Joining a Holding as a retainer is quite common. Your skills, your knowledge, your abilities, those make you valuable as a direct member of the Court. Affiliated members are associated with the Holding but rarely work for it directly. Being a retainer grants privileges to match the added responsibilities.

  Joining a Holding as a family member is unusual. You are born into a family, born into a Holding. You are part of the Holding by blood, by your connection to the Sovereign's line. Being asked to join as family, to bypass those rules and be welcome as kin, that is not merely an honor, it is a testament to your importance to those who can make such a decision.

  It means you owe no obligation, you need never put effort in beyond what you wish. It means you have a place regardless of your skills, regardless of what may come in the future. It means you are trusted, that you are home.

  ~ * ~

  Alex had been a member of the Holding for a month before he realized how little due diligence he'd actually done on them. He'd been desperate, panicking about his future after Velli had destroyed it. Valene had pointed him at Syl and set up a meeting with their Seer Liaison and he'd jumped at the opportunity.

  He'd managed to find out enough about Seer Phelann to believe she was reliable. Rapid progression, protege of an OverSeer since not long after she crossed the wall, every metric screamed talented research Seer. For her to be assigned as a Liaison was slightly unusual given that fact, however if Seers were anything like Arbiters it likely meant that Valene was planning to guide her to a more senior role.

  He hadn't found much about Holding Syl though. They were so new, so unknown that the few things he found were more speculation than fact. He'd seen bits and pieces about the Holding while helping arrange the plot purchase, but the Seer had kept her hands on all the Holding details. He couldn't blame her, he was still an unknown.

  Now he had access to everything, he could see the general contents of their Vault, mostly low level trinkets that no real Holding would care about. Nothing in there would be of any use for Awakened who had passed the wall. Nothing in there explained how they could have made the purchase.

  They had no staff, no retainers, not even any Affiliated Awakened who might help supplement Diving income. They had him, an Arbiter with minimal responsibility beyond exploring options for their property, options that were determined once more by Seer Phelann. The Holders were never there, they couldn't be making these decisions in the few days he had seen them, especially not the changes that Phelann had suggested more than once between visits.

  It all came back to her. He had been sent to talk to their Liaison, to a member of the Council, but she lived in their home. Not in the Holding, although she did have a proper office there, but in their private residence in the Shallows. She wasn't a Liaison, yet Valene had introduced her as such, she wasn't impartial or neutral. She was more a member of the Holding than he was.

  The details he'd found about the Lord and Lady, now that he had deeper insight into the Holding, was even more unusual. Adult Awakened less than four years ago and already past the wall? A former, possibly disgraced, heir of a minor Feudal Holding leaping past the wall in short order as well? This sort of progress rivaled the elite squads and prodigies of real Holdings.

  They had no connections, they had no backing, yet they had managed something many would consider impossible. They had a talented Senior Seer living with them, treating them as her best friends and making decisions in their name.

  He wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, but whatever it was, everyone had positive outlooks and working towards a common goal.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  ~ * ~

  "Seer?" Alex said as he knocked on Phelann's door. "Do you have a moment?"

  "Of course Arbiter," she said as she gestured to the chair across from her. "How can I help?"

  "I have questions about the Holding. I know I should have asked some of these before I joined, or at least soon after."

  "Go on."

  "How were they able to afford the land? They only just crossed the wall, they have no family funds to draw on, their Vault might as well be empty. How are they affording all the planned construction? My office and rooms are projected to cost more than they can afford based on their level."

  He saw Phelann frown for the briefest of instants before making a face. The reaction was faint, almost too fast for him to track but there all the same. She didn't like the questions.

  "They can't and they aren't. I am."

  That wasn't the answer he'd expected. Seers did not fund the progress of the Holding they Liaised with, they were neutral, impartial. They were not- His shock and confusion must have shown on his face since she went on.

  "I'm not their Liaison. I was when we first spoke, Valene didn't lie to you."

  "But then?"

  "They were there for me, they became good friends. We made a decision, I joined them as a family member not long before you started assisting me."

  "You… left the Council?"

  "I did. Valene was supportive and understanding. He agreed with my decision when I spoke to him."

  Alex nodded absently. This explained so many details. As a member of the Holding who knew the Holders it made sense for her to make decisions. As a member of their family, adoptive of course, there were no issues with her funding expenses. For her to have left the Council, abandoned the benefits it provided for a Holding that could not support her advancement for years, perhaps decades, to come, meant that she cared for them deeply and believed in their future.

  "This," he paused. "Thank you for explaining. I think I understand why there was such an insistence on Affiliated workspace once the initial Holding construction was completed. I knew they liked coffee but they aren't around enough to merit a dedicated shop."

  He watched as she looked away, her reaction all the more telling since she normally masked all but the slightest of tells. It was a personal request then, not simply a logical use of the land.

  "Briana is Unaffiliated. Her shop is rented and they are limited in what they can do, how they can expand. She knows about the land, about the plan to create space for businesses and housing, to grow the Holding's presence and recruit Affiliated members. She doesn't know about the coffee shop, I want the basic plans ready first."

  "Engineer Yshe's last update included a timeline. My rooms will be ready by the end of the week. The Seneschal and Arbiter offices are just awaiting final approval."

  "Do you approve of them?" she asked.

  "They cover everything that should be needed for either role. The Arbiter's Council wouldn't provide something of that caliber to anyone under level 30 unless they were a true prodigy with serious backing."

  "If you're satisfied with them then let the Engineers know."

  "But the Lady," he said. "Shouldn't she or her Partner look first?"

  "You haven't spent enough time with them yet," she said with a faint smile. "Seb would tell you he doesn't know what you need, so if anything is missing you'd have to tell him anyway. Anya would… probably ask you why a Seneschal needed her sign off on something that could be fixed later if necessary."

  "They don't care?"

  "They care," she said. "They care about people. If you're worried about their reaction I'll sign off as well, based on your satisfaction."

  Alex gave the briefest of nods. This wasn't the way things were done, at least not that he'd ever heard of. Feudal Holdings were rigid and unchanging. They didn't trust outsiders, they didn't allow freedom in how to implement a decision. They had their rules, their norms, their traditions and those decided everything.

  Yet the Seer was willing to let him sign off alone. Was willing to take responsibility based on his word and nothing more. She had given up what most would see as the better future to be with these people. She didn't refer to them formally, she spoke of them as though they were actually her family.

  She'd spoken of them formally on their first encounter, and then remained formal while acquiring the land. She'd been formal when dealing with every detail of the purchase. This was not a Seer who disregarded protocol, who misspoke or presumed. She was a researcher who dug into details, everything he'd found on her agreed about that.

  "If that is all Arbiter?" she asked.

  "Yes Seer. Thank you for your time," he answered as he rose.

  "My pleasure. I'll let them know I think you should have breakfast with us next time they visit."

  "Thank you Seer. It would be an honor to-" he began only to have her cut him off with a tilt of her head.

  "Not a formal breakfast. You should join us as someone who lives here. You haven't had a chance to speak to them, to know them. Nor they you."

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