“On the other hand, involving yourself in a fight against an Awakened household puts you in very concrete danger. I applaud your honor and sense of duty but this seems far from a fair deal.” Leari had been a disciple for decades before her master sold her to Xedros for his experiments.
She knew that Awakened politics were a dirty game the rules of which changed according to the gap in power between the factions. Faluel putting her life on the line for a couple of rogue Awakened was suicidal at best.
“That’s because you look at Friya and see a mere female human.” The Hydra replied. “I, instead, see one of my beloved apprentices I’ve nurtured for the past three years. Someone who after being Awakened by me managed to reach the violet core on her own.
“One of the few dimensional mages in the Kingdom who is attuned with all the elements and whose talent received praise from Tezka the Suneater.”
That name was enough to make Thrud’s former vassals look at Friya with new eyes. Most of them had faced and died to Tezka in a heartbeat. He had killed the Mad Queen’s elite warriors with a single spell and while protecting human children at that.
Thrud had reached the white core of immortality, yet she had run away from the Suneater, knowing she couldn’t win.
“The old fox?” Ufyl asked.
“In the fur.” Faluel nodded. “As I see it, getting access to Friya’s dimensional awareness and dimensional spells would be enough for any ambitious creature to take the deal. In my case, however, I’m also helping a friend.”
“What about you?” Friya asked while staring at the Seven-Headed Dragon.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You owe me. You said it yourself.” She felt dizzy, needing sheer willpower to keep another rush of bile down. “You contributed to killing my sister and pushing my mother into making a stupid decision.
“Also, if my mother’s plan succeeds and Lith gets involved, are you really going to stand there and do nothing while Valeron risks to become an orphan again?” Friya hated herself for using an innocent baby as a pawn in her manipulation attempt but that was it.
She despised Ufyl and the rest of his associates so much that she didn’t feel one shred of guilt for exploiting their blind loyalty.
“Count me in.” Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Protheus talking. “The last time I met my brother, I felt through the Dragon scales how much he loves his new family. I’m not letting anyone threaten his happiness.
“My oath to him still stands and neither Thrud’s crimes nor her death erases my debt of gratitude to her. She may be the Mad Queen for the rest of Mogar, but she was my mother. Without her, I’d still be a slime eating waste in a sewer.
“She saved my life more than once and always treated me like a member of her family. I owe her son, my brother, this much. But this only if Verhen gets involved. I owe you and your mother nothing, human.”
“Fine by me.” Friya nodded.
The Doppelgangers followed their progenitor in their oath and then the Divine Beasts did the same, one by one. Only Ufyl offered his help no matter if Lith participated in the battle or not.
‘I did my best, Mom.’ Friya thought while her consciousness slipped away. ‘The rest is up to you.’
***
Distar Marquisate, Verhen Mansion, the day after.
Lith and Kamila returned home just in time for lunch, both wearing a huge grin on their faces.
She carried with her the bouquet of Moonroses, putting one flower in every common room of the Mansion and explaining its meaning to anyone willing to listen to her. Whenever she repeated Lith’s words, she would always play with her moon pendant, drawing attention to it.
As for Lith, he added the shortalls among his favorite cosplay costumes and left the Forgemastering hammer in Kamila’s closet as a prop.
“Where did you get so many Moonroses and so big at that?” Solus asked in surprise during the meal.
“The Garden. Where else?” Lith shrugged. “I took a few, planted them in the Greenhouse, and Dad did the rest.”
“Guilty as charged.” Raaz raised his hands in surrender to the accusations he knew he was about to receive. “No, I didn’t plant anything for anyone else. No, I didn’t ask Lith to find more exotic flowers. I’m a farmer, not a gardener.”
“You are not romantic either.” Elina pouted. “An entire Garden of Mogar filled with beautiful flowers, our son leading by example, and yet the thought of picking a flower for me, any flower, didn’t cross your mind?”
“As I said, guilty as charged.” Raaz shrugged. “Besides, sons are supposed to surpass their fathers. I’m just helping the natural order of things.”
“What a cheeky, lazy man you are.” Elina chuckled. “I forgive you only because you made me laugh and complimented our son.”
“Changing topic, I’ve kept my word. Behold!” A snap of Lith’s fingers conjured an almost whole Hell cake.
Only the slices that he and Kamila ate during their stay at the Crystal Cauldron were missing. The dessert was a beast worthy of being a wedding cake, so large that it needed a special cart to be moved.
Upon its appearance, the Hell cake spread a delicious smell that made mouths water, especially those of the small kids.
“Hey, how come I didn’t sense its arrival in our pocket dimension?” Solus had already tasted the Hell cake in the past so she drooled the most.
“Because I was afraid you would check on it while I was away and that nothing would be left on my return.” Lith said, making her blush in gluttony and embarrassment. “I’ve kept it in my personal dimensional amulet the whole time.
“I use that thing so rarely that I almost forgot I have it.” Lith carried a few dimensional amulets on himself, but they were decoys and contained just a few essentials.
Without them, people would wonder from where he pulled out things and discover his dimensional pocket. Awakened already knew about it, but everyone else didn’t and Lith wanted to keep things that way.
The Hell cake received a ravenous welcome from the whole family, to the point that Elina was tempted to take a second slice on the down-low after forbidding everyone else to.
“Store it away, dear. I don’t trust myself with it.” She said.
After lunch, Kamila took Lith on a digestive walk through the park. The grass was perfectly cut and the bushes trimmed. Many colorful flowers were in full bloom along the cobblestone paths, making the experience as pleasant to the eyes as it was to the nose.
“This is weird.” Lith said. “I don’t remember hiring gardeners and keeping such a huge area so tidy would take too many of them for me to miss them.”
“Indeed.” Kamila chuckled. “A lot of gardeners or a few plant folk.”
“And where did you find plant folk willing to do such scutwork and how are you paying them?” He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“I haven’t done anything.” She shook her head.
