When he gave the oath, a green-blue light swirled around the two of them, and a single chime rang out.  Satisfied, Helen nodded her head.  “That felt weird. And I got a notice saying we are now Oathbound.”

Allistor had gotten the same notice.  He was reading the linked information and was already making a mental note to be more careful with oaths.  The penalty for breaking them could be anywhere from a fine, to instant death, depending on the gravity of the oath and the consequences to the other Oathbound.

She looked to the door as Fuzzy came wandering back in.  There was blood on his snout, and little tufts of what looked like squirrel hair stuck to it.  He held his head high as if proud of himself.

“So, Mister Baron Allistor, your Lordship.  Have I earned a ticket on your little road trip?”

“Ha!  You’ve earned a ticket on any road trip you want.  And my eternal thanks.”

“In that case, I’ll deal with this notification that popped up earlier.”  She took a knee in front of him. “I, Helen Rodgers of the National Park Service, hereby pledge my loyalty to you, Lord Allistor.”

This time a short blue flash of light surrounded each of them.  There were no sounds to accompany the binding.  She got back to her feet and said, “I hope you’re not going to demand that we all bow to you or service you in kinky ways.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

He held up both hands.  “No, no.  No bowing.  No servicing.  I think Amanda might object to that.  And she knows all the most deadly places to stab a guy.”

Just then the radio crackled, and Meg’s voice came through.  “Allistor?  Are you there?  What the hell have you done now, boy!?”

He walked over to the radio set and pressed the talk button on the microphone.  “I um… I sort of just inherited about forty-five hundred square miles of national forest.  It was an accident, I swear.” He grinned at the radio as Helen laughed behind him.

“We all just got this message asking if we’re willing to pledge our loyalty to Baron Allistor.  What kind of game are you playing?”  Meg sounded annoyed.

“It wasn’t me, Meg!  I mean, it was me, I am the Baron now and stuff.  But I didn’t create that loyalty pledge.  The system seems to have generated it automatically for anyone who lives on the land that I control now.”  He paused, deciding to mess with Meg a bit.  “It also tells me I can evict anyone who doesn’t want to pledge to me.  So you better be real nice to me…”

There was a spluttering on the other end of the line.  “You little…! You’ll be lucky if I don’t beat you about the head with my spatula when you get back!”  The laughter in her voice didn’t match her words.