Chapter 45.4

The three of us waited in suspense as Arx passed her moistened fingers over the text.  Shockingly, it really was as easy as that.  No complicated incantations.  No delving into her inner psyche.  Just a quick dip, a smear, and she was away.  I was practically livid with jealousy.

And I was not the only one.  Lynnria’s eyes had all but popped out of her head when Arx finished explaining the ability for us, and she had begun pacing about the room, mumbling something about it being ‘too good to be true.’

Arx cleared her throat, then began to read with a bit of a mocking lilt to her voice.  It would seem she found the Demon Queen’s prose a tad stuffy.  She even made certain to emphasize each of the Words we knew when they came up.

“To the Triumphal Toilet Troop,

I do hope your initial sojourn into my whimsical palace of delights has helped alleviate some degree of cynicism as to my intentions.  That little rod of dirt-casting turned out to be quite unexpectedly useful, did it not?  How fortunate for you that I decided upon its generation…

For the rest, I really must apologize for concealing the contents of this letter but, one’s nature being what it is, I cannot exactly hand out information on a silver platter.  So one must content oneself with this—perhaps—overly florid bit of pretense.

Now that the three of you have lifted the unfortunate poverty of—”

Arx’s recitation was interrupted by a guffaw, followed shortly by a gasp of shock.  Then she fell silent, staring hard at the next sentence.  And occasionally at Lynnria.

“What?  What is it?” she asked nervously.

Arx took a breath to compose herself.  Though it looked like it was a struggle.

“Now that the three of you have lifted the unfortunate poverty of… of moisture from the labia of your fourth…”  Again, she had to stop for a bout of wheezing.

“Quit yer havering, ye dafty,” Jax growled.  “I wants to hear the rest.”

“Sorry, it’s just… the phrasing.”  Arx snickered uncontrollably for a second, pointing at Lynnria.  “Look at her face!”

I grunted with disapproval.  That was a thing I had been deliberately trying to avoid.  With limited success.  Lynnria was blushing so fiercely, her cheeks had actually started to match her hair.

“The Demon Queen was watching?!” she exclaimed finally.

“We don’t know that for sure,” I said, trying to be reassuring.  “It could just be an educated guess.”

“Aye,” Jax agreed.  “Ye was howling such, She’d hear ye clear down the hall.”

“Hands preserve…” she moaned in despair.

I sighed.  “Keep reading, Arx.”

She nodded, trying her best not to again succumb to the giggles.  Somewhat.  “N-now that the three of you have lifted the unfortunate—”

“Skip that part!” Lynnria wailed.

Arx cracked slightly before agreeing with a little nod.

“—I think it time you venture forth once more.  Do please first set your sights upon the door of the unfortunate needler.  He would be most relieved to see you.

And be sure to take in a few of the displays along your way.  One never knows what one might discover.”

There again, Arx paused.  Though this time, her expression faded from laughter to barely contained hostility.  “She closes with, ‘Mine before the Eye, Xhinn,’”

Jax snorted.  “Told ye.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Arx asked, her eyes flashing.  “He barely survived the last one, and now we’re supposed to… what?  Calmly march him to the scaffold?”

Jax took a breath and looked away.  “If’n this be what I’s thinking—and this Queen were really the one what were in our heads—She be just as upset as we was to find out about Ahnbe.  Nay, I’m thinking there be a scuffle o’er territory afoot.”

I quirked an eyebrow.  “And I’m the territory?”

Both Jax and Arx looked at me.  “Of course.”

“By the Three,” Lynnria breathed.  “You were really telling the truth about all that?”

The two shifted their attention to glare at the younger woman.

“But why?” she said into the silence.  “It’s not like he’s strong or anything.  I mean… he’s good.  Really… really, really… really good.  And I suppose he can do some other things… that I’ve never heard of anyone else being able to do.”

“I be thinking ye answered yer own question, lass,” Jax said quietly.

“I might be able to shed some more light on that,” I began.

However, before I could elaborate, Mia continued in my stead.  “Let us say that our lord’s ability to distort the dream fabric has not gone unnoticed.  All of my once-sisters have expressed… at least a passing interest in this phenomenon.  And because it seems to interfere with his ability to retain memories of the events therein, we believe some sort of bargain may have been struck without his knowledge.  Possibly more than once.”

Arx lowered her head into her hands, “Oh, ‘Snails… All of them?”

“Indeed—fuck pipe!”

Then there was a soft click, and I instinctively knew the rest would be for my ears alone.

“Have a care, my lord,” she said quickly.  “Your origin within the higher plains is almost certainly a forbidden knowledge.  If you speak of it hnn…blast!  Speak… speak of it carelessly, you may damage your companion’s minds.  I must apologize to you in this.  We removed your geas without ever thinking you might hnnngah!  Without thinking of… of possible implications.”

There was a lot to unpack there.  However, “I may?”

Whatever difficulties she had just been experiencing melted away with a shiver of delight.  “Good, you picked up on that.  We don’t actually know… more.  But when our presence alone is enough to cause such harm, it’s a reasonable assumption.”

That… made a degree of sense.  In much the same way as a ‘declassified’ CIA memo made sense.  Most of the relevant information had been blacked out.

Which was frustrating for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I had thought I could finally be able to discuss my own origins with the people I cared most about.  It might damage their minds to tell them I was an alien?  What kind of crap was that?  I could not see how that could even possibly be true…

Though if it were, it would go a long way toward explaining why I had geas in my head.  If it had not been there, I would have almost certainly started talking about it to anyone and everyone within hearing.  And true to form, rather than providing me with any explanation or even a casual warning not to do it, the powers that be had decided that the best course of action was to screw with my head.

However, I still owed my loved ones the truth.  And going from Mia’s own behavior, forbidden things were only forbidden in so much as that I could not actively say them aloud.  There was nothing preventing me from giving hints.

“There might be more to it,” I admitted, standing.