Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Sundenelle finishes explaining to Daniel and the rest of his team the planned route for the revival ritual for a place to land the airship, disembark, and approach the Imperial Funeral. It has been about three hours since Zuzia’s team was deployed covertly to the mine. It should be any minute now that they get an update from Jeavana about the lifeline boring operation.

For the funeral, Baelok will be granted a tomb in the Imperial Catacombs, a high honor befitting his service and status in the Empire, which means they’ll know exactly where he is during his last rites. It’s a pretty straight route, with the landing zone chosen as an area that will be able to be protected for the most part in order to prevent sabotage or espionage regarding the airship.

They’ll keep Byleathea and her team on the airship until a proper cue can be provided for Hekate to make the offer, and she explains that her own escort to protect Daniel in the event of danger includes a ‘Divine Saintess’ capable of restoring Baelok. Hekate will have to answer obvious challenges, such as accusations of necromancy, puppeteering, and other fraudulent means of faking a revival, but as long as they rehearse, she’ll do fine.

The feldrok teen has absolutely no qualms about being defiant to anyone who challenges her claims, even if she knows she’s wrong. She’s not arrogant, but she can hold onto blind self-confidence long past the point of no return, which is perfect for what they’ll need to get far enough along to perform the ritual.

Just as Daniel is about to ask about establishing defensive positions, Magnir speaks up. “Excuse me, your Greatness, your Graces; Jeavana just reported in.”

“What is it?” asks Hekate.

“According to Jeavana from the air above the mine, Zuzia broke through to the tunnel cavity. The miners are cheering and celebrating our ladies.”

“According to plan, then,” remarks Sundenelle with a bit of relief.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” replies Daniel. “The lifeline is only the first step. And, without our ventilator and mini water rig, it’s a stop-gap at best, unless they’ve still got some mages handy.”

“Still, in three hours, to be able to give everyone hope; you never fail to impress me.” She smiles sweetly at Daniel, and Hekate slides into her field of view to block her.

“Heeeyyy…” growls the Feldrok teen.

Sundenelle clears her throat, blushing slightly. “Right. So, the next question is, how do we deploy the next stage? I was hoping to hear from my rider soon.”

“Magnir, are you still connected to Jeavana?” asks Daniel.

“Yes, my Liege. Since we’re not stranded, I can be a little less cautious about my own mana.”

Daniel nods in agreement. “Good, ask her to request that Neith contact you next. We’ll have him do a direct sweep on the road from here to the castle, and then divert to the mine to see if he can find the Imperial rider.”

“Yes, my Liege.”

“In the meantime, we could send in some of the soldiers we brought, can’t we?” asks Wenlianna. “As long as we hide any notable emblems, they can at least take the jet cutter to Zuzia.”

“It’ll be a more difficult sell if Zuzia has convinced the miners and soldiers that she’s some sort of divinely-blessed vessel,” replies Daniel thoughtfully. If they’re celebrating Zuzia, Treia, and Veiranoei, then it’s most likely the plan is working. But, it also means that it’ll be tricky to convince them that the Fievegal is able to help on the same day that a god intervened without creating doubts about one or the other.

“I… can try to use disguise magic,” offers Hekate. “If I hide my ears and tail, I can try to see if there’s some way to help right away.”

Wenlianna raises her hand a little awkwardly, even though she’s the second-highest ranking person in the room at present, since the Fievegal will have a slightly superior position on paper once the Empire and the Fievegal are united.

“What’cha got, Mukori?” asks Daniel casually.

The glasses-wearing brunette blushes, and she says gently, but with a happy tone, “I… can also make a terrible suggestion… Or rather, a potentially rude observation that might help…”

“Let’s hear it,” replies Daniel. “The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can deal with Baelok and Yaulander.”

She nods, saying with a little awkwardness, “People… as a whole are… easy to fool. The more people that are fooled initially, the easier it is to fool even more. So, if we simply arrive to help, and upon hearing about the ‘miracle’, we remark on seeing the divine light from afar, and our laments and regrets that we missed another miracle. Anyone that might be suspicious of our arrival will still be suspicious, but if we save the miners,...”

“They won’t want to give us credit,” remarks Hekate as she figures it out herself.

Wenlianna smiles and nods, “That’s right.”

Hekate nods with her arms crossed, proud of herself for figuring it out.

“And… that doesn’t bother you?” asks Sundenelle.

“Maybe a little,” replies Hekate. “But, if Zuzia, the regular girl, is caught as being a fraud, we lose, right? So, having a dragon be the only thing that can match divine power will be easier for us to say that we have to try our hardest just to compete with a divinely-blessed girl.” Hekate nods her head again, impressed with herself.

Daniel pets his fox eared companion between her ears, and she grins up at him. “Good job, Sweetpea. That’s a pretty good idea.”

“And, if we have to swap out dragons just to make progress…” muses Sundenelle thoughtfully.

Wenlianna finishes as well, “It’ll further reinforce Zuzia’s miracle in contrast to the Fievegal’s raw strength.”

“Your Grace,” speaks up Magnir after looking off to the side. They all turn their attention to him, and he says respectfully, “Neith found the Imperial rider. He’s heading to the mine.”

Sundenelle sighs, while Hekate asks, “Isn’t he supposed to come back here, though?”

“It means the King had already left to see the mine for himself,” replies Wenlianna on Sundenelle’s behalf. “It’s possible there’s a great deal of confusion at the castle, as well, which would be why it took so long for the messenger to get an answer.”

Sundenelle massages the bridge of her nose in quiet frustration.

Daniel orders, “Have Neith don his armor and make contact with his Majesty as Sir Larven. He can catch the messenger up as well, but should take the message directly to his Majesty as fast as possible.”

“As you wish, my Liege,” replies the blue dragon thoughtfully.

Sundenelle sighs. “Thank you, but, are you sure?”

“Larven’s cover is still intact, correct?”

The snow-haired Empress nods, keeping her ruby-red eyes on Daniel.

“Good,” replies the mechanic with a smile. “Then, we can get one dragon on the ground as soon as possible.”

Hekate sighs as she flops down across Daniel’s lap, groaning as she realizes she’s stuck doing nothing still. “This is so frustrating…”

“I know, I know,” replies Daniel with a chuckle as the others smile. He pets her head, saying warmly, “We have all this Hekate-power and nothing that needs to be blown up with it.”

Hekate scrunches her face up as she stretches across him like a cat, and she starts batting his right shoulder with her tail. “I know you’re making fun of me, Daniel, but I’m a mature Empress now, so I’ll let it slide.” Her tail continues to swish back and forth quickly.

Wenlianna says with a slight smile, but in a tone that could be serious, “We probably should create a unit of measurement that such a term would be suitable for. Perhaps one Hekate-power is the same as a standard-sized enhanced mana crystal’s capacity?”

The others chuckle, while Hekate tilts her head to look at the brunette skeptically.

“I have a question,” speaks up Sundenelle when Hekate does nothing further. Everyone looks at her, and the albino Empress asks, “Why is it so that Wenlianna can tease you, but if I simply look at Daniel, I get a warning?”

Hekate’s ears fold back in confusion, then shift out to the sides as her brain rapidly tries to come up with an answer, before finally returning to their upward resting posture. “That’s simple!” The feldrok teen’s voice immediately darkens into a sinister growl as she says, “Daniel has already answered whether or not she’s pretty with a correct answer.”

“A-And… what’s the correct answer?” asks Wenlianna nervously. Sundenelle nods in agreement with this question.

“Go ahead, Daniel,” states Hekate with the same icy tone as she turns to look up at him. “Sundenelle’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

Daniel laughs as he leans his cheek against his own hand. Hekate’s tail can now bat at his right cheek, which stings a little, but distracts him from the continuous pain a little in an amusing way.

“Sundenelle’s really pretty, isn’t she, Daniel?” asks Hekate again at a slightly increased intensity.

The wayward mechanic trapped and cursed in another world employs his only viable escape route. “Sundenelle, has anyone taught you about the Hekate Game?”

***

Neith uses a calming spell from above on the buckrokh racing east from the Castle of Ahmpur. He could spear to the ground in front of them or otherwise try to catch up normally, but it’ll startle the messenger either way, and if he makes a reckless move while the buckrokh is sprinting, it will go badly in a very hasty manner.

As the rider tries to spur the rapidly decelerating beast of burden onward, confused by the sudden relaxation of the steed, Neith descends from the air and calls out, “Imperial Messenger Gavosh!” He descends carefully and lands in front of the messenger, who is startled into drawing his shortsword.

“Who goes there!?”

“I am Sir Larven, Empress Sundenelle’s personal dragon knight.” Neith bows respectfully, keeping his distance as the man studies him for a moment. Anyone who has seen Sundenelle over the last couple of months has almost certainly seen the real or golem-faked Larven at Sundenelle’s side along with Ecklevon, who is the Captain of her Imperial Guard. In his disguise as Larven, Neith wears a full-face helmet, but he has his horns very visible, and his tail is noticeable under his cape, as are his wings, especially because his cape is split to allow his wings to be useful.

“Can you prove your identity, Sir Knight?” asks the messenger.

“I can show you the Imperial Letter of Confirmation I received from her Imperial Grace,” replies the dragon. He carefully withdraws a folded letter that he keeps tucked in the chest of his armor on a chain around his neck. It’s a backup for situations just like this, which Daniel mentioned making identification cards of some kind for the Fievegal in the near future.

Neith presents it to the rider, and he asks, “Did you do this to my buckrokh?”

“Yes. I used the calming spell, as I did not wish to startle your steed into dislodging you, sir. Forgive me for taking hasty action, but I come with urgent instructions from her Imperial Majesty.”

The man studies the letter for a moment, which confirms that Neith is a knight in service to Sundenelle, complete with date and time of signature and her royal seal.

The messenger then casts a simple spell on the paper, which Neith knows is to dispel any magic present.

Satisfied after confirming that it’s not a forgery, the man hands the letter back. “What instructions do you bring, Sir Larven?”

“We just learned of your re-route from the castle, and she asked me to come and bring the letter you carry to King Harnavock kos Ahmpur myself. I can escort you if you wish to deliver the letter yourself, but I won’t be able to carry your buckrokh.”

The messenger thinks for a moment. Generally, his instructions are to give his deliveries to no one but the ordered recipient, with no exceptions. Neith expects this, since it’s the right answer, but Neith was with Sundenelle during her trip to the border town, so it’s likely the messenger saw him from afar, and just wanted to be safe by asking for proof of his identity.

He’s a dedicated and upstanding soldier of the Empire, and he proves that once more.

“I apologize, Sir Larven, but I can’t hand over this letter to anyone but his Majesty myself. If delivery must be more swift, then I will go with you.” The young human messenger descends from his buckrokh, and he walks it a little way off trail to tie it to a tree. “If you would, Sir Neith… After delivering me to his Majesty…”

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“I shall return swiftly to tend to your buckrokh,” agrees the dragon.

Gavosh nods in agreement, and he makes sure his knot is secure, petting the loyal steed before turning to the dragon. “I’m ready.”

“You may be more comfortable closing your eyes.”

Gavosh nods, obeying as Neith takes hold of him from behind. He carries the young man quickly through the air, and he can feel Gavosh go tense in his arms. He either peeked, or is even more afraid as he feels the wind rushing by them. Neith does use magic to block most of the wind to fly, but gravity is also reminding Gavosh that his feet are no longer on the ground. If he does peek and see the trees from far above for the first time in his young life, he may faint.

Or, it may be the most exhilarating day of his life so far.

The two arrive at the mining town in just a couple of minutes. From the air, Neith easily finds the Royal entourage thanks to the fancy carriages. He asks telepathically, “{Jeavana, did the Royal carriage arrive before or after the boring operation?}”

“{The king? He arrived about halfway through. I didn’t report it since the townsfolk immediately started gathering and explaining, and he witnessed the process of reaching the void. Zuzia, Treia, and Veira are all pretty messy now, though, so I don’t think Daddy Harbinger needs to worry too much about them being recognized as long as we get them out of there before the King and his entourage try to clean them up and marry them off to the first three Princes. Or himself. Or whatever.}”

‘Daddy Harbinger’? thinks Neith to himself. Guess she was successful…

“{Alright. I’m here with Sundenelle’s messenger. I’m going to deliver his letter with him, as well as the updated words from Sundenelle. Let me know if Zuzia and their Graces end up in trouble.}”

“{Right now, it looks like Zuzia is explaining the lava spear and the need for air, probably. Stuff is happening, but I’ll watch over them. Don’t you worry.}”

Neith carries the two into the heart of the mining area, descending carefully. They’re obviously noticed, and both men quickly hold their hands up, with Gavosh bravely taking charge.

“Please wait! I am an Imperial Messenger, Gavosh, and this is Sir Larven, Personal Knight to her Majesty, Empress Sundenelle kos Lindenmorg. I come bearing a message from her Eminence.”

Neith notices the King, near the pile formed by the mudslide, with Zuzia and several of his own nobles. He orders his knights to protect and hide Zuzia and the two Gatonine Empresses, as if to keep powerful saintesses to themselves. It’s the obvious move, and one Daniel is essentially doing with Sundenelle’s own mother, once the next major act is carried out.

“Make way!” calls out King Harnavock as he approaches. He’s likely presenting himself in order to distract the newcomers from the ‘divine miracles’ and the ladies who are directly tied to them.

Gavosh kneels, and Neith follows suit, showing the due courtesy to a king. As Sir Larven, Neith isn’t a noble, and he’s not Neith, so he doesn’t need to really worry that much about power dynamics.

Gavosh holds up the letter, and Harnavock gestures for one of his knights to check it over. It’s common practice to use spells to verify that there are no trap spells or poisons in the letter. The soldier carefully inspects it, and he nods. “It’s safe, your Majesty.”

Harnavock takes the letter, reading it over. “Ahh, her Majesty has already arrived in Kebel. This is a blessing.” He hands it to one of his retainers behind him, and the man confirms the letter’s authenticity himself.

“You said your names were Gavosh and Larven?” asks Harnavock.

“Yes, your Majesty,” reply both men. Gavosh adds, “Her Imperial Eminence wishes to join the rescue efforts with the utmost haste to ensure Ahmpur isn’t troubled any further by this tragedy.”

Harnavock nods, “Yes, her letter says as much. Very well. Bring me a quill and paper. Sir Larven, I trust you can see the letter to her with haste?”

“Yes, your Majesty. I apologize if I caused undue concern with our hasty arrival, but time is of the essence.”

“We have had a recent windfall in our rescue efforts, but it seems Imperial assistance will still be required.” He quickly writes up a letter on the portable writing box one of his aides presents, and he signs and seals it himself.

“Here, Sir Larven, Sir Gavosh. Go with haste.”

“Of course, your Majesty!”

“With honor, your Majesty.”

Both men bow, and Neith carries Gavosh toward Kebel. He explains once they’re far enough away, “I’ll retrieve your buckrokh after the letter is delivered to her Majesty.”

“I agree!” replies Gavosh nervously. He’s still a bit frightened, but he’s hanging in there. “But, who were those ladies?”

“Ah, you saw them, too?” chuckles Neith. “That’s a good question. They seemed in a hurry to hide them from us, didn’t they?”

“Could they have been the ‘windfall’ that his Majesty mentioned?”

“Almost certainly,” lies Neith. He is absolutely certain they’re the windfall in question.

“{Jeavana, don’t lose track of our ladies. The King appears to be planning to hide them from us, believing in the miracle.}”

“{Pshh! How irresponsible do you think I am?}” retorts the golden dragon’s voice through their connection.

She doesn’t say anything else, and Neith replies dryly, “{Well…}”

“{Quiet…}” growls her voice a little playfully. “{I just reported it through Mag, so they’re working on figuring it out. You’ll probably get the answer before I will. The only problem is if they all learn their faces well enough to recognize them. Assuming they ever meet with us in the future. But, if I swoop down there, or Senn and Serrentuk kidnap them with magic, our conveniently-timed arrival will make him extremely suspicious.}”

“{I’ll see what our Lieges have to say. Just don’t lose track of them. If they panic or wave for help…}”

“{Yes, Neith. I can watch over three human-kin. Just focus on your tasks.}”

Neith and Gavosh arrive at Kebel with Harnavock’s message, and they are led into the mayor’s manor where Sundenelle is being hosted at present.

After Gavosh explains his version of events, Sundenelle dismisses him with her thanks, and then asks Neith for what else he knows. Gavosh mentioned the ‘ladies that his Majesty seemed to be trying to hide’, and everyone played innocent on it, but it was already known of course. Gavosh is a loyal servant of the Empire, but he’s not one of the main operatives in a somewhat clandestine blurring of lines.

Neith explains his conversations with Jeavana as well, as well as the need to retrieve Gavosh’s mount.

***

Sundenelle says after hearing his report, “Thank you Neith. If you would, please retrieve Sir Gavosh’s buckrokh. We’ll contact you if we need you back right away.”

“Yes, my Liege,” replies the dragon, bowing respectfully. He turns crisply and exits.

“So, what do we do?” asks Hekate. She’s obviously more concerned about Zuzia, Treia, and Veiranoei than anything else.

Daniel is quiet as he thinks, while Sundenelle replies, “Well, we have his permission to enter the Kingdom for emergency aid, so we’ll start there. Sir Ecklevon, please inform everyone to prepare to depart in the next twenty minutes. I’ll be going on ahead with the Fievegal’s buses, so inform my closest three attendants to prepare for departure on the Royal Bus.”

“Of course, your Majesty,” replies the gatonine knight as he steps out crisply to carry out her orders.

Daniel scoffs. “That sounds a little funny to say it like that…”

“It is, though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, though I guess we should give it a proper name, like ‘the Beast’ was for my homeland’s Presidential vehicle.”

Just as Hekate perks up, Daniel says, “We’ll worry about that later. What do you suggest we do about our ladies?”

Sundenelle cups her chin, thinking out loud. “It is a major inconvenience, and making them disappear while we’re present will create an obvious suspicion. But, it would be impractical to force two Empresses and a Grand Princess to avoid all future interactions with a Kingdom that will likely continue to interact with us heavily. Once we establish trade routes, he’ll take a highly-active interest in trying to steer those routes through his territory once more.”

“Could we stage a bandit kidnapping or something?” asks Wenlianna.

“The timing remains the challenge,” replies Sundenelle. “If they end up in Castle Ahmpur, it will be almost as much trouble as a recently failed mission.” She glances at Daniel and Hekate a little bitterly. It was their fault only by virtue of the fact that they are responsible for the actions of their soldiers, golems especially. It seems Cheshyret has even more autonomy than a normal golem, but Daniel never did explicitly forbid him from operating, and he obviously should have.

“We will make it right,” replies Hekate quietly, but with firm resolve. “But, right now, we need to finish this job. So, what if I teleport them out? If I have full mana, I should… probably be able to get Zuzia out.”

Magnir adds, “Yaulwembor and Serrentuk can both use Gate as well, which we know can capture Zuzia, especially if she doesn’t resist.”

Daniel scoffs, but he pauses. “Any chance Yaulander has any spies in Ahmpur?”

“I’m sure he does,” replies Sundenelle. “Though, who they are would be a mystery to me.”

Wenlianna perks up as she realizes why. “Ah! Because, if we make the spy disappear as well, it would look like Yaulander had them kidnapped, right?”

Daniel nods. “That would be ideal, but probably just as risky as anything else. Especially if we don’t know who he is. We could try to impersonate one of his allies in hopes that Harnavock stumbles across him…”

“By that logic, we might as well just do the ‘unknown bandit’ route Wenlianna suggested. It would be a relatively dead-end search as long as he doesn’t recognize them amongst your gatherings.”

Daniel sighs as he leans back. “As long as they didn’t give their names away already… Magnir, tell Jeavana to notify us if they are taken to the baths. We’ll need to kidnap them then, before they are clean and more recognizable, assuming they’re dirty enough.” He looks at Hekate, saying, “You’ll be crucial for getting them out quickly. Servants assigned to bathe a few women that are going to be unlikely to recognize disguise magic, so it’ll be the best chance to get them out. Think you can manage it?”

Hekate puffs her chest up as much as it’ll go as she taps a fist to her sternum. “Leave it to me! But… If I go as Empress Hekate…”

“Just pretend that you’ve received an important message and that you need to rush to the bus to speak in confidence. They know we have weird abilities, so they shouldn’t question it too much. The other option is to send Zuzia’s merc pals to do the kidnapping, but I doubt she wants to be seen in the nude by them. And, I know Treia and Veira won’t like it.”

“I’ll handle it,” reiterates Hekate. “But, um… Maybe… Maybe we could… ask Doephluev to pretend to be me if I have to run off?”

Daniel is hesitant for a moment. She’s heavily pregnant, so bringing her to dangerous areas is ridiculous, and he was too lax before. Not to mention he’s still rather angry at her for going behind his back to try to assassinate someone, only for the mission to end up far worse even in ‘success’ than doing nothing would have ever done.

The mechanic sighs, though. His whole life on Zenkon so far has been forgiving people that are useful enough and sincere enough to help him. And, if she has a shred of integrity and desire to make up for her mistakes, Doephluev will act only within parameters and flawlessly execute the plan.

“Go ahead,” replies Daniel quietly. “But, tell her that if she tries anything,...”

“I’ll tell her!” exclaims Hekate as she jumps up. “I’ll be right back!” She teleports out, leaving the four in quiet as Daniel sighs.

“Doephluev had a hand in it?” asks Sundenelle softly.

The mechanic nods gently. “She hoped to prevent more void artilleries from being made, but… It obviously turned into a far worse scenario.”

“I see… And, you trust her?”

“I thought I could… Though, I do… I feel like I can trust her ambitions…”

“Daniel, people are bad, sometimes,” murmurs Wenlianna. “Even I can admit she’s… charming in a way, but… She’s dangerous because she’s so hard to read.”

Daniel nods quietly. “But, Hekate’s right. She can cast illusionary magic so subtle, I doubt there are more than a single handful of people in the world that can see through it or detect it.”

Light appears as Hekate is teleporting back in, and two figures come to rest in the room where they weren’t before.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

And, Sundenelle recoils in surprise.

Two identical copies of Hekate are standing before them, and they move as one to put their fists on their hips. The one on the right declares, “Daniel! I found her. She was waiting for this exact moment!”

The other Hekate replies in the exact same voice and tone, “That’s right, Darling. I won’t let you down this time. I promise. So, I hope you will be able to forgive me in time.”

“A-... Amazing…” replies Sundenelle. She has seen the golems do essentially the same thing, but there are tiny details that can be detected. For the two Hekates, every strand of fur and every movement of her face is perfect.

Daniel asks, “Think they can pull it off?”

“Y-Yes. I’m… I’m trying to detect the magic itself, but…”

“Hekate is on the left,” replies Daniel.

Sundenelle looks at him in shock, while both Hekate’s twitch in Hekate’s usual way; her ears going as tightly vertical as they can go, and her tail puffing up as it rigidly points upwards. Even Wenlianna doesn’t believe this, since the one on the left spoke as if she were Doephluev, agreeing with Hekate having found her.

Sundenelle studies each of them, instead of just the left Hekate, because she, too, believed the left one was Doephluev.

Both of the apparent feldrok teens try to protest, still staying in character, but Daniel’s instincts for this aren’t wrong. He’s further convinced by the defensiveness, since the smartest thing they could have done is ‘concede’, because it would make Daniel doubt himself more than denying it urgently. It’s in-character for Hekate to get swiftly defensive, but Doephluev is excellent at staying perfectly in character. Hekate is not.

Sundenelle shakes her head. “I… If you’re telling the truth, I can’t… tell.”

“Good job, girls,” replies Daniel as he stands up. “Just don’t show yourselves at the same time to anyone outside of this room.”

“You still think I’m an imposter, don’t you!?” exclaims the ‘Hekate’ on the right.

Daniel grins and pets her head. “Who knows?” He pinches her apparent fox-like ear, growling quietly, “I’m giving you a chance, Doephluev. Be on your best behavior, like you’re actually trying to blend in as a good little girl, or you’re going back into a cell right next to Thymeria.”

She pouts with watering eyes, complaining, “But… I’m Hekate…” Daniel releases her, and the one Daniel is certain actually is Hekate makes her own effort.

“Wh-What about now!?” asks the left Hekate as she switches places with ‘Hekate’. She stands proudly and rubs an invisible belly. “Don’t you recognize your babies, even when they’re invisible, Darling?” She tries to give him the best cutely-pouty face she can manage.

Daniel scoffs. “I’ll never tell you how I know, Sweetpea.” He lets out a soft sigh, rubbing the back of his head while looking at ‘Hekate’. She is rubbing the ear he pinched sadly with both of her ears drooping low. He didn’t pinch that hard, but it was the threat that he doesn’t actually mean, and shouldn’t have said. “I’m sorry, Doephluev. I shouldn’t have made that threat… But, I’m serious. Please, for the love of any or all gods and spirits, don’t make me regret asking for your help.”

She looks to the side, and though she hesitates, she nods softly. “I’m sorry too, Darling… And, I’m sorry, Sundenelle.”

Hekate gasps as she perks her ears and tail up, whispering, “Doephluev! We were doing so good! Daniel’s just a butt! He was guessing! I’m sure of it.”

Doephluev dispels her illusion, and she says softly without looking at Daniel, “Even if he was,... I don’t think I could keep it up if he’s still angry at me…”

“Guilt isn’t working on me this time,” replies Daniel quietly. “Let’s go. If you would, hide your identity as a knight or an Imperial maid for now…. Please.”

Doephluev looks at him, a little surprised, since Daniel did soften faster than she feared he would. She doesn’t get ahead of herself, though, and she says sincerely, “Yes. Thank you.”

“Incredible…” murmurs Sundenelle. “I feel like I should be terrified…”

“Yeah, welcome to my world every day,” jokes Daniel as he leads the way out of the room. It should be just about time to depart, and they still have a tunnel to dig to actually evacuate the trapped miners.

And, it’s going to be one hell of a mess before they address the three ‘divine maidens’ or whatever Harnavock decides to call them.

***