Over the pot of tea, Sael had started to tell his version of the raid on the goblins and his defeat of the Demon Lord's General. It was a completely accurate and totally not embellished version. He'd just finished explaining how after defeating all six demon generals he carried Ara out while protecting her from the hundreds of goblins swarming the miles of catacombs he'd had to search to rescue her. Of the vast troves of treasure, he'd sacrifice putting the little fairy princess's safety first. As he continued lying out his ass he watched the fairy in front of him, her expression never changing as she sipped away at her tea while listening intently.
He continued his story explaining the many arduous endeavors he managed to overcome in order to safely bring Ara back to Little Well including the endless advances of his escort. He got carried away complaining about how annoying Ara's constant advances had been that he rolled right into complaining about the problems with Beth before he meant to. Still Nee continued to sip tea and listen away letting him reveal more than he expected. He only realized how off topic he'd let himself get when he started explaining his one sided conversation with Bo the Boar.
"Er, well that is about all. Oh, I did end up taming a Silver Conri though." He tried to get back on track, her quiet unmoving disposition made her easy to talk to… too easy.
For the first time since he'd started weaving his tale from the true to the outlandish, she'd had no reaction. At mentioning taming a Silver Conri her teacup chimed against the little plate as she set it down quickly. "You tamed a Silver Conri?" Her tone was surprised more than disbelieving as if she had believed everything he'd told her so far.
"Er yeah. Ara said it was a big deal. I'm surprised out of everything, THAT is what gets a reaction." He couldn't help but grin as he shook his head.
"Your adventure is grand but far from the wildest tale I've heard. But battling monsters and saving princesses are par for the course in your line of work, isn't it Arrived? But the Conri and most specifically the Silver are something different. They are more attuned to the world than even the Fae. One would never bond with someone the world itself did not approve of." She reached out to place her delicate tiny hand on his and gazed seriously into his eyes. "Did you really tame a Silver Conri?"
For some reason, his heart pounded loudly in his chest and he felt as if the walls were closing in on him. "Yes, is it really such a big deal?" He pulled his hand away from her's and looked away feeling everything return to normal.
"Interesting." She leaned back in her chair picking up her cup of tea once again.
"What is?" Sael scratched the back of his hand where she'd touched it before. It tingled slightly and he wondered if she'd poisoned him or something. He still hadn't touched the tea from before.
"You are of course. You battle hordes of monsters to rescue a princess then worry when she offers what many would have tried to take believing it was there right after such an endeavor. You worry about the feelings of a human woman you claim to have no desires for. You tell me what I truly believed to be a lie and yet it turned out to be true, that the world itself approves of you. I am young for a Fairy only one hundred and eighty nine years old. But should I live to the age of a Godmother I doubt I will ever meet another like you." She took a sip of her tea then. She had spoken with the same blank expression and even tone as she had when offering him tea.
"Er, thanks? I kinda wish all the women in my life were as easy to talk to as you. Maybe, I'd stop getting myself in trouble."
She laughed, whereas Ara's laugh was the sound of tinkling bells hers was the chiming of crystals. "I wouldn't worry so much about your women. You speak well of them, so I think things will work out. Fairies are polyamorous it just sounds as if this Ara is young and inexperienced. Even for us, our first loves are special and we tend to want to keep them to ourselves at least for a while. The human will either accept it or not, if she truly feels for you as you believe I am sure things will work out. Humans are nothing if not adaptable."
Sael took in the information and raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Sounds like you have a lot of experience in love. You must have a ton of princesses… or wait if you are a queen that means consorts right? Where are they?" He glanced around as if expecting several fairy consorts to be hiding.
Nee delicately cleared her throat, her porcelain skin gaining more than a hint of color again. "I have no consorts. I…" she trailed off sitting straight up in her chair. She glanced at the human Sael. 'Was this a trap? No, the only lies he has told were embellishments to his story. One chosen by a Silver Conri would never work with demons and I ensured that he spoke the truth on that.'
"She sat her cup down and stood up. "It seems our visit is over. I had a truly wonderful time." Nee gave a curtsy "But it appears my home is under attack. I will open a path for you."
Sael stood up spear in hand and looked down at the Fairy Queen. "Attack?" He glanced around expecting to find enemies within the throne room.
"It is nothing to worry about. But I can not guarantee your safety so I must ask you to leave. It would be a great shame if the first guest to my home since I became queen were to be harmed." She gave him a brilliant smile that didn't reach her worried eyes before motioning to a spot on the floor that opened up into a staircase. "Go quickly, I will make sure the path is clear but you must go now. There are too many for me to divert."
"Like hell, I'm leaving." Sael growled out.
Nee looked up at the human shocked by his sudden shift in personality. "Pardon?"
"Nee you've been nothing but a great host so I have a confession." He pointed to the air next to him forgetting once again others couldn't see his quest. "Whatever hands out quests for this world gave me one to conquer this castle. Now after meeting you I'm actually feeling bad about doing a quest for the first time. But I'll be damned if I let someone else conquer this castle beside me."
Nee looked up at the strange human still unsure what to make of him. "So, you still plan to conquer my castle after our lovely chat?" Sael made a face realizing he'd pretty much said just that which made the corners of Nee's mouth twitch up for the briefest moment in the first sincere smile since taking the crown. "You are a strange person, Sael the Arrived, Prince of the Summer Court and would be conquer of the Winter Castle." She gave him another curtsy. "I would gladly accept your aid in defending my home. Even if you intend to take it from me later."
Sael shook his head 'I swear they never act the way I expect. This is why I have no luck with girls.' He thought about Ara and Beth 'Or maybe too much luck.' The sound of breaking stone brought him out of his momentary lapse of concentration.
Holes were broken in the sealed passages ways, the walls, even the ceiling of the throne room from all over and flooding in were the attackers. It looked as if humanoids of various races all with huge bloated bellies were crab walking into the room. They scuttled along the walls, ceilings, and floors all in the same unnatural manner. Sael just stared at the dozens of enemies scuttling towards them. "The hell are those?"
The one closet, it's head dangling wildly from a broken neck spat a glob of thick viscous green liquid out of its chest towards Sael which was intercepted by a wall of stone that rose out of the floor then receded just as quickly.
"They are corpse spiders, demonic beings hatched within the body of a still living host. They devour the host alive and wear its corpse as armor." Looking closely he could see that the bloated bellies were actually the abdomen of an insect and there was a hole right in the chest where a spider's head could be seen. Four more insect legs so thin and dark they were almost invisible moved along with the limbs of the corpse. Sael braced himself for combat as a mental chiming alerted him of another quest update.
[Prevent the competing forces from Conquering the Fallen Castle.]
"Well, I did ask for more detailed quests."