Harlan finished what he could.

He formed the blackstone arrowheads into a set of 6 hairpieces shaped like lotuses, he tried a few other flower shapes but he liked this one the most. They had a simple spell in them to flatten them into throwing stars. He thought it was clever, she liked weapons more than trinkets so a weapon that was a trinket was his best bet. Originally there were 8 of them, but the blackstone was brittle and they chipped as he tested how well they worked as a throwing weapon.

Instead of ordering another set of hair clips to be made for Blackstone’s youngest daughter he decided to take the already shaped but not soulsmithed ones and changed the spell to emit a white flame, he didn’t want to spend the extra money for brightsteel just so he could have some white hair clips.

He didn’t have much time before the others would start to get up.

Shockingly there was already someone setting off his proximity alarms, so he went to check out who it was.

Harlan hopped up the wall and saw a single man on a horse with the blackstone crest on his clothes, it was barely even dawn, but he could see enough of the man to describe him as gruff looking.

“How can I help you? And who are you?”

“I am a messenger for Countess Cimmeria Blackstone. She wants you to come early, before the party. Her youngest, Sable, wishes to speak with you about your magic.”

“How early?”

“As soon as you are ready to move out she would like you to leave.”

“I have something I need to pick up in town, it should be done but it might cause a delay.”

“She is understanding, so long as it is truly reasonable.”

“I would say that it is. I’ll leave just as soon as breakfast is finished.”

“Then I will take my leave.”

Harlan felt it was off, wrong in some way.

How long ago did she send her man here? Did he ride the entire night to get such a message to him?

He had learned that sending a vocal message was seen as impolite since meanings could be changed if any words were left out or substituted. Did she intend to be rude? Was she testing his reaction? From what he knew she was blunt, maybe that was why, did she just not care? He felt that was the best case.

He didn’t rush anyone awake, either from the army or from the academy, each of them were early risers. Instead he used the time before the others woke up to place the hairclips for Sable and for Cimmeria in nice boxes. He was glad to have stockpiled them when he found some for cheap. Something about a person backing out of an order.

He explained over breakfast that they would be leaving as soon as they finished and that he would be picking up a higher quality kettle for a gift and he would just insert the core as they were traveling.

Everyone left as soon as they could, they took the Countesses words more seriously than Harlan did.

Harlan rushed over to the blacksmith and had to wake him up to get the kettle he wanted. Brig would’ve already been working this early.

And then they were on their way. Harlan looked over the kettle, there were small imperfections he had to correct with some metal magic, Brig wouldn’t have made that mistake he thought.

Once he was done he tested the kettle, getting water from spells, he realized he should make a kettle that can condense water on its own. But it worked fine as it was, the water boiled in a minute and didn’t radiate any heat outside through the use of magic to store and release heat until the water reached the desired temperature. But now that the thought was in his head he couldn’t stop thinking about it, so removed the core and put a make water spell in it as well.

Finally the others felt that they were allowed to talk again.

“What is in the boxes?”

“Gifts for the Countess and her daughter.”

“Which one is for the countess?”

“Bigger box, smaller is for her daughter, Sable.”

Harlan opened the box to show them the very sharp flowers.

He slapped Ava’s hand when she reached for one.

“Don’t touch them.”

“I’m not going to break them, it’s fine.”

“I don’t care about that, but these things are really sharp. You can hold it if you are very careful.”

“Are you sure something like that is a good gift?” Redmond chimed in.

“She is a big girl unlike Ava, she can handle this I am sure. She might even like the danger.”

“Please don’t say anything like that to her.”

After Harlan ran out of things to talk about with the others he decided to sleep for the duration of the trip. It had been a month and a half since he last slept and a long ride was going to bore him to tears.

He awoke to Ava kicking his shin.

“What is that for?”

“You implied I am not a grown up. I was just waiting for a chance to hit you for it.”

“Well you aren’t an adult until 16.”

That got him another kick.

“We are at the gates now by the way. So make yourself presentable.”

“Unlike you I am always the spitting image of a noble.”

The carriage stopped when Harlan saw he was at the right spot and pushed the command into it. He had also taught the others all the controls so they didn’t have a Dahlia needing to throw men from the roof and then jump off situation again.

One of the Blackstone servants opened the door and Harlan was the first to step out, followed by Amber, then Ava, then Redmond, and then finally Zella.

Balor explained there was some reason behind the order but Harlan only paid attention since it was information beamed directly into his mind.

Two steps forward, deep but not too deep bow, and then a step back, wait for her to do the same. Then he could talk.

Instead he took two steps forward before Blackstone spoke.

“There is no need for pointless time wasting etiquette. Your works have saved the lives of many of my men. Now, I see you have gifts in there. Bring them out, but I am not a fan of flair.”

She wore a black dress, clearly much higher quality than anything a normal person could afford, but it had little in the way of frills and shining gems like some nobles liked, the most decorative part was the black lace which covered her hand and neck.

It reminded Harlan of a mourning dress.

“I heard as much, and I tried to make more useful items for you. And I made some things for Sable as well. But those are for flair.”

First he showed her the kettle.

“It looks nice, but I don’t see why I need another kettle.”

“Watch this.” and in just a few minutes it was not only full of boiled water, but it was also cold from the outside still.

“You don’t even need to do anything but send a command to fill it and have it boil water, chances of someone slipping something in your drink are much lower with this.”

She raised her eyebrow at his suggestion.

“Is that a common problem with you?”

“No, I have never had someone get far into my lands, but I find people with poison on them sometimes. It’s more of a ‘just in case’ situation.”

“Well, I can appreciate some paranoia. We can move inside before you show us the rest of whatever you brought. I am sure you are also hungry, it is a long ride from down where you are. My servants will take the boxes.”

On the way in Harlan could get a good look at her home. It was much larger than the Redwall mansion, with massive black pillers supporting each of the bright white walls.

There were many shrubs cut into shapes, though instead of beautiful people and animals it was magical beasts, weapons, and knights, most impressive was two bushes next to one another, the red leaves on the bush made it seem as if the other had just struck it down. It was uninviting, it was vaguely menacing. But something about how everything seems to be exactly what it looked like and Blackstone’s own blunt attitude set him at ease.

She led them to a dining room.

There were two whole roasted pigs on the table, hearty breads and stews on the sides, instead of delicate cakes and small cookies was cut fruits and poundcake for desserts.

“I am told you are a farmers son, I am sure you can enjoy a simple meal unlike many nobles. The first of our name, 14 generations ago was a blacksmith, he learned to create blackstone, before him they had to harvest it in dangerous volcanic areas. Now every bowmen facing likely armored threats owes their arrowheads to our name.”

“Thank you. Everything looks great.”

He felt she didn’t really know what a simple meal was, but the thought was nice. And yet Harlan felt pangs of paranoia as he ate. It felt more like a family meal than a meeting with a noble, but that worried him, Rosewell tried to make herself motherly, and he still wasn’t sure how much of that was a trick.

“Harlan, why the sour face?”

“Apologies, Countess Blackstone. I am just paranoid, nothing to bother yourself with.”

“You are a guest in my home, it is something to bother myself with. I have tried to put you at ease the best I can.”

“That… That is what worries me. I don't know if you are trying to manipulate me or not.”

She swung back her wine glass, he couldn’t tell how much she had drank already.

“I don’t blame you, expect more of that. Nobles, and especially the royals, love their tests. Games big and small to find your weaknesses and exploit them. Even now I am sure you think this is a test, and you are right to have that worry. Once you are big enough to not have to worry about being removed for petty reasons like me, you won’t worry as much about it. Anything short of rebellion or large scale embezzlement isn’t going to get me removed, but barons get removed for all kinds of offences, or even just incompetence. I am expected to have my house survive behind me even if I was incompetent. Keep your wits about you, when our little party happens tonight you will be a juicy steak for old houses to try and tear apart. Or recruit you with ridiculous deals. I don’t want that to happen.”

She was right, he did think it was a test. But the open threats were strangely making him feel better about it. And she could tell he was more at ease.

"So small scale embezzlement is ok then?" Harlan smiled at his half-joke half-question.

“Good, smile while you are able, it is practice for when you must listen to idiots.”

Harlan ate with reckless abandon, nearly eating an entire leg of a hog himself.

He wondered why he was so hungry, he didn’t really do that much magic today.

“I should’ve mentioned it, but both me and Lugh are feeding off of your soul. We can’t eat like you can, so we do this.”

“Oh. Alright,” The nonchalance in which he spoke made Balor laugh on the inside. And it made what he was planning hurt more, but he felt he needed to do it, for Harlan’s sake.

Harlan finally felt sated, and yet he finished the meal with a single slice of peach.

“Thank you again for the food.”

“I had no idea you had such an appetite.”

“I process food quickly, and since I don’t sleep very often I am always using up energy.”

“If you need more before the party tonight just visit the kitchen, they will give you what you need. But for now. I am somewhat interested in those other gifts.”

The servant who held the boxes was standing behind her the entire time. She waved him over and he set the boxes on the table, then opened the smaller first.

“Those are for Sable. I was told to make something white for her to contrast her hair.” Harlan could see her further down the table, pretending that she didn’t want to rush up and grab them.

“They aren’t white though?”

“Right, just push mana into them, anything soulsmithed with only a single use will just take a push to turn on and off. Though you can also make the effect more intense if you play around with it.”

A nice white flame puffed out of the hair clips, Harlan felt he should’ve warned her that the fire wasn’t hot, but Blackstone didn’t flinch when it turned on.

“Sable, you may take them now.”

“Oh, did you not trust them before?”

“A healthy amount of paranoia never hurt anyone.”

Both of them chuckled.

When she opened the larger box, she wasn’t impressed.

“I probably don’t need to warn you, but those are very sharp. And when you push mana into them they will go flat, so keep that in mind.”

“I do appreciate the thought you have put into these, fusing the blackstone arrowhead together into flowers is nice. But I like a more simple style.”

“When they are flat they are throwing stars.”

Now he had piqued her interest.

She immediately flattened on and tossed it, cutting through candles on the table before it scratched the door. The wards had stopped it, but only barely.

“I am flattered that you thought of such a thing for me.” She placed one of the flowers in her hair.

“Do they have a name?”

“I didn’t think of that, blackstone lotus is the best I came up with.”

“I like it, though they should be warded to prevent them from chipping like that.”

“Sorry, it was a rush job. I only picked up the arrowheads last night and made those very early this morning.“

“Never admit it was a rushed piece of work. Always make an excuse. Something like ‘oh I am not an experienced warder,’ or ‘I hadn’t thought of doing such a thing.’ The good part is the second one will make the other person feel like they have more wit than you.”

Harlan was really liking her.