Hestia said, “My Queen, I would like your permission to investigate and pursue my attackers. I know you, and your valiant knights, are investigating this, but this is a matter of personal honor.”
“I understand. You may lead the investigation and pursuit, Hestia,” I said.
“Thank you, my Queen,” Hestia said and bowed to me.
“My Queen, I do have one other request, if I may so bold as to ask. Would it be possible to consult with her royal highness Celestine, and the Lady Marquise Ériu?”
“Absolutely. I’m sure they’d love to assist you,” I said.
So began our investigation into the would-be abductors targeting my people. It was crazy that such a bold attempt was made to abduct Hestia. I told Celes and Ériu about Hestia’s request.
“Salutations, Baroness Hestia. Queen Dee said you wished to consult with us?” Celes said when she, and Ériu, arrived at our first investigation meeting.
“Greetings and Salutations, Princess Celestine and Marquise Ériu. Yes, I did, because I think you would both have a different perspective regarding this case. It’s extremely unusual for kidnappers to attempt such a bold abduction. Among the commoners and merchant class, they often plan their attacks in isolation, and far away from crowds. Even if they have to take a long time planning an abduction. They wait for opportunities to minimize publicity. However, with nobles and royalty, there must be much fewer opportunities. Is it somewhat more common for abductions of nobles and royalty to be similarly publicly attempted?”
“That’s a very astute observation, Lady Hestia. Yes, it is very common for very high profile abductions to occur among the nobles and royals. Although, by far the most preferred method is during travel between two points. This was a very clumsy attempt at kidnapping,” Celes said.
“I concur. It’s almost as if these kidnappers were amateurs on their first kidnapping mission,” Ériu said.
“Yes, I agree, these people did not give off the sense of professionals,” I said.
“Unfortunately, I was unconscious for it all. However, dragonkin have long been top targets among slavers and blood hunters. So we are very familiar with the practice of kidnapping. Everything about this abduction seems off. I can deduce the reason they targeted me, and not Vulcana. This was a planned abduction,” Hestia said.
“That much is obvious. However, professionals would have had a plan of action for Vulcana, and not been so alarmed at seeing her transformed into battle form,” I said.
“Not necessarily. Hestia and the rest of your dragonkin guard, are rather famous. The pros would be aware of your battle prestige, and they would know the fact that you have been training them,” Celes said.
“Exactly, any pro would be wary of any of your troop, so the fact they fled, probably means they are aware of the probable strength of your guard. Fleeing was likely the smartest thing they did. They also put the outsider they hired in the worst spot for an escape,” Ériu said.
“So that leaves us with a confusing paradox. The kidnappers were professionals, but the attack was pedestrianly amateur,” Hestia said.
“We are likely looking for a noble with no connection, or history, with the criminal elements,” I said.
“Also, a vain one, who probably forced their own plan against the suggestions of the pros,” Hestia said.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Which puts us back to zero, as that describes the vast majority of nobility, and royalty,” Ceres said.
“So far our only lead is Scagra. Why him? Who was he in contact with? How did they manage to penetrate security and kill him?” I said.
“I’ve put together some teams and leads to investigate, my Queen. I think we should start by working with what we know, and what we can access. Not much point in trying to guess who is, or might be involved. We simply have to let the available evidence lead us to the culprits,” Hestia said.
“Ok, so, these look like good teams, and these assignments should make the best use of our respective talents. Excellent work, Hestia,” I said.
Hestia, Kiera, Fergus, and I were going to visit the jail, where Scagra was held, and ultimately killed. Well, along with five of the Queen’s Guard.
“Very Interesting! Is this what I think it is, Dee?” Kiera asked after scanning the cell for several minutes.
“Indeed, this is the work of a very skilled Assassin. Probably, the Grey Ghost. She might have just as well left her calling card,” I said.
“The Grey Ghost?” Fergus asked.
“The Grey Ghost is a rather famous, Assassin. An elite member of the Blood Creed Assassin guild. Possibly the best Assassin in the world,” I said.
“So, that’s good news, then!” Fergus said.
“No. That’s bad. Very bad. She never leaves any traces. Her work is flawless. No one has ever solved a single assassination she’s done. Probably, most of her assassinations have gone undetected,” Kiera said.
“If she’s flawless, and unsolved, then how did you solve it,” Hestia asked.
“There’s absolutely no trace of a crime. No trace of her mana. No traces of anyone else’s mana, before the guards came in and found Scagra dead. No traces of Scagra’s death scream. No footprints. No lingering heat signatures. No traces of scents. The cell is so pristine, that it’s creepily pristine. Impossibly pristine. Like a ghost came in and killed Scagra, in his sleep. The Ghost’s calling card. So perfect no one even has a clue what race she is. Everyone thinks the ghost is a female, but that’s just because one investigator, of one of her presumed assassinations, said that was the case. But the top investigators think that was just a boast by the investigator,” I said.
“However, it is not completely useless information. Whoever is responsible for the attack is very wealthy. The Gray Ghost is very expensive, if the word from the underworld, is to be believed,” Kiera said.
“Yes, a contracted kill for the Ghost was probably over sixty million gold,” I said.
“Who could pay sixty million gold?” Fergus said.
“A Queen, or an Empress. A handful of Merchants. Octavius, The King of Slavers.” I said.
“We can rule out the Merchants. There’s zero motive for profit here, and none of those few merchants who might have wanted Hestia, would ever be in a position to need to assassinate the hired hand of a hired hand of a hired hand,” Kiera said.
“True. None of the potential Merchants we’d normally investigate in this matter would be this deep in. They are far too cautious for anything this sloppy,” I said.
“How do you two know all this stuff1?” Fergus said.
Kiera and I looked at each other, and laughed.
“Simple, Dee taught me everything she knows of the underworld. Dee has spent her life avoiding, or fighting the underworld. Rule number one, Know your enemy, better than they know themselves,” Kiera said.
“Hmph. That’s logical,” Fergus said.
“So our world of suspects just shrunk. Rapidly,” Hestia said.
“Indeed, but that is a very disturbing thing in itself. We are left with only about five suspects.” I said.
“Five? Really? That’s great!” Fergus said.
“No. It isn’t. We have first, the Empress. Second, Octavius. Third, Nephilia, Queen of the Blood Hunters. Fourth, Ophelia, Queen of Prittoni. Fifth, Matilde, Queen of Dargon,” Kiera said.
“Since we can be sure Matilde is innocent, that leaves an Empress, a queen, and the two most powerful figures of the underworld, and they are all basically untouchable,” I said.
“Is this the end of the investigation then?” Hestia asked.
“No. Because only one of them really fits here, as a suspect,” I said.
“Oh? Who?” Fergus asked.
“Ophelia, Queen of Prittoni,” I said.
“Why?” Hestia asked.
“The Empress, would have used Octavius. Neither Octavius nor Nephilia, would be so directly involved. They delegate, so they don’t wind up in situations where they’d need the services of the Gray Ghost. That leaves only Queen Ophelia,” I said.
“Now what?” Fergus said.
“Now, Hestia has to try and build a case to tie Ophelia in to the attack,” I said.
“So, are we done here?” Fergus asked.
“Shihaisuru!”
A cockroach materialized on the wall of the cell, and froze.
“If you ever come after one of my people. I will find you. And I will kill you so slowly, you will beg me for death. Implo!” I said, and cast. The cockroach imploded and a trail of mana dust floated to the floor.
“What was that?” Fergus said.
“A spy golem of the Gray Ghost,” I said.
“I sensed nothing, how did you know that was there?” Kiera asked.
“I will try to teach you, when I can. You are not ready, yet,” I said.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Ok,” Kiera said.
“Do not feel sad. Someday soon, I hope you’ll reach a level to be able to use it. You just need to keep working at it like you are,” I said.
“Can you teach that to anyone?” Fergus asked.
“Only Kanae is at a level to learn it, and has the necessary skills. It’s definitely not a skill anyone can learn. I’m sure I completely shocked the Gray Ghost,” I said.
“So, does that mean, you are the first one to catch the Gray Ghost?” Hestia said.
“I suppose I am. So, I’m either her next target, or she’ll wisely steer clear of me,” I said.
Darby, Cathar, Kanae, and Vulcana were questioning the vendors in the area where the attack occurred. They of course had all been questioned before, so they likely wouldn’t learn anything new.
“This is an interesting pin,” Kanae commented.
“Oh, how odd. That’s not one of my pins,” the merchant said.
“What do you mean not one of your pins? Do you regularly sell pins that aren’t yours?” Cathar asked.
“No, I only sell my own creations, but that is not one of my creations. I don’t know how this pin got here,” the merchant said.
“Could somebody have swapped out one of your pins for this one?” Darby asked.
“Not likely. I haven’t had this display pad out since the day of the attack,” the merchant said.
“You said earlier, that the attackers knocked over some of your displayed products. Was this pad one of them?” Vulcana said.
“Yes, it was. The pins were scattered all over the ground, and I had to go around and pick them all up,” the merchant said.
“So this could be a pin of some neighboring merchant, or one dropped by someone? May I see that pin?” Vulcana asked.
“Yes, here,” the merchant said pulling the pin out of the pad and handing it to Vulcana.
“I’ve seen this design before,” Vulcana said.
“Where, Vulcana?” Darby asked.
“Where have I seen this?” Vulcan said, more to herself than to anyone.
After a few moments of thinking, it came to her.
“I have seen this in the White City, Shin Shirochi. This is a design used by a traveling merchant from Prittoni,” Vulcana said.
“There are no merchants from Prittoni selling such merchandise around here,” the merchant said.
“May we buy this?” Cathar asked.
“You may have it. I cannot sell you something that isn’t mine to sell,” the merchant said.
“Thank you. May the Goddess bless your wares and fortune,” Cathar said.
“May the Goddess shine upon and protect you,” the merchant said.
“This may be nothing, or it may be a pin from one of the attackers,” Cathar said.
“It may be the only lead we’ve gotten here today,” Kanae said.
That evening we got back together to discuss what each group accomplished.
“Well, I think we’ll start things off. We are pretty convinced that this attack was the work of the Queen of Prittoni. Also, we are confident that the famous assassin the Gray Ghost took out the captured slaver,” I said.
“That’s interesting because we got hold of a pin of Prittoni manufacture, that may have come from one of the attackers, but was definitely picked up from the attack scene shortly after the attack,” Kanae said.
“Can we see the pin?” I asked.
Kanae pulled out the pin from her storage, and laid it on the table.
“Orange Jadeite. A strong good fortune stone. Carved in a Prittoni fortune pattern. This type of stone soaks up mana, and it’s soaked up a lot of mana. It’s probably a family heirloom, that has been passed down from generation to generation. But one recent owner has the strongest imprint. This is strong enough to track down the owner,” I said.
“We should look for a Prittoni slaver organization, and see if we can’t find the owner of this pin,” Hestia said.
“How do we do that without alerting them to our presence, is the challenge? They are sure to hide the members of the attacking team the moment one of us is recognized,” Kiera said.
“Why not send in some of the White Queen’s Guard to investigate? They would all be able to see the Prittonis mana,” Darby said.
“True, but they’d all need to be in disguise, and they may be able to sense that. Which would be very suspicious in itself,” I said.
“So we need to send in humans? But how will we be able to detect the mana.”
“There may be a way, but it’s quite dangerous. First we need to figure out who we can send in. It also means whoever does go in won’t have the protection of my Queen’s Guard. Perhaps Queen Matilde will have some ideas. Some of her knights or agents,” I said.
“Ok, what is this dangerous method, and what are the risks?” Fergus asked.
“Well there are actually several methods. It entails bonding. So, the ways are to form a contract, a summoning bond, a master-servant bond, or divine bond. The first three form bonds where one can order the other to do things. So they are all essentially master-servant bonds, and some can only be released by the master side. Naturally, that would require a great deal of trust between individuals. A divine bond is different. My mates, and I, have all formed divine bonds. It’s the default type of bond when you marry. Although this doesn’t always happen with couples, or both partners who marry. So Fergus should be able to see with my sight. You need only cast the spell on yourself, to activate it. As you can imagine divine bonds are highly sexual in nature, you are literally bonding your souls together. This is why bonds with divine beasts result in the beast treating the bond mate very much like a lover, or mate. Dragons and dragonkin, are higher beings, but can also be classified as divine beasts. Although both races would find the term highly offensive. I’m also quite sure the Ancient Mother and Red Queen would severely scold me simply for saying that,” I said.
All the dragonkin were giving me sharp looks.
“As you can see. Even my subordinates wish to scold me, and I’ll probably have to apologize to them all later,” I said.
“Indeed, my Queen!” Hestia said sternly. Then all the dragonkin laughed. And so did everyone else.
“So basically, it’s dangerous in that one is basically taking as a mate anyone who forms the bond? Even if of the same gender?” Kanae.
“Yes, not all members of any species mate with a being of the other gender. This seems to be a natural thing in most species,” I said.
“So, yeah. Dangerous. Got it. I probably can’t go, as I’d most likely be recognized,” Fergus said.
“Um, not to make this seem strange, but I’d be ok bonding to one of the dragonkin men or ladies, if they find me acceptable,” Kanae said.
“Kanae, you are almost eight months pregnant! As are you Aoi! And Ériu. None of you are going into such a dangerous mission. What are you even thinking? Sit down, before your water breaks,” I said.
“Sitting might be more likely to make my water break,” Kanae said, struggling to sit.
Sigh
“Umm, I don’t think anyone would be familiar with me, and with some of Matilde’s guards, I could portray a rich merchant wife, or young noble in need of slaves. I too, would be alright forming a bond with a male or female dragonkin, if any found the idea acceptable, and me worthy,” Selene said.
“I would willingly bond with lady Selene, She is a proper noble lady,” Enya said.
“The bond is formed by the following incantation. The incantation can be spoken, but usually is spiritual. You must be in physical skin to skin contact, such as foreheads touching. Then you seal it with an exchange of mana, which is: a kiss, or exchange of fluids, which are: blood, saliva, or reproductive. The bond is stronger if fluids are exchanged, but is not necessary. The incantation is ‘Noble spirit, hear my voice. I choose to walk with you on shared path, as long as we both shall desire. Walk with me in unbroken vow, in the Shadow and the Light. Our threads intertwined, and two souls joined as one.’ And that’s it.”
Selene and Enya pressed their foreheads together and spoke together,
“Noble spirit, hear my voice. I choose to walk with you on shared path, as long as we both shall desire. Walk with me in unbroken vow, in the Shadow and the Light. Our threads intertwined, and two souls joined as one.”
Then they kissed. When Enya pressed her tongue into Selene’s slightly open mouth, her eyes shot open wide.
“Ooh!” Selene gasped when Enya released her, and collapsed, her body all flushed.
“Is that what sex and an orgasm feels like?” Selene asked.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! The memory just came into my mind unbidden. I didn’t mean to share it,” Enya said, flushing and apologetic.
“It’s fine. It was wonderful. I might need to get serious about finding a mate, now,” Selene said, her eyes stealing a gaze at Darby, who was obliviously staring at her lips and heaving chest, with a bit of a hungry look, and then quickly looking away.
“Those two are hopeless,” I muttered.
“I know. We may have to do something about that at the next celebration,” Aoi said.
“There’s an idea,” I said.
“I’ll help, my Queen. I’ll make sure to give her a good push, when it’s time,” Enya said privately.
“I never knew dragonkin were so naughty. Did you share that memory accidentally on purpose?” I said laughing inside.
We finished up our meeting, going over what the other teams had done so far. In the morning, we sought out Queen Matilde to get her aid in our quest. Then I spent hours training Fergus, Selene, Cathar, Eoghan, Aoi, Kanae, and Enya in how to summon up powers from those they are bonded with. Focusing especially on Fergus and Selene with summoning mana sight.
“This is amazing! I know you have always been forthright with explaining how everyone’s mana is different, but that didn’t prepare me for how amazing actually seeing the auras really is. Everything has an aura. Now I understand why seeing that hole in the White City’s mana signature would be so disturbing,” Fergus said.
“This really is amazing! It’s like I’ve gone to sleep and woke up in a new world. How much more vibrant the whole world looks. I don’t know if I can ever go back to looking at the world with regular vision,” Selene said.
“You’ll have to Selene. Using these abilities consumes mana. Trying to keep them up constantly will drain your mana,” I said.
“Of course, something this wonderful wouldn’t come free,” Selene said with true sadness in her voice.
“I’ve never really given it much thought, on how the world must look, to those who can’t see mana. Having never known anything else,” I said.
“Yeah, makes sense,” Fergus said, trying to keep the melancholy out of his own voice.
“I just find it amazing being able to summon up Kanae’s affinities. It feels like cheating, being able to use all affinities,” Eoghan said.
“You can only do it, because you and Kanae are honestly bonded to each other. Most human couples never attain that kind of bond,” I said.
“Yes, I know. I really felt it when you showed us how to reach our inner selves. It had never occurred to me to try and reach out to Kanae spiritually. I’ve never felt anything like that before. Now, I feel the warmth of her spirit inside me. It’s so, so very, so powerful, so intoxicating, exciting, so reassuring. I feel, so alive,” Eoghan said.
“Yeah, it’s really hard to put to words,” Cathar said.
“Geez, enough you guys. Go get a room and get it out of your system. Some of us don’t have that bond, or soulmates, or even candidates,” Rosie said.
I laughed.
“Yes, good point. Let’s focus on finding those attackers and bringing them to justice,” I said.
“Right, let’s go pay a visit to the slaver district,” Hestia said.
I then headed out of the city with some of my guard, and we took to the sky. We headed away from the city, and climbed up high. We then spread out and headed back to take up positions high up in the sky. Taking positions of advantage within the clouds, where we could monitor what was happening in the city, and not be seen by observant eyes.
“Fergus, we are in position,” I projected.
“Understood,” Fergus replied.
Selene and several of the Queen Matilde’s Guard, in undercover clothing headed in to find Hestia’s attackers. Time slowed to a crawl, as we waited hovering in the clouds. Fergus and those on the ground had set up a ring of containment. We were spread too thin. I didn’t like this, at all. An hour or hour and a half went by, and Selene contacted Enya,
“I’ve found them! They have numerous beastkin! We’re at the Kharnasian Traders.”
A few moments later, Selene called out,
“No! He...”
“Close the Fist!”
We all descended on the Kharnasian Traders. But we were too late, Selene was gone, the slavers were gone, except for the dead and dying ones. Also, two of Matilde’s guards had just died,
“Fukkatsu!” I reached down and released the power within. The burning hot darkness welled up and overtook me. I shot out the threads of darkness and wove them into the fleeing threads of spirit and soul. I pulled them back in, and sewed the threads of life back in to the still bodies of the two dead guards. Then the light welled up inside me and shot out down the threads, and I fed life back into them. The guards arched up and gasped in lungfuls air. Then the light faded, and I cut the threads tied to me. The darkness once more pushed down, and my vision restored.
“Don’t stand there gawking at me! Go! Find them! I have more to do here,” I said.
Hestia and Vulcana remained at my side, and the rest followed Enya, who needed no maps, no eyes, no trail to follow, other than her bond to Selene.
Blink.
“Selene has been taken. These guards need to be taken to the infirmary. They’ll live,” I said.
Then, my body collapsed underneath me, and the room spun out of control. When my senses recovered a few minutes later the guards were gone and Aoi and Kanae were half laying, half sitting on the floor in front of me like a pair of fat seals staring into my eyes with sheer horror reflected in them. Kanae responded first,
“What happened to you? You’ve been sitting there for minutes feeling like death incarnate.”
“I resurrected those two guards at the moment of death. What you were seeing was the remnant of my Necromancer power. Don’t watch me like that again. Do not stare into the abyss for too long, or it may stare back at you. Using the power like that, takes a lot out of me. Stealing the power of the Goddesses of Life, and Death, and the power of the Three Sisters takes a great deal of power and mana, as you can imagine. The Sisters are never too pleased to have someone unmake and remake their Fabrik. As ought to be quite obvious. Staying out of reach of the Goddess of Death while doing all that is no walk in the park either. No one ever stops to think of the cost of using necromancy, until they meddle with it, and die,” I said.
“I wish I had seen you resurrect them,” Aoi said.
“No you don’t. Just ask Fergus and the others, later. This power is dangerous. Not just to the person using it. Necromancers are rightly feared for good reasons,” I said.