Liandra

What a mess. I was lying in a surprisingly comfortable bed. After I had been interrogated I was escorted to a room. A guest room. They had been surprisingly gentle to me. But I could still remember the power.

I shuddered.

Lilith was not what I had been expecting. Her power had been so overwhelming. Her magic had crushed my will. I had wanted to answer her. It had felt good, in a way. I was trained to resist interrogations. I had faced down archmages. But for Lilith? It had not even been a great effort.

I had heard that the demon lord evolved. That Amaya had somehow empowered her. How was that possible? Amaya… I could still feel the storm. I could feel her gaze. I had felt the entire town come alive. I had felt the anger, when she thought her people were threatened.

I now realised just how much Lady Izanami held back in her dealings with us. I knew she was suppressing her aura. But that much? I had lived a long life, seen many things, but it dawned on me just how little I knew. The truly powerful beings were a different world. A world I had thought I understood. But I had been ignorant. Because they never saw the need to show me the extent of their power.

Now I was just lying here. Waiting. Hoping I did not doom the Dominion.

Amaya

After the meeting I got to work. While I could delegate a lot, some tasks required a personal touch. I instructed Tyrell to improve the equipment of our guards. I made sure the gate to hell was constantly watched. But improving our magical defenses was my personal job.

I was good with runes and rituals. I needed to find a way to improve the wards of our city. I needed additional enchantments to detect intruders. Or devices. My idea to connect things to the root network seemed promising.

What if I made devices, running their own small ritual, powered by the electricity in the root network? Those devices would detect illusions, or incorporeal creatures, and send an alarm to a guard station. Then we could dispatch someone to deal with the problem.

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It would take some experimentation to get them right. They needed to be powerful enough to counter high level intruders but they also needed some range. I was not certain how much power I could draw from the network. Maybe we would have to feed the dryads more. I guess Shani would be happy to hunt things for them, if needed. I could save energy by only creating a detection device. It was not supposed to dispel an illusion, just tell you that one was present. I also needed to ensure that we did not get too many false alarms. Some people liked illusion charms instead of makeup, for example.

I also visited our captive, Liandra, but she was sleeping, so I left. Thessia had reported that the shadow elf was well, at least physically. I also visited Elisee. I assured her the High Queen was welcome and would be safe. The royal knight seemed a bit lost after the confrontation. Hopefully I could get a clear deal with Maeve that would clarify where we stood.

Two days later the high queen actually arrived. We had spent a lot of time preparing and I was feeling good about it!

High Queen Maeve

I was slightly concerned as we approached Petunia. Liandra had not returned but I had gotten a report that things were fine. I had chosen to ride my own horse, surrounded by my loyal knights. It was a rather small group, perfect for travelling fast. Also, I did not want to draw too much attention to the visit. Otherwise it would attract a lot of curious nobles.

As the town came into view I noticed the large tree next to the castle. I saw smaller trees peeking out over the city wall. It was a clear sign of the grove I had heard about. On our way here the guards had talked to some locals. So far they had all seemed pretty happy with their new countess. Surprisingly, people were not as afraid of the portal to hell as I had expected. They described it as slightly creepy but not too bad. However, no one the guards spoke with had ventured through it. I was slightly curious how hell would look like.

As we neared the gates of the town I could see people. Amaya was clearly visible, with Lucy standing beside her. Behind them was a row of soldiers. They had banners showing the flag of the Dominion and Amaya's crest.

Other notable individuals were a succubus, either Lily or Lilith, a dryad and an elemental lord. An elemental lord with red bunny ears. The skin had some red clouds moving on it as well. A curious evolution. There was also a human female with them whom I could not identify. Possibly an advisor.

We slowed our horses and I stopped in front of Amaya.

"Greetings, Countess Amaya. I am High Queen Maeve. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

I had just finished my greeting as I felt her aura. The sky darkened. Suddenly I felt a gentle breeze. It felt warm, welcoming. But behind it was an unmistakable power. My guards tensed, but I did not feel any hostility. I just felt power. This was a statement. Why? Liandra, what have you done?

Amaya

I was surprised that the High Queen was not using a fancy carriage. Although her horse definitely had dlc armour. I suppressed a laugh at the thought. After she introduced herself and unleashed my aura, as planned. I tried to make it feel impressive, but nice. I wanted her to feel welcome while reminding her of my powers. Hopefully I got it right.

"Greetings, I am Amaya and this is Lucy, my betrothed." I introduced us while giving her a polite nod.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Lucy said.

"We should celebrate with a bloodbath!" Shani declared.

Ok, maybe it was a mistake having Shani here. But she was my court elemental. "She means a literal blood bath! She just likes to soak in monster blood!" I clarified quickly. However, the guards had gone pale and the High Queen looked slightly horrified.

I sighed. And it had gone so well. Lucy laughed.

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