The next day I visited Gronir. He was delighted that Hatsumi had her own undead now. His main interest was in the vampire bite and how it created undead, compared to the normal spells. Hatsumi agreed to help with his research.

Because we were early, the academy was still relatively empty. Which meant no Leo, no Archibald, no Valeria,... It was great. Of course there was still one encounter waiting for us.

"My mother wants to meet, tomorrow. I guess she has finally completed her politics, which were more important than meeting her daughter." Cassie grumbled.

"Shall we all accompany you?" I asked.

"Well, she did not specify but I would appreciate the backup." Cassie replied.

"We got you!" Helena said.

"Meow." Nyx commented.

"Don't worry, she can't come between us." Skadi said, while placing her hand on Cassie's shoulder.

The meeting was set at a fine restaurant, where Brittany had reserved a private room. We brought Frank, in a suit with a sword at his belt, Hatsumi, in her maid uniform, her undead in a robe and finally Nyx. She was sitting on Hatsumi's head.

Us girls wore our school uniforms, now with the markings of a second year student. Having Frank as a guard and Hatsumi as a maid made us look a lot more important. Maybe It would help.

Brittany smiled when we arrived, she did not look surprised that Cassie had brought her friends.

"Daughter! It is good to see you! I am happy that you did well in your first year." She said.

"Mom." Cassie replied, rather stoically.

"Lady Ashburn." Skadi greeted her rather formally.

"Just Brittany, you are my daughters friends after all." She replied.

"Hello Brittany." Helena said.

"Greetings, it is a pleasure to meet you again." I greeted her. "May I introduce my new undead, Hatsumi. She is a vampire."

"I have heard about that." Brittany studied Hatsumi. Hatsumi gave a small bow. "My lady."

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"So polite. And a maid as well. That will certainly raise some eyebrows." Brittany mused.

We sat down at the table. Hatsumi refused a seat and decided to stand near the wall, next to Frank. A waiter brought drinks and savory pastries as an aperitif.

"So, I have heard that Derrick Payton is courting you. How is that going?" Brittany asked Cassie.

"It did not work out." Cassie replied, diplomatically.

"I am dating Cassie now." Skadi said.

"I see." Brittany replied. "I have suspected for a time that you prefer girls but you have to consider the family line. There is nothing wrong with having a concubine…"

"I am not marrying a man!" Cassie replied, forcefully.

"While our relationship is rather new we are not going to hide it." Skadi stated.

"While I do find that rather romantic, Cassie is my heir. She does have a certain responsibility…" Brittany began.

"Why don't you have another child then?" I interrupted her with my question. "If you are so concerned, why not solve the problem yourself?"

That caught Brittany off guard. She looked at me, not sure how to answer that.

"And keep in mind that Cassie will live for a while. With her magic she has the potential to grow quite old. You are vastly overstating the problem." Helena added.

Brittany looked at Helena. "That is easy for you to say. Your brother is the heir, not to mention your impressive core. Cassie's magic is weak…"

"No." Skadi interrupted. "Her core is doing quite well and she will likely graduate as a senior mage."

"What?" Brittany asked, confused.

"Yes mom. We got tested after the exam. My core is growing fast." Cassie replied, while glaring at her mother.

"That increases your marriage prospects. For our house to grow we need better alliances with other noble families. Skadi, no offence, is a commoner. It would weaken our position even more." Brittany stated.

"Eh. She has us. House Frost is an ally." Helena replied.

"Friendships are great but they can change. A child carrying the blood of two families however…" Brittany tried.

I snorted. "Friendships are worth a lot more than blood. We would die for each other."

Brittany looked at us, contemplating the situation. "Very well, since you are all grown up let me just tell you the situation. We, the Ashburns, are a branch family of the Ashfields. Duke Ashfield wishes for closer relations with Duke Payton. Cassie marrying the 3rd son would not be a strong relation between the Houses but it would be a relation. When it became known that Derrick was courting Cassie a lot of people assumed it would happen and started making deals."

Brittany took a sip from her drink, then continued: "Florence has told her father a lot of stories. How Cassie makes the wider family look foolish. Duke Ashfield is also not that fond of the royals, meaning Koyuki's connection to them is not seen as great. He was already making my life more difficult but the potential marriage changed things. He made it clear that he expects it to happen. Derrick seems like a fine man, from what I gathered, so it would have been a great solution."

"You are a countess. He might be your duke but what can he really do to hurt you?" I asked.

"He can change some regulations. Claim we are not paying our taxes and send investigators, hurt our trade,... He can make life difficult." Brittany said.

"Sounds like a small price to pay for your daughter's freedom and happiness." I mused.

"We have a responsibility to our people." Brittany replied.

"You are looking at this the wrong way." Hatsumi suddenly said, and stepped closer to the table. "Koyuki will become an archmage. An archmage necromancer. Her power will easily match a duke, in time. Even without the title. Helena is from a long line of warriors and her core is impressive. Skadi is a blood mage, she will be really hard to kill and provide excellent protection for the group. And Cassie is a genius alchemist. She is worth a lot more than just a marriage. She will be famous."

Hatsumi's eyes glowed slightly. "Duke Ashfield is nothing. If he wishes to attack Cassie's family, he will be crushed."

"We are a group. We are the Dread Claws of Nyx! Nothing will stop us!" Helena declared.

"Meow." Nyx agreed.

Cassie looked determined. "I am with Skadi. Nothing will change that. If the duke has a problem with it we will deal with him."

Brittany stared at Hatsumi's eyes, then she looked at her daughter's face. "Very well. I suppose you have made some good friends. We will try it your way."

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