"Help!!"
Daniel gasps harshly as he sits up.
Daniel takes a moment to recover his breath and preferably not hyperventilate himself back unconscious.
In
Out
In
Out
... all right.
Everything is now under control.
Daniel takes a moment to survey his surroundings, which was noticeably not in the clutches of a demon anymore. He was in a room, his room, on his bed at home. Therefore he is safe. What a relief. There is a light coming from the hallway outside of his room.
'Well now that I'm awake I definitely ain't going back to sleep' he figures.
'Let's see who's up at this hour'
Daniel groans out of bed as his head and rubs his temples, they feel like they've been struck by a mallet repeatedly. Trudging down the hallway with heavy steps he eventually arrives at the grand living room.
Somebody is there.
Thinking fast David pulls himself back around the corner he almost rounded and prepared himself to eavesdrop, a skill honed many a time as a young noble.
"...I am so sorry ma'am, but there was nothing I could do."
Judging by the shadows and the tone of voice Daniel approximates that it must be Sir Lannister.
That scum-bag.
Lannister would do anything to accrue himself more power, he's almost never up to anything good. Lannister acquired his knighthood at a poker game, he's always been unnaturally good at that game. The fact that he's talking with Daniel's mom right now must mean that he wishes some favor or such from her.
"I-I-I didn't want to believe the news, when you first told me I had to see for myself." His mom stammered out.
A natural response to Lannister's news, his word is about as trustworthy as a typical Diact assimilate. He's probably given some damning scores for his mom's favored greyhound team, which would explain why he's here, to collect money from a bet.
"We will all mourn his loss, he truly was one of the noblest among us."
That's an odd way to describe a dog dying. Oh no, unless...
His mother lets out a sob and the shadow leans out and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about Thomas's committee assignments, I will take on their duties in his stead."
"Thank you so much!" She sobbed out.
At this Daniel rounded the corner with fury.
"NO!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
This scared the bejesus out of his mother who borderline jumped out of her chair. Nothing scares Lannister though, he is too paranoid to be surprised by anything.
"What do you mean 'no'?" Lannister states calmly.
"Danny! You're awake finally." His mother says.
"I'm not letting you take my brother's committee assignments!" Daniel yelled.
At this Lannister frowned,
"Well then who else would take them?" He asked. "Sir Kensington is abroad in the country of Selta, Sir Giovanni I think we can all agree would be a worst case scenario, and Sir Vestor is busy with a very important assignment of his own."
"Yeah." Said Daniel, "an assignment that YOU gave him."
"And in what right is it not important to hunt the Diact?" States Lannister calmly with a smile hinting at its existence. "Surely you of all people know how dangerous that cult is by now."
Damn, he's got me in a corner. Unfortunately everything he says is true. Unless...
"You forgot about me." Daniel states.
This gives Lannister pause, "excuse me? But you are not a knight."
"As of tonight I'm not, that is true, but tomorrow morning I shall apply to the Axiarch personally, and do you doubt he would grant me knighthood?"
"Really Danny? That's incredible!" Exclaims his mother.
Yeah, I expected she'd be a fan of me finally following my brother's footsteps, even though he's just died my mother is shallow enough that she is always thinking of keeping our family in the Royal class first and foremost. Truly despicable when you think about it.
"Yes, mother." Daniel says somewhat pained. "I am finally becoming a knight."
Lannister is smart enough to know when defeat is defeat. "Fine, let me know if you change your mind." He states before showing himself out the door.
After he leaves Daniel's mom jumps up and hugs him. "I'm so proud of you and the tough choice you've made."
Daniel hugs her back, pretending to himself that it's for his dead brother.
"Yeah, I wish I could say the same..."