Aurellis
Royal Palace of Thelbane, July 26566
As Lintra stepped through the Trump, the
significance of the room to which her daughter Hebe had invited her
was not lost on her. The pentacle on the floor, surrounded by a
circle was now very familiar. That they were not glowing and
empowered was good, but there was a message nevertheless.
She had assessed the room in the instant she
arrived in it. Mandor reclining half naked on a big lounging chair.
Hera completely naked beside him. Iphegenia naked, reclining on
Mandor. Harold Hendrake sitting in another chair with Saturday
Knight kneeling between his legs. Hebe, naked putting the Trump back
into her deck before walking over to Hera and reclining on her.
“Am I supposed to be overjoyed that you’ve
invited me to an orgy, or would I be more correct to assume that
this is in fact a Thelbane privy council meeting going on here?”
“The second of those, sadly.” Says Mandor.
“Arminius’ curse was not removed. It was reversed. But that is not
today’s problem.”
“Looking at the ease with which you are all
conducting yourselves, I would tend to agree. That problem is now
many months past.” Lintra replies. “So what is it that you want to
offer me?”
Hera speaks up at that point “We are
considering waiving the ban on demons holding High Office in
Thelbane in order to offer you the position as Minister of War.”
Surprise is clear on Lintra’s face. “And I am
considering asking you each to go fornicate with the blunt end of a
recently felled pine tree. We should discuss how we might move
towards a middle ground.”
“The idea of being War Minister of Thelbane
does not find favour?” asks Mandor.
“At this time, and under current circumstances,
you are correct. The idea does not find favour.” Lintra says. “I
have far too much to do that matters to me now in the present to be
interested in going back to the past.”
“Look at us.” Says Hera. “Things are not as
they were when we last met. Both of us could now individually order
you to do this if we so desired, and in unanimous concert, massively
more so.”
“You could indeed, but it would rank alongside
the thing that my first born daughter lately did to get her new heir
in the annals of utter stupidity if you were to do such a thing. You
need a War Minister that does not spend every breathing second
knowing that there is something more important that she should be
doing, and looking for practical and relevant ways to terminate her
appointment.” Lintra answers.
“You realise that Lyntra’s declaration of
independence has effectively crucified this realm unless we can find
an effective force to take Hendrake’s place?” says Hera. “We can’t
rely on any significant number of Hendrake High Command giving her
the finger and coming back to us. We’ll get dregs and failures.”
“I love the way you dismiss the loyalty of the
House I led for over 10,000 years.” Says Lintra. “But you’re wrong
about the realm being crucified. It’s your reign over it that is in
peril. I give it less than a week before Swayvanna sweeps in here
and does the job properly this time.”
She goes on “But if that is your considered
opinion of those Hendrakes you expect to return to the Realm of
their birth, then that can form the basis of the first choice of
deal for me to actually agree to this. Every blood Hendrake that
abandons Lyntra and comes back to Thelbane, you let me bring them
over to the red side. I will serve as your demonic War Minister with
a demonic army to prop up your regime, and you do not look, do not
ask, and do not even dream about what it is we are doing when we are
off duty. Don’t ask. Don’t tell.”
“On the basis that Hell will open its first ski
resort before that sounds like a good idea,” says Mandor, “What
would the second choice of deal for you to actually agree to this
be?”
“Get me out of this. Resurrect me.” Lintra
says, into utter silence across the room. “Don’t all look at me like
that. It’s not impossible. My actual body, the live one that I had
before Benedict killed me, is not rotted and gone in the Abyss.
Quite the contrary. It will be fully repaired by now, because it has
spent the last several years in a Goa’uld sarcophagus somewhere.
Obviously, I don’t know where, or I would have done something about
it myself by now. But someone does.”
“And the soul – well I’m here aren’t I? Have a
proper look. Sure there is a bit of burn from early on, but the
Logrus still comes easily to me with no pain, so I know it’s not
that bad. And I know for sure that it has been done before. Paradox
be damned, I am not the first High Princes of Annihilation there has
ever been, and I sure as Hell didn’t have to kill the last one to
get her job.”
“Do this thing, and all my other distractions
go away. I’ll be unencumbered by obligations and aspirations, free
to serve the realm of my birth again as I did for the whole of the
time of Shadow up until Patternfall. You are the King and Queen of
the Dragon Throne. You can make this happen. You know it makes
sense.” She says.
“Call me again when you’ve made your choice.”
She says as she leaves the room by dropping through the floor
directly into the Abyss.