The receptionist was not controlled, that was good news. We still took her with us. Other agents from the Empire might target her, now that her boss had been freed. Then we returned to the palace. We would have to come back to the city another time. Reporting our findings to the king was more important than recruiting a smith.

King Dalroc met with us in his office. “I heard there was an incident and you found something important.” He said, after greeting us.

“Yes, this is Sandra. She is a merchant who was controlled. And this is Nira, a succubus who was employed by the mining guild to cheat their customers.”

“She is really a succubus?” Sandra asked.

Oh, right. We mentioned that fact to her but then got distracted.

“Yes.” I confirmed. “Show them.” I told Nira. She discarded her disguise and turned into a succubus. Sandra looked intrigued.

“Wait, let’s start from the beginning. What happened?” Dalroc asked.

I described our encounter with the guild and the following discovery of the merchant. Dalroc did not look happy.

“I knew that the guild was ruthless. I just thought they were exceptionally good negotiators. I even had them investigated. Nothing was found.” He said.

“Um, sir… I… I might have influenced the investigator.” Nira admitted.

“I see.” The king said. “They had charms to protect their minds from being influenced.”

“I… I convinced them to take them off.” Nira said. “I did not need magic for that.”

Dalroc sighed. “That is rather disturbing to hear. I wonder what else the Empire, or the Inquisition, have infiltrated.”

“We should try to catch more spies. Are there any you know of? Or suspect?” I asked.

“I will need to talk with my spymaster. And my generals. I need to accelerate our preparations for war.” He said.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Why?” Lucy asked.

“That the Inquisition had a secret supply of metal is bad news. I don’t know how much they acquired. We need to check a lot of mining guild records. But I doubt that they would mind control a merchant if it was not a substantial amount. It also shows their reach. What I am truly concerned about is Beravis. It’s a human nation.”

“We already know that the Inquisition has used demons. If they have succubi in Beravis to lure people in, then capture and brand them with runes…” Nira was not even very experienced, or powerful. Yet she was able to cause a lot of damage.

“You think their government has already been infiltrated?” Lucy asked.

“Hard to say. But it is an obvious target. I had assumed the Inquisition’s discovery of mind control runes was more recent. But… How long have you been enslaved, Sandra?”

“Two years, your majesty.”

“Two years… Imagine how many people they could have compromised in a human nation during that time.”

“How did they capture you?” Lucy asked.

“I had family in the Empire but grew up mostly in Iron Rock. My father was a merchant and I became his apprentice. We had a good relationship with the dwarves, but still had ties to the Empire. That made our family interesting. I took over the business ten years ago. My parents retired in the Empire. Soon afterwards, I was asked to move my business to Mountainheart. Mostly they just wanted information, or some harmless deals. They made it clear that my parents would be fine, as long as I obeyed.”

She paused for a moment. “Two years ago I got a message that my parents were ill. I travelled to the Empire to see them. But they were already dead. Instead, I was captured and… I don’t know what they did. I remember a lot of pain. In the end, I became their slave. They gave me orders and sent me off. Afterwards they demanded metal. As much as I could get. I was lucky that the guild was so interested in profits…”

It was a strange coincidence that the mining guild was already using a succubus to get around regulations. Then again, maybe the Empire was aware of that and decided to make use of the situation. Or one of their agents talked Gronir into using demons to increase his profits.

“We need to crush those bastards.” Lucy said. There was a lot of anger in her voice.

“Yes.” The King agreed. “But we might have to fight on two fronts. Even if they don’t control the government in Beravis, they might influence politics enough to get them involved. If the Dominion sends troops to the Empire…”

“Beravis might attack the Dominion.” I finished his sentence.

“Maybe I need to cancel the feast.” Dalroc mused. “We need to act more quickly.”

“But we are still missing a counter to the runes.” I said.

“Yes. We might just have to try and capture anyone who is controlled. Maybe we can put them into a coma until we find a cure. Can the Lady of the Forest provide any help?” Dalroc asked.

“I don’t really know her…” I admitted.

“I see. Well, at least we have one archfey on our side.” He said with a smile. “That does give me confidence.”

“Maybe we should try to contact Lilith?” Lily suggested. “She wanted to talk after all. She might know more about Beravis.”

“I would normally reject the idea of working with a demon lord. They only respect power and will never offer a fair deal to mortals. But as an archfey…” He shrugged. “She will take you seriously. And you seem to know how to handle succubi.”

“How would we contact Lilith?” Lucy asked Lily.

“She has minions everywhere. I am sure I could find one, if you give me a day or so.” She said,

“Let me guess, she will have agents in a brothel.” I said.

“That… that is likely the case. The natural shapeshifting of succubi makes them hard to detect. And brothels are a good place for information gathering. It would be an establishment that serves nobles.”

“I… uh… I might know a place.” Sandra admitted.