After the intense rush to reach Beacon, Diane hadn’t felt so tired in years. It was a combination of little sleep, the suspicion of others toward Wenris, and long days in the saddle in their attempts to shake off pursuit. The former queen couldn’t blame the others for the suspicion directed at the succubus, but even if Wenris didn’t seem to care, it added to her own stress. Still, even if she was tired, she couldn’t help but stare at Beacon.

The city wasn’t the biggest she’d ever seen, but it certainly was the most impressive. Kelvanath, for all its size and power, had been much smaller and only about two miles from one edge to the other, not as huge as the fortress before her. Two shelf-like paths lined with buildings slowly wound their way up a mountain half a mile high, with five tall stone walls defending the city, and with the eye-catching beacon of ruby light shining from the marble palace atop the city. Softening an image that otherwise would have been far more intimidating were numerous canals, ponds, and even waterfalls, along with gardens that were just beginning to flourish and add greenery to the city.

They’d been allowed through the gates after only a short conversation, and upon entry Diane paused, looking on a street that had a number of dusk elves meandering about. She’d been told that most of the city was deserted due to lack of residents just yet, but that the gates had a decent population at the moment due to the Adventuring Guild’s presence. Even so, it was a bit of a surprise to her, seeing so many people speaking and working happily so close to Kelvanis’ territory. Beyond that, Diane felt something strange about the city.

“Interesting, and somewhat impressive,” the human-disguised Wenris murmured as she looked upward, her eyebrows raised.

“What’s impressive?” Jaine asked, her nervousness around the demon having eased over the course of the journey.

“The spellwork over the city. There’s a shielding spell designed to protect the area within the walls from attacks, and it’s disguised from the outside,” Wenris explained. “It takes an incredible amount of power, but breaking it would be a non-trivial task for nearly anyone. I’ll freely admit that it’s more impressive than I expected to find here. There’s also something else, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is…”

“While it may be interesting, we don’t have time to sit around,” Slaid interrupted, nodding to Uvar and his other soldiers, who began to stream toward a large barracks-like building to their left. He continued a moment later. “We need to report to Queen Phynis and get word out that you’re safe, ladies.”

“Aww… I didn’t know you cared, Slaid,” Wenris cooed.

Her words prompted a scowl from the man, who spoke flatly. “I was talking about Diane and Jaine, not you. I don’t consider you a lady.”

Diane couldn’t resist a soft giggle, and she even caught a hint of a smile flicker across Serel’s face, before her guard asked, “Should we not be moving, then?”

“Yes, we should. This way, please?” Skylark replied softly, the young woman looking even worse than Diane felt, and Diane felt a pang of mingled fear and pity. The woman began leading the way toward the palace, taking several staircases to cut down on the length of their journey.

She’d heard what Skylark had experienced, and that Alissa and Desa hadn’t joined them told them far too much about what had happened. Also quite informative to her was how Wenris hadn’t even seemed surprised at the Archon’s powers, and had calmly told them that he’d obviously been holding back in order to not kill the crowd outside the manor wall as well. That bit of news had chilled Diane’s blood.

Soon enough she and the others were occupied by their climb, though. It was a punishing ascent after the last few days, and it was made worse by the city obviously having been designed to slow down attackers. No one was going to casually get to the palace, that was for certain!

As they finally reached the palace gates, Diane was limping, sweating, and breathing hard while Serel was lending her an arm. The gates were heavily guarded, but a weary-looking woman, tall and with an icy demeanor, let them into the palace. It took Diane a moment to notice the woman’s worry and barely suppressed rage, but she said nothing as they were guided to a side chamber where they could rest and enjoy a few refreshments. The only one who didn’t join them was Skylark.

It was about half an hour later that a guard finally opened the door, the scarred elven man looking around and speaking in a raspy voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, Her Majesty will see you now. All but you, Ms. Wenris. She would like you to come a short while later.”

“That would be perfectly acceptable, though if possible I’d like to see the palace library? This room looks rather boring when one is on her own,” Wenris replied, smiling sunnily at the elf.

He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Very well. If you’ll come along, I’ll have one of the others show you the way.”

“Excellent!” The succubus grinned, rising and helping Diane up from her chair.

The others who were sitting rose from their seats, and the man frowned at Serel, but didn’t say anything. Walking down the hallways, Diane found many of the walls were carved to make it seem as though they were made of wood or had plants climbing them, seeming oddly lifelike in many ways. After a few hallways, the man stopped to speak with not one, but two other guards, both of whom nodded in response to his soft orders.

“Ms. Wenris, if you’ll come with us? The library is this way,” one of the two said calmly, and the succubus smiled at Diane.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Diane. Don’t have too much fun, hmm?” Wenris said mischievously, her eyes glittering.

“Of course not,” Diane murmured, and watched her go before following the guard again. She had to wonder what Queen Phynis had in mind.

* * *

“Her Majesty intends to call for you as soon as she’s done speaking with the others, so please be ready at that point,” the female guard explained as Wenris looked around the library in interest.

It was a large library, much larger than the demon had expected, but the broad, well-lit chamber had depressingly few books. Only a single book-case out of dozens had tomes on the shelves, but a number of crates sitting on the floor, as well as what looked like bookbinding materials, showed more promise for the eventual state of the library. Wenris supposed that even the largest of libraries had to start somewhere.

“Ms. Wenris?” the guard said again after a moment, her voice questioning.

“Oh, yes, of course! My apologies, I was just examining your library and thinking,” the demon replied, shaking her head and smiling back at the woman. She was cute, but Wenris didn’t want to risk herself here, not with the interesting mana density in the palace. “I’ll be ready to join the others whenever you need me.”

“Thank you. If you need assistance, I’ll be outside,” the woman replied, relaxing slightly as she nodded, then left the room.

In the woman’s absence, the demon relaxed, slowly approaching the table with the bookbinding materials, curious to see what the locals were working on. Several signatures of paper were finished already, with more sheets set aside for the next few, and Wenris’ eyebrows rose as she read the smooth handwriting and saw how perfect the paper was.

She recognized the content of the third volume of Marin’s Codex, though it being translated to modern elvish was something of a surprise. Her voice was soft but amused as she murmured, “Found a copy of that, hmm? Probably translating it…”

Her voice trailed off as she noticed a small box with discarded sheets of paper. Some of them were blotched with ink, while others had mistakes or had torn the paper. It was one in particular that caught her attention, though, the writing on it ancient beyond belief, though the ink and paper was new. It was text she’d seen before, and the blood slowly drained from Wenris’ face as she pulled it out.

“By all the stars in the heavens… What is this?” Wenris asked softly, unable to overcome her shock.

* * *

“I’d heard that you’d changed, Queen Diane, but this is a bit of a surprise!” Phynis said, looking on Yisara’s former ruler in astonishment. The increased height and changes to the dawn elf were stunning, and she took a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Keeping Desa out of her mind was difficult, but she couldn’t allow herself to be overcome by grief now.

“I’m not a queen anymore, Your Majesty. It appears that our roles have changed since we last met,” Diane replied softly, her eyes bright, but her smile hesitant.

“Perhaps you’re not, but to me you’ll always be Queen Diane. The last time I saw you was what… when I was fifteen? Beryl shoved me into the pond because she thought I was too timid,” Phynis reflected, shaking her head.

“Beryl did what?” Jaine gasped, staring at Diane in shock.

“Yes, she did. Jaine, I don’t think you’ve ever had the chance to meet Phynis… or I should introduce her as Queen Phynis Constella, should I not?” The older woman smiled, and Phynis couldn’t help but notice she almost couldn’t sense the age difference between Diane and Jaine. Only the more refined manners of the elder woman betrayed her maturity, which was a surprise. Diane continued after a moment. “Your Majesty, may I present my daughter, Jaine Yisara? Also with us are our maids, Maria and Meredith Carpenter, and a… rebel Enforcer, Serel Swiftblade, who has been acting as my bodyguard.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jaine, though I wish it were under better circumstances,” Phynis replied, but couldn’t help but tense at the mention of the Enforcer, who looked back at her levelly, her pale eyes cool. After a moment Phynis asked, “A rebel Enforcer? Are you certain?”

“I…” Diane paused, then looked at the other woman. “Serel?”

“Rebel may not be accurate. Archon Sorvos betrayed me and my subordinates, killing half of us and performing experiments on the survivors. I hate him with a burning passion that I find impossible to truly describe.” Serel’s voice was level and seemingly emotionless as she looked back at Phynis, her eyes filled with challenge. “Fortunately, I was enslaved directly to Wenris, and as she has chosen to rebel, I have a chance to sabotage him. I don’t care about you or any of the others at all, I just want to hurt him. Wenris directed me to guard Diane with my life, though, and I will do so.”

“That certainly clears the air. Not what I was expecting, I suppose, but it’s… tolerable. We can’t pick our allies. Not entirely, at least,” Phynis admitted, stunned by the woman’s explanation. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to Slaid and Vendis. “Thank you for getting them out of Westgate, both of you. While the price may have been much higher than I hoped or feared, rescuing Diane and Jaine is a great achievement.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, though I admit to a good deal of unhappiness about what happened to your subordinates,” Vendis replied softly, looking down as she added, “I… considered Desa a close friend. I wish I could have done something.”

“If you want to talk about feeling helpless, I was right there, Vendis, and I feel like utter shit. If they hadn’t held the Archon, we might not have made it out. Not that it makes me feel any better about what happened,” Slaid interjected, reaching out to lay a hand on Vendis’ shoulder.

“I wish that you could have done something, but before she left I told Desa to be careful. She promised me she would, but we can’t control everything. We each have our own destiny,” Phynis replied softly, sitting up straighter before she took a deep breath and nodded. “Now, I believe other introductions are in order before we go any further.

“On my left is Sistina. She appears to currently be occupied, likely in the dungeon. Sistina is the dungeon, and she built the city which you’re inside, so be polite,” Phynis explained, nodding toward her beloved, who was sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. The dryad didn’t move, so Phynis turned her attention to Farris and Sapphire, who were standing nearby looking worried. “Farris is the Royal Magister of Beacon, and is primarily a nature mage, which helped during some recent… unpleasantness, and Sapphire is a priestess of Medaea, and one of the guardians of the city.”

Farris nodded, looking like she was going to speak, but Sapphire spoke first, her voice oddly formal. “If I may, Your Majesty, I have something I wish to speak about.”

Phynis blinked in surprise, looking at Sapphire curiously as she nodded. “Of course you may.”

“I know that you’re aware of the attack on the temple where I was living, Phynis. What you haven’t been told, because it hasn’t mattered before this, is that Enforcer Serel led that attack,” Sapphire explained, her tone much less pleasant than normal. All eyes turned to the Enforcer, even as Diane and the others took a step away from the woman. The priestess continued, her voice growing angry. “If anyone knows what happened to Medaea, it would be her or the Archon.”

“Enforcer… would you care to explain what you know?” Phynis looked at Serel, shock flooding through her.

“I cannot,” Serel replied, and at several angry inhalations, she continued loudly over them before they could speak. “Not will not, Queen Phynis. I literally cannot speak about it unless I am given direct permission.”

“Who can give you permission to speak about the matter, then?” Phynis asked, her own spike of rage cooling at the woman’s clarification.

“The Archon or Wenris are the only ones who can overrule the order,” Serel told them, her smile cold as she added, “Though I suspect that he would be exceedingly displeased to know that she can undo the order. He spent a great deal of time and power to ensure no one else could do so.”

“I see. Well, before we invite her here… I was told that you’re the one who knows the most about this demon, Queen Diane. Would you be willing to tell me about her?” Phynis asked, ignoring the signs of a forming headache.

“While I may know her the best of those here, I’m afraid that I don’t know much,” Diane cautioned, her face conflicted.

“Anything you can tell us would be good, as I’m not sure how far we can trust her,” Phynis assured her.

“Well… she’s a consummate actor and manipulator. I’d sworn that I wouldn’t fall under her influence when we met just after I was taken captive, and yet when I look back it’s been a long, slow descent.” Pausing a moment, Diane hesitated before admitting, shaking her head, “The worst part is that I really can’t make myself care about that at this point. So she’s patient, she plans ahead, and every time I think I know what’s going on, she unveils another layer to her schemes. She broke a slave brand on herself like it was nothing, and claims that she’s been a double-agent serving the demon lord Irethiel for somewhere around three millennia. I don’t think I can give you any information about her that would actually be useable.”

“That’s hardly a reassuring description,” Farris murmured, and Vendis nodded in agreement. The two maids were almost hiding in the back, looking nervous.

“I see. Well, let’s hope that she isn’t actually here to hurt us. The last thing we need is another demon lord trying to destroy us,” Phynis replied, sighing as she looked at the guards. “Please ask Wenris to join us.”

The guard bowed his head and quickly left the room. As they waited, Phynis asked, “Diane, Jaine, do you have any messages you’d like us to pass on to others in Yisara? We have a way to send messages to the church of Medaea, so it wouldn’t be hard.”

“I would, though I’m going to have to consider exactly how I wish to say what I’m thinking,” Diane replied after a moment, and Phynis could see tears welling up in her eyes. The woman forced them down, blinking as she took a deep breath. “If you can give me some time?”

“Of course. Take your time, Diane. You’re safe here, at least for the time being,” Phynis assured her, then looked at Jaine, who was biting her lip. “What about you, Jaine?”

“I’m not sure. Oh, I want to tell Beryl and Father that I love them and that I’m safe, but I’m not sure what else. I’ll have to write it out, I think,” Jaine admitted nervously, but smiled as Phynis nodded.

“We can certainly arrange for that. In the meantime… ah, I believe that our guest is here.” Phynis paused, hearing the rapid clicking of approaching shoes, and her eyebrows rose in surprise as Wenris entered, in the form of a simple but beautiful Kelvanis woman. The surprise was more due to the speed with which Wenris entered—she was walking so quickly it was almost a jog, and had a serious expression on her face.

“Greetings, Your Majesty, long may you reign. I am called Wenris, and I apologize for taking this from your library, but I needed to show it to you and ask a question.” She spoke quickly, bowing her head just enough to be polite. In her hand was a sheet of paper, and Phynis forestalled the annoyed guards with a gesture.

“What is it that you need to ask me, Wenris?” the Queen asked, actually curious. All the descriptions she’d gotten of the succubus described her as lazy and bored, not serious and focused.

“This sheet of paper… who wrote this?” Wenris asked, raising the sheet so that Phynis could see it.

It was hard to make out the letters from the distance the succubus was standing at, but Phynis could see just enough to identify it as one of Sistina’s discarded pages, from when she’d written in the wrong tongue on her various projects. Why it was something that Wenris was concerned about was strange, though. Before she could reply, Sistina’s eyes opened.

“It is mine. Why?” Sistina asked simply, regarding the demon curiously.

“You wrote this? In your own hand?” Wenris asked insistently, an odd, excited quaver to her voice.

“Yes,” Sistina replied, and she seemed as confused as Phynis herself.

“In that case everything finally makes sense! You… you’re Marin, aren’t you?” Wenris exclaimed, her eyes bright.

At Sistina’s slow nod, the succubus laughed, and before Phynis’ startled eyes, the demon’s form melted, blurred, and reshaped into her full demonic body, her wings out and presence enough to make the Queen tremble. Then, even more surprisingly, the demon fell to a knee, bowing her head.

“Marin? What are you talking about?” Slaid’s voice broke the stunned silence, prompting a maniacal giggle from the demon.

“Marin. Not one of the countless people named for her… the Marin! I’ve seen the original copies of Marin’s Codex, and this handwriting matches perfectly! The strange orders of Milady suddenly make sense, because you… you are the one person she’s ever spoken of in respect. And for you I will help as much as I am able,” Wenris explained, grinning, and her statement made Phynis’ eyes go wide as she looked at Sistina.

“S-Sistina? Is she right?” Phynis asked, feeling eerily drunk, almost like the day the city had been built. “If so, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Knew my name was Marin. But memories… still fragmented.” Sistina spoke slowly, tilting her head as she looked at the demon. “Pieces still coming together. I didn’t know I was Marin. Who is your lady?”

“You should know that, if you’re Marin. I’m not sure if I should name her…” Wenris replied cautiously, frowning again. “But… well, she said you called her a shameless tease.”

Phynis blinked at that, but it was Sistina’s instant reaction that startled her the most. The dryad smiled as she spoke with sudden realization. “Emonael!”

“That’s good enough for me,” the succubus murmured, bowing her head as she asked, “What would you like me to do?”

Sistina promptly looked at Phynis and nodded. “Phynis had questions. Her first.”

Trying to shake off the stunning revelation from only a few moments earlier, Phynis looked at the demon, then asked softly, “Ms. Wenris, we learned not long ago that Serel was part of a group that raided Medaea’s temple, and that she can’t speak of what became of the goddess. Can you allow her to speak of it?”

“I can, and will, but I must add that she doesn’t know everything. Still, perhaps I should allow her to speak before adding my parts,” Wenris replied readily, standing up again and looking at the Enforcer. “Serel, you are free to speak of anything you wish.”

“Of course, Mistress Wenris. Thank you,” Serel replied, seeming to relax ever so slightly as she took a deep breath, then let it out. After a moment, she looked at Sapphire and asked, “I assume you’re one of the priestesses who I took to Adjudicator Falgrave?”

“I am,” Sapphire replied frostily.

“I thought so. Well, I’ll have you know I only possessed my own freedom for a day after I left you there. Now, Medaea.” The Enforcer paused, seeming to consider another moment before continuing. “I was sent to the temple specifically for Medaea. Somehow the Archon learned that she was there, sleeping, and he’d built tools that he believed could be used to subdue and enslave her. My task was to brand and capture her.”

Phynis’ eyes went huge at the admission, her breathing coming hard as the Enforcer continued pitilessly. “We placed seven mindshards into her flesh, each made to interface with her body and spirit, and to control her magical abilities. This allowed me to force her into a deeper slumber for the branding, which took a full day of work. It was exceedingly difficult and dangerous, but we succeeded, and we took the goddess and her equipment with us back to Kelvanath. There I was betrayed, and while I have suspicions of what happened, I don’t have any confirmation.”

“That, I can give you,” said Wenris, speaking up. “Medaea and Tyria are the same individual. Problem is, the prayers from those in Kelvanis are reinforcing the changes that are being forced on the goddess, and soon she’ll be completely corrupted and under the control of Ulvian and Irethiel.” Wenris smiled as she corrected herself. “Or rather, she would be, had I not sabotaged some minor details last year, at the directions of My Lady. I rather wondered why she had me do that.”

“What did you do? Will she turn on them once she awakens?” Sapphire asked, her voice unsteady.

Behind Wenris, Diane, Jaine, and essentially everyone but Serel seemed utterly shocked and horrified. It was horrifying to Phynis as well, but Diamond and the Jewels had raised the possibility with her a few weeks before, so it wasn’t a complete shock to her. It was very close to their worst-case scenario, though.

“No. I couldn’t make that large of changes without revealing what I’d done. Instead of being fully under their control, Tyria is just very inclined to help them at present,” Wenris murmured, shaking her head. “Also, instead of completely erasing her memories of being Medaea, they’re suppressed. She’s going to look and act like they want her to, but with the proper stimulus, she can be disabled and their control broken. Not that I’d personally care to try applying said stimulus.”

“W-what about Zenith, though? You said that…” Jaine began, and Phynis felt a pang as she saw the horror in the young woman’s eyes as she clutched a holy symbol tightly.

“Zenith was an angel of Medaea, captured in the same raid. The process of corrupting Medaea would have been ten times longer if it hadn’t been for her capture, as she was closely linked to the goddess. She also was dosed directly with succubus blood to make her more… agreeable,” Wenris explained, pulling out an amulet, and Phynis looked at it in horror, seeing a tiny figure within.

“Is that…?” the Queen began, and the succubus nodded.

“I beat her into submission and trapped her. It wasn’t easy, but possible,” Wenris replied, grinning. “Angels are a lot of fun to play with, anyway.”

“Could she be redeemed? Restored to what she was?” Sapphire asked, and it didn’t take knowing her well to see the pain on her face, or how her nails were digging into her palms.

“Possibly? Oh, she’d never be fully what she was, since she was re-named and has demon blood in her, just like Tyria, but it would be possible in theory, and would be very difficult,” the demon replied, her smile fading as she sighed and looked at Sistina. “You’re going to take my toy away, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Sistina replied softly, extending a hand. “And others, release if they desire it.”

“Fine, fine… only because it’s you. My Lady would kill me if I said no…” Wenris muttered petulantly, taking off her necklace reluctantly and stepping forward to place it in Sistina’s hand. As it came close, Phynis could see the angel more clearly, looking like she was moping in a corner. The demon kept speaking though, distracting Phynis. “While I can do so with everyone else, I can’t do that with Diane.”

“What? Why not?” Jaine cried out, disbelieving. “Bad enough about Tyria, but even my mother?”

“I didn’t say won’t, Jaine, I said I can’t let her go,” Wenris stressed, frowning as she took a few steps backward. “When we made our bargain, she gave up everything to me. The day we left Westgate, I claimed my due, and permeated her with my power, through her body, mind, and soul. If I try retracting my power, it’ll rip her soul out and merge it with my own. If you try killing me, I’ll merge with her. We’re inseparably linked at this point. I really, really hope that My Lady isn’t going to be upset with me.”

“That… that’s fair. I didn’t ever expect to be freed from my bargain to begin with,” Diane said softly, looking down at the floor as she took a deep breath. “If you’re willing to free the others…”

“I am. The only ones are Maria, Meredith, and Serel. Ladies?” Wenris asked, looking at them.

None of them spoke for a moment, but Serel replied first. “I… refuse. My mind is confused enough that I no longer trust myself to react appropriately. If freed I may not be able to resist going for the Archon, and that could be disastrous, or lead to my enslavement once more.”

“Very well. What about you sisters?” the succubus asked, and each of them nodded quickly.

“Yes! I want to be freed of my brand!” Meredith said nervously.

“One moment…” Wenris murmured. The words sounded strange as she wove the spell. Two thin pink strands slowly faded into sight between the demon and the two women, and with a gesture, the succubus cut them. Done, she smiled thinly. “There we go.”

“Can you teach others to do that?” Farris asked curiously.

“No. It was placed into my memory with powerful magic, and how it works is beyond my understanding, though I’m certain that given time Marin can figure it out,” Wenris replied.

“Not Marin. I’m Sistina now.” Sistina replied softly.

“As you like. I promise you, and you as well, Your Majesty, I will not work against you as long as I’m in the city. I’m not suicidal,” the succubus told them, smiling as she took a step toward Diane.

Sistina nodded slightly, looking thoughtfully at them, then spoke in a soft voice. “I believe her. Emonael was… loyal.”

“Good enough for me. For the time being you can stay here, Ms. Wenris, but only so long as you don’t cause problems,” Phynis finally agreed.

“Thank you,” Wenris replied.

“With all of that dealt with, I need some time to myself, to grieve for a friend and make plans,” Phynis continued, looking at the others. “The staff will find rooms for you and ensure you’re taken care of.”

There were looks ranging from sympathy to worry, but one by one almost all of the others filed out. For a long minute Phynis simply sat there, shock and grief slowly building. It was when Sistina laid a hand on her shoulder that she broke down, weeping at the loss of Desa.

Phynis didn’t remember leaving her chair, but moments later she was in Sistina’s arms, crying into her shoulder, her tears hot. Sapphire embraced both of them from behind, her own voice thick with sorrow. “I know, Phynis… and I’m so sorry.”