The boy looked at me, then examined my companions. They all looked surprised and shocked. Except for Terath. He looked like he was sleeping, while standing.

“Shall we go meet your sister?” I asked the boy and offered him my hand. He took it and we walked towards the others.

Lucy noticed our approach. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at us curiously.

“Lucy, this is your little brother Ben.” Her mother said.

“I am not little, I am six years old!” The boy protested and let go of my hand.

Lucy grabbed Ben and lifted him into a hug. “Hello little brother!”

“Welcome home!” He said and snuggled into her.

“Thank you for returning our daughter, I am Lynn.” Her mother said to me, then she glanced at our companions. I guess introductions were in order.

“I am Amaya Delphinium. With us are Lily, Iris and Minerva, our loyal maid knights.” They all bowed. “Then we have Thessia, a dryad and high priestess of Sylphania. With her is Elandru, a priest. And the elemental is Terath. He is just tagging along.” I pointed at each person while mentioning them. “And the last one is Josef, an alchemist who is helping us.”

“What is a maid knight?” Ben asked.

“They are special people taking care of us and protecting us.” Lucy explained.

“I am gonna be your maid knight too, when I grow up! Then nobody will steal you again!” Ben declared.

I chuckled.

“Your maid knights?” Lynn asked and looked between me and Lucy.

“Amaya is my girlfriend! And we uh… we are countesses…” Lucy said while blushing.

“Oh?” Her father said. “I remember you being fascinated by stories of the night elf queen.”

“That is not the point!” Lynn said while gently smacking her husband on the head. “How are you a countess? Where? How were you freed? What happened to your eyes?”

“It’s a long story mom, maybe we should sit down…” Lucy suggested.

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“I am afraid we don’t have a big enough table.” Lynn said, looking at our group again.

“Oh, we could stay outside.” I suggested and pulled a table from my inventory.

“Allow us, my ladies.” Lily said while rushing forward.

Lucy’s parents stared while our maids set a table and chairs. Lily began brewing some tea, using a simple fire spell as a heat source.

We must have been a curious sight. Lucy, her parents, Thessia and myself sat at the table. Our maids were standing behind us, ready to serve. Josef and Elandru had wandered off. Terath was taking a nap. Ben had decided to sit in Lucy’s lap and was enjoying some headpats.

Lucy began her story: “I am not sure how much you know, or what you were told. They made up some charges in the military because I refused an officer and sentenced me to slavery. I never tried writing because I felt ashamed…”

“Oh Lucy…” Lynn said and touched her hand.

“We got a letter telling us your sentence. They said you were a deserter. We wanted to visit you but were told you are now in Iron Rock. And that we had no right to see you.” Alister said. “Lynn was pregnant at that point. They threatened to take our unborn child if we kept complaining…”

“There was nothing you could have done.” Lucy reassured him. “I was serving Ambassador Frederick. He was… not a nice man.” Her hand went to her neck, where the collar used to be. “He enjoyed parading a slave around Iron Rock. Nobody stopped him because they feared the Empire too much. Until Amaya arrived.”

All eyes turned to me. “The Empire had a plot involving demons. I stumbled into it and met Lucy. I decided to help her.”

“How?” Lynn asked.

“I am sort of powerful… so is Lucy by the way!” I tried to deflect the question.

“Amaya made me her warlock.” Lucy said.

Everyone stared at me, again. I was a bit embarrassed.

“What is a warlock?” Ben asked.

“It means she granted me power. Usually it comes at a great price but Amaya only demanded that I would not betray her.”

“How can she grant power? What power?” Ben asked.

“She is an archfey. The pact changed me a bit. That is why my eyes look so different.”

I heard gasps. Ben just frowned. “What is an archfey? She looks like an elf.”

“The fey are from a different world. And the archfey are their nobility. They are really strong. Amaya can control lightning and storms.” Lucy explained.

Ben’s eyes widened. “Storms are scary.”

“My storms won’t hurt you. Since I am together with Lucy you are now my little brother too.” I told him.

His eyes lit up. “I have two sisters now!”

“I think we need to talk more about you being a warlock.” Lynn said. She seemed slightly nervous. “And that you are in a relationship with your patron.”

“She started it.” I said, quickly blaming it all on Lucy.

“I did. Becoming a warlock was my choice, as was starting a relationship. Amaya has offered me much and asked for nothing in return. I am no longer weak. I fought a demon lord at her side.”

“You… WHAT?” Lynn said. Alister looked partly shocked, partly impressed.

“The Empire summoned one near Iron Rock. We killed him, together.” Lucy declared proudly.

Ben looked awed. “Wow. This is cool! I want to defeat a demon lord too when I grow up!”

“Absolutely not!” Lynn said. “And how could you drag our girl into this?” Lynn glared at me.

“To be fair, she was already in the middle of it when I arrived. And you should trust your daughter. She is strong. She is evolving into a kitsune even.”

Now they were speechless. Staring at Lucy who looked a bit embarrassed. “So uh… I… I might be a bit more powerful than a normal foxkin. Amaya is rather unique and… and I inherited some of those things with the pact. I can even turn into a big fox!”

“I want to ride a big fluffy fox!” Ben announced.

“This is a lot to take in.” Alister said. “What are your intentions with our daughter?” He tried to give me a stern father glare. But he also looked a bit nervous.

“Uh, I do love her. Our relationship is still new but we might marry at some point. Then we can build up our county together. Maybe travel some, see the world. And stop a mind control plot somewhere along the way.” I shrugged.

“Mind control plot?” Lynn asked weakly. It was all a bit much for them.