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.