My Lord! Please! (A Character Driven Kingdom Building Novel)

The room fell quiet for a long moment.

Dorian reacted first, his eyes hard as he glanced toward the window.

"If you only made it that far, then they are barely a quarter day's travel from the village." He looked back at Lucien. "My Lord. It will be dangerous to send word to Helvarn from the northern road."

Lucien gave a slow nod. "We aren't completely cut off. The road south through Cragwatch should be safe enough, though the journey would take twice as long."

He exhaled faintly. "We will have to send word to Cragwatch anyway. Lord Vaelric might be just as exposed as us if the orcs block his road to Helvarn."

"Sera, did you see anything else? Anything that might show how large the band is?"

The hunter shook her head before pointing at the parchment she had just drawn.

Both men looked back to the parchment, where the trail marks had gathered so thickly near the forest that they nearly swallowed one another.

"Too many tracks?" Lucien asked, his brow creasing.

At Sera's nod, Dorian leaned forward slightly, his expression darkening as he studied the page.

"Enough that you couldn't count them clearly?"

Her eyes flicked to the captain before she inclined her head slightly.

Lucien's gaze shifted between the map and the parchment. "Could they be trying to obscure their numbers intentionally?"

The hunter considered his words, her fingers brushing once against the edge of her drawing before she gave a small shrug.

When Dorian glanced at Lucien in question, he spoke for her.

"She isn't sure if they were doing it on purpose or not...right?"

Sera gave a firm nod before gesturing toward the things she had brought back.

"Then the only thing we can confirm is that the tracks are fresh," Lucien muttered, leaning back in his chair.

Silence lingered for a moment before Lucien turned to the hunter.

"Sera, you should get some rest. Alicia will likely be waiting for you, keeping the food warm."

To his mild surprise, she didn't move immediately at the mention of food. Instead, she picked up the charcoal stick and began writing in deliberate strokes.

Before she had even finished, Lucien could already tell what she had written.

Search Cora?

He stared at the parchment until Dorian gave a small cough, causing him to shift in his seat.

When he looked back up, Sera was watching him expectantly.

"...No." At the scrunch of her brow, he immediately added, "It would be too late even if you left now, Sera. The men would've either found her at the mana-infused area by now or..."

His words trailed off, his fist clenching slightly.

The explanation only made the hunter look more determined to join the search.

Seeing that, Lucien exhaled through his nose.

"Cora's father is searching for her too. If they return without her, then you can try finding her after that."

Sera tilted her head in consideration before giving a slow nod. She turned immediately after, walking to leave the room as though she intended to finish resting as quickly as possible so she could be ready to leave at any moment.

She made sure to give Dorian a wide berth, even as the captain watched in bemusement.

As the door clicked shut, Dorian turned back to Lucien, his brow furrowed slightly.

He seemed to choose his next words with unusual care, only speaking after Lucien gave him a small gesture to continue.

"...Why is she avoiding me that much? I do not think I have done anything untoward against her."

The corner of Lucien's mouth twitched. "I believe she is simply cautious of you, Dorian."

Dorian's gaze lowered for a moment before he shook his head. "Then I will have to correct that somehow. With orcs this close, I would rather not have one of our best trackers treating me as another threat."

Whatever amusement Lucien felt didn't last once his gaze returned to the crude cord on the desk.

"The band likely has a variant leading them."

Dorian inclined his head once. "Yes, My Lord. Normally, an orc band would not make maneuvers like that. Not to trap a single scout."

Lucien's finger tapped on the armrest of his chair. "I remember you mentioning that they can have up to fifty? Could a variant change that number?"

"Not directly. Their numbers grow through raids, My Lord...through the women they take, and how long they have been left unchecked in a region."

At those words, Lucien's finger stilled as his eyes went to the captain, whose expression had turned rigid.

"When I was serving under your father, I tried to find out as much as I could whenever he was at the capital for his work," Dorian continued, his hands folding into fists on his lap.

"The women they take rarely survive, My Lord. Not after childbirth. Whether from captivity, the birth itself, or both, no one seems to know."

He shook his head. "And orcs take a few years to mature into adults and during that time, they fight each other for dominance like the savage beasts they are."

"That is why their numbers usually don't go higher than fifty. They lose just as many fighting among themselves."

Lucien leaned forward. "But a variant would change things then? Already, we are seeing differences in their tactics."

"Yes, My Lord. But no two variants act in the same manner. Be they orcs or any other species."

There was enough certainty in the way Dorian said those words that he held back the question forming on his tongue.

"...How reliable is that?" Lucien asked after a moment. "The assumption that one variant cannot be judged by another, even among the same species."

To his relief, Dorian seemed to consider the question carefully instead of casting him the suspicious look he had half expected.

"Only the mages studying the beasts would know for certain, My Lord," he said at last.

'Mages again...'

Before Lucien could decide whether to press further, hurried footsteps sounded beyond the door.

A moment later, a firm knock came.

"Enter," Lucien called.

Henric stepped inside. Despite the long day he must have had, the man's shoulders remained upright.

"Apologies for disturbing your meeting, My Lord, Captain. But Will, Merek, and Marcus have returned."

Lucien was already rising from his chair before the guard had finished his words.

Henric seemed to catch the unspoken question in his eyes and inclined his head.

"They have Cora with them, My Lord."

Along the way to the dining hall, Lucien asked Henric for as many details as he could.

For perhaps the first time, the younger guard didn't seem as eager to provide answers as he normally would.

That only made Lucien more concerned.

When he stepped inside, it became clear why Henric had answered his questions that way.

He had expected Cora's parents to remain near her side. Instead, the two of them were sitting a distance away from Cora, who was lying across two chairs pushed together to form a makeshift bed, pillows set beneath her for comfort while Alicia and Talia checked over her.

Her face was flushed with fever, but the hand lying outside the cloak looked pale and still, the small fingers curled as though she were cold despite the sweat on her brow.

Will sat with his hands over his face, while Cora's mother stared at the child with a hollow, frightened look.

Marcus leaned against the wall nearby, looking as though he had only just found the chance to rest. Beside him, Merek remained upright, his expression grave.

Sera stood slightly apart, nearer to the window, her eyes focused on the child with an intensity that Lucien had only seen once before, back during the rescue mission at Cragwatch.

The sight of that, in what should have been a safe space within the manor, immediately caused a chill to run down his spine.

Talia looked up first upon his entrance. "Lord Lucien...she has a bad fever. I sent Tomas to get some water and a cloth, but we need to bring it down as much as we can."

Beside her, Alicia stood up. "I will draw a cool bath for her, My Lord."

Lucien inclined his head. "Do so. Let me know when it is ready."

The maid dipped her head and hurried off while he walked to Cora's parents, Dorian following silently at his side.

Marcus pushed away from the wall and saluted. His posture carried the exhaustion of the search, and from the look of Will, he had not been the only one worn down by it.

"My Lord. We found her at the mana-infused area." He hesitated briefly, glancing at Will, who had remained where he was, hands over his face.

"She was unconscious when we found her, My Lord. We barely managed to get her out before the effects from that place nearly made us collapse."

A small bundle of Cora's belongings had been set on the table nearby, including a mud-stained cloak, a few crushed red herbs, and a thin book with its cover turned downward.

The man's face still had a paleness to it that reminded Lucien faintly of how Merek and Henric had looked.

Merek, who looked to be in significantly better condition, inclined his head when Lucien turned to him.

"I watched the horses while those two went to get her, My Lord. If they failed...at least I could hurry back to report and bring others," the gray-haired guard said, answering his unspoken question.

Lucien gave a nod before looking at Cora's mother, who looked close to tears. He wondered how to broach the subject of why they were not with Cora when the woman shook her head.

"Milord...there's..." Her voice trembled as she looked toward the makeshift bed. "When we try to approach her...it feels as though my heart would stop..."

She looked uncertain, her eyes drifting back to Cora despite herself.

But the moment she tried to stand, Will, who had been hunched forward beside her, reached out at once, closing his hands gently but firmly over her shoulders.

"No...don't. Marcus and I had to take turns bringing her back. Merek carried her the rest of the way here."

Lucien's brow creased as he looked between them. Before he could ask further, Dorian cleared his throat, causing him to glance at the captain.

When Dorian gave a subtle nod toward the side of the room, Lucien understood and stepped away with him. Once they were out of earshot from Cora's parents, the captain spoke.

"My Lord, I have heard of this before, back in the capital." Dorian's eyes shifted to Cora, whose face remained pale.

"Mages who attempt to awaken their mana during the ritual and fail in the process...a failed awakening, in other words."

Lucien's eyes sharpened. "And what happens to the people who fail, Dorian?"

At his words, the captain's expression hardened. "Sometimes, they become gravely ill but recover after a long enough rest."

"But I cannot be certain, My Lord. I was never involved in such things and you were already old enough by the time I came into your father's service that you would not have attempted it."

He exhaled through his nose. "The girl might be emitting too much mana, so only those who have an inherent resistance to it are unaffected...even then, there are limits."

Lucien kept his expression carefully neutral, though his gaze shifted briefly to Talia, who still stood near Cora without any visible strain.

His junior was as observant as ever. When she caught his eyes, he gave a slight shake of his head before turning back to Dorian.

Talia stood up from where she was. "Sera. Could you watch her for me? I need to take a break...I am starting to feel a little weak."

The hunter, who had been watching Cora closely, turned toward Talia at once. Her pale eyes lingered for a brief moment before she tilted her head slightly and moved to tend to the child.

Dorian shook his head at the sight. "People will have to take turns watching over her, My Lord. Whether she recovers or not...that will depend on the Grace of the Goddess."

By the time Alicia returned, Cora's parents could only remain a short distance away, close enough to see their daughter but unable to touch her.

Lucien stepped quietly into the darkened room, pale moonlight casting shadows through the windows.

He walked to the side of the bed where Cora lay, his hands gently changing the cloth that Alicia had placed on her forehead. The cloth he removed was warm, but when his fingers brushed Cora's skin, the chill beneath it made his hand pause for the briefest moment.

The maid had only been convinced to rest after both Lucien and Talia told her it would do no one any good if she were to fall ill from the effects of remaining near the child and overworking herself.

As he sat down heavily on the chair beside the bed, he noticed the thin book among the belongings that had been placed nearby.

'Is this...'

Lucien reached for it, opening it with fingers that felt colder than they should have.

A page was marked by a strip of cloth.

Beneath an illustration of a child standing under painted stars, the title read:

The First Breath of a Mage.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!