A few days later Elisee approached me. I had been lounging on a couch in my lounge, reading a book. "Countess Amaya, the High Queen has accepted your invitation and is on her way."

"Oh, that is nice. We can certainly wait with the ritual until she arrives." I replied, closing the book and placing it on a table.

"Hosting the High Queen is an honour and requires appropriate measures…" Elisee added.

"I am sure she will be safe here. The dryads are a pretty good defense. I guess the only real threat would be an attack from some of the ancient demon lords, but I doubt that will happen. We have no reports of armies coming this way. I think they are still watching and plotting." I replied.

Somehow Elisee did not look satisfied with my answer. "Countess Amaya, Queen Lilith is not part of the Dominion and regardless of your relationship we have no formal ties. The High Queen is visiting potentially hostile, or at least neutral territory. This is an important diplomatic situation that needs proper handling!"

I scratched my head. "You worry too much. I assure you Lilith is friendly. I suppose we could do a bit of marching, provide an honour guard… I can have Lily worry about it."

"This is not only about safety. A visit from the High Queen is a momentous occasion, the town needs to be prepared. We should…"

"Relax." I interrupted Elisee. "It's going to be fine. You can talk to Sandra if you think we need to organise something special. Oh, we definitely should get some good food. I wonder if Shani has slain anything tasty. I should check with chefs in hell…"

My mind got sidetracked with food. But it was certainly important. Maybe we should have a nice meal when the High Queen arrived. And then a true feast after the ritual. Maybe we could turn it into a town-wide celebration. Maybe I could encourage some residents to check out hell. So far the people from my town were hesitant to walk through the portal. I suppose hell was not known as a great vacation spot.

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Hm. Did this world have amusement parks? Maybe Lilith should build one. And a spa. Hell did have some great natural springs.

I had not been paying much attention to Elisee, lost in my thoughts. Until I noticed a flicker in her shadow. I frowned.

Interlude: Liandra

It was night when I arrived at Petunia. After High Queen Maeve had accepted the invitation it was now my job to scout ahead and ensure her safety. The best defense was always to remove any threats before they could strike.

I could see surprisingly many magical lights, despite it being close to midnight. For such a small town that was a huge investment. As I approached the city gates I could feel magic. I grimaced. Infiltrating this place would be harder than anticipated. I had some experiences with the Lady of the Forest, but plants were her domain. I had not expected such a strong grove here.

I used my magic to merge with the shadows. The night should keep me hidden. I was not sure how I would avoid them during the day. As I carefully moved closer I saw that the gates were not closed. How strange. Most towns were only open during the day. The night did not have many travellers and monsters were often a concern. I suppose an archfey was not afraid of that.

Concealed by the shadows I passed by the guards, undetected. Then I explored the city. Most people were asleep. A few drunkards still wandered around, trying to find their way home. But I could not see any thieves, or the usual criminals. The town seemed surprisingly clean as well. It even smelled decent. Was the grove responsible for that?

I explored further and made my way to the castle. A giant tree was growing next to the keep. The centre of the grove. I should definitely avoid getting too close to it. I constantly felt some magic brushing against mine. I really had to be careful here. Maybe I needed a different approach to have a look inside.

While I pondered the situation I continued my exploration. They had built a large expansion to the town. The so-called train station. It was not operational yet. There was also a park connecting it to a large hall. As I entered the building I could see the gate. The gate to hell.

I shivered. This was a powerful artefact. I could see the stone at the top. Divine power, just like the reports. Reading about it and seeing it were too different things. I looked around the hall. Shops, cafes,... Not what one would expect next to a gate to hell. It was all so elegant, civilised, peaceful,... Possibly a clever facade. I had to look inside the castle and an idea came to mind.

Amaya

My Eyes of the Fey were picking up something. But I had no idea what. There was something strange with her shadow.

"Elisee, why is your shadow so unruly?" I asked.

"What?" She replied.

I squinted at her shadow. "Hm." I stood up, then crouched down next to her and poked the shadow on the floor. Elisee looked mostly confused.

The shadow felt strange. I suppose it was strange that a shadow felt like anything. Was Elisee possessed? She did seem tired, most of the time. And stressed. Maybe there was something to it. I could try a banishment. Would such a creature try to harm her if exposed? Could it? Should I try devour magic?

"Countess Amaya, what are you doing?" Elisee asked.

I smiled at her. "Don't worry about it."

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