“Lucy, I have an idea. We give Beira something that we can track. Once we find out where she does her research we attack in our animal forms. We have to make it look like a monster attack. Maybe we stage it in a way that it looks like her research attracted monsters.”

“That is a great idea.” Lucy said. Now we just had to wait for Loriel and Elnora to discuss it with them.

“That is a terrible idea.” Those were the first words out of Loriels mouth after I explained my plan. It was evening now. Loriel and Elnora had returned and we were sitting together with drinks while discussing things.

“The Empire might not be aware of your transformations now, but that might change. If they discover that you can do this a month from now it will still cause a political incident. You are still a big unknown. The Empire will devote a lot of resources to research both of you. If you have been seen in your other forms by anyone in the past, they might find them and get this information.” Loriel explained.

“But even if they learned about our transformations they could hardly prove it was us. While it might be easy to remember a face, people can't really tell two foxes apart.” Lucy pointed out.

“They don’t need proof. This is politics. All they need to do is show that you could have done it and spin it the right way. Even if they actually believed it was just a monster they would still blame you and get away with it.”

“Hm.” Elnora said. She was deep in thought.

Loriel groaned. “Not you too. Please tell me you don’t support their madness.”

“Our spies are having trouble. We are not making a lot of progress. This could help. We would just have to make sure they can prove their innocence. Also we can use some illusions to change how their beasts look.” Elnora suggested.

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“Good thinking.” I nodded. “So we just disguise someone as us, have them be at a public place with witnesses. Maybe at a bar drinking. We leave the palace in the evening for some fun and switch at a tavern. They will have people watching us. So we just have to change where they can’t see us, like at a toilet. Then we are free to attack the lab and change back afterwards.”

“I should be able to arrange that.” Elnora said. “Additionally, you should try to disguise your beasts a bit. Maybe change the colour of your fur, make them blurry with magic, change your size,... Anything like that helps. So we have a beast attacking that does not quite fit and you are being seen in the public while it happens.”

Loriel glared at us. “I have not yet given my approval.”

“My queen, they are powerful enough to pull off an attack. I will have trained agents in place to cover for them. Nobody here knows them close enough to spot the difference. It is highly unlikely that someone would waste magic strong enough to pierce their disguises for a simple observation. We should use this opportunity.”

I was impressed with Elnora. She did not like us at first. I suppose the warlock revelation and our willingness to work for the Dominion changed her opinion of us. Or she just recognized us as useful tools.

Loriel sighed. “Ok, so how are you going to track the blood that you give Beira? Are you sure you can put a spell on it she won’t find? Something you can track through whatever wards she will have in place? Also, it will be suspicious timing. Even if they don't think you attacked they might blame you for causing a monster attack.”

I thought about that for a moment and said: “Lilastheria.”

“Who is that?” Loriel asked.

“Wait, isn’t that the demon we found at the village?” Lucy inquired.

“Yes. She is a succubus the Empire used. We were able to get her true name so we can summon and bind her. Beira has confirmed that she uses demons. Maybe Lilastheria even knows something about the lab. But if not, we can still go with the trapped blood sample. Lilastheria will be part of our cover. If a demon is seen with us they might think we are demonic beasts. We can magically bind her to not reveal us. It’s perfect. If Beira is messing with demons and is attacked by demons nobody will question it.” I explained.

“So you are suggesting that we should use demons. I don’t like it.” Loriel said.

Ok, so she had a point. Using demons ourselves would be a slippery slope. It’s said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. On the other hand, Lilastheria did not kill anyone in that village. Was every demon that bad?

Elnora looked thoughtful. “Using a demon that the Empire has associated with in the past is not a bad plan. As long as you can ensure that she is unable to betray us.”