He escapes?

No, I couldn’t just counterspell it. The spell was cast some time ago, he just triggered it. And sadly, I don’t have Trace Teleport running. So yes, he gets away. Mind you, I’ve seen him, so that will only last a short while: I can use Discern Location or Scrying to track him down… or even bring him to me with Planar Binding or Call Planar Creature, so there's no rush: Let him think he's safe for now.

The queen sighs, “That's admission enough…” and takes a deep breath, and changes her tone, holding up a scepter, “Let it hereby be known that Anthony Essex is a traitor to the crown. He and all who support him are enemies of the state.” I watch as a number of people write that down as she sets her scepter back down.

Charles smiles, and speaks up, “Your Majesty, there's also the matter of a declared treason charge against us…”

The woman on the throne shrugs, “The memories from Charles make it clear that's not fabricated, but given that my husband was actively working on treason at the time Dan threatened and injured him, I can issue a pardon.” She takes a deep breath, holding up her scepter again, “Let it hereby be known that the Cardinal Heroes have been officially pardoned for all crimes related to Anthony Essex.” Again, much writing as she sets the royal scepter down. Then the Queen continues, “There. It's on record. Now, I have a mission for you: I'm putting a fifty thousand crown bounty on my husband's head. Don't kill him, because that would trigger…”

She trails off because I have the idiot in hand before she finishes her sentence. A swift action for Create Demiplane to get off world, a full-round action for a Quickened Call Planar Creature from Spheres of power, and another swift for Greater Plane Shift to get us both back to the material plane. I get two full sets of actions per round due to Dual Actions, plus a third set piecemeal from certain buff spells. It takes me less than six seconds.

Queen Esmerelda Essex the Eighth blinks a few times, along with her husband, “Guards, arrest him.” As they move to do so, she considers, “Treasurer, pay the bounty before they leave.”

“Yes your Majesty,” a mousy looking man nods as he writes a few things down.

As the now deposed king is clapped in irons, Esmerelda continues, “Should I have the records-keeper bring a list of all outstanding bounties?”

I have my proxy shrug and reply verbally so all can hear, “We met the man, so he was easy to retrieve. We can get people we haven't met as well, but it's less reliable,” specifically, we need to scry them first to have enough information to pull them, “and that particular method simply won't work on certain individuals. But yes, we can shorten the list considerably if you have the cash on hand to pay out the bounties.”

The queen nods as the guards remove her ex, presumably taking him to a dungeon somewhere, “I'll speak with the treasurer and the archivist. In the meantime, how do we set up this route bypass?”

“I just need supplies and a reliable description of two places: The two ends of the route,” I reply via proxy, adding mentally, ‘which you will want to consider carefully, as it will not be selective when completed, works both ways, and is equally easily used by an army as a merchant… but once it's done, using it is as easy as walking through a door.’

‘So I shouldn't just drop both ends at the actual destinations…’ she muses on the telepathic channel, “Thank you. I will speak with my advisors, and we will send envoys to discuss with the other relevant parties… how much will it cost?”

I consider that: It's all free for me, but even the basic form of two Teleportation Circles requires ninth level spells… plus fifth level spells for most people, and expensive components. So I should charge close to what it would cost someone else. “I will need to take a little while to run some numbers on supplies and such,” I begin by proxy, “So if it pleases the queen, we can meet tomorrow and I can give you some options, numbers, and a rundown of how it will work for the people using it.”

“Very well,” Queen Esmerelda Essex the Eighth nods, “you are my guests tonight. The staff will prepare rooms for you all. I am looking forward to our meeting tomorrow.”

We have our proxies bow, and we're escorted out. Once we get our assigned rooms, I create a pen and paper (via Major Creation) to do the math. I do a complete write up for each, including the spells required (enough detail for someone who knows the spells to pull it off, but not actual copies of the spells themselves). A Teleportation Circle setup is simple: Cast Teleportation Circle, cast Permanency, walk through, and repeat. The Greater Create Demiplane version is more complex: Cast Guiding Star at the first site, cast Greater Create Demiplane to make the hallway (and go to it). Cast Permanency so the Demiplane never collapses. Cast Greater Create Demiplane again to make a Portal back to the starting point (Guiding Star bypasses the familiarity requirement). Walk through the gate, Greater Teleport to the second location, cast Guiding Star there, Plane Shift backlog the Demiplane, cast Create Greater Demiplane to make a second Portal to the second site, and done.

I make sure to run the numbers assuming hired castings: Caster level times spell level times ten, plus the cost of all material components. It turns out that while the Create Greater Demiplane route requires a low more in the way of spells, it is only about 60% of the cost of twin Teleportation Circles due to the Permanency spell (it has a material component costing 22,500 crowns for the spells we want to make Permanent). It also scales a lot better: It's possible to fit a LOT of Portal instances in one Demiplane, while every node in a Teleportation Circle network requires at least one casting of Permanency. The kicker is that the Portal option of Create Greater Demiplane works better for trade: It functions as a gate, so it works on objects as easily as creatures (Teleportation Circle only works on creatures and carried gear - so no wagons loaded down with goods)... also, you can just look and see what's on the other end, cutting down on unwelcome surprises.

For me, they're both free - but anyone with access to all of the correct spells and materials can put these together. The real gift for the Queen is the knowledge of what to hire. I set my prices a little below what a fair market price would be for anyone else, and call that done for the evening.

Of course, I can't forget the promise I made to the king….