Well enough, though sparks fly when you meet the new king

The moment you step into the main hall it's like the world starts spinning faster and faster. The sheer number of other magic wielders is enough to set your senses on edge. Most of what you feel are emanations from various devices or enchantments, but here and there you brush against another magic caster. You also have to keep a look out for the more normal kinds of dangerous people - a mage can be harmed as easily by a determined and well trained assassin or a well prepared archer.

Atop those concerns are the social issues. Dozens of powerful people, five different major circles to navigate - the nobles, clergy, mages, bureaucrats and merchants - and that's without bothering to count the royal family! The merchants really shouldn't be involved in something like this and yet you see one here, one there, often married to some minor noble or pulling the strings of a cleric who had need of a wealthy benefactor.

It's almost a surprise to you just how well things go. Though there are a few gasps and a few people who choose to stand back from the 'dark magics' your catgirls make friends quickly. You chose your three leading ladies well and soon they are taking turns leading various interested parties back to the ambassadorial wing. It's so successful that after only a short time Lessia has sent out four more well chosen girls to tease guests away from whatever they were doing and pull them into what is clearly becoming the Princess' court.

"What have you been up to Master John?" comes a deep and foreboding female voice from behind you. That can be none other than Sarandre, the oracle.

"Given your specialty I thought you would already know," you reply.

It looks like she's getting ready for a verbal fencing match when a shot of black fur skids to a stop between you. "You look like you might be interesting," says Carmen - one of your more energetic catgirls. Thin as a rail, no chest to speak of, barely five feet tall with piercing blue eyes and a whip thin tail. She's as tomboyish a girl as you've ever met. She's also absolutely fearless, which is probably why Lessia decided to send her out.

Whatever Sarandre was about to say dies on her lips. She mouths something unintelligible and then cocks her head. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Nope" Carmen gives her a giant, toothy grin. "Come with me, I know where some good food is hiding."

At a loss for words the oracle is all but dragged off in front of you, her two guards racing to keep up. Hmmm, mental note - perhaps a near total lack of knowledge or memory is a useful counter to the abilities of an oracle. If so... handy.

Over in the corner you spot Kyelle chatting with general Harrant. Probably one of the most feared military leaders in the kingdom and a renowned brawler. But there he is, laughing and making small talk with a catgirl who stands a good half foot taller than him. You will your jaw to stay closed as Kyelle steps into his arm, leans back against the wall and starts pointing to noble after noble, clearly working out who's who and which is up to what. She snickers at one of his answers and gives him a poke in the ribs which draws a howling laugh from the general.

It's at this point that Narinna steps into your field of view and says "Lord John, please follow me. Princess Lessia requests your presence".

She leads you not to the ambassadorial wing but to a small antechamber beside the throne room where you find the princess and Bethany waiting. Lessia gives you a worried smile and says "My brother has decided to make an appearance". Concern slips into her voice when she adds "It seems that both my sisters have arrived as well". She glances through the doorway and past her you can see both other princesses mingling with the crowd.

It's no surprise to hear Yandelle is here, but you thought Cerralla was away visiting estates in the country. She must have heard the news and returned to the capital at breakneck speed. If Cerralla has heard the news about her younger brother taking the throne, for all intents and purposes, then she's probably fuming. Anyone would be. The only questions are how long it will be until she makes her move and how violent it will be.

Lessia gives a few pointers on courtly etiquette to Bethany and Narinna, gives you a smile and then stands at your side. The catgirls take up position behind you like a pair of retainers. You focus on the task at hand and march into the throne room. A herald spots you and shouts “Presenting Lady Lessia, third princess of the realm and Lord John, count of Felinia!"

You've always found it funny that noble titles supercede any titles gained from magic - no mere count would receive the attention you do as you enter the room. All around are high nobles and dangerous individuals. All are looking at you, at your companions, and wondering exactly what angle you might decide to play and how they might be able to benefit or twist your actions to their ends. You can almost feel how Lessia tightens up under their eyes. This kind of attention must be one of the things she hates the most.

A group of three noblewomen move out of your way and suddenly you see something that stops you in your tracks. A woman with brown fur, fox ears and a set of fox tails has stopped and turned your way. Your mind reels - who, how, when!?! At least one of those questions is answered when her companion clenches his jaw. Ugh - him. One of the only light mages in the country who could actually be called a threat - the two of you have never got along. Lord Reaper - he's your greatest rival, at least if measured by the level of annoyance you both cause each other. It doesn't help that there has been a long running argument over the mage's title ‘God’s Wrath’, an argument that goes back all the way to the pair of mages who taught you both as apprentices.

You were sure until moments ago that your manor was secure against just about anyone's scrying. But how did he learn of your spell?

You see a similar furious look on his face and notice that he's looking past you. It seems your rival didn't know about your catgirls. Which means... did he develop the same idea at the same time!?! If that's the case then what an annoying coincidence. You'll be working even harder to convince people that your catgirls are a long forgotten race from the north.

While you've been worrying about your rival Lessia has all but dragged you through the crowd, using her royal status to clear a path so she can speak to her brother. Once close enough she says "Good day to you, brother. Good fortune to you and the best of wishes for our father’s health" and all of you kneel before Davris.

"Thank you, sister. Lord John. Your wishes for my father’s recovery are appreciated. Would the both of you support me in keeping our country together while he is indisposed?"

Lessia rises and says "Of course, brother. We can ill afford chaos in these trying times." The tightness in her voice tells you that Lessia is at her limit - she's used to the library and has done yeoman's service getting you this far but she's clearly looking to you, hoping you will take care of everything from here.

"Thank you," says the prince, turning his attention to you. "Now could you please explain the appearance of your entourage?"

As the princess steps aside you stand and tell the prince about how the catgirls come from the far north and how you've rescued them catgirls from a terrible disease. You finish by saying "With your blessing we can bring more of them into our country, improve the strength of our great kingdom and if it pleases you, appoint the title of ‘God’s Wrath’ to me for having done this country such a great service." Hopefully that last part about your title will give your rival and the vultures something to fixate on. If you simply talked about bringing in more catgirls everyone would assume that was your devious plan. It's the only way most of these nobles think.

"So you cured an illness?" Davris says, inviting the room to consider the question. "There have been plenty of non-magic users in the past who found cures for illnesses. That is not necessarily a great show magical prowess. Besides, even if you required magic to cure these catgirls, their people are from outside this kingdom. Meaning you are not currently using your magic to help my subjects but foreigners. Lord Reaper instead used his magic to create a new species. One found only here and nowhere else. That seems like a far more difficult thing to me to pull off while keeping the interests of the nation in mind. He will retain his title as ‘God’s Wrath’."

Well... that backfired. You take a moment to turn and stare at your rival, who now has the closest thing either of you has ever got to royal assent. The old king never wanted to antagonize either of you, so he kept his nose out of it and left the issue of Mage's titles to the mages. Davris, on the other hand, is keen to make a name for himself. Still, it offers you a chance to get under your rival's skin and further deflect any thoughts of intrigue away from your catgirls.

You look at the fox girl and the way she's looking at you. Perhaps she will make a fine avenue of attack on you rival. "Really, prince Davris?" you say. "All he did was use some magic to deform her ears and grow some tails out of her ass. Underneath those superficial changes she is still fully human." As expected you see both the fox girl and Lord Reaper bristle.

“Lucia, show them what you can do,” he tells her.

She moves into the center of the clearing that has begun to develop and begins showing off a series of more and more complex magical maneuvers. Starting with just one school she moves on and on, in the end controlling no less than five forms of magic in quick succession. You have to wonder at this Lucia's mental state - a woman with at least reasonable levels of magical talent so **** for tutelage that she agreed to be changed?

As she comes to a stop, panting from the draining display your mouth comes alive before your mind finishes digesting what you've seen. You look at your rival and flatly declare "So you mutated a woman who already has years of practice in magic. That proves nothing." You ready yourself to pounce when he admits it. There are at least three other mages in this room, all of them will surely be aghast at the risk. No matter what his claims he had even odds - if that - of successfully changing a magic user or else killing or stupefying her. No matter who she is she clearly has enough talent that killing her would be a waste this whole kingdom can ill afford.

"One month" he says with a cunning smile.

"I don’t believe you."

He feigns disinterest and says "Use a truth spell. I heard you are fond of those."

So... little Lord Reaper has finally got his hands on some bauble that counters truth spells and now he wants to make a fool of you publicly. But there's always a cure for smartass mages like him. You smile and as you concentrate on preparing the energies of the spell in your mind you reply "Good idea. But I'll use it on her." His lips begin to move, but he hasn't even the time to protest before you latch the spell onto her thoughts. "Who are you?" you ask Lucia.

"I am a foxgirl. The first in the world."

For a moment she looked surprised, but then she rolled with it quickly. Damn, you're starting to feel jealous - how did Lord Reaper manage to luck out and find a woman like this? Better get down to business before Davris gets bored. "Who were you?" you ask, trying to **** her to reveal something embarrassing.

"A simple city girl. My mother died when I was young and my father died during the war. Then Lord Reaper took me in."

Fine then, time to hit her right between the eyes. "How long have you been studying magic?"

"About a month." She replies with a smile.

Damn! Did he give her the truth twisting artifact knowing that you'd ask her the questions? Hmmm, ask her something that almost anyone would lie about. Maybe you can sense the tug of magical interference when she serves up a lie reflexively. "Have you had sex with Lord Reaper?"

Her lips try to form the word "No" but as air begins to leave her they twist and form the word "Yes" instead. Huh - she doesn't have any protection against the spell, she really is showing off like that after just a single month of training.

Lord Reaper loses his calm and shouts "Have you with your catgirls?!"

It's a **** attempt to drown out the fox girl's answer. With any luck two or three of the close by nobles heard it anyway. One of them is a terrible gossip. Still, you don't want to start arguing about your catgirls and you try to make sure the crowd doesn't lose the thread by shouting "I’m not the one being questioned here!"

"You wanted to know if she learned magic in one month! She gave you her answer! There is no need to gratuitously ask her about her sex life!"

Hell, he's starting to build up some energy. You didn't think this jaded perv had actual feelings for her. Regardless you start marshaling your own reserves of mana. Even if you are feeling somewhat tapped out you can't stand here defenseless while he readies offensive magic.

You hear a quite imperious "ENOUGH!!!" from behind you and are silently glad when that is followed by a metallic twang that seems to seep in through your ears. The Globus Imperialis, one of the crown artifacts that Davris had on hand, can stop mages in their tracks by making mana effectively unavailable. Despite having dealt with its effects before you still find yourself slightly dizzy as the mana that was building within you disperses.

"You … foxgirl." Davris says. "Do you believe you skill in magic to be a result of your transformation?"

"Yes" she replies. Like she would know after so little training. More likely she was exceptionally talented and your rival knew it and changed her before she learned any magic. That would have avoided most concerns about the danger of her own spellcasting ability conflicting with the transmutation. Still - where did he find a girl like that?

"Will you be loyal to both myself and this kingdom?" he asks.

Once again she replies "Yes".

Davris ratchets up the regal timbre of his voice and proclaims "Then there is nothing left that needs to be asked". With that he smacks the artifact on the armrest of the throne once more and the effects abate. Davris looks to you and orders you to "dispel the enchantment".

Fine then. You end the spell while wondering to yourself if Davris, obviously on the lookout for convenient allies, would have accepted this woman's word without your truth spell in place. If he is that brash it might give you the opportunities you need to see that his elder sister ends up seated on that throne.

With the immediate spectacle over the lords and ladies begin milling and talking. Your rival takes his fox girl and heads to the right, you take Lessia and your catgirls and leave the way you came in. Though in some ways you've had minor setbacks there is also a lot of fresh information to work with.

Cerralla is still there when you leave, happily chatting with various people as if she hasn't a care in the world. It's a bold tactic - on the one hand if Davris tries to take her prisoner then every noble will see him as pathetically weak. On the other hand if he lets her do as she pleases then she has access to every important person he invited and a chance to feel them all out. Cerralla is either aiming to organize an army to march in on coronation day or else she's arranging a coup that will happen anytime in the next few days.

No matter what she's up to it's bound to be impressive - Cerralla has never struck you as the kind of woman who was taught to take a back seat. What could have possessed Davris? Hunger for power is all well and good, but he has to know that his sister is going to fight like a lioness.