Chapter 123: Chapter 121: A Warrior meets the Queen.

 

After Natasha found out about the assasnation attempts, she quickly escorted Riley and Telvin to a designated safehouse that was in the nobles quarters. When they got there Natasha explained that while this safehouse was usually used for nobles who needed protection, it was currently not being used. It was a mansion, albeit being one of the smallest ones in the city.

Having two floors, it had four bedrooms with connected bathrooms. Surrounding it was a tall stone wall, with a small garden that looked like it had seen better days. The inside however looked like it was cleaned up fairly recently. Natasha said "We recently used it to host a family from a neighboring kingdom who was seeking refuge from the king."

Carrying Telvin to one of the bedrooms on the top floor, she laid him on the thick bed. As a healer took a look at Telvin, Riley went to one of the windows, and peered out from behind the thick curtain. She could see the top of the castle walls standing about two miles away from the mansion. Turning back to Telvin she was happy to see with the healer's help he was nearly at full health again, color was returning to his face.

Before she left, Natasha made sure that the pair of them were alright. She had to go back in and check in with the guards with what was happening in the city. The healer finished treating Telvin soon left as well. Telvin had fallen into a sleep to recuperate. In the quiet mansion she took a look around the place. Each of the bedrooms had very basic furniture which varied in quality and design as if they were just randomly bought to fill space.

Making her way down to the ground floor, she found the pantry in the kitchen. The pantry looked to have been stocked recently so they would not have to worry about food for the moment. For the moment, Riley did not like the thought of Telvin leaving the mansion. Until these damn assassins had been rooted out, she wanted Telvin to stay here.

Finding a packet of tea that looked good, she set it on the table and was looking for a pot, when she heard and felt a loud rumbling through the house. Concerned she went to the window and pulled aside the curtain to take a look out. Under the red dusk sky, she saw a massive pillar of smoke and dust rising up into the air several blocks from the mansion. 

Frowning Riley shook her head and guessed another explosion had occurred. She hoped no one was hurt, well except for those assassins. Perhaps the guards had encountered some of those assassins and they blew themselves up rather then get caught. Looking at the map, she saw the explosion had taken place in the direction of Lord Reata's place.

Returning to what she was doing before, she found a pot and filled it with water. Taking a moment to look at the stove she activated it and it began to heat up the pot. While Riley was waiting for it to boil, she got out a small plate and put several cookies she had found on it. When the pot began to steam she took the water off and poured it in a cup over the tea.

As the water went into the cup, a rich fragrance went into her nose. It smelled like it was made out of exotic flowers. Letting it steep, she relaxed in the chair for a few moments, taking the chance to eat a small snack. When she thought it was long enough, she pulled out the tea bag and with the plate of cookies she brought it up to Telvin's room. Inside she found that he was now sitting up in bed and he smiled at her making her heart go flutter. "So what was that loud boom that woke me up?"

Sighing Riley said "It looks like there was another explosion out there. It looks like it was in the direction of Lord Raeta's place." She placed the plate on the nightstand near him, then she handed him the cup of tea she made. "I thought you would like something hot to drink before going to bed."

Taking the cup from her he nodded in thanks and took a sip. He frowned and said "That's near Mianda's place."

Seeing his concern, Riley sent Carol a message asking if Mianda was alright. A few minutes later they said they were doing alright, the household was shaken up by the nearby explosion. "I just messaged Carol, she said Mianda is alright."

"Good." He drank some more and said "It's been a few crazy days. Makes me want to stay in bed with you and cuddle a bit." He winked at her.

With a smirk Riley laid down next to him, and said "I don't want you leaving this bed until you are back to full health."

"Guess you'll have to be right next to me to keep an eye on me." He said.

Riley laughed and placed a hand on his chest, which made him wince. "How do you feel?"

"Well it no longer feels like I'm about to break in half so that's good. I still feel like I was run over by a thousand horses so not so good." He took another sip of the tea and said "This tastes amazing."

"Yeah, I was looking through the pantry when I came across a fancy looking package of tea. Looks like the previous people here left it. It has a nice smell that I thought you would like."

"I like it, you should have some." Telvin handed her the cup and she took a long sip of it, and found it had a pleasant taste that reminded her of fresh fruits.  

"It's good." She handed it back to him, and he set it aside. Riley took his hand in her own and said "I was scared when I came out and saw where you were gone. For a moment I feared that you had been killed."

Laying silent for a long moment, Telvin finally said "When I saw that assassin coming in with that bomb, I was certain I was about to die. It happened so fast, by the time I had moved, I had already pushed the assassin out of the station. Then the world exploded around me."

Grasping her hand tightly as if he didn't want to let her go, he pulled her close and embraced her. "Even now I can't stop worrying about what would have happened had I been just a second too late." He looked into her eyes and said "While I was lying under that rubble, a lot of things flashed through my mind, but the only person I thought about was you Riley. You hold my heart, I love you Riley."

Warmth spread from her heart and Riley found herself smiling wide. She hugged Telvin closer and said "I Love you too Telvin." Riley kissed him and laid snuggled up to him. They spoke for a while about nothing important, just content to hold each other. Eventually Telvin fell asleep. Riley turned off the mana light in the room and watched Telvin nestling into her arms before she too fell asleep.

Sometime later, Riley awoke to the sound of the bedroom door quietly opening. Looking through the dark room, Riley saw her sister Natasha waving at her to come out to her. Nodding, Riley slipped her arms from Telvin who was still sleeping. Sitting up quietly she realized she heard a drumming sound on the roof above her.

Standing up from the bed she walked to the window and pulled aside the curtain to take a look out. Rain was coming down so heavy that she had some trouble making out the streets. Water was getting deep, some people were sloshing around in water that went over their feet. 

Being careful not to awaken Telvin, she exited the room silently and made her way down to the kitchen. In the kitchen she found her sister making a sandwich and soaked to the bone. Natasha had found a towel from somewhere and had wrapped it around her hair. "It's raining like crazy out there. It's going to be flooding pretty bad out there."

"Yeah, looks like it's going to be storming for a while. So how are the guards doing?"

"The King has ordered all guards to begin a sweep through the city looking for more explosives, and more importantly those assassins. Though with this storm it's going to take the guard longer to get through all the buildings in the city. We might have to wait to let it dry out before we even attempt to begin searching the slums." Natasha took a bite of her sandwich.

"Well at least the king is taking this seriously. Any other news?"

Natasha nodded and said "Do you want the maybe good news, the eh news, or the bad news first?"

Shrugging Riley looked at her sister and said "Give me the eh news first."

"So while I was out at the guard stations, I found out that two of your friends had been arrested. They were being held on charges of bein suspected of murder. By the time I found out about it though, the two of them had been bailed out. Due to the explosion thought, the investigation will likely take a while to complete."

Finding that interesting, Riley planned to talk to the others to see what was going on. Nodding she said "So what is the maybe good news you have?"

"Well, you know the Lord Reata you told me about last night? His mansion blew up. You probably heard it go off. It was a massive explosion, luckily none of the nearby places were damaged seriously. I was still in the process of getting permission to investigate his premises when it went off so no guards were injured. But we don't know why it blew up at that moment nor if anyone escaped it."

Frowning Riley felt a headache coming on. "Do you think they blew it up because they failed to kill Telvin this last time?" "Or were they just destroying evidence?"

"Maybe, who knows? They may have guessed once they used that explosion at the guard station they would be on the kings shitlist." Natasha took a bite of her sandwich and chewed then swallowed it.  "The king could care less if the assassins kept in the dark with low key actions. But using explosions? That crossed a line."

"I can understand that. Who would trust the King if he can't even stamp out some assassins in the capital? I'm not sure if it's good or not though. Maybe the assassins are gone or they may be just hiding waiting for another chance. So what is the bad news?"

"Well for some it would be good, for you it is bad. The Queen somehow got word that you were at the location of the explosion. She apparently freaked out." Natasha held up her arms and said "Not from me. I intended to hide your identity and Telvin so as to not let the assassins know where you are. Only the Healer should have known and I trust him. Someone must have been keeping an eye on you for the Queen."

"Why is that bad news?"

"The Queen is sending someone to fetch you and bring you to her."

Shaking her head, Riley said "I think I'm done with this city. Whatever the Queen want's I will reject her. It's time for me and Telvin to leave this city."

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"I would be careful Riley. From the stories I've heard of her, rejecting her can be dangerous. If you can, don't outright reject her and try to leave when you can. I'll help figure out a way you can shake whoever is following you." Natasha said.

There was a booming knock on the front door, and Riley went to answer it. When she opened it, she saw a giant of a man. He was the one that had given her the message from the Queen before. He said in a thick voice "The Queen requests your presence. I am to take you there."

Seeing that she had no way of declining the invitation, Riley looked at Natasha and said "I will be back as soon as I can. I intend to finish this today. Let Telvin know where I went to when he gets up." Seeing Natasha nod she left.

When Riley stepped out of the mansion, the large man opened a massive umbrella and shielded her from the rain as they walked to the nearby carriage. She saw that it had the Royal crest on it, and she allowed herself to be helped into the carriage. Moments later they were on their way to the castle. They raced through the flooded streets, and she hoped no one got in their way, because they were going too fast to stop. The driver did not even slow when they went through the gate of the castle.

The carriage pulled up to one of the side entrances of the Castle. The giant helped her down from the carriage and led her to the door where he had to squeeze himself through the door. They had reached a long hallway inside the castle where the giant led her to a room.

In the room the giant man led her to, several maids were waiting. When she entered they swarmed around her and took out strips of rulers and began to measure every inch of her body. They shoved the Giant man away outside and then proceeded to strip her down despite her protesting.

They moved her to a side room in which a large tub of warm water was. After getting in from their prodding, she was scrubbed down by some brushes and washed like she was either a kid or an animal getting a bath. To her embarrassment, they scrubbed everywhere. When she got out of the tub she was then rubbed down with towels, then sprayed her with a foul fragrance.

The maids then took her back into the room and began to dress her, starting with a corset that was incredibly tight. She questioned them several times without getting any straight answers besides the queen commanding them to do so. Riley nearly drew the line when they put what had to be one of the ugliest frilliest white dresses on her. She was tempted to tear it off until she heard one of the maids mention just how much it cost to be made.

After the dress they had her put on some high heel slippers that she struggled to balance on. Then they began to apply makeup onto her face, which made her face feel off. Each of these things they did to her made her feel like she was just an object to be presented to the queen.

After the maids had finally finished their preparations, the giant man finally came to collect her. He took her deeper within the castle. The decorations began to look newer, along the walls were green banners. Riley thought at first they would be heading up to the Queen's living quarters. To her surprise they instead began to head down a long series of stairs.

The giant man led her down a set of stairs until they reached a golden door. He said "The Queen is beyond that door. Only those with the King's permission may pass beyond." He turned a giant wheel on the wall and the door opened. "Her Majesty will see you now." Going through the door, he closed it behind her. She looked and saw a similar wheel on this side so she wasn't locked in here. There were more stairs beyond the door.

As she went down the stairs, she took note that the stairs were far older than the ones she had just climbed down. They looked like the ages had taken a toll on them along with stones of the wall which looked to be cracking. She climbed down the stairs for a minute in silence before she reached the bottom which exited into a room.

Entering the room, Riley could see that it was covered in ceramic tiles. Alongside one wall was a mural that looked like it had been damaged and she could no longer see what it was of. In the middle of the room was a pool with a tall fountain inside of it. The water inside of the pool had a pink quality to it. She realized that she could see that there was someone swimming within the pool.

The woman who was swimming within the pool pulled herself out of the pink waters. To Riley's surprise, the woman was completely nude. When she got out of the water, the water on the woman's skin began to steam and disappear. Seconds later, the woman was completely dry. "Amazing isn't it?" She gestured to the pool.

"What is it?" Riley asked.

"It's the fountain that Keston the First found in his travels. It's a fountain of life, able to heal any injury and wound just by dipping within. Of course it has its limitations. Such as once you take water from it, it begins to disappear. So you are Riley? Your father had another name for you. What was it? No matter, it's not important. Riley is as good a name as any."

Walking towards her, the Queen looked Riley up and down. "You have grown up to be perfect. We have so much to do."

Riley was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the way this woman was looking at her. It was as if she was looking at something to devour. "What is the reason you called me?"

The Queen let out a smile and said "The King grows old and needs an heir. They will need a strong ruler if this kingdom is going to avoid becoming a vassal nation. You will become princess and become that heir. We will then rule the nation and crush that foolish plan of my brother."

Frowning Riley said "I have no interest in becoming a ruler of this kingdom."

"Good, because I don't need you, just your body." The Queen's eyes flashed a bright light, and Riley found she was unable to move. "I lost your body once before, I refuse to let it slip through my fingers again."

Whatever the woman had cast on her was slowly freezing her body in place. She could barely whisper "Who are you?"

The Queen let out a laugh and said "You don't recognize your dear mother? Let me help you." The queen reached up and yanked on her face tearing apart the glamour spell. When it was gone, it revealed a body of a half orc. To Riley's disgust it appeared to be rotting away in several places. 

Riley's head hurt for a moment as something seemed to loosen within her mind. Then she sank into her memories, it was when she was young. Of her father and mother, they were on a journey south. She recalled something about her father receiving a mission from a god to travel south.

Then she remembered them reaching a cavern in which a tall statue of a woman resided. Her parents had an argument for some reason, and then the statue began speaking to Riley. Then all of a sudden there was some screaming and her mother stood in front of Riley. Things went blurry here and then she was walking in a forest where she would be eventually found by the Scarlet mercenaries.

After coming out of her memories still frozen in place, she found Invidia walking back and forth. "Damn my brothers and sisters for abandoning me. Damn that whisperer for not upholding his agreement with me. They all will rue the day they crossed Invidia.

Riley realized to her horror that the thing inhabiting her mother's body was one of the Archmages. Struggling against whatever was sealing her movements, Riley said "Jack will be coming for you." She sent a message to Jack asking for help.

Stopping the pacing, Invidia said "Jack? Oh no oh no, he's awake." Invidia bit a finger and said "Damn them, they must have known he was awake. They should have told me. What are they doing?" "No matter, once I take your body, Jack will be no match for me. I will take him as a pet."

Invidia walked behind Riley and she felt her clothes come undone and fall to the floor. Invidia undressed Riley and began to examine her body. "Impressive" Invidia ran her hand along Riley's muscles. Riley felt sick under her touch. "What a perfect body for me. This will allow me to crush all who oppose me, including my foolish siblings."

"Your fool of a mother was too damn smart for her own good. She trapped me to die within this damn rotting body. Ha, I was able to get access to this pool. While it has not stopped the rotting completely, it has allowed me to survive. Once I have your body, all will bask in the glory of Invidia."

Riley struggled weakly as her body sank into the frozen state, a numb feeling gripped her. While she struggled Invidia walked back and forth, "I am the rightful ruler of this world. They took it all from me, it's all their damn fault. Damn Ira for abandoning me in my moment of need."

"Damn that whisperer for saying it was my own fault. How was I to know your damn mother would figure out what I was up to at the last moment." Invidia snorted and said "Don't worry you will be with your mother soon. Thanks to that fool god Alacanar who is blinded by power, I was able to get access to a ritual that will allow me to leave this cursed body."

"Originally I had several other candidates for it, but to my immense joy you came back to me." Invidia ran her hands over Riley's body. "The others are fools to be wanting to stick with human bodies, they don't realize the potential that lies within orc's. I love the color of your skin. It's the perfect shade of green. All of you are perfect for me. In fact your bloodline is incredibly rare. With it, I will quickly regain what I have lost."

When Invidia mentioned bloodline, Riley felt as if something shifted within her. She took a look at her status and saw that a bloodline had appeared in her status. She was surprised, as she realized that despite Jack mentioning that bloodlines had been added to the status she had never thought about it. It must have been the same reason why she never recalled her past memories when she was a child. Her bloodline was stated to be Channel of the source of Magic.

"I have lost so much that I have forgotten some of it, wait what have I forgotten?" Invidia said, looking confused. "Damn this brain, it's rotting away." She went to the pool just as she attempted to drink some of the water within, the room shuddered and the pool began to drain of the water. "NO!" Invidia screamed as the water emptied and the fountain began to glow red.

Standing back Invidia cursed and said "No, no, this doesn't matter. I don't need the pool anymore. I just need to switch bodies and everything will be right. That's right the whisperer wants me to kill that half-elf that's following you." 

Fear gripped Riley as her thoughts began to freeze in place, she could only send a message to Telvin warning him before she froze completely in place. She watched in horror as Invidia cut open her arm and used the blood to start forming symbols all around Riley.

A blue box appeared in front of Riley's eyes from Telvin.

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