Sorry about not posting this sooner! I’m writing chapter 8 at the moment, so tonight you’ll get a few more chapters out of me.
Five
“This is incredible,” Joslyn said, stopping in a clearing in the woods a little way out from the outskirts of Coronet. She turned slowly in a circle, face tilted toward the sky. Her avatar was dressed in her usual attire—dark brown leather armor, high boots, a sword at one hip and a long, scarlet mantle draped around her. This was the Scarlet Dame, Calia Freydin, Lady of Grovesong Keep, known throughout Elfaedil as one of its leading nobles.
That had been part of the deal, something that backers had the option to do as part of the crowdfunding campaign—become part of the story, become one of the leaders of a particular providence or nation-state or megacorp depending on which world you were based on. Of course, you had to perform well enough to keep it, had to be behaved enough to maintain it, and you had to be good enough to fend off anyone looking to supplant you.
It could get a little cutthroat in that regard.
“It feels real,” Elaine said, hugging herself as she looked around. It even smelled real, with the scent of pine and woodsmoke and the distant tang of the sea. She could almost taste it. She could feel the weight of her armor, the tug of the cloak she wore against her shoulders and chest. The breeze was chill, though not enough so that it gave her goosebumps—those were coming from the reality of this experience.
They really did deliver on what they promised.
“It does,” Joslyn agreed, still grinning. “So incredible. I can’t believe it.”
“I can,” Elaine said softly. “They said they’d do it and they did. These guys haven’t disappointed yet.”
“I know,” Joslyn said, nose wrinkling. “I’m kind of waiting for the inevitable let-down.”
“Maybe there won’t be one,” Elaine said, shucking off one of her gloves to brush her fingertips along leaves and branches. The detail was exquisite. “Maybe this is just how it’s going to be.”
“Maybe,” Joslyn said, then shrugged. “We can hope, anyway.”
“Absolutely.” Elaine smiled, shifting her shoulders so her staff rested a little more comfortably against her spine. Idly, she wondered if she would be sore later—if they would both be sore later, even though their bodies hadn’t actually done the work of wearing and carrying their gear. If they got hurt in a fight, would there be bruises in real life?
I doubt it. They must have tested for that. This never would have launched if there were safety concerns at that level.
Right?
Joslyn turned back toward the city again, peering through the trees toward Coronet. “How long do you think before it’s available outside of gaming cafes?”
Elaine quirked a brow, crossing her arms again. “Probably never. They seem pretty heavy-duty.”
Joslyn shrugged. “You could be right.” She glanced back toward Elaine. “You ready to go back?”
“Back to the city?” Elaine arched a brow. “Sure. There a particular reason we’re going to head back so fast, though? You don’t want to see what we can tangle with out here and the consequences might be?”
Joslyn snorted a laugh. “Maybe not the first time out, especially if it’s just the two of us.”
Elaine grinned. “What, you don’t have confidence in my magical abilities?”
“Let’s just say I’d feel better with a second blade at our backs,” Joslyn said, shooting her a sly smile. Elaine’s own smile grew.
“Oh,” she said. “You want Ascalon to be along for that ride.”
Joslyn’s cheeks flamed and Elaine laughed.
“I don’t blame you,” Elaine said. “I think I’d want the same thing if I were you.”
“Well, that’s reassuring. Guess I haven’t turned into some kind of total hopeless case.”
“You, a hopeless case?” Elaine shook her head. “Never. Come on. If you want to go back, let’s go back.” She turned, heading for the edge of the clearing, finding the deer trail they’d followed to get to where they’d been standing. Joslyn jogged the couple steps it took to catch up to her, the pair falling into step as they started down the track, moving along it back toward the city.
“I wonder if the food will taste real,” Joslyn mused as they walked. “That could be an interesting experience, right?”
Elaine shrugged. “It could be. All of this might be enough to get me to check out other worlds.”
“You barely have time for this one,” Joslyn observed. Elaine inclined her head.
“True story, but there’s a such thing as making time—as you so commonly like to remind me.” Elaine hip-checked her gently and Joslyn laughed, returning the gesture. Elaine stumbled a few steps off the path, laughing as she stepped back up onto it again.
“Well, I would be lying if I said I didn’t think it’d be good for you. You spend way too much time in books and in your own head and you need to remember that there’s more to life than your school work. There’s got to be some kind of balance, grad school or not, Ph.D candidacy or not.”
“You’re right,” Elaine admitted. “You’re right. I’ve always figured that once I got through all of it, maybe then I’d be able to relax. But you’re right, if I don’t do it now, I’m going to forget and honestly, what kind of life is that? I can’t forget how to live.”
“You have no idea what a relief it is to hear those words.” Joslyn’s voice grew quieter as they got closer to the edge of the city. “There’s a ball tomorrow at Lord Caius’s keep,” she said. “You should come.”
Elaine’s brow quirked. “That’s oddly well-timed.”
Joslyn shrugged. “I have no explanations. Ascalon asked me if I’d come with him.” She leaned into Elaine’s ear. “We could come back, do the immersion thing again. It could be fun?”
“I don’t know,” Elaine hedged. “I mean, I’ve never really met Lord Caius, just seen him. And then there’s the matter of lacking an invitation.”
“If you ever checked your mail, I’m sure you’d find one,” Joslyn said archly, smirking. “Come on. Half the realm is invited. You should come. You’re a lady of the realm. It’s practically expected.”
The lines were blurring between their out of character and in character conversations, but that was for the best as they drew closer to the edge of Coronet. Verbal communications were expected to be in character in public areas of cities, with out of character chatter limited to subchannels and private spaces—or out in the wild, as long as no one else was around to overhear, or overhear much. But in the cities, immersion was the rule, and despite the occasional inconvenience, Elaine could appreciate the dedication of both the game designers and the players.
It was fun to be someone else for a while.
“Expected, huh?” Elaine sighed, staring up at the canopy of tree branches above them, at the foliage that was just starting to show the faintest glimmers of autumn. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask,” Joslyn said, grinning. She twined her arm through Elaine’s. “Come on. Let’s go see if the food at the tavern is as good as it looks.”
“Or as bad as it looks,” Elaine muttered.
Joslyn laughed and dragged her onward, Elaine only too happy to tag along. She could only hope that she was pleasantly surprised—with both the food at the tavern and what decision she made about the invitation to a ball.
Only one way to find out exactly how it all shakes out, I guess.
She wouldn’t tell Joslyn, though, not yet—that way, there would be room to change her mind if she somehow lost her nerve.
There was a small part of her that hoped she wouldn’t. Who knew? Maybe it would be fun.
Either that, or it would be some kind of disaster. In either case, she’d find out tomorrow.
One way or another.
