A few nights had gone by, and the road stretched still. Many settlements came on the way, but not in one did the wagons stop, as already the group was late. Glyea, especially, could feel the tension weighing on her shoulders like bricks. Serving as a reminder that the sages were waiting, the force of tension had finally broken her down.

For a mile or two, she slept on the wagon's coach with the horses guiding the passengers blindly. It was only after her body fell to the side with a thud that the rest of the group noticed the anomaly. And yet, as they went over and around to fetch her, she kept sleeping on the dirt. Helping her up, the group decided to make camp for the night, all the while, Aura wondered why the human knight required rest anyway.

Glyea was strong, much stronger than most, so why doesn't her strength allow her to keep going without sleeping? The question in itself was foreign to the archmaiden as she'd forgotten the imperfection of being human. Zephyr, on the other hand, being the strategist from long ago, could better gauge the strengths and weaknesses of any person or monster. And in his eyes, Glyea had outdone herself, for three days of constant riding was far beyond most people.

Setting up camp with the help of his summoned monsters, he helped everyone settle in. Taking Glyea into a tent himself, he set her sleeping body over some bedding and, after a long look at her, walked outside again. To his surprise, the campfire was already lit, and the others were gathered around it. The last few days had somehow set them all straight, and the way they took tasks upon themselves without being asked to do them helped cut down quite a few steps.

In spite of their progress, however, their relationship with each other only seemed to be getting more tense. Nobody was getting along with the other and it was clear that even Roxanne, who shouldn't have had any trouble with the group, was struggling to see Audrey getting touchy with Rudy. Her eyes weren't set on the hero, but the way he flinched to the fox-touch, it was clear that he still had some reservations about their relationship. Besides, there was one more thing that she'd heard in passing, and that was the fact that Rudy was struggling to get a boner since the day they'd left the Anuvi settlement.

'What's going on?' Stressed as everyone else, Roxanne was staring into the campfire, trying to make sense of the last few days. 'Am I dreaming? When did everything get so complicated?'

Lifting her head, she noticed Custer sitting beside Marquis. At a glance, she felt as if he were part of their problem, but then came the many times that he'd helped them. If he hadn't shown up on time, perhaps Rudy would be dead inside the goblin cave. Apart from that, nothing was directly his fault, and even for the affair, he was only half at fault.

'If it is a nightmare, then wake me up early.' Returning her gaze to the flame, she distracted herself with the fire's blazing dance.

At the same time, Valentine–having finally gotten a chance to talk to him–leaned closer to Zephyr's ears and whispered.

"What do we plan to do once we get to the capital?" Before he could answer, Aura's voice slipped into their heads.

'Kill the queen there and take over with her body as a puppet, what else?' Turning their eyes to her, the two considered the thought for no more than a few seconds. It could prove potent, but was far too barbaric and ran the risk of drawing attention. 'Hmm? I thought that was the plan, wasn't it?'

Neither of the two could answer, for they knew better than a bloodthirsty succubus. A lack of motivation from the queen and the sages, or at least a lack of concrete knowledge about their behavior, was holding them back from outright killing them. And as a strategist who'd worked side by side during the war against the gods, both Valentine and Zephyre didn't wanna make any moves prematurely.

'We will learn of their motives first. The spies had their memories removed, so we still have no idea what they're planning and how much of our identity has been revealed.' Speaking his mind, Zephyr turned his eyes to the flame and leaned forward. 'Until then, no killing–who knows maybe the queen is worth more to us alive?'

'What if she's dead already?' Leaning forward as well, Valentine hooked her gaze onto Zephyr's face. 'If the sages have any sense, they will try to kill the queen and replace them with a puppet. Which would mean…'

All three of their heads swiftly turned back to the tent. Inside lay Glyea–the very reason they were on this trip.

'Well, well, well, who would've thought that we would be in the presence of royalty?' Aura muttered, playfully.

'Supposed royalty, Aura. We've not confirmed anything yet.' Valentine quickly corrected her assumption.

While the two conversed, Zephyr tried to piece everything together. From the letter to the spies, and now the realization that the next queen might be amongst this group–it was slowly making sense, but a few questions still remained. What exactly did the sages plan to do once Glyea was made queen? How would they even convince her, and to what extent would their punishment go for the other members of their group?

'We will know soon what to do. But for now, our goal would be to reach the so-called sage Majora. Whoever or whatever it is must know the sages more than they know themselves. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense for it to approve of their positions in the roundtable assembly.'

'That is assuming it's competent and not a fool driven by the spur of the moment.' Valentine's words remained sage, cautious, but without any signs of cowardice.

'Either way, we're taking over, right? It has been a while since I've done something like this, so I'm kind of excited.' Audibly giggling, Aura drew everyone's attention towards her. Zephyr and Valentine would've been fine, but the rest were now staring at her as well.

"Let's eat something," breaking the awkward silence, however, the fiend moved the moment along. And since everyone's belly was already rumbling, it didn't take long for the hero's group to forget about Aura's laughter.

But that was far from the end of the night, as this being their first real stop since the settlement, Elicia was about to make good use of their first night together.

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