“You forget yourself! You are in my palace, you are my guest!” The emperor said, raising his voice.

“Ah yes, your guest. And you failed spectacularly as our host. We were attacked in the palace bath, in your seat of power. We were attacked in the park, by your blood. We were attacked in the city, by your people.” My voice got colder as I kept speaking. A familiar power stirred inside of me. “Thrice you have failed.”

The emperor stared silently. Was there a hint of fear in his eyes? Or was it respect?

“She… she is using magic! Kill her!” Gunther stammered, fumbling with the sword on his belt.

“STAND DOWN YOU FOOL!” Henrich shouted. “You are disgracing the Empire! If you cannot stand in the presence of power without soiling yourself, leave!”

Gunther just froze, breathing heavily. The emperor looked at his own captain in disgust. “I… made some mistakes.” Maximilian admitted with a steady voice. “I had my doubts, hearing the reports about you. But there is no denying your… presence. Why have you come to Unitera?”

“You invited us.” Lucy pointed out.

“So I did.” The emperor sighed. “So I did… I would have never suspected an archfey among the Dominion delegation. I know the old tales. That the elves made a deal with the Lady of the Forest. But… that is not you. I have heard no rumour, not even a whisper about your existence. That there is more than one archfey in the Dominion is concerning. And that you left your domain.”

“What is concerning is your demon problem. Without us there might be a portal to hell in the middle of your city right now. Unfortunately, Elias stopped me from properly shutting it down. He even blew it up afterwards.” I pointed out.

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“If you had not been there I am sure Elias would have dealt with the situation.” Maximilian insisted.

“Your majesty, he did attack my lab with demons! His troops were probably involved in the incident and he tried to cover it up!” Beira interjected.

“Enough. You have made your point Beira. Elias is gone. That should also satisfy Iron Rock.” He looked at me again. “Back to you, how did you discover the demons in the first place? You killed Mantus, but whoever is in charge of their cult is still working towards something. So there must be other Demon Lords involved. What can you tell me about their plot?”

My aura had settled down again after I scared Gunther. Apparently that was a mistake. Maximilian seemed under the impression that I answered to him in some form.

“You still don’t understand.” I said, shaking my head. “I am not your servant. I am not your ally. You want to be a ruler? You call yourself an emperor? Show it. Take responsibility. You allowed this to happen. It’s is your job to fix it.”

He pointed a finger at me. “You started meddling. You cannot just walk away!”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. They glowed as I opened them. A gentle wind began to flow inside the room. “You are telling me what I can and cannot do? You?” I laughed as the sound of thunder filled the room. I looked directly into Maximilan’s eyes. “Thrice you failed your promise of hospitality. Your own blood attacked your guests and you did nothing. You brought shame upon your Empire! We are done here.”

As I looked around the room I saw fear in their eyes. I wondered how fast it would turn to anger after we left. I calmed myself and took a deep breath. As I walked towards the door I grabbed another sandwich and started eating. Lucy and Loriel followed. The guards in front of the room were lying on the floor. It seemed like my presence was too much for them.

“See, we were not joking.” Lucy said to Loriel. “I am her warlock and proud of it!”

“An archfey…” Loriel whispered.

“I am an elf.” I clarified.

Loriel ignored my remark. “Maximilian was right… the Lady of the Forest is real. We do have an agreement with her. Is she your ally? Did she send you?”

“Never met her.” I answered truthfully.

“Then... why are you here? Why get involved?”

“It really was just a coincidence. Anyway, we should probably pack our things and leave. Honestly, this summit seems pretty pointless now. Elias is dead and the Empire seems in no shape to start a war. I suggest we look for a hotel tonight and arrange for transportation away from here tomorrow.”

“Do you think they will just let us leave?” Lucy wondered.

“I am not sure if they are stupid enough to attack us. We shall see. Let’s tell the other delegations about our plan. We should convince them to leave as well. I have a feeling the Empire is heading towards a large crisis.”

“Should we help? If something really bad happens?” Lucy asked.

“Maybe. But if so, we do it on our terms.”