§
“You’re really not having a fight?”
The discussion over dinner went on for nearly two hours, with not only Rod but also Ryuu and most of the others persuaded to their plans while I continued to object to them. The only thing I managed to gain in the end was their agreement to require the few Servants who were not military and would remain at home during their raid to wear proper preservative bracelets and to place themselves under my protection if anything should happen to Diurhimath.
And as I just implied, it continued, between my husband and myself, after everyone else had departed, traveling back to Oseri on Pasrue’s aircraft. And resulted in Mireia’s worried expression, which was now giving me a huge guilt trip. Suddenly, all I cared about was reassuring her.
“We aren’t having a fight,” I insisted while slipping my arm around her and tousling her hair. “We just… have slightly different opinions concerning a matter of policy.”
I wasn’t quite able to meet my husband’s eyes until I turned my gaze into a glare. Something about his wry smile ticked me off a little.
We aren’t having a fight, I reminded myself.
And I wasn’t lying to myself. It wasn’t a fight. The disagreement was Viceroy versus Duchess, not Husband versus Wife. Which I probably needed to keep reminding myself, because the displeasure that Mireia noticed had given her the wrong impression.
…was still giving her that impression. Mireia had a distinct hint of doubt in her pout, so I grew a bitter smile and sighed.
“It’s the truth, Mir. We aren’t fighting. It’s just a minor dispute.”
“In which I shall hold my ground, Ti,” my husband insisted.
With her brow wrinkling, Mir gave both of us distrusting looks. “I don’t like this! I don’t want to take sides between you two!”
“Then don’t,” I replied firmly, before Rod could campaign for his view. “You should just tell both of us to stop arguing and come to bed.”
Mir giggled and nodded, because this conversation was occurring in my bedchamber, while we prepared to spend the night for only the second time. Somewhere along the way, Rod’s suite became the default, but that was unfair to the staff of my apartments, so I insisted we begin taking turns in my rooms.
Anyhow, it’s not a fight I was hoping to win. I already understood that I would not win. I was just not done sulking about how neatly Diur outmaneuvered me from the beginning.
I have no doubt Diur put this together for Childe Ansri and had her do so. Diur, her Blood Master, bore no fealty to Orestania. As his Servant, she had no personal reason to swear to anyone, and she was from the other side of the war. Although she held the rights to vassalage, she inherited them from a rebel lord. Her legal status was completely gray. She could have kept it that way while the war continued.
So why swear to His Majesty, or more accurately, to his proxy, my husband? Swearing allegiance to His Majesty was a little rude, after setting up camp with a couple hundred of her people in my territory, but I now had to treat her and her people as refugees rather than immigrants. But her Lower Pendorians would object if she bowed to the lord of a neighboring duchy (even though, historically, Father was sovereign to her ancestors when Pendor was one land,) and Ged might decide she became my vassal and gave up her comital rank and her territory. But putting aside her comital birthright and swearing loyalty to anyone at all was a huge risk for her. Of course, Ged would make that decision in the end, in any case, but before swearing, she at least held the loyalty of her people as a bargaining chip. Now, he had every right to regard her as an untitled noble.
So why did he have her do it? With Diur as her blood master, she could not remain on the other side of course. The only other natural choice for her loyalties through him was Oberon, Diur’s ally for far longer. But while she could switch national allegiances to Relador and Faerie, she could never bring the right to Lower Pendor along. She could only persuade those people who chose to follow her across the border.
The reason she became my husband’s vassal, as proxy for the King, was Rod’s agreement to support Diur’s plan and allow her to proceed without interference. The leader of former rebels whom he cannot entirely trust wanted to risk their necks going after the demon who ruined their life and probably caused this war. Rod naturally saw this as a win-win and agreed with enthusiasm. He could send them to do damage to the enemy and neatly eliminate themselves as a security risk.
I saw it as a suicide mission, and objected.
Sensing that I still had these thoughts rolling through my head, Rod caught my hand and squeezed it.
“It’s not just a bunch of humans, Ti. They are a combat mage group, and they have that gorgon and your friend Diur’s help.”
“That’s the worst part!” I retorted. “Don’t you understand why he’s doing this?”
Rod blinked. Yes, I had kept this part to myself until now, perhaps because it bothered me the most and I didn’t want to say it out loud.
“Of course, he wants to go after that Demon Lord,” he replied. “You told me yourself how long he’s been battling them. Ten thousand years, right?”
“About seven thousand, when you deduct the three thousand years he spent immobile,” I answered. “But yes, he’s been battling them for much longer than I did.”
“Surely you would never deny the purpose a man has dedicated his entire life to?” Rod asked.
I sighed. “No, of course not. That’s not the point. The point is, I only realized during dinner that something critical has changed for him, and I think it has made him foolhardy.”
My husband frowned. “What would that be?”
“Me,” I answered. “For all that time, from the time he was only a few hundred years old up until just recently, he has been the last Elder. He may have fathered a few Elderlings to help him along the way, but any children they had were mortals. He was forever the only Elder left.”
I pursed my lips as I sorted out how to say the rest, then finished.
“That ended when I came along. Now, he sees me and thinks, ‘I have to protect this new mother of our race and her babies. Even if I throw my life away, it’s worth it, as long as our species survives’. So he acquires a bunch of Servants, identifies the greatest threat to me, and charges off on a suicide mission to destroy it! All these thousands of years, he has preserved his life to carry on the fight, but now that I exist, he thinks that even if everyone including himself were to die, it’s worth it!”
Rod studied my face for a bit, then lifted his chin slightly and proclaimed, “I don’t see how his reasoning is wrong.”
“That’s because you’re not the beneficiary of his madness!” I retorted.
§
As my husband and my girlfriend slept, I returned to Shindzha’s mind in time to see our guests reuniting with those who stayed in Oseri. It was quite late by the time they arrived.
Having decided it was safe for the party to enter town before they left for Narses, Amana and Kottos moved the expedition into town to set up in the Oseri territorial residence, the mansion for the lord whence I previously requisitioned an aircraft. Pasrue could land her craft where the viscount formerly parked his, and our people could keep an eye on these interlopers from Lower Pendor for me.
Obviously, we would need to reorganize the mission somewhat. Amana and Kottos still needed to complete their work, but really, the whole purpose for the presence of the rest was now somewhat redundant. Rather than being in an empty and potentially dangerous town, they were surrounded by friends. Diur’s people were unlikely to attack his friend’s daughter or a person he knew full well was an Immortal. The rest of the team had essentially been a ring of security around those two. They now had very little to do.
Except, they knew now about Diur’s plan and Ansri’s mission. And Ryuu was not the only one considering adding his strength to their numbers. Which became apparent shortly after everyone settled down in the great room in the Residence.
“We should talk about your raid plans,” he told Diur and the rest while plopping onto a Dorian style sitting pad. “I’m thinking about helping.”
“Don’t you have other duties to pursue?” Amana immediately retorted.
He lifted his chin and declared, “My first duty is to pursue archdemons and other top-level threats. Until His Majesty says otherwise, I’m his champion and that’s my job. If an archdemon is in Parna, then my duty is in Parna.”
<Is he that foolhardy?> Shindzha asked me. She was meekly kneeling near the wall of the huge tatami room. Somewhere along the way, she had obtained a Dorian kimono, which caused her to blend in with Ansri’s small domestic staff.
<He’s not wrong,> I replied. <His job is to pursue high-level demons. And between him and me, we managed to kill Zagolig. Don’t underestimate him.>
“As long as his aim is to assist and coordinate with us, I have no objection,” Colonel Dalil, the gray-haired combat mage commander, told Childe Ansri.
My sister, Princess Amana, spoke up to say, “This is a conversation for later, I should think. We have to decide how to wrap up the job at hand, first.”
“You told us that you’re here to study some magic formation,” Ansri replied. “Do you truly need such a large escort?”
She laughed. “It’s not so much that we need the escort as it is that this escort belongs to us. Properly speaking, we’re responsible for their safety as much as they are responsible for ours.”
Serera added, “She isn’t objecting, My Lady. She is asking to do things in the proper order.”
Amana turned her eyes to Ryuu and added, “That request applies to the people from Orestania, not just the people from Relador.”
He scratched his cheek, then shrugged and observed, “It’s not like they’re getting ready to leave right away. And I’m not expecting everyone to follow me, anyhow. I’m just saying what I’m planning to do.”
The mouse-quiet Laylin put her hand on his forearm, looking nervous but determined. He had at least one person planning to follow him.
Diur nodded. “Indeed. Pasrue and I still have a few dependents to retrieve from behind enemy lines as well. We promised Dalil’s soldiers we would protect their families here. I don’t expect to leave any sooner than four days from now.”
With that, the ad hoc general meeting ended, dissolving into various conversations, but it came back together for a brief encore when Serera raised her voice.
“Diur, I believe we should acquaint Diur’s people with Her Grace’s Servant before we head to bed. For the sake of safety.”
Diur looked at us, or rather, at Shindzha, then pursed his lips and nodded. “Miss Shindzha, if you could drop the disguise for a moment.”
“Um…” Shindzha delayed, then stood up and quietly asked, “Kiki?”
Simultaneously, Kiki appeared and Shindzha’s disguise disappeared. Several people in the room gaped at us, and at least one actually let out a brief cry.
Shindzha did her best with a Dorian bow and explained, “I am a Hellspawn, as you see, but I am a Blood Servant of Her Grace, the Duchess. Please do not be alarmed.”
Lady Ilni was the only one who made an actual move. She advanced across the room, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword as her wary eyes carefully appraised Shindzha.
<A monster?> Shindzha asked me, beginning to feel nervous.
<Yes,> I confirmed. <She works for Childe Ansri.>
“Why could I not see any Demonic mana while you were disguised?” Ilni finally demanded.
“Kiki smart smart!” my pixie sister declared.
The gorgon’s eyebrow rose and Shindzha grew a small wry smile.
“My friend was handling the disguise magic,” she explained.
“If you intend to continue in peace in Her Grace’s territory, you must treat Shindzha as an ally,” Serera advised. “As she stated, she is a prized Servant of Her Grace, the Duchess of this land.”
Shindzha’s head dropped slightly in embarrassment. <Prized…>
<You are,> I assured her.
