"Welcome home, young master. It's always a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e having you here." Hilya said.
Lark was about to burst into outrage when he noticed that the head chef had actually obeyed his orders. She was talking with Aran, not Lith, offering to both him and Leria sweets from her cart.
The stress almost gave him a stroke, especially when he noticed how the guards looked at him, expecting the Count to scold Hilya and ruin the happiness of the children.
Stuck between a rock and a hard head, Lark could only suck it up and endure.
"Lady Ernas, to what do I owe this unexpected p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e?" He knew Friya from the Court and he hoped that her presence along with Tista's would keep the male staff from remembering anything about those events.
Judging from their sudden blank stares, the plan seemed to work.
"I helped Lith in making this wonder of magic and decided to join them for this joy ride. I must say that it goes beyond my wildest expectations. I'm even considering to gift one to my mother." She replied to the Count's bow with a small curtsy.
The more Lark learned about the DoLorean, the less he cared for his alleged parenthood. His love for anything even remotely magical was the reason why he and Lith had crossed paths in the first place.
Standing in front of a piece that even the famous Royal Forgemaster Orion Ernas considered worthy of his wife, made Lark's monocle pop out of his eye socket in surprise.
He had no idea that Friya spoke only on her own behalf nor that her request would probably go against the law in the matter of a few hours.
"What does it do, exactly?" He asked without taking a single step away from the car as he studied it inside and out.
Hilya inwardly griped at her master's lack of etiquette, forcing his guests to stand outside despite the chilly wind of the upcoming winter and without offering them any refreshment.
She had filled her cart to the brim with still-warm pastries and hot tea expecting to serve it in the Tea Room, not in the middle of the honor guard. Little did she know that after flying that way, everyone enjoyed the feeling of solid ground under their feet.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Your Grace, but Your tea is getting cold. Maybe you should continue the conversation inside the house." Hilya had positioned herself so that when she tilted her head pointing at the house, it would also point at the kids.
She hoped that the Count would put two and two together and cease his shenanigans.
"I think you are right, Hilya." Lark said with the pained voice of a man forced to say goodbye to his true love.
Then, he looked at the sun and calculated how much time was left before sunset.
"I know that it's really rude of me, but I would love to have a ride until there's still some light to enjoy the scenery. Care to join us?" He asked.
The a.d.u.l.ts shuddered, the kids were too busy stuffing their faces with sweets, and Zekell preferred to enjoy a hospitality worthy of the Royals. He never followed the Verhens to official events and, for a mere country blacksmith, it was a unique opportunity to receive undeserved attentions.
"In this case, I'd better leave this here." Lith took out from his pocket dimension a black sphere the size of an orange covered in red runes.
"What is that?" Lark asked.
"It's a Home Stone." Friya said. "It works in couples, allowing to extend the range of dimensional magic and to reduce its requirements by creating a beacon that contains a specific set of coordinates."
Lark nodded, pretending to have understood her words and so did the others.
"It's another of the reasons why I needed Friya's help." Lith said. "My understanding of dimensional magic allows me to craft one with fixed coordinates, while this baby can lead to a different destination according to the circ.u.mstances."
The Stone in Lith's hands pulsed with a red light as the runes on its surface changed. The process was akin to that of Lith's army amulet when he shared his position, but in this case, the Stone would just store the information.
Once the light disappeared, Lith used earth magic to bury the Home Stone without ruining Lark's perfect lawn.
"It mustn't be removed until our return." Lith said to the Count who ordered the guards to leave the place and Hilya to take care of his guests until his return.
"Where is Pontus? This is supposed to be his job." Lark said.
"The last time I saw him, he was having a meeting with your healer, Your Grace." Hilya replied.
"I don't care about gossip, Hilya. He can date whoever he wants as long he doesn't do it during working hours." The Count was both flabbergasted and mistaken about his butler's uncharacteristic lack of ethics.
"I believe their relationship is strictly professional, Your Grace." She said.
"Does he need help?" Friya asked.
"According to mage Ophyn, Pontus is just a bit tired and ill-suited for running, Your Ladyship, but I'm certain he could use a second opinion." The head chef gave her a deep bow.
Lark, instead, didn't hear a word of it and jumped straight on the driver's seat.
"Are you sure you don't want to experience it as a passenger first?" Lith asked.
"Isn't it safe?"
"Of course. I made it for non-mages so safety was my first priority." Lith replied.
"Then I can just trust your work and enjoy myself. What do I have to do?" Lark asked while pulling and turning the steering wheel to no avail.
After a brief explanation about the commands, the Count imprinted the car and had it bolt off the lawn, pulling the speed lever straight from zero to three.
"Don't you need your monocle to see?" Lith's guts went up and down along with the DoLorean when Lark made it jump above the metal gate of his mansion without even giving the guards the time to open it for them.
"Nonsense. Sight is for the weak. Either a vehicle it's safe or it isn't." The Count brought the car back on the road laughing heartily like a child. Given his age, he sounded more like a madman, but Lith had no time to notice such trivial things.
He was too focused on being ready to take the wheel the moment something went wrong. The Count never decelerated and took turns so sharp that he almost hit road signs more than once.
'I'm glad we made the controls so responsive, yet Lark is really pushing them to their limits.' Solus thought as she watched the DoLorean jump or dodge other vehicles according to the nobleman's whims.
Lark never slowed down so each one of his maneuvers brought them centimeters away from a crash.
"Look, that's Viscount Drath!" The Count pointed at a gold-painted luxurious stagecoach that floated in mid-air and pulled by six magnificent white stallions.
"You have no idea how much he likes to flaunt that useless thing. Sure, its enchantments prevent any bumps even when the horses gallop at their full speed, but I don't think it's worth spending one-tenth of your annuities."
