Finding My Husband in Another World: Season 3: Chapter 3: Escape Again

When Sky returned with the paper undelivered I knew it was too late and Rider had been taken. I was going to make Locke pay. "Ren, I need the laptop Rider was using. I'm sure he kept it in the pocket dimension."

"He warned us not to touch it since it was so dangerous." Ren replied.

"He's right, but I know how to use it."

Ren pulled it out, holding it like it might explode, as he passed it to me. If Rider could order a yacht then I was sure I could get what I needed. As I was working Ember Quickly entered.

"Prowl, the team bringing in the princess is arriving. They also have a dog beast kin with them."

"That's Chaza. What about a kobold?"

"No, no kobold. Should there be?"

"Sky, was Toque with Rider?"

The Leopard shook his head.

"Find him. Epee, as soon as they enter bring Chaza here. Ember, I need you to start searching the city for a young green kobold. I quickly checked the computer and found Rider had taken pictures of everyone he could. I ordered several professionally printed copies of Toque's photo and gave one to her. "This is what he looks like. Even if they strip him he'll still have our team marking."

"Prowl!" Chaza yelled, as she barged in. We feared the worst after you’d been taken."

"Chaza, Rider has been captured and Toque is missing."

"That's absurd. They're just with another team. They'll be here soon." Locke said, as she followed Chaza into the room.

"Well, well, well. It's about time. Why don't you come over here and take these manacles off me?"

"You know, I don't think so. Not until we finish up the whole marriage agreement."

"Okay, I can be reasonable. You come and remove the bindings and I don't kill you for betraying us." I growled.

"I don't like your tone."

I lifted the shotgun I ordered. "I don't like your lying backstabbing face. Now remove the cuffs or experience pain like you've never imagined."

"You can't access mana so a magic wand no matter how strange it looks-"

I pulled the trigger causing everyone to jump at the explosion. Locke was thrown back against the wall as the rock salt tore through her clothes and into her skin. "I warned you." I ejected the shell and chambered the next. “This one contains metal beads perfect for blowing off limbs. Shall we continue or are you going to remove the manacles? Don't worry I won't kill you, yet. I have two shells after that one. The first, I guess you could say contains fire magic that will burn like you can't imagine and the last one will destroy you to the point where the best cleric in all the world won't be able to regenerate you."

"Stop him." Locke hissed to Ember and Epee. They both moved toward me and then turned. Epee pointing his namesake blade and Ember holding a pair of daggers pointed at Locke. "This is treason I'll have both of you executed."

"You have no power over my slaves. You overplayed you hand princess. You though I'd be easy to control without access to my mana. You were wrong. I have a talent that you could never imagine. I draw those who are broken to me and I give them safety and a place to belong."

"Well I hope they get used to you being powerless then because I'm not-"

"Ember, would you get the old cleric in here please."

"Yes, Prowl." She answered.

"You gave her a name?" Locke spat in disgust.

"Shut up, or I'll break your jaw." Chaza growled.

"Chaza, I thought we were friends."

"We could have been if you didn't try to manipulate me every chance you got."

"What is the meaning of this? We may be under attack and this worthless little scrap tells me the princess is in danger."

"Very much so. If you don't remove my bindings I'll kill the princess." I said as I gestured for Ember to return to our side of the room.

"I can't, only one with-"

"Royal blood, right? However those with royal blood have a skill allowing them to communicate with each other over long distances. I've been watching and everyone defers to you so it wasn't difficult to figure out you're royal. As you can see the princess is already injured and the one thing keeping her alive was the bluff that she was needed. Now I know she's not. So here's the deal you release me and I let the princess live. You refuse, my team and I kill every last one of you to be sure this hideout is secure, we rescue my husband, then we return to the beast continent and kill every royal that refuses to do as I've asked. Including the king if necessary."

"I order you not to-" the princess went quiet as Chaza easily knocked her out.

"What happens once the restraints are removed?" The cleric asked.

"We leave, peacefully. You can keep this place. Too many know about it for my tastes. Besides we have a kobold to find and a prince to rescue."

The manacles fell away with a simple tap.

"Master Prowl! It’s so good to be able to interact with you again!" Star howled.

"Sky has found Toque. He is hiding near the guild hall, but seems afraid to get close." Moon informed me

"Give me a moment:" I said, to get them to be quiet. "Chaza, my spirits have found Toque I'm sending all of you to the pocket dimension for a little while."

"That's not a good idea."

"Remember the black fire He gave me?" I emphasized he so that the healer wouldn't realize I was about to use a death power. "I'm going to use a lot of it and even though you are protected it will still have minor effects."

"Okay, I'm all for hiding in there." Skit said, quickly.

"You sure you'll be all right?" Ren asked.

"I need to use a lot of mana really fast the restraints blocked my using it and the sickness of not using it, but now I'm on overload."

"Everyone stand close together." Chaza said, pulling Ember and Epee close.

I sent them all into storage and then grinned. The old cleric had healed the princess and she was awake. "You should have known not to try and make a deal with death." I decided to keep the dark fire in check instead I released a wave of fear. Not enough to kill, just enough that every living thing in at least a hundred meter radius lost control of their bodily functions. I planned to go invisible and leave but Reaper appeared. He padded over and poked Locke in the chest. "You, and through you your father, are now marked. If you ever make plans to interfere with my vessel, or anyone he claims as teammates, you will die instantly. Then you will be mine to torture as I will." Reaper then disappeared again.

I cloaked myself, put the shotgun and the laptop into the pocked dimension, and walked out.

"Don't get captured like that again. It seems when you are cuffed while I'm asleep It keeps me from being able to take over and free you."

Reaper informed me.

"I'll try to remember that, but trust me, I have no intention of being cuffed ever again. Screw the rules of this world."

"And if it was your Wolf?"

I nearly tripped.

"Uh huh, that's what I thought just be careful I still want you to have a long and happy life, despite what people think of me."

I smiled, I was privileged to know that- "None of that, you're not to share that, even if you could guarantee no one would ever read your journal."

***

It had been what, five years since the last time I walked these streets? It seemed very little had changed. Other than the colors and crest all the city guards were wearing. Oh and there were a great many more of them out. Likely still searching for me. Not that they would know I was here. I had my abilities back and the moons were full. At this power level there was no way any shill could see through my invisibility.

When I found Toque he was pretty beaten up. Multiple small cuts and an arrow through his tail, and that's what I could see. He was wrapped tightly in a blanket but I could tell his body was rapidly going into a hibernation state from the cold. As I got close I noticed a nearly empty healing potion. It was one of the strongest and tasted rather bad. If he'd drank that his wounds must have been close to deadly for them not to be completely healed.

"Toque, its Prowl.  I'm going to finish healing you."

"They took Master Rider. I tried to stop them but they laughed at Toque's weapon and then they started to cut Toque. Master ordered Toque to run away. Toque didn't want to run but it was order so Toque run."

I broke the end of the arrow off and then used purify to clear away any infection followed by heal. The little kobold was good as new, but I couldn't do anything about the cold. "Toque, I'm sending you into the storage place. The others are there and it's warm."

"Toque would like to be warm again."

I easily shifted him inside. "Okay Sky, we need to find a new safe house. The guild is out. Too much chance of someone turning on us." Leaving the city wasn’t an option either. I was tempted to sneak back into the castle, it was big enough that there were likely a great many unused rooms. However that carried to many risks. The graveyard? One of the crypts might be large enough too hide in. Though the church kept a close eye there in case of undead. I only really had two contacts in the city and I refused to put them at risk.

Sky growled and paced away from me. Then turned back. I tucked myself into the corner Toque had been hiding in and connected with him. I had the immediate sense of dysphoria that always accompanied him dematerializing when we were connected. He moved rapidly across the rooftops until he reached the noble district. Then he drifted upward just until I could see all the noble mansions. One was completely dark and looked abandoned. Sky dropped unnervingly fast and then slowed as he landed on the front stairs. Emblazoned on the doors was the Trevant crest. I broke our link.

"Of course, why would they waste the expense of keeping staff on hand at the noble mansion now they were living in the palace?"

I quickly made my way through the streets. Getting past the walls into the noble sector would have been a problem, if I didn't have a dragon that easily lifted me over and placed me on the other side. He insisted our bond needed to be stronger before he could trust his ability to remain solid enough for me to fly with him. I didn't mind I still got were I needed to go.

Sky was waiting right where we'd broken the link. I waved to him and circled around to the servant's entrance. No need to trigger any magical alarms rigged to the main doors. I lit the fire in both the fireplace and the stove and started warming the room. As long as we didn't light up any rooms at the front or on the second floor no one would know we were here.

I pulled Ren out first.

"Prowl, I recognize this place. Are you insane?"

"Do you think the king will consider us brave enough to hide in his old house?"

"He might."

"There's no one here except us. So long as we stick to the servant’s area we should be safe. Besides I don't plan on being here long. I thought you could start cooking something. We need to get the room good and warm. When I found Toque he had been out in the cold much longer than he should have been."

"Got it."

"Good, next out is Ember."

"Not Chaza?" Ren asked, as he started pulling cooking supplies out.

I pulled Ember out. "Ember, I need you to make sure there is no one else here. If you observe anyone return immediately and report. And no matter what don't set off any alarms or get seen."

"As you command master." She said, as she slipped out to explore the house.

"And you're sure you can trust her?"

I pulled Chaza out before replying. "Yeah, she doesn't have any choice now that they know she chose us over the network."

"Did she though, or was it more of Locke's manipulation?" Ren asked.

"You trust Epee."

Ren started to reply but then smiled. "And you trust him because we trust him just like we should trust Ember because you trust her."

"No, trust me, but keep an open mind about Ember and decide for yourself once you get to know her."

"That's just like you picking up strays wherever you go." Chaza said.

"That's right I see a mistreated mutt in need of a good home and I can't help but rescue her even if she barks at me all the time."

"I do not. Not all the time."

I pulled Skit out. "Sorry, but no music we've got to be quiet so no one figures out where we are."

"Where are we by the way?" Chaza asked looking around the kitchen.

"The Trevant manor in the noble district."

"Are you insane?"

"Who would think to search their own house for the fugitives that are trying to escape from you? Besides they're living it up in the palace."

"Yes, completely insane. Still better than where we just were or in the palace prison I suppose.” Chaza said, shaking her head.

I pulled Epee out. "That was probably disconcerting but you are officially one of our team member now. That means you can access the pocket dimension for what you need and to store items there."

"Um, how does that work? Has all of my stuff been transferred into the group dimension or have I lost it?"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"My skill was access to my own pocket dimension."

"We can test it. Tell me something that exists only in your pocket."

"Um, that, I don't." He glanced around at everyone.

"Ren, do you think the room is warm enough?"

"Yes. Well not yet, but it would probably be best to get him here now so he can warm gradually."

I hadn't even considered the possibility my plan would put Toque into a state of shock. I pulled him back out.

"Master Prowl, Toque is still so cold."

"You'll warm up now. Do your best to help Ren with the cooking. Being next to the stove will help warm you quicker. Once we've eaten we'll come up with a plan to rescue Rider."

"Toque likes that idea."

I nodded to him as he wobbled over near Ren. I took Epee's hand and transported us both to the pocket realm.

"I don't understand. Where are we?"

"We're in the pocket. This is what it is like when I'm here with you."

Epee ran over to a shelf and picked up a tiger plush. "Luny you're here! I was afraid I lost you."

"Luny?" I asked.

"Yes, my mother made him for me when I was really young. She said as long as I had him the Tiger God Lunarii would watch over me."

"That means all of your treasures are here now. Sorry about taking your special skill away though."

"No, I don't mind. It is a small price to pay in order to be your husband. Um, is it true that you can really summon Lunarii?"

"I can summon both Moon and Star. My names for those two. Not sure what Moon will think if you call him Luny."

"No my doll is Luny not Lunarii."

"He won't mind if you call him Moon. If you want to leave Luny here he'll be safe. I get the feeling you didn’t want the others to know about him."

"Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing." He said, placing the plush on the bed. I don't want anyone thinking I'm weaker than I already look."

"I don't think any less of you and I know Rider won't think so either. It's really cute and in our past life we both had the same thing but of each other rather than of a god."

"Really?"

"Really." I replied as I transported us back.

***

There was still a chill, but the kitchen was warming up quickly.

"Ren when we finish eating there's something I need your help with."

"No. No offense, but I know what you want and as you remember it takes nearly a week to recover. We don't have the time for that."

"What are you plotting?" Chaza asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's just something between us husbands." Ren snapped.

"Whoa, must be a delicate topic for that sort of reaction."

"Chaza-"

"Master, we're not alone." Ember said, as she slipped back into the kitchen. There is a young male human here as well. He's coming this way. I could have stopped him but you told me not to."

I quickly cloaked all of us and created the illusion that the room was just as we had found it. Only moments before the door opened.

"If you're here to kill me just get it over with. My little sister has already escaped the city. I can tell you're using magic to hide yourself. The room is warm and I can feel the heat from the fire. Are you . .  . cooking?"

I dropped the cloak from myself. "Who are you?"

He stepped back looking surprised. "You must be an escaped slave no way would the king send a demi-tiger after me. Or maybe you're just here to rob the place."

"I asked who you are."

"Who are you to make demands on me? I was here first."

"For starters you're in my house." I growled.

"Right, your house. If this was your house you wouldn’t be here you'd be in the palace."

"Never the less, I have more claim on this house than you do."

"Tiger, you need to drop the illusion otherwise our food is going to burn." Ren insisted.

I dropped the illusion and watched as the food seemingly continued to prepare itself.

"You're not alone?" I heard real fear in the young man's voice. I say young but I suppose physically we had to be the same age.

"No, I'm not. Now who are you?" I was pretty sure I already knew but I needed to be sure.

"You say that this is your house so it is only right you introduce yourself first."

I shifted to human form. "William Trevant, first born son of current King Trevant. Bastard, adventurer, and survivor; your Highness."

"Oh gods help us! You're Rider's brother? I need a drink." Chaza muttered.

I went ahead and dropped the invisibility. "You know better than that."

"So should you have known better!" She yelled.

"This is the rest of my group Chaza of the bloody hammer."

She flipped me off making me regret teaching her that gesture. “Ren, our twin sword and cook for the moment.”

He refused to say anything or even look at me.

"Skit, our combination bard and archer."

"I'm not sure what's going on with them, but as long as Prowl doesn't see you as a threat you don't have to worry about me."

"Toque, is the ward of our missing member."

"Toque is happy to meet you. Will you help rescue Toque's master from King?"

"Don't worry Toque, I'm sure we'll be able to rescue him. Next up is Epee, our sword master." Epee nodded but didn't say anything.

"The one with the knife ready to slit your throat is our ninja Ember. You can back away, he's no threat to us." I ordered.

"As you wish, Prowl."

"You're Prowl? Father often conferred with his council about you. He always believed you were a hero due to your ability to summon two of the beast gods."

"I can summon five now, three god level and one mid-level."

"Why don't you tell him about your demon?" Chaza growled.

"Oh right, if you look up you'll see my companion Sky ready to pounce if need be."

"Oh, I figured your cloud leopard was nearby."

"Not whom I’m talking about, and you know it." Chaza said, coldly.

"Chaza! What the hell is you problem? Yeah, I'm married to my half-brother. Big deal. It's not like we can have kids. Plus wasn't it you that once said the gods liked to screw with us? It's not like we chose to be reborn with the same father. If you are so against us being together, and make no mistake once I free him we will still be husbands, you're free to go."

"I- I don't want to go. It's just . . . it doesn't seem proper is all."

"Um, does that mean both King Trevant's sons are heroes? I- I guess there really is no chance of reclaiming my father's throne then."

"Are you saying you're the prince of this kingdom?" Skit asked.

"Former prince. Lord Trevant was able to bribe a sizable group of nobles to back his take over. Once in power he made sure those nobles were executed blaming the rebellion on them painting himself as the people’s hero. If only we'd known sooner he could have saved the king. Unfortunately we were only able to escape. Those still loyal were able to get my sister out of the city, but when it was my turn something happened that put everyone on alert. I've been here alone since then."

"Sorry, that was probably my fault when I escaped. For the record I'm more than happy for you to be king. I certainly don't want it."

"Enough talk. First we eat then we plan on how to free Rider." Ren said, placing food on the table. "Then I want to know why you didn't trust me." He mumbled.

I quickly pulled him aside. "Ren, I promise you I didn't know until I was a captive. I overheard my captors saying that Lord Trevant had ordered my capture in order to lure his son back. Then one asked how the son of a noble could marry an animal like me. That was when I knew. And yes my reaction would likely have been similar to Chaza's if it wasn't that Rider was my husband long before we were reborn as brothers. I- I understand if you don't love us anymore." I said, though it felt like I was stabbing a knife in my chest.

"Ren hugged me tightly. “I didn't say I was going to leave, I love you both too much for that. I just thought you didn't trust me is all."

"After all the secrets from my former life that I've shared?"

Ren laughed, "I'm sorry, you're right I should have known better."

"We'd better eat, or Chaza will steal our share."

"Doesn't matter, I can always cook more."

***

We ate in silence for a while no one really feeling like breaking the tension.

“This is really good. You could easily find work in any noble or royal kitchen as the head chef.” The Prince finally said.

“Non, I’m just learning. Rider is the real chef.”

“A noble that has learned to do common work? That is surprising.”

We lapsed into silence once more.

“Okay, let’s get this over with. I know you’re going to kill me. It’s nice and all that you at least have the decency to give me such a good final meal, but you’re all so scared of saying something wrong.”

I sighed, “We’re not going to kill you. The reason for the silence isn’t you, at least on my part, it’s because we don’t get many meals like this and not having a member of the team here is sad. Especially for Ren and I since he is our husband.”

“About that, how did something like that come about?” The Prince asked.

“What falling in love with my half-brother? Well, that’s complicated. First off you have to understand both of us are what you would call heroes, though we wouldn’t call ourselves that. We were reborn here from another world. However the god of reincarnation is an asshole because they knew we were husbands in our former life. So when I regained the memories of my true self I immediately started looking for my husband since I paid a hefty toll in order for us both to be reborn in this world.”

“I can attest to that. He was only really half alive until he found Rider. Or more to the point when he discovered Rider was his husband.” Chaza pointed out.

“Right, I actually met Rider at the Academy as a fellow student and he hired me as his body guard.”

“Yes, and mana battery. I was as surprised as father that two such powerful students had such complimentary powers yet one was a commoner and the other a noble. I knew I’d heard you referred to before. So that makes you Chaza of the bloody hammer, breaker of hearts?” The Prince asked.

“Breaker of hearts?” I asked.

“Hey! You said no puppies, there was no mention of not having any fun.”

I rolled my eyes, she was right, of course still I wasn’t comfortable with so many obviously knowing I existed. “So even though it was a working arrangement we became friends. And possibly more if it wasn’t for the fact I was so focused on finding my reborn husband. You have to understand that he always referred to himself as Rider so I had no idea of his noble house.”

“That’s true. Rider wanted to be an adventurer and disliked all the rules being a noble placed on him so he ordered me to never mention his family name.” Ren said, backing me up.

“So you developed feelings for him naturally as an individual. Wait, but wasn’t he the one you were looking for the whole time?” The Prince asked.

“Sort of, his memories of our former life hadn’t woke up yet. And I suppose if Lord Trevant hadn’t threatened to have me killed we might never have found each other. However that was the trigger to awaken Rider’s memories. So once he was able to escape he came and found me. We moved to the Beast continent. Except we weren’t safe even there. First I was captured and brought back as bait to get Rider to return. It worked, sort of. I escaped, probably the reason security was increased making it so you couldn’t escape the city. Rider arrived but was betrayed by a former ally so now it’s up to us to rescue him.”

“I still don’t understand why you don’t want to be king. I thought that was what everyone wanted?” The Prince asked.

“No, I’d make a terrible king. I feel too deeply for those in trouble. If I were king I’d need to try and save everyone. That mean’s ending slavery immediately even though I know that would just lead to thousands of displaced and unwanted servants. No, something like that has to be done gradually but it would eat me up inside having to make them suffer as things improved. Also a king has to be able to make necessary sacrifices in times of war. That is something I can’t do. No, better that someone else be king.”

“I- I never thought of it that way. But surely you’re not just going to put me back on the throne without some sort of price. I may be royalty, but I’m not stupid.”

I laughed, “You have a good sense of humor at least. Okay I have thought this out a bit. I mean, I wasn’t sure how to accomplish what I wanted but finding you makes things a lot easier and much cleaner. You hire my team to infiltrate the palace and take down the false king. Now I can’t guarantee that he will survive to stand trial, which is something that fate will have to decide. When we have won, and don’t doubt that we will, you’ll be put back on the throne. This will allow the people to see that you didn’t flee in their time of need or in the face of danger making them respect you that much more. In exchange you will release the sad news that Jordan Trevant was killed when he stood up to his father, the false king, to defend your rightful claim. Since everyone already believes William Trevant is already dead it makes things that much easier. Then quietly you will acknowledge Prowl and Rider Nightiger as husbands. That means we’ll be safe from persecution but also mean that there is no Trevant heir to challenge your legitimacy. Then we’ll go back to adventuring and you’ll never have to hear from us again.”

“Sounds acceptable, but I’d like to add one caveat. I want you to be a royal advisor. I admit that physically we’re probably about the same age but if you’re a hero then you’re far older and wiser than I am. While you might not be a good king I think I could learn a lot from you on how I could be a better one.”

Not what I wanted but all things considered it might be the best deal I could hope for. Better than taking out the King and leaving the kingdom in chaos as the nobles fought over who should be the next king. I pulled out the far writing ink and paper. Took a single sheet and a small portion of the ink. Then passed the rest to the Prince. “This should be good enough to keep us in tough when this is all over. Skit, as our Bard it will be your job to check for messages every morning when you wake up and every evening before you go to sleep. Think you can handle that?”

“Definitely! Finally you’ve given me a purpose in the group suited to my talents!”

I noticed the prince wiping his eyes. “What’s wrong, did I say something to upset you?”

“No, it’s just that this gift . . . It is so rare and valuable even father only had a couple of pages to share with his closest advisors. There has to be at least nine sheets here even as an early solstice gift it is too much. Yet, the only thing I can think about is how much I wish I could have had this sooner so I could send my sister a message letting her know that I’m alive and that everything is going to be alright.”

“Solstice? How far away is it?”

“What do you care? You’ve always hated Solstice. When we weren’t off hidden away during the winter you’d lock yourself in your room and just be depressed.” Chaza growled.

“Even when I joined you, you always seemed overly depressed this time of year, why so surprised this year?” Ren asked.

“Because Rider loves Noel . . . ah, Solstice in this world, and I once promised that we’d always be together on Solstice. Your Highness how long do we have?”

“Uh, three days, well two now that it’s after midnight.”

“We take the palace tomorrow night.” Get some rest and prepare yourselves as best you can. I’m going to do a full assessment of your abilities and try to come up with a plan of attack. Your Highness, anything you can tell me about the palace, especially getting inside past the wards will be of great value.”

***