If my scouts are capable of reflecting my mood, the one I am looking through would have a stormy expression on its face. Sarah leaving on a drake already soured my mood, she only stuck around long enough to see the Karnakans safely to Blackroad. It kind of pissed me off that Grant tried to make his contribution look bigger than it was, he was really useless except for when he helped calm down the humans. The offending building my scout is showing me is making me downright pissed off.

The building is the only three story tall building in the town, made of quality stone and wood, it's easily the nicest building in the area. What ruins it is the sign. A huge board above the door has a flowery and magically glowing script that reads 'Mage Guild'. The nerve, I can't believe they snuck in like this under my nose. I mean, it's not like I had any rules against them being here, should have officially banned them before I left, but then I might as well ban the Adventurer Guild and then I'm pissing a lot of people off.

I watch as people in robes go in and out. They carry staves, wands, orbs, giant tomes, and other weird magic stuff. There's a surprising amount of them, surely, they must know about my relationship with Gwyna? She must be behind this place, after all. Although, Blackroad is rich in magical items due to the easy and safe dungeon access I provide, maybe it isn't too surprising and would have happened anyway.

Leveling the building and killing all of the mages is my first instinct. Ugh Sarah is gone for two seconds and I'm already letting my vess side think for me. No, I promised I would try to be good.

It's not like I didn't technically know this had happened. My scouts delivered updates regularly all through the winter, but I just didn't pay enough attention. Enna handled all of that and chose not to notify me because it would just 'distract' me. I was annoyed, but at the end of the day she is acting in my best interests, my vess interests. She obviously wants me to kill all of the mages, getting lots of tasty XP and dealing a blow to one of my enemies. Not that I'm completely opposed to that, but I promised Sarah I would try to be peaceful first.

My vision blurs and returns to my body. I'm riding side saddle, leaning into General Pirous who has been holding me while I was out of body. Blinking to clear my vision, I just take in the nice spring day for a moment. The trees drip with melting snow, and a few lingering piles of the white stuff linger by the side of the road. It's chilly, but the sun is shining and that helps a lot. The winter really hung in there, it took us well into the spring to shake the cold weather, perhaps a consequence of the Storm God's rampage in the north.

The General clicks his tongue and his horse, Courage, slows down as we approach the town. He looks down at me with a raised eyebrow, "You seemed upset while you were scrying, see something you didn't like?"

I puff out my cheeks, "Yes! The stupid Mage Guild moved into my town."

"Ah yes," Pirous nods in understanding, "Your spat with Gwyna. A dangerous person to be at odds with, you believe this is her doing? Trying to undermine your control over the town?"

"Even if she didn't order it, she will certainly take advantage of the fact it's here." Pouting, I look towards the town. Yep, I can see the rotten building from here, can't believe she built it taller than any of the others, what's that supposed to mean? "I just want to get into town and talk to the mayor. Going to try the peaceful route first, that's what you're for, by the way."

Pirous strokes his clean shaven chin, "Not sure how much the mayor can help us. The guilds are independent from the towns and cities they set up in, operating in a grey space outside the law. Officially, all they do is support the people of their faction, but they often have trouble staying neutral in conflicts, especially if one of their own is involved." He cocks his lips a somewhat playful smile, "The good thing about their independence is that no kingdom will directly act against us if we have to take the violent route. They have a lot of power, but it's spread out over many kingdoms, there won't be much they can do in a remote location like this."

"Are you advocating for the violent approach? You're worse than Enna." I look up at the older man and stick the tip of my tongue out at him.

He chuckles, "I am just being pragmatic. Oftentimes, the more forceful approach is easier and more straightforward. There is something to be said for not wasting time on pointless negotiations everyone knows won't go anywhere."

"Halt!" A gruff voice calls out.

As we are about to enter the town, a group of adventurers run out in front of us, blocking our way. I can tell they are adventurers by their mismatched armor and unkempt appearances, also a certain smell tends to follow the sweaty thrill seekers wherever they go.

Pirous dismounts and approaches the men. He adopts a friendly smile and reaches out to shake the lead man's hand, "Hello, I am General Pirous. What is your name, son?"

The lead adventurer looks lost for a moment, looking back at his companions for a moment before turning to face the friendly man. He doesn't shake the offered hand, instead he puts on an ugly face and barks, "General of what?"

The General gracefully withdraws his hand and stands straight, "General of the vess forces, of course. I am escorting the Vess Queen to a meeting with her mayor, and you are currently in our way. Would you like to explain?"

"No." The adventurer spits, "No, I wouldn't like to explain. Ain't no vess allowed in the town, queen included."

"I see." Pirous folds his arms behind his back. He's not wearing his armor, and his sword is strapped to his saddle. Despite that, he seems completely at ease and speaks calmly, "Who has issued this order?"

"None of your business! Now get lost before we make you lost."

I watch from the back of the horse as the thug draws his sword and points it at Pirous. Faster than my low stat eyes can track, the General disarms the man and has him bleeding out on the ground, impaled on his own sword.

The rest of the gang doesn't roll over and let it happen, they spring into action, as a group used to death and violence would. They scream and swing their weapons, but it's useless, Pirous is so far above them that it's over in less than a minute.

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Pirous stands above the corpses of the half dozen adventurers and straightens his sleeve cuffs. He whistles and Courage trots forward, not spooked by the sudden fighting at all. Pirous grabs the reins and guides us around the bodies and further into the town. "It seems the Adventurer Guild has aligned themselves with our enemy. Something I should know?"

I squirm in the saddle, "Um, yeah. I may have killed one of their more well known members and threatened their guild leader."

"Adventurers tend to hold grudges and often fail to discern when a fight is beyond them, despite the prevalence of inspection skills among them." Pirous shakes his head, "I would suggest destroying their building and massacring the inhabitants. Even then, they are likely to return with a weapon or person they think will be enough to defeat us. It won't be, but it will be an annoyance."

Our confrontation with the stupid thugs happened on the edge of town. Still, word travels fast and most people give us a wide berth. The town is quiet, everyone still seems to be coming out of hibernation, slowly getting themselves ready for the coming year.

It takes effort to not fume over our previous encounter. I'm really, really trying to enjoy the quiet ride through the town. It's nice sitting on the horse, all cozy in my jacket, and… I can't do it. Once again, humans prove themselves to be unintelligent insects who just love antagonizing things that can kill them with a slap. They are just so stupid. Vess aren't allowed in the town, ridiculous, this town is mine, this town wouldn't exist without me. This area is usually full of high level monsters that those dead adventurers would struggle to kill. If my vess didn't constantly cull the monsters, this town would be overwhelmed in a week! And who do they think allows them safe access to the dungeons around here? Most people would have to form huge parties to get to these dungeons, but I've made it so safe that you can go solo and not be at risk.

Most towns can't be built so close to high level dungeons for obvious reasons. But I've done it! And in my infinite kindness, I've allowed humans to benefit from it! And how do they repay me? Why do I even try to be nice? What's the point of being queen when I just let stuff like this go unanswered? I don't think I've properly shown the humans why they need to respect me, not that I should need to. Anyone with eyes should be able to look at me and see-

Pirous clears his throat, "Queen Renna, we have arrived."

Slipping down from the saddle, my claws click onto the road. My anger is quickly cooling off and I feel a little ashamed that I lost my cool so easily. I lightly slap my cheeks and resolve to do better.

Mayor Lessa meets us at the door, quickly ushering us inside. She looks a bit older than I remember, then again, I never really paid attention to her. The woman has the olive skin and darker hair of a Karnakan, her hair curls in a way that reminds me of Hollis, and she surprisingly wears a vess made dress.

We are taken into a cozy room with a fireplace and comfy chairs to sit in, the Mayor knows me better than I thought. I plop down onto a couch and Pirous carefully lowers himself down into a cushy chair next to mine.

After serving us tea, the Mayor sits and proceeds to nervously sip out of her mug, a tight expression of stress stretched across her face makes her look even older.

I use a cute smile and speak excitedly, "I can't believe you're wearing a vess made dress! Most humans hate vess stuff!"

Lessa smiles uneasily, "Yes, well. In this case, I thought it was appropriate. Some of us appreciate how comfortable and easy to wear these garments are. I believe most people wear vess clothes as pajamas."

"Really? That's pretty cool." The rest of my bad mood evaporates, some humans are really nice.

"Would you be willing to make more? All we have are the initial outfits you gifted us." Lessa seems to pick up on my good mood and visibly relaxes.

"Yes!" I chirp, "I would love to."

Pirous politely coughs, "Apologies ladies, however, we have important and urgent business to discuss. You see, we were accosted by the Adventurer Guild on the way here. It seems no vess are allowed into the town. Not only is this inconvenient for Queen Renna, but it is also a hostile act by an outside force. Unless this was an order from you, Mayor?"

The Karnakan woman pales and frantically waves her hands, "No, no, no! I'm so sorry, I just had no idea what to do about it! When we first arrived here, we needed a leader to organize our growing village, so I stepped up. At first it was just to make sure everyone got housed and fed, but as time went on it became clear that my position was a necessary one." She gulps, "What I mean is, I'm not a noble, the guilds are dangerous, and I don't want to anger them and I don't know what to do!"

"I see." The General nods slowly along as the woman frantically defends herself, "We aren't here to place any blame on you. I only walked through a bit of it, but this town seems very organized and efficiently run; well done." He praises her and offers her a reassuring smile, "I am the General of the vess army, and can be considered responsible for the military and martial needs of Blackroad. If there is an issue you feel you cannot deal with yourself, please feel free to bring it to me."

Lessa looks immensely relieved, "Thank you, thank you! Oh, bless you General!"

The thought briefly crosses my mind, is the General working his magic again? He doesn't seem flirty, but he does have a quiet confidence to him that is very attractive. Ugh, I'm way too young to be thinking about this.

"For future reference, no outside organizations are allowed into Blackroad without first speaking with Queen Renna." Pirous efficiently moves the conversation along, making me glad three times over that I brought him, "Now I would like to speak to you about a volunteer opportunity for combat aged Karnakans who wish to level."

I officially tune out the conversation and slip into one of my scouts, it is observing the dead bodies we left in our wake.

A large crowd of people have gathered around the dead adventurers, mostly made up of other adventurers, but some mages are lingering around the edges. A few people are crying over the bodies and vowing revenge; most are angrily shouting at each other. I don't bother listening in to what they are saying, it's pretty obvious they are outraged at the loss of their allies, vowing to kill me, as adventurers do.

Maybe Pirous is right. Do I just burn out the infection? Get rid of them and don't let them take route again? Could I threaten them into leaving or maybe bargain with them?

Switching my view to a scout above the Mage Guild, I look down at the building. There's a group of adventures out front arguing with a group of mages. A woman exits the guild and immediately catches my attention.

Gwyna.

My vision snaps back to my body, and I jump off the couch and run over to Pirous, grabbing his arm and shaking it, "Pirous, Pirous! Gwyna is here! You're smart, can we kill her without pissing off Lotheris?"

The General slowly detaches himself from my weak grip and rises from his chair, "If she is here as a member of the Mage Guild, and not as an official ambassador from Lotheris, there would be less consequences. Officially, Lotheris couldn't do much about it. Realistically, they will be upset, and it will likely greatly damage your relationship with them. To my understanding, Gwyna is their highest leveled mage. Losing her would be a huge blow to their magical might."

"Could we get away with it anyway?" I feel a little too excited at the opportunity to take her out. My promise to Sarah is quickly fading into the back of my mind. Maybe, this once, I could embrace my vess side.

"Perhaps." Pirous places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes, "Let's slow down, this is not a decision to make rashly. This will have long reaching consequences."

Physically I nod calmly and understandingly. Mentally, I am ordering all of my vess to get into position to destroy the guilds. Ballistae in firing positions, soldiers and archers to overwhelm, knights to tear apart their higher leveled members, and drakes to burn the buildings to the ground.

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