Daily Short: Charlotte 01

Charlotte watched the demoness sink into her shadow, like dropping through a pool of liquid water. It was disturbing like learning reality didn’t conform to general understanding. As long as Ralph was healed and returned, it wouldn’t matter. However, during the intermediate time, things might get a little dicey.

Looking at the two older women in front of her, Charlotte questioned whether they would be helpful. They didn’t look combat capable at all. The one introduced as Bennie had a madcap quality like those few cousins who took too much of the herbal tonics. Even worse, the one presented as Iantha looked like she wasn’t all there at the same time and place.

Once again, it is up to me to carry the day. Charlotte thought with a sigh. I wish I’d had a chance to convince Ralph that another course of action was better. She shrugged. If wishes were fishes, she’d own the entire food supply. Now wasn’t the time to get bogged down in sentimentality. Hungry nobles were waiting for the opportunity to stick a metaphorical, quite possibly literal, knife in her back.

“Our introductions were a bit short; might I have the honor of knowing who I am working with?” Charlotte asked politely of the two women Eve had thrown at her.

“Iantha, Captain of a starship that no longer exists. My specialty is seeing the future.” Iantha said with a smile.

“How much of the future?” Charlotte asked, her eyes sparkling.

“All of it,” Iantha replied.

Charlotte gaped at the woman. There were seers, and there were Seers. Good to know. Restoring her expression, she turned to the other woman who said, “I’m a mind doctor. Bennie, High Priestess of the Silver One.”

“Oh, is your deity strong?” Charlotte asked. Priests and Priestesses were a bit of a mixed bunch on power levels. Some were obscene within the Church; others could barely light the candles for departure.

“You can ask her when she gets back,” Bennie said.

Charlotte paused before the connection clicked in her mind. “Are you…serious?”

“Ah, that expression. I had that same expression when I first learned the truth. How the time flies.” Bennie said with a tone of schadenfreude.

She’s not joking. Charlotte thought, looking at the woman grinning. Well, since Eve never mentioned it, I’ll ignore this revelation. Yes, that’s the best option until she says it to me personally. She clamped down on the gibbering sensation of reality unwinding with iron-clad ruthlessness.

“Iantha, would you mind advising me going forward?” Charlotte said.

“Of course, Empress,” Iantha said.

Bennie glanced at Iantha, curious as Charlotte’s face paled. She’d never told anyone her endgame. Yet this woman knew it as casually as one would acquire gossip on the street.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Iantha apologized immediately. “I didn’t see any future where you didn’t wear the crown and lived. I assumed you already had plans ready.”

Charlotte took a deep breath before letting all the tension fade. This was not the time to be terrified. This was not the time to panic as the safety blanket of a goddess was ripped away. She was Charlotte Abigail Munchester Zienfer, the greatest Duchess ever lived and future Empress.

Let the play commence. As she turned to exit, Charlotte thought, with the two women unconsciously following her. I do not need to make excuses. I merely manufacture evidence. I am the Zienfer now, and my word is the law!