There was considerable resistance to Manuela’s idea. I didn’t veto the notion— by which I mean that I didn’t run screaming from the room, or drag her out at dagger-point. That’s what it would have taken to dissuade her, so my unenthusiastic grunt was taken as a complete affirmation of the idea. She dashed off, to get into position for when the guests were released to mingle with the Court.

She wasn’t the only one trying to get a word with the Champions, of course, but she had a few advantages. Most of the higher-status nobles here were reluctant to use that status, at least right now. They wanted to seem aloof and uncaring, to maintain their dignity. Manuela had no dignity to lose, so she wasn’t afraid to throw herself into the scrum.

I had noted that there was a certain wary caution accorded to Envoys of the Ebon Order but Manuela and Tom were very different in how they used it. Tom liked to gather menace about him like a cloak. He didn’t quite stick to the walls, but he liked to loom in the background, moving slowly enough that people could maintain their distance.

Manuela used it like a weapon, moving quickly into the personal space of people who didn’t want to talk to her, sending them fleeing with nothing more than a smile and a few friendly words. She tore into the crowd like a particularly ravenous wolf attacking a herd of deer. I stayed well back, only getting drawn into things when she reached her targets and started encountering actual resistance.

It turned out that Isidre wasn’t all that pleased to see me, and while Kaito was happy to go out for drinks, his girls were not. They took an instant dislike to Manuela— probably a consequence of her coming on too strong initially. Nori actually hissed at her when she got a little too close to Kaito.

They also seemed to have picked up an antipathy to Isidre, which was odd, as she seemed to have taken a liking to Kaito. The only reason she was considering going out with us was that Kaito liked the idea. And so a complicated dance of negotiation was started. A dance I stayed out of. I didn’t have any special conditions to insist on, so I just watched as Manuela wore them down into agreeing.

Is this just a spur-of-the-moment idea? I wondered. Or is she trying to keep us all occupied while Finley organises his forces?

I genuinely couldn’t tell, which said something about her skill. I could probably get a better idea if I entered the conversation seriously. If, say, I confronted her with the meeting she’d had… but that would be stepping on the guild master’s toes. He said he had a plan, and stepping out of my role wasn’t going to earn me any favours.

“You could have brought the rest of your friends,” Kaito told me. She sipped at her beer with the face of someone who knew she wasn’t going to be getting rice wine but wanted it anyway.

She, like the rest of her crew, was wearing what I was calling ‘barbarian chic’. It made them stand out from the crowd even more than their race did. Tight— very tight— leather shirts and pants, cut to allow easy movement, which left a lot of skin, or fur rather, visible. [Identify] told me they were a lot more protective than they looked, being well-crafted and made from the skins of beasts that had probably never seen a cow.

In a concession to either propriety or the cooler weather, they wore light, loose overcoats in various styles and colours. These were highly decorated, and quite attractive, but they were clearly designed not to hide what was underneath. It made me curious if Kaito had managed to maintain her chastity, but I resolved not to ask.

“Nah, Felicia and Kyle wanted an early night, and I’m not taking the kids drinking,” I replied. “On the other hand, there was no way I was keeping Janie away from a pub.”

I looked over at Janie, further down the table, who appeared to be comparing tattoos with Zichy. If tattoos were the right word. The wolf-kin had done something to her follicles that changed the colour of her fur and managed something like the abstract patterns that Janie sported.

“I must admit I feel somewhat left out,” Kaito confessed. “I was never much of a drinker back home.”

“You weren’t an office worker, right?” I said. “Never had to deal with that drinking culture.”

“Ah, no, I was only ever a temporary employee, I didn’t really go to Nomikai,” she agreed. “And when I did drink, it was sake.”

Her throwing in a few Japanese words made me realise that we’d drifted into speaking Tribal. Which was fine, I guess. Janie was too far down the table to be left out of the conversation.

“That must have been inconvenient when the girls tried to get you drunk,” I said, smirking. I glanced over at Ettalle and Nori, the girls sitting closest to us. It was hard to tell under the fur, but I thought they were blushing. They definitely weren’t meeting my eyes.

“Trying to get me drunk?” Kaito laughed, oblivious. “Not really, although we have had some fun parties. Fassi can heat enough water for a hot spring and—”

“I’m sure it’s been fun,” I interrupted before I could get TMI. “But I was going to ask about the… tension I’ve been feeling between your girls and Isidre.”

I glanced down the table, but I wasn’t worried about Isidre hearing her name. She was at the other end of the table, being badgered— or possibly wooed— by Manuela. The girls also looked in that direction, although for them it was more of a glare.

“That woman,” Ettalle muttered. Nori growled a little, I presumed in agreement.

“Ah, that is my fault,” Kaito admitted.

“Don’t say that!” Ettalle exclaimed, “You weren’t to know!”

“It’s her fault,” Nori agreed. “She should have known better.”

“Sorry to be so slow,” I said. “But what is your fault? It can’t be that bad, seeing as you managed to negotiate a treaty.”

“Oh, she’s fine with it, the dirty—”

“Nori!” Kaito pleaded. “Let me explain,” she said to me. “It was because I wanted to negotiate that I made the mistake of increasing my [Charisma].”

“That makes sense,” I said cautiously. I had noticed an increase in Kaito’s presence, but it could just as easily have been due to a new level. It still wasn’t close to mine. “What’s the problem?”

He sighed. “I forgot about how [Harem] works,” he said.

“How it works?” I asked, calling up the System entry for myself.

Harem: Acquire up to [Charisma] companions of appropriate age, gender and attractiveness. (5 points)

“Wait. You opened up a new slot?”

“New slut, more like,” Nori muttered, quietly enough that I wouldn’t have heard it without enhanced hearing. I didn’t let her distract me from what Kaito was saying.

“I didn’t mean to!” she protested. “It just… we got to talking about our previous lives. She had suffered so much— I didn’t realise how good we have it in Japan, and I suppose Australia as well. Guatemala is more like here, with the poverty and…” she trailed off in the face of my look of— horror? Was that what was on my face? I probably didn’t want to be showing that.

With some effort, I activated [Charm] and arranged myself into something more socially acceptable.

“Do you mean to say,” I said, urgently, “That you added Isidre to your harem?”

“Not deliberately!” Kaito insisted.

“Not permanently!” Ettalle added. “Not unless they… you know,” she said, glancing at Kaito. “I’m sure it will fade, once they get some separation.”

“That will open up the slot again, right? Can you make sure I’m in another country when that happens?”

“We’ll find another good Tribal girl, don’t worry,” Ettalle said.

“Though…” Nori said thoughtfully, “You’d be better than her,” Ettalle raised her eyebrows in surprise, but didn’t contradict her friend.

“Thanks for the vote,” I said sourly. “Don’t take this wrong way, I’m sure what you’ve got here is very fulfilling, but I’ve got things to do that don't involve being part of a harem.”

“I’m sorry,” Kaito apologised mournfully.

“Naldyna’s chastity,” I said, trying out the curse. “Isidre didn’t even like girls when we spoke before.”

It wasn’t that I had a gaydar, and we hadn’t actually talked about it, but it was hard for me to miss when someone nearby was attracted to women, as that generally meant they were attracted to me. There were a lot of little signs that I normally politely ignored, like a permanent flush, difficulty speaking or walking into walls.

“That might be why she’s resisting,” Ettalle said thoughtfully. “That, or the marriage thing.”

“If separation is what you need,” I said suspiciously, “Then why are you all here?”

“She asked me to come with her,” Kaito explained. “And it is important for the treaty to be signed. I couldn’t really refuse.”

“And wait— I thought you only liked furry girls.”

“It’s not about physical appearance,” Kaito replied, offended. “Although, she is attractive. Just because I find— anyway. It was getting to know her that made me— that attracted me to her. She’s a really nice person, Kandis. I know you’ve clashed but—”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “There’s nothing personal between us, at least on my side. Now that she’s working towards peace, we can probably work together.”

“That’s a relief,” she said.

“Now that I think about though, my original question still hasn’t been answered.” I turned to Ettalle. “What is your beef with her? I haven’t noticed any spats between the rest of you girls. Is it because she’s not a Tribal?”

“Partly,” Ettalle admitted. “But mostly it’s because she thinks she’s better than us.”

“That’s not true, Ettalle,” Kaito interjected.

“It is,” she insisted. “She wants to be your only girl!”

“Well, in her culture— and mine as well— multiple wives aren’t really allowed. Although they used to be—”

“That’s all I needed to know,” I interrupted. “Trouble in paradise, curiosity satisfied. Let’s move on.”

I took a deep breath and put all this harem nonsense to one side. It was only distracting me from the real problem.

“There was something I wanted to talk with you both about, but under the circumstances, I’ll start with just you.”

Kaito frowned at my change in tone, and in particular the way I lowered my voice so I definitely wouldn’t be heard down the table.

“In two days,” I said carefully, “There will be both an attack on this city, and an attempt at invasion on the King’s Isle. The King is threatened by both foreign and domestic enemies, and they have joined forces to bring him down.”

Kaito stared at me in shock. The two girls next to us were just as surprised, but their faces showed more calculation than distress.

“And,” I said, “One of the instigators of this alliance is sitting on the other end of this table, talking to Isidre.”