About an hour of bickering after the family reunion. Bente began speaking again,

“While I’d hate to cut our reunion short after we’d only just met up again, I was left in charge of the kingdom as a 23-year-old lady ruling didn’t sit well with the other nobles and I’m still alive. We’ve been looking for a scapegoat to take the blame for my dearly departed foolish brother’s untimely demise and you just so happen to walk in at just the right time.”

“Ah, so what’s the punishment? Exile? Torture? Watching you touch these two in ways I still haven’t?”

“No darling, I’m sending you to deliver a peace treaty to the daemons.”

“Fine, but I’m not stripping in front of you, this fine new ass is not for your eyes to see.”

“As long as someone in the castle sees you left naked with the treaty in hand the other nobles will stop pestering me about a punishment needing to be carried out and neither of us wants to punish our daughter.”

“Fine, Fine, I’m taking these two with me.”

{“Wait…”}

|”I will… reluctantly… follow your instruction.”|

Kathy’s face died red the second she was addressed while Lili’s was red with anger as she fought against herself with every fibre of her being but ultimately gave in to her obedience.

|”Who started the tradition of sending naked messengers with peace treaties again?”|

“I did. I wanted to show the other nations I came to visit my old friends because explaining it is unendingly tedious, so I’d rather just prove I have no hidden weapons or motives in my visit than have to explain it again.”

As she spoke, she chanted a spell and dropped her halberd into a small portal that appeared above the ring she was wearing.

“Hey, Bente, mind giving me a bag of gold.”

“What for?”

“Since I’m heading that way anyway, I might as well actually get peaceful relations going with the daemons.”

She rolled her eyes and reached into her cleavage, producing a small coin purse. Adeliza deftly caught the small velveteen bag as it was tossed lightly in her general direction. She opened it up and counted out ten coins.

“Yeah, that looks good enough, I hope to see you soon Drika, Bente not so much.”

“I’ll see you off father.”

“Eh… why not.”

The four girls left the throne room and, three of them, stripped as they traversed the halls, the ceremonial peace treaty parchment in hand. At the front gate, Adeliza took the neatly folded bundles of clothes Kathy and Lili were clutching so tightly to their chests and recited the same spell that disappeared the halberd. She gave her daughter one final hug goodbye and the three women left, two less confident than one of them as they began marching north toward the land of the daemons… but first.

“Hey barkeep, how much for the biggest cheapest cask of ale you got?”

The bartender saw the girl idly tossing the note between her hands not even making eye contact with him and said,

“For you, I’d sell the good stuff at the price of the cheap stuff.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“How generous of you. Such a kind man.”

She slid up to the bar placing a hand under his chin and gently shaking his head from side to side while caressing his cheeks.

“How much?”

“A cask, fifty silver… but I do accept alternate payments.”

“Oh, how sweet.”

She slammed five gold coins on the bar.

“I’ll take ten.”

“I… uh…”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going back on your word now you’ll make my friends here cry.”

He looked over her shoulder to see the two girls hiding behind her uselessly, when addressed they looked up at him nervously and turned away.

“No, No, ten casks of cheap Ale”

“Good ale. You did promise us.”

The two girls behind her nodded as if on cue. Under the pressure of their gaze and the attention being drawn from the rest of the room he soon relented and sold them what he said he would. Adeliza put the casks away magically. Twirling the note in her hand as she walked out she remarked to the girls,

“See, I told you it’d work.”

Over in the East Mia was at a briefing with Yohan and their commanding officers about How they were going to take back the next human fort lost to the elves in the last 19 years of war.

“I still like my idea better.”

“We’re not launching you into the stronghold on a trebuchet! We just got our new hero we’re not losing you now.”

“Why even have a hero if you’re not going to put her to work.”

“She’s got a point there Yohan.”

“Shut up admiral.”

Mia voiced her displeasure, causing Yohan to interject. Admiral Maltilda sat twirling her pipe with a mirthful smirk directed at the hero as though amused by her desire to be thrown like a projectile through the castle walls.

“Think of it as a learning experience.”

“What can she learn if she’s dead?”

“I didn’t say she’d be learning from it.”

Yohan and the admiral shared a look. His eyes were filled with rage while hers were filled with sadistic glee as if his rage was just making her happier. Speaking up for the first time today Prince Halwell who’d just finished his meal at the table.

“Yohan’s right, we can’t be sacrificing soldiers for a learning experience. I say we just throw all our soldiers at the fort and take it by sheer numbers, they have to be low on arrows by now.”

“With all due respect Prince Halwell they’re not going to run out of arrows.”

“We can cut off their supplies.”

Mia said thinking of a new plan after her first idea was rejected.

“It won’t work. We’d have to get past the fort first; to do that, we’d need the supplies to survive the journey. A trek like that won’t go unnoticed.”

“What if I lead a small team through the woods around the side of the castle and we pose as bandits raiding the supplies the fort would otherwise receive and live off the land until the supplies would arrive. My master did teach me at least how to survive off the land. As long as we don’t take too many people our impact won‘t be so noticeable.”

“I like it. It’s a good thing I thought of it.”

Prince Halwell laughed.

“Prince Halwell, she’s a brand-new recruit with very little experience. She definitely wasn’t trained in how to lead a group of soldiers of any size.”

“You make a good point Yohan, we’ll send Lieutenant Larentius with her. I’m sure his group wouldn’t mind.”

“I’ll send for him.”

His fiancé who’d remained silent for most of the meeting said rising quietly from her seat and slinking silently out of the room.

“Well, then Mia you’ll be tasked with the job of cutting off supplies from the elves occupying our fort for the next month or so. You’ll be protecting a group of four including one half-noble and his attendants. I hope you won’t come to regret this decision.”

“With all due respect Prince Halwell I could do this job on my own but to not upstage the army too much I’ll accept the task of babysitting.”

“You’re the one who needs a babysitter.”

Yohan remarked under his breath. The prince gave a hearty laugh as the general smiled with great interest.