“Why does she have bunny ears?” Loriel wondered. “And why are they red? They look more like a liquid and less like her normal wind body…”

“Ehrm, greetings, Court Elemental Shani.” Dalroc said.

“We do not entertain elementals usually, do you eat normal food?” Ingrid inquired.

They took her sudden appearance really well. I guess it helped that we were all allies. A stunt like that in the Empire might have led to violence.

“Hi! I don’t really eat food. Although, I suppose I could…” Shani mused.

“They don’t have a court elemental here!” Ben told her.

“Of course.” Shani responded, while nodding. “They are not archfey. The fey have a special connection with the elements. Even a Storm Knight, like Lily, is not something most creatures could create. It requires the help of a willing elemental lord, like myself.”

“Interesting.” Dalroc said. “We rarely deal with fey. There are dragons in the mountains though. Some of the old and powerful ones create dragon knights. Is that similar?”

“How is a dragon knight created?” I asked, curious.

“From what we know, it involves an exchange of blood and likely some sort of bond. Not quite as strong as a warlock but they undergo some physical changes.” Dalroc explained.

“Ah. Fey empower their knights with a connection to the elemental plane, filtered through a personal bond.” I explained.

“Intriguing. And you have such a knight with you? Shani mentioned a Lily?” Ingrid asked.

“She is right there.” Lucy pointed at her.

“I thought she was your maid.” Ingrid looked confused.

“She is our maid knight.” I clarified.

“Is this also an archfey thing?” Dalroc asked.

“No, this is more of an Amaya thing.” Lucy explained.

“Speaking of Lily, we are looking for a smith who can reforge Mantus’ old armour for her.” I said.

“You have the armour of a demon lord? Ha, of course you do! You slew one!” Daloc grinned.

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“Oh, I have a gift for you.” I pulled out the sword. “This was his blade.”

Dalroc’s eyes widened. Ingrid’s hand reached out and gently touched the blade. They were both in awe.

“This is very generous of you.” Ingrid said.

“We gladly accept this gift.” Dalroc added, as his wife took the sword. Despite its size and weight, she had no trouble wielding it.

“I can help you with the armour.” Ingrid said with a smile.

“My wife is one of our finest smiths!” Dalroc boasted.

“Nice! Can we drop by tomorrow? Do you have a smithy in the palace?” I asked.

“Certainly. I will send Magnus with the details.” Ingrid said.

“Now, have a seat everyone and grab a drink!” Dalroc said.

His wife handed the sword to a butler, who managed the weight just fine. Clearly they had some training. As I took my seat at the table, a maid offered me a mug of ale, which I gladly accepted.

“To our alliance!” Dalroc raised his mug.

“To our alliance!” We echoed. Then I took a sip, the ale was delicious.

Ben had some juice and Shani declined all beverages. Lucy’s parents welcomed the drink. They were in need of some liquid encouragement. Maybe they would even start talking later.

“Now with the pleasantries out of the way, we need to talk about more serious matters.” Solana said. “After the Iron Rock incident I was sent by High Queen Maeve to negotiate a formal alliance with the Dwarven Kingdom.”

“We have been friends for a long time.” Dalroc said. “So we signed that deal rather quickly. Unlike that backstabbing Empire the Dominion has some honour!”

“Indeed.” Solana smiled. “And it seems we are now facing our first true crisis together. Amaya, could you tell us about your discovery?”

“Sure.” I took some time to tell them everything we had discovered about the mind control. I even added the encounter with Lilith’s servant. She had not contacted us since but it would happen in time.

“So we have at least two demon lords involved. The inquisition, who not only uses mind control, but could be led by someone, or something, we do not know. And the Empire itself. There is a civil war raging too.” Dalroc grimaced. “We might have to consider opening one of the old gates to accept some refugees.”

“Amaya has opened one of those for you!” Lucy pointed out with a smirk.

“A remarkable feat.” Ingrid said. “But we could use it I suppose. We should send more troops to the fortress.”

“We need to be careful. Anyone could be controlled. And if they make it work for elves or dwarves…” Solana cautioned.

“We need to recall all spies and have them examined.” Loriel said. “That is going to be a problem. We can’t trust any information they send us.”

“Do we know anything about Beravis? If they can control humans, they might have infiltrated them already.” Dalroc asked.

“Their delegation seemed uninterested in working with us.” I said.

“That is rather normal for them. But they could have been captured when leaving…” Loriel suggested.

“Speaking of leaving, has Loriel been checked? And her guards and servants? We don’t know if they have figured out how to control elves. We just think they can’t, yet.” Lucy said.

We all looked at Loriel. “Are you suggesting they could control someone of my power?” She asked.

“They do have a point.” Solana admitted. “The situation is too dangerous to assume anything. Amaya, being an archfey, is the only I am reasonably certain is free. She exposed the plot. And if she were controlled we would be doomed anyway.”

“And Lucy is a kitsune.” I added.

“What?” Loriel asked. “Are you telling me, they are all kitsune?” She pointed at Lucy’s family.

“No, they are foxkin. I am turning into a kitsune.” Lucy explained.

Loriel sighed. “Nothing ever makes sense with you. Ok fine, examine me.” She stood up and walked towards a door. Probably a bathroom. Lucy, Solana, Ingrid and myself followed her.

The good thing about a palace was, the rooms were large. Even the bathrooms. So we all fit comfortably. We examined Loriel for any hidden runes, she was clean. Afterwards Solana volunteered as well, as did Ingrid. Lucy offered to have herself checked too. In the end, I offered too. It was only fair. Nobody was controlled. Not a big surprise, but it was good to make sure. We returned to the table.

“We need a better way to deal with the runes.” Loriel said.

“Yes. Detection needs to become easier and we need a permanent treatment.” I said.

“We can set up the alchemist here, if you want.” Dalroc offered.

Hm. He could at least start while we were here. I was not sure if I could provide any direct help. Then again, he might need Minerva.

“We can talk with him tomorrow.” I concluded.