We arrived at the Queen's villa evening of the next day. As I parked the carriage, in the form of Aunt Nera she was already waiting at the front door. There was not a small amount of guards either.
"Rain, I received your letter," she said to me plainly.
"Thank you for meeting with me at such short notice," I bowed my head.
"Why Rain, you shouldn't bow your head to your Aunt."
"Ah… right," so this is how we were going to do it. "Now I don't want you to be alarmed but I brought a guest."
"Is that so? Well so did I." From behind her Marley popped out. Relief spread through me. Having Marley around would make things easier. I didn't know what happened to her in the past cycle but she had been taking the land route towards the Empire.
"Hey," she smiled. "I heard we're heading to the Empire."
"Mostly," I replied smiling. "Though I think my guest will be a bit more surprising. Caius come out please."
He stepped out of the carriage in his full demon form, not bothering to hide it at all. I specifically told him not to. His expression was obscure. Though he had agreed to help he hadn't quite got used to us.
"Demon Lord!" Marley shouted instantly and postured herself for battle. At her words the nearby guards pointed their spears our way and several more rushed out from seemingly nowhere.
"Stand down!" Aunt Nera shouted. "This demon is a guest of my son, you will not show disrespect." The slew of weapons were removed, though hesitantly. "My apologies, Caius was it?"
"Caius Vel Bartar. As the girl put, yes I am… was the Demon Lord," he frowned. "In return for my help, Rain has promised Demonkind peace."
"Hmmm," Aunt Nera paused in thought. "A conversation like this shouldn't be done as I am." She waved her hand across her face, the disguise floating away and being replaced by the Queen's appearance. "Iantha Neran Astral, Queen of the Kingdom. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."
He spoke stiffly, "Your father was responsible for the death of tens of thousands of my kind and took our lands for your own."
"Yes… it was a regretful event. I can only offer my condolences as cold as that may seem, for to apologise is an insult in itself."
"I understand," he nodded. "For now let us leave the pass behind and focus on the future." I could tell he was straining himself. There was still a lot of deep seated hate for humans inside him. If it weren't for the memories I gave him, it might have been too much for him to see reason.
"Good," I spoke in between them. "I'd like to speak privately."
"Follow me," she gestured towards us and had the guards remain where they were. Taylor and Earnest greeted Marley as they also joined us.
We were led into a small room with a single table. The walls were imbued with magic and the view of the open plains could be seen from the window. There were just enough seats to house us all and a tea set sitting in wait. While the others got comfortable I served the tea.
Finally I sat down a cup in my hand, "Your highness thank you once more for coming here."
She replied elegantly, "It was the least I could do for you. My only concern is why you have called me."
"We don't have much time so I'll cut this short." I began to explain the Empire's plan to control Lara and use her as the lynchpin to take over not only the continent but push their influence to the rest of the world. The acts they did to obtain the power to do so and also what I had experienced myself.
As I finished the Queen's expression was troubled, "If what you say is true… Ronalt is in grave danger."
"Yes, however I believe the Empire will not make a move till we have arrived. They want to test their control of Lara, and to do that they want us dead."
"And the Demon Lord is your answer to fight her?"
"To an extent. We all know how that would end, however I believe him strong enough to weaken her. From there… maybe a miracle."
"I see," she nodded determined. "I'll have my armies move to the Empire's border in preparation for the worst. Where will you go from here?"
I pointed to the map that had been laid down in front of us. It described the Empire's territory and inside it close to the Imperial City was the Magicians Guild Headquarters. "We need their support to have a chance of breaking the control on Lara. I'm also afraid for Ardent's safety."
"The fastest way there from here would be to come back to the Capital with me and take the high road. The Empire is expecting your arrival via boat. Shall I have someone go as a diversion?"
"No, send them a note telling them that we'll be taking our time to arrive. Something along the lines of travelling incognito. We want to avoid suspicion and buy time. The Imperium are involved and they have always been antagonistic with the Guild. There's no telling what's happening there."
Taylor pointed to the map, "It would be faster to take a boat and sail past the Imperial City. Though the High Road is shortest route, there is a lot of traffic and checkpoints. The river is basically free unless you want to disembark, though getting through the entry is the hard part."
"I can take care of that," Caius smirked.
"Of course you can," I sighed. "Earnest, Marley, are you okay with this? If you want to leave we won't hold you against it. You as well Taylor."
Taylor huffed, "I'm going wherever you go."
"I want to save Lara!" Marley clutched her hands determined.
"I'd like to see how this plays out," Earnest smiled.
I stood up, "Then it's settled. We leave tomorrow morning for the port. Our goal the Magician's Guild."