants would also have beds instead of just blankets on the ground. Or we would.

We took the carriage up to the second-largest inn in town, and One and Three went in, while Two and I stayed in the carriage for a minute. They came out with a jolly, portly man with a belly that must have been half his body weight. He waddled up with some help and introduced himself as Tom.

“Well, Tom. Do you have the accommodations we need?”

“Yes, sir,” he said. “For your price, we have no problem clearing out the top floor of the inn.”

The inn was three stories, which meant that in a pinch, you could still get down from the top floor without too much trouble.

“It will be completely private. I ask no one to come up. Not even you, you know.”

“Of course,” he said in a jovial voice, waving off my concern like it meant nothing.

I assumed that, as one of the finer inns in a town that was not exactly on a trade hub, but certainly on a powerful trade route and between powerful kingdoms, he must deal with important dignitaries from time to time and knew how to act. I nodded and sent the servants up with our trunks, while he and his stableman helped the carriage drivers take care of the horses.

I followed him upstairs as he showed us around. There were four rooms for our use, and I proportioned them off accordingly.

The numbered, and I went down into a private dining room while everyone else settled into our stay.

We had a rather fine meal of fowl and farm-fresh vegetables over a bed of mashed potatoes that was much more satisfying than a stew over a camp pot again—especially now that Five or Six were no longer cooking for us.

Two and Three excused themselves a bit early, while One and I lingered over dessert and wine.

"Are you still set on heading back?" One asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I think that I've been away for a bit too long. I trust Four, Five, and Six. I think Six will do a good job of leading them, and Four and Five will help balance her out. But it bothers me that I haven't seen Nine in so long. And I do need to meet Seven and Eight."

One nodded. "True. I wasn't saying you shouldn't, but just that taking care of the rest of the Court makes sense, even more so now. I think I understand better why you didn't want the grandmaster position to begin with."

I nodded. "It's unimportant in the end."

One shrugged. "It could be, but you certainly don't have time for it."

I nodded. "That's why Dojo is taking care of it for me. But more, I don't need to just rush and get it out of the way. The Numbered are more important to me."

One cocked an eyebrow. "Remember, Master, we are here to serve you, not the other way around."

I worried my lip under my teeth, thinking. "I don't quite see it that way. There is an obligation I have. You give me much, but I owe you just as much in return. In a different way, of course," I said before she could object.

"I sent Nine away without really realizing what I was doing. And, well, I think it has turned out I do regret it. Not that I won't use you all for when I need you, but something small, like a court mission like that—she was not needed for that. Nine is still new."

One said, "She needs the experience."

I tapped my fingers on the table before taking another sip of my glass. "True, true. But there's still Seven and Eight and... well. You saw the portals. We have a lot to experiment with that. And I'm going to need to do some research when we get back, before I go and subdue everything."

"This will be a—this will be a great excuse for us to make sure everyone is aligned with the goals, so we can be unified to face the coming threat. I will be visiting many places and having talks with many powerful people."

One nodded, neither of us needing to explain what kind of talks those that we would be having.

"Besides. When I finish, I think Six's group will be back, and I think it'll be nice to have all of my Numbered together at least once before things escalate."

One gave me a slow nod before changing the subject. "So I think... Nine. I've been thinking about Nine a little bit, and I think I would like to change our approach slightly. She should be more receptive to..."

***

The top floor had four rooms for us. One had claimed two of them for my Numbered and me. I wasn't sure why, or that we needed that many, but it was fine. I just hadn't actually seen which rooms were ours or which one the Numbered would stay in versus me.

I did hear some noises coming from one door, so I opened it up. And it took me a second for my eyes to process what I was seeing.

Three was half on the bed, slightly twisted. Her dark skin was half covered by a sheet, slightly pulled over her shoulders. But everything from about her navel down was bare. The dark skin ran down until it was interrupted by the shock of Two's hair and her pale white skin, completely bare.

I stopped in the doorway, staring for a second, trying to process, before Three eventually looked up and met my eyes.