“Rumors and more rumors,” Ricardo complained.

“In the underworld too. And out of the kingdom. I must recognize that they have done quite well. Hiding the clues in a sea of them… What great idea!” Elsa praised, while Ricardo was sighing, resigned.

“How are the preparations?” he changed the subject, somewhat exhausted. He did want to know no more about the search. Just thinking about informing the queen, he was feeling a deep tiredness.

“We’ve had some problems with some units. Rebels may have infiltrated, so we’ll change their goals, giving them other missions, just to pretend. It was just as predicted. Oh! And we have closed a deal with one of the candidates. He has only asked for the Gungnir spear.”

“Only?” Ricardo complained, but the duchess ignored him.

“In addition, we’ve received a message from the third candidate. She accepts meeting with us, but not now. I wonder if she’s just acting tough or really busy,” she mused, with a gleaming in her eyes.

Ricardo looked at her, resigned again. He knew that the Duchess enjoyed making plans, as well as discovering the personalities and weaknesses of her opponents. In fact, she was passionate about challenges, perhaps the reason she was so competent in her work.

“How are the others nobles doing?” Elsa asked with a giggle, because she knew more or less the answer.

“Among the possible objectives of the visitor, some are locked in their mansions and castles with their family, scared, without daring to leave, lowering taxes, and almost pleading for forgiveness. Others are showing themselves in public without apparent fear, but surrounded by bodyguards, and trying to show their charitable side. A few remain as despots as ever, although, after some rebel attacks, they are increasingly frightened.”

Elsa nodded. It was more or less what she had expected. Neither she nor Ricardo had done anything to help them, not only because it wasn’t easy, but because many of those nobles were incompetent, or had conflicts with them or their allies. A little cleaning at the expense of Eldi Hnefa didn’t hurt. In fact, some of the alleged rebel attacks had been carried out by themselves. Or other nobles.

“About the others, some of them are more scared, some less, but there haven’t been many changes. It’d be quite strange if they received an attack, unless there is some personal revenge.”

Elsa nodded again, she could read between the lines. That is, it was difficult to conspire against them by blaming the rebels. At least for now.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Threefingers dropped to the chair, exhausted. He would have felt less tired had he been training all day. Those meetings exhausted him. Receive, give and hide information. Listen to all complaints. All the reports of groups that did whatever they wanted.

And then, there were the nobles, taking advantage to kill each other, and blaming them. It wasn’t bad that there were fewer nobles, but, on top of that, Lidia wanted them to be exposed, to make more problems between them.

He lay down looking at the ceiling and sighing, thinking that he was just a warrior, not a general or a spy, that it was too big for him. But someone had to do it, and he was that someone.

He took the bottle and looked at it with mixed feelings. It was a delicious liquor that Lidia had sent to him. It was almost like a bribe in order to keep him working. He took a drink, savoring the delicate taste and the strong heat that was growing inside his throat, feeling rejuvenated.

“I guess it’s worth it,” he said loudly, more lively. “Let’s see if she’s true to her word, and brings me dwarf beer.”

He got up and went out the door. He still had work to do.

Lidia laughed while Melingor told him about her father’s situation, his own surprise and that of the other elves. But when the elf, with a somewhat embarrassed face, explained how Eldi had discovered who he was, how he had managed to make him confess, he had to contemplate how his wife was holding her stomach. After that, she complained about the pain after laughing too hard.

On the one hand he felt somewhat humiliated, but on the other, he couldn’t stop himself admiring his beloved. He would have liked to be with her, both to complain in person and to hug her. The worse was that the two nymphs, the dryad and the limnad, also laughed at him, without hiding the slightest.

“The truth is that this Eldi is quite funny. I think I’ll have to watch him more closely,” Bolbe implied, clearly wanting to annoy Melia.

What the aquatic nymph didn’t expect was that the dryad had prepared in advance. To her surprise, some vines grabbed her leg and dragged her into the lagoon, causing her to scream and fall into the water. When she poked her head, her eyes were shining.

“So, you want to play dirty,” she threatened with a mischievous smile.

“You don’t want to hurt Lidia,” Melia laughed, hiding behind her daughter.

“Mom! No!” Lidia was alarmed, because she knew very well what that meant.

The water through which they were communicating suddenly rose above them, engulfing them both, having Bolbe no problem in dragging an innocent victim into her revenge.

When the water returned to its place, mother and daughter were soaked, staring the last at the first while pouting, and hearing the laughter of the two nymphs, and the elf. However, he soon understood his mistake, just when his wife looked at him with a threatening smile.

“Poor Melingor, it seems that he’s the only one who hasn’t been able to enjoy a bath,” she fake lamented, with a mocking smile.

“We can’t afford that!” Melia exclaimed, as if she really was concerned about an unforgivable offense.

The elf took a step back, fearing the worst, but it was too late. The same vines that had caught Bolbe got tangled up on his feet, and dragged him into the water.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Splash!”

No much later, his head emerged from the water, with his long blond hair covering his face.

“Are you happy?” the elf complained.

The three could only endure a couple of seconds before bursting out in laughter. He, soaked and resigned, ended up being infected by their laughter. In fact, it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Going to see Bolbe to talk to Lidia, he knew to what he was exposed.