Chapter Thirty-Six

Harmony took out her frustration on the wall of white webbing that now dominated the forest she'd passed through on the way to camp. [Manipulate Dead] after all of the frustrations of being sealed finally found purchase in the spider's unliving creation without the crutch of [Beautician] or her stats. Working with the skill sealed had made her strong enough to do the heavy lifting without help. But she had to sweat for it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tyler asked after staying silent as she fumed and grunted through the webbing most of the morning.

He was accompanied by his pet, and no other bonds were missing. So clearly, whatever kept Adric away was an isolated incident. In the first two matches, he was teleported back, and it wasn't like they were given an option. Why would she consider the possibility that he'd stay after Hargreaves whisked him away? Which couldn't be a coincidence, so she knew exactly who to blame.

Tyler joined her immediately in her goal to reach the mimics and resupply with their rewards. While she hadn't exactly asked for volunteers, everyone else was busy plotting and politicking for the next night's elimination vote. The quiet support of him and Loap as they pushed deeper from the edge, where the trees all had light webs, to where the webbing was so thick it was like a layer of snow on everything, with not a stitch of branch showing.

"What exactly is Princess Rosaline's issue with me!?"

Tyler stumbled a little. "Rose.. has… um…"

Jessica's projection emerged from Tyler's body, her spectral form walking into the webbing ahead, the blue flames igniting it and burning a hole. "She's jealous of you, a feeling I was very familiar with."

"Jealous of what? My half-cursed class? A rotter of a mother and the childhood that came with it? I'm even bleeding short."

Jessica chuckled. "You have a big presence."

Loap quickly slashed her spear up and down at the cluster of webbing she was working on, splitting the strands. "Your hops shake the world. My darling primal's Grand's silly prophecies."

"What!" Harmony stopped mid-activation of [Manipulate Dead]. Turning to look at Loap and Tyler. The young lord tried to shrink in on himself.

"She was very worried my bonding would mess up her plans. Humans don't understand the function and purpose of such visions. Nor of their fragility. It was a silly reason to hire you." Loap continued

"What?" Harmony exclaimed again, freezing completely and forcing herself to stay standing. They hired her because they needed a new maid and took in those with unusual skill sets and abilities. Her [Dust] was more efficient because of its synergies. And she could fit into the tight spots others were too big for. Those simple reasons for hiring an ill-equipped necromancer sounded ridiculous when she thought of it now with [Keen Investigative Awareness], but there had been no reason to question that truth.

"Harmony…" Tyler started.

"You said you'd tell her once I'd explained to you the ridiculous nature of those expectations. Trying to tie the destiny of the Coodly house to her was pure risk." Loap lectured Tyler, reaching over and pulling hard on one of his ears.

Jessica started laughing so hard it looked like she was having a hard time breathing. "You.. Should…See.. The… Looks… On…. Your… Faces…" Except it's not like the spirit needed to breathe.

"How much of this was arranged?" Harmony demanded.

Tyler shuddered, pulling on a social skill and straightening his spine. "None of it. Gran likes using the advice of her favorite seers and prophets for hire. Ambrosia and her talents for singing. She even saw potential in Jessica before she stalled. You might have received a little more attention, but you did prove your worth. We were to stick around Hazeldown until you were leveled enough to go to Naewauld. That's why I was so high leveled when we delved Old Bones and she agreed to my gifts."

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"And that is why the princess hates me?"

"She's just being a weedy bitch. More than I ever was. I say call her out on it!" Jessica proudly encouraged with a burst of energy and melted spiderwebs.

Harmony turned to her familiar, who had been unusually quiet both verbally and through their [Familiar Bond]. He munched on half a dozen King Spiders, trying to look preoccupied by his snack. At this point, the spiders were afraid enough of him that they left them alone while the web clearing was happening. She jabbed her finger toward him, pointing repeatedly, "How much did you know or at least suspect this kind of thing had happened?"

Hyacinth shrank down to his cute and tiny form. "Greep?" He tried to respond innocently.

He did not get a ride on her as she continued to fume and grunt her way out of the woods. Too bad he was an equal opportunity lazy toad and rode in his kind of favorite pillowy spots, but this time with Loap, who didn't object to him being there.

Did this revelation turn everything on its head? Not really, but it was another situation where she felt like she was the last to know. Logically, this was going to become the norm in her life. She'd passed off so much work onto the staff while she was gone; everything would be a surprise when she returned. It was important to note that delegated surprises were not the same as decisions made for her. Not that she wasn't grateful for Coodly Manor hiring her, no matter the reason. People making crazy, bleeding choices about her life didn't completely take away her agency. Destiny, prophecy, or some mad ranting [Recall] reminded her of all the definitive and sometimes insane acts she'd chosen to do without the input or reliance on others

Finding some level of acceptance appeased her profession and calmed her thoughts. Normally, she'd be a little worried about the subtle mental changes selection had evolved inside her. As a maid, there had always been a level of appeasing others in its roots, the same way necromancer was attracted to death. The line between aligning with your role and letting it consume you was always something to dance over. Part of her class and profession wanted her to kill her mother, an entertaining idea, but she wasn't there…. Yet.

This was clean and logical in that the problem was erased because it didn't make sense to get angry over every idiotic thing someone else did. With a little grunt [Manipulate Dead] ripped away another chunk of webbing. She could be annoyed at the lack of timeliness in telling her about such things. Like they were afraid of how she would react to such balderdash.

One didn't need to be angry to have to confront a princess over their behavior. Unless Adric has a good excuse for what happened, it would be time to do that the next time she faced the princess. There was also Felix to deal with. Adric's support had been part of that plan. Max could enjoy his new freedom. So much anger.

"So, tell me about Madam Coodly's predictions on me?" Harmony asked.

"Not hers, she has people for that. Gran would rather I not give you the details since you have a contrary streak. It was always one thing to give you a puzzle or difficult task as opposed to forcing you to do anything. It's all manure anyway. Ambrosia was hired because she was tagged the voice of a nation. Jessica was a rising star, but then got stuck for years until she evolved and then died. No offense."

"None taken," Jessica answered as her projection burned through more webbing, a hint brighter than before.

The level of discomfort Tyler had around the topic echoed in his body language. Lord of the rising dawn, before he made the choice, felt telling. Max's rejection was still too fresh to risk Tyler by demanding answers. He'd only recently grown up some.

"Why are you dismissive of such things, Loap?" The beast kin should be the most reliable source of answers.

"Such things are leaping before you look. Sure, one might have strong legs, but that doesn't guarantee one makes a destination." To demonstrate, she closed her eyes and turned back the way we came. " If I were to jump now, people could see a trail where I'm back at camp." Spinning back towards their destination. "This way, I might get eaten by mimics." She bounced a few times. "Neither could work if I'm hopping in place. Such skills rarely account for unknown influences, changing directions, and lazy days chewing on grass."

Harmony understood that, kind of. If the question was about this person's potential if hired to Coodly Manor, then it was almost a charity towards positive outcomes. She'd rather not think of the outcome if she hadn't been hired. "Did Max get the same treatment?"

"She, um, refused to help him. That's one of the reasons why he was so angry at me. She gave me what I wanted while telling him he was doomed and not worth the resources to invest in. But, look at him now. Everything is working out for him."

I've found a way to be free. [Recall] quoted back his words in her mind, his eyes flashing with that spark of chaos as he said free. That's what he wanted. To be free of his family's expectations, and then after stumbling into her, the chains he'd picked up there. "I suppose it is."

The morning light flooded through as the group busted through the end of the mass of webbing to the other side. Ahead, in the middle of the scrubby wasteland, a long black line extended out, separating the area. Piles of corpses carpeted that space, black spiders big and small, the end of which seemed to signify that nothing living would pass here. Several empress spiders lay among the corpses.

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