During the period that Goldie and Adon were waiting for Samson to wake up, Rosslyn continued life as normal.
She continued to see the Dessian lords regularly around the palace, but the interactions were slightly awkward.
“Rosslyn, I hope you slept well,” William said at breakfast, the morning after the young spider had entered his coma-like state.
The Princess, feeling sleep-deprived and moody from the events of the previous night, took an extra moment to respond.
...
2024-10-25 15:00:10 +0000 UTC
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When Adon returned to the room where he and Rosslyn had left the spiders, he sat atop her left shoulder, engaging in quiet, telepathic conversation.
They were relaxing, bodies and minds drained after their long night’s labors.
The calm, pleasant mood completely disappeared as they came through the door. At first, Adon saw Goldie emanating the gentle green glow of healing magic, and he was excited.
Then he saw Samson, just inches from Goldie—surrounded by an aura so wretc...
2024-10-24 04:18:20 +0000 UTC
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Goldie walked through the darkness.
Forms in the void pulsed with apparently hostile energy. At first, the spider twitched every time something moved around her. Even after she had experienced the emanations on a dozen distinct occasions or more, the movements of the powerful shaded things were still disconcerting enough to send a little shiver through her body whenever she perceived them.
This was never meant to be a place for a spider—perhaps for any sentient cre...
2024-10-24 04:16:06 +0000 UTC
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Perfect, Mina thought, smiling through gritted teeth as the Perfect Predator began to lift her from beneath the other two dead creatures with its tail. This is, ow, just what I need. I have to see them to aim properly.
It was hard to think straight with an object stabbing her through the gut.
She blinked back tears and tried her best to ignore the pain of her entire body’s weight being lifted via the object that had impaled her through the stomach.
Do...
2024-10-21 14:53:34 +0000 UTC
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James descended the stairs toward the second level, whistling to himself as he walked.
The sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun…
Despite the darkness all around him, only partially lightened by Hand of Glory, he had never been more relaxed walking into a fight.
As he moved, he secreted strong and thick spider silk from his wrists and applied it as a patch over the section of his armor that had covered his stomach. Tha...
2024-10-21 14:52:06 +0000 UTC
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Mina sat, watching the small hole she had left open in the floor, and waiting. She kept her wand clenched tightly in both hands, fingers slightly tensed in her lap.
The minutes passed slowly, but she wasn’t keeping track of time. This was the method she had decided on, and she wasn’t going to second guess it when she had already encased the whole room in ice.
The only attention she paid to the environment besides looking at the hole was occasionally bolstering the ice with a s...
2024-10-21 14:50:04 +0000 UTC
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Adon clung to the wall, lurking in the shadows, for what felt like a long time, during which period his brain recovered.
The mild headache that he was developing dulled and then disappeared completely.
Just as Adon was starting to feel bored, Rosslyn returned to the servants’ hallway and rejoined the knights.
“Let us resume,” she said, looking at and projecting her voice toward the knights but clearly intending them for Adon also.
He turned his body invisible, qu...
2024-10-20 17:14:54 +0000 UTC
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At first, Adon did not know who was approaching Rosslyn.
He heard her call out a name: “Celeste!”
The Princess’s voice had risen almost to a shout. She sounded surprised and pleased at seeing this person.
Adon searched his memory banks quickly and came up with an answer almost immediately. He was not particularly recovered from his exertions of recent hours, but his brain was robust enough to review its records with great speed even when he was tired—especially when ...
2024-10-16 21:13:22 +0000 UTC
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The door squealed like a stuck pig as it slowly opened.
The sound set Rosslyn’s teeth on edge. Then a pair of bleary eyes stared out of the shadowy gap. The space between the door and the jamb quickly widened as the gaze lit on the Princess.
Rosslyn swallowed a sudden lump in her throat as she looked into the face of Chef MacGregor. She had not known this particular room was his. It was just a place to begin, just the room at the end of the hall.
Please do not be him, ...
2024-10-16 21:11:55 +0000 UTC
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Mina entered the third tunnel from the left, and she immediately felt the air shift as she stepped inside.
It became instantly more humid and warmer, and for a moment, she questioned her decision to wear her Mages’ robes.
She shook her head. She was glad she was not burdened with heavy armor like James, but she felt certain she would be glad of whatever minimal protection the robe offered. Unlike her husband, she did not have nine lives.
Mina drew her Alder Wood Wand and h...
2024-10-16 20:22:24 +0000 UTC
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The ogre screeched horrendously as the stalactite struck at an impossible speed.
Just as suddenly as it had screamed, the monster went silent.
[You killed Gray-Skin Ogre Lv. 25. You gained 1300 exp!]
Really? Just like that?
Though the System’s alerts had never lied to him yet, it was a little hard to believe.
For one thing, the creature was still standing.
James had been prepared to wait a few seconds to be certain that the blow ...
2024-10-16 20:20:12 +0000 UTC
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Adon kept Telepathy active as Rosslyn stepped closer to the entry to the knights’ barracks area. He knew he needed to be ready at a moment’s notice to read into people’s hidden thoughts and motivations.
If I ever wanted to be a detective, this experience will certainly satisfy that impulse for one lifetime, Adon thought to himself.
It had everything. Secrets, murder, life or death stakes for the investigation, even the emotionally fraught Queen who had almost become...
2024-10-11 20:13:02 +0000 UTC
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Of course I will! Adon replied instantly.
Rosslyn gave a little sigh that the butterfly interpreted as being one of relief.
“Thank you,” she said.
How should we do this? he asked.
“Why, yes, you can perch on me,” Rosslyn said aloud, apparently still talking for the benefit of potential hidden observers.
The idea that my father and I had was that your Telepathy would be the key, she thought. If you place yourself in...
2024-10-11 20:11:22 +0000 UTC
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The morning passed relatively quietly for James after the excitement of Alan and Mitzi’s departure.
Dave and his squad were on their hunting trip. The other citizens of the Fisher Kingdom were about their usual business. Alan and the Fisher Expeditionary Force made it outside the borders of the Kingdom, but James continued to follow them through the consciousness of the wyverns that he had sent with them.
James felt that he was close to recovering the rest of his strength, so he...
2024-10-11 20:06:41 +0000 UTC
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Mitzi and Alan called an end to the break, and the group began to move forward.
As the Fisher Expeditionary Force finally advanced beyond the borders of the Fisher Kingdom, they could sense as the aura of the Fisher King himself faded away with a sudden sensation that reminded Mitzi of a change in air pressure.
I can almost feel my ears pop, she thought. It’s like we’ve been in James’s territory forever. Somehow, the air outside has turned a little strange. Hasn...
2024-10-11 20:05:16 +0000 UTC
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[Citizens of the Fisher Kingdom, on this morning, a party of intrepid explorers gathers to lead a pioneering expedition out of the Kingdom. They stand ready in the courtyard now, giving the Kingdom one last look before they set out to scout the western frontier. If you come down, or simply look to a window that faces the courtyard, you can see them: these brave men and women, humans and nonhumans alike, all citizens of the Fisher Kingdom off to risk their lives to discover what has be...
2024-10-08 20:44:45 +0000 UTC
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“That sounds prudent to me, father,” Rosslyn said, letting out a little sigh of relief.
With Adon’s help, finding the traitor should be easy.
“Then you trust the rapport you have built with him,” the King said with a small smile.
“I do,” she replied. “How much am I allowed to tell him?”
Her father paused for a moment, then said, “Everything. There is too little to tell otherwise. Anything less, and he might make some mistake that will cost us.”
2024-10-07 20:36:44 +0000 UTC
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Rosslyn’s party returned to the palace, a carriage ride that was mostly quiet and far from comfortable for Rosslyn and William alike, though Frederick did not seem to pick up on that—he would occasionally try to start a conversation with one of them, only for the discussion to peter out after a minute or two.
Finally, they were back at the stables. As Rosslyn stepped out of the carriage, she noticed a familiar figure standing near the carriage—a figure she would not have expected ...
2024-10-04 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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James first transferred the Skill “Summon Divine Helper” from the Great Venom Wyvern to himself.
The creature did not resist at all, which James found encouraging. Now that he was closer to full power, the wyvern seemed much easier to control, even though the monster had also grown more powerful, acquiring levels and boosting its Stats as a result of the attack on Cyrus and his group.
It looks like I’ll be able to control them into the indefinite future, he thought....
2024-10-04 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
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As Rosslyn was smiling to herself, the coachman smiled in return. It may have been an unconscious change of expression, but she remembered then what a merry person Lewis was. There was a flash of something from her childhood in there—a fragment of memory from a day when he had driven her and her mother to another concert—but he spoke, and the memory disappeared.
“Your Highness, if your party leaves lunch after an hour or so, you can make the afternoon show,” the driver said, bow...
2024-10-01 16:19:26 +0000 UTC
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Rosslyn woke to sore muscles and a fuzzy brain.
Her head pounded harder as she rose to a seated position in bed. She was definitely hungover. Rosslyn was a bit of a lightweight; she did not normally drink enough alcohol to develop a strong tolerance.
I should not mix feasting, alcohol, and exercise, she thought, wincing as the light hit her eyes. Duly noted. Her body had sent her an unambiguous message.
The memories of the other events of the night hit...
2024-10-01 16:18:15 +0000 UTC
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James read the descriptions of the Talent—and consequent Skills—the Great Venom Wyvern had acquired from Cyrus Berberian, and then he read them again.
[Holy Emissary: You’ve secured the blessing of a holy entity through your piety and competence. As a result, you have acquired the presence and privileges of a representative of the sacred in the material world. Generates Skills “Summon Divine Helper” and “Conflict of Visions.”]
[Summon Divine ...
2024-10-01 15:52:37 +0000 UTC
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James curled his arm around Mina as they stepped away from the crowd.
“That was amazing, skapi,” she said. “I don’t know what I expected, but every time I hear you speak in public, I think you were made for this.”
James smiled and wordlessly kissed his wife on the cheek. Her praise meant more than anyone else’s ever could.
But his mind was already onto the next task.
As they walked away from the monotheists, he reached out with his mind to the wyverns he ha...
2024-10-01 15:50:58 +0000 UTC
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Goldie pulled herself back to the present.
She saw Samson beside her, trying to move Mana from his core into his chelicerae—trying in a very unsteady, hasty way that looked unstable to her. Goldie wanted to warn him to be careful, but she recognized that calling out to him could be distracting and do more harm than good.
She forced herself to stay quiet. If Samson blew off one of his fangs, Adon could heal him. It would be fine. Samson had to make his own mistakes. All of her ch...
2024-09-27 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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As the King walked away, the people who had gathered to hear him erupted in turmoil.
Though people talking over each other made it difficult for anyone to make themselves heard clearly, Claudius Galt heard a few voices rise above the clamor of the crowd.
“We’re screwed as soon as more people hear about this,” said one voice in the crowd.
“We just have to be prepared to argue our case,” said another with a little more grit.
“We weren’t responsible,” insi...
2024-09-27 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Done already? Goldie sent, slightly disappointed.
Well, I would really like to try this other idea of mine, Adon sent. I hope it might help you and Samson even more than these little nudges about Mana Manipulation. Are you ready for it?
Absolutely, Goldie replied immediately.
Adon sounded energized by whatever idea he was interested in trying, and Goldie was happy to try whatever would help keep him in a better mood. She already felt ...
2024-09-26 17:17:49 +0000 UTC
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After a mildly exhausting conversation with Christian Zito and an apologetic Mateo Rivera, Mitzi and Alan were accepted as guides—leaders of the Fisher Expeditionary Force—by the whole of the Electricity Commission.
Mitz had the distinct feeling that they’d just been hazed, with the level of detail the Commission members had given them into their plans. Then again, she also suspected that, as with hazing, the in-depth discussion of future plans had won them a level of acceptance t...
2024-09-26 17:09:23 +0000 UTC
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Alan waited a moment, trying to convey confidence through the silence between himself and James.
“We can talk more later, Your Majesty?” Chief DaSilva said from behind James.
I wonder if there’s been a lot of crime since James started the Fisher Kingdom, Alan thought. I hope I’m not interrupting something urgent.
But James just turned his head to look at DaSilva for a moment and then nodded.
“Absolutely,” James said. “We’ll be working ...
2024-09-24 16:56:50 +0000 UTC
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Goldie stood very still, letting her words hang in the air, as she waited for her dearest friend to decide their fate.
Me? Adon asked once again. Goldie, I—I don’t know if I can decide something like this for you. Make you go to war or run away…
You’re not making me, Adon, Goldie replied. She had known this was how the conversation was going to go down. Adon was never forceful, never inconsiderate, in trying to get what he want...
2024-09-23 19:44:27 +0000 UTC
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“So, how do you want to do this, Your Majesty?” asked Rotter.
“For the Fisher Expeditionary Force, I’ll want volunteers,” James said. “A force large enough to defend itself, but the goal isn’t for them to fight. The goal is to explore and survive to report back. I already have a few people in mind. I’ll also send some creatures I control with them to be my eyes and ears—to help defend them, or so that I at least know if anything happens to them. As for the Fisher Army ...
2024-09-21 13:21:55 +0000 UTC
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