Transmigrated Teri is an ongoing isekai/portal fantasy series about Teri Graves, an embittered middle-age GenX office lady who gets into a massive car accident and wakes up in the world of the fantasy series she loves to hate, The Allisar Fireborn Chronicles. She knows the characters, she knows the plot, and she knows that its all a massive coma dream…except for how nothing is as it should be. Worse? She woke up in the body of the doomed evil stepmother! She escaped a pandemic for this?
Previously: Teri got a surprise...
The grand dining hall was filled with the echoes of merriment and the clinking of goblets, but beneath the surface tension flowed like an undertow beneath a calm sea. At the head of the table, Lord Ferdiff Allisar commanded attention, his presence as imposing as his booming voice. Every word he uttered carried the weight of authority, punctuated by imperious, broad gestures. Across the table, Ota reclined with an insouciant grace, a witty counterpoint to his brother’s bombast. His laughter, light and airy, flitted through the room like a butterfly. Ota’s eyes sparkled with mischievous delight as he offered quips and compliments, deftly maneuvering the conversation away from serious matters. Ferdiff’s jaw tightened with every jest, his attempts at maintaining decorum cracking like imperfect armor. To their assembled guests, the brothers’ interaction seemed a well-rehearsed dance of words, but beneath the civility lay a discordant note of tensions best left unspoken in company.
~ Allisar Fireborn Chronicles, Book 1: Embers of Destiny
Finally, the crowd was back down to Doctor Dourwin, his minions, and Lady Elisandar. Teri sighed heavily and shifted to pull her bad leg up onto the bed. It did not hurt as much as she thought it should, and wondered if that was an affect of adrenaline or the pain meds her “real” body was surely being given. Lady Elisandar shuffled forward to help, which Teri both appreciated and found annoying. She had never made for a good patient, anyway.
“Lord Ota’s really got clouds for brains, doesn’t he?” She said, holding back a grimace as Lady Elisandar maneuvered her leg, with Doctor Dourwin watching closely.
Lady Elisandar made a noise that might have been a snort of laughter from anyone else. “That is one way to put it, milady.”
Teri laughed at that, which made everyone pause for a moment. It reminded her that she needed to at least try and stay in character until she figured out what she was going to do. Assuming she had created a fix-it scenario for herself, she wanted to get it right. There was no telling what would happen if she “died” in a coma dream, and she did not want to find out.
“That boy has been light as a feather since the accident,” Doctor Dourwin added, looking somewhat regretful. That pulled Teri up short.
“The accident?” She wracked her memory for that reference, but came up blank. When had Ota been in an accident?
“Aye, he was so strong as a boy. I thought for sure he would enter service to our honored Emperor as a Sorcerer, or perhaps even a Mystic!” Lady Elisandar tutted.
“Accident?” Teri asked again.
“When he was sixteen. It is likely you don’t even know about it, no one discusses it. Something attacked Count Ferdiff, and in his efforts to protect his brother, Otandiff was injured. His magic was nearly entirely stripped away and he barely recovered. He’s been like that—” Doctor Dourwin waved an arm at the door Ota had just waltzed out of, “Ever since.”
“What…what attacked him?” Teri squinted in pain as she settled.
“No one knows, not even Count Ferdiff. Assumption is that it was an assassination attempt by a Spectral Lige, but who would send one after Count Ferdiff? The Emperor would not approve it.”
The special league of magically-enhanced druids were terrifying, but their loyalty to the emperor absolute. Although they would work for anyone who could afford to hire them, they were either unwilling or unable to do anything that would counter the emperor’s own interests.
What an odd twist for the plot, she thought, and wondered if there were hints of that sown through the books that she unconsciously picked up on, or if she created the incident whole cloth. She was betting on the latter.
“You seemed uncommonly generous with the children, milady,” Lady Elisandar added, in what she probably thought was a casual manner.
Time to lay the trap, Teri thought as she shifted around against the pillows Lady Elisandar stuffed behind her back.
“A good observation. The question is, was I uncommonly generous, or was I uncommonly subtle?”
Lady Elisandar stood up as straight as she could and frowned, while Doctor Dourwin gave her a thoughtful look.
“Before we were so rudely interrupted, I was talking with the two of you about the similar attack I experienced as a girl, and how that seems to be the cutoff point for my active memories. Everything since then is…vague.” She tried her best to look confused and concerned.
:It is not. You read about it all in those books we had to listen to over and over.: Theo grumbled, opening one eye to glare at her.
“In fact, it’s almost like I read it all in a book!” She held back a whoop of triumph at the description.
:What? That’s not what I said!:
She put her hand on Theo’s head and scratched behind his ears. He shut up with a happy wiggle, his indignations immediately forgotten.
“I do not understand the significance of the date, other than a similar void howler attack,” Doctor Dourwin, clasping his hands behind his back. Lady Elisandar looked painfully lost in thought.
“Umbruus is an unstable aether. Could it be possible that I was, uh, infected by the first one? My period, uh, courses started then, right? Unexpectedly early?” She looked at Lady Elisandar, who nodded. It was a gamble, but after all, this was her imaginary fix-it AU. Lady Elisandar better play along.
“Indeed, your courses started and you became quite fierce. Despite your low ranking in magical abilities, you fought hard in every competition. Everyone noticed that you were different after that.” She looked like she was getting ready to cry. “We thought it was simply an outcome of The Change.” She said the phrase such that Teri could hear the capital letters.
Doctor Dourwin shook his head. “The doctors who treated you then would have noticed unusual levels of umbruus lodged in your heart or liver. Furthermore, a second attack would have worsened the effect, not improved it.”
She nodded, but tugged at Theo’s ear. “I assume you are correct, of course, since medicine is not my specialty. However, you have not factored in the appearance of a powerful familiar.”
:I am very powerful! I deserve a treat!:
She just kept smiling at the doctor while Theo scooted closer to her, snuffling around the bed covers for treats that did not exist. All the doctors and Lady Elisandar shifted uneasily, watching him with guarded eyes. Teri really wanted to know what they were so concerned about.
:Oh, I ate the void howler. It made everyone upset.:
“You did what?” She looked at Theo, aghast.
:It wasn’t very big! And it tasted like old leather! I was hungry. Dragging you around isn’t easy, and it took a lot of energy.:
“Milady?” Lady Elisandar asked softly.
“Theo ate the void howler?”
Doctor Dourwin grimaced. “Yes, that is what was reported to me.”
“They are indestructible!”
“Apparently not,” he offered uncomfortably. “The Beast Warden was quite shocked, and has locked himself in his office to rewrite sections of the Allisar Bestiary. It may simply be a heretofore unknown ability of powerful familiars.”
Everyone stared at Theo, who panted heavily. :Treat?:
“You do have a point about how a powerful familiar could have drawn out the stagnant umbruus. It would mean that from the time of the initial attack to this one, your soul and body have been compromised, without anyone knowing.” Doctor Dourwin glanced at Lady Elisandar. “Would it be possible to exchange letters with the doctors who treated milady when she was younger?”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Lady Elisandar said, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Teri took that to mean they had all run afoul of Bonarae’s mother, the Crimson Viper, and been sacked, exiled, or even executed. Doctor Dourwin seemed to come to the same conclusion and sighed heavily. Teri fought to keep her own sigh in, although for her it was one of relief. She did not need Bonarae’s childhood doctors coming around to challenge her set up.
“Whatever the case might be, the result is that I am not quite the woman who went on that hunt a few days ago, even if everyone here knows that I’m me. Which brings us back around to the children, Lady Elisandar.”
“Milady?”
“Gervyn is the instigator, but Robern is their leader. I want them to behave, not start a personal vendetta that would throw the entire castle into an uproar. Having him whipped would result in the latter, not the former. This way, he’s genuinely suffering for his part in the whole ordeal, while Gervyn and the twins can stew in guilt about getting their precious older brother in trouble. I can always whip him if things get worse, of course.”
:NO HURTING THE PUPPIES!:
Teri put her hand on top of Theo’s head and shoved it back down on the bedspread. :I know that, but they don’t.:
:Oh. Okay.: He whuffed a little and then closed his eyes again.
“Of course, milady,” Lady Elisandar said, her voice tinged with wonder. “A brilliant plan.”
“Not brilliant, but simple and easy. Throwing a tantrum about it would just be too much work.”
Doctor Dourwin and Lady Elisandar exchanged glances which spoke of having to deal with plenty of the lady of house’s tantrums, but said nothing.
“Doctor, what is the prognosis for my leg?” She waved a hand over her right leg.
He sighed and shook his head. “It was a nasty femur fracture, and only by the grace of Doctor Hirlo,” he waved a hand at one of his minions, a young but stern looking woman, “Who was attending the hunt and got it set and healing with a judicious application of her own aether, has it healed as well as it has already.” He stopped there, obviously pondering his next words carefully. “But the wound was caused by void howler, and as you know, magical injuries tend to, ah,” he let the sentence drift off.
“They linger,” Teri nodded, remembering some lore from when Gervyn got injured later in the books.
“As you say, milady. Therefore, we’re not sure how long the injury will take to heal.”
She eyed him thoughtfully, then glanced at the young doctor, who looked guilty and mildly terrified but was trying to hide it by staring at the carpet.
“What you are trying not to admit is that it might never heal entirely.”
Doctor Dourwin winced, and Lady Elisandar looked close to tears again.
She leaned back against the pillows. It was likely, she thought, that in her real life her leg was severely damaged, possibly even amputated, and a painful injury was her coma-brain’s way of dealing with it. The accident had to have been horrendous.
The combination of a mysterious “infected with umbruus” ailment and a damaged leg might carry a personality change for a while. No one would counter any of her orders while Count Ferdiff was on the market circuit, anyway.
Things would get a lot more dicey once the lord of the manor returned, but Teri was not even worried about that because she was pretty sure she was going to grab the kids and run for it before he ever got back to the castle.
:ROAD TRIP!!!!:
Teri sighed. :You hate car travel.:
:Correction, I hate cars. I love traveling to new places and getting treats from strangers.:
She could not argue with that, since he was always wandering up to people on the street back when she used to take him for walks.
:I miss going for walksies,: he said mournfully.
She had stopped walking him regularly a few years ago, when her mother had gotten to the point of accusing Teri of stealing “her” dog whenever she put the leash on him. The vitriol was more than Teri needed in her life, so she had just let her mother have her own way. As in so many things in life.
:But she’s not here! We can go for walks and travel to new and exciting treats!:
Teri thought for a long moment about what her mother was likely going through…probably getting chucked into a nursing home, if her brothers even bothered to break the lockdown. If not, it would be an ignominious way for her to die, neglected to the point of starving, most likely.
But there was literally, figuratively, and actually nothing Teri could do about it. She sighed.
“Yeah, we’ll go for walksies soon,” she said instead, scratching behind his ears.
:YAY!: He barked and hopped around excitedly. :You can’t steal the puppies, though. That’s not canon.:
:What the fuck do you care about canon?: She asked wryly.
He glared at her. :You made me. Listen. To the books. ALL THE TIME.: He barked to accentuate his point.
“Shut up about the audiobooks already!!” She threw up her hands in exasperation, then gasped as her rib cage spiked in pain. It wasn’t an act to angrily shove the doctor and Lady Elisandar away from her. “I’m fine! Fine!” She hissed as she settled against the pillows. All the doctors looked skeptical, while Lady Elisandar looked weepy again.
“Okay, maybe I’m in a fuck ton of pain,” she snapped at them, one hand pressed against her rib cage. The words spurred everyone into action. Doctor Dourwin and his minions fled the room while Lady Elisandar went over to the tea cart and poured some tea. A minion hurried back in and all but threw a paper packet at Lady Elisandar before bowing quickly to Teri and fleeing again.
:You get snippy when you’re in pain.: Somehow, Theo raised a judgmental eyebrow at her from his entirely prone position.
“I know that! Damnit, dog, shut up.” She watched as Lady Elisandar poured the contents of the packet into a teacup, then brought it over to Teri. She hoped to hell it was some kind of opiate, because her leg was starting to throb angrily.
“Your bond with your familiar must be strong,” Lady Elisandar said, and Teri could not figure out if the tone was neutral or damning.
“I wouldn’t know since I have never had a familiar before,” Teri said before slugging the medicated tea down. It was, at least, an entirely true statement.
“Of course, milady.” The old woman took the teacup and maybe said something else, but Teri was already starting to drift away, along with her aches and pains. She sent out a prayer of thanks to the nurses loading up her I.V. lines with pain killers out in the real world.
NEXT: Recovery-ish
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