Chapter 108: Book 3 chapter 10

Alexa sighed as she rubbed her eyes. Having spent the last week pouring over incoming reports from across the nation was starting to take a toll on her as she adjusted herself in her once comfortable chair. 

She let her eyes wander to the now dark window inside her makeshift office, “Is it night already?” She sighed slowly rising from her chair, her back popping as she stood for the first time in hours. “I guess that explains why no one else is dropping off papers. So much for finishing quickly.” She grumbled picking up her empty cup, the tea she had been enjoying long since dried up.

Ever since their family had been given their title, at least one member had been posted inside of the castle… well that was the plan but in reality, Alexa is the only one capable of taking up that particular task. Her mother would have been more than capable yet due to the new… tension, between herself and the queen, it came as no surprise that Taaffeite has not left the family's territory since the twins vanished. 

Her father was simply too crucial to the “protection” of the border, his prowess in combat making him unable to move in such a trying time; or at least that is what the queen had said. Alastair was a lot of things, but he was far from a diplomat. His rambunctious nature and… Alexa would never describe her father as unintelligent, quite the opposite really; it’s just his specialty was more… applied knowledge instead of scholarly. She couldn’t imagine the giant of a man sitting at a desk all day filing paperwork.

Alexa let out a dry chuckle as she imagined her father sitting at a desk, smoke rising from a growing pile of ashes around him as he became increasingly more aggravated.   

That left Saffron. The succubus was in fact part of the family now, and she had actually covered for Alexa once or twice over the last month or so. It's just the woman made the other nobles… uncomfortable. It didn’t help that she had apparently given up on her, “human act” as she called it. Without Hecatolite here, Saffron seemed… stressed… no anxious maybe. Alexa struggled to describe the woman’s newfound curt attitude towards everyone that was not part of the family. More than once, Saffron had “removed” overzealous soldiers from the castle forcefully; despite the queen’s warnings to not cross the “protectors of the Crown”, apparently even telling people Saffron was a demon lord did little to deter some of the more seasoned generals.

One man had the audacity to call her a glorified pet, mistaking Hecatolite’s relationship with Saffron for a passing noble kink. Even Irithyl had said he was lucky that Hecatolite was not here to hear him, not that it spared the man. Alexa was just happy he survived, though if he ever intended to continue his bloodline, he will need to indebt himself to Hecatolite when she returns. After all her “prisoner” was the only person Alexa knew of that could cast true healing magic and Saffron had… misplaced the parts she removed from him.

Seriously, that woman is just as dangerous as her wife. Alexa recalled the smile Saffron wore as she addressed the queen, the only thing she said on the matter was “if the good general is worried about “Noble fancies” getting in the way of his duty, he should be thankful I removed that temptation for him.”

To say Irithyl was unhappy would be an understatement, after all the first real injury of this war was “friendly fire”. Though she did comment that of course this unprecedented war would start with the strangest “discharge from duty” report in history. I mean how do you write out an honorable discharge for injury for a man who never even saw an enemy soldier. 

Alexa nearly dropped her cup as a sharp knock rang out inside the silent office. 

“Alexa?” a musical voice called as the door creaked open.

“Speak of the devil,” Alexa shook her head as Saffron peeked into the office.

“I find the comparison a little insulting,” Saffron smiled, her black eyes scanning the room.

“Apologies, what can I help you with Saffron? Weren’t you going to return home… yesterday?” Alexa again looked out the black window, unable to remember if Saffron was setting out the day before or after… “What day is it?”

“Taaffeite would be worried to find you locked up in this room all hours of the day. Please do try to at least go outside a little, Alexa.” Saffron scoffed as she held up what looked like a flask. “To answer that question, I was planning on setting out in the morning. I figured I would get a head start on what Taaffeite is going to ask once the sun rises.”

Alexa watched as Saffron plopped into the chair in front of her desk, taking a drink from the flask before setting it onto the desk. “What mom’s going to ask?” Alexa sighed as she fell back into her chair. “I’m guessing it will be about the message Amethyst sent earlier?” She took a drink from the flask, immediately regretting it as her throat instantly felt as if she had tried to swallow hot coals. “What in the hells is that!” Alexa was barely able to wheeze out the words as she coughed.

Saffron couldn’t hold back the laugh as she took the flask back, “Apparently it's called demon’s tongue, a dwarven whisky…” her laugh wavered as her black eyes seemed unfocused. “The queen told me I could take anything I found inside these walls. A small penance for losing…” Saffron ended the sentence with another long draw from the flask. “Regardless, I am positive Taaffeite will likely ask about this ship the twins have found. Though my mistress couldn’t recall its name, Amethyst called it…”

Saffron paused as Alexa took the flask and took another drank; she would not be laughed at by the likes of a sex demon, even if she was her sister-in-law. Another sputtering cough later, “the Copper Tusk.” She ignored the burning in her throat, casting a small healing spell on herself; it was Dwarven whisky after all, she was brave not stupid. She would not be another foolish human who ended up burning a hole in their throat out of foolish bravado. “It’s a small-time smuggling ship, though calling it a ship is an overstatement. It's not even worth the cannon balls it would take to sink which is why it's typically waved by the navy. But it hasn’t been spotted in a long while meaning it either ran afoul of another navy or it was forced to change its route further north outside of our patrol’s range. Now that we know they weren’t sunk, it is likely they were avoiding sailing south because of the war.”

“So, it is likely they were in fact, inside of Alamgir’s portion of the dead sea?”

Alexa didn’t answer, simply nodding. They knew the twins had landed in the Dead Sea; simply asking Amethyst about the sun's position and the weather had been enough for the queens’ cartographers to even narrow it down to the northeastern portion of the sea. But that was the problem, most of the Dead Sea fell under other nations “territory”, in truth, Crown only controlled a very small portion of the sea.  Alamgir’s own navy was patrolling the northern portion of the sea, which made searching for the island they were on… difficult. 

It was only because the Queen’s unwavering support of the family that most of Crown’s ships were now effectively searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack as the Dead Sea was riddled with unmapped islands; though the fear that the two had landed outside of the Empire's reach had always been there, Alexa had held out hope. 

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As for the Empire’s own navy, it was now based completely out of Sandstone, the queen claiming that it was only obvious given it was the closest port to Algamir but that hadn’t fooled anyone. Irithyl had nearly wept when Taaffeite and Alastair last left her castle, even if her mother said she understood the queen's actions Alexa knew there was a massive difference in “understanding” and “accepting”. 

Both her parents had even said it was a decent plan, claiming they saw the need to keep them in the dark but despite the queen’s best efforts, the damage had been done. Now with 3 children scattered to the winds, it was no surprise that her parents haven’t left Navratna since returning there; a small blessing if you asked Alexa given the amount of convincing it took to keep the two of them from jumping on a ship themselves.

Surprisingly, Saffron had been the voice of reason against searching for the twins bluntly telling Taaffeite that she was being foolish, and it would be best to leave the rescuing to the sailors. “You wouldn’t ask a baker to forge a sword, would you? So why would you think you're going to be of any use on a ship?” If Alexa remembered the succubus’s words correctly. Sure, Taaffeite was well versed in search magic but the simple fact that she knew nothing about being on the sea gave her pause. In fact, it was surprising that their whole family was actually inept when it came to sea travel, though it was something they all have actively begun to rectify. They were in charge of one of the biggest ports on the eastern border after all.

Convincing Alistair had been a little… more difficult, finally ending when Saffron had told him that it was more important that they ensure the twins had a home to return to.

Alexa eyed the succubus that sat across from her as she took another swig of the flask. “Now that I think about it, you were awfully vocal about all of us waiting for them to come back. Like you knew we wouldn’t find them.”

“Of course, I didn’t wish for us all to go running out after them.” Saffron sighed, “I have faith that my mistress will return to us when she is ready.” Though Saffron smiled, Alexa couldn’t help but notice the sad look on the woman's face as she spoke. “My mistress told me to watch after the house while she was gone. It is my duty to wait for her now…”

“Would it not have been better for us to go look for her? I mean you can fly, surely you would have been of some use out there…”

“If Hecatolite needed me she would have called for me.” Saffron scoffed, “No, I believe everything worked out exactly how it needed to. My mistress said she would split her body from her sister and she has. She said she would travel the world and now she will. She told us to send boats, because of that we have met Alamgir’s navy in kind, keeping them from moving on our lands. She needed a ship and behold one that was forced to travel north was moved slightly off course by her awakening…”

“Forgive me if I’m not going to rely on coincidence to protect my sisters.” Alexa stifled a laugh, Saffron had always been enamored by Hecatolite, but to account a bunch of happenstances to some strange power… “You don’t think… Hecatolite planned this all out do you?” maybe it was the whisky getting to her but when it was all lined up like that…

Saffron laughed; a long belly laugh that nearly toppled her before she answered. “Gods no, my mistress is a lot of things, but I fear she lacks the attention span for such planning. I’m simply saying things seem to work out for her in the end. I will say however, neither Hecatolite or Amethyst need something like coincidence to keep them safe. I dare say that both of them have outgrown the need for “protection” long ago. I’m simply saying as long as they have each other, I have little doubt the two of them will encounter any trouble as they make their way back.” Saffron let another giggle slip as she took another drink, “I am surprised by the foresight to not travel south though Gala. I can't say I disagree, though I do hope the elves don’t give them much trouble given they are currently at war with the human nations.”

“Good thing we have Ocelina to act as a buffer between us and Gala. Not that I think the Empire couldn’t shoulder fighting them but a war on two fronts would be a lot more difficult.” She paused looking at the request to send troops to support Ocelina in their war against Gala. It was clear that the queen would send troops but how many? It’s only a matter of time before Algamir broke through Ecrin and they would have to defend their own land, but Ocelina had allied with us so… she shook her head taking the flask again, pushing the thoughts of the war from her mind. “Thankfully Eryl seems to have a good head on her shoulders.” Alexa had spoken with Eryl more than once through the terminals, the world sage living up to the legends if you asked her. Eryl was more than simply intelligent, Alexa suspected the woman knew more than she let on when they spoke. “I bet she’s the one who came up with the plan to travel to Felnnor instead of trying to fight their way through Algamir…” Alexa paused as Saffron took another large sip of whisky, a sad look flashing across her face. “You… ok?”

Saffron waved her hand, “Ok? Why wouldn’t I be, ok?” She scoffed though it may have been the alcohol.

“So, you're fine with it? How Hecatolite talks about her?” Alexa realized immediately she had stepped on a landmine by the hollow laugh that followed her question.

“Why would it bother me?” Saffron rolled her eyes realizing the flask had been nearly drained by her last drink. “So, what if this Eryl is apparently abnormally beautiful?”

“Is that jealousy? I thought you were ok with Hecatolite seeking other lovers?” Saffron’s face flushed a deeper red as she slammed the flask on the table.

“No! Why would I be jealous? Sure, she’s pretty, and apparently smart… and Hecatolite clearly has feelings for this woman…” Saffron actually looked as if she was about to cry as she bawled her fist. “And she’s with her… it's only natural that Hecatolite would have several lovers. This Eryl seems useful enough, smart, and capable of planning and… she’s…” Saffron sniffled a little as her words slurred. “She’s all Hecatolite talks about in her messages to me.  Eryl this Eryl that… I get it the elf is more useful than I am. All I can do is watch the house, but…” Saffron stood only to stumble back, her wings fluttering behind her as she fell, knocking her chair out of the way as she fell back.

“Ok, that’s enough of that.” Alexa sighed standing only to stagger herself. The whisky was strong but unlike Saffron, Alexa had countered it with healing magic, not only that but Saffron had drunk a lot more. She staggered her way to the fallen woman who was now muttering to herself about her goddess being stolen from her. “Really, first mom, now you.” Alexa huffed as she grabbed the woman’s arms.

Unable to lift the woman, Alexa began the arduous task of dragging the woman across the hall to her room. “Seriously, our whole family is full of drama queens.” She huffed remembering her mother being in such a state not long ago, confessing things to Alexa she would rather not remember. “If you two would just talk to your damn lovers, we could get to fixing the damn world a whole lot faster you know.” She grumbled pushing Saffron onto the bed only to remember Saffron’s room was in fact much deeper in the castle. “And now you’re sleeping on my bed. Fucking dwarves.” She sighed sitting on the edge of the bed.

She remembered her mother’s drunken rant a few weeks ago while Alistair was out patrolling the town; a rant that was brought about when the queen offered to repay the family for their losses while investigating Algamir. She would always remember the cold look in her mother’s eyes when she told the queen “I vowed to protect this nation, not bleed it dry”. She figured that was the end of it, their relations with the queen; but that night Taaffeite apparently also found a bottle of dwarven alcohol and with no one else around, she had confided in Alexa. The rant where Taaffeite had announced her love for Irithyl and all the time the two had spent together, though Alexa found herself wishing for more alcohol when she recalled the… finer details her mother shared with her. Seriously, how am I supposed to look at either of them now? she thought, a shiver running though her as she pushed the thoughts aside. After their talk, Alexa had no doubt that Taaffeite would eventually forgive the queen, after all, a drunken confession of your unwavering love is still a confession… though it might be overshadowed if you immediately repeat the confession about your actual husband…  a few more details of that conversation flooded her mind as she stood up. “I think I need another drink.” She hissed staggering through the castle in search of this stash of dwarven whisky everyone keeps finding, “Damn dwarves. I know you’re around here somewhere.”

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