I had learned a lot of things since arriving in this world.
How to cast magic powerful enough to reduce monsters to ashes.
How to use Instant Movement without appearing inside a wall.
How to survive explosions, trolls, ancient Goddesses, and the consequences of decisions that had seemed excellent for approximately three seconds.
I had also learned that showing up uninvited at the Demon Queen’s castle was, apparently, frowned upon.
So this time, I did things properly.
More or less.
The enormous gates of the Demon Castle towered in front of me as I took a deep breath and rested my staff against my shoulder.
It had been far too long since my last visit.
Far too long since I had seen those walls without some dimensional catastrophe happening in the background.
And far too long since Morgause had said those words to me.
You already know where to find me.
I smiled.
“Attempt number thirty-five.”
The two guards standing at the entrance looked at me.
One of them, a tall demon with a single horn visible beneath his helmet, maintained a perfectly professional expression.
The other slowly closed his eyes.
Ah.
They knew me.
That simplified introductions.
“Good morning,” I said with my best smile. “I’m here to see Morgause.”
Both guards immediately tensed.
“Her Majesty,” the first corrected.
“Right. Her Majesty Morgause. My future wife. Demon Queen. Exceptionally attractive woman. We’re talking about the same person.”
The second guard opened his eyes again.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I have something better.”
The first guard waited.
I waited.
He kept waiting.
Fine.
Clearly he wanted me to continue.
“Personal permission.”
The two guards exchanged a look.
“Her Majesty gave you permission to enter?” the first finally asked.
“Yes.”
“Explicitly?”
My smile lost approximately five percent of its confidence.
“Define explicitly.”
“Did she tell you that you could come?”
“She told me I already knew where to find her.”
Silence.
The guard stared at me.
I stared back.
“That is not authorization,” he concluded.
“That depends heavily on the emotional context.”
“No.”
“Can I appeal?”
“No.”
“To whom?”
“No one.”
I pursed my lips.
This was beginning to feel less like palace security and more like a system specifically designed to keep me outside.
Which, now that I thought about it, was entirely possible.
“Look,” I said, placing a hand over my chest, “Morgause knows me. She knows exactly how my mind works. If she didn’t want me to show up, she never should’ve said something so dangerously open to interpretation.”
The second guard sighed.
“Miss Nellie...”
“Heroine Nellie, technically.”
“That does not help.”
“It usually does.”
The gates opened from the inside before I could present my next argument.
A small figure appeared carrying a stack of documents.
Hellista.
She stopped.
Saw me.
I smiled.
She didn’t.
“No.”
I opened my arms.
“Hellista! I’m so happy to see you too.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”
“Yes, I do.”
“That implies you think about me a lot.”
“It implies I have worked here for far too long.”
The guards visibly relaxed the moment she appeared.
Traitors.
Hellista adjusted the documents against her chest. The dark circles under her eyes were still there, deep and proud, as though they too had survived the Rupture and were now demanding official recognition.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“To see Morgause.”
“No.”
“She invited me.”
Hellista stopped moving.
Very slowly, she raised her eyes toward me.
“Repeat that.”
I smiled.
“She invited me.”
“What exactly did she say?”
My smile remained perfectly in place.
“We don’t need to get into details.”
“Then she didn’t invite you.”
“She told me I already knew where to find her.”
Hellista closed her eyes.
“Of course she did.”
“See? You already knew.”
“What I know is that Her Majesty made a mistake.”
I put a hand over my heart.
“You have so little faith in our relationship.”
“For there to be a relationship, both people have to agree that one exists.”
“We’re working on that part.”
Hellista opened her eyes and stared at me with the exhaustion of a woman who had seen far too much and, unfortunately, remembered all of it.
“Nellie, ‘you already know where to find me’ does not mean ‘come whenever you want.’”
“I didn’t come whenever I wanted.”
“You didn’t?”
“I waited until I recovered.”
That made her pause.
Only for a moment.
Her gaze moved over me, as if checking that I really wasn’t wrapped in bandages anymore or leaning on my staff just to stay upright.
“You’re all right now?” she asked.
Her tone had changed.
Barely.
But enough.
“Yeah.” My smile softened. “Blazer too. And we found the other three.”
Hellista nodded.
“I heard.”
“All five of us made it back.”
“I’m glad.”
No sarcasm followed.
It didn’t need to.
Then she gestured toward the castle with her chin.
“We recovered most of our displaced people too. Thundery returned with the group that had been stranded near Rothen.”
I felt my shoulders relax.
“Good.”
I had known Thundery was alive, but hearing that she had actually made it back to the castle made it feel different.
“I told Morgause she was safe,” I added. “Like I promised.”
“I know.”
“She told you?”
“Thundery told half the castle.”
Ah.
Yeah.
That sounded like Thundery.
I smiled.
Hellista sighed.
“Her Majesty is working.”
“Then I’ll simply go in, declare my romantic intentions, and retreat with dignity.”
“You don’t know how to retreat with dignity.”
“I can learn.”
“Not today.”
“Five minutes.”
“No.”
“Three.”
“No.”
“One.”
Hellista narrowed her eyes.
“What exactly do you expect to accomplish in one minute?”
I adopted my most serious expression.
“Significant romantic progress.”
One of the guards coughed.
I turned toward him.
He was staring straight ahead.
Suspicious.
Hellista watched me for several more seconds.
Finally, she let out a long sigh.
“Wait here.”
My eyes lit up.
“You’re going to ask her?”
“Yes.”
“So there’s a chance?”
“It means that if you move before I come back, I’ll give the guards permission to throw you off the wall.”
“Then there’s a chance.”
“I don’t know why I keep talking to you.”
She walked away.
I waited.
Patiently.
For approximately thirty seconds.
Then I started pacing in circles.
The first guard looked at me.
“She told you not to move.”
“I’m still within the same general area.”
“Miss Nellie.”
“Fine. I’ll stop.”
I returned to my exact spot.
Waited.
And while I waited, I realized I had a problem.
I hadn’t brought anything.
No flowers.
No sweets.
No jewelry.
Nothing.
Was I supposed to bring something to a date?
Well, technically, this wasn’t a date yet.
Yet.
Flowers would’ve been too ordinary anyway.
Morgause deserved something more special.
Maybe jewelry.
A necklace.
A ring.
My brain stopped.
No.
Not yet.
Attempt thirty-five.
Not proposal thirty-five.
I had matured.
A lot.
Probably.
The gates opened again.
Hellista appeared.
“You may enter.”
I stared at her.
Then at the guards.
Then back at Hellista.
“What?”
“Her Majesty agreed to see you.”
My heart jumped.
“She agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
Hellista stared at me.
“Do not make me regret telling you.”
“I need confirmation. This is a historic moment.”
“She said, ‘Let her in before she turns the entrance into a spectacle.’”
I considered that.
Then nodded.
“Definitely counts.”
“No.”
“Counts a little.”
“Walk.”
I entered.
Through the main entrance.
With permission.
I hadn’t climbed a wall.
I hadn’t used Instant Movement.
I hadn’t waited for a guard shift.
I hadn’t entered through a window.
No one was trying to arrest me.
Legally, I was inside the Demon Castle.
I had to resist the urge to cry with pride.
“Stop making that face,” Hellista muttered as we walked down the corridor.
“What face?”
“The face of someone who thinks she just achieved a victory.”
“But I did.”
“You walked through a door.”
“Exactly.”
Hellista decided not to answer.
The effects of the Rupture were still visible inside the castle. One section of wall was being rebuilt, several windows had temporary panels, and soldiers, servants, and workers constantly moved through the halls carrying crates, reports, and building materials.
But the atmosphere was different from the days immediately after the disaster.
There was movement.
Order.
Routine.
The castle was recovering.
Hopefully Morgause was too.
Hellista led me to a familiar door.
Far too familiar.
I had snuck behind it more times than I would probably want to admit in a court of law.
The secretary knocked twice.
“Your Majesty. She’s here.”
There was a brief pause.
“Let her in.”
My heart jumped again.
Hellista opened the door and gestured inside.
I entered.
Morgause was seated behind an enormous desk.
My first thought was that she looked well.
My second was that she was still unfairly beautiful.
Her red hair fell over her shoulders as she reviewed a series of documents. She no longer wore any visible bandages. There were still faint marks around one wrist, right where that chain had been, but nothing looked like a fresh injury.
I breathed a little easier.
Morgause looked up.
We stared at each other.
Weeks had passed since the last time.
My final image of her had been of her walking away through the ruins, covered in blood, exhausted, with that broken chain still hanging from her wrist.
Now she was sitting in front of me.
Safe.
Alive.
And, apparently, about to regret letting me inside.
She frowned slightly.
“I knew you would interpret my words this way.”
I smiled.
“That means you were thinking about how I would react.”
Her pen stopped.
Only for a moment.
But it stopped.
Oh.
I had her.
“Don’t start,” she said.
I stepped closer.
“You thought about me.”
“Nellie.”
“You specifically thought about how I would react.”
“Do not test my patience.”
“That still isn’t a denial.”
Morgause set the pen down on the desk.
“I can still have you removed.”
“But you haven’t.”
Silence.
We stared at each other.
My smile widened.
“This is romantic progress.”
“No.”
“Massive romantic progress.”
“Nellie.”
The door behind me began to close.
Morgause looked toward it.
“Hellista.”
“I’m not getting involved,” her secretary replied from outside.
The door shut.
Click.
I stared at the wood.
Betrayal.
Or support.
Definitely support.
I turned back toward Morgause.
“I think she likes me.”
“No.”
“See? We already agree on something.”
Morgause pressed two fingers against her forehead.
“What do you want?”
“To see you.”
“You’re seeing me.”
I froze.
“Perfect. First objective complete.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“How many objectives do you have?”
“That depends on your cooperation.”
Her expression became dangerously blank.
I raised both hands.
“Nothing illegal.”
“The fact that you feel the need to clarify that is concerning.”
I approached the desk.
This time, I didn’t joke.
“How are you?”
Morgause looked slightly surprised.
Not much.
But I knew her well enough to notice.
“Fine.”
I studied her.
“Queen answer.”
“It’s the only answer you need.”
“That means you’re not completely fine.”
“That means I’m working.”
My gaze dropped to her wrist.
Morgause followed my eyes.
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
Then she moved her hand slightly.
“There was no permanent damage.”
I let out a breath.
“Good.”
That really was all I needed to know.
Morgause picked up her pen again.
“And you?”
I blinked.
She started writing as though she hadn’t just asked.
“What?”
“I asked how you are,” she repeated without looking at me.
A smile slowly appeared on my face.
“Were you worried about me?”
“No.”
Too fast.
I leaned slightly over the desk.
“Morgause.”
“No.”
“I didn’t even ask again.”
“You were going to.”
Yeah.
Definitely progress.
“I’m fine,” I finally answered. “Fully recovered.”
Morgause raised her eyes and examined me for several seconds.
It was a practical look.
Obviously.
Entirely practical.
“Blazer?”
“Also fine. He’s complaining constantly, so we can assume he’s back to normal.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“He’s recovering.”
Morgause nodded.
“And the others?”
I smiled.
“We found them.”
Her pen stopped again.
“All three?”
I nodded.
“All of them.”
Something in her expression relaxed.
Barely.
“Elizabeth turned up defending a village. Sogard decided that technically he had never been lost because we were the ones who didn’t know where he was. And Monkar spent the entire time protecting refugees.”
Morgause was silent for a moment.
“That sounds appropriate for each of them.”
“Exactly.”
A small laugh escaped me.
“All five of us made it back.”
“I’m glad,” she said.
I looked at her.
“For me?”
Morgause slowly raised her eyes.
“For all five.”
I thought about that.
“So twenty percent for me.”
“That is not how it works.”
“I’ll take the partial victory.”
She sighed and returned to her documents.
I watched her for several seconds.
She still hadn’t asked me to leave.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
My eyes dropped to the enormous pile of papers covering her desk.
“Is all of this still because of the Rupture?”
“Most of it,” Morgause replied as she turned a page. “We still have displaced people returning. Some trade routes no longer exist. Several patrols ended up far outside our territory and have taken weeks to make their way back. Creatures are also still appearing in regions where they do not belong.”
“Sounds fun.”
Morgause looked up.
“No.”
“That was sarcasm.”
“With you, I can never be completely sure.”
Fair.
“The anomaly where we found Valeriam is stable,” I said.
That got her full attention.
“Did it disappear?”
I shook my head.
“It’s still there, but it calmed down after Valeriam was taken away. Caelum and his people needed some time to stabilize the dangerous parts.”
Morgause set down her pen.
“Then her presence was affecting it.”
“That’s what they think. Although Caelum keeps insisting that we can’t assume she caused the Rupture.”
“He’s right.”
I frowned.
“Don’t tell him that.”
“Why?”
“It’ll encourage him to explain another forty theories.”
A small smile appeared on Morgause’s lips.
It didn’t last long.
But I saw it.
Of course I did.
And then I remembered why I had come.
I straightened my back.
The moment had arrived.
“Morgause.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That tone never brings anything good.”
“Attempt number thirty-five.”
She stared at me for several seconds.
“You’re still counting those?”
“Naturally.”
“Why?”
“Historical record.”
“No.”
“When we eventually get married, I want to remember exactly how many attempts it took me to win you over.”
Morgause’s pen froze halfway through a word.
A faint red color appeared on her cheeks.
Ah.
I had missed this so much.
“Nellie.”
“We could also install a commemorative plaque. ‘Here ended attempt thirty-five and began our official love story.’”
“Nellie.”
“Maybe something more discreet.”
“What do you want?”
I smiled.
“A date.”
“No.”
Immediate.
Decisive.
Classic.
My heart felt strangely happy.
“A meal together.”
“I’m working.”
I froze.
Looked at her.
Morgause kept writing.
“That wasn’t a no.”
Her pen stopped.
Morgause slowly looked up.
“No.”
“Too late. The first response has already been recorded.”
“There is no record.”
“There is in my heart.”
“Then destroy it.”
“Impossible. Very durable.”
Her expression suggested she was seriously considering testing that claim.
I decided to move on before fire became involved.
“A romantic conversation.”
“We’re already talking.”
I went still.
So did Morgause.
Her eyes widened just slightly.
Oh.
Oh, that had been beautiful.
My smile appeared so quickly I didn’t even try to hide it.
“Morgause.”
“No.”
“Is this a date?”
“No.”
“We’re alone.”
“Because I allowed you to come in.”
“Voluntarily.”
“Nellie.”
“We’re talking about our lives.”
“Because you refuse to stop talking.”
“You asked how I was.”
Morgause fell silent.
I pointed at her.
“You asked how I was!”
“Lower your voice.”
“That is romantic concern.”
“That is basic courtesy.”
“You? With me?”
Her cheeks were getting redder by the second.
“You are seriously testing my decision to let you in.”
“But you still don’t regret it.”
Morgause watched me.
For several seconds.
I waited.
Then she pointed toward a chair across from the desk.
“Sit.”
I blinked.
Looked at the chair.
Then at her.
“What?”
“If you’re going to keep talking, at least stop leaning over my documents.”
I looked at the chair again.
Then back at Morgause.
“I can stay?”
“Do not push your luck.”
My heart jumped.
I sat immediately.
Back straight.
Hands on my lap.
Perfectly well behaved.
Morgause regarded me with obvious suspicion.
“What are you doing?”
“Behaving.”
“That’s worse.”
“I’m demonstrating that I’m girlfriend material.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I can explain.”
“No.”
Morgause returned to her work.
I remained seated across from her.
One minute passed.
Then another.
She hadn’t burned me.
She hadn’t thrown me out.
She hadn’t called the guards.
She didn’t even seem particularly annoyed by my presence.
I watched her as she read.
The subtle movement of her eyes across the pages.
The slight furrow of her brow whenever she found something she didn’t like.
The way her fingers rolled the pen while she thought.
We weren’t saving the world.
We weren’t fighting.
There wasn’t a Goddess trying to kill us.
We were just there.
Together.
And maybe it wasn’t a date.
Yet.
But it was something we hadn’t had before.
Morgause raised her eyes without moving her head.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you just won something.”
I settled proudly into the chair.
“Attempt number thirty-five.”
Morgause sighed.
But she didn’t ask me to leave.
I smiled.
Oh, yeah.
I was definitely winning.