Chapter 297: Interlude - The Golden Man
Tohn Goldman was a man on edge.
For coming home alive after encountering the deadly Ghostheart, he had the approval of his father.
For coming home without half the gold paid to the Syndicate by Norneau, he had been made the scapegoat of the five families that handled the slave trade for world tree Amrita... and that was before he’d delivered Ghostheart’s message. Afterward... Well, he felt lucky his dealings were groundside instead of amongst the mighty branches of the world tree.
His artisans had built many of the bridges that spanned between branches, but he wouldn’t trust a single foot of those bridges should he set foot in the crown city now...
Anyone of wealth would have safeguards against falling. Be they artifice wings purchased from Heaven’s embassy, or floatstones crafted from lesser mana stones... And for everyone else, there were the mana nets that would deploy so long as they were charged, and they were always charged.
Which was why, when he heard that Desrig Nebima and her entire retinue had fallen from the heights - identified only by the matron’s signet ring - his only reaction was to close his eyes for a long , long time, regretting that he’d allowed his father to talk him out of sending his family away. The only ways Desrig and her retainers could have truly fallen were if they had gone to the very edges of a branch and leaped, far from any of the magic safety nets, or if they were already dead on the way down.
"We are the Goldman family. If the King knows what’s good for his kingdom, he’ll protect us." His father replied when he suggested that it might have been Ghostheart, before departing for the palace.
Tohn half expected his father to disappear, but the nearly century-old mage had his tricks, and he’d gone and come back from the palace quickly, with a small retinue of soldiers, who were now billeting all over the manor and patrolling the orchards.
The night after the soldiers arrived, Tohn’s lovemaking with his wife was fierce enough that he was sure he had another child on the way, but even afterward the specter of the demon’s promise would not release its hold on him...
"Acatha, I need you to take Bosra and Harvest to your mother’s place. You’ll pack tomorrow." It was about an hour after he’d returned to bed from a quick bath with his wife, and he’d stayed up smoking right next to her.
"Mmm... why?" The sable-haired beauty asked, half asleep.