"Jack one time said he wondered if everything was a dream, either his own or someone else's." Leslie continued her long conversation with Emily, as they discussed Jack, their common interest.
"What made him question that?" Emily was baffled, it never occurred to her that The Holy Witch King would question his own existence. He seemed to be on top of everything.
"That's just it! He may be very powerful and he may have vast knowledge, but he needs us to keep him grounded. He needs us to fight him, and fight for him." Leslie taught Emily, like a proper elder sister.
"Fight him and for him?" Emily was lost.
"When he confides in us, it means he's unsure of something. So if you believe it's a bad idea... Tell him! Stop him! Don't let him do something stupid. It only takes a moment in time for someone to make a bad choice that they will regret forever after..."
"So everything he says isn't law?" Emily questioned.
"Yes and no. Everything he says is law, but what about his questions?" Leslie wore a satisfied expression, as she watched the face of Emily brighten. It seemed that she may of understood something.
"Don't forget that We as his Consorts must protect him and fight for him." Leslie continued.
"But... He's stronger than us... So how can we do either? Shouldn't we just wait here for him to do everything?"
Leslie shook her head, just who taught this girl, "And do what? Sit around like play things? He does his part; We do our part."
"Well... What do you do for him?" Emily asked, as her eyes shined. She had never thought about aiding Jack. It never even crossed her mind. She only knew how to stay in her room and learn... Maybe color in a book.
"I, uh... I collect information for him. What he doesn't know can hurt him, or the nation, and hurting the nation will hurt him." Leslie had to think of a way to explain what she did, without really explaining it. "I, also, am the treasury of the Kingdom. So I hold an Office."
"Oh, I see... How can I help?" Emily asked.
"I don't know, only you can answer that. Just know if something looks like you can help, just do it, and when you do it... Do it for Jack." Leslie said with a smile, as she stood up.
"Let's continue our chat later. It seems that I'm needed by some of my hand maidens." Leslie walked toward the door.
"Alright. Uh.. Talk to you later, Sister." Emily waved gentle to Leslie, as she left.
Emily sat in her chair for a few minutes, as she pondered her place, and the new revelation Leslie brought to her.
[What can I do? How can I help my Husband?] Emily had already taken Jack as her husband, even if he didn't confirm it like he had with Leslie. For better or worse, she was his consort, and she was going to marry him whether she was queen or not.
She remembered that the only thing Jack asked her was to act as the ambassador to Neolith. [That's all he asked of me. I was going to do it any way, but I'll do it the best I can.] Emily felt a rare sense of determination, but with the next thought she had she felt defeated, at what she had to do next.
Gathering up herself, she went to his baggage, and pulled out a small bottle. She brought the bottle to eye level, as she stared at the shiny spider inside.
"Haaa~" Emily let out a audible sigh, as she walked to the corner of her room, next to her evening tomb, and opened the bottle to let the Gem Spider free.
This Gem Spider crawled around briefly surveying it's area, before it quickly went to work forming a web.
Emily pulled her chair from the table, to sit in while she watched the spider work. She had seen many spiders over the years weave webs, but it was rare to see a Gem Spider weave. These Gem Spiders were very precious to the Grand Tomb of Neolith. One could even call them their trump card. If not for her being the princess and offering of Neolith to the new God-King, this spider may of never been introduced into Deagoth.
These Gem Spiders were called this for their shiny and jewel-like carapace, but it was their ability that Neolith valued. Each of these spiders were born from a spider sack. Unlike normal spiders, each spider sack only had one egg, that spawned twin spiders. Once both spiders emerged, they would be raised with certain reagents and magic. Once completed, the twin Gem Spiders could be separated, and no matter the distance of separation they would still be connected. It wasn't known how, but if the web vibrated, it's twin's web would vibrate at the same pitch and frequency. This meant, that if you spoke into the web, the other spider would produce the sound. When Jack would come to know of this, he would jokingly refer to it as a Web Phone, which was lost on all the undead. The Neolithians referred to it as a Web Way Call.
Finally the Gem Spider finished it's web, and it crawled to the middle of the web, as custom.
Emily seen this, and then she took her index finger to pluck the bottom string of the web. This caused the spider to vibrated. She did this in a specific pattern. Once she stopped, she waited until the spider vibrated again, but this time a voice was heard. Yes, the true purpose of these Gem Spiders were to carry sound for conversation over vast distances.
The Gem Spiders connected, and on the other side of the Gem Spider sat in a large stone work underground throne room. The roof of this throne room was covered in a thick luminescent webbing. Sitting on a large throne that held showed the back rest to have been decorated with eight daggers sheathed into the throne, was an alluring skeletal undead lady..
This lady wore a dark red and black crown that covered the top half of her face, and only revealed her lower jaw. The crown showed eight black slanted eyes, and seemed to be made of Crimson-Steel. From under the crown flowed long white hair, that upon closer inspection was large swaths of cotton-white web. The Queen treated the web, exactly like hair, and had tucked half of it over her left shoulder. Her clothes seemed to be made of a fine black silk, as it draped slightly over her shoulders around her rib-cage, that exposed her skeleton arms and spine that continued into her waist, where a find dress of black silk with a spider silk design flowed until her feet. She wore black silk gloves and slippers. She was the most beautiful of the women of Neolith; she was the Spider Queen of Neolith, Kamilah Neith.
"Emily... And here I thought you would never speak to me again." A seductive feminine voice sounded from the web.
"It's not me that hasn't spoke to you... Royal-Mother." Emily said helplessly.
"Oh, come now. I provided that Gem Spider to your Uncle Spider before you left for Deagoth, and only now have you used it." The voice of her mother, the Queen of Neolith, sounded very Snarky to Emily, so she declined to speak.
This did not phase her mother, as she was use to it, "So I hear you're not the Queen of Deagoth, yet... Why not?"
Emily could only stare at the vibrating Gem Spider, in disbelief, "Royal-Mother, I've already been made Consort."
"But not Queen. I expected you to be Queen already..." The Queen of Neolith sounded disappointed.
"He already had a Consort when I got here! No one told me! What was I suppose to do!?" Emily complained.
"And??? Did you seduce the King?" Her mother said in an expecting voice.
"What?! No!"
"And that's why you're not Queen! Use your feminine wiles and body!"
"What body is there to use?!" Emily became annoyed, and felt slightly embolden from her conversation with Leslie.
"Oh! When did you get some fire in you?" The Queen asked, questioningly. This wasn't like her daughter at all. This wasn't how she was taught, then again... She wanted to teach her daughter the fine art of seduction, but the damn prophet wouldn't let her.
"I... I don't know. I'm just saying, even if I wanted to-" Emily was interrupted.
"Spiderling, it's not the body that seduces a man..." Emily couldn't see her mother, but she was shaking her head. For the unlife of her, she didn't know what the spider prophet was thinking. This was exactly what she needed to learn to become Queen.
Emily paused... It had been about twenty years since she last talked to her mother via the Web Way, but... It had been a very, very long time since she had referred to her as her Spiderling. Emily felt slightly warm.
"Mother..." Emily spoke.
"It's never too late to learn these things." Her mother let out a sigh... She was going to go against the prophet and teach her daughter a few things she needed to know. She was at least the consort. That was a full foot in the door. Did it really matter now?
"Listen, my Spiderling. Appeal to your man's ego. There isn't a man with unlife that doesn't want his ego stroked. It's not just your body that you flaunt. It's how you use it, the words that you say, and how you coo them."
Emily quietly listened to her mother's lecture, as her mother went over various ways to appeal to the male creature, and what buttons to press.
After an hour her mother finished, "You have to have confidence when you do any of these things. If you back out or back down half way though, your seduction will be seen through and backfire. Your man will never listen to you after that."
Emily finally asked her mother a question on this, "Royal-Mother, what makes you think he will believe any of this?"
"Because men want to believe our pretty little lies. No man dead or otherwise, doesn't want a woman to lie to his ego. You tell him the truth in everything, but his ego. Even if he knows your lying to his face about how great he is, how much you love his soul dancing, or how powerful he is... He will love you for it, and want to believe your lies."
"Al-Alright. I will try." Emily squeaked out.
"As you should, now I know I've rattled on for a while, what was it that you called me for... I know you didn't call me to just talk, with how busy I am."
Emily just realized how much time her mother gave her. She was slightly dazed. [Why did she spend so much time with me???]
Emily sat this question to the side, as she got to her topic.
"Royal-Mother. Now that I am Consort, I believe it's time for our Kingdom to provide my dowry."
"You haven't married him, yet. So I won't be doing that." Her mother spoke seriously.
"No! We need to show some signs of sincerity. I offered him everything I could." Emily spoke with a bit of passion.
"Everything!? He didn't take you as a Consort, until you offered him everything in the dowry!?" The Queen spoke almost breathlessly.