It made me exceedingly uncomfortable to be near a man like General Guunzel, so I retreated behind Alverd as we entered the Silken River Market, but making sure to keep the imposing man in my line of sight at all times.

Guunzel is a living legend. An Ishmarian who fought us for decades, finding ways to even the odds against mages that would turn his armies to ash given half a chance. I expected him to be so much scarier in person, but he’s just a tired old man with eyes that look through you rather than at you.

As we walked through the market, bystanders gave us plenty of space, their faces full of worry as they watched us pass. Only a few openly showed fear, but many also had anger hiding behind the mask. The Kierhaians despise them. I don’t blame them. Is that hate reserved more for Ishmar or for these men in particular? The Talionis marched silently, not reacting to any of the civilians as they boxed us in on all sides.

Up close, I could tell several things about the Talionis. All of them were nearly seven feet tall, yet moved with fluid grace that I would not expect from someone in metal armor. Then I saw that the armor was not held in place by straps or braces, but to my horror was grafted onto the skin of the occupant. Crude metal bolts screwed into the armor anchored it into the body, meaning that the armor was more a carapace than a suit, like a giant beetle or armadillo.

Suddenly it began to make sense. The bloodlust emanating from the armor, the disturbing way they moved, the ability to exert themselves in ways no normal soldier could. They’re undead. The armor is not only directly feeding the aggressive animus to the corpse, but protecting it. This goes beyond simple necromancy. This is advanced magic, beyond dark and horrifically unethical. Guunzel transformed this wretched soul into an undead killing machine through the use of magic most foul.

I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “These things are filthy, godless abominations.” The venom in my voice was so great that even Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise. “You used the darkest sorcery you could find to create these monsters, and you did it by treating your own men like guinea pigs. I refuse to believe you succeeded in creating these creatures on your first try.”

Guunzel turned around long enough to give me a piercing glare. His eyes were wary, as if he was unsure if my intention were to state a fact or provoke him. “Sacrifices are always inevitable. A soldier knows that. A queen should as well.”

I returned his gaze and put more poison into my tone. “Spoken like someone who expects others to sacrifice in his stead, for his own glory.”

There was no mistaking my intent that time. The general stopped and swiveled around fully, and Alverd’s hand reflexively went to his sword. “I am no berserker, but my patience has limits. Test them at your peril, Witch-Queen.” The general coughed, bending over as he put his hand against this chest. When he stood back up, however, his eyes were filled with barely constrained rage, so much that my breath caught in my lungs. “A loyal dog I might be, but I am a dog who bites, not barks.”

The loathing in his eyes was so intense that it drowned out the murderous aura exuded by the Talionis. My knees threatened to liquify as his stare bored through me, fear gripping every one of my muscles. Alverd caught me as my legs wobbled and Alicia steadied me on my other side. Then the feeling faded, and Guunzel was just an exhausted old man who looked ready for bed instead of a hateful zealot. He marched on, not bothering to wait to see if I regained my footing.

Fear the old in a profession where many die young. They were words used to describe Guunzel among the Magisters, who had regarded him with both awe and revulsion. The term “border skirmish” doesn’t do the conflicts Algrustos had with Ishmar justice. Anytime our forces clashed, the land would be scarred, hundreds would die, and many others would come home with wounds that took months to heal. Some would be traumatized. But Guunzel survived all of that, even thrived in that environment.

What kind of man do you have to be to flourish in chaos like that? Alverd tapped me on the shoulder. “For now it might be best not to antagonize him, Sheena.” I nodded.

“Yes, you’re right. But that last bit was disgusting. The part about sacrifices. Tell me that didn’t make your blood boil, Sir Alverd.”

He scowled. “Of course it did. But this is our best chance to find out what Guunzel’s plans are and why he’s here. I also want to know something else, related to Kuro.” We kept moving, and if the Talionis had enough awareness to care about us whispering amongst ourselves they didn’t show it.

As we walked, I tried to examine the closest Talionis. He walked four feet away, more like stalked his way through the street. His shoulders and spine were hunched forward slightly, the way a vulture would look sitting on a perch above a potential meal. The raspy sound coming from his helmet had to be breathing but was so tortured and hideous that it sounded more like soft screaming.

Maybe he is screaming. Perhaps the man inside is in so much agony from the magic assaulting his body that the sound is him trying to signal his distress. The magical aura coming off the armor was impossible not to sense at such close range. It resonated and pulsed, almost with the beat of a heart, which made me even more sick to my stomach. Each piece of the armor linked to each other, like a conduit, allowing the magic to circulate through it like a perfect recreation of a bloodstream.

I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself; probing the intricacies of the armor’s design would require me to actively use my magical senses, which I wouldn’t be able to hide. For now, I had to be content with just glances and guesses based on surface observations and reading the flow of the armor’s magic. It’s exceedingly complex. Only someone with years, maybe decades of magical experience could forge something like this armor, and not without some idea of where to start.

The armor is too well crafted to have been an accidental discovery or mistake. The Ishmarians had to have found a blueprint for it, then maybe kidnapped or coerced some magical scholar or practitioner to do the enchantments while a master blacksmith crafted the armor itself. But bolting it directly to the skin? Why take such an excessive measure?

He finally swiveled his head in my direction, the raspy noise turning into a full growl. I backed away, bumping into Alverd. The visor was so thick and dark that it obscured the face underneath, but I was sure that the man had to be snarling at me like a rabid animal. “Do be careful. Even before he became a Talionis, Yegor was not a patient or forgiving man. I wouldn’t provoke him if I were you.” Guunzel had a smugness in his voice that made me want to throw an ice lance at his head, but I took a deep breath and let it go instead.

His pets herded us through the Silken River’s lesser markets and towards the center of the district. I heard some of the regular Legionnaires walking alongside him converse with him, catching snippets of their conversation over the din of the market. At certain points I heard talk about “‘finding the rats’” and “‘an unexpected discovery’” and that the Talionis had “all persons of interest in custody at the central market”. He listened with rapt attention, enough that he didn’t turn around to see if I was focusing on his words.

For his part, Guunzel related to the soldier that the “‘persons are to be held without harm’” and to “‘clear out the central market’”. I caught one final thing about “‘a contingency in case we do not have the information we require’”. After that, the soldier nodded and split off from the group, disappearing into a crowd that parted to make way for him. The general led us to the central market, which was now firmly under control of the Legion.

At least thirty men and women in their black armor were milling about the market square, some seated around the edges of a large, manmade lake while others were eating or resting. In one section, about twenty soldiers stood in a square, five columns with four soldiers in each, all standing in perfect unison with no movement at all. Their golden capes and gauntlets identified them as Talionis. That’s eerie beyond words. Even when the rest of the soldiers take breaks, the Talionis stand together. They’re almost like ants with no individual will of their own.

Then something caught my eye. A group of Legionnaires were detaining a pair of people near the water’s edge. One was a young fox beastwoman with red hair, clad in white and red robes that looked like the local style, and the other was Kuro. The tired-looking mage looked more haggard than usual, his signature look of abashed spitefulness on full display on his face. The girl clung to him, shivering as her golden eyes darted between the Legionnaires, her tail twitching nervously.

Kuro didn’t look hurt; there were no signs of external injury, and the fact that he didn’t have restraints on him meant that he hadn’t tried to resist. But who is that girl with him? Kuro’s eyes met mine, and widened. There was a second where he looked unsure of what to do, but then he blinked and his normal sour expression came back.

Guunzel led us down to the lake, stopping some distance away from Kuro and the strange girl. “I found a friend of yours here in the market, Alicia. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the one who nearly killed our current queen. I made sure to issue an order that he was not to be harmed. You might be more willing to listen to me if you can see I have no intention of harming you or your friends.” Again, his voice had that arrogant undertone that suggested that even though he was acting like he was accommodating Alicia, he was truly insinuating that his “consideration” was going to come at a cost.

It’s blackmail, plain and simple. Kuro and that girl are hostages and any second now we can expect to hear him lay out his terms. It’s only a matter of what he wants, and how he expects us to give it to him. I chanced a look at Sir Alverd, and his grinding teeth told me he was thinking along similar lines.

Alverd didn’t leave my or Alicia’s side, even to run to where Kuro was. He remained as civil as he could under the circumstances, his furious face the only thing giving away his true disposition. It was only after we were taken to the lake’s edge that he knelt down to speak to Kuro.

“Are you alright? They didn’t harm you?”

“N-No. They dragged me over to this side of the lake but they didn’t do anything more than that. I can tell they wanted to, though.” He aimed his foot at a nearby Legionnaire and kicked them in the shin. The Legionnaire barely registered the attack, grunting angrily at Kuro but not striking him back. “So what are you doing here? Decided to take a shopping trip before you came to rescue me?” Now that he was reunited with his best friend, some of his familiar snark crept its way back into his tone.

“Something like that. We had a strong lead that we might be able to find you here. Looks like it checked out.” He gave Kuro a stern look. “Anyway, that’s not important. I’m glad you’re alright, but I’m sure the general here didn’t help you out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Save me? What are you… no, he grabbed me while I was just wandering around.”

Wandering around? What is he talking about?

From behind me, Alicia spoke up. “Huh? You mean you got away from Monaco?” I grimaced. The whole point of Alverd tiptoeing around the subject was to make sure she wasn’t mentioned. Sigh, it is true what they say about loose lips sinking ships. As if on cue, Guunzel swooped down into the conversation like the overgrown buzzard he was.

“Monaco? The thief? The one currently on the run from the authorities? What would one of your companions be doing mixed up with someone like her, Princess?”

Even Alicia knew she’d made a blunder at that point, because she grimaced before answering. There was no point hiding it now. “She attacked us. Tried to pull a fast one on us. She dragged Kuro away as a hostage or something. We haven’t seen him in a while.” She gave the bare minimum of the truth so as not to arouse further suspicion.

Guunzel didn’t look fully satisfied with her answer, but didn’t push the matter. “Is that so? Well, you’re fortunate that nothing befell him. Mages can be quite vulnerable when left alone.” He motioned to his soldiers and they stepped away from Kuro and the girl. Kuro rose and helpd the girl to her feet, covering her with his arm as he pulled her away from the Talionis. As soon as Kuro was safely back with us, Guunzel scratched his chin thoughtfully. “You and your companions are of no importance to me, Princess. But I still see a way we can help each other. In exchange for letting you leave without reporting your presence here back to the Queen, I’ll take any information you can offer on the whereabouts of Monaco the Swift.”

Alverd didn’t miss a beat throwing Guunzel off the scent. “We interrogated one of her cronies. He pointed us in the direction of the Broken Mirror District, but that was a decoy. We came here to find the rest of her thieves before they could regroup. The hope was that by catching them we could force them to reveal where Monaco’s backup hideout would be.” He carefully put himself between Kuro and Guunzel. “I’m sure it’ll take you and your mind some time to search the entire Silken River for them, so I hope you don’t mind that we take our leave now.”

We were in the middle of turning to leave when Guunzel sighed. “Oh well. It won’t matter either way. Once the Emperor sees the writ from the Queen of Dragontamers, I’ll be free and clear to take the Hand of the Usurper from here.” I froze in my tracks, as did everyone else. “Did he say what I think he said?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I did, indeed. I have an official writ of reclamation from the Queen of Dragontamers stating that it is our sovereign right to ask for the Hand to be returned to Ishmar through official diplomatic channels.” That arrogance snuck its way back into his voice, only more noticeable this time. “Seeing as how the one who returned the Hand to the angels after the War of the Five Kings was Ishmarian, it stands to reason they would recognize our claim to such a powerful artifact. Any concerns you have about it are irrelevant. It is a weapon to slay gods and demons, not mages or armies.”

Kuro’s mouth hung open in utter shock. He stammered, words dying half-born in his mouth, then shut his jaw before he could say anything provocative. Unfortunately, Alicia was more than happy to say what he wanted to say for him. “You’re insane if you think the Emperor would willingly let you and Eliza have the Hand. You’re just a lapdog for a kinslayer.”

The fire returned to Guunzel’s eyes, and I reflexively took a step backward. “The Emperor would not agree, true. But it is not him who sits on the throne now, rather his imbecilic son. In three days' time, the Emperor will have to concede his rule to the boy, and at that point he will have no choice but to acknowledge our claim.” He drew his sword, but didn’t brandish it at us. “If your information is true, I must move quickly to seal off the district. The Emperor won’t like it, but his son invited me here and gave us the freedom to act. I have no further use for you. Leave.” He turned and lurched away. “But if I find out you have deceived me, I will hunt you down. Then I’ll show you how much bite this old lapdog has left in him.”

In minutes the Legionnaires were up and filing out of the market square, splitting off into squads. Each squad had several Talionis with them, and even the regular Legionnaires gave them plenty of space. The regular Legionnaires must be terrified of the Talionis. Even when we were brought here, the normal soldiers always kept a few feet between them and the thralls. I need to know more about how they are made, or at least what magic was used on them. If we have to end up fighting them, knowing about potential weaknesses would save us a lot of trouble.

In the chaos of the withdrawal, I pushed up against Alverd and waved my hand in an arcane gesture, weaving a simple pattern to invoke a spell that would allow me to probe deeper into the Talionis’ magic aura. The trace went beyond the armor, past the murderous feeling permeating the metal, and into the person underneath. To my shock, the person inside the armor did not possess the spark of life as we typically knew it, but was somewhere between death and a comatose state.

I put my other hand up to my mouth to stop myself from throwing up. Kuro tapped my shoulder before pushing me forward. “Don’t stop and think about it. We can discuss it when we get out of the Silken River.” I nodded, pushing the thought from my mind. Let’s put more distance between us and Guunzel before I tell everyone what I’ve found out.

Alverd brought up the rear with me, making sure his friends were all in his line of sight and that we weren’t being tailed by any of the Ishmarians. “So, Kuro. I think you’ve got some explaining to do, as do we. But first, we need to find a safe place to lay low. Can you and your… friend make it back to Yuzuruha’s place?” He gave the young fox beastwoman a sideways glance.

“I can do you one better. She has a place we can hide out that’s closer. In the Graveyard District. Once we’re there we can make sense of all this.” The girl clung tighter to Kuro, so much that I thought he might lose the ability to breathe. She remained silent, her nervous eyes flitting from each one of us to the other constantly.

“Well, what are we waiting for? The sooner we lose Guunzel the better. Those Talionis of his rub me the wrong way.” Alicia was the first to pass under the red arch and out of the district. “Lead us to where we need to go. And make it snappy.”

An hour later, we were all shacking up in a rundown shrine in a corner of an old graveyard, huddling around a mess of paper lanterns. Alverd sat serenely in the middle of the room, taking in his surroundings calmly as he sipped tea from an earthen cup that had been taken from a mismatched set, provided by the nervous fox beastwoman.

The beastwoman in question was sitting in front of her hearth, brewing a second pot of tea, her lower lip quivering as she waited for the inevitable interrogation to begin. She sat next to Kuro, who had a defiant scowl on his face, their hands still joined as they had been since they first joined us. Alicia was off to the side, watching Monaco like a hawk, drinking her tea out of a ceramic cup that had a pink flower motif. I suppose it falls to me to break the ice, so to speak. Very well.

“So, Kuro. Tell us about your companion.” I chose my words diplomatically, as I had little knowledge of the girl, her clothing and certainly not her occupation. She’s a scared girl squatting in an abandoned shrine with barely any furnishings. I’d rather not judge, but everything I can clearly see with my eyes suggests she’s some kind of transient. Watching the girl’s face intently, I tried to gauge her reactions to gain insight into her temperament.

The way she clung to Kuro didn’t seem manipulative or fake. If she were playing him for money or some other kind of goal, she didn’t give any outward signs. She avoided eye contact with me, which told me she was afraid I’d see through her or she was genuinely nervous to meet strangers. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt for now. If she were a simple con artist, she would’ve run for her life the moment the Legionnaires caught her with Kuro.

“This is Deotra. She’s a shrine maiden and a local. Monaco and I ran into some trouble after she dragged me away, and Deotra came to our rescue and let us stay here with her while Monaco recuperates.” I lifted my eyebrow.

“Here? In this dilapidated building?”

Suddenly, the girl leaned away from Kuro to speak. “This has been my home for a long time. I’m sorry if the slovenly appearance offends you. But there are many good memories attached to this place, so I stayed here. You’re welcome to stay too.”

I don’t detect any falsehoods in her voice. Her tone is steady, her emotional inflections aren’t staged. She means what she says, and that’s usually a good tell that’s being truthful. Albrecht had taught me how to size up peoples’ intentions for years, helping me root out those who came to me with legitimate concerns and those who simply wanted to curry favor with me. Good thing I had those lessons. Even if they didn’t help me figure out he was just as bad as the rest of them.

Putting my personal thoughts aside, I continued questioning her. “So it happened like Kuro said? You came across him and Monaco being attacked by Divernian Swords near the Broken Mirror District?”

“Yes. I saw them trying to flee. By that time Monaco had already been hurt, so I intervened as soon as I could.”

“How did you intervene? I have a hard time believing a group of thugs like the Swords would be scared of a young shrine maiden.”

Kuro spoke up, his voice neutral but with a clear air of urgency that I caught right away. “The Swords were trying to keep things hush hush. But a big blunder on their part started to turn things into a public spectacle. Once Deotra started calling for guards, the Swords decided to run for the hills.”

Kuro was too quick to jump in there. Like he was anticipating he would need to fill in. I think he’s hiding something, but then again, isn’t he always? I’ll find him later and question him about what’s going on, but for now I’d rather stay on topic. “So then we’re caught up. While we spent today questioning Monaco’s man, you laid low here and tended to her wounds. You went to the Silken River to look for food and medicine, we went to follow up on our lead and we all ran into the Ishmarians there.”

He nodded. “That’s right. Now that we’re all on the same page, we need to talk about what Guunzel said, and about those Talionis of his.” So eager to deflect and redirect the conversation. Too eager for my liking. He’s definitely trying to hide something from us. The wheels in my head turned frantically, trying to make sense of his machinations. You can’t fool me. Whatever it is you’re trying to hide, I’ll bring it to light. Or I’m not the former Witch-Queen.

“I’ve had plenty of time to examine the Talionis up close while I was being kept prisoner. I suspect you’ve already figured out what’s wrong with them too, Sheena.” I took in a breath. “Yes. Somehow, Guunzel has found a way to turn a man into a hybrid undead by stranding the souls of his soldiers on the boundary between life and death. It’s extremely potent necromancy, the kind you would need a senior practitioner with decades of experience to perform.”

Alicia choked on her tea, spilling some of it on her clothes. “Necromancy? You mean that icky green magic that makes dead things… not dead?”

Kuro scoffed. “Not the most eloquent way to put it, but yeah. Normally, necromancy is about taking something that’s already dead and making it ‘alive’ in the sense that it can move around and act according to basic orders. But you’re not actually making it alive again, just a puppet.”

I picked it up from there. “What Guunzel has done is a bit of the inverse. His soldiers were alive, but he killed off parts of their bodies while keeping their souls intact and encased in the body. I suspect that the reason the armor is bolted onto the flesh of the Talionis is because they serve as an actual prison for the soul inside.” Alicia’s face contorted in revulsion. “Why would anyone willingly allow themself to be subjected to that?”

In response, I picked up my staff and poked her arm with the bladed end, not enough to pierce her skin but enough to make her recoil away from me. “Pain is the body’s way of telling you that its physical limits are being tested. For a soldier that prides themself on being in peak physical condition, pain is the surest way to know when to ease off for fear of causing self harm.”

I looked her square in the eye. “What then, makes berserkers so dangerous, Alicia?”

Comprehension dawned on her face as her eyes widened. “We ignore pain. We push past it to accomplish things that others can’t.”

“Exactly. Imagine a soldier that retains their conscious mind, with all of its higher reasoning, but without pain to impair its physical prowess. Combine a berserker’s raw brute strength with a Legionnaire’s cunning, without fear of injury or death, and you create the perfect soldier. All you need at that point… “

“Is the armor.” Kuro finished my thought perfectly. “The armor is enchanted to inflict a near-psychopathic urge on the soul inside the armor. Almost like it’s conditioning it into a killing machine. Which means whatever magic Guunzel is using, it isn’t a perfect process.”

Alverd calmly took another sip of his tea, but his expression had turned quite dark. “What do you mean?”

“If the process was perfect, the soldier in the armor would be able to use higher reasoning and act as they did in life. The aura would be unnecessary. I suspect that if we were able to examine the armor more closely, we’d also find a means for him to control the Talionis directly through something like simple verbal commands or hand gestures. I think the Talionis might still be in the development phase. Like prototypes.”

Alicia shook her head, scooting over to join our conversation in full. “No, no, no. There’s no way Eliza would allow this. Remember how much she hates magic? If she knew that magic was involved, she’d lop Guunzel’s head off and mount it on a spike herself without a second thought.”

“What if she doesn’t know?”

Our eyes all turned to the mousy redhead still seated next to Kuro. Her hand was raised, and she looked more sheepish than before. “Sorry, I know it doesn’t concern me but after everything that’s been said, I feel like I should point this out. What if this Guunzel man isn’t telling his Queen everything? What if he’s acting on his own?”

It’s a valid point. Even if Guunzel could prove his Talionis can perform, it means nothing if his actions are construed as treason. Which means this suddenly got a lot more complicated. “Maybe he doesn’t intend to use the Talionis long term. Maybe he just needs them to accomplish a singular goal, then he sweeps the evidence of what he’s done under the rug before he reports back to the Queen.”

Kuro snapped his fingers as he seized on something. “Guunzel claimed he had a writ from Eliza saying that Ishmar can ask for the Hand to be given to them? That has to be a lie, right?”

Alverd nodded. “It has to be. Ishmar wasn’t even a nation that existed after the War of the Five Kings. It was founded later, right?”

Kuro pulled out a small book from his pouch. “But there was that mural I found in the Nest, remember? The one written in Ishratan? And the memory we saw in the hidden fortress. I doubt anyone really knows for certain when Ishmar itself formally recognized itself as a kingdom. Guunzel could play on that uncertainty to try and forge some kind of diplomatic document and pass it off as the real thing.”

Alicia was beside herself. “Woah, slow down. This is making my head hurt. How is Guunzel going to convince the Emperor that he has some hundreds of years old order that says he can take a magic knife away from here?” There was a sound like someone grunting, and from the side of the room, Monaco propped herself up and grinned at us.

“Either he has the mother of all forgeries to present to the Emperor, or he’s going to wait three days and try to trick the Emperor’s son after his official coronation.” Even still recovering, the woman was absolutely insufferable. “From what I heard, the coronation doesn’t require the previous Emperor to be present, and if he’s as sick as the people say, he’s probably bedridden. The Imperial Heir is a half-wit, and he’ll be easy for someone like Guunzel to fool.”

“How long have you been listening in?” I asked.

“Oh, the whole time. I’m really good at playing dead. I wanted to see you lay all the cards on the table before I dealt myself in.” With a grunt of effort, she leaned against the wall to steady herself. “Can’t say I feel bad for my traitorous crew. That’s what dishonesty gets you. Karma’s a bitch, huh?” She said as she looked at Kuro.

He folded his arms and glared at her. “Back to the topic at hand. This whole plan of his falls apart the second it's exposed to enough scrutiny. But if we operate under the assumption that Guunzel is acting on his own, purely in some kind of snatch-and-grab capacity, he just needs a few quick and dirty solutions and he can get what he came for and get out before anyone is the wiser.”

Monaco nodded sagely. “Now you’re catching on. Stop thinking of him as some scary general and more like some run of the mill conman, and it starts making more sense.”

“So I suppose you have some brilliant way to stop him?”

Monaco folded her arms behind her head. “Nope. But I’ve got three days to come up with one. I think you’ve got no choice now, Alverd. Fortune has put us on the same side for once.” She gave him a maddeningly alluring look, mischievousness gleaming in her brown eyes.

“For now, yes. I’m not looking forward to the idea of having to steal, even if it is to keep dangerous artifacts out of the hands of murderous lunatics.” He said as he finished the last of his tea.

“Hey now. Try to keep an open mind, Alverd. You never know. Once you’ve felt the rush for the first time…” She licked her lips suggestively, rolling her shoulder just enough to pop her collar open and show off a bit of her decolletage. “...You might just get a taste for it.”

I will end you. I will bury you where not even the Goddess will ever find you, she-wolf.

“Um, if you want you can stay here tonight. It’s not much, but my home is open to you all.” Deotra tried to smile, but she still looked painfully nervous. “Mister Kuro was so brave in fighting against those Ishmarians! I’d feel much safer with him here.” She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

Alicia smirked, then stretched her arms. “Well. We can worry about all of it tomorrow. Right now, I’m drained mentally. I need sleep.” She curled up on one of the futons and pulled a blanket over herself. “Too much thinking and worrying. Bother me with it in the morning please.”

Alverd was next, putting himself down near the door to be ready to respond to any intrusions. Monaco folded herself back into her blanket, chuckling lustily to herself. Enjoy yourself while it lasts, Monaco. I fully intend to keep your grubby paws far away from Alverd. Just then a bolt of inspiration hit me, and I made my way over to the far corner where Kuro was lying down in a futon next to Deotra’s. I sat down in front of the two of them, taking note that they were in two different futons.

“I figured it out.” I said, matter-of-factly.

“Figured what out?” Kuro asked cautiously.

“What’s going on here, of course.” I pointed at him and Deotra. “The lies, the deception, the misguiding. I know everything. You thought you could pull one over on me. I’ve dealt with schemers who lied right through their teeth at me, and you don’t measure up to them.” His face didn’t waver, but nervousness crept into his voice. Deotra nestled against him, trying to look like the picture of innocence. “I know what really happened.” I said, triumphantly. “You didn’t try to find your way back to us earlier in the day because you were too busy fooling around with this girl, weren’t you?”

Kuro’s mouth fell open, and Deotra let out a little gasp and burrowed her face into him. “Aha! I knew it!” I whisper-yelled at them. “You were so busy doing things of an improper nature that you forgot all about us!” He closed his mouth, tried to speak several times, closed his eyes and spoke. “Yes. Absolutely. I was so busy being a skirt chaser that I completely forgot about my boon companions. Bravo, Sheena. You cracked the case.” His deadpan tone told me that he had accepted his guilt, as he could no longer hide it after I’d nailed him to the wall.

“Hah! No one can outsmart the great and mighty Witch-Queen. Lucky for you, I’ll overlook it this time since you kept Monaco away from Alverd for so long. I got to spend some quality time with him in a rickshaw, so I’m in a great mood. Be grateful that I won’t snitch on you to Alverd for your incredible lapse in judgment.”

He nodded emphatically. “Oh, yes. Thank you, oh great and mighty Sheena. Truly all my schemes could not be hidden from your infallible intellect.” He settled into his futon. “I’ll try not to let my libido get in the way of my judgment in the future. Thank you so much for showing mercy on me.” He turned away from me, obviously to hide his look of shame.

I crawled into my own futon, filled with pride. Today had certainly been a day of ups and downs, but somehow I’d come out ahead by all estimations. I daresay my fortunes are in for a change of pace. Perhaps tomorrow will be the start of my eventual triumph in love! Oh, the sky's the limit!

Tomorrow and the next few days were certainly going to be challenging, but suddenly I wasn’t dreading the future.

In fact, I was rather looking forward to it.