Inside I saw Elandru preparing for the evacuation. It occurred to me that I never asked how many employees the temple had. Was he the only priest, besides Thessia? I suppose we would find out.

We got back to the central chamber. Thessia was busy drawing runes around her tree. I noticed that Eshantri was back in her demonic form. She looked… cowed? Hm.

“We dealt with the army besieging us but there is fighting in the whole city. It looks like a coup. We even saw an attack on the palace.” I said.

“Welcome back my ladies. Your triumph was never in doubt. I had to discipline Eshantri in your absence. She tried to seduce people.” Lily reported.

Josef blushed at those words.

“I see. I trust you in handling her. Take whatever measures you think are needed.”

Eshantri looked like a child that got scolded and stared at the floor.

The situation seemed resolved so I moved on. “Iris, are you alright?”

The woman was standing near Minerva. I wondered if they were bonding. Both had been betrayed by their superiors.

“Yes, thank you. Although I am unsure what to do next…”

“We can still offer you work. But we are no friends of the Empire. Keep that in mind.” I said.

Iris sighed. “I know that there are a lot of things wrong here. But mind control runes? I would have never imagined that.” She paused and looked at us. “You know, I was a commoner. I joined the military because it offered steady pay. And I was good at it. I climbed the ranks through hard work. Captain Gunther never liked me. He was an idiot but he had connections. He did everything he could to make me look bad. Maybe he felt threatened.”

“There is no excuse for his behaviour.” Lucy said.

“You are right. But I was hoping if I endured long enough I could get past him. Be promoted again. Lead my own garrison… You have experienced the worst from the army but there are a lot of good people there too. Especially in more rural areas. The soldiers hunt monsters and keep the people safe. Unitera is filled with politics. I was hoping I could be transferred somewhere to do some good. And now a lot of innocent people are going to die because of the Inquisition.”

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“We plan to retreat for now.” I said. “The idea is to fall back to the Dominion.”

“I am not sure if I could abandon all the people here…”

“Without a way to combat the mind control, what are you going to do? We don’t even know who is behind it all. Just the remaining high inquisitors? Do they have help? Is there someone backing them? How much of the army is compromised? Clearly Gunther was on their side.”

“I know, I know… The Inquisition is a huge organisation with multiple strongholds. And certainly some hidden ones. And I am not important enough to influence any army decisions. They might even think I am compromised and imprison me if I return.”

“You should serve the ladies.” Lily suggested. “I am the leader of their new order of maid knights. You would be treated fairly and could make use of your skills.”

“Maid knight?” She asked, looking confused.

“Yes. I serve as their maid and knight, as needed.” Lily confirmed. “Do not worry, you will look great in a maid uniform. As for proper armour, we are still working on that. Once I have time I hope to hire a smith to design something appropriate. Our headquarters will be in the ladies’ county.”

The uniform part made Iris blush.

“Would you give her additional powers as well?” Lucy asked. “Lily was sort of a special case.”

“I thought about that. And I could not do the same thing because the initial bond is missing. But we could do an oath swearing. Future knights would pledge themselves to us and to Lily. The connection would be much weaker though. The benefits would be smaller as well. Although, I think the bond could become stronger over time.” I shrugged. “It requires testing. But in theory the more devoted they are, the more benefits they could receive.”

“Bond? Powers?” Iris asked.

“Allow me.” Josef said. He had been listening intently so far. “I doubted it at first, but it is now clear that Lady Amaya is an archfey. They are beings of immense power, with a special connection to the elements. The lords and ladies of the fey have a tradition of choosing knights. They are regarded as fey nobility and often serve as enforcers, executioners, envoys,... Essentially they are their most trusted servants.”

Iris listened, eyes wide. Lily stood straighter and looked really proud.

Josef continued: “They are granted power through a special ritual. Sometimes their element is used as a title. The first among the knights of an ice aligned archfey might be called the winter knight, for example. Since there might be multiple ice aligned fey, their liege lord is often added as clarification. Lily would be the Storm Knight of Amaya. Any other knights under Lily might be referred to as a storm knight.”

I nodded along, pretending I knew all that. Maybe I should get a book on fey traditions.

“What about the maid part?” Iris asked.

“We tend to find ourselves in a lot of dangerous situations. Our maids need to be able to defend themselves. And keep up with us when we travel.” I explained. Of course, in truth I just really liked the idea of battle maids.

“This is a lot to take in…” Iris said.

“Take your time. Talk with Lily and think it through.” I said.

“What about me?” Minerva asked.

“If you want to, you could join as well. We have to be careful with your runes. I am not sure if the bond would be strong enough to protect you if someone tried to reactivate them.”

I left the woman to discuss their future and sat down. I had to figure out how exactly I would perform the ritual if they wanted to join.