Turn to your family for help.

As you mull over your options, it takes you a moment before you recall you've only just recently met people who could help with matters just such as these.

With your mother nowhere to be found, likely having her own fun in the ducal palace and beyond, your thoughts turns to the communicator ring Arinum provided you with. Arvha had assured you it was simple enough to use, just think of the person you wanted to contact, reach out with your mind and...

"Edward! C'est bon to hear from you so soon." Corinne remarks. Since this hardly seemed like a problem one could fuck or fight their way out of, you had decided to contact The Spider, not The Shark.

Corinne's unmasked visage is projected from your ring, beams of red light extending from the black stone, rendering a moving, three-dimensional likeness of the hybrid in the room with you. The red-tinted reproduction of your cousin is quite lifelike, if a little blurry.

"A-A pleasure as well, cousin." you respond. "I've contacted you to ask your help, however. Arvha's too, perhaps."

You relay to The Spider the rather atypical events of the day thus far, how Camille and Bistodeau had **** you, how the queen had taken advantage of you, how you had overheard their plans to extract an heir from you.

“Cousin, you lead an eventful life, even for a king.” Corinne snickers, upon hearing of your predicament.

“Perhaps too eventful.” you respond. “I need to do something, the queen puts me at risk.”

“Are you so very sure of that, cousin?” Corinne asks, an eyebrow raised. “Why not let her go ahead with her little plan? If she bears you a daughter, why that has little bearing on anything.”

“If a son, well... your blood, and the blood of the Allsire, will be placed on the throne of Sinnabarrow. I'm sure we could turn that to our advantage. Kill off Camille and subvert him to Arinum's cause, when he's old enough. The machinations of these human lordlings are nothing compared to what our grandfather is capable of.”

You're a little shocked by her suggestion. And grateful that Corinne is on your side.

“Damn, cousin, that's rather cold-blooded.” you tell her.

“Ah, but this is a world that favours cold blood, chéri.” The Spider responds. “The humans of this world outnumber us by millions. If we wish to conquer them, we must be willing to employ every stratagem, every weapon at our disposal, no?”

“You may have a point.” you concede. “But what if I wanted to stop the queen from bearing my child, without hurting her? You pledged me your aid, would you help with that?”

“Of course, dear cousin.” the magical representation of Corinne nods. “There are so many ways of preventing this from coming to pass. Some so delicate sweet Camille would never know. My mother's knowledge of poisons is beyond any living on the continent, I'd wager. Growing up, she was a most thorough tutor.”

“You didn't have much of a normal childhood, one supposes?” you smirk.

“I was trained from birth to help bring about my grandfather's rule over the entire world, so... I think not.” Corinne smiles wickedly.

“Still, the idea has merit.” you observe. “We could neutralise this entire situation, with Camille and Bistodeau none the wiser.”

“If I turned back now, I could be in Copieux the night before tomorrow.” Corinne advises you. “I'm sure I could get into the royal quarters unseen, **** the queen's wine.”

“A-Are you quite certain?” you ask. “Infiltrating a palace seems like quite the-”

“Edward, you've seen what I can do. I'm perfectly capable of slipping into Camille's bedchambers and out again. Truth be told, it would not be the first castle I've infiltrated.” Corinne boasts. “I might require your assistance, however. With a certain... delicate matter.”

You weigh up your options, before deciding on a course of action.