Edana reacted predictably poorly when she found out about what Titania did to Frances. However, Frances telling her mother of what Timur did to help her calmed the mage down enough for the full story to emerge, which included Titania’s proposal.

“You don’t trust Titania, though,” said Edana.

Frances eyed her mother. Edana still was seething. It wasn’t obvious, but she’d known her mother long enough to tell that the arch tone in her voice and stiffened shoulders signalled just how angry the older mage was. It was nice in its own way. She was glad her mother cared for her, but she needed Edana to trust Titania.

“I really really don’t like Titania, but her hatred for what her father has done to her and her brother is real. She fully intends to lead a rebellion against him,” said Frances.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Frances’s mother went quiet.

In those tense few seconds, Frances wondered what her mother was thinking. In her opinion, this plan needed to come together. Maybe she had made a mistake?

“I don’t like Titania, but I agree with you, Frances. I’ll contact King Oliver and convince him to support Titania. Do you think we ought to tell the other diplomats?” Edana asked.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Frances grinned. “Thank you, mom! Um, as for the other diplomats, I’m not sure. I trust Sebastian, but I don’t think we can trust princess Clawdia.”

“I’m not sure about Sebastian, but… what if we facilitated their contact with an anonymous person in the rebellion? It can be Titania herself, but we don’t need to tell them that,” said Edana.

“That’s a good idea, but would Sebastian or Clawdia believe them?” Frances asked.

Edana stood up and started to pace across the tent.

“Hmm, they don’t know that Thorgoth killed Teutoball. If the rebellion, working with your friends, can provide them evidence that Thorgoth did, then it’d give them some credibility. Besides, the rebellion needs to find that evidence anyway to put a dent in Thorgoth’s image.”

“Alright, I’ll convey that to Timur and Titania.” Frances pulled out her hand mirror and paused. “Mom, would you like to talk to them?”

“Hmm, does Titania have a mirror?” Edana inquired.

“Yes.” Frances narrowed her eyes. A dark smile had flitted over Edana’s face. It was gone now, but she knew she’d seen it. “Mom… I’m… I’m not happy about what she did to me, but we need her.”

Edana chuckled. “Frances, I won’t contact Titania, unless she hurts you again. Then I will let her have it.” She stopped pacing and turned to Frances. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I… I don’t quite know how to explain what I feel, but I shouldn’t have acted that way.”

“Apology accepted, mom. I… I get that you want to protect me, though, and well, you were right. Titania did hurt me,” Frances stammered. She walked to her mom and hugged her. The pair savoured the moment, before parting.

“Alright, let’s get to the negotiations,” Edana grimaced. “I just wish we know why Thorgoth called this conference.”

Frances nodded. The question had kept bugging her since the start of this conference, but they didn’t seem any closer to coming to an answer.

“Is it possible he wants to kill our representatives, including you?” Frances asked suddenly. For it was the only thought that she could think of. The diplomats at the conference Prince Sebastians, Princess Clawdia, and her mother, were all high-ranking and very important people. Indeed, Thorgoth, Titania and Timur were here too, but from what she heard from Ivy’s Sting, Thorgoth could probably beat her and her mother together.

Edana stayed quiet for a moment, one thumb drawing circles on her staff. “I’ve considered that possibility, but there is something preventing Thorgoth from doing that.”

“What?”

“The outrage of every human across Durannon. Right now, we agreed to the conference because we are tired of war. Such an act would galvanize every citizen against Thorgoth, and it might not be seen well by his people.”

“But would he do it if he thought that could win him the war? He would be taking you, me, Sebastian and Princess Clawdia out along with our staff,” said Frances.

Edana grimaced. “I don’t know, and we can’t even take precautions. One of the terms of the conference was that no army is to be brought onto or near the island. That being said, we do have guards and mages.”

“I guess that will have to do. I’ll keep pressing for Titania and Timur to do some investigating, though,” said Frances. She made sure that Ivy’s Sting was hidden on her person. “Ready to go, mom?”

Edana grinned, “Yes.”

----------------------------------------

To put it briefly, nothing got done with the day’s negotiations. The points of reparations and Vertingen put the conference in a deadlock.

Frances would have found herself terribly bored, if not for the fact that Thorgoth was still present.

She knew Thorgoth was a monster by reputation and deed, but there was just something very menacing about how the so-called Demon King conducted himself.

He dominated every conversation. It didn’t matter if he was speaking passionately, or whatever topic, he demanded to be heard and it was hard for Edana, Sebastian or Clawdia to get a word edgewise. And all the while he was smiling, looking like he was having an amazing time.

So everybody found it a relief when attendants arrived to inform the conference that it was time to break for lunch.

That, was when Thorgoth threw down a final card.

“My lords and ladies, in the spirit of peace and friendship, the Kingdom of Alavaria would like to invite you to a banquet we are holding over the next few days. Of course, please feel free to bring your taste testers,” said Thorgoth, sweeping his hand in a grand gesture.

The humans all exchanged glances. After a split second hesitation, Edana got up and dipped her head.

“The Erisdalian delegation would be delighted to attend, King Thorgoth,” said Edana, smiling serenely.

With the mage’s acceptance, the other human countries also took Thorgoth’s offer, and they all went for lunch.

Where Edana was immediately bombarded with questions.

“Why did you accept Thorgoth’s offer, Edana?” Sebastian asked.

“It would have looked terrible to refuse, Sebastian. That and if we can bring taste-testers, we shouldn’t need to worry,” said Edana. She smiled grimly, “I’ll also be making sure to have the mages here prepare some potions for you all to take.”

“I wonder why he invited us at all,” said Orcas. “Thorgoth could be trying to one-up us, but it’s not going to get us closer to peace.”

“Maybe he wants to put us at ease for whatever he has really planned,” said Clawdia, her lips pursed.

Frances blinked. She hadn’t expected the Roranoak princess to have figured out that Thorgoth had an ulterior motive.

“You think he has some other motive for the peace conference, Your Highness?” Frances asked.

Clawdia narrowed her eyes at Frances, only to sigh. “Yes. Roranoak is so weak at the moment that a good strike at our capital is going to be very hard to turn back, even with Otherworlder support.”

“We think so too.” Frances glanced at her mother, who nodded. “We have intelligence that suggests that Thorgoth doesn’t care about the rules he breaks to get what he wants. For instance, we’re sure that he killed one of Alavaria’s only archmages, Zirabelle the Magnificent and we have evidence that we can, if necessary, confront him with.”

“Thorgoth killed Archmage Zirabelle?” Orcas gasped.

“Wait, why would he kill his own Archmage to do that?” Clawdia spluttered.

“Because she was interested in peace between our kingdoms. Thorgoth wanted war at any cost,” said Edana. She moved her plate aside, which had barely been touched. “Maybe Thorgoth is interested in peace at the moment, but not for long. We need to find out why he wants this conference now of all times.”

Sebastian nodded. “Agreed. Clawdia?”

Clawdia swallowed, especially as the eyes of everybody in the tent were now on her. The princess schooled her face into a neutral expression.

“I… I agree, but I will still try to seek peace for Roranoak.”

----------------------------------------

“Mom, you can’t just wear your mage robes to the banquet,” said Frances.

Edana glanced from the outfits she had laid out to her daughter, who was in her underclothes. “Why not?”

“Because we need to make an impression, mom. Yes, we know Thorgoth probably won’t care, but there are other Alavari nobles watching.” Frances smiled knowingly. “You wouldn’t want to look bad in front of Princess Titania, right?”

Edana arched an eyebrow at her daughter. “I’m very impressed. You knew that would work.”

Frances’s smile immediately vanished and she averted her gaze. “I’m sorry! I… if you don’t want to—”

Edana reached over and squeezed Frances’s shoulder. “Frances, dear, you’re right. I agree with you. You know how I feel about having multiple outfits.” Frances sighed with relief as Edana looked over the dresses her daughter had laid out. “What are you going to wear, dear?”

Running her fingers over the other dresses she packed, Frances picked a larger bright blue dress with full sleeves and a high collar. “This one. I can hide my mage robes underneath it with a bit of adjustment.”

Edana frowned. “Why would you wear your mage robes to the banquet, dear?”

Frances met her mother’s face, looking just as confused, before recognition flashed in her eyes.

“Oh! I never told you!” Frances rushed over to her mage robes and brought them out from her side of the tent. As she carried the robes over, Edana realized that they were clinking and the robes themselves seemed quite stiff.

“I made some modifications to the standard Master mage robes. You know they have protective enchantments woven into them. I um, well I merged the enchanted armour plating from my old brigandine into the robes and added some of my own spells.”

Taking the mage robes from her daughter, Edana’s eyes widened as she realized how heavy they were. As she examined them, she realized the inside was lined of the torso was stiff. A glance inside revealed a combination of interlocking plates, which Edana knew were enchanted with Frances’s auto-defence spell. The reason she couldn’t see the rivets was because an outer layer of cloth hid them and muffled the sound the plates made. As for the dress portion of the robes, Edana realized that Frances, or someone skilled with needlework and armour, had detached it and added the same metal plates on the inside.

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“You’ve been wearing this all the time?” Edana stammered.

“Yeah. It’s quite comfortable with gambeson on, if a bit warm, but that’s why I have a cooling spell on the robes.”

“You’ll be wearing a ball gown on top of the robes, though,” said Edana. She shook her head. “No, Frances you’d barely be able to move with a ball gown on top of your robes. It just wouldn’t work. There are too many layers and too much weight to deal with. Especially if you end up dancing.”

“Oh. That’s too bad,” said Frances. She sighed. “I just… I trust Timur and Titania, but I’m worried if Thorgoth decides to do something.”

Edana nodded. “You’re right to worry. Bring your estoc, miniaturized of course, and your diamond ring. I’ll bring Poker. It’d make a nice statement.”

Frances giggled and started to put on the blue dress. “Feels like we’re going into battle.”

“Well, the banquet is but another form of battle,” said Edana sagely.

----------------------------------------

There were a lot more people in attendance at the banquet than Frances expected. At most, she expected their party, the Alavari royalty and some of their attendants.

But under a massive canvas tent, there were at least five long tables each seating forty or maybe fifty persons. And they were filled with Alavari.

They weren’t just nobles either. Everybody was wearing their best. It was a multi-coloured palette of whites, blues, purples and greens, which Frances remembered were the favoured colours of most Alavari. However, there were some who were wearing cotton, and others wearing bright silks, whilst also being adorned with jewels. It seemed that Thorgoth was not only hosting his nobles, the human nobles, but every single member of his staff. They were separated from the nobles, but they had their tables and it appeared that they were rotating in and out to keep the banquet going.

One thing was certain, the chorus of Alavari eating, the strum of lutes and call of violins, the chatter from those at the tables all stopped as the human delegates arrived.

Thorgoth, sitting at the head table, stood up. The king’s smile bordered on a leer as he bowed. “Please welcome our human guests, Princess Clawdia of Roranoak, Prince Sebastian of Lapanteria, and Ladies Edana Firehand and Frances Stormcaller.”

The tent stayed silent, until Thorgoth started to clap, at which point, everybody started to clap, as if by unspoken command.

They continued to clap even as the Alavari attendants lead the humans and their escort to the head table where Thorgoth was sitting. The head table was circular. The members of the Alavari royal family sat on one side, with Titania to Thorgoth’s right and Timur to his left.

The attendants showed them their seats. Frances being sat next to Timur, with Sebastian on her left. Edana was next to Titania with Orcas on his right. Clawdia sat the farthest away.

At first, Frances was overjoyed to be sitting next to the trogre and the pair exchanged a quick smile.

As Frances settled down, however, she noticed Thorgoth watching them out of the corner of his eye.

She froze. Did he know? Did the king have a hand in their seating arrangement, or was it by chance?

In any case, she couldn’t show any affection for Timur. If she did…

The thought of Thorgoth’s sneer, of him tearing Timur down further stung like one of the blows from her mother’s cane. She couldn’t let him get hurt even… even if that meant treating him coldly tonight.

“Your Highness,” she said, barely managing to keep her voice curt.

Timur stared at her. Did he truly not get it? Frances narrowed her eyes, looking past her prince, and towards his father.

Blinking Timur dipped his chin ever-so-slightly. “Lady Stormcaller,” he said, echoing her cold tone.

They turned back to their drinks. Already, dishes were being served to the humans. Frances thought they looked delicious. There were pastries, roasted and grilled beef and chicken. Fresh fish caught from the river, and an assortment of braised and stewed foods with seasonings that Frances had never tried. Yet, she didn’t taste much of it.

She was too busy trying to stay quiet and keep her gaze away from Timur, but even trying was hard. Nevermind, it wasn’t just hard, it was extremely difficult. She’d heard and read that those in love felt drawn like a magnet to their partners. That they wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off one another.

In focusing on not meeting Timur’s eyes, Frances’s yearning to shuffle up to the trogre prince and ask him to play with her hair only grew.

Wait, play with her hair? What was she, some sick freak? Frances felt her cheeks grow hot and gulped down another cup of… whatever this sweet juice was that the Alavari were serving. It didn’t seem alcoholic, but it had a smooth herbal taste.

She was so lost in trying to figure out what she should do with her feelings that she took a gulp far too big for her and began to choke.

Timur immediately shifted closer to Frances, offering her his handkerchief, but respectfully not touching her. “Frances? Are you alright?”

She met the prince’s black eyes. “Thanks Timur, I’m fine—” Frances stiffened and coughed. “I mean, thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”

Timur blinked and coughed officiously. “Good, milady.”

Frances tore her gaze away from the prince and tried not to think how dashing he looked in his crimson jacket and gold tassels.

Because she was already having enough problems trying not to act like she normally did around Timur. She trusted him and it was hard to ignore that habit. She had to stop herself from wanting to pour Timur’s drink. When she brushed by his arm, she had to make her apology cold and curt, instead of accompanying it with a smile.

She was glad that he hadn’t stuck a fork out with food like her friends sometimes did, she’d have bitten it. That being said, she didn’t think she and Timur were doing too bad.

Her hopes that Thorgoth didn’t suspect them were smashed into pieces when he addressed her.

“So, Lady Stormcaller, what do you think of my son, Prince Timur?”

Frances narrowed her eyes. There was nothing unnatural about the smile that Thorgoth was giving her. Yet she shivered with unease. She suspected there was a good reason why the king of the Alavari was asking what she felt about his son. Especially since the king had no love for his son.

“I’m not very well acquainted with Prince Timur, but he seems to be a courteous example of your kind, Your Majesty,” said Frances. Her expression was schooled and she knew her small smile looked terribly unconvincing, but it was that or give away what she really felt about Timur.

Thorgoth nodded, his smile widening into a grin. “Is that so? Well from what I’ve heard it seems that you’ve met before and that you’d both like to catch up with one another. Why don’t you both go for a dance? Our countries are going to be at peace after all.”

Timur had been sitting silently between Frances and Thorgoth, but those words made his head snap towards his father.

As for Frances, she was paralyzed. Cold horror filled her heart.

He knows. Oh crap he knows that we like each other. Oh no. Oh no! What do I do? What do I do? He’s going to hurt Timur, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Master! Snap out of it! Timur’s got Titania!”

Frances sucked in a breath and swallowed. “Oh. Oh right, he does. Thank you, Ivy,” she thought to her wand.

But what to do next?

Still paralyzed with hesitation, Frances could only watch as Timur, stood up and bowed to her.

“Lady Frances, would you give me the pleasure of being your partner for this dance?” Timur asked. His back was towards his father, his black eyes only for her. He was nervous. Frances could see that his jaw was clenched, but his smile… if uneasy, was sincere.

Frances wanted to see Thorgoth’s reaction. She didn’t know how the king was going to react to his son’s forwardness.

But her eyes were drawn to Timur’s proffered hand.

“I’d love to,” she stammered, rising to her feet, and taking the prince’s hand. In a daze, she let Timur guide her to the dance floor. It was like her feet moved not by thought but by feeling and by want.

They were soon standing at the edge of the dancing area. For a brief moment, she wondered if anybody was starting to notice. It was the Prince of Alavaria dancing with the Stormcaller.

“Timur, I…”

“Frances, if you don’t want to, we can stop.” Timur tried to smile, but he looked absolutely miserable. “I know my dad’s putting pressure on us, but we don’t have to listen to him,” said Timur sadly. Frances knew though that he wasn’t sad at her. No, the fact that her prince was dipping his head to avoid the king’s gaze told Frances that he’d had his heart broken by an entirely different person.

Frances took a deep breath, her thoughts suddenly clear. Her eyes only on Timur, her hands in his. She studied his downcast eyes and the sad, regretful fall of his face. Frances knew that Thorgoth would probably be annoyed if they didn’t literally dance to his tune. Then again, he probably didn’t like that his son fancied a human, Otherworlder, mage, so that wouldn’t change anything.

It didn’t matter what she did, she wasn’t going to be able to change the situation. There was, however, one thing she could change. A person who she could cheer up, and she’d be happy to annoy Thorgoth, the Demon King for.

Frances stepped in close and put her left hand on her prince’s shoulder, and raised her right hand, still holding onto Timur’s six fingers. To her consternation, she had to reach up a bit as her head just reached Timur’s nose.

Close enough that she had to look up to meet Timur’s eyes, Frances smiled. It was far easier than she expected.

“Timur, I do want to dance with you. I’ve been wanting to dance with you the whole night.”

The trogre’s eyes widened. “You’re not afraid of my father?” he asked, his voice soft and fragile.

“I’m afraid of what he’d do to you,” Frances whispered. She squeezed his hand. “But he knows now, and we can’t hide from him anymore. So… I’d like to dance with you because it’d make you happy.” Frances swallowed. “I mean, it would, right?”

Timur blinked several times, and wiped his moist eyes with the back of his left hand, before gently placing it at Frances’s waist.

“It would, Frances. Thank you,” he whispered.

She smiled at him, the joy on his face making her feel that warm and fuzzy feeling she had first felt during their date in Erlenberg. “Um, can you lead? I don’t know Alavari dances at all.”

“Don’t worry, if there’s one thing I’m alright at, it’s dancing,” said Timur. He whirled Frances out, right on the beat of the music. “This one has a four-beat. It’s called the Goblin Queen Waltz. I don’t know why actually, but it’s what it’s called.”

Frances nodded. It was a simple dance with a tune that she knew would play again and again in her head as she fell asleep tonight. Holding on tight to Timur, she waltzed with him across the grassy floor of the tent.

The crowd and the banquet tent blurred in the background. Her attention focused on what her feet were doing, the melody and cadence of the music, and her partner, guiding her along, whispering instructions.

Despite this, though, Frances still trod on Timur’s feet.

“Sorry!” Frances squeaked.

Timur chuckled. “It’s alright. This is your first time with this dance. You’re quite good, you know?”

Frances sighed with relief. “We had to learn some dancing because we needed to socialize with some nobles in Erisdale.”

“Oh? Any partners you liked?” Timur asked, arching an eyebrow.

“No!” Frances exclaimed, concentration lost she tripped over herself. Only Timur’s strong grip on her stopped her from falling to the floor. “Sorry!” she stammered, hating that she couldn’t meet Timur’s eyes.

“It’s alright.” Six fingers touched Frances’s cheek and she looked up to see the trogre’s expression of concern. “Frances, you know I don’t mind if you did like dancing with somebody. I mean, you know about me and Olgakaren’s relationship.”

As much as Frances wanted Timur to keep caressing her cheek, she didn’t want to draw further attention than they already probably had. She quickly took his hand and resumed their dancing posture.

“That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be angry or jealous. Not that I thought you would be. I just…” Frances fell quiet trying to execute a series of difficult steps. Timur didn’t say anything, but she could see him waiting, worryingly.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, Timur. There really wasn’t anybody, but I… you’ve already had to go through so much and you can’t even get away from your father,” she whispered.

After all, Frances knew her abuse was behind her and that she was away from her mother and step-father. Timur, though, was still exposed to his father and everything he could do.

“Oh. I see.” Timur didn’t say anything for a moment as he led Frances through the dance. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.

“I… thank you, for thinking of me, Frances. I’m really lucky that you always have.” Timur’s grip tightened on Frances, bringing her closer to his chest. She felt a brief moment of panic that immediately subsided.

Frances, her heart warm, her eyes about to burst into tears briefly rested her head against Timur’s chest.

“You’re welcome, my prince,” she said, looking back up.

Their eyes met. The human’s amber eyes looking up into the Alavari’s black. The tall prince in crimson holding the petite mage in blue. Both were smiling, and yet there was a melancholic intensity in their looks, which seemed only for each other. They were a pair that were opposites at first glance, and yet, as they whirled across the floor, Alavari and humans remarked that they seemed perfectly matched.

From his seat, King Thorgoth smiled. Not a happy or admiring smile, a strained smile that seemed a micro-expression from turning into a scowl of disgust.

Edana watched the king from the corner of her eye, even as she took in her daughter dancing with a prince of Alavaria.

What did she feel right now? In some ways, she was overjoyed for Frances. Love could bring a person great joy and she did seem happy with Timur. Not only that, the prince was also in love with Frances. They had the makings of a good couple and in time, what they had could blossom into something truly beautiful.

Yet, part of her hated that Frances had fallen in love with Timur of all people. As an Alavari, he was already drawing attention both from the human delegates, who were staring at Frances in shock, and from the Alavari attendees, who were already whispering.

Oh, and there was also the fact that she knew Thorgoth wouldn’t hesitate to use Timur against her daughter.

In every way, Thorgoth fitted his “Demon King” moniker. They were just words, a title born from tradition, but Thorgoth was a true monster who had no qualms about hurting his family, or his own subjects to achieve what he wanted.

And he now had turned to Edana, with that far too friendly smile of his.

“So, Firehand, what do you think about your daughter’s relationship with my son?”

Edana faced the Demon King. Etiquette suggested that she return his smile. Her instincts and every motherly feeling in her body told her to stab the bastard. So, she compromised on a glare.

“I think that it’s precious and should be protected,” Edana hissed.

Thorgoth rolled his eyes and sighed. “You’d think that my son would remember that the girl he’s so in love with has killed hundreds of his kind. Shame he’s decided to be as disappointing as usual.”

“Wow, I should add hypocrite to your list of defects, father.”

Edana was wondering if she was hallucinating, but no, Titania was glaring at Thorgoth. The princess had a white-knuckle grip on her chair. She looked half-ready to run. However, despite her fear, she was meeting her father’s now furious look. At that very moment, Edana realized why Frances trusted Titania enough to meet with her.

“Hmm, so you do know something,” Thorgoth muttered.

Titania sneered. It was an intimidating, vehemence-filled look, but her quivering arm spoilt the effect. “I know enough. Don’t you dare try to hurt my brother or Frances.”

Thorgoth snorted and took a sip from his wine glass as if he hadn’t just been threatened. “Try and stop me.”

“She won’t be alone.” Edana grinned as Thorgoth blinked, his gaze shooting over to her with some measure of surprise. “Princess Titania, I have something to discuss with you in private. Would you mind following me.”

Titania immediately rose to her feet and walked behind her father to meet Edana. Together the pair left the head table, leaving Thorgoth glaring after them.

A moment later, though, unseen by anybody else, the Demon King of Alavaria smiled.

“Well, enjoy this while you can. It’ll end sooner than you think,” Thorgoth muttered to himself.