We saw a lot of scared people and grim looking soldiers on our way back. At least some people had been evacuated. I made sure that Iris was safe. She had been inside the city, trying to recruit imperial soldiers. She looked a bit singed but was unharmed overall. Good.

We made our way directly to the command tent afterwards, to discuss our findings. Lily handled our prisoner, who was still unconscious.

Dalroc, Ingrid, Bodil and Loriel were all inside the tent. They looked relieved that we were alive. I had no idea how the explosion looked from here.

“What happened in there?” Loriel asked. “We saw a massive explosion.”

I told them how the battle went and what we had discovered.

“We are dealing with an archfey? I need to report this to the high queen. She needs to talk with the lady of the forest.” Loriel said.

Dalroc shrugged. “We had suspected a being of power, now we know what we are dealing with.”

“Will she have a stronghold in the fairy realm?” Bodil asked.

“Possible. But I think most of her experimentation was done here.” I said. If she had a secure hideout in another plane, she wouldn't have used labs all over the Empire.

“Traversing planes is not that simple. Unless she has a permanent gate somewhere, it would take too many spell slots to transport people all the time.” Lilith added.

“And the gate would be at one location. So you would need to transport all subjects there. Something that might draw attention.” I pointed out.

“We destroyed the staff. So her plan should be a lot harder now.” Lucy added.

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

“It is still impressive that you managed that…” Loriel said.

“About that plan of hers…” Dalroc began.

“Our spymaster, who was abducted, might know the location of another artefact belonging to Imperius.” Ingrid said.

“It is not in our possession.” Dalroc added, hastily. “But the information is not something easily available.”

“So, where is this artefact? And what is it?” Lilith asked.

“It is called the Crown of Imperius. We don’t know where it is. Our spymaster was tasked with looking for ways to combat immortals. He was excited about a lead, but he was not able to give us the full information. He was abducted before that.” Dalroc admitted.

“So you knew that he had important information and just happened to be abducted before he could report it? And you never mentioned that?” I pointed out.

“Well…” Ingrid said. “He was looking for ways to contain you, if you became a problem.” Ingrid admitted. She did look slightly ashamed.

“There was nothing you could have done with this information. We have been doing everything in our power to recover him and reconstruct his finding.” Dalroc said, defensively.

“I am not really surprised. I always expected you to have something planned.” Lilith shrugged. “It is fine to be prepared. I am not holding that against you. But if you try something, you will face the consequences.”

“We are all allies and I do trust you, Amaya. But we do have a kingdom to protect.” Dalroc said.

It was an understandable position. But was it really intended as a contingency? So far, the dwarves were nice and welcoming. Was it fake? Hm. I still thought they meant well but maybe I should consider contingency plans of my own.

“I will tell my own agents to look for this crown. We dealt a blow to Beira and she might be wounded. She was very close to the explosion. But we have to find her and stop this madness.” Lilith said.

I wondered if I should take a trip to the fairy realm and visit some of my peers. Not that I had any idea how to get there. Or that I knew any of my peers. I could always start by visiting the lady of the forest. Clearly the Dominion had a way of communicating with her.

“What are we going to do with the emperor?” Lucy asked.

“Usually we would hold him in decent conditions and negotiate terms. With the current situation we could convince him to help with the Inquisition and pay reparations.” Dalroc said. “But he is your prisoner and you have your own grievances. We shall abide by your decision.”

“We could give him to Shani.” Lucy suggested.

“Uh, she would just kill him and collect his blood.” I said.

“Exactly! So he would be useful, for once. And if he really has divine blood Shani might enjoy that.” Lucy pointed out.

“How about we start by interrogating him.” I proposed.

“The man did not even know that his court mage was an archfey.” Lucy countered.

“So he is a blind idiot, but he might still have important information.” I argued.

“I would be delighted to handle the interrogation.” Lilith purred. “Also, could I have his armour? My paladin could use it.”

I sighed. “Fine. Although, would the armour not be better for Erin?”

“It is likely of good quality but I suspect wearing it would itch. Imperius is not the fondest of demons. Surprising, since we are all about ruling.” She said, with a smile.