“Greetings. I am Thessia, high priestess of Sylphania and in charge of this temple.” She looked around and studied my companions. “Those are your friends… servants? You are all connected, somehow.”

“Hi, I am Lucy.” She said and waved.

Lily nodded her head in greeting and said: “I am Lily, the ladies knight and maid.”

Thessia blinked. “Knight and maid? What a curious combination. And you serve both?”

“I do.”

I scratched my head, thinking how I wanted to explain the situation. “Well, Lucy is my warlock and we are in a relationship.” We were in the temple of a goddess and I was publicly known as an archfey. Admitting that I created a warlock seemed fine.

Thessia studied Lucy with interest. “You seem powerful. You must have pacted a long time ago.” Her eyes travelled to Lily. “And you are a true knight. You do not simply bear the name, you have been granted power.”

I wondered how she knew so much. Was that the power of a dryad or a high priestess? Or did her goddess tell her? At least she seemed unaware that Lucy gained her power in an instant. That was one secret I did want to keep.

“With the introductions out of the way, we came here seeking help.” I said.

“Oh? That is rare for someone of your power. What service do you require?”

“We have been attacked by a woman named Minerva. She was being controlled with magic. After I broke the spell she fell into a coma. She seems stable but has shown no signs of waking. We were hoping you could help her.”

“Mind control? That is concerning. Not something many are capable of. I assume it was a total domination? Was it permanent or timed? Did she carry an item the spell was bound to? Did she have any visible runes on her body?”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“Uh… we did not strip her…” Damn. That was an oversight. We simply healed her of obvious wounds and brought her to the hotel. What a basic mistake, I should have known better. I was no doctor, I wasn’t able to do a proper examination. But I should have at least looked if there was something obvious on her body.

“How long ago was this? And what did you do after you broke the spell? How did you break the spell specifically? And how did you find out she was controlled?”

“It was yesterday evening. I used my healing magic on her but it is low tier. It was sufficient to keep her alive but she did not wake so far. We let her sleep through the night to see if she awoke naturally. We have no way to feed her in her current state so I thought it important to seek a proper healer today.”

“You know healing magic? Curious. But you haven’t told me how you became aware of the mind control or how you broke it.”

How much did I want to admit here? Lily tried to use her succubus powers to charm Minerva when we discovered it. Despite Thessia’s observations so far, she did not seem to be aware that our maid was a demon. Or did she simply not mention it?

“We discovered something was wrong during our interrogation. I broke the magic with my own.” I kept it simple and vague.

“I see.”

“Are you willing to help?”

“Yes. I can send Elandru to bring her here, if that is alright? My magic is stronger next to my tree.”

“Sure. Lily, please help him bring her here.” I thought an escort and some help might be good.

“Yes, my lady.”

Our maid left to inform the priest and get the patient.

“We have some time till they return, would you like some tea?” Thessia offered.

“Do dryads consume normal food?” Lucy asked.

I had similar thoughts. My knowledge about them was rather limited.

“If I am inside my tree I share what it consumes. When I am using this body I have to eat in some form. Although the sun does provide nourishment, there is pleasure in consuming regular food.”

She moved towards a cabinet and retrieved a tea set. Water and heat were provided by magic. Meanwhile, I wondered if a dryad could get fat from sunbathing. Maybe she could convert any excess into magic or give it to the tree.

“Please, have a seat.” Thessia gestured towards the couch.

I made myself comfortable and Lucy joined me. Soon the tea was ready. It was served in clay cups that looked like tulips. The tea reminded me of green tea with a hint of lemon. It was quite delicious.

“So, what brings an archfey to this city?” Thessia asked.

“We are part of a delegation from the Dominion.” I answered.

“I do not pay much attention to politics. The Empire is not a fan of dryads. If I wasn’t a priestess they would have enslaved me long ago. Sometimes I think my goddess is mocking them by stationing me here.”

“But surely you have at least heard about the demons. The whole city was attacked! There was a lot of fighting.” Lucy pointed out.

“I did sense them but the temple did not get involved. My goddess has no quarrel with demons in general and nobody asked for our help.” She shrugged. Then she tilted her head and looked at me. “You know, I do remember an unnatural storm and you certainly feel similar.”