I returned to Valcrest wearing a smile that, according to Blazer, was unbearable.
I disagreed.
It was a perfectly reasonable smile for someone who had just heard the Demon Queen admit that I made her want things a queen couldn’t afford to want without considering the consequences first.
Things.
She wanted.
Because of me.
I had tried to analyze that sentence with absolute maturity during the entire trip back.
It hadn’t worked.
“Stop smiling like that,” Blazer said the moment he saw me enter the common room.
He was sprawled across one of the couches, one leg stretched out and an open book resting on his chest. He could walk normally again, though he still took every opportunity to behave as if he had personally survived the end of the world.
Which, to be fair, wasn’t that far from the truth.
“Like what?”
“Like you committed a crime and nobody can prove it.”
I rested my staff against the wall.
“Morgause told me I’m dangerous.”
Blazer didn’t even look up.
“We already knew that.”
“Not because of my magic.”
That made him look at me.
“Oh.”
I sat across from him.
“She said I make her want things.”
The book slowly lowered.
“Wait.”
I smiled.
“Yep.”
“The Demon Queen actually told you that?”
“In different words.”
“Nellie.”
“Those exact words.”
Blazer put the book down on the table.
“And you’re still alive?”
“That’s another important sign of progress.”
He stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head.
“I don’t know whether to congratulate you or be concerned.”
“You can do both.”
“I’d rather wait until this blows up.”
My smile faded slightly.
Because that was the part I still hadn’t told him.
“There’s a problem.”
Blazer raised an eyebrow.
“Besides all the obvious ones?”
“A bigger one.”
I summarized what Morgause had told me.
Not everything.
I was definitely not repeating certain parts word for word, because I still needed to preserve at least some dignity.
But I told him what mattered.
That I was a human Heroine.
That she was the Demon Queen.
And that, to both peoples, a relationship between us would mean far more than two women simply deciding they wanted to be together.
By the time I finished, Blazer was no longer smiling.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “That sounds complicated.”
“Thank you for that brilliant analysis.”
“That’s what they pay me for.”
“You don’t get paid.”
“Then you’re getting exactly the quality of service you paid for.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but the door swung open first.
Caelum entered with a folder tucked under one arm.
That was never a good sign.
I had learned that whenever Caelum walked into a room carrying documents, my day tended to get worse in direct proportion to the thickness of the folder.
This one was thin.
Maybe I would survive.
“Heroine Nellie,” he said when he spotted me. “I was looking for you.”
Blazer shifted on the couch.
“Here we go.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Caelum placed the folder on the table.
“We received a report from the eastern border.”
My stomach tightened slightly.
“About twelve demons?”
Caelum looked at me.
“How do you know that?”
“Morgause.”
Silence.
Blazer slowly turned his head toward me.
So did Caelum.
Ah.
I probably should have thought that answer through.
“The Demon Queen,” I clarified.
“That does not answer my question,” Caelum said.
“She told me.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Blazer covered his mouth with one hand.
I ignored him.
Caelum remained perfectly still.
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“You were in demon territory this morning?”
“Technically.”
“Nellie,” Blazer muttered.
“I entered legally this time.”
That did not seem to reassure either of them.
Caelum closed his eyes for a moment.
“We will discuss that later.”
“I would prefer if we didn’t.”
He opened the folder.
“The twelve demon civilians were found near Bellor. The officer commanding the patrol chose to protect them after several residents attempted to drive them away by force.”
“I know.”
“Then you also know that two of them were injured.”
I nodded.
“What happened to the officer?”
Caelum took a moment before answering.
“He is under review.”
I frowned.
“For saving them?”
“For the decisions he made during the incident.”
“That sounds like the same thing with more words.”
“It is not.”
Blazer raised a hand.
“It kind of is.”
Caelum ignored him.
“Captain Aeron Vale acted without waiting for authorization, used military supplies allocated to the border post, and refused an order from the local authority demanding that the demons be surrendered.”
“Because they wanted to hurt them.”
“Most likely.”
“Then he did the right thing.”
Caelum held my gaze.
“That does not mean he should not be required to explain his actions.”
I was about to argue.
Then I remembered Morgause.
One patrol does not change the world.
I took a breath.
“Are they going to punish him?”
“That has not been decided.”
“And the demons?”
“They remain under military protection. An escort sent by Morgause is traveling to the border to retrieve them.”
Blazer sat up a little straighter.
“And I’m guessing we’re going to be there.”
Caelum looked at him.
“Not exactly.”
“That means yes.”
“The government of Aldren will send representatives to oversee the transfer. Considering recent events and the possibility of a diplomatic incident, the presence of at least one of the Five Heroes has been requested.”
I looked at the folder.
“I’ll go.”
Caelum hadn’t even finished speaking.
“Heroine Nellie—”
“I’ll go.”
Blazer pointed at me.
“That was fast.”
“I know the demons.”
Caelum frowned slightly.
“That is precisely one of the concerns.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Your relationship with the Demon Queen is beginning to draw attention.”
Blazer made a sound suspiciously close to a muffled laugh.
I glared at him.
Caelum continued as if nothing had happened.
“You have entered demon territory multiple times, maintain direct contact with members of their government, and apparently visited the Queen herself this very morning without notifying any authority in Aldren beforehand.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds weird.”
Blazer looked at me.
“Because it is weird.”
“You’re not helping.”
Caelum closed the folder.
“I am not accusing you of anything. But you need to understand that your actions carry political significance.”
That made me go quiet.
Political significance.
Until recently, being a Legendary Heroine had mostly meant having a ridiculously important title, far too much magic, and people expecting me to solve problems that had seemed considerably more organized before I arrived.
I had never thought much about what I represented.
Caelum must have noticed my expression.
“If you take part in the exchange,” he continued in a less severe tone, “you will not be acting only as Nellie. You will also be seen as one of Aldren’s Heroines.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not necessarily. But you need to be aware of it.”
I stared at the table.
Morgause had been right.
Again.
It was starting to become an irritating habit.
“The people of Bellor believe those demons may have been scouts,” Caelum explained. “There is no evidence supporting that suspicion, but their fear will not disappear simply because we tell them they are wrong.”
“They’re civilians.”
“We know.”
“Then they should be treated like civilians.”
“Yes.”
The answer was so simple that I looked up.
Caelum was watching me seriously.
“But knowing what should be done and getting everyone to trust one another enough to do it are different problems.”
I didn’t like that either.
Mostly because it sounded very much like something Morgause would say.
Blazer folded his arms behind his head.
“So we bring Nellie, she doesn’t flirt with anyone for five minutes, and everyone gets home alive.”
I turned toward him.
“Why specifically me?”
“Because if Morgause shows up, we need realistic objectives.”
“The Queen will not be attending personally,” Caelum said.
“Oh. Then it’ll be easy.”
Caelum sighed.
“I am not convinced you understand the gravity of this.”
I stood.
“I do.”
Both of them looked at me.
I picked up my staff.
“Twelve demons reached a human town, and someone decided they deserved protection before knowing whether that decision would cause trouble for him.”
Caelum remained silent.
“I want to be there when they go home.”
“Nellie—”
“Not to fight.”
That seemed to surprise him slightly.
I smiled.
“Morgause said one patrol can’t change the world.”
Blazer raised an eyebrow.
“And now you’re going to prove her wrong?”
“No.”
I adjusted the staff against my shoulder.
“She was probably right.”
The words felt strange coming out of my mouth.
“But someone in that patrol still had to be the first person to decide to help.”
Caelum studied me for several seconds.
Finally, he nodded.
“We leave tomorrow at dawn.”
“Perfect.”
He turned toward the door.
“And, Heroine Nellie…”
“Yes?”
Caelum stopped.
“This is not a combat mission.”
“I know.”
“Your presence will have political significance.”
I looked at the staff in my hand.
Then I thought about Morgause.
About the humans hiding from demon soldiers.
About the twelve demons waiting to return home.
About a Queen who wanted things she could not afford to want without considering the consequences first.
“I know,” I repeated.
This time, I meant it.
Caelum left.
Blazer waited until the door closed behind him.
“So…”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He grinned.
“What kinds of things does Morgause want?”
I threw a cushion at him.
Morgause was right.
One patrol could not change the world.
Probably not one Heroine either.
But someone had to start.
And making stupid, complicated, dangerously optimistic decisions had always been one of my specialties.