“And how did all this happen?” Aiden asked as he stepped into the room carrying a tray of food. The restaurant workers he was assisting let out little gasps of shock as they took in the scene of devastation and lust-driven violence.
“She happened,” Alia said with a grin, gesturing to Serena standing proudly over a pile of unconscious demons. “The one with three pairs of horns put his blade against my throat so Speaker Halen protected ,” Alia emphasised Serena’s title as a Speaker, which had the intended effect; the restaurant employees suddenly beca very docile, and their eyes took on a mixture of fear and respect as they fixed their gaze upon Serena.
She figured that considering Serena’s status as both a lord-prospect, war hero, and Speaker, the establishnt might be willing to avoid the hassle of kicking them out. Her prediction turned out to be correct as the owner soon appeared and after a quiet conversation with Serena and Aiden the unconscious rabble was taken away.
They even gave them another bottle of blue loqua on the house!
“When I beco a citizen, will I be able to go around giving such firm etiquette lessons myself?” Alia asked Serena after the employees had left.
“Stop calling them etiquette lessons, idiot,” Serena said while rolling her eyes. “You were assaulted. This was self-defence. Here,” She sat down and poured the three of them a glass of blue loqua. Now awake, Alia licked her lips in anticipation.
“A toast,” Serena said, raising her glass. Alia and Aiden copied.
“To what?” Alia asked.
“To…” Serena hesitated montarily, “To the end of the war!”
“To the end of the war!” Alia and Aiden echoed. They clinked their glasses and took a sip. Although the taste was every bit as delicious as she rembered, Alia couldn’t help but catch the sombre look in Serena’s eyes. Her girlfriend had been at war for a long ti and it had slowly taken its toll.
As long as the conflict went on, Alia silently vowed to be Serena's unyielding support. She would shower her girlfriend with as much love and affection during and after the war ended.
“Oh, sweet hells,” Aiden mumbled. “My sweet, delicious, blue friend! How I’ve missed your taste! Oh, and what’s this!” The demon’s eyes widened as he saw the extra bottle of blue and green Serena had bought. “You’ve brought your family along! Praise the fell gods!” While it looked like he was about to weep from happiness, Alia asked Serena sothing that had been bothering her.
“I heard Lord Jin refer to himself as a lord-prospect, but everyone called him lord. Are both titles correct?”
“It depends. Lord-prospect is the correct title, but his lackeys were likely trying to appease him for their own benefit.” Serena shrugged, sipping her glass. “Employees of the house will refer to as lady, a Cascadian Lord would refer to as lord-prospect, while to anyone else, I would be Speaker or Captain.”
“So many titles! Will I beco a lord?” Alia asked. Instead of replying Serena gestured towards Aiden, who appeared to have recovered from his ecstasy enough to join in the conversation.
“With Lord Yulan and Grandmaster Gu’s recomndations, they’ll make you a citizen and a lord, I’m sure…” Aiden said, trying not to slur his words.
“So fast?” Serena asked with a raised eyebrow.
“They’ll want to lock her down. Rember, she’s a friendly Speaker of a healing branch.” Aiden leaned back, swirling the loqua in his glass, “Demonkind has no gods of healing. Sure, aura helps recovery, and so of the support wards from the mages can do their part, but nothing like the human Aseco branch.”
“Still… a human lord…” Serena murmured.
“There are so human lords in the Centralis,” Aiden said with a thoughtful expression, “And the North. It’s only the eastern and southern overlords who prohibit it.”
“What about the West?” Alia asked.
“Eh…” Aiden wobbled his hand in the air, “The West has their own way of doing things.”
“What’s their overlord like?” Alia had long noticed the West was the least talked about empire territory.
“Who knows?” Aiden shrugged, “No one has ever seen him. Or her, for that matter. Well, I suppose the Empress knows who they are. Even their na is unknown. But get this,” Aiden leaned in with a mysterious glint in his eye, “The one singular fact that is public knowledge about the western overlord is that they are the strongest of the four. Quite the mystery, right?”
It was quite the mystery! Alia suddenly felt an urge to explore the West. “Can we go there?” She asked Serena, who shook her head.
“The borders have been closed for centuries,” she explained, “You need a good reason and a visa to go there, whether by air or ground. It’s not like the rest of the empire. Things work differently there.”
“Look!” Aiden interjected as he pointed out the window, “The main procession is here!” Alia followed his finger and saw the main square filling up with the festival goers. A large stage had been erected upon which important-looking people were taking seats.
“Those are the Highlords,” Serena explained as she peered below. “Looks like Highlord Ru is absent, but that’s expected. Guess what Lord Yulan said is true; the seat for the greatlord is empty.”
“What did Lord Yulan say?” Asked Aiden.
“That sothing important was being transferred to Centralis and the greatlord was personally guarding it,” Serena eyed Aiden with a suspicious eye, “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Aiden threw one hand up, “I’m not so high up on the ladder I get told what the greatlords get up to. It’s news to .” Serena held her gaze for a mont before turning back to the square.
“The dancing will start soon,” Serena said, a hint of eagerness creeping into her voice, “We should change into our dresses, Alia?”
“S-sure!” Alia sprang up and fetched Aidens bag with their dresses. Serena adjusted a paper screen to block the view from Aiden or anyone else coming in and the pair of them set about undressing and dressing each other. They fumbled about, the alcohol taking its toll on their dexterity. Serena didn’t need any help with her black dress, but Alia needed the extra pair of hands to assist her.
An extra pair of hands that didn’t miss the opportunity to grope her breasts.
“I can hear you giggling!” Aiden called out. “Don’t think I can’t guess what you’re getting up to!” Having been caught, the pair of them finished up and exited.
“Seven hells,” Aiden exclaid as they appeared. “Don’t you look like quite the pair! This is the first ti I’ve seen you in a dress since graduation,” Aiden said, tilting his head towards Serena, “And of course, you look lovely in red, Speaker Thornheart.”
Alia giggled at the complint. “I wish we had dress shoes!” Both she and Serena were still wearing the practical work shoes they used on their day to day adventures.
“I’d rather have our feet in sothing we can move in if a fight breaks out,” Serena explained pointedly, tapping her shoes against the wooden floor.
“Who’s going to start a fight down there in front of all those Highlords?” Alia asked.
“Who’s going to start a fight in a cafe?” Serena answered with a blank expression. “Who’s going to Speak in public? Who’s going to start a fight in here?” Serena reached out and slightly ruffled Alia’s hair, “You’re a magnet for trouble, you know?”
“Hey! Don’t ss up my hair!” Alia protested and began adjusting her braids. Serena rolled her eyes and dug out two rainhats for them.
“It’s drizzling, so wear these.”
Donning their hats and receiving the very strongest promise that Aiden wouldn’t drink all the loqua while they were gone, they proceeded downstairs and out into the main square. The space was packed with people who were dancing to the festival drums. Serena pulled her into the throng, and the pair of them began giggling as they tried to copy everyone else's energetic movents.
Turned out, with enough alcohol in her, Serena was every bit of an enthusiastic dancer as she was.
Luckily, the tailor did an exceptional job, and the dresses were tailored to allow vigorous dancing. As the night stretched on and the tempo of the drums increased, Alia felt herself fall into a trance-like state, much like she did while training. She wasn’t sure, but for a few monts she felt like the connection she had with her girlfriend actually manifested into sothing tangible. Sothing in the aetherfield that she could sense.
Or maybe she was just terribly drunk.
“So, I did it, didn’t I?” Serena asked when the tempo slowed down and they could simply hold each other in an embrace while swaying from side to side.
“Did what?” Alia asked, enjoying the close contact. Their hats had protected them from much of the rain, but enough had gotten through to cause parts of their dresses to stick to their skin, leaving little to the imagination.
“I knocked them all out within five seconds.”
“Oh... Oh!” Alia grinned as she saw Serena begin to blush. She tried to et Serena’s gaze but everyti their eyes would et Serena would look away with a nervous smile.
“Stop grinning like an idiot, idiot.”
“I can’t help it!” Alia felt her grin grow even wider. She removed her rainhat so she could nuzzle against Serena’s neck. “So what did you want to do?” She whispered. “You’re so warm…” Alia mumbled to herself.
“I…” Serena began before becoming quiet. As the silence stretched on, Alia could imagine the inner battle that was taking place within her girlfriend's mind. She would never tire of how adorable Serena beca at tis like this. It was the real Serena, unlike the stern captain act she put on for the crew.
“Can I take a guess?” Alia whispered. “If I’m right, you only need to say yes, and I’ll do it tonight.”
“... Fine,” ca the quiet reply.
“Well,” Alia began, giving Serena a soft kiss on the neck. “What you did the other night with your tongue… you know, between my legs?” She felt Serena freeze a little at her words.
Bullseye!
“I think it would only be fair if I could return the favour…” She whispered, giving Serena another kiss. “I don’t have any horns for you to hold, but I’d like it if you ran your hands through my hair. Would you like that?” For a mont, Serena didn’t reply. Eventually, she seed to gather her courage.
“Yes…” Serena whispered, “I’d like that.”
“Wonderful!” Alia pulled back and lifted Serena’s rainhat to give her a kiss on the lips before her girlfriend could protest. “You know what they say! You get what you ask for!”
“Shut up…” ca the small reply. Still, Serena pulled her into an embrace and Alia took the opportunity.
“You’re not going to believe how fast I can move my tongue,” she whispered.
“Damn you… let’s go,” Serena said quietly, pulling Alia by the hand.
“Where?” Alia asked.
“To get whatever loqua Aiden hasn’t drunk and then…” Serena paused, not turning back as she guided Alia through the crowd. “... and then we go back to the inn.”
Alia felt her face blossom with happiness as an atmosphere of anticipation fell upon them.
It would be another night with little sleep.
Polina Volkova’s heart had only begun to settle down by the ti she returned to the rchant ship. Boarding the deck, she navigated into its depths before stopping at a heavy wooden door. She gave the pre-arranged knock to indicate she wasn’t under duress and a mont passed before the sound of an iron bolt moving could be heard and the heavy door swung open.
“Coffee?” She offered the room, holding the flask. “It’s Jimari, the good stuff.”
“You’re back,” Natalia Marakova coolly intoned. “Close the door.” Polina shut the door behind her and approached the group of five; three n and two won. There were more embedded in roles in the city itself but Polina didn’t know anything about them.
Things like that were on a need-to-know basis.
“Well?” Marakova asked as Polina sat down.
“It went well,” Polina answered, placing the flask on the table. No one seed to move to have so, so she busied herself by pouring so in her cup. “A guard started harassing outside the cafe A- I an, target one visited. But that turned into an opening to start a conversation.”
“Give us the rundown,” Marakova commanded.
“She’s really a maid employed by target two, or at the very least she believes she’s a maid. My blessing cannot distinguish between the truth and an honestly believed falsehood. Her na really is Alia,” Polina took a sip of the coffee, finding it challenging to relax under the intense gaze of four experienced field agents.
“She claid to be from Karligard, but that was a lie. She said she had never visited the federation. That was the truth. She claims not to be part of the church. That was also the truth.”
“Where in the six heavens did she co from…” one of the field agents muttered.
“What else?” Marakova questioned.
“She was telling the truth about providing healing services for target two. She admitted to being a mage, although we knew that already.” Polina took a mont to gather her thoughts, “She’s training at the academy under the grandmaster every day at lunchti.”
“What!? Why?” Marakova’s eyes widened in shock.
“She’s learning the sword. I know, I found it weird too. Apparently, the grandmaster’s interested in teaching a mage.” Polina took another sip as the surrounding agents murmured for a mont amongst themselves.
“What academy is that?” Soone asked.
“It‘ll be the Kenhoro Officer Academy. It’s the only one here with a grandmaster directing it.” Marakova explained. “Senior Polina. Recount the entire conversation from start to finish. Don’t miss anything out, no matter how trivial it seems.”
Polina swallowed her coffee and recounted the events of that morning in as much detail as she could rember. She was surprised to find Marakova wasn’t annoyed at Polina arranging to et Alia in a few days and actually congratulated her on the initiative.
“We’ll have agents tailing you for your little date,” Marakova said with a sly smile, “If target two appears, then you are to make your excuses and leave as quickly as possible. Once target one reports that she’s made a friend with a federation accent then target two will likely investigate.”
“Our cover should hold, right?” Polina asked. The rchant company they were sailing under was an honest company registered in Vinay. Polina wasn’t sure, but she suspected most of the employees and perhaps even the company owner himself didn’t know it was a front for federation intelligence.
“It’ll hold… Unless soone gets captured,” Marakova said with a grim expression. Capture ant interrogation, and interrogation likely ant torture. “Keep the pill close at all tis. Hold it under your tongue during the next eting.”
“Yes, team leader,” Polina couldn’t help but swallow nervously. She would have to gather intelligence while holding a pill in her mouth that would kill her if she swallowed it accidentally. It was nerve-racking yet, on a weird level, exhilarating.
“We’ll spend the next few days going over what questions we need answered. We’ll run you through example conversations so you’ll know what to say in any circumstance. You’ll be alright, Polina Volkova.”
“Thank you, team leader,” Polina gave a smile and felt the determination in her heart solidify.
She was so close.
So close to getting revenge.
So close to Serena Halen.
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