The Dadæf Chronicles

Remara stood at the window that had so recently been Schnübertzen’s. And had also, she recalled, once Alvas’s. She had control over the city, though they knew nothing of it. Schnübertzen had had his memory wiped, Vana was as ignorant as ever, and those dark elves were hardly more than a nuisance.
Sometimes she looked out and remembered the city as it used to be – a sprawling, miles wide, centralisation of crime. It didn’t seem to matter what time it was… people got killed just the same.
Now the assassins had formed a guild, and anyone else who killed disappeared, sometimes mere seconds after it had happened.
The Watch was powerful now. Mountain and river trolls, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, and even a few dragonkin. Everyone was accepted into the thriving Dadæf society, and so Dadæf and Arakan had together become the largest city under the Aldrassi, with massive trade routes, a population of 8 million, a two-hundred-thousand strong standing army, and had managed to set up outposts – and small towns - as far as 40 miles to the north of the Aldrassi Mountain range, in the dreaded Darklands.
When you looked at a map of the world, it really could fill you with a sense of despair. There were four tiny pockets of human land, protected by natural features from the darkness which covered the rest of the world. The Danaren Peninsula, which Dadæf and Arakan were on, safely protected the Aldrassi, Tenorus island, a large tropical island about 120 miles to the south of the most southern point of the Danaren peninsula, Aeropolis, the city of mages and the only one bold enough to raid the Darklands from their massive levitating city, and Fel Reach, the neutral city that accepted demon, undead, and human alike, and their 12 foot high mecha-magical bruisers prevented any fighting. They might have had the power to destroy the darkness, but they found it more profitable to be neutral.
Occasionally a wandering troll would get into the centre of the Darklands and deal out merry hell for a while, before wandering out and eventually fleeing – even mountain trolls become scared after a while. Having hundreds of thousands of demons bearing down on you will terrify even the strongest countenance.
And Remara wanted it to stay that way.
*
She… she’s your what? asked Serrus.
My sister. Biologically and… um… mentally. She’s my twin sister, but I haven’t seen her for about thirty years. My… mother gave birth to twins, but we were both illegitimate. Then… then Alvas, my father… sent us both away. He cared for us, but he couldn’t risk keeping us… we were illegitimate. He… he felt the darkness closing in on all of us. All of Dadæf… Arakan… Aeropolis… nothing is safe. So he hid us as best as he could, keeping Vana in stasis for 37 years, then only just beginning to let her grow, and he sent me to the assassin’s guild. There’s… there’s a prophecy. But it’s pretty direct… thought Teraura.
You’re in a prophecy? Wow, said Drakaya.
Yeah, that’s actually pretty impressive, Teraura, said Sara, I mean… I wish I had a prophecy…
Lucky… thought Serrus.
It goes, as far as I can remember…
Darkness seeking twin queens’ blood,
Half is treetops, half is mud,
When darkness rises from the depths,
There will be shadow, there will be death,
After the shadow, four will remain,
Untouched by this ungodly stain,
One will cower, one will sell,
One will flee, and one will kill,
The darkness comes for people now,
For every man, for every cow,
For every child, for every wife,
The darkness will ignore no life,
Unless it’s banished, if it must stay,
We will be darkened, we will be slaves,
The queens can call upon the stars,
The moon, the sun, from near to far,
Their mounted steeds, their flowing hair,
One with the earth, one with the air,
One calls upon the drake of night,
The other on the phoenix flight,
The twin queens’ blood is a force for good,
But held by darkness, the world is doomed, said Teraura.
Um… “Good” and “doomed”? Wh… what are… that doesn’t rhyme at all! It’s just… well, one’s a soft “u” and one’s hard, and “ood” hardly sounds like “oomed”, said Drakaya, I mean… honestly… if it’s not bad enough that so much of it is so cliché, but… there are plenty of better words. And kill and sell? What the heck?
That’s so like you, Drak. The shadow is after me and my sister and you only pay attention to how it rhymes? I mean… just… said Teraura, trailing off.
Er, that’s not really a prophecy. Prophecies are more like, you know, “A great battle will be won”, not a poem, said Sara
Yeah, that’s nice and all, but what does it mean? said Serrus.
Heh, I like that they said Cow before Child or Wife. Really shows you the writers priorities, doesn’t it, added Sara.
So…the mission objective… that Darokh gave us… was… well, not actually the plan… we’re actually here… trying… to save… um… the world? said Serrus.
Um. Yes, said Teraura.
So… um, wh… I’m… confused. Why did Drak or I need to come? Why couldn’t this just be you and Darokh? Hell, why couldn’t it just be you?
Darokh… and Remara… have a history. I don’t know much about it. But they really seem to hate each other.
So… wait, you’re gonna save the world?
It’s not guaranteed. Like the prophecy says, if the darkness gets me and Vana, we’re all screwed.Oh, FUN, thought Serrus.
Well… what IS “the darkness”, anyway? asked Drakaya
Demons, undead, and monsters, oh my. The mindless zombies, the werewolves that aren’t humans for 3 weeks and wolf for 1, the ones that instead are wolves the whole time, but they only look like a wolf for one. The banshees that don’t hang around on rooftops screaming when people’re about to be killed, the ones that do it themselves. The warlocks that drain souls. The shadow mages, the dark assassins, the succubi, the flamewalkers, muck shamans, the necromancers, astromancers, pyromancers, hydromancers, um, even some gastromancers, no idea why anyone needs a snail and slug summoner, the death knights, the flamingos, the felclouds… and so on. And they’re all ruled by the “Dark Mistress”, who’s responsible for creating the Darklands. She’s supposed to be a fallen goddess, goddess of the chase or something. I dunno that much about her, said Teraura.
Wait. Flamingos? asked Drakaya.
Yup. No idea why. But they’re officially an unholy beast… replied Teraura.
A flamingo… is unholy.
Yes.
Wh… what the…
Um… just ignore that, said Teraura.
There was silence.
Really flamingos?
YES!
*
Vana knocked quietly on the door she’d found. It seemed to be the right one, seeing as a bleary-eyed young-ish dark elf girl wearing a nightgown opened the door.
Her eyes opened wide as she saw Vana, and with both hands, she grabbed Vana and pulled her into the room.
“Vana!” said the elf girl.
“Um… yeah…?” she replied.
“Oh, my god, I can’t believe this… after so long…”
“Er… who ARE you?”
“Oh, right… sorry about that. Um… I’m kinda… wait, I dunno… oh, what the hell. I’m your sister,” said Teraura.
“Er… no, I’m an only child, and you’re an elf. I don’t think we’re-“
“Urgh, fine… I hate spells, but I guess this is a counterspell, so… I should be okay…”
And Teraura waved a hand in front of Vana’s face.
“Look, this is just removing the illusion for you, so you can see the real me…”
Vana saw the transition between Aurabelle and Teraura, and gasped.
“You… me… what…”
“We’re twins, Vana. And the shadow is gaining power each day. We need to get out of here, but… we can’t yet. We got one more thing to do for now…”
“And that is…?”
“The other dark elf… is a dark elf. But he’s a boy.”
“But she’s a girl.”
“That was just coz of a potion I made to disguise him. We need to get his bounty down to a safe enough level for him to walk the streets again, and we gotta find the captain of the guard for that.”
“What, old Argus Jengison?”
“Oh, cruuuuud… Argus Jengison? How old is he now?” asked Teraura.
“Um, late sixties, I think. But… how… what do we have to do?”
“Er, we’re in trouble. Hang on…”
Teraura fumbled about on her person for the mission plan.
“Ah, here we are… it says here “Drakaya is to find the captain of the guard and… eurgh… seduce him and convince him to lower the bounty on Serrus.” Oh, god… Drak’s not gonna like this… a 70 year old was not in the plan…”
“Well, what did you do before you came to… um… save me…?”
“Alchemist and assassin. And no, I’m not gonna kill him,” Teraura added, as Vana opened her mouth.
“Hm. Wait, you made that potion that made… err… the other elf-“
“Serrus.”
“-A girl, right? And it’s illegal for a woman to occupy a post higher than sergeant in the guard? So, I figure, then…”
“…Hm… that might actually work… but I don’t have any of the reagents. I’d need quite a lot of stuff for it…”
“Right, how hard are the ingredients to get?” asked Vana. There was a burning eagerness in her eyes.
“Well, some are easier than others. The easiest is probably the strawberries, but we’ll need a lot. At least twelve pounds, which we have to distil about 5 or 6 times, and they have to be “tannin rich” or something. I don’t really know, I got them from a friend. Then there’s some unripe – and again, distilled – belladonna, four or five tablespoons of arcane dust, which can only be received as a gift from an eighth level mage, and some hairs from a real girl, and she has to be one that embodies the essence of… well, girlishness. And essence of drake, or any dragon. They tend to just shed it constantly…” said Teraura.
“Whaaaat? Where are we meant to find a dragon?”
“Hang on…” said Teraura, quickly, “I got to go quickly. Look, I’ll see you soon, okay? I’m sorry to leave you so much in the dark, but this whole thing is really important. And two things – first, you’re the only one who can see the real me. Second… don’t… say… anything, okay?”
“Okay… bye for now, then. This has definitely been… interesting.”
“See you, then. I gotta go find Serrus…” said Teraura, exiting the room.
Vana wandered around a bit in Teraura’s room. It was very unlived in, even for a room only occupied for a day. All it had in it was a massive suitcase which – when opened – contained a massive load of gowns and dresses, as well as a few soft toys. None of them looked used or worn.
It wasn’t a home, or even a bedroom. It was just a place that happened to contain someone overnight.
And somehow, it was slightly intimidating.
*
Serrus, Drakaya, said Teraura, I need to see you in person. Some really important stuff just happened.
Woh, Teraura? Why are you in my brain?
Argh, another person on the thought…wave…type… thingy, said Serrus, if we get any more people and we won’t be able to hear each other.
This thing’s getting real crowded, now, said Sara.
Thanks for that, captain obvious, replied Drakaya.
ANYWAY, I just met Vana, thought Teraura.
Yup I know, I just met you.
Look, who’s the newbie?
I’m Vana. Who’re you guys?
Serrus…
Drakaya.
Serrus.
Um, whaaaat… said Vana.
Er, Sara’s kind of me.
… I’m more than KIND of you, said Sara, affronted.
Fine, you are me. Happy?
Yes.
Urgh… look, Drak? said Teraura, eager to get away from the confusion.
Ye…esss…?
Um, you know how the plan said you had to, um, “convince” the captain of the guard to lower Serrus’s bounty?
Yup.
He’s… um… in his late sixties.
There was silence.
You… can not… be serious.
Um, yeah.
He’s twenty-five years younger than me, AND he’s about to cark it! So he’s damn too young and too old for me at the same time! protested Drakaya.
Yup, I get that, so… well… we got another plan. It’s actually based on the sexism of the Dadæf government, so we’re gonna use it against him. I’m gonna try to make up an exact replica of the potion we made for Serrus, and try to get him to drink it. Then he won’t be allowed to do his job, no-one will know who he is, and he’ll be replaced, hopefully, and the new captain position will be a younger. Any idea who the candidates are, Vana?
Well, I guess Sergeant-at-arms Ironhammer, but he’s a dwarf, so they’ll most likely ignore him. Sergeant Resha is disqualified by gender, so that leaves us with Sergeant Delphun and Sergeant Caeron.
Um, okay, what’re they like…?
Vana? asked Teraura, Would you mind telling Drakaya?
Er, I don’t really know, I haven’t seen them much. Caeron is, um, an elf or something, not really sure what kind, and Delphun is human, tall, kinda muscly, and as thick as… er, something really thick. Schnübertzen wouldn’t dare let him…
There was silence.
Schnübertzen… isn’t exactly getting a say in this now. It’s Remara… and I daresay she’d enjoy it if the captain of the guard is so easily manipulated, added Vana.
Hm… we should try to reverse the potion as soon as possible, but if we manage to get a reversal, we’d have to give it to him, seeing how Remara will be able to run the city so easily. But Serrus won’t be able to change back as soon, what with the having to get all the rare ingredients and stuff again… it’s basically a choice between your masculinity and everyone in Dadæf and Arakan’s life.
I’ll accept that. If it’s a choice between me being… well, ME, and the life of everyone in the city… I’ll stay like this for a little while longer, thought Serrus.
That’s good to know… because it might come to that… said Teraura, worried.

There was a short pause.

That’s actually really noble of you, Darokh, said Drakaya, surprised.

Yeah, I thought that too, thought Sara, right up to the point where I reallised he’s included in the population.

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” asked Emma, standing at the stove watching Drakaya suck her burnt fingers.
“No… I’m not used to this.”
“What’d you do before, then?”
“I was… a…”
Drakaya tried to think. There were obviously a great number of things to be other than an assassin, but she was finding it hard to think of them.
“A… um…”
“Look, you can trust me. I won’t hate you for it,” said Emma.
“A… er… well, I didn’t really do anything. I just tried to get along… I had to pinch food sometimes.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I wasn’t much better… I just found what I could to get by. I wound up getting this ring from some high elf a while back. I managed to get enough to apply for a school of maid…ing. I guess.”
“Wh…what did he look like?”
“Oh, I dunno. Usual high elf stuff… long blonde hair, some robe or something, just… you know, elfy,” said Emma, “but his coach had a rearing unicorn painted on the doors.”
Drakaya gasped.
“That’s… that’s… my…”
“Come on, we should keep working. It’s not like it matters.”
*
Serrus stared out the window at the pre-dawn city. It was nearly dawn, maybe ten minutes. He knew that inevitably he’d lose control.
Unfortunately, however much control he might have over his body, it wasn’t the one he was used to. He looked down at his… chest… and the nightgown he was wearing, and turned his gaze away.
It wasn’t nice to wake up like this. It’s one thing to wake in a familiar…ish… room with two girls looking after you… kind of, and quite another to wake up in a massive bed in such a huge room, completely alone.
Coming to think of it, there were worse times.
He smiled with grim satisfaction remembering when he and Rivia had assaulted Teraura. It might have been pointless, but it had been fun.
Come to that… where was Rivia?
He backtracked through his thoughts desperately. He hadn’t seen her since he’d been force fed that potion.
So the girls must’ve done something with her.
He pondered for a little while.
Teraura would have had a grudge against Rivia, after Rivia helped Serrus fight her. And Drakaya… well, she’d blackmailed him with Rivia, and just for some conditioner! She could have easily done it again…
He stopped that train of thought.
No, they wouldn’t do that. They were honorable, in a way, and among assassins there was a code.
So someone must’ve taken her.
But… for that to be true… then someone must know about the assassins.
Serrus shivered. They’d have to be very skilled to get in and not be detected. And very determined.
*
“Hey, look. It’s dawn already,” said Emma, pointing out the one tiny window in the kitchens, “So we better get a move on.”
Drakaya’s expression changed.
“Yes, we should. I’ll finish up those poached eggs, you take the drinks.”
Emma raised an eyebrow. “You seem different now. Like, suddenly.”
“What? Why?” said Drakaya, levering one of the eggs onto an exquisitely crafted plate.
“I dunno. You just seem more professional now…”
“Oh, yeah. It just takes me a while to wake up in the mornings. Come on, we’d better hurry. They’ll be down at the tables in a moment.”
Drakaya only realized what she was doing as she carried four plates at once in the direction of the dining room.
Oh, crud. I’m really being Maisie right now.
She put down the plates very carefully, and went to find the only person she felt she could talk to.
Well, maybe not person.
But good enough.
*
The Sara part woke up. The Serrus part gradually lost control.
Kind of.
Which made no sense, seeing as Sara was just him as a girl.
Oh, my gods… I am SO glad that’s over.
Serrus? That you? came Drakaya’s voice over the thoughtwaves.
No, this is me. Something odd is happening, said Serrus.
What’s so odd about me?
You’re in my mind! That’s what’s so odd, replied Serrus.
Who… who else is talking? Teraura? Is that you? asked Drakaya.
No, I’m here. I only just woke up. What’s happening?
There’s someone else on the… um… thought… talk thing, said Serrus.
Yup. Hi, said the voice.
Who are you?
I’m just… well, kind of you. Part of you, I guess, the voice replied.
Um, you are a girl, right? Like… really, asked Drakaya.
Er, I suppose so. I’m… well, Teraura’s potion had a double affect.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You know about all this? Who ARE you?
Um. This is awkward, seeing as I’m not really sure… but… as far as I can tell, I’m… um, you, Serrus.
Wh…what? blurted Serrus.
I’m basically how you’d be if you were a girl. Teraura’s potion type thingy created me. Or whatever.
Right, then… um. Wait, what?
Serrus, I’m you. It’s really confusing. I’m part of you, and thanks to Teraura, we’ve only got one body between the two of us.
Do… you have a name… then?
No, not really. I guess Sara, but… said Sara.
Wait… wait… why… Darokh… this can’t be right.
I’m here, and you can’t stop it. Stop worrying so much, I’m basically you. I don’t wanna betray Drakaya or Teraura anymore than you. I’m just you, but with a different take on things, I guess. I’m on your side, she said.
Um. Okay, then… he replied.
Look, for some of the bits where you need to act… well, feminine… I’ll take over. Okay?
I guess so.
Good.
*
Drakaya tried to stop listening to the rambled duel thoughts of Serrus, and she eventually found what she was looking for.
There was a small altar in the palace, but it wasn’t used much. Royalty and the like tended to use the official cathedral of Dadæf city, and the poor tended to use the Church of Arakan, which was less demanding. Nevertheless, the altar was used and tended to by the servants of the royalty and aristocracy who felt too grand to use Arakan’s, but not quite grand enough to use the cathedral of Dadæf.
Drakaya knelt down in front of it, keeping her head bowed.
Drakaya.
“Yes. It is me,” she said.
You come to me again.
“Yes.”
What is it you seek?
“I merely want your blessing, and an answer.”
The hidden voice was silent for a moment.
Blessings are not easy to obtain, it said, affronted.
“Oh, of course not. I think it might help if you saw what I’d brought, though…”
Drakaya held up the massive roasted sheep carcass. Despite there being no eyes, no face, and no mouth, she got the impression it was impressed.
You treat your god well, don’t you?
Drakaya grinned as she placed it on the altar. “Yeah, I guess so. But… look, I feel kinda… confused. Someone’s playing with my mind… and I thought you could help me with that.”
You seek answers or a cure?
“Answers, I guess. I’d like to get this off myself…”
I will ponder it. And I will give you the answer tomorrow.
The altar caught aflame. Drakaya didn’t bat an eyebrow.
When the fire went out, the corpse was gone.
There was a sound like a celestial munching.
Drakaya smiled.
Being the only worshipper of a god had its advantages.
*
Vana lay down on her bed, trying to make sense of what had happened.
She tried to get comfortable, but it was hard. The bed wasn’t designed for a 19 year old. Or whatever she was.
But either way, it was the only bed she’d known.
Remara seemed dangerous… Albërcht was confused and worried. At least, that was how they’d seemed. She’d seen a coach pull up from her window.
She hadn’t been able to see well, but it looked like an elven family and their servants. She’d seen Remara open the door, but… it didn’t look like her. She couldn’t really tell how she knew it was Remara, but it was. It didn’t look like her… but…
Vana shook her head. Her life had been simple… well, kind of simple.
She’d just been running around and having fun… now… well, what was she meant to do? Remara still seemed to be running the place.
Maybe she should see the two elf girls. Maybe they could help.
Or at least give her someone to talk to her own age…
She opened the door in her room. The stairs weren’t far, and she went down and tried to find a servant to ask for where they were staying.
A maid scurried back from the eastern wing of the manor. Vana didn’t recognize her, and she didn’t seem to recognize Vana either. Although, Vana realized, she did look completely different.
Hm…
Vana stuck out a foot and tripped the maid. The maid fell, but managed to avoid hitting the floor by sticking her arms ahead of her. She winced, and then got up.
Drakaya glared at Vana.
“Why…why’d you do that?” she stammered.
“I just needed your attention,” Vana replied.
“You didn’t have to trip me.”
“Look, I’m sorry. But I need to ask you something.”
“Yes? What?”
“Where’s that elf family staying?”
“Um, somewhere up on the first floor, in one of the guest rooms,” replied Drakaya.
“Okay, thanks.”
“Just… who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Vana. Have I really changed that much?” she asked, slightly worried
“Um, no… I mean, yes. Sort of,” said Drakaya.
As Vana walked away, Drakaya thought as loudly as she could, I found Vana, and I heard Darokh talk a bit about her when we entered… but who is she?
Um, I’m not sure, actually. Darokh hasn’t explained much, came Serrus’s voice. Or thoughts.
I dunno any more than Serrus does… said Sara.
I… I know… said Teraura.
You do? Who… who is she…? asked Drakaya.
She’s… my sister, said Teraura.

It was nearly midnight. The coach stopped at the city gates. The guard on duty there didn’t seem to be doing much. In fact, he was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

The driver coughed politely.

“Hm? Wassat? H’goes ‘ere?”

“Lord Daryun, accompanied by his family and friends. We merely seek sanctuary,” called the driver.

“Wha’ever…” mumbled the guard, and he closed his eyes again.

The coach trundled through. The guard caught a glimpse of Serrus through one of the windows.

His eyes opened wide.

Serrus winked at him as they went past, and giggled. The man’s Adam’s apple started bobbing up and down.

Oh, gods, thought Serrus, I just winked at a guard.

Um… so? came Drakaya’s reply.

Look, I’d never normally do that. Darokh HAS changed me. It’s kind of creepy.

Yeah? Whenever I talk to you now, I have an urge for every second word to be ma’am!

Hang on, thought Teraura, why do we still think normally, then?

Well… Maybe he just changed the speech parts…began Drakaya.

That can’t be right. I still winked at that random guard, replied Serrus.

Well… I dunno then. But… this isn’t magic. This is something else, thought Drakaya

“We’re almost here…” said Darokh, “So you can wash off soon, dear.”

“Oh, thank the gods. I’ve felt horrible traveling like this,” replied Merrissa.

The coach pulled up at the palace. The five of them got out while the driver tried to find the stables.

“Ah, the Dadæf palace. Such marvelous architecture,”

“But daddy, it’s past midnight by now, and mother has cow droppings all over her back! I wanna go inside!” whined Serrus. Inside he cringed at his own voice.

“Now, now, Sara. We’ll be inside soon enough,” said Merrissa, although she had seemed rather uncomfortable as Serrus had pointed out the state of her back.

Teraura had remained silent throughout the trip, and Serrus had been bored out of his brain the whole time. Drakaya, while obviously fuming with rage, hadn’t said much. The only people he could talk to were Darokh and Merrissa, but they were his parents. In a way. And there’s only a certain amount of conversations you can have with your parents, real or not. He’d already gotten sick of listening to how his parents met. And every single holiday they’d had. And their fallouts.

He had found himself wondering exactly how intricate their backstory was. From what he could tell, Lord Daryun could trace his ancestors back four generations, and had had portraits of them in the manor in which he had supposedly lived. Serrus had found himself getting confused for parts of the trip. He kept having memories that weren’t his, like riding ponies around the manor grounds. And he had two memories of his fourtieth birthday, or the equivalent of around 10 for a human. Two separate days… there was the one… the real one… the one where he ran away from home and found the assassin’s guild. And the other one… the one where he was Sara and it was him. Or her. But he… or she… had had friends. He had Sara’s memories.

But… she wasn’t real. Was she?

It was an identity crisis. Which…which one was she?

Oh, crud… he thought, I’m… I… who am I?

*

Schnübertzen was worried.

Vana was forty, but she looked twenty-ish, and had been 3 yesterday. Remara seemed to know a lot more than he’d thought. His chances were shattered. He ought to flee… but maybe Remara was right. Maybe Vana… maybe she… maybe she could still be manipulated…

And that train of thought stopped. All this drained away.

He… he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t keep going.

But if he fled… maybe… maybe Remara wasn’t the friend he’d thought.

“Ah, Al. You’ve been avoiding me lately,” she said, from behind him.

He turned around slowly.

“Remara?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not… you’re not who you seem, are you?”

“What, a strikingly attractive semi-demigoddess?”

“Someone’s modest.”

“I’m not… quite as powerful as I’d like. But I am more powerful than you.”

“Then show me,” said Schnübertzen, moving into a casting stance.

“No. But…” she said, as a knocking at the door started, “We have visitors. And you cannot go down looking like that…”

And she waved her hand. Schnübertzen’s rotting flesh healed over and cleared up. He changed from his normal grey-green to a perfectly normal pinkish. Even his hair grew back.

“You… I’m not…” he mumbled.

“Oh, you’re still undead. You just don’t look like it.”

“B… but why?”

Remara ignored him.

“Hm, red? Yes, red I think,” she said to herself.

She stroked her hair, and it changed colour, turning to an autumn-leaf red. She seemed to be getting younger, too.

“How… how are you doing that?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said, and then she giggled, “Now, you’re not going to remember any of this… so we might as well,” and she waved a hand in front of his face.

Schnübertzen’s face blanked, and he extended an arm.

“My lady? Should we go down and meet the guests?”

“I couldn’t agree more, my lord,” she said, and she walked arm-in-arm with him in the general direction of the stairs.

*

Merrissa blanked again. “Teraura. Be careful,” said Darokh, “She will be even more powerful. And keep an eye out for Vana.”

Teraura nodded, and Merrissa started up again.

The main door to the palace opened, nearly blinding Darokh, Serrus, Teraura, Drakaya, and Merrissa.

“Ah, Lord Daryun,” said Remara.

“Yes. And you are…?”

“I am Remara,”

Teraura made a noise that may have been a stifled gasp.

Schnübertzen nodded at Darokh, stiffly. Darokh extended a hand, which Schnübertzen ignored.

“And you must be Sara,” said Remara, nodding at Serrus. Their eyes locked, and Serrus could have sworn her eyes glowed red at that point.

“Yes, your ladyship… father, can we please go in now?” Sara said. No, no! I’m Serrus!

 “Oh? You wish entry?”

“Yes. Our castle was mobbed, and Aurabelle’s parents were lynched.”

Aurabelle started crying. Damn it, it’s Teraura! Why did I think it was Aurabelle? thought Serrus, What… what’s happening to me?

“Is Sara here alright?” asked Remara.

“Yes, fine,” sh- no, HE said.

Serrus could have sworn he saw a glint of fear in Albërcht’s eyes as he turned around. He said nothing, but the intent was clear.

Help me.

*

Serrus simply couldn’t handle the confusion, so late at night, far after Remara had shown them their rooms, he found Darokh in his room. To his surprise, Darokh was awake and sorting through some pieces of paper.

“Darokh?”

Darokh sighed, and turned around slowly. “Yes, Serrus? Please try not to talk out of character from now.”

“No, that’s the problem. I keep thinking I AM Sara, that you’re really my father, that Drakaya’s a maid. But it’s getting harder to convince myself that. I’m worried that if I sleep, I’ll lose everything about Serrus, and just become Sara,” he said.

“What? That shouldn’t be happening!” said Darokh, “I only changed some small speech and behavioural parts… never personality or memory.”

“Well… why am I like this, then?”

“Someone else must know. Someone knows we are here… we are to remain completely in character. Nothing at all can be risked,” he said, “But even so… this is not good. I’ll partially remove it. From dusk through dawn, you will revert to your old mind completely. This will also make the main parts of the mission slightly easier.”

Darokh waved a hand in dismissal, and the part of Serrus’s mind labelled “Sara” became dormant.

“Oh my gods, THANK you. That was horrible.”

“Enjoy it while you can. It’ll stop at dawn, like I said.”

Serrus stumbled out, muttering thanks, and almost walked into Remara.

“Up late, Sara?” said Remara. Her smirking was making Serrus uncomfortable.

“Um, yeah. Yes. I had to go to the bathroom,” he mumbled.

“In your father’s room?” Remara replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes… because… I… need to get some… toilet paper… and the stuff here is far too rough,” he stammered.

“And you didn’t find any?”

“Um, no. None,”

“Well, go off to the bathroom then. And don’t worry, it becomes easy after a while,” said Remara, and she wandered off.

*

It took a few hours for Serrus to actually need to go, but he realised after missing the bowl three times that it wasn’t going to work standing up.

And then it hit him.

Remara knew.

He swore.

*

Drakaya snored loudly. At about 4 AM, someone shook her awake.

“Mm?” she mumbled.

“Do you want any free time or not?” said someone.

“Wha?”

“Just get up.”

Drakaya pulled herself slowly upwards.

“Do… do you always wake up this early?” she said to the figure that pulled itself together into what looked like another maid.

“Come on, we let you sleep in for an hour!”

“So you wake up at what, three?”

“Usually earlier. Look, you better get started on Lady Merrissa’s breakfast. I’ll begin Sara and Aurabelle’s, but you really ought to finish this… I need to work on Remara and Al’s breakfast.”

“Al?”

“…you really are new to this job, aren’t you? Probably a street urchin, I suppose. Trying to make an honest eru… must be tough on you…”

Drakaya tried to look demure. This was hard, seeing as she had no idea what it actually meant, but she did the best she could.

“It’s okay. I’ll try to help you get started, but you should really try to work on improving your own work. What’s your name? I’m Emma.”

“I’m… I’m, oh, right. Yeah. I’m Maisie.”

“Hey. We’ll get you up to speed in no time,” said Emma, and looked critically at Drakaya, “hopefully.”

*

Remara dashed through the early morning streets of Arakan, dodging the occasional trundling citizen. It took her a while, but she found the alley.

“LEMME IN, I AM NOT IN A GOOD MOOD!” she bellowed.

The hidden door swung open almost instantly. Remara stormed inside.

“You… have not… made your sacrifices…” she fumed, at the bewildered warlocks.

“We… we have! We all made…” said one.

“NOT ENOUGH!” Remara bellowed.

“But…”

“I can not afford any mistakes. My power is waning with the mistress’s. And if you don’t get more sacrifices, then you will be subject to UNENDING PAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“Y… yes…”

Remara stormed out the way she came.

“Woh. She is way hotter without that hood on than I thought she’d be,” said one of the warlocks.

“Shut up. We… we need sacrifices,” said another.

“Where are we meant to find them?”

“Everywhere. Do whatever you can… maybe call out the assassins.”

“We don’t have enough money.”

“Who said anything about paying?”

Some of the warlocks grinned.

This was power, and this was theirs.

“Ow… ow… too tight…” said Serrus.

“I think that’s the point,” said Teraura, “It’s meant to accentuate… your… er… upper torso.”

“… Why am I doing this? Why isn’t Drakaya being Lady Sara?”

“First, because you wouldn’t be disguised and therefore we’d lose a rather important member. Second, I wanted to test that potion. Third, Darokh’s a dark elf, so Drakaya wouldn’t match, and fourth… it’s hilarious,” said Teraura, sniggering as she looked at Serrus’s getup.

“Not for me,” said Drakaya.

“That maid outfit looks good on you, Drak,” said Teraura.

“Just shut up… I don’t see why I have to do this. I mean, we’re not in character yet, or anything.”

“Someone has to tie our corsets, and it’s not like we have any real maids in the guild.”

“Look, I don’t want it to be ‘our’ corsets. I’m still not used to this,” said Serrus. He glanced down at his new body, and shuddered slightly.

“Oh, come on. It’s easy,” said Teraura, “It’s not that hard to act.”

“Easy for you, maybe,” mumbled Drakaya, “I mean, you get to be the aristocrats and I’m stuck mopping floors…”

“Blah, blah, blah… god, stop complaining!”

“They made me do the washing up! ME! A HIGH ELF!”

“They’re getting you into character. I imagine you’d normally be annoyed, if you were born a maid.”

“… anyway, if you do get too annoyed, you’ve always got your fireballs. You’re a maidmage. Or something,” said Serrus.

“You’ll make a clean sweep of them!” screeched Teraura.

Drakaya and Serrus both looked unimpressed.

“As long as you avoid any more puns like that, I’ll stop complaining,” said Teraura.

“Yeah. Me too,” agreed Serrus.

“Good. Now help me get this dress on, Drak,” said Teraura.

“Oh, come on… you can get that on by yourself!”

“If I start acting in character, you’ll have to as well.”

“Don’t start,” said Drakaya and Serrus in unison.

Teraura looked at their faces. And burst out laughing.

After about a minute, she walked into the nearby bathroom, presumably to try to clean up. They could still hear her, though.

“I haven’t seen her laugh this much in… well, it must be more than 20 years,” said Drakaya.

“Wait… you mean you saw her laughing as a baby?” said Serrus, confused.

“Oh, no. She seems to age a lot slower than most people… she looked like a ten year old the last time I saw her laugh. It’s kinda odd. I mean, she’s aging faster than a human, but slower than an elf or dwarf.”

“Maybe she’s a hybrid?”

“She isn’t, we’ve checked. There isn’t anything on her body to indicate any resemblance to anything other than a human. And we can’t check her parents, she ran away from home years ago and she refuses to talk about them.”

“Can’t you just use a spell or something?”

“Well, I can’t, but we got one of the more experienced magi in to try. It fizzled, so either her parents are dead or have completely forgotten her.”“Sorry, I haven’t laughed this hard for years,” said Teraura, finally emerging,

“Yeah, Drak told me. 20 years, was it?” said Serrus.

Teraura shot Drakaya an angry look.

“Serrus? Would you mind if I had a little talk with Drakaya for a few seconds?” asked Teraura.

“Um… no, I guess,” he said.

The two girls went into a corner. Serrus tried not to listen, but he caught a few words, like “… said you’d never say…” and “…why does it matter? It’s not like…” before the girls came back.

“If you tell anyone…I’ll kill you,” said Teraura

“Come on, Teraura… it’s not that big!” said Drakaya.

“No, you wouldn’t. You’d be kicked out of the guild onto the streets,” said Serrus.

“No. No, I wouldn’t kill you. I just might become forgetful and completely forget everything I know about making your antidote,” retorted Teraura.

Serrus gasped. “You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?”

“You can’t. Darokh would get angry.”

Teraura raised an eyebrow. “You think he’ll care? As far as he can tell, he’s made life a lot easier for you by breaking you out of jail and basically removing your bounty.”

“No, no. I’ll complain.”

“No. You won’t. If you do, I will kill you, even if I get kicked out. But who cares? All this can be avoided if you just… don’t… tell.”

Serrus and Teraura glared at each other.

“Right. Um, I think we should head to Darokh now,” said Drakaya. Serrus and Teraura ignored her.

“Come on… let’s just leave this alone for a while… please?” begged Drakaya.

“Fine. We’ll leave it alone for now,” said Serrus, “Truce?”

“Fine.”

Drakaya breathed a sigh of relief.

After a tense walk to Darokh’s office, the three of them entered.

“Ah. Lady Sara, I presume,” said Darokh.

“Yes. Yes, I suppose so…” said Serrus.

“Teraura, if anyone asks, your name is Aurabelle. Make up a last name if it matters. Drakaya, as a servant, I’d assume you’ll be gossiping a lot. Keep an ear out for anything important. And tell the other servants that your name is… oh, just make it Maisie.”

“Um… isn’t that a bit of an inconsistency? That’s a human name, and I’m not one. I can’t imagine there’d be many high elf servants, either,” said Drakaya.

“I’ve prepared for this… Drakaya, just stand still,” Darokh replied.

Darokh touched each of Drakaya’s long ears. They shortened. Drakaya became a lot plainer, in terms of how she looked. She was still attractive, but not especially. Her face had become a lot less refined, but had become slightly rounder. Her hair became a mousy brown, and tied itself into a bun. A few freckles appeared. Her face even became a little bit dirtier.

Serrus and Teraura stared.

“What… what are you staring at?” asked Drakaya.

“How… how…” blubbered Teraura.

“As Drakaya said, there aren’t any high elf maids. So… she’s still technically a high elf, but you look human,” explained Darokh.

“Um… so why isn’t Teraura the maid? She’s already human,” said Serrus.

“Because each of you has your specialties. And if I’m right… the entire magic field here should be weakening… and yes, there it goes.”

Teraura’s ears popped up a bit.

“Wait, you’re making her an elf now?” said Drakaya.

“No. Teraura was born like this. We… that is to say, the Assassin’s council… believe she is a hybrid,” replied Darokh, “possibly illegitimate. To keep this from the rest of the guild, we’ve had a constant channeled effect active on her.

“Wait, wait. What… what if she recognizes me?” asked Teraura. A hint of nervousness entered her voice.

“Ah. Good point…” said Darokh, “Just hold still.”

Teraura’s straight, blonde hair pulled itself out of its usual ponytail and became black and curled. Her ears pulled themselves even longer to match Serrus’s. Markings appeared on her hands. They appeared on her chest and legs, but this wasn’t visible because they were covered by the dress.

“Haha, sweet! I’m a dark elf!” she said.

“Drakaya, Serrus, Teraura. None of you look like you did before. You must keep appearances up at all times. There is to be no out of character conversation at all. We may be spied upon. This is a very…very… very dangerous assignment. Anything… anything at all that might give us away… or anything that even makes them suspect… cannot be tolerated. We have actually gone to the effort of moving an entire half village when I supposedly forced them to. The villagers surrounding the castle are angry. They are angry at us. Mostly at me, but they are enraged at anyone who has supported ‘Lord Daryun’. Naturally that includes my daughter, and my wife,” said Darokh.

“Wife?”

“Yes. This is Merrissa,” said Darokh.

“Who?”

A dark elven woman entered.

“Hello, Sara, Aurabelle,” she said. Darokh whispered something and the woman froze.

“She is real. She knows nothing of this act. The less of our people we can involve, the better.”

“But… why… is she here?”

“She believes she is my wife. She believes she is your mother. She believes she has a maid called Maisie, although she would never admit that she knows your name. She believes her daughter’s lady-in-waiting is Aurabelle,” explained Darokh,

“Who… who is she?” asked Serrus.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. She was just a beggar, and she said she’ll do anything for money. When we are done with her, she will go back to the gutter without any memory of this, but more than 20000 eru richer.”

“Where did you get 20000 eru?”

“Oh, the assassin’s guild has its supporters,” said Darokh, dismissively, “but never mind. The portal is almost ready.”

“O…kay, then.”

“We will keep Merrissa frozen until we enter the castle. We will have to leave from the back, otherwise the peasants will… and I mean this with all honesty, they will annihilate us.”

“Oh,” said Serrus. He began to sound worried.

“We should leave as soon as possible. The peasants may soon break down the door,” said Darokh.

“Er. Okay,” said Serrus.

*

The woman lounged on the skulled throne

“Now, I notice not everyone is here,” said the woman.

“Um, no… I’m… I think…” said the former leader.

“And what a pity, because… now you are to become truly powerful.”

The dozen or so remaining vampires looked up.

“If you wish to leave, you may leave. But if you wish to become the most powerful magi ever… you may want to stay.”

“I’ll stay,” said one.

“I am staying,” said another.

One by one, they all accepted. Except the former leader.

“I… I don’t know…” he said.

“Then leave. There is no room for uncertainty.”

“Er. I’ll do it. But… um… can I go last?”

“There is no room for uncertainty.”

“So I can’t just go last?”

Stop asking, said the woman. Her mouth didn’t move.

“But… but I…”

ENOUGH!

The former leader dropped dead on the spot.

The remaining members looked up in fear.

“You too can gain this tremendous power. But… we need sacrifices. Human or any sapient beings. And this first time…I will deliver them for you. But from now on, you will have to make your own.”

Some of the more power-hungry vampires looked up with anticipation.

“Now. Those cowardly brethren who deserted us. I will bring them here. They… they will be our first source of power.

NOW! RETURN TO ME, TRAITORS OF DARKNESS!, shouted the woman. She didn’t say it, exactly. It went directly into their minds.

The former members of the brotherhood of the night appeared. Most were sleeping, but one or two were waking up.

Follow my lead.

“Sertsim krad ruo fo irolg genidnenu et rof,” she said out loud. She then knelt down, pulled out an obsidian dagger, and plunged it into one of the former member’s chests.

“Wodas ni delrow et revok dena niaga esir sertsim et tel.”

And she ripped out the man’s heart, thrusting it into the air above her.

“Wodas et esaeler ot redro ni rewop ithgimla re fo emos niag em tel!” she shouted.

The man’s heart shriveled. Her eyes glowed red.

“This… this is the essence of being a warlock. You gain all the magical and physical endurance and energy the victim had. And you never… ever… lose power. When you have sacrificed even ten victims, you will be more powerful than any mage in the world!”

There was cheering.

“Now. Sacrifice your own from among here. And don’t all rush. Form a line… no, two lines. Yes, find a partner. And stand next to – NO TALKING! Look, ANY noise can distract you, and you might find your own vitality being drained. Now be careful. If you let yourself be drained, it is your fault.”

One by one, the vampiric warlocks drained souls. The amount of dead ex-members was much more than the survivors, so each person alive drained about three souls.

“Now. You are four times more powerful than you were when you arrived. Aren’t you glad you came?”

There was cheering.

“But… we owe all our powers to the Dark Mistress. Without her, you wouldn’t have this. If you want to amplify your powers best, you must make a sacrifice at dusk, midnight, and dawn.”

More cheering.

“But… if you ever betray any of us… you die. That is the warlock’s code.”

*

Drakaya slammed the carriage door shut behind them.

“I cannot believe they’d do this!” said Merrissa, as the carriage they were in started off.

“Neither can I, my dear, but in some ways they are justified,” said Darokh.

“Well… yes, you did tax them kind of hard,” said Serrus, “I mean… 50% of their income is quite a lot.”

“Oh, they hardly earn anything anyway. A few less eru cannot hurt.”

Drakaya muttered something under her breath.

“Urgh, why is she even in here? Can she not sit with the driver?” asked Merrissa, as though Drakaya’s presence was insulting.

“Oh, come on. She hasn’t done anything,” said Teraura.

“Er, dear…” said Merrissa, “Why is Aurabelle here?”

“My parents were lynched…” replied Teraura. She said it as though she was genuinely sad, and with good reason. She’d been practicing for about 20 minutes straight.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” said Merrissa, without a trace of sorrow in her voice.

“I think we should head to Dadæf and request sanctuary. I believe the nobles there have sympathy to people in our situation, ever since a mob killed the king more than forty years ago,” said Darokh.

“Oh. How horrible.”

“Yes, it is rather. But it benefits us. We should be safe…”

Serrus tuned out to Darokh’s role-playing ramble and pulled out the assignment. He read through his sections of it, most particularly the part involving what happened immediately after the coach ride.

Upon entering the palace, Sara and Aurabelle will retire to their rooms. Maisie will go to the kitchens and volunteer to help however is needed.

“Um… father, can we speak privately for a moment?” said Serrus.

“Certainly. Just one second.” Darokh whispered the words again, and Merrissa froze.

“What is it, Serrus? We cannot afford this. We may be spied upon even now,” he said.

“Well…” said Serrus, wringing his hands, “Why does it need to refer to us as our… well, aliases?”

“Even if we are captured, then… well, they are going to find the instructions useless.”
”But… wait, why… how did you change Drak and me?” said Teraura. “There’s no magic that can change how people look on that scale.”

“There’s also no magic that can wipe someone’s memory, and then give it back to them,” added Serrus.

“No. No, there isn’t.”

“How… how do you do it?” said Drakaya.

“Drakaya… I am sorry for this. But we will give change you back afterwards… and we cannot afford anything at all that will give us away,” said Darokh, and he waved a hand in front of her face. It blanked, and then Merrissa unfroze.

“Urgh, I feel rather sick…” said Merrissa.

“Would you like me to fetch something from the driver, ma’am?”

“What on earth would the driver have, girl! Just find me a bucket!”

“There’s nothing in the carriage, ma’am,” said Drakaya.

“Then pull over, and find me somewhere to be sick!”

The carriage stopped, and Drakaya helped Merrissa out.

“What the hell did you do to her?” asked Teraura, angrily.

“It’s… simple. I just adjusted some small parts of her mind,” said Darokh.

“You… didn’t wipe her memory or anything, right?” asked Teraura, angrily.

“Oh, no, of course not. She merely will act more docile, and more in character. She is still the same person. Oh, and I slightly adjusted the speech parts of her brain, so she’ll sound more polite and less pompous,” he explained.

“You… you messed with her mind?” said Teraura.

“Yes. It is for the good of the assignment. I should do the same thing for you, Serrus. Teraura, however, is fine. She knows how to act as a court lady. You, Serrus… for obvious reasons, do not.”

“Oh,” he said.

“This will not hurt,” said Darokh, with all honesty.

Serrus braced himself…

…and then opened his eyes.

He had a moment of discomfort as the two personalities clashed…

… And then it was over.

“Oh, no… I’m going to act like a spoilt daughter now, aren’t I…? How much have you done?”

“Not much. I’ve merely made you… well, more ladylike.”

“Look, how did you do that? There isn’t any magic that can do that. Magic cannot affect the mind. I know that,” said Serrus.

“Well, no. But this isn’t exactly magic,” said Darokh.

“What… what is it then?”

“Now isn’t the time.”

“Um, sir, ma’am…” said Drakaya, “Would you mind coming outside? Her ladyship has down a hill.” God, this is embarrassing.

“Sorry?” said Serrus.

“Her ladyship has fallen down a hill, ma’am.” Are you deaf?

Um… Drakaya?  thought Serrus.

Serrus? What are you doing in my mind? came the petulant reply.

Er, I don’t think I am. Er, it’s confusing… said Serrus.

“Aurabelle, would you mind heading outside to help Merrissa?” said Darokh.

Oh, god, we got telepathy from somewhere. This is such a… began Drakaya.

Um, guys? I can hear you, said Teraura.

Oh. Maybe it’s so we can talk without breaking our cover…? thought Serrus.

How is Darokh doing this? This is impossible!

Nothing is impossible.

Oh, shut up, Serrus.

Look… I feel weird. I got two completely different personalities colliding, but… it gets confusing, because they’re both me. What am I meant to do?

Just… try to oppress the original you, I guess. Which one’s more important for the assignment?

Well… “Lady Sara”, I guess. Wait, why am I “lady” when Darokh’s “married” to “Merrissa”?

You have an impressive mind, Serrus. I’ve never met anyone who could pronounce so many inverted commas in one thought sentence, thought Drakaya..

Oh, who cares? I’ve just found Merrissa, thought Teraura, and she’s lying on top of a pile of cow dung… which is covered in her own vomit.

Urgh, too much information, thought Drakaya.

Heh, I just thought you should know, seeing as you’re the one who has to wipe it off.

Serrus couldn’t see Drakaya’s… or technically Maisie’s face, but he was sure that she’d just winced.

*

“Vana… you… little brat…”

“I GOT YOUR NOSE!”

“Give it back. Now.”

“Haha, not gonna.”

Albërcht made another swipe at Vana. She dodged again.

“I got your stinky, rotten nose! Heh, it’s dripping!”

“Give it back!”

“Nope!”

Vana ran around the room carrying Albërcht’s nose in her left hand.

“Look, why do you even want it?”

“Cuz it’s squishy!”

“Give… it… back!”

“No!”

Vana stood up on the nearby table.

“No, no… don’t go up there…”

“Na, na, nana, na!”

Vana fell off.

“Oh, no… oh no, oh no, oh no…”

“Heh… heh…”

“What… are you…”

“I am fine, Albërcht.”

“V… Vana?”

“I…feel different.”

“Vana… you… er… h- how?”

Vana stood up.

“Urgh, what… what’s happened?”

“Um. It’s… hard… you…”

“Albërcht? Are you alright?”

“But… but…”

“What? Come on, don’t clam up?”

“You’re… you’re…”

“WHAT? I’m… no, I can’t be,” said Vana, and she ran across into her own room.

Albërcht blinked to make sure he had been correct.

“No… how could this… how could it happen?”

“Oh… my. I’m…”

Vana looked down at herself.

Albërcht stared at her.

She had changed in a lot of ways.

For one thing, her clothes didn’t fit any more.

“I’m… well… I’m…” she said.

“Are you? Is… is it you, Vana?” stammered Albërcht.

“Er. It seems so.”

Vana had gone from a petulant 3 year old toddler to a 19 year old girl in under five seconds.

“How… how could this happen?”

“I… I suppose… maybe… maybe you’ve been disguised from something for this whole time. And… maybe this… maybe someone has… maybe someone else is after you.”

“Correct.”

“Re… Remara?”

Albërcht turned around slowly

“Remara? Why… why are you here?”

“I merely wanted to see the girl. I anticipated something like this… I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Vana. You’ve had a rather odd aura on you these last forty years. Keeping you a three year old? Very, very impressive.”

“For… forty?” stammered Vana.

“Yes. I believe you are illegitimate, and possibly half elven. And if you are exactly as I believe… well, we’ll just have to wait for the other one.”

And Remara strode off.

“Something… something creepy is happening,” whispered Vana.

“I know. Someone is after you… I suppose… well, the people who were protecting you… if their aura is no longer affecting you… they must be dead,” said Albërcht.

Remara paused at the door.

“Two birds with one stone,” she muttered, and she left.

*

“Oh… no. The aura is down,” said Darokh.

“Whose aura?” said Serrus.

“Are… are you alright, my dear?” asked Merrissa.

“I am. But… she isn’t,” Darokh said.

“Er… okay, my dear,” said Merrissa, as the coach trundled further and further away from the castle.

 

Albërcht looked out at the window with an expression of deep satisfaction. Every day for the last two years, and this time of the day, early in the morning, he looked out the window. He saw the city. He almost controlled it. He had outlasted Alvas.

He had outlasted many rulers, for he was a zombie.

He had occupied the same job for more than 600 years, and wanted to keep it this way. He was making maximum use of his position. Alvas had had many affairs, and even after the coma, had continued in this habit. Most of these had resulted in odd mutations that had mysteriously disappeared… probably for work on the mines in the more distant areas of the state ruled by Alvas.

Since Alvas’s coma, and subsequent death, he had been manipulating the only heir to the throne. Well… that was technically not true. There was another, but she had disappeared more than 16 years ago. Anyway, she would have been unsuitable… she was technically a half-elf, but the human side had dominated her appearance. An illegitimate half-elf child would cause a massive uproar in the higher-class parts of town.

There were rumours circulating the girl’s disappearance. Some said she had become sick of the life of royalty and ended up committing suicide. Others claimed she was simply plotting to get the throne back. Others still believed she was involved in an intricate conspiracy, and she was another poor beggar, but kept well off by beggar standards, for the day she might be used.

Alvas had known where she was. It was well known among the community leaders – in other words, the people who can afford the most mercenaries – that more than 200 thousand eru went to an unknown fund each year. And this was Alvas’s only secret. He must have been incredibly embarrassed, and gone to massive lengths to prevent anyone finding out where the money was going.

In the time between his waking up from the coma and his death, the number of unexplained deaths in the cities had increased massively.

Oh, well. That was the past. The present is all that matters.

He turned to a filing cabinet, and opened up a drawer.

“What’re you doing, greyby?” said a small, but prominent, voice behind him.

“It does not concern you, Vana,” said Albërcht, pausing, and then closing the drawer.

“But Remi says because I’m the queen I has to know everything going on.”

“You are not queen yet.” And if I have a chance, she never will be, thought Schnübertzen.

The small princess stared at her feet for a while. Alvas had enjoyed her company, as much as was possible while he was mute. Albërcht had a different opinion.

“If you don’t leave me alone right now –”

“I got new boots.”

Albërcht sighed. Vana seemed to have the attention span of a goldfish.

“Please leave me alone.”

“Your ear is falling off again.”

“Close your mouth.”

“NO! I DON’T WANNA!” said Vana, bursting into tears.

“Ah. Albërcht,” said another female voice, although this one wasn’t coming from a three-year old.

He sighed yet again.

“Yes?”

“Vana said you said you’d kill her if she didn’t shut up.”

“What? How would you know, Remara? You weren’t there.”

“True, but I know you did it. You’re predictable, Al.” said the woman. She was human, and looked about 25, but nevertheless had an air of knowingness and wisdom.

She was technically a semi-demigod. Among other things, this meant she had lived for as long as Albërcht had unlived.

They had been very good friends, but recently, a feud had sprung up between them. Albërcht saw Vana as a hindrance to prevent his rule. Remara, on the other hand, saw the girl as an opportunity to “get the city back on the right lines” and was trying to force her into power.

Albërcht was not popular. The only reason that he hadn’t been assassinated yet is that someone, about 650 years ago, already had.

Remara was gaining support every day. Albërcht knew if he attempted to seize power, Remara’s supporters would destroy him and his vision.

But… maybe, just maybe… the girl could be useful. Maybe Remara was right… in a way. Young minds are easily manipulated.

“Vana?”

“What, greyby?”

Albërcht shuddered. While he hated the rudeness of the girl, she did have a point.

He was grey in quite a few places.

“It’s time you got educated. Come here.”

 

*

Serrus woke up on a makeshift bed in Drakaya and Teraura’s room. The two girls were asleep. By the light coming from the window, it seemed very early morning, 5:30 at latest.

He got up. He looked in disgust at the patterns on the girl’s beds, and then stood up.

He tried to open the door, but it was locked.  He looked for his lockpicks, didn’t find them, and swore.

His voice came out odd.
Probably a cold? He thought.

The noise awoke the two girls. Teraura opened her eyes, slowly, and blearily. Then she opened them fully, and gasped.

Drakaya mumbled something along the lines of “h’vn’t h’d m’ beauty sl’p,” before being shaken awake by Teraura, who seemed ecstatic about something.

Serrus watched bemusedly.   

“By Narutia… I never thought it’d work!” said Teraura, pumping both fists jubilantly in the air.

“Who is Narutia, anyway?” said Serrus. His voice was still odd.

“The one true god,” said Teraura. Drakaya rolled her eyes.

“Um… o…kay…” said Serrus, a little concerned now.

“Heh… we better show Darokh this. He’ll be impressed.”

“Look, what’ve you done to me? It was that potion thingy you gave me last night, wasn’t it?”

“Well… to put it one way… those clothes don’t suit you. I mean, they looked fine…” Drakaya added, seeing Serrus rise up angrily, “but… now they don’t.”

“So that’s all you did? You changed how my clothes look?”

“Um… no. It’d be more accurate to say that you don’t suit your clothes,” said Teraura, rather nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a mirror in the bathroom down the hall,” said Drakaya.

“The door’s locked.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Serrus tried the door. It yielded easily.

He left.

After a few seconds, the two girls heard a scream.

“Come on, pay up,” said Drakaya.

“Fine… I really thought he’d take it better,” said Teraura, handing Drakaya a few coins, “I mean… what’s so bad about it?”

“He’ll soon realise it’s for the better.”

“I hope so.”

Drakaya wolf-whistled.

“Hey, come on. You gotta feel a bit sorry for him.”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?” shouted Serrus, as he ran back to the girl’s room.

“Um,” said Teraura, “Er… Darokh wanted to get you out of the guild… and, like he said… he had a special mission.”

“I want my me back…”

“Um. It’s gonna take me a while…I mean, I can’t just reverse the old one. I’d need to make a new potion based on the old one,” she said.

“And… how long will that take…?”

“Um. About… er. A month.”

“WHAAAAT? I’M STUCK LIKE THIS FOR A MONTH?”

“Yeah,” said Drakaya, “but really… you should go see Darokh now. You’re still humanoid, and still a dark elf. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Serrus whimpered.

“…but… I’m… a boy…” he said.

“You were a boy. Anyway, seeing as you’ve changed, you don’t have to deal with your bounty,” said Drakaya, “and as Teraura said…those clothes don’t suit you. I probably have some stuff that’ll fit you.”

Serrus looked down. It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. At least he still looked good.

In a different way,

“These… these are mine…?” he stammered.

“No, we cut off someone else’s,” said Drakaya, sarcastically, “of course they’re yours. You’ll get used to them… but still…”

“But what?”

“I’m not letting you use one of my bras. You’ll have to buy your own.”

*

A woman, cloaked in black, moved swiftly through the early morning streets of Arakan, eventually coming to what was referred to as the slum districts. She reached a wall in an alley. She pushed on a brick that it clearly took some time to find.

Nothing happened. The woman swore.

“…damn alleys… they all look the same at this time of morning…” she muttered. She went out, looked around a bit, and found another alley.