Interlude: High Queen Maeve

I was in my study, reading the latest report of the war. The Empire was defeated, the Inquisition was destroyed but the area was far from peaceful. The north was still somewhat intact but without a clear ruler. The south was a mess. Demons were running around. Entire cities had fallen. Orcs from the wastes had started raids.

The dwarves helped in the north but they were withdrawing from the south. They had no intention of getting stuck in the mess. It was a smart move. Their objective was accomplished, after all. Also, the north had more interesting resources.

Meanwhile, Beravis had probed the border. They had assembled their forces, hoping I would send most of the army towards the Empire. Fools. Now they were eying Iron Rock. Interestingly, Amaya started making some moves there. Amaya…

I massaged my head. That woman was one big headache. Although she turned out to be good for the Dominion, so far.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Enter."

One of my servants entered and bowed. "My queen, I bring an invitation from Countess Amaya."

An invitation? She was not coming to see me? How bold.

"Hand it over." He gave me the letter, bowed again and left. It was a rather plain envelope but had a nice wax seal. I opened it. It was short.

"What do you make of this?" I asked.

I felt the shadows move behind me as Liandra appeared. The shadow elf looked over my shoulder at the letter.

"An invitation to a ceremony in hell? Could be a trap." She replied.

"What have you found out about Amaya?" I asked.

"Less than I would like. She just appeared at Iron Rock out of nowhere and defeated a demon lord. I still haven't found anything about her from before that. She is accompanied by the kitsune who infiltrated the Empire's embassy. There are some contradicting stories about her but I would expect nothing less from a kitsune. You know about their exploits inside the Empire, but I still have not managed to find out more about her, or Lucy's past." Liandra hesitated, then continued: "Lady Izanami has confirmed that Amaya is the Lady of Storms."

I turned around and looked into Liandra's face. "There has been no sighting of the Lady of Storm for a long time. Are you certain?"

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Liandra nodded. "Amaya has proven her powers and entered a trade deal with Lady Izanami. I have also gotten a report that Amaya has somehow empowered the demon lord Lilith. She is building some form of alliance."

I frowned. "The Lady of Storms… isn't she supposed to be the executioner of the fey? The one who appears, judges, executes and disappears?"

"That was the last known incarnation of the Lady of Storms, yes. Not much is known about Amaya. Before her appearance at Iron Rock it was believed that there was no Lady of Storms. Of course, I am not privy to the secrets of the ancient archfey. Lady Izanami has not shared much."

I looked at the letter, again. "I cannot ignore an invitation from the Lady of Storms. What do you think she wants? Is there a bigger threat? Is something brewing in hell?"

"Possibly. So far she has appeared and fixed a problem caused by an insane archfey. Exactly what you would expect from the Lady of Storms. That she has not disappeared could mean there are further problems. I do not have any spies in hell. Our information about demon politics is limited." Liandra reported.

"But why is Amaya building this train thing? Why is she interested in Iron Rock?" I wondered.

"Maybe she wants to expand her spy network? Maybe something else is going to happen in Iron Rock? I was unable to figure out her overall plans or motivations." Liandra reported. I could hear the frustration in her voice.

"I suppose it's time to visit hell." I decided. It had been a while since I had travelled somewhere new, or met some ancient powers.

Amaya

I was surrounded by fluff. It was morning and I was still in bed, cuddling with Lucy. Her tails were magnificent. I started petting one. Hopefully she would grow even more. Maybe I should invest more time in helping her train her aura?

I should also work on the planned wedding. I needed a proper ring for her. Certainly something magical. But where could I find a proper artefact? Or should I commission one? Maybe I should be involved in the crafting, to make it more personal…

My musings were interrupted as Lucy woke up. After a good morning kiss we got out of bed and had some breakfast.

Being home was nice. Great bed, great food, a lot of maids,...

"My lady, there are reports…" Damn, Sandra had found me before I could escape work.

"Can you handle them?" I asked.

She sighed. "Most of it. But today we should get some recruits from the fairy realm. They have been vetted somewhat by Lady Izanami, who sends her regards. They will have interviews with Lily later. Then you will need to give your final approval and decide how you want to use them."

"Uh, what sort of fey?" Lucy asked.

"We have two storm sprites, a wood sprite, a group of naiads and a satyr." Sandra replied.

"Naiads? Nice! We can build them a lovely lake. I think the dryads would also like that." I mused.

After breakfast I had a short aura training session with Lucy and Kira. Then I lazed around a bit until the new recruits were ready to be interviewed. Lily talked to them first, then reported: "The satyr is mostly interested in the succubi. I would not give him any crucial job but he can stay here and work. The wood sprite might be a good fit to help with our fields. The storm sprites might be candidates for Iron Rock, if we can convince them to stop pranking people."

"Should we let Adhira train them?" I asked.

"Adhira might not be the best influence… Although she has behaved reasonably since she became a maid knight." Lily replied.

"Iris can keep an eye on them but I think Adhira would like it." I decided. It was important to reward your people, after all.

"The naiads would be happy if you created them a nice lake. We should consult Ash and some of the farmers though. Maybe we can create artificial streams, connected to one lake." Lily suggested.

After her evaluation I had a personal talk with the potential recruits. I agreed with Lily's assessment. I especially liked the naiads. They looked a bit like elves but instead of skin they had tiny scales. They had long hair, pointy ears and their scales were varying shades of blue with some green. Also, they had fins in their throat. Apparently they could breathe air, or water. But being on land for too long made them uncomfortable.

The group consisted of 5 naiads, all female. Their leader was called Anya. Her hair was turquoise, as were her scales. I invited them to use the baths while we built a permanent residence. I had a good feeling about them.

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