<~> Chapter 135

Celeste's tent was packed with people as the last of the delvers joined us in the cramped space. Not long ago, Jol'ket's team may have objected to being stuck in such a confined area with me, but things have rapidly changed. The situation was complicated, and we refused to answer any questions about what was happening until Celeste had gathered everyone and returned. The tear in Luna's robes and my earlier rampage hadn't gone unnoticed. Apparently, there are rumors abound about what happened and a majority of them centered on my transformation.

Rell'kor and the other drakken from Jol'ket's group were the last to arrive. The dark gold drakken was the only one that I hadn't caught the name of yet, and I had never heard them speak. I couldn't even tell if it was a male or female from looking at them. They looked like some kind of mage or priest. Perhaps they were their healer? I wasn't sure. The two of them sat down quietly as Celeste walked through the canvas of the tent and sat down as well. She activated something on her desk and all the sounds outside the tent suddenly hushed.

Celeste pulled out a pair of amulets from one of her desk drawers and placed them in the center of her desk. "Everyone will take turns wearing this pair of telepathy amulets until we've gone through everyone except for Maxwell's group. There may be a changeling among us and this is one of the only ways I have access to that will allow us to tell. Changelings shouldn't be able to hide their strange thoughts while using these."

"Why are you not including Maxwell's group?" Tor'jek asked suspiciously.

Celeste's face briefly flickered with annoyance. "All of them are already wearing telepathy rings and I've already confirmed they are who they say they are. While they're not of the same type, the changeling wouldn't be able to mimic its effects unless it has already killed and replaced one of them, and there hasn't been an opportunity to do so yet. We're low on time, let's continue... These amulets are specifically designed to alert the counterpart of any deception." She briefly glanced at Luna with a frown. "It's the only pair I could find, but the effect thankfully goes both ways, so it happens to help in this situation."

She lifted the pair of amulets from their box and handed them to Valkin and Norrik. "You will check each other, silently ask each other if you are the same person that you know each other as, then confirm out loud that there was no deception. After, one of you will pass the amulet to the next person, and we'll continue like that."

The two put on the amulets, then there was a short pause. "Valkin, your sister is pretty."

Valkin suddenly coughed in surprise. "That was a lie."

Norrik gave his best friend a toothy grin. "Looks like we know they work, then. Clear."

Grumbling, Valkin took off his amulet. "Clear... and she doesn't look that bad."

"She looks like a swine," Norrik said while passing the amulet Valkin had worn to Talia.

"Want to play a game?" Talia asked Norrik mischievously.

He scoffed. "That kind of game wouldn't end well for me, knowing you." There was a short moment of silence between the two of them before Norrik nodded. "She's clear."

"Clear," Talia agreed.

This went on for a while until everyone had been cleared of suspicion. At least, as much as they could be cleared using this method. I didn't know how much I actually trusted the magical artifact, but I trusted Celeste right now if nothing else... or did I?

"What about you? Shouldn't you use the amulets with someone?" I asked her.

Celeste raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Sure. If you would like to clear me, then be my guest."

I stood up and approached her desk before putting on one of the amulets and waited as she carefully threaded the other around her horns. She stared at me with the slightest hint of a smile. ("I do not trust you to protect my daughter.")

I could feel her words. They felt wrong in a heavy way that settled in my gut. "...Lie," I said cautiously.

Celeste smiled. ("I am not a changeling, future daughter of mine.")

My heart leapt in my chest when I heard those words through the amulets. ("I... I am not a changeling.")

Celeste smiled. "Clear."

"Clear," I said in partial shock as I removed the amulet.

("Helena? You look shaken. What did she say to you?") Luna asked as I retook my seat.

I cleared my throat to settle my thoughts. ("First she lied, saying that she didn't trust me to protect you... probably to prove the effect of the amulets. Then, after she said she wasn't a changeling... she called me her future daughter.")

Luna gasped and turned to face me. ("She said that?")

("She did... I was surprised too.")

"Now that all of us can be certain that everyone is who they say they are, let's continue. There are two matters to discuss... The first is the changeling, and the other is the attempted assassination on my life," Celeste said.

The moment passed and I realized that no one knew that it had been Luna who was actually targeted except for us. I glanced at my friends, but the only one who looked confused by her statement was Iris.

("Keep it to yourself, Iris. She doesn't want anyone to know about Luna,") I told her silently.

("Oh! Okay, that makes sense. Sorry,") she replied.

("It's okay, I was surprised too,") I told her.

"For now, there's not much we can do about it," Celeste said. "Everyone here will have to stay in pairs or more at all times, including watches. Tor'jek, are you able to recognize it while it's disguised?"

"I was able to recognize it. I think that's why it tried to impersonate me in the dungeon." He turned to me. "I can now see how different it is to Miss Helena over there... I apologize for my earlier accusations."

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"...I accept your apology," I replied. I still didn't like him, but I appreciated the public gesture. He hasn't garnered much more trust from me, but right now it feels appropriate to just accept the apology and move on. We have larger concerns.

"Good. Would you be able to instruct Miss Milana and Miss Luna on how to identify it, Tor'jek?" Celeste asked.

The blue scaled draco hesitated before nodding. "I can attempt to describe it, though I'm unsure if I would be able to teach it properly in a way that would help."

Celeste nodded. "Once we're done here, go ahead and make the attempt. I will not hold it against you if you are unsuccessful at instructing them. Identifying distortions in magic auras is not a simple task to learn. I will also check everyone I come across, but I am unable to move freely due to the work on the dam surrounding the dungeon. You will have to be the primary one to search for the changeling. Hopefully, Milana, Luna, or both will be able to assist your search for it. I will send a rider to Ironcastle instructing them to return with supplies that might help as well, especially since this may become a larger problem as we explore the second floor of this dungeon."

"There are still plans to explore the dungeon? After they attempted to assassinate you?" Jol'ket asked.

Celeste grimaced. "Unfortunately, I do not have much choice in the matter. These assassination attempts will likely continue no matter what I do, and we must secure this dungeon in order to bring stability with our neighboring countries. I will just have to be prepared to fend them off. I'm sturdy enough that I am not scared for my own life. My worry is that some of you will be caught in the crossfire as they attempt to take my life. Luna and Helena from Maxwell's team caught an arrow today. All of you will need to be careful to protect each other if such a situation repeats itself."

Jol'ket frowned. "I understand..."

"What about the dungeon? Is the intention to find the changeling that escaped before we reenter?" Valkin asked.

Celeste nodded her head. "For now, we won't enter the dungeon again until we find it or until the four-armed snake floor boss respawns. If we cannot find it in the four or five days that will take, then we'll assume the changeling has either fled or that we will have to look for other means to search for it. That is assuming the new floor boss continues to alter the salt content of the flooding water when it respawns. If the water does not return to freshwater within seven days, we will do a round inside the dungeon to search for it."

"What will happen if the new floor boss doesn't filter the water?" Milana asked.

Celeste sighed. "Then we will kill it anyway and this dungeon will have made my life harder in the short term."

"When do we intend to explore the second floor?" Talia asked.

"As soon as I consult with Ironcastle on what we can do about the changelings. It is not my area of expertise, but my sister, Bellatrix, should be able to help us construct a strategy for dealing with them and determine the necessary precautions for the dungeon to prevent them from escaping in the future. Monsters leaving their floors and escaping the dungeon entirely is highly irregular, as most of you know."

"What is the second floor like?" Maxwell asked.

"Jol'ket?" Celeste prompted.

Jol'ket nodded. "It is another night floor with an open sky and stone walkways, making the area resemble a quarry. It seems to be a maze of a sort, with tall irregular pillars made from highly reflective polished stone that create cascading reflections. It was because of these reflections that we did not notice that we had picked up an extra party member right away, nor could we remember which one had been there originally. We didn't explore very far from the entrance, but it still managed to slip into our group somehow."

"A house of mirrors," I said with a groan.

Jol'ket tilted his head. "It was not a house. It had an open sky."

Maxwell cleared his throat. "Forgive her, she sometimes references things that are foreign to us. I believe she was using an unfamiliar expression."

I blushed a little at his comment.

"Ah, I see," Jol'ket said with a quick nod.

"Is there anything else of note?" Celeste asked.

Jol'ket thought for a moment. "We didn't stay to take any samples, but in addition to the reflective pillars, there were also other stones lying around the floor. Tor'jek said that some of them were mana-infused. They may be valuable to those experienced in stonecraft or masonry."

Celeste's eyebrows rose. "That could be a valuable find."

"What about plant life?" Milana asked.

"Very little, or none at all," Jol'ket replied.

Celeste nodded. "That will be useful information to send along to Bellatrix. Next time we send in another expedition, we'll send one of the groups to confirm that the location of the stairs doesn't change relative to the entrance. However, we won't venture to the second floor again until we have our precautions in place and have the first floor solved. That unfortunately means most of your time this upcoming week will be spent searching for the escaped changeling."

There were nods of agreement throughout the group from everyone, but their response to the news was mixed. Most of Jol'ket's group seemed relieved, but Valkin's team looked disappointed. I don't think I was the only one in our group who was still shaken from Luna getting hurt in the attack earlier today... and I still had the aftermath of the fight on my mind.

"That's all for now. I want to speak with Luna and Helena privately for a moment. Both of you took an arrow to protect me, so I would like to thank you two privately."

What she was saying was bullshit, but it was a good enough excuse for the others, who didn't seem to think much of it. Everyone else filed out of the tent until it was just the three of us remaining.

Celeste looked between the two of us. "As you could tell, I still do not intend to tell anyone else of your relation to me. However, I can take advantage of the situation to keep the two of you close to me for the next few days. I want to teach you to better control your instincts, Helena, and I want to finally have a proper chat with you, Luna. Perhaps we could go over some self-defense magic as well, though I won't force you. I would understand if you hadn't used any merely because it was an ambush that caught you unaware."

("Ask her what she meant by calling you her future daughter. Does that mean she accepts our engagement? That she is no longer afraid you are a spy?") Luna told me.

I cleared my throat. "Luna wants to know what you meant by calling me your future daughter, and if that means that you accept our engagement. She also wants to know if you're no longer afraid of me being a spy."

Celeste chuckled. "You are hit by an arrow today, and this is the first thing on your mind?" Celeste sighs and leans on the desk before looking directly into Luna's eyes. "It's one thing to hear your fiancé boast of wanting to protect you, and another to see it with my own eyes. I haven't completely lost my wariness of her, but moving by instinct to protect you from assassins has done a lot to assuage my worries. I had already begun to like her, but how could that not have increased my opinion of her? Assuming nothing comes along that drastically changes my opinion of her, I will gladly give my blessing to your marriage. Not that I truly deserve to have a say in the first place, considering my absence from most of your life."

Luna squealed with excitement and wrapped her arms around me. ("Do you hear that! I have my mother's blessing! We should celebrate!")

I laughed and hugged Luna back before turning toward Celeste. "Thank you. I will continue to protect her with all my might."

Celeste smiled and gave me a nod. "I believe you will."

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