This was the second time today she felt like she was forgetting something, multiple things actually, which irked her to no end but again, if it was something important then she feels like she would remember it so it probably wasn’t…. Hopefully.

She decided to ignore that annoying feeling and looked down at the map she had of the continent that she should be on. Several years ago she had her Tymbots scour the world to bring her a bunch of maps so she could get a better idea of what she was working with and where she wanted the story to start.

This continent she was on was actually perfect for her plans as most of it was unsettled wilderness filled with mountains. Perfect for hiding the Demon Lord and its army.

Of course that is not to say the continent was completely unsettled. There was a kingdom that had settled a good chunk of this land. Judging from the map it was probably a fifth of the whole continent which she guessed was somewhat impressive.

She pulled out a smaller map that was just of this kingdom, looking over it before she raised her head to look up towards the city sprawled in front of her.

Well, perhaps calling it a city was being generous. There was like, what. Five hundred thousand people max behind those outer walls? Maybe another ten thousand around the outside of the outer walls?

If she hadn’t checked out the rest of this country she would think she was staring at a small town, not the capital of this kingdom. This whole place just felt like she was in the boonies.

While the accommodations in this town (city?) would probably be less than stellar, this was actually what she wanted. This kingdom would eventually fall to the demon's invasion to help give the Hero and the rest of the world a strong motive to stop him.

Then she would have the hero travel the world, deal with political intrigue, collect allies, and learn how big the whole world truly was before the final confrontation. All while he is being hunted and attacked by the demon lords forces of course.

Hopefully the rest of the world wasn’t as backwards as this kingdom. But what were the chances of that right?

She flew down from where she was levitating in the air under an invisibility spell and landed in a small part of the forest where she had placed her carriage earlier.

Nicely crafted if she were to compliment herself, which of course she did. (when you were as amazing as she was, you gotta compliment yourself every now and again for a job well done).

She then turned to her full body mirror to see the mature and elegant woman standing in front of it. She did a little twirl as she admired her new appearance.

The illusion magic held up well, even under scrutiny. Plus she was quite attractive. A mature beauty that held wisdom in her eyes, poise in her posture, and strength in her presence. Yes, this disguise was perfect for the older mentor and the mysterious woman who brings prophecies of doom but also a bringer of hope.

She started to shiver in excitement over her role she appointed to herself. She had been practicing her acting skills ever since she thought of the idea and decided to cast herself as both the older mentor and also the mysterious stranger bringing prophecies. The best role in her opinion even if she was being completely biased right now.

She had briefly thought about being a wise but grumpy old man to play the part but felt like a mature elegant beauty was more her style.

Packing up her mirror, which was just her throwing it into the time prison which she was keeping personal effects that weren’t books. She climbed into her carriage and sat down, waving her hand to make the carriage spur forward and start to move on its own, crashing through the woods until it popped out onto the road and started to head towards the capital.

The fact that this kingdom was so behind in its magical technology that they still needed horses to pull their carriage was just depressing, she shuddered at what else they were behind on and was suddenly thankful she didn’t ever need to use the bathroom.

But it wasn’t all bad. The horseless carriage would attract more attention as the mysterious powerful stranger who has visited the kingdom with a warning.

The carriage went down the road and towards the town (city?). Traveling for about 20 minutes as they passed various commoners who were probably marveling at the elegance of her carriage, before coming to a halt. Halting too soon actually based on the speed they were traveling.

Pulling the curtain to the side she peeked her head out the window and… Okay, She was absolutely not doing that.

There was a good line leading up to the gate her carriage had decided to head towards. Stupid self driving carriage taking the worst route possible! Especially since there seemed to be other gates around the walls that didn’t have much of a line!

The people right in front of her were staring wide eyed at her carriage, a few were even sitting super close to it as well, obviously marveling at its craftsmanship. So maybe she could forgive her carriage. She was trying to grab people's attention after all.

With some quick thinking she stepped out of the carriage and walked towards the people in front.

The people, a family by the looks of them, bowed before her, trembling slightly, which made her straighten her back a bit more. Clearly the peasants knew a noble when they saw one. Making the illusion puff out her chest to give off the noble dignified look “Greetings fine common folk. I have a pressing need to get to the city rather quickly.” She took out a chunk of gold from a time prison that was in her bag “Would you kindly let me to cut the line”

The father seemed to sputter before practically collapsing in a bow “O-of course my lady. Thank you for your kind generosity!” They quickly bowed and stood to the side all quickly looking over the gold she just gave them

She then repeated the process all the way through the line till she got to the gate before her with about every single commoner reacting the same.

Turns out she was smart to bring all this gold with her, she basically filled up a whole time prison with the stuff. It was easy to transmute and create but humans in her old material world loved the somewhat useless metal and she banked on the humans of this world to love it too.

Sure gold had its uses for her as well. But that was largely for aesthetics and occasionally needed for some magic. But humans loved to use it for money claiming it had value which she found funny.

Finally she made her way to the gate, cutting past everyone in the process, where the guard before her seemed to be a little intimidated as she approached so she smiled gently to try and help ease them as the one to the left spoke “Y-your papers please m’lady.”

Papers? Why would a backward kingdom have some kind of registration where people needed papers?

Ugh, that was annoying, how was she going to go past that part “You’ll find that is completely unnecessary. I have an important matter to address with the king of this nation. Would you be a dear and kindly take me to him.”

The guard looked a little dumbfounded. Likely processing that he was talking with such an important person as he opened his mouth slightly before shutting it again. “I uh.. I should probably get the captain.. If you would wait one moment?”

She gave him a wave to dismiss him and he quickly ran inside the gate house only to return a minute later with a man that almost seemed too big to be a human. He glanced at her, then threw a glance at her carriage which only made his frown deepen before he made his way towards her.

When he spoke his voice was gruff and his speech slightly slurred as if he had been drinking “You uhh, Need to speak with her majesty? Whos you suppose to be?”

She made a quick mental note that the ruler of this kingdom was a queen and not a king. Perhaps she should have done some research into the kingdom but eh, too late now.

She puffed herself up (or rather made her illusion do that) “A person of great importance who has come from across the ocean with an important message that this kingdom and all the people are in danger.” She tried to enunciate all the important bits with her best “Mysterious stranger” voice

The man just stared at her for a second before blinking slowly “and what do I call ya?”

She froze at that question when she realized she forgot to do something completely obvious. She never gave her character a name.

She had gone by many names in the past largely because she kept forgetting the names she had used previously and needed to think of a new one the next time someone asked her the question.

Why didn’t she use the name she was born with? Because her stupid creator never gave her a name when he made her, it was the same for all her siblings as well. And even if he did she would have thrown it back at his many stupid faces!

I mean names were pretty pointless when you never needed them in the first place and her “family” (which she used in the loosest possible terms) never needed names to communicate with each other anyways.

She understood why humans or other sentient races would need names to talk to each other. It was why when back in her original material plane she had used various different names when she was talking or dealing with people back then. But again she kept changing names cause she kept forgetting the ones she had used previously.

So now that she was taking part in the story she needed a new name and was metaphorically kicking herself for not thinking of a name earlier.

“Y-yes, my name issss” she quickly looked around for potential clues, relying on her quick thinking to get her through this. “Gatess… Captain…. First name Captain last name Gates”

The man stared at him with a blank expression before finally speaking. His slurred speech had cleared up at that moment “ Your name is actually Captain Gates?”

“My parents had a weird sense of humor.”

The man examined her for a couple of more seconds before glancing back at the carriage then back at her. His speech going back to being slurred as he spoke “Why don’t ya come with me, and bring dat carriage with ya. Mys subordinate here said it moves on its own?”

She smirked with her illusion, glad that the man was perfectly reasonable and also a total idiot for falling for her quick thinking. Guess the quality control for those in leadership was bad “It does, under my orders of course.”

The captain merely grunted before turning to the subordinate. “Wake-” He pauses for a second as if trying to remember who he wanted to wake up before speaking again “Wake Hans, give him a bottle in the liquor cabinet in my rooms and tell him to take over. If he complains, give him a second bottle”

The guard quickly saluted and rushed in the gate house while the captain turned and started to walk away, which she assumed was him escorting her to the castle. So, because a noble lady of great importance like herself doesn’t walk with the common riff raff, she climbed into the carriage and issued the order to follow the captain as he led them forward, relaxing back and enjoying the ride.

After a bit of time with her reading a book she had brought along the way, her carriage passed through a gate and up to a mansion which was most certainly not a castle in the middle of the city.

She made her illusion frown a bit (since she didn’t actually have lips to do so). “Excuse me Sir.” She called out to the gate captain (Cursing her naming choice for herself slightly in the processes)

The gate captain (not her) who had been escorting her carriage turned to look at her “Is there a problem?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that this mansion was distinctly not the castle of the ruler of this kingdom which I had requested. Was I a little unclear in my instructions” I mean come on, sure the guy was a drunk idiot but he couldn’t have been that stupid. Or was he just too drunk to not realize he led her somewhere different?

After she had finished the gate captain (not her) made a small grunt, though kept his expression neutral as he walked/wobbled towards her.

“Sssorry ladyship. But I do not have such da authority to introduce you to the Queen so I have taken you to Count Tirran who iss my employer and also responsible for those who go in and outs of the Gate you had entered. If you truly have a message about da wellbeing of the kingdom. He will have the power to introduce you to the Queen so you may deliver the warning. Now if I may, I needs to return to my job.”

She simply waved her hand to dismiss him and he left, leaving her standing in the courtyard in front of the mansion with a couple of guards by the front doors.

Shortly after the gate captain (Not her) left. The doors of the mansion open and out marched a man dressed in a rather ugly looking robe with equally ugly looking clothes underneath.

Just because you have the money to decorate your clothes with gems and jewels doesn’t mean you should. Or at least not in that way! Why can’t rich people buy taste, it would spare her eyes at the very least. Or it would if she had actually had them! HaHA!

Suppressing audible laughter over her internal joke she faced the man walking down the stairs, his eyes constantly throwing glances towards the carriage with so much naked greed in his eyes that she was almost unsure if this person was an actual noble with how clear his emotions were out in the open.

She always had trouble reading people's emotions and even SHE could tell that he was thinking about snatching the carriage from her.

“Ah! To be graced by a beautiful young woman's presence on such a lovely day, the gods have truly blessed me. Please please, come in. Nethin, the man who escorted you, sent a messenger ahead explaining the situation. I am sure we have much to discuss.”

Young? Beautiful, sure but she was not young. Maybe he was into grannies or something and anything younger was too young? Or he was trying to flatter her. But he clearly sucked at it. Also he’s creepy., And gross, and has a terrible fashion sense.

She did her best to ignore the attempt at the compliment “So you know that I have urgent business to discuss with the Queen then. I am going to need an audience as soon as possible.”

“Of course of course. Let us head in and we can happily discuss everything.”

Happily discuss? She was here with world ending news. Or at least kingdom ending news. How is that going to be a happy discussion? Why! Why was everyone she talked to an idiot!

As she grumpily followed the Count through an ugly looking mansion that had about as much taste as the man's clothes, she was eventually led into what looked like a parlor.

She noted five men in the room in each corner and one by the windows with weapons sheathed and clearly on edge. Combining that with the few guards behind her made seven “Who are these people?”

The Count simply looked around the room as if he just realized the men with weapons were here. “Ah, not to worry. Merely guards for my safety. Important for a man of my position as I am sure you know. I have had several assassination attempts on my life sadly. Though that does make me wonder. Where are your guards?”

Oops. Yeah that makes sense if she had guards given her noble character. She would need to get some soon. Perhaps mercenaries dressed up?

“Under normal circumstances yes, but I have traveled here in secret and felt it was best to travel with as little attention as possible.” So long as you ignore the eye catching self driving carriage and her flinging gold around like it was nothing.

The count raised his eyebrow as he licked his lips and rubbed his hands “So you came here alone and no one knows you are here?”

“Yes?” She felt like this was going somewhere but she really didn’t get-

She felt a sudden pressure behind her and looked down to see the tip of a sword sticking out of her chest. Slowly turning her head a full 180 degrees towards one of the guards that had been standing behind who had apparently just stabbed her. “What are you doing?”

The guard blinked in surprise, then horror, before pulling out a dagger from his belt and stabbed her in the neck.

“Okay first off.” her hand reached out and grabbed the man's neck, and with a small squeeze crushed his windpipe “That was very rude.”

She turned to the other guards that were charging her with their weapons drawn. And grumbled “It’s bad enough to suffer fools, it’s worse to suffer rude fools”

She raised her hand and a green serpent like mist shot out of her hand and into the nostrils of the guards charging her. They instantly collapsed to the ground convulsing, bloody foam spitting out of their mouths before falling still.

She then turned towards the Count who had fallen on his ass and had scurried back to the corner “What on earth made you think that attacking me was a smart idea?”

“Wait wait!” He quickly got onto his knees and bowed towards her in an undignified manner “I promise to give you whatever you want! Just please! Spare me!”

Ugh, just looking at this dude was giving her second hand embarrassment. She had never seen someone ugly cry like that. It wasn’t even charming in the same way some ugly crying could be. “How about some information then. Why the hell did you just try to have me killed?”

“Y-your carriage and all the gold you seemed to have! A carriage that runs by itself with such a beautiful and well made design! You were obviously loaded with money! And seemed really easy to rob!”

Well that was a little insulting. If she had lungs she would be huffing right now. Thank goodness for wind magic!

But seriously, how short sighted does someone have to be to attack a foreign guest of mysterious origins. When she brought this up he quickly explained that it would have been super easy to cover up since he was part of some group that ran some kind of criminal organization or something.

Her interest peaked at that for the simple idea of having the future hero deal with some shadowy organization that ran the criminal underlord. Thankfully she didn’t really need this guy to be alive for that future plot point and she really didn’t like the dude anyways. So she killed him the same way she killed the guards albeit a bit slower and more painful because of his horrible taste in fashion and décor.

Of course now she was in trouble as she was without any contact to get her to the castle and the queen…. Is what she would say if she was incompetent. Thankfully she was a brilliant mage (Who was also quite beautiful even without this illusion running)

She made the illusion grin for added effect as she realized she solved her guard problem with this idea too.

Swelling the mana at her fingertips she forced the seven guards that had attacked her to awaken as some undead soldiers. Even going the extra mile to give them sentience and intelligence to be on the safe side. Really she just wanted them to look and be intimidating. Though she should probably have some visors or masks to hide the gray skin of the faces and glowing red eyes.

As for the count. She poured more mana into this body. The body twitched before she summoned the mans souls and forced it back into its dead body. Causing the thing to thrash about before jerking up into the sitting position.

This wasn’t a true resurrection, those were a pain in the ass to do and cost way more mana. This was more her chaining the man's soul and forcing it back into a dead body as your slave, or perhaps puppet. She didn’t bother making him stronger than he was when alive. She’d probably find a way for him to “Accidentally” die after he ran his use here.

Thankfully she had gotten so good at undead summoning and creation that she didn’t really need to do the rituals for them anymore. It was basically the same for her with all forms of magic outside of something super complicated.

In fact now that she thought about it. She hadn’t summoned an undead in a while. It was rather nostalgic. Maybe she should summon some more undead at some point. Or upgrade the undead she currently had.

“How may I serve you my mistress?'' She was rudely interrupted by the undead man before her. He even seemed pathetic as an undead as well. She’d make his accidental death embarrassing as it seemed appropriate.

“Right, I suppose we should get to business. You are to inform the Queen that you have a very important and rich guest who brings an important message that could threaten the destruction of this very kingdom and possibly the whole world. Play it up a bit. Add some dramatic flair and all that. You seem like you would be good at that.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

When the undead count didn’t move she clapped her hands together. “Well?! Chop chop! Let’s go!”

The undead count quickly bowed and left without saying a word more to her. Why is good help so hard to find these days? If she ever had a brain she would definitely be getting a headache and she wasn’t going to use magic to give her one for the roleplay.

She looked at the undead guards and mimicked a sigh. She couldn’t believe she just let one of them stab her like that. Thankfully all who saw were dead now.

But that was still embarrassing. She really should start being mindful of her surroundings in case of any more surprise attacks. A few thousand years in isolation made her lose her touch a bit she supposed.

Thankfully it was only a slight hiccup that she easily recovered from and didn’t have to worry about anything else.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Queen Cathryn, first of her name, sat up on her throne overlooking her court with a slight frown upon his face as Count Tirran stood behind a woman who seemed to be in her forties to early fifties, she had a sophisticated beauty to her that was hard to place but also seemed deceptive in some way. Like what he was looking at was handcrafted.

If that wasn’t enough, she had an unsettled feeling while looking at her. It was hard to place but to deny it wasn’t there would be folly.

Cathryn had been told the woman had called herself “Captain Gates” Which was so laughably bad that she probably would have granted her an audience for no other reason than entertainment if she didn’t know everything else.

“I take it you are the one Count Tirran has told me so much about and you are here to deliver an important message?” She spoke more to address the court more than anything else. So much of courtly politics felt like theater.

The woman smiled and gave an over exaggerated bow “That would be correct your majesty. I have come to your kingdom to share unfortunate news.”

She raises her hands up into the air and dark mist starts to pour out which had Cathryn jump up gripping his sword by her side and her guards quickly drawing their weapons and moving in front of her to protect her.

“Peace, peace My lords and ladies!” Tirran quickly pleaded as he raised his hands in her defense “This is all part of the message!”

Cathryn's eyes snapped to Tirran who had spoken. “You better start explaining yourself now Tirran before I sentence you to the dungeon for treason”

It was Captain Gates who answered her instead with poorly hidden joy in her tone “I believe a visual would help you understand the importance of everything that will happen should you not heed my warning my Queen~”

Cathryn glared at the woman who spoke as the black mist slowly started to form above her as a heavy cloud.

“Its true my lords and ladies” Tirran spoke again, bobbing his head up and down like a fool. “She means you no harm at all and will be the best thing for this kingdom if you let her speak her truth”

Cathryn shifted her glare towards Tirran before finally signaling for her guards and protectors to stand down. Cathryn proceeded to sit back upon her throne. Waiting to see what would happen though the guards were still on edge, ready to move at a moment's notice if need be.

However she was not expecting to wait two whole minutes to see what Ms. Gates was going to do. She was no mage, but she didn’t feel a change in the mana density for a good minute and half making her wonder what kind of spell was being cast and why there was such a delay.

Finally the black mist started to twist and form into a twisted monster with four arms standing above savage looking creatures with long ears and fangs.

“Soon!~~” Cathryn turned slightly startled by the projection of Captain Gates voice as she sounded way too excited and vaguely gave off the impression of a first year thespian who just landed their first role ever.

“Soon an army led by a mighty demon will arrive and slowly sweep across this entire country, killing and devouring everything in its path.” The mist twists into villages and cities being destroyed by the previous visages of monsters that she showed.

She heard some gasps from the court as they watched the mists play out. It was actually somewhat gruesome with scenes showing people getting brutally mauled. Almost seemed like a sick joke with the needless graphic showing

“But!! There is hope, A young hero!” The mist turns into a vague male humanoid standing proud and tall but instead of the black mist it is a glowing white light. “Wielding a mighty and holy sword created by a famed blacksmith long ago and blessed by gods!”

The visuals changed to the human leading other humans charging demon and monsters “Only he, leading a group of powerful champions from across the world will be able to slay this demon and his army, bringing prosperity and peace to the whole world!~”

The mist dissipates as she drops her arms, looking quite proud of herself though what she was proud of seemed questionable. But Cathryn had to swallow that as she spoke to Captain Gates.

“And?”

“And?” Captain Gates seemed confused by the question posed.

“Is that all?” Cathryn clarified and Captain Gates seemed slightly perturbed by the question.

“Yes. What else would there be?”

Cathryn resisted the urge to sigh and played along “So this demon is the threat you want to warn us about? Do you happen to know where this creature and its army resides?”

She bowed “I am afraid I do not know of his location as of yet as I am still unfamiliar with this geography but I hope to find its location with my scrying abilities within a few months.”

“And this boy who will save us?”

“I am currently looking for him as we speak, when I find him I will be sure to inform your majesty.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes “And where did you say you were from again?”

“Across the ocean my Queen, when I received the prophecy I knew I could not let such evil stand. Thus I came here with my warning” She gave another exaggerated bow

She tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne before standing up and forcing a smile on her face.

“I see, it is clear that you must be tired from not only such a long journey but also with all the effort you have been putting in to help us. I will offer you a place to stay in our castle for you, I will expect you to move in within a few days. You may keep your carriage at our stables, I shall have servants bring your belongings from Count Tarrows place”

Captain Gates did another over exaggerated bow “your majesty is too kind.”

She snapped her fingers and a servant moved up towards her. “Please show Ms. Gates to her room in the northern tower” The servant gave the slightest pause at the mention of the destination before bowing and began to escort the woman out of the throne hall.

She proceeded to address the whole court as Captain Gates began to leave the throne room. “That is all for now. I must head to my chambers to think about what has been revealed to us. You are all dismissed.” Not bothering to see the rest of the court bowing towards her, she got off her throne and left through the back doors of the courtroom.

Cathryn made her way through the castle's halls only being accompanied by two of her royal guards till she made her way to her private office. It wasn’t much as she preferred simplicity to extravagance if given the option. But even still, the office was probably nicer than most nobles' rooms.

She went and sat behind her desk and leaned back into her chair as she waited for her two guests to arrive. It only took another minute before she heard a knock on the door and it opened up with two men stepping in who were also her most trusted advisors.

The first man who came through was an old man with the slight hunch to his back named Riez, the top mage of the kingdom plus her teacher and mentor when she was a child and who would teach and mentor her own children when they were old enough.

The second man who followed right behind Riez was only a year younger than her at 28 named Ignes who probably had no real noteworthy features except for a nasty scar that ran down his jaw. He was not only her right hand man but also a loyal friend since she was a child. He was also the leader and founder of a new organization in her kingdom called the shadows. A group that specialized in espionage, sabotage, assassinations, and scaring the hell out of people she wanted to be scared.

“Alright Ignes.” Cathryn spoke with authority and made the men stand at attention

“I want you to go over the report you gave me two days ago for Riez sake since he has not heard it yet.”

Ignes gave a quick bow to her and spoke as if reciting an invisible and boring document he was forced to read “Three days ago one of my shadows that I had infiltrate the Underground syndicate was working as a captain of the gate that Count Tarrow had control of. He was to monitor and keep track of the various cargo that passed through the gate without proper inspection. That was when Ms. Gates arrived and demanded to speak with you claiming urgency and the fate of the entire kingdom rested on it.”

Cathryn nodded but asked a question that had been pestering her “Why did he take her to Tarrow anyways? She was clearly a shady character without any form of documentation or registry.”

Ignes nodded “He had standing orders from Count Tarrow that any important looking people were to be brought to him personally. And she was clearly an important person who had extreme wealth and power given the horseless carriage that can drive itself. He believed that since Ms. Gates was clearly not expecting to be questioned at the gate that she must have been told to go through Tarrows gate to be let through though now we know that is not the case.”

Cathryn nodded and gestured for Ignes to continue

“After he escorted her towards Count Tarrow he said he would leave but once he was out of eyesights he used an invisibility spell on himself and tailed them into the Counts Manor, using the Counts Sigil to bypass the protective wards. It was then he saw Count Tarrow have his guards attack Ms. Gates too apparently grab her wealth”

Cathryn shook her head at such a brash action. Tarrow was both impulsive and short sighted enough to do something so stupid. He was a useful wealthy idiot that the leader of the underworld, Pirran Hillside, used as a pawn. Largely to get various smuggled goods in and out of the capital with ease.

But he believed himself to be indispensable so probably thought he could get away with anything. Even if he had succeeded, there would have been way too many eye witnesses to report Captain Gates heading towards Tarrows mansion and her suddenly disappearing which probably would have been enough for Cathryn to detain him and use that as leverage to get to Pirran Hillside.

Ignes continued probably thinking the same thoughts as her though not expressing them “What he witnessed was certainly questionable, and were it someone other than one of my shadows I probably would not have believed him. One of the guards had stabbed her both in the back and neck but she was totally fine afterwards. She then proceeded to kill all of the guards, one by crushing their windpipe. The others with a spell he could not identify. After a brief interrogation, she killed the count as well. And that was when she used some kind of terrifying spell to bring not just Tarrow back to life but also the guards as well. All seemed loyal to her but certainly changed. The guards especially.”

Cathryn nodded as she sat in her chair at her desk before looking at Riez “What are your thoughts on this?

Riez rubbed his wrinkled forehead “Outside of it being very bad? These kinds of spells. Raising the dead and making them servants. It has always been theorized about but never once confirmed. But even the theories we have, such magic wouldn’t be possible without much prep work and grandiose and complex rituals. Not to mention the amount of mana consumption it would take.

“And the worst and most worrying bit is how they all became loyal to her after she brought them back to life. Imagine someone being able to kill all of your soldiers and loyal followers only to then bring them back and use them against you. Such power would be something I have trouble imagining but it could very well threaten the whole kingdom. But that still isn’t everything.”

Cathryn looked at Riez, trying her best to fight the oncoming headache that was building in her head, waiting for him to continue.

“The enchantments of her clothes seemed beyond anything that I have ever seen. And that is not even counting the carriage she rode here on. Have you seen it?”

Cathryn shook her head, she had only heard rough explanations of it from the report from Ignes and so Riez continued.

“I had a brief period to examine it when she parked her carriage in the stalls to come up and meet with you. The runes and complexity of everything there is utterly brilliant. Even if we were to ignore the beautiful craftsmanship of the carrier. It is absolutely brimming with power. A carriage that drives itself by the owner's wim, with various protections and seems like it also has some kind of assault magic runes too meaning it is capable of some kind of attack also. But this is all speculation because these runes are all ones I can only vaguely understand so far.”

Cathryn felt the headache growing as he started talking more about his obsession. “And this is big I take it?”

“It’s huge! This could revolutionize magic! So many possibilities have been opened up! Especially if she has all new sets of runes and enchantments that we don’t know about. I am asking, no begging, to be allowed to study the various enchantments that she has and her equipment!”

Sighing, Cathryn leaned back on her chair and took a tone that offered no leeway “Don’t get ahead of yourself Riez. But I do agree with you. Getting these enchantments wound undoubtedly increase our kingdom's strength as a whole. Would it be possible to get closer to examine these enchantments and runes more closely?” She glanced at Ignes.

Ignes snorted at the question. “While she seems powerful. Probably stronger than anything I have seen, she is utterly careless. Even if you ignore the fact that she casually walked into an obvious ambush by Tarrow. There is nothing stopping someone from closely examining the runes on the carriage and learning from them.

“I would say our main concern is her being so careless with her magical knowledge that she gives it away to potential rivals or enemies. I would suggest limiting the people who interact with her as much as possible and monitoring everything she says or does as best as we can”

“Agreed, I will have you set things up Ignes, but now we have a couple more points we need to discuss” Cathryn responded

“Like her potential immortality.” Riez followed up with excitement in his voice

Nodding solemnly, Cathryn looked at them “Getting stabbed and being completely fine means we can’t act out against her in any shape, not without knowing why she can’t be killed through conventional means at least. Thankfully she doesn’t seem to be outright malicious but she could still hold ill intent. In fact I think we should assume that she does mean harm to this kingdom and us.”

“Her claiming she lived on the continent across the ocean is also a clear lie” Riez said which made Ignes chuckle in amusement as well as he spoke.

“That’s good though, it means she is not from here or knows much about us or anything from across the ocean. The kingdom of Altior would have had her killed if she showed any hint of magical talent. And even if she wasn’t from Altior she would still have had to cross the kingdom to get here. And their inquisitors would have easily spotted and killed her”

“Which of course begs the question where did she actually come from. Can we rule out hell, heaven or the fey planes?” Cathryn looked at the others and they all gave shrugs. “Than I want us to look into that possibility as well”

She then turned to Ignes “I think it's about time we sent the shadows over to Altior to try and steal some of there magic devouring steel, that could help us greatly should we ever need to fight this person”

“While difficult it will probably be needed and even not, I still say it would be worth the risk. But the operation will probably take some time if we are to try and keep a minimal risk diplomatically. I also would have to say that if we want it to go without a hitch I should be the sole one to go”

She didn’t like the sound of that, having Ignes gone would greatly worry her but he was also the best one for the job too. “Very well, she doesn’t appear to be an immediate threat though if I feel like we need to expedite the process than be prepared to do so”

Ignes nodded again in understanding as Cathryn gathered her thoughts.

“Now for the final point. This demon thing. Do you think there is any weight to her claim” She looked at Riez since he would know the most about demons.

“Demons are tricky creatures, very dangerous, and are also a good boogeyman to get the masses scared. That is not to say there isn’t a demon, just that she might not be telling the full story”

Riez let out a sigh as he gave it a bit more thought “She could be employing a demon, she could be making this story up. Or perhaps she actually has received a prophecy and is merely hiding her past for some unknown reason. The problem is that we just don’t have enough to go on to make any logical conclusion.”

“Right..” Cathryn rubbed his head “For now we watch her carefully. Learn everything we can and see if we can gain some magical knowledge from her. Monitor everything”

Cathryn then smiled just a little bit “In the meantime, this is probably a good enough excuse to try and push through some of the policies and expansions. While anyone who has witnessed the scene happening in the court will call bull, a few well placed rumors to the masses will help greatly in public support”

Ignes grinned and bowed “I will start getting the shadows ready. This will also help us greatly with cracking down on Lord Pirran Hillsides operations. Especially since one of his underlings seems to be inundated with Captain Gates. He has been sending more messages to the kingdom of Altior and his influence grows. If things keep going as they are I wouldn’t be surprised if tries for a coup within a few years ”

Cathryn nodded. “Good, best get going, the sooner we get these rumors circulating the sooner we can start moving”

“Before I go. The shadows you want monitoring her. I’d like to send a few as undercover servants for her. Would that be acceptable?”

Cathryn thought about it for a second before speaking “Okay, but I don’t want any shadows as her personal servants. Someone with this many unknowns could prove dangerous. Have them stationed as servants working in the tower instead.”

“As you wish. But that does bring the question of any potential servants we can give her personally. It would be considered rude to not provide someone who is our guest.”

“Someone easily expandable and replaceable would be preferable. Nobody with any kind of connections. Once we have a better idea of of who she is and what she is capable of, we can easily get rid of the servant and replace them with a shadow”

“I will be sure to relay everything and find someone suitable for personal maid” With that Ignes bowed once more and left the chamber as she then turned towards Riez

“I want you to get to know Captain Gates, it should be easy enough for you given your absolute love of magic, you basically won’t even be lying by saying you want to spend time learning from her”

Riez shifted a bit while leaning on his grizzled staff “You underestimate my abilities in subterfuge, remember I also helped teach you and Ignes in such things also. But I do have a request albeit perhaps a risky one.”

Cathryn raised an eyebrow as Riez continued “I wish to take my grandson with me when I meet and talk with her”

“Your grandson? You mean Marrow? Isn’t he only 9 years old?”

Riez let out a hearty chuckle “He does look younger than you would think but no, He is actually 12”

“Because that is much better. I am not sure I want a child being near someone who can potentially be this dangerous and more importantly influential over a young mind”

“He is much smarter than you would believe, and he has inherited my love for magic. He is actually more talented than I was when I was that age. I hope that while his mind is still young he will be able to learn and understand all of this new magic. But if that is not enough, I think he would be helpful in getting Ms. Gates to open up and teach some of her magic.”

She knew the old man would be stubborn on this so reluctantly agreed “Fine, but Riez, I want to make this clear. If I have suspicion that your grandson has possibly grown too fond of this Gates character or might have any reason to question his loyalty he will suffer the consequences. Do I make myself clear?”

Riez huffed in response. “Fine, But you have no need to worry. Marrow is smart and he is loyal to me and this kingdom. He would not fall victim to something as simple as manipulation”

“Heh. Don’t pretend your motivations for this are pure. You probably just want him to get even more of a head start so that he can become a Court mage when he comes of age”

“Obviously not. I fully expect him to become a court mage before he becomes an adult.”

“You certainly speak with confidence.” Cathryn smiled a little “Alright, if your grandson becomes a court mage by or before he reaches age. I will give you the bottle of my Dragons Flame whiskey you have been practically begging me for since I acquired it. But if he doesn’t then you need to give me a bottle of your Tears of Sorrow wine. Deal?”

She raised her hand which made Riez shake it with enthusiasm. “I look forward to proving you wrong. With that bottle in my possession I will probably have every single one that is in existence.”

Cathryn smiled but took on a more serious tone “Please be careful Riez. Don’t overstep yourself and if you think there is potential danger you are to report back to me immediately.”

Riez grin grew “Oh please Cathryn, you know how much of a careful guy I am.”

She just gave him an annoyed look “That’s exactly why I am worried. When it comes to magic you suddenly forget you are over 60 and act like a teenager, with the same mistaken belief that nothing can harm you that badly”

“Have I been wrong before? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want to spend the rest of this day of you going through the list. Just know I will be careful, when it comes to important matters I have never failed you, nor will I ever”

Cathryn nodded and Riez soon left her office as well leaving her alone with her thoughts. She hated not knowing what was happening and this Captain Gates seemed like a whole lot of unknowns that was hiding a whole lot of future problems. But for now she would prove useful if for no other reason than perhaps advancing their might in magic and using her prophecy to help push through some of her policies she wanted to make.

Still though, she had an uneasy feeling that something bad would happen. Hopefully she could catch it in time but if she didn’t, hopefully it would happen soon. Oftentimes waiting for something to happen was worse than when it actually did happen. She only hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sharrel kept herself in the shadows holding her breath, too scared to move as one of Whines goons moved past her. She waited another ten minutes before finally stepping out from the shadows of the crates she was hiding behind. A surprised seagull let out a squawk and flew away when she emerged which made her cast a worried glance around but saw no one.

She couldn’t believe they chased her all the way to the docks but hopefully she had lost them now.

She began to move her way back through the city till she got back to the slums, if she were to be asked to describe what misery smelled like. It would probably smell a lot like the slums around here.

She was thankful though since Whines hadn’t found the house they were currently squatting in but she suspected they would have to move soon as she felt like today was way too close of a call and he was probably narrowing down their position.

It’s not like she has ever missed a payment so she didn’t know why they hounded her like that. But still better they focused on trying to get to her then trying to get to Aion.

Opening the door to their little hovel she couldn’t help but notice all of the grime and mold that had been growing throughout the shack. No matter how much she tried to clean it, it always seemed to grow back.

She looked over to the corner of the room where a poorly maintained bed lay and a sickly looking child was sitting looking out the only window admiring the flower plant that sat on the window sill that offered very little actual sunlight.

She let out a sigh but couldn’t quite keep the smile from her face as she moved up to him. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Her little brother turned towards her with a flat look on his face. “Shouldn’t you be home a lot sooner?”

She smirked “I would have but I had to fight off some rich lady who wanted the flower I got you” She pulled out the small flower she had gotten that had almost gotten her caught by those goons. It was a little crumpled from her carrying it in her pocket but it still held its luster.

The way Aions face lit up upon seeing the flower was totally worth almost getting caught.

“You got me a Nirrogold! Quick! We need to get it into the pot!” His body started to move before he suddenly collapsed and began coughing.

“Shit!” She started to grab Aion but he slapped her hand and through a fit of coughs managed to get out.

“Flower, plant, now!”

She wanted to curse his stubbornness and help him but fully knew he’d just refuse whatever help she tried to provide until she planted the stupid flower.

She hastily and somewhat sloppily crossed the bed to the window sill and planted the flower in the flower bed they kept there before quickly moving back to Aion and helped him lie down back on the bed.

She waited till his coughing fit had finished before looking at him “Have you taken your medicine today?”

He nodded weakly before mumbling “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean for you to worry”

“It’s fine. But the flower is far less important than you are”

He smiled weakly “Not sure the flower would agree with you.”

“Okay, well the flower would have been fine for a couple more minutes while I made sure you were okay.”

His smile seemed to only grow larger as he sleepily spoke “Funny, I am also okay while you took the couple minutes to make sure the flower was safe”

She watched as Aion fell asleep. He had likely been up longer than he normally was and that sudden excitement at the end was too much for his poor body.

She let out a small sniffle and whipped her face. “You dumb idiot.”

It wasn’t the first time he scared her like that and it certainly wouldn’t be the last She hated how useless she was to help Aion.

She got up and looked at the large dress that did not fit her in the slightest. She didn’t have a chance to tell Aion but she actually had a job opportunity at the lords manor that she would apply to tomorrow. Apparently the head maid was always looking for the down and disenfranchised to work there and when she heard she couldn’t believe her luck.

She had to put on her best performance if she wanted to be accepted for such an opportunity that could be life changing. Maybe she’d actually be able to take Aion to a proper doctor to get him fixed…

She turned her head towards the dirty mirror they had in the corner of the room. Most probably wouldn’t even realize she was 14 years old. She had heard people on the street talking about how stress ages a person, perhaps they had some merit.

Soon, soon their lives would get better. They had to get better. They needed to get better. She wouldn’t even acknowledge such a thought as being a fools hope. They will get better, and this job was a step in the right direction.