Wait where was Gabrielle?

You did a one eighty mid-step to look at the now gone field hospital. You hadn't seen her and forgotten she was who you'd wanted to see here. "Gabrielle?" You ask hurrying over to the leaving Farrah. "Farrah!" You shout through the gate. The woman turns and looks over at you as one of her helpers crash into her sending both women rolling down the grassy hill. Well that was your fault. Hurrying down you help the two pick themselves up. "Sorry about that. I was looking for someone a woman. Black hair, very thin, she would have been magically exhausted."

"Oh yes, some royal guards came and took her to the Palace on Queen Aurora's order because no one recognised her." She opened the trunk and took out a note. "They said that if anyone came for her to give them this." She held out the note and you took it, thanking her in the process. As you touched the paper you felt the magic on it. There was a wax crest keeping it closed in the shape of a rose. "Anything for you Stud." She said with a bow and resumed her walk down the hill.

You checked the spell on the note, a latcher spell, anyone who breaks the seal gets it on them. Easy to identify them at a glance. Not a bad idea actually, the magical equivalent of an ink bomb. You disintegrated the spell and broke the wax seal to read the note.

'The Lady has been taken for questioning in relation to the disturbance last night. To whoever receives this note, present yourself to a Royal Guard to be escorted to her location.'

You had to give the Royal Guard credit it was a good idea, if you're innocent you'll show up and the guard will know who you came looking for. If you're guilty you've got a tag on you.

You could go to the palace directly, though that will mean explaining to Aurora what happened last night, in great detail you are sure. Or you could go and get some lunch. Gabrielle is exhausted so she probably won't be awake just yet anyway.

You head down the hill. Awake or not, you can't leave Gabrielle in the guards hands, if they do slavery they might do ****. That thought spurs you into walking faster, passing Farrah on the way.

The city is almost empty. Streets deserted, shops closed, even the carriages are few and far between. The Palace is not empty. The bottom of the hill has a decent gathering outside of it filled with nervous looking people and a few Royal Guard keeping them down the hill. There is no on going address but a few people in the process of leaving, either you'd missed the address or they had gotten too bored to wait around for one.

Approaching a guard you grab the note to show it to them when they nod at you and step aside for your entry. At this point you shouldn't be as surprised as are by being recognsied so quickly. A few of the people nearby make a comment but you hear the words no aura which seems to end the discussion.

You are led up the hill by a Guard and when you reach the Palace entry you are let through, someone runs ahead to let the people inside know you are here. On the walk to the front door a messenger runs back to give you a note. It tells you to meet Aurora and Mary in the study. You thank the messenger and with your escort head towards the place you'd met Aurora several times before.

Entering the palace you see a lot more armed guards around than usual. Patrolling the halls and standing guard outside several doors. The study itself and the hallway it contains are however empty and your escort doesn't follow you down it. A layer of security you guess. If last night was an attack on the city the Queen would be in danger, her being somewhere undefended would be unlikely so not worth looking for her in empty hallways.

Knocking on the door it swings open, Aurora is sitting in her usual chair while Mary is pacing back and forth. Mary spins at the sound of the door a hand on the sword at her hip. When your eyes meet she lets go of her sword and hurries over looking you over for injuries. Her eyes see your missing hand and she stops moving.

"I think I should thank you for saving my city." Aurora says not even looking over at you as she sips her tea. "Mary please get Christopher some tea." Mary hesitates and looks at her mother before stepping away from you and picking up a cup, setting it on the table before her mother. "Please sit." Aurora waves at the empty lounge across from her.

You take a seat and look at the tea up, the handle facing the right. Mary stares at your arm for a moment before her mother clears her throat and she turns the cup so the handle is on your left. "Thank you." Mary had put the cup a little too far on the table so you had to lean over to grab it.

You heard a noise and see Mary fidgeting under her mothers gaze. "Care to inform us what happened?" Aurora asked as she waved a hand at Mary who sat on your right hand side.

"It's complicated."

"Explosions that rocked the city, the destruction of the Royal Estate on Academy grounds, and two figures flying through the sky in a fight? Make it uncomplicated." Aurora's tone made it clear she was not in any way amuse by this. Her people had been threatened and she had no idea why, how or by whom.

"One of my friends relived a very bad time of their lives and lost control. They're," you hesitate before going on, "better now."

"And what about later? Will this be happening again?"

You chew your lip. "I, don't know." Eve isn't fixed or cured or anything of the sort. What you'd seen in her mind hadn't done anything but put her and Delilah back together, the insanity was still there.

"So what happens next time? You lose a leg, the other arm, the entire Academy, or the entire city? Who was it?"

You grab your stump in your left hand. You'd been putting off the idea that this could happen again. You'd also been putting off the idea of losing any more body parts.

"My people, your people," Aurora nodded at you and Mary, "are scared. They need to know their homes won't be destroyed in the night." Aurora's voice rose as indignation entered her voice. That she was completely justified in her indignation made you cow.

"Mum." Mary said defensively. Her hand touched your side affectionately but subtlety.

Aurora took a breath and drank some of her tea. "Christopher, who was it, are they a threat, and who is that woman my people found at the academy this morning, and why did she have this?" Aurora reached into a pocket and put a letter onto the table. The letter that Clare had sent Gabrielle inviting her to study at the library.

"Ah." It was all you could think to say. You reached down and took a sip of tea, while doing so you also used your magic to accelerate. Moving and thinking faster because you figured this is not the sort of thing you can wing. Leaning back in your seat you think out how you can and should respond.

Delilah is not the sort of person Aurora can contain, and with Eve's past containment might end very badly.

They are a threat, there's no way to guarantee they won't lose control again, unless Clare can give her some very intense, very quick working psychotherapy, leaning away from immersion variety.

And Gabrielle and Clare's letter to her. Aurora might have you there, you can't think of a way to explain that without going into some Goddess level complications.

Ok first. You can tell her but she would have to give her word she won't do anything to Delilah, though you guess that would mean any marriage to Isabelle plans will be over. If you don't tell her, she'll find out, she probably already knows thinking about it. Delilah hasn't been all that subtle and the both of you disappeared last night. She is also probably away that she can't contain Delilah.

You slow back down and put the tea cup down. "Delilah, they're a merge of one of childhood friend and a wraith. As to why this happened, it's a very long, painful story that asking them about is a terribly bad idea." Aurora rose an eye brow. "Yeah, the woman asked about it. She's, honestly she's just here to do some research that got away from us."

Aurora regarded you for a long moment. "If their past is not brought up are they a danger?"

You thought about it for a bit. "Not more than anyone else, they're actually more patient than their recent history suggests."

"Isabelle come inside." Aurora said, looking at the door. You and Mary look at the slightly ajar door but no Isabelle shows up. "Isabelle." Aurora's tone is more motherly than before and the door opens to a caught Isabelle.

"Yes mum?" She asks innocently.

"Go back to Felicaite and apologise for last nights mishap, an overly enthusiastic Incantor's practice session. Lady Demise." Out of the wall behind you Lady Demise seemed to just materialize, that you were the only one who flinched at that made think Aurora's daughters were used to it. "The Incantor who performed in front of the Palace during Mary's parade, inform she'll be recreating last nights display and provide any assistance she needs."

"Of course your Highness." Lady Demise bowed and smiled at you and the Princesses. "If you'll excuse me." She left the room and Aurora looked at the three of you. "Isabelle, I told you to go."

Isabelle fidgeted for a moment. "What about Delilah?" You honestly don't know if she is asking because she wants to get married to them for them, to get closer to Anastasia, or to fuck with you. She looked at you, the last one it was the last it.

"Isabelle?" Aurora's voice refound it mother tone and Isabelle bowed leaving the room. Aurora looked at you and Mary and finally at your missing hand. "You were able to heal the injured but not yourself?"

How could she possibly know ... oh right Lady Demise. "It's," you stopped yourself from saying complicated. "I cut off my nonself-consciouness from my hand so my magic doesn't know how to regrow my hand, it's something that can be fixed it'll just take me a bit." You felt Mary fidget next to you as you talked about your missing limb. You could actually feel her thinking up taunts. "Gabrielle the women from the academy, is she ok?"

"She'll be staying at the Palace while she recovers. If she's to be studying at the Royal Library it makes sense she'd be stay near it." Aurora was asking you to challenge her decision, to try and figure out the parts you weren't mentioning when it came to Gabrielle.

"Thank you." You said earnestly. Now you don't need to worry about finding her somewhere to live.

Aurora looked at the two of you for a moment as she finished her tea. "Mary have the guard stand down." Mary stood and left the room leaving you alone with the Queen. Alone with the Queen you only just noticed what she was wearing. A very thin dress that exposed her shoulders and lot of her chest. Her pants were tight which made her legs look very. You snapped your eyes back up to Aurora's face "Christopher," She stood slowly, stretching her legs making you stare at them as she did, "I think you should go and, help Mary." She bent over and picked your cups off the table. The fabric of her top hanging off her and for a moment giving your a flash of her bare chest.

"Huh?" You ask blinking up at her now very close face.

"My daughter, your fiancé." Aurora said standing up with cups in hand.

"Oh right." You stood up and reached the door before what she'd said clicked. You turned and saw a smug smile on her face. Ok you lost that one so you did the honourable thing and held your head up high as you left the room.