“Geez, Heather, chill out. It’s only clothes, and you already told your Mom that you were trying to embrace the Fay thing. If she loves and accepts you for who you are, she won’t care what you’re wearing, and we’re all wearing the same thing,” Risha told our very jittery former princess.

We were all inside Heather’s former bedroom, preparing for our dinner with her mother and sister. The room was nearly as big as a small home on its own and boasted thick rugs to keep off the chill of the stone floors, beautifully carved furniture, and the clothes and belongings that she had left behind had been kept tidy and clean. The decor seemed a little ostentatious and too perfect for me, but Heather hadn’t really had much say in that kind of stuff. The bed was absolutely massive, with four intricately carved posts holding up a diaphanous cloth canopy and curtains.

The twins were currently asleep on said bed while we finished getting ready, which now mostly consisted of getting Heather to the point where she wasn’t afraid to step outside of her bedroom, dressed as we were. Karina, Lisbet, Marti, and even Kiley were all already dressed and waiting for us outside the room while we gave Heather a pep talk. Or rather, while Autumn and Risha gave her a pep talk since I doubted that I would be very convincing at the moment.

“Yeah, and you’re covered from your neck down,” Autumn agreed with Risha as she rolled her eyes. “You are fortunate that we are wearing the traditional winter clothing for Fay. We usually prefer to be naked when it is warmer and when we do need to wear clothes for some reason then, like interacting with non-Fay, it is usually just some leaves, grass, vines, and flowers woven to cover up the important bits.”

I didn’t comment since I was nearly as nervous as Heather was. We were all wearing matching outfits programmed into our HESS armor, consisting of light gray bodysuit that resembled it’s standard mode but with the barely-there two-piece bathing suit of dark green leaf patterns above the bodysuit that suggestively covered our breasts and nether regions. Since the suit covered out feet as well and we could command it to cover our hands as well if needed, we had forgone boots and gloves and only added the cloaks that Kyra and Fawn had made for us over top.

The warm green cloaks were the same shade as the leaves covering our most personal areas and had braided fringes along the hems and hoods. The fringes had brightly colored beads and tiny metal bells woven in that shifted and tinkled whenever we moved. We would probably remove the cloaks when we sat to eat but they were a part of the traditional winter outfit and Autumn felt that it might help Heather’s confidence having that extra layer when we met with her mother and sister.

Heather sighed, swallowed a lump in her throat, and took a deep breath to calm herself. “Y-you’re right, I can do this,” she told herself as much as the rest of us.

“Would you feel better if you had one of the twins? The baby sling would cover your chest and give you time to get used to being dressed like that in front of your family. Watching one of them might distract you a bit from your discomfort too,” I suggested. Hell, I planned on doing that myself with the other twin.

I knew that it wasn’t necessarily the outfit that was bothering Heather, she had worn the same thing on the streets of the capital and came out of it fine, but nobody knew who she was then. This time she wouldn’t be anonymous though, this time we were going to be seeing her family. And her mother was the Queen, so that came with expectations, though I think that a good deal of those expectations were from Heather herself. She had grown up trying to be the perfect daughter, even though she would likely never be Queen, because she loved her mother and didn’t get to see her near enough. I guess that was a hard habit for her to break.

Heather gave me a grateful look and quickly nodded. “Thanks, Snow, maybe that will help my nerves.”

“Okay, you take Kallie and I’ll take Kassie then,” I offered.

“Umm… which is which? You have them dressed the same and they’re identical,” she asked with a confused look as she gazed at the twins on her bed.

“This one is Kassie,” I said with a laugh as I picked up the infant in question. “Their scents are subtly different.”

“Like anyone but you would notice something that subtle, Snowy. Fay senses are good but I don’t know of anyone else with a nose like yours, except maybe the babies,” Autumn teased as Heather picked up Kallie and we got the pair settled in their slings.

“That’s not my fault,” I teased back. “Risha can do it just fine too, so you two will just have to learn to tell them apart.”

“They are not perfectly identical; there are some small differences, other than the microscopic ones that I can detect,” Risha contributed with a grin. “And, no, I will not tell you what they are. You will have to find them on your own.”

“No fair,” Heather pouted as she opened the door to where the others were waiting in the hallway.

Our teammates were all dressed in formal dresses and shoes that they had found in the boutique booth and downloaded to their HESS armor. Lisbet was wearing an emerald green dress with short sleeves and a ruffled hem that reached below her knees. The color went really well with her dark brown hair and eyes, and she had simple shoes in the same color with no heels to speak of.

Karina, on the other hand, was wearing a sleeveless and backless form-fitting dress that wouldn’t interfere with her wings. The crimson color matched her eyes and contrasted nicely with her long black hair. She also wore a pair of matching shoes with three-inch heels that made her long legs look amazing.

Marti was wearing something that Risha called an LBD. The hemline was as scandalous as what we were wearing, but Risha had told her that the garment was good for just about any occasion when she had been trying to decide on something. She was also wearing her hair in a fancy-looking updo instead of her usual pigtails and had a pair of shoes with a slightly lower heel than Karina’s.

And then there was Kiley, who was a last minute addition to our dinner party. She would be joining us for several reasons. First, my grandmother wouldn’t be attending the dinner since she and the other Archangels would likely be convening throughout the evening with Sira to discuss the Queen’s decisions and the future of the Angel Corps in general.

My grandmother and Sira didn’t want to leave an already confused and self-conscious Kiley on her own for who knew how long while we ate dinner and socialized with the Queen and Princess Lisa. Technically she was also related to both Risha and Autumn as well, and since we also found her, that made her our responsibility until she could settle more comfortably into this time and decide on her future. As for the final reason, Kiley had seen the fall of the old world and had memories of what it was like before the Darkness came, and that was something that Queen Sabine was interested in learning about.

Since Kiley didn’t have HESS armor or any clothes to speak of, other than what she was wearing when we found her, Heather had found one of her formal gowns from a few years ago that fit the tween Avatar somewhat decently. It was navy blue in color, very modest, and she had a pair of slippers that went fairly well with it. However, she looked uncomfortable, not with the clothes, but rather with the image that they and her body portrayed. As someone who had spent most of my life in a body that felt wrong, I could sympathize.

Lisbet breathed a sigh of relief once we filed out to join them in the hall and looked down the hall before suggesting, “We should get going, or we’re going to be late.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to keep the Queen waiting,” Karina agreed, though she was smiling confidently and her tone lacked the nervousness of the Harekin’s.

“You all worry too much, the Queen was super nice when we were treating her, and I’m 97.3% certain that it wasn’t just because of the drugs we had her on post-surgery,” Marti cheerfully contributed.

Kiley was quiet and remained that way on our way to the Queen’s private dining room under Heather’s guidance. The poor girl looked like she felt out of place. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be sure whether it was due to the clothes making her uncomfortable, the discomfort of her body, her not knowing any of us but Risha very well, or being suddenly thrust into this position. Hell, it was probably all of the above.

I won’t go much into what the dinner was like, except that the food was delicious and the Queen did not get nearly as upset about our state of dress as Heather had feared, especially once Autumn had explained that it was traditional Fay winter wear and that usually Fay dislike wearing clothes in general. Princess Lisa was a bit shocked by it at first, but over the course of the evening, it became a non-issue.

After the meal was over, we moved to a sitting room with a roaring fire in the hearth and made our selves comfortable as Heather’s mother tried to encourage a more personal and relaxing atmosphere. We spent much of the evening teaching Queen Sabine and Princess Lisa about the traditions of our various peoples, getting to know them better, and allowing them to do the same for us. Her Majesty also encouraged Risha and Kiley to tell us about the old world, and what things were like before the fall of civilization.

Most of that time, Queen Sabine mostly just listened, and tried to be attentive and supportive of everyone present while she doted over the twins like the proudest grandmother there ever was. I couldn’t blame her really, and I tried to help things along as well as I could. The poor woman had missed out on both of her children growing up thanks to that bastard rotting in the dungeon and it obviously pained her greatly, despite her trying not to show it. If she wanted to make up for lost time with her daughters, welcome us into the family, and get off to a good start with the twins then I would happily accept and allow her to give a feeding or change a diaper to bond with her new granddaughters.

When she did talk, it was mostly in a motherly way, advising, encouraging and just accepting as needed. Lisa and Heather reveled in it. It was something that they both desperately needed from their mother, to feel loved and acknowledged. I was pretty sure that this was a good foundation for both mother and daughters to build their new relationship upon, and apparently ours as well since Queen Sabine wanted to make Heather’s teammates and future mate group feel like part of the family as well.

It was touching and I honestly felt like she was doing her best to turn a bad situation around. It showed in the way she embraced us all, literally in most cases. Personally, I thought that she was getting off to a good start on mending the fences in both her family and Misota, and it showed in the small bits of business that she did allow herself to discuss.

For one thing, she had decided on who would be appointed the new Lords to replace the traitors. Over half of them were obviously Seed-borne, most of them were recommended by the Archangels, and all of them had proven themselves loyal to Misota and all of its people in various ways while she was under her husband’s sway. Had they not become Angels, Kyra and Fawn would have been on that list. Uncle Jarl was on it.

Uncle Jarl didn’t know it yet, but the Queen would be granting him Lordship on a district bordering a Fay village’s territory. The previous Lord had a poor relationship with the Fay. He was one of those who hated the Seed-borne with a passion, and he had been encroaching on their land. Uncle Jarl, on the other hand, had a very good relationship with the Fay of that Glade and often traded for their mead and some of the other goods that they sold. Other Lords for Districts near territories held by Fay, Animen, and Devilkin would also be going to people of strong character who could encourage cooperation rather than fostering previously held tensions.

She was also planning on creating a Queen’s Council. Normally, Queens of Misota ruled and made decisions as they saw fit, but she wanted people who actually knew what was going on in the queendom and what problems were currently being faced to advise her on major issues and to bring any issues that she might not know about to her attention. Ideally, they would convene every three months or so and the council would consist of one Archangel from the Corps, six Lords, two Animen village Chiefs, two Devilkin village heads, and two Fay Glade Elders from around Misota. The holders of those council positions would also be changed every two years to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Overall, she would still be the one making all of the decisions, but she felt that having these advisors would help her and future Queens to make things better for all Misotans.

It would be a stark contrast from the direction that Misota was heading in while she was under her former consort’s control. Honestly, it might even be an improvement upon the way things were run by the Queens of the past. No offense intended to those Queens, but isolation of Seed-borne villages and power-mongering among exclusively Human Lords wasn’t exactly something that just suddenly appeared under the rule of Heather’s father, at least not according to my grandmother. Misota had been like that, and growing worse, for generations.

Another potentially controversial decision that she would be announcing the next day was to air out some long-held dirty laundry. She was going to come clean about the Wilson family being a Seed-borne bloodline and reveal her eldest daughter to the people of Misota. Heather’s eyes had gone wide at that and she shook her head, “Mom, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, we’ve kept this secret…”

“For far too long,” Queen Sabine finished with a look of grim determination. “Your father and his ilk are a very vocal minority, dear. If we wish to change this country for the better, then we need to do it by setting an example. Seed-borne shouldn’t be hidden away like some dirty secret, we will only grow stronger if we all work together openly and honestly, and I don’t want to hide your existence as if I am ashamed of you. I couldn’t be more proud of the woman that you’re becoming. Lisa will still be my heir since you are in the Corps, but I want to be able to publicly acknowledge both of my daughters.”

As I said, I thought that she was off to a good start on mending some fences that had been broken for far too long. The Queen had been robbed of so much, even of the person she was, but she wasn’t going to let that hold her back. She would use it to help her move forward, and I honestly admired that. Heather did too, from the way she looked at her mother. I imagined that the way she looked at her mother now, was how she had long ago when she would tell her stories before bed, with pride and awe. I had never seen Heather so happy when we finally called it a night and returned to our quarters, and it warmed my heart.

The next morning, I found myself back on board the MIST with my Grandmother, Risha, and Autumn to deliver a personal invitation to the execution of the former lord and Queen’s consort, Aron Clarkson. It was only the four of us because Risha, Autumn, and I were the only ones who had visited on our last trip to Ashburn and I didn’t want to push the Prime Consul’s hospitality with any more new faces than I absolutely had to, and my grandmother would likely be needed. I did figure that the twins would be safe to bring though, and not only because I was reluctant to be separated from them for more than a few hours.

We needed to approach this mission carefully if we wanted to start on a good foot with the people of Ashburn. So, not too many new people. Bringing Kiley and Marti would have been problematic anyway since they both appeared Human and it could complicate things if they were discovered to be AIs while we were there. The twins, on the other hand, were safe because they were harmless and it would show that we valued more than just technology and military might.

The uniforms were a surprise though, and I felt distinctly overdressed. Apparently, the Woodward sisters had finished their secret project for Sira, uniforms for the Angel Corps. Sira had informed us about them before we left and uploaded the specifications to our HESS armor. They wouldn’t be mandatory for work in the field or anything, we could still have our HESS armor take whatever form we wished, they were mostly just for formal or serious occasions like this one.

I was wearing a high-collared and long-sleeved white shirt beneath a sleeveless black tunic with a white angel wings symbol on the back. The tunic cinched at the waist and flared a bit at the hips and had thick crimson shoulder pads with golden trim. Crimson leggings with gold piping along the sides covered my legs, though they too were covered by a knee-length black skirt and a pair of black boots. Completing the uniform were a pair of black gloves with crimson and gold piping at the wrists and a black cap with the angel wings symbol on the front over a crimson band with gold trim.

The others wore similar uniforms but where mine was crimson and gold, my grandmother's shoulder pads, leggings, and the trim on her gloves and band on her cap were pure gold, while Autumn’s and Risha’s were pure crimson, I guess the colors were to denote rank. Gold trim was for Archangels, while Wing Commanders were crimson and gold, and regular Angels were Crimson. The uniforms weren’t just for Angels though. Marti and other medical staff would have green trim on theirs, the support crews would be brown, pilots would claim violet, and Tinkers, Alchemists, and other science support crew would have blue.

The men’s uniforms were supposed to be similar, though in a more masculine cut. They would have slacks with colored piping along the outsides of the legs instead of leggings and skirts, and black shoes instead of boots. The uniforms were going to take some getting used to, but Fawn and Kyra had done an amazing job and they looked very sharp.

The uniforms wouldn’t be the only change to the Angel Corps though. It seemed that there had been a lot of talk about the future of the Corps during the previous day and night’s meetings. Times were changing and we needed to change with them.

First, there was the taxes. Traditionally, a portion of the food and some other supplies produced in Misota every year were set apart for the Angel Corps as part of Misota’s taxes. With the acquirement of things such as the food dispensers and boutique booths, that was no longer going to be necessary. The people of Misota would no longer have to squirrel aside a portion of their crops or other products for us. Now, the Queen would instead be paying us monthly with cold hard currency from the palace coffers according to a per-head pay scale that Sira had developed for the Angels and various support staff in the Corps.

One of the biggest decisions was what to do now that we had Woodbury base in our possession. Among her other decrees today, the Queen would be publicly stating that the Twin City Ruins and the large buffer zone around them that most would never dare enter, would belong to the Angel Corps in perpetuity. We would still be moving most of the Angels to Woodbury Base and Kiley’s former home would become a forward base for sanitizing the ruins.

As for Eden Base, the extra food dispensers and boutique booths that the Corps had or could scavenge would be installed there and it would act as another forward base, which would allow a faster reaction time for Demon attacks and seed-storms in both the capital and Western Misota in general. It would lack the defenses of Woodbury Base and our outpost inside the ruins, but the base was mostly underground anyway and had gone for hundreds of years without such defenses. The Archangels figured that if defenses were deemed necessary later, we could always look into creating some that would work for Eden Base.

Of course, both forward bases would need personnel stationed there other than Angels. The plan was to recruit more support staff to be trained so that all three bases would have enough support crew, pilots, technicians, and medical staff. The latter would be training under the Marti collective and, for the moment, both forward bases would be rotating a few of the medical AIs as well as the Angels and support staff that would be stationed there.

The Angel Academy would still be moving to Woodbury Base, but the long-term plan for the current castle-like structure in the capital would be as another academy. This one would be used to train all of the various support staff and new medical personnel for the Angel Corps, while the Angels themselves trained at the new academy in Woodbury Base. Most of what those new support personnel would be learning would be theory at first, taught by the same Academy teachers, as well as Marti, or one of her anyway.

When they were ready to move on to hands-on work, they would be moved to one of the bases to be trained in a more hands-on fashion. At least, that was the plan until the Corps could modernize the equipment at the old academy to be more in line with what we had available at the Corps’ bases. That was a really long-term goal though and might take a while.

Still, it was part of the discussion about what the future of the Angel Corps would be once we eventually managed to rid our world of the Darkness, a goal that seemed far more attainable now than it ever had in the past. The Corps would still be needed to fight Demons, of course, since they would still be a part of our world for a long time to come and could spread through both breeding and by exposing other creatures to their tainted blood. We would also be needed to defend against other threats and for other tasks.

Many of the territories around Misota were openly hostile to Seed-borne, and with Misota openly embracing us, we would be fools to think that we wouldn’t face potential problems from them later. Ashburn was the opposite and I was hoping that they could prove to be a good ally for us in the future. My team, and the two others like us, would likely be scouting any potential enemies, as well as countries further away that we had never had contact with before to assess the state of the wider world and determine future possible allies and enemies.

It sounded like we would have our hands full, but it also sounded exciting. For now, though, we had a mission, and we were fast coming up on the walls of Ashburn, as a call from Autumn in the pilot’s seat informed me. I stepped up into the pilot’s compartment between Autumn and Risha while my grandmother coddled the twins in the passenger section and activated the FTL comms once Risha had it on the frequency that we had been given on our last visit. “Ashburn, this is Wing Commander Snow Bengal of the Angel Corps, requesting permission to enter the city and land.”

“We read you, Wing Commander Bengal. Please state the nature of your business,” a masculine voice replied.

“We are here to pursue diplomatic relations between the City-state of Ashburn and the Queendom of Misota, as previously discussed with your Prime Consul. As such, I am here to tender an invitation to the Prime Consul’s chosen diplomats and Desra Maddock of Suppression Team Theta to a diplomatic summit, and an event of mutual interest to both of our nations and Desra in particular,” I told him calmly, looking over my shoulder at my grandmother who nodded and smiled.

The voice seemed uncertain as he replied, “The Prime Consul is in Council right now, I will have to contact Suppression Leader Maddock to confirm your story.”

It was several minutes before a more familiar voice asked, “Snow? We weren’t expecting you to come back so soon.”

“Hi, Desra, sorry about the abrupt visit, but Her Majesty asked me to extend this invitation to you personally. And I have something here that rightfully belongs to you,” I responded as I gazed at the remains of the mind control device in my right hand.

“What are you talking about, Snow?” Poor Desra sounded completely baffled.

“I have the device your mother made, or what’s left of it since it was damaged. Y… the man who stole it from her was using it to control our Queen and is now in the royal dungeon, awaiting his execution. My team requested that you be invited, and Her Majesty agreed after we told her about your connection to all of this. So, Desra, how would you like to be the person who swings the axe to take former Lord Aron Clarkson’s life?”

There was a gasp and, for a moment, all that we could hear was a long silence. When Desra spoke again, her tone couldn’t be described as anything other than vengeful, or maybe bloodthirsty. “You can land in the same place that you did for your last visit, Snow. I’ll meet you there.”