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Author's Note: Here's chapter 10 of Alex in Wonderland. I finally snapped through the writers block and it all came at once :) Thank you as always to all my readers for the comments, kudos, and thinking that my work is worth reading. Also thanks to the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a wonderfully supportive venue to read and post TG fiction ~Amethyst.
 

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Chapter 10: Uninvited Guest

Once Patar had arranged for weapons for my new guards, he started us all on some warm-up exercises. Then, when we were all warmed up, he started us on practice drills, assigning a different drill to each of us depending on our weapons of choice and our physical traits. There were a lot of different maneuvers going on in the training yard since we all were using different weapons, or combinations of weapons. I had my bastard sword, Jezz her short sword, and each of our guards had their own new weapons to get used to.

Lannah had been assigned a long metal staff as tall as she was, and both ends branched out into a pair of barbed blades which could easily impale an enemy, or snatch their own weapons from their hands with a good flip of her wrist. I thought the weapon was a good choice for her, as it would let her keep her distance from her opponents and give her multiple options in a fight. She seemed to take to it pretty well too, though she would need to learn to constantly be aware of those twin blades at each end. She was the one I worried about most amongst my guards, but Patar assured me that in a one on one fight, or even two on one, she would be able to handle herself well. He was planning on working with her on opening herself to her opponents’ thoughts so that she would know what they are doing before they do it.

Rozia was a different story. The white Jiquar girl was big, strong, and had already been training to be a palace guard before being Chosen. She was already growing proficient with her weapons, all four of them, and even had some ideas on how she could distract opponents during a fight with even her small thaumaturge abilities. Not that she would need much of an edge, with a pair of long swords in her upper hands and a pair of spiked maces in the lower ones. If any of my guards could handle themselves in a fight, it was Rozia.

Jonth had decided to use his Zenin speed and agility to his advantage. When the time had come to choose his weapon he decided on a pair of daggers which he would wear on his belt, and also a dozen throwing knives. One of the knives would go in each boot, and the remaining ten came sheathed in a harness for easy access. He also figured that, while his Wind Walker abilities weren’t strong enough to control the weather, he could generate enough of a wind to give thrown objects a little extra oomph and accuracy.

Irric had chosen a long, wickedly curved scimitar for his weapon. I was worried at first that the weight and balance might be a problem, but he seemed to have no issues with it once he started his drills. He admitted that the Rokin used similar weapons to fight the bandits that were a constant danger in the Great Sands. While he had been living with them, and recovering from his illness, he had been taught to use one as part of his recuperation. He had kept learning once he discovered he was stuck as a Rokin because he felt that as a trader he would need to be able to defend himself.

Michelle had given up trying to nap while Alex and the others were practicing. The practice yards were in a courtyard on just the other side of the wall, and it was hard to sleep with all that noise going on. The noise was beginning to die down though, and Patar seemed to be giving them all a lesson in combat tactics from what she could pick up of her Chosen’s thoughts. She looked at the castle wall that separated her from them and let out a sigh. Something felt off, but she just couldn’t place it, like there was some sort of disturbance in the force. She was a Drakan though, not a Jedi, and tried to push the thought to the back of her mind as just worry over Alex.

Her former twin had been through a lot recently, so there was a lot to worry about. Alex was too worried about becoming the perfect leader for her people to let herself just relax. The afternoon playing in the lake had been a nice break from that, but she knew Alex still had a lot on her mind and she would get flashes of memory of Halan touching her, followed by quickly suppressed panic and fear. Alex was trying to bury herself in distractions, to avoid dealing with what was really bothering her. It wasn’t the first time she had done this, and Michelle could remember many such times when they were growing up where Alex would throw herself into other things after a trauma, and now she was doing it again.

The book was the first distraction, then she had quickly latched on to going to the temple of Selune from there, and then the Gate business. Even playing in the lake was a distraction, although it was nice to have Alex somewhat relaxed. Now she was fully absorbed in her lessons. The deaths of Halan and his family had given her a bit of closure, but Michelle thought it might be a while before Alex would be comfortable alone in the presence of a man again. All Michelle could do for now was to wait and be there for her when she needed it.

She mentally cursed the annoying feeling of wrongness that seemed to nag at her. "Wait a minute," she thought, "it was over by the front of the castle before. It’s closer now, moving along the top of the wall. There, it stopped right up there, above me." She looked up and saw nothing. Then she opened her light senses, and saw a type of tear in the movement of light. Someone was bending light, and it wasn’t a Radiant Drakan. Radiant’s bent light in a way that seemed natural and a part of things, but this was like someone was using magical brute force to become invisible. She could see them now inside a painful looking tear in the flow of light, he or she was crouched on the top of the wall, and they were watching the practice yard.

Once drills were over, Patar had us all rest while he started teaching us about combat strategies and tactics. He wanted us all to learn how to think on our feet, and he had various ideas on how we could all fight as a group and cover one another’s weak spots. Then he decided that we all needed a 'get to know one another' session so that we could get a better feel for one another. Working and spending a lot of time together would be a lot easier if we were all friends. Suddenly Michelle’s voice popped into my thoughts. ~Don’t look, but you have a visitor atop the back wall. He’s using some sort of invisibility spell.~

~Shit!~ I cursed. ~Is he alone, or are there others?~

~He’s alone, believe me if anyone else but a Radiant is using invisibility I’ll be able to feel it. It doesn’t feel nice at all. I felt it when he left the city for the bridge, but I didn’t know what it was at the time,~ she responded.

~Can you make him visible do you think?~

I received a mental nod in response. ~I think so. At the very least, I can do something to show you where he is. Even if I can’t counter the invisibility, I can make the area around him light up like a Christmas tree.~

~Okay sis, thanks, but hold off until I give the word. I don’t want this person getting away,~ I replied. I continued smiling and nodding at the others like we were having a nice chat and said very quietly, “Everybody keep smiling and acting like we’re having a great conversation. We have eyes on the back wall. Michelle spotted someone using an invisibility spell. She thinks she can make him visible, or at least light up the area around him for us.”

Lannah was facing me, and away from the wall, and I could see her brow furrow in concentration. “I can hear his thoughts. He thinks we are all just chatting. He’s waiting for anything interesting to happen, and he is focusing mainly on you Princess.”

I nodded and smiled. “Great work Lannah, let me know if he starts to suspect anything. Anyone got any suggestions on how we can bring him down here for a chat once he’s visible?”

“I might be able to create enough of a wind to knock him off the wall, but it might not work if he has decent grip,” Jonth offered.

Rozia grinned at him. “Let me take care of the grip. I should be able to make the area beneath his feet slick with ice, if I can see him. It will be pushing the limits of my range though.”

I looked to Patar, who nodded in approval. “Okay everyone, on the count of three I’m going to have Michelle do her thing. As soon as you see him, Rozia make with the ice slick. Jonth, give her a count of two to get it done and then hit him with the strongest wind you can manage. Irric, as soon as he’s down, you and Patar make sure he’s not going anywhere. Everyone got it?” There was a chorus of nods, and I counted one… two… three!”

Michelle waited for word from Alex as she continued to watch the man on the wall nervously. Then Alex’s voice slipped into her mind. ~Okay sis, light him up.~

~You got it Alex,~ she replied with a draconic grin. She could see Grayle watching the wall, so she assumed Jezz had let her in on what was going on. She centered her attention on the person in the tear, and the way they were bending the light. It was wrong and went against the natural flow of light and, as such, the light was resisting. Could it really be that simple? She bent her will toward the light and it’s resistance and gave every ounce of power she could to creating an aura of light around him. The light seemed to magnify, and he became visible as Michelle countered his field of light with one of her own.

There was a bright flash of light atop the wall, and a whistling sound, as the man suddenly became visible. He was flickering, but he was visible. He started rubbing his eyes, flash blinded, and that was all the opening we needed. Rozia’s attention was on him and, with a gesture to the spot he was perched on, he began to slip. A half second after that, a gust of wind hit him from behind and he fell from the wall into Patar’s waiting arms. No sooner had Patar caught him than he dropped him to the ground, where Irric was quick to put that curved blade of his to the intruder’s throat.

I looked the spy over as he seemed to realize that he was caught. He was a human with brown hair, a goatee, and frightened blue eyes, and he wore a black tunic and hose. Lannah was looking at him even more intently than I was. ~His name is Donnel, and he’s an Empire spy Milady,~ Lannah’s voice spoke in my mind, ~and he’s very worried about what we’re going to do with him. It seems that they tell some pretty bad stories about ‘inhumans’ in the Empire.~

~Of course,~ I replied casually. ~The more their people fear us, the more willing they will be to make war on us.~ I sauntered up to the spy and smiled at him before saying, “You’ll have to excuse me. If I knew I would be having a guest from the Empire visiting, I would have dressed nicer.”

“How did you…” he began.

“I’m the Princess, and I know everything that goes on in Azure. So, Donnel is it? Why don’t you tell me exactly what you’re doing in my palace.” He just stared at me, unable or unwilling to say anything. “Well from your nifty little invisibility trick, I think it’s pretty safe to say you were spying. What you’re going to tell me is why.”

I had to give him credit for bravado. He looked like he was ready to wet himself and he still had the balls to say, “I’m not telling you monsters anything.”

I rolled my eyes and frowned. “Oh right, you’ve been told that we’re all horrible creatures that feed on man flesh, or some such. Listen Donnel, you mind if I call you Don? Anyway Don, we’re not everything that the Empire makes us out to be, they are using what’s called propaganda. Now listen, because this will be on the exam. Propaganda is when you use misinformation to gain a desired emotional response, and is often used to justify a war.” He was staring at me, watching my every movement like I was about to reach in and snap his neck. “You seem uncomfortable Don, can I get you something to drink? Or would you be more comfortable if I acted like the monster they portray all of us non-humans to be?”

“I.. uhhh…” the poor guy looked petrified.

“Okay, let me try to get in character, but keep in mind I’m only doing this for your comfort.” I put a menacing frown on my face and turned to Rozia with a wink. “Break his legs, and keep breaking bones until he talks.” His eyes widened in fear and I made a show of sighing. “Well that didn’t seem to make you more comfortable at all. You’re going to have to help me out here Don, I’m not a mind reader.”

Jezz had to cover her mouth at that to keep from laughing. I sent her a wink and she got the idea, quickly supplying, “M’ love ya are a mind reader.”

“Oh that’s right. Silly me, well that does make things easier, doesn’t it Don?” I asked him, not really caring if I got an answer. “The human mind is a funny thing you know. If you tell a person not to think about something, what do you think the first thing they do is?” He shook his head, speechless and I smiled at him. “Well, they think about it of course. The same thing goes if you ask them a question; they just think the true answer, even if they don’t want to say it. So what we’re going to do is ask you a lot of questions, and we’re both going to know what the right answers are, sounds fun right?”

It didn’t look like he had the same idea of fun as I did. “Wha…” he started to get out before I cut him off.

“You’re cute, but you need to learn to listen Don. We’re the ones who are going to ask the questions. You’re going to answer them. You’re probably going to try to lie, or give us false information, but we’ll all know what the truth is.” I grinned at him, and the show of my very pronounced canines made him swallow hard. “Now that we know the rules of our game, tell him what he wins if he plays the game right.”

Irric quickly suggested, “He getsss to live?”

“Ooh that is a good prize, don’t you think so Don?” From the way the color had left his face, I was guessing he didn’t much like that being the prize. “So tell me what they sent you here for Don.” I took Lannah’s hand in one of mine, and Jezz’ in the other, so that we could both be in the telepathic loop when Lannah and Patar were both reading his thoughts.

Don remained quiet but, as I suspected, his thoughts betrayed him. Lannah and I both smiled when we heard, ~Don’t say anything. They can’t make me talk. I can’t let them know I was sent here to find out about their defenses and what the new heir is like.~

“Very good Don, you don’t say much, but you play this game well. So you were sent to see about our defenses and to find out about little ole me?” I smiled at him again. “So what do you plan on telling them? I’m curious.”

~I didn’t think the castle had any defenses worth reporting, but how did they detect my invisibility spell? They may be more dangerous than the Emperor thinks,~ he thought, but remained silent.

“Oh I assure you Don, we are much more dangerous than you think, but we don’t really care for war. If the Empire leaves us in peace we will remain happily secluded here, but if you all decide to attack Azure then you will regret it. The land itself will rise against you, and I will not be amused. Trust me when I say that it’s much better to stay on my good side.” I paused for effect before adding, “Speaking of me, I’m a little insulted that you didn’t think anything about me just now. So tell me, what do you think of me, really?”

~This girl is insane. I heard she was just a Healer and an empath, she shouldn’t be much of a threat. Not as much as her parents, but she acts like she’s the one I should really be worried about. What in Pallo is she hiding?~ His thoughts were running rapidly through possibilities.

“Now Don, that’s not a very nice thing to think about me. I can be a very good friend; would you like to be friends? As a friend, let me tell you this, I am without a doubt the one that you need to worry most about right now.” I gave him another big smile. “Why is the Empire so concerned about our defenses?”

He remained stone-faced, but his mind was still open to us. ~What a stupid question to ask, of course we’re concerned with their defenses. We’re preparing our army to come and wipe them all out.~

“Well, that’s not very neighborly at all,” I said with a frown. “When does the Empire think that you’ll be ready to launch this offensive?”

~Good, I don’t know that, all I know is that it will be nine tenths before we have the resources for an all-out attack. The Emperor probably won’t launch an attack until we’re ready, unless these monsters attack us first. Why is she acting so calm about this? She’s crazy.~ I heard as he looked from me to my guards. ~I need to get out of here and report. They’re expecting me back at mountains in two suns.~

I gave Donnel a stern look. “Such a rude thing to think about me Don, I thought we were friends. I’m sorry, are we keeping you too long? Maybe once we’re done here, one of our Drakans can give you a ride to the mountains for your meeting. They can be a bit clumsy at times though, so I can’t guarantee they won’t drop you. Now, are you the only uninvited guest I have to worry about from the Empire, or should I be setting extra places at the dinner table tonight?”

~Of course I’m the only one,~ he thought proudly, ~I’m the only one of the Emperor’s Thaumaturges to master invisibility.~

“Yes,” I replied, “you mastered it so well that we detected and captured you. And you think I’m crazy. Well at least I only need to set one extra place at the table, how do you feel about roast Liddeck with stuffing and veggies? I rather prefer fish myself, but our cooks can do fantastic things with poultry.”

He looked at me like I was certifiably insane. ~That does sound pretty good though.~

“Okay Don, next question. What information does the Empire have on me at this time?” I asked with a smile. “Oh, and please don’t forget any of the juicy details.”

~Why does she think they sent me?~ the spy’s thoughts were tinged with confusion. ~The Empire has no information on her, other than she was recently made heir and is an empath and Healer. I’ll need to let them know she’s crazy, but she’s not giving me any information from talking to her other than that.~

I looked from Don to Jezz and said, “Call it a hunch, but I’m beginning to think that he thinks I’m crazy.”

Jezz giggled at that and replied, “Where could ya ha’ gotten tha’ idea m’ love?”

Patar’s voice slipped into my mind, ~We will need to make sure he doesn’t remember any of this and if possible send him home with inaccurate information.~

“Just some nagging thoughts,” I responded to Jezz while looking at the very distraught spy. I thought back to Patar, ~good idea, both of you get ready, I want us all three of us in on this to make sure we don’t miss anything important.~ Don looked very uncomfortable so I gave him another big smile. “Lighten up Don, would a joke cheer you up? I’m not very good with humor, but let me give it a try. How many telepaths does it take to mind wipe a spy?”

His eyes widened in fear. ~She can’t be serious.~

“It wouldn’t be a joke if I were serious, that’s the whole point of a joke,” I replied to his thought absently before pausing. “Oh right, jokes are supposed to be funny, I really need to work on that. This one really isn’t, but I don’t like to leave my audience hanging, so suppose I should tell you the punch line anyway: It’s one, but we’re going to use three.”

Patar, Lanah, and I carefully wiped Don’s mind of all memories of our encounter and had Runne place him on top of the wall above the courtyard that contained the Healer’s garden. Once he was in place, and Michelle had stopped countering his invisibility spell, Lannah nudged him back to awareness with the implanted thought that I was so boring that he must have fallen asleep. Jezz and I spent the next candlemark in the garden talking to Pounce, Chrissy, and the plants like they could answer us as he watched. Then we started kissing and cuddling and, just as things were about to get really hot, I stood up and exclaimed, “Oh! We need to go inside for dinner! I got the cooks to make little cakes in animal shapes for dessert!” Then I flounced off toward the main courtyard with Chrissy in my arms and Jezz and Pounce following along behind me.

Lannah was laughing as she sent me, ~He thinks you’re an imbecile, and that the castle has no noteworthy defenses, he’s heading back through the city and to the mountains now.~

~Our job is done then. Patar is having Gella and Iriden follow him like we planned?~ I asked. Patar had contacted the older Radiant pair while Jezz and I put on our show.

~Yes, they are watching him from the air as we speak Your Highness.~ I could still feel the humor in her mind as she responded.

I couldn’t help laughing myself; the afternoon had been fairly entertaining. ~Come on in for dinner then before you go back to Snow. Good work today Lannah. Please pass that on to the others as well, I’m proud to have you all as my guards.~

Lannah and the others met us in the dining hall, where Patar and my parents were already seated and he was regaling them with the story of my ‘interrogation’ of the spy. I thought my father was going to bust a gut laughing, and even my mother had tears in her eyes from laughing. I grinned at them all as I walked in. “Well if Lannah is right, Don now thinks I’m an imbecile and his report should reflect that the Empire has plenty of time to prepare for war. That should give us plenty of time to prepare as well.”

Mom nodded. “With any luck he will be out of the country soon. At least he will be out of the Capital before word starts to spread about the new Gate. It may be wise for us to post our few Radiants to border duty for the foreseeable future, in case he tries to re-enter Azure. Hopefully if Michelle can spot what he was doing, the others will be able to do the same. We’ll have to have Michelle somehow let the other Radiants know what to look for.”

I shrugged as Jezz and I took our seats, and I motioned for our guards to do the same. “Let’s hope so. It will be nice to know when their spies are coming and going so we can prepare. But we’ve set them on the wrong track for now, and as an added bonus he now thinks I’m an imbecile instead of crazy. At least I think that’s an improvement.”

~Only you would think going from being thought of as insane to being thought an imbecile is an upgrade,~ Michelle said in my mind with a laugh.

~I take my victories where I can find them,~ I replied with a laugh as I began to dig into my dinner.

Jezz and I were on our way back to my rooms when we almost literally ran into Tarn. “I’m sorry Yer Highness,” he quickly apologized. “Master Galan said he needed to talk t’ ya.”

I nodded and gave the nervous apprentice a smile. “It’s alright Tarn, please lead the way.”

“Yes Yer Highness,” he replied with a half bow before he started to walk toward the Royal Enchanter’s quarters. We followed him to the rooms and Tarn knocked lightly before entering and motioning for us to do so as well.

Galan looked up from his worktable to give us one of his jovial smiles. “Hello Your Highness, Lady Jezz, thank you for coming by on such short notice.”

“It’s our pleasure Galan, what can we do for you?” I asked.

“It is what I can do for you actually Your Highness,” he replied. “You asked about an easier way for you to get out to visit your Drakans now that they are outside the castle walls.”

I nodded. “Yeah, Jezz can just fly over the wall, but I can’t.”

Galan handed me what appeared to be a gold ring, inset with an emerald. “I enchanted this ring much like the Queen’s ring. This has two set locations in it, and you can move to either by thinking of them while touching the emerald. The first location is the living area of your room, and the second is the shore of the part of the island where your Drakans reside.”

I looked at the ring in my hand in interest. “What happens if something is in the area the ring is supposed to move me to? I would hate to appear half inside Michelle or Grayle.” The thought made me shudder.

“There’s a safety measure built in for that. If something occupies the area you would appear in, it will detect it and move you to the closest possible unoccupied space.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know. Thank you very much Galan,I will definitely put this to use. Michelle and Grayle are sleeping at the moment, but I might pop there and back to my room just to make sure everything works right.”

“Very well Your Highness, just let me know if you need anything else,” he offered with a smile. “Oh, and Kardis should have a large sack of the regular ammunition for your weapons, so make sure to see him when you are in the practice yard tomorrow. He said to tell you that they are fairly easy to replicate, and since they don’t need enchantments you can just pick them up from him and let him know when you are running low so he can make more.”

“Great,” I replied with a grin. “Thanks again for all the effort you’ve put out for us Galan. If you require anything that I can help with, please don’t be afraid to ask.”

He nodded as he responded, “Of course Your Highness. You both have a good night and sleep well.”

“You as well Galan. And you too Tarn, sleep well,” I said with a parting wave to the boy who I could have sworn was blushing under his fur.

“Aye Galan. Ya both ‘ave a good rest as well.” Jezz said as we left his rooms. We headed back to my rooms and put our weapons away. Patar had brought them up for us earlier, but since Jezz and I were the only ones who could open the armory door he had left them on my table. Once the weapons were in their proper spots, we closed the door and I took a deep breath before rubbing the emerald on my new ring and thinking of the shore.

Much to my relief I appeared in one piece, less than a foot away from the water’s edge. I looked around and found that our Drakans were indeed asleep in their new stable. I slipped inside and put my arms around Michelle’s neck in a hug. “Thanks for everything sis. I don’t know what I would do without you here.”

~You would survive just fine,~ came her sleepy voice. ~I’m glad I’m here with you though. We’ve both changed since coming here, but I think it’s all for the best. We have each other and we’re both much stronger than we were before. Just please, don’t shut me out when you’re upset. You know that if you need me for anything I’m only a thought away.~

“I know,” I said with tears in my eyes. “You’ve had my back since you got here. I couldn’t ask for a better twin sister, or a better Drakan. Don’t worry so much, I’ll talk about it once I’m ready. I don’t like feeling like I’m hiding things from you, but sometimes I need to put some distance between myself and the bad things before I can unload on you. I know you’ll be there when I am ready.”

~I will always be there for you. And anyone who tries to hurt you, or get between us, will regret it.~

“The same goes for you. Anyone who tries to hurt you, or get between us, will find out the hard way just how crazy I can be,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

~You’re a rich Princess now Alex. You’re not crazy, you’re eccentric.~ She wrapped me in a mental hug. ~One thing though.~

“What’s that sis?” I asked.

~The next time you interrogate a spy, I want a front row seat. I was laughing my scaly ass off out here just picking up on your thoughts, I can’t imagine how funny it would have been if I were there to see the whole thing.~ She chuckled at the thought.

I started laughing too. “Do you know how hard it was to keep a straight face through all that? But it kept him off balance and we got a little information out of him. I wish it were you and me tailing him to his meeting though. I’m sure Gella and Iriden are good, but I wanted to see for myself just what shows up to pick him up.”

She nodded her great draconic head. ~Me too. I have a bad feeling it might be one of those ships you saw in your dreams.~

“They’re going to report to me as soon as they’re back,” I said in an attempt to reassure her. “It should be interesting meeting another Radiant pair. Patar has said good things about them. I’m worried it’s one of those ships too though. We may need to think about sending some spies of our own. I’ll have to start talking to Mom and Dad about this. They’ve been letting me handle a lot of this on my own, but I’m not the Queen yet.”

She snorted at that. ~Yes spies might be a good idea, hopefully ours will be successful. The Queen is letting you handle things because you’ve done a good job at it so far, even Patar is happy with the way you’ve handled things. But I’m sure she would appreciate you asking for her input.~

“Thanks for the talk sis,” I said giving her another hug around her neck. “I’ll let you get some sleep, I love you.”

~I love you too Alex. Good night.~ She closed her eyes and I touched the emerald in the ring once more, thinking of my rooms.

Jezz was waiting for me when I appeared beside the armory door. I took her hand and led her to my bed, where we both got undressed and under the covers. We laid there for a while just holding one another without saying anything, just curled up in one another’s arms and one another’s love. Finally Jezz asked, ~Did you have a good talk with Michelle?~

~Yeah, I did,~ I replied. ~it’s good to have some constants in my life, as crazy as things have been around here lately. I know she will always be there for me, and I know you and Grayle will too. With the business with Halan and his family yesterday, the journal, the new Gate that Selune decided she wants built, and imperial spies it’s been a rough couple of days. I’m lucky I’m not as crazy as that spy thought I was, with all that going on.~

She smiled at me and caressed my cheek before leaning in to kiss me. ~You’re a very nice kind of crazy my love, and I wouldn’t have you any other way. If nothing else you keep life around here interesting. I’m pretty sure everyone else feels the same way too.~

I giggled. ~Yeah I guess I do make things entertaining at least. I thought that poor Lannah was going to lose it and break down laughing a couple of times during the interrogation.~

~Me too,~ she admitted.~“Rozia had to look away from him a couple times because she couldn’t keep a straight face, and it’s hard to tell with Rokin, but I thought Irric was trying not to laugh when he told him the ‘prize’. And poor Jonth was looking away and pretending to stand guard because he couldn’t stop smiling.~

I nodded and rested my head on her breast. ~I think we’ve got a good bunch with those four. They reacted quickly, combined their skills well, followed orders, and they all realized pretty quick that I was putting on the crazy act.~

~I think so too. They are all good people and eager to serve and protect us. No matter how crazy things get here you will have them, me, and all of our Drakans to stand beside you.~ She kissed my forehead and wrapped her arms around me and we stayed like that, content in one another’s arms, until we both fell asleep.