2076 Contingency Plans (Part 2)

"Nice to meet you, Kelia. You may not wear a dress but you are no less lovely than any other dame in this room." Lith decided to probe how deep the influence of the Horseman was with a random compliment.

The choked, high-pitched squeal that came out of her mouth while even her nails turned to a deep shade of red told him that Kelia was a regular teenager if he had ever seen one.

When the music started, Lith threaded his fingers into hers and put the other hand on her hip, sending Kelia into hyperventilation.

"Do you realize that dancing requires physical contact, don't you?" He asked.

"And do you realize that she's just a kid, hot stuff?" A cold, male voice came out of her mouth as her demeanor became as flawless as Lith's. "I've trained Kelia to be a skilled mage and a ruthless fighter, but even I am powerless against hormones."

"Tell me about it." Solus' chuckled through Lith's mouth. "You have no idea how hard it was for me back at the academy to keep him from acting like an idiot whenever a certain hot woman was involved."

"Are you his partner?" Dusk asked.

"Yep." Solus nodded.

"Did you teach him Light Mastery and Void Magic?"

"No. We learned it together." She replied.

"I see. It seems that my mother was right. A symbiotic relationship with our host is the best way to go. What are your thoughts on gravity magic?"

***

Ernas Household, present time

"Dusk was a real gentleman." Solus said. "He didn't ask me anything about my origin or powers, we just had a good time talking about magic. Who knows, maybe someday we'll sit in front of a cup of tea and exchange notes abouts ours hosts."

"I'm glad that you finally met someone you can relate to, Solus." Faluel was actually creeped out at the thought of what the child of Menadion and the opus of Baba Yaga could achieve by working together.

"As for you, Lith, that was really cold. Are you really planning on abandoning the Kingdom?"

"No, but I like to have more than one option. Without space for haggling, I couldn't make a deal, only accept or refuse an ultimatum. I would end up either fighting on my own or bending the knee, putting my life at risk no matter what I choose." Lith replied.

Looking around the room, he noticed Phloria talking with her guests, laughing and smiling more than she had done in the last few years. Seeing her without the golden lily pendant hurt more than he expected and the small necklace that was still in his breast pocket seemed to weigh tons.

***

Griffon Kingdom, Ranaku Region, city of Cenaria, a week later.

The forced truce with Thrud after Belius' fall didn't last long.

Just the time for the Mad Queen to secure her hold on the city and for the Kingdom to regroup its forces before striking at the most vulnerable areas of her territory.

Having just a new Magus would have been enough to make up for the loss of one of the most important hubs of the Kingdom and keep the people living in the war zones from falling into despair.

Having a Supreme Magus who carried the blood of the gods of magic, instead, also gave the citizens of every region still under the Royals hope that the conflict would soon end with their victory.

Yet the same couldn't be said for the noble lords who owed their power to politics and bloodline privileges instead of talent or merit. To them, a commoner Magus was a threat even bigger than Thrud, dawning an era when they would become obsolete.

On top of that, many of the local lords were losing heaps of gold per day since the Kingdom had been cut in half and the trading routes closed. The Royals imposing tiered prices for food and essential goods made it impossible for the nobles to profit off the war.

It gave them plenty of reasons to defect to the other side and Jirni a lot of extra work.

"I can't believe that we have stopped chasing common criminals and instead we have to vet those who are supposed to be the backbone of this country." Kamila sighed.

"That's because even the lowlives of the underworld are smarter than spoiled brats. If Thrud's wins, they get a free ticket to the Golden Griffon before being sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

"You won't believe how much money the most wanted mob bosses have been willingly donating just to keep the Mad Queen off their back." Jirni replied.

"What I really don't get is what the nobles hope to gain. If Thrud is anything like her mad father, she's going to be a terrible ruler." Kamila said. "I mean, what would stop her from just enslaving them when the war ends and get rid of them as soon as they have finished training her retainers?"

"Logic rarely applies to desperate people." Jirni checked the accounting books of Duke Sazar to make sure that he wasn't withholding the funds for the war efforts nor moving his money past the border.

"Thrud can make any promise and they will believe it because they want to. Some nobles have no care for who wears the crown as long as they keep their position. The idea of taking the wrong side and losing everything at the end of the conflict makes them fickler than a weather vane.

"From their point of view, Thrud is a safer bet because of her immortal army."

"It still sounds idiotic to me." Kamila had seized the communication amulets found in Duke Sazar's mansion and was now pinging the owners of the runes engraved on their surface.

This way, she checked if someone in the house had recently reached for the traitorous nobles on Thrud's side. The member of the Knight's Guard could even determine how recently a rune had been contacted, for how long, and how often.

"This batch is suspicious, Lady Magus." A sergeant of the Knight's Guard kneeled in front of Kamila, holding a box containing three amulets above his head while keeping his eyes down. "Please, interrogate their owners in the green room while we continue the inspection."

"For the gods' sake, call me Constable Yehval. Constable Verhen, if you must. Heck, even Kamila is better than Lady Magus!" Receiving that kind of attention had been flattering at first, funny after a while, and then utterly annoying.

At least for Kamila. Jirni still found it hilarious.

"By the way, how is life treating you after the ceremony, Lady Magus?" She asked with the polite smile that for Jirni was the equivalent of laughing her ass off at someone else's expense.

"Good." Kamila inhaled sharply in annoyance as the sergeant bowed even deeper down in apology. "I hate to admit it, but Lith was right. My colleagues have stopped picking on me and I can finally do my job like old times.

"I swear, it feels like being born anew."

"I can tell." Jirni had noticed how Kamila recently was full of energy.

She managed to finish a double shift with a smile on her face and to still have the strength to go on a date with Lith after that.