We reported our findings and the king called for a meeting in the evening. Solana and Loriel were attending to represent the Dominion. Of course, Dalroc was there with Ingrid. They were the hosts. Thessia attended as well. Then we had Josef to represent our ongoing work in finding a cure. Not that he had made much progress yet.

Our group was the largest. Besides Lucy and myself we had Shani, Lily, Iris, Minerva and Sandra. Erin was here as well to represent Lilith. Nira stayed with the recruits. I had a feeling she was really considering joining us.

The meeting room was interesting. It had a bunch of small round tables in close proximity. Each had three taps labelled normal, strong and dwarven. Magnus, who led us to the meeting, explained that drink was needed when people talked a lot. Dwarven meetings were rarely done without beer or ale.

Once everyone arrived I introduced Erin and told everyone about Lilith’s proposal. There was a lot of murmuring.

“You can’t be serious.” Solana said once I had finished. “The succubus queen cannot be trusted. We should not even talk here with Erin present.”

“So, I am not entirely familiar with her history. What has Lilith done that makes you think she is not trustworthy?” I asked. My knowledge here was truly lacking. If it turned out that the demon lord was known for treachery we would have to rethink things.

Solana looked surprised. “I… I do not have a specific example. But she is known for her manipulations. She will control people with her mind magic, like the Inquisition.”

“Apologies, Queen Solana but that is not entirely correct.” Lily said. “Succubi manipulate people with mind magic and seduction, that is true. But it is not real mind control. It is also not permanent and far easier to break. The runes the Inquisition uses manipulate the very soul itself.”

“You may have a point but she still manipulates. You just apprehended a succubus that helped supply the Inquisition. Surely that shows the danger.” Solana countered.

“Magic is powerful.” I stated. “Any high ranking mage could learn a spell to manipulate others. Succubi are powerful but I fail to see how they would be worse than mages. And the Dominion has plenty of those. We would simply need to police them.”

“I suppose that is the problem.” Loriel said. “The only one who could police Lilith herself is you, Amaya. And possibly Lucy. You have proven to be great allies so far but it would make us even more dependent on you.”

“Hm.” Dalroc said. “Can’t say I am that fond of succubi after your discovery. Although I admit that they rarely kill and are often just used to manipulate people. A demon lord would strengthen our cause but having one in our city would be dangerous.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“There would certainly have to be a strict contract limiting her behaviour. And we would need to be certain that the contract can be enforced.” Ingrid added.

“My queen would never break her word!” Erin insisted. She sounded quite offended by the way everyone talked.

“You can break the spirit without breaking the letter of a contract. It’s hard to design anything without loopholes.” Ingrid pointed out.

“I also fear that some of her minions might test the boundaries to see how much they can get away with. There will likely be incidents.” Dalroc said.

“I will happily slaughter misbehaving succubi!” Shani offered. “I could use some succubus blood.”

I was tempted to ask why but Lucy was faster. “Why?” She asked.

“I think I could make a tail out of it! It would go well with my ears. And it would allow me to store more blood!”

There was definitely something happening with Shani and her obsession. Originally I simply assumed she liked fighting but there was more to it. Could an elemental lord evolve? During the demon incursion in Unitera a mage attacked us with blood lightning. I never paid it any attention. Was there a different version of the storm element? Maybe a more demonic one? Shani had certainly slain plenty of demons since I had first summoned her. Could she absorb some of their power?

“Who is she?” Erin asked. I suppose we never did any extensive introductions.

“I am the court elemental! And Amya’s wrath.” She answered cheerfully.

Erin looked confused.

“You get used to her.” I said. “Anyway, Shani can help to police the succubi while Lucy and myself keep Lilith in line. We would need to see her terms first anyway. In the end, we can offer her a lot. She would not want to endanger the deal.”

“We could summon her only when we are ready to attack the Empire. Then she would not be able to cause much trouble here.” Lucy suggested.

“My queen would certainly want to be part of any plans for an attack. Also, she could far easier share her knowledge if she were here. Further, she would bring researchers with her. She might be powerful but she is honourable. Your concerns are unfounded.” Erin said.

“The help of succubi scientists would be appreciated.” Josef said. He looked rather eager. He did have a thing for magical creatures, I suppose. “My work has been going rather slowly. While alchemy was used to create those runes I would like the help of other specialisations.”

“Sylphania has no problem with succubi.” Thessia said. “My goddess would not object to a cooperation with Lilith.”

“How big is the threat that we are facing? Do you truly believe that the Dominion and the Dwarven Kingdom, supported by an archfey and a kitsune, are not enough?” Solana asked.

“We don’t know.” I said. “We don’t know how the Inquisition acquired that much power. We don’t know how far they have spread. And we don’t know who is truly leading them.”

“They have started a civil war within the Empire. They have attacked an archfey. They have declared war on a demon lord. Keep that in mind.” Erin said.

“I would suspect that at least one creature of our power level is supporting them.” I concluded. “The knowledge about soul manipulation points towards that.”

“And the patience needed to enact such a plan. Whoever is behind this carefully positioned loyalists all over the Inquisition. They have recruited nobles, kept their experiments hidden… We are dealing with an old and powerful being.” Erin said. “Or multiple. Like a clan of dragons.”

“Not really the style of dragons.” Dalroc said.

“It was simply an example.” Erin responded. Then she eyed me. “The behaviour would be more in line with the fey.”

“Fey are often known for intrigue and tricks.” I admitted. “But I have no insight if any are involved.” Because I did not know any fey. Well, Adhira I suppose. So I knew one fey.