1-132 A Damsel in distress

Jaina stared at the strange house known as captured heart hall, wondering what waited inside. Apparently, nobody had ever taken residence in the house, and the city generator had named it at random. That Alexandria had chosen it as her hiding place was probably not a coincidence. The woman struck Jaina as the kind of person who would consider the name perfect. Hannah, Breanne, and Quinny were waiting to begin, so she bid them good luck and began her part of the plan.

Quickly her body became fluid and melted, spreading out like a puddle across the stones of the alley. She activated her chameleon ability, and her skin took on the look of the stone as she flowed away, leaving the three girls to their part of the plan. It was a simple ruse where Hannah would take Jaina's appearance. Quinny would be Santos, and Breanne Chandice, as the three girls pretended to be following Alexandria's instructions. Jaina would slip in through an upper window and work her way down. With any luck, Alexandria would take possession of Hannah and dismiss the other two. Then when she believed she had won, Jaina would ambush and restrain her. Then she and Hannah would subdue the woman, bringing her safely out where she could be questioned. Since the two were immune to most charms and seductions, they stood the best chance of taking her without a fight.

Quickly she flowed around a corner and along the wall until she was in a blindspot. Then she flowed up it, her body mimicking the brickwork so that only someone looking intently would notice the motion. The window on the third floor was wide open with blue silk drapes blowing in a soft summer's wind. She crept over the edge, looking inside to see an ornate bedroom with an impressive mirror over a table.

“I should have known she would be vain,” Jaina said to herself as she flowed inside and quickly became a chest along the wall. If they were right, this was the room Alexandria was using as her private chambers, so now Jaina's job was to wait. She needed to give the others a chance to enter and deliver Hannah to put Alexandria in the east. Then Jaina would sneak down to ambush the woman and end this game once and for all.

Time passed until she heard voices below, one of them distinctly her own. Hannah was inside and having a conversation with what sounded like Chandice. A moment later, another voice spoke up, and Jaina felt her body grow hot. Alexandria was here and had confronted the people downstairs, so she melted back into fluid form and headed for the crack under the door.

The voices below were muffled and hard to hear, but they sounded wrong. Alexandria sounded worried or stressed as Jaina flowed under the door and into the hall. It slowed her down to seep through such a narrow gap, but just as she was clear of the door, something crashed. Suddenly the house shook with a roar as a new voice, both haughty and strong, condemned Hannah for her foolishness. Jaina flowed down the hall as fast as she could as the entire house shook. She heard Hannah scream in pain, followed by what sounded like the house collapsing.

Jaina felt a twinge of fear as she hunted for a way down while her friends screamed in pain and the house shook. She heard Frank shouting as something else roared, indicating that the others had come to the rescue.

“It's all going wrong!” Jaina cried in her head as she rounded a corner. She was frozen in her tracks as a blond-haired woman ran toward her. Alexandria appeared to be fleeing in a panic, her long hair of tight curls bouncing as she ran. She stepped on Jaina without noticing, hurtling down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her.

Jaina was torn between rushing to see what was happening below or pursuing the woman responsible for it all. Whatever was happening below sounded desperate, but the others had come to the rescue while Alexandria was getting away. Since Roric and the others were engaged below, they were no longer waiting to catch Alexandria outside. She might slip away if she got out of sight now, and all this work would have been for nothing.

With a silent growl, Jaina changed direction, her body flowing like water down the hall after the fleeing woman. She considered returning to her human shape as she would be able to run faster, but she wanted to catch Alexandria unaware. She saw a door at the end of the hall slam and headed for the gap below. This wasn’t the bedroom she had originally entered through, and now Jaina realized their mistake. They should have let her slip in twenty minutes ahead of the others so she could search the other rooms for a means of escape. Now Alexandria had fled to an unknown room and would be inside for over a minute before Jaina could get inside.

Her body began to flow underneath as Jaina prayed the fleeing woman didn’t have a quick means to flee. She was relieved to see the woman was still in the room, frantically digging through a small blue chest.

“Where is it?” Alexandria cried as she tossed clothing aside. “I am running out of time.”

Jaina rushed to get her entire body under the door and into the room where she could attack. Alexandria had her back to her while she emptied the box that seemed to contain far more than it should. She flowed across a thick rug as Alexandria suddenly stood and ran to the doors of a closet. She rushed inside as Jaina flowed between the blue chest and a table, quickly dissolving the body of a plush chair. She assumed the chair's shape, replacing it as Alexandria returned with a metal box and set it on the table. Jaina could hear shouts and roars from outside in the street as Alexandria sat on her and threw the box open.

“Please, work,” the woman said as she drew out what appeared to be a metal rod etched with magical writing. Jaina watched Alexandria raise the rod to her neck and touch the two together, causing a blinding blue light.

“Please!” Alexandria begged as magic flared, and a halo of blue runes floated about her. Then a click was heard as the thick silver cord around her neck suddenly came loose and fell to her lap. “It worked! I'm free!” she cried as Jaina took her chance to attack.

She flowed around the woman, absorbing Alexandria into her mass as she became sticky like glue. Alexandria screamed for a second until Jaina flowed over her mouth to stifle the cry. She struggled to rise to her feet, but Jaina was over most of her body, becoming almost a second skin.

There was a brief struggle, but the woman was quickly helpless as Jaina's mass covered her completely and brought her down.

“Well, well,” Jaina said with a mouth she created near the woman's ear. “You just couldn't leave well enough alone.” Alexandria tried to struggle, but her movements were like swimming in honey, and Jaina stretched with her, making it impossible to get her off.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Jaina laughed. “But you're not going anywhere. In fact, let's make sure that you and I are inseparable.” She felt the woman trying to scream as Jaina began to dissolve her clothing. In seconds Alexandria was bare, her skin completely covered by Jaina's liquid body. Jaina wanted to laugh as she began to flow between the woman's legs, causing her to shutter as her pussy was filled.

“Oh, your tight,” Jaina teased. “Do you mean to tell me you haven't been putting this lovely body to use?” She giggled to see Alexandria's stomach swell as Jaian tucked more and more of her mass inside. “Oh, you're all out of space in here, but you do have another hole.” With that, she flowed into the woman's rear, climbing deep into her body. She was surprised with how much of her mass she could hide inside the woman but still had to use her powers to reduce her size. When enough was tucked away, Jaina shifted her body, becoming a wooden cross with metal cuffs holding Alexandria spread before the mirror. She teased the woman's nipples as she shifted again, becoming a hot bondage outfit of leather straps and spikes.

“Now,” Jaina said with a strained tone. “You are going to stop whatever it is you are doing to my friends.” She shifted her mass so the woman could speak but wasn’t prepared for the answer.

“Jaina, please. You need to let me go!” she cried as the sound of battle echoed from outside.

“No, not until you stop whatever it is you did,” Jaina insisted, a face forming over Alexandria's shoulder.

“I can't stop it!” Alexandria cried. “But this is my only chance to escape! If you don't let me go, he will catch me for sure!”

Jaina was stunned by the reaction wondering if this was some kind of ploy to buy her freedom. She considered how the woman had fled down the hall in apparent panic and how she was tossing the room in search of her metal box. Was she genuinely scared by the situation and seeking a means to escape? If so, was it to avoid capture by Jaina, or could it be something else?

“Who is going to catch you?” Jaina demanded.

“I don’t have time to explain it!” Alexandria cried as she pulled at her bonds. “Please! I didn’t want to come here! He made me do it!”

“Who made you do it?” Jaina demanded. “And how did you find me?”

“A woman named Idris,” Alexandria cried. “She was asking people if they knew Rajeen and could help her get to her. I convinced a man to port her for a discount and came here with her, then told her to forget she had seen me.”

Jaina realized how simple the solution was. Idris had unluckily crossed paths with Alexandria using names that linked her to Jaina. Of course, Alexandria had used her charms to help the woman deliver them both right to Jaina's doorstep. Then she used her charms to wipe the memory and began her work of slowly infiltrating the city.

“Jaina! We are running out of time!” Alexandria insisted as another roar filled the air.

“What is going on?” Jaina demanded, now growing concerned that this was not what she thought it was. “What is that roar?”

“A Lammasu!” Alexandria cried. “It's been charged with making sure I deliver on my promises. If I can't convince you to go north with me, I am going in your place.”

“What is a Lammasu?” Jaina asked, her panic beginning to grow.

“I'm super high-level angelic,” Alexandria replied. “It's working for the group I owe a huge sum to. They gave me one last chance to find you, or I take your place on the auction block.”

“Then you should go,” Jaina cried. “This is all your fault! You wouldn't take no for an answer and then vindictively took things too far. You burned a town and reset innocent players in an effort to get me!”

“I’m sorry!” Alexandria cried. “Please, let me go! I promise you will never see me again!”

The house shook as people screamed in the street outside, causing Jaina's anguish to grow. The fear in Alexandria's voice was genuine, adding to her concern. Her form shifted, and she became a black dress over Alexandria's body before ordering the woman to go to the window.

Alexandria had tears in her eyes as she went to the window and looked into a street of carnage. Jaina could see that Hannah was down, Blackbast dragging her body away as Frank crawled away from what appeared to be a lion with a human's face. Roric was up but limping badly, while Gisley and Evalynn were nowhere to be found. Jaina could only assume they had already been defeated and likely dead as the terrible beast roared in defiance again.

“They are losing,” Jaina gasped.

“They never had a chance!” Alexandria cried. “That thing is over level one hundred and has holy powers. You would need an army to stop it.”

Jaina could see that the situation was hopeless as the lion strode boldly to the top of a rubble pile, his arrogant gaze sweeping the street. Jaina began to feel a sense of hopelessness until an angel descended from heaven.

A woman in shining silver and white armor trimmed with golden edges descended from the sky with a glittering bow in her hands. She touched down to face the lion and threw her head back, dark hair blowing in the breeze as the two glared at one another.

“Who is that?” Alexandria asked.

“That,” Jaina began as she couldn’t look away. “Is Queen Gwen.”

“Is she powerful?” Alexandria asked.

“She's powerful enough to send King Kevin's lackey running,” Jaina replied as they watched the scene unfold. Gwen demanded to know why the creature was in her land, and it laughed, saying it didn't answer to her. Her body language said she wasn't amused as fingers drew a golden string of light back ever so slightly.

Jaina watched in awe as the Queen stood like a goddess, her bow pointed at the defiant lion. She stated her distaste for the creature and how it would regret coming to her kingdom. It laughed, and a ray of holy light crashed down, striking Gwen, who didn't budge. When the ray ceased, the woman smiled and boldly asked if that was the limit of his power.

What happened next was the greatest display of raw power Jaina had ever seen erupted. Gwen tossed the beast around like it was a house cat, shrugging off its blows while delivering wounds that caused the creature to rage. The battle lasted nearly a full minute, but when the dust settled, Gwen stood victorious over the twitching beast.

“She’s amazing,” Alexandria gasped. “I can’t believe she won.”

Jaina wasn't sure how to react, but she was grateful to know the battle was over. Now she worried about what had happened to her sisters and if they were still alive. She could see Hannah getting to her feet with Breanne and Rajeen. Blackbast was helping Frank up, and Umtha was hovering over a downed Quinny. It was a scene of intense shock, but Gwen was quickly at Hannah's side asking questions. Hannah pointed to the building, and Jaina knew what was being discussed.

“They are coming for you,” Jaina said from Alexandria’s shoulder. “It’s time to face the penalty for your crimes.”

“Please, I would never have bothered you again,” Alexandria begged. “But I couldn't resist that thing. It had me in a collar, and I had no choice but to keep looking for you.”

“Alexandria, you should have taken no for an answer,” Jaina shouted. “You killed Roric to remove my collar, then attacked me in the street. Then you tried to reset me by burning a town to the ground, harming hundreds of innocents in the process. You hired thugs, assassins, rogues, and mercenaries in your mad quest to make me want to work for you, and never once did you explain why.”

“I didn’t burn that town,” Alexandria said. “I didn’t have the money or connections to pull something like that off.”

“Then who burned it?” Jaina demanded.

“The people I was working for,” Alexandria cried. “I was already in trouble when you turned me down. They had me backed into a corner.”

“You know what, save it,” Jaina hissed. “I have a feeling you’re going to be explaining yourself to a lot of people in a few minutes.” She ordered the woman to go outside and surrender. Alexandria pleaded to be set free, but Jaina was over her like a second skin. She shifted her form to a sexy outfit that spilled her breasts into the open. She then created a collar and leash before forcing her to her hands and knees. “You can walk out in the dress, or you can crawl out like this,” Jaina hissed.

“I'll walk,” the woman relented, so Jaina withdrew, pulling free from Alexandria's body and assuming her human form. She ordered the woman to dress in a new outfit and stood right behind her as she put on a blue dress. She then wrapped an arm around her arm, turning it into a metal cuff as she escorted her down the hall.

The first two floors looked normal, but the carnage became obvious as they descended the stairs to the ground floor. Rooms were destroyed, and nearly one side of the structure was gone. It lay in pieces throughout the street, a testament to the creature's might. To her great relief, Gisley, Chandice, Evalynn, and the others were all here, healing up and looking exhausted.

“Jaina!” Hannah cried when she stepped out, holding the nervous woman by the arm. She ran up and threw her arms around her pulling her into a tight hug. “I was so worried about you.”

“Me?” Jaina cried. “I saw the battle from the third-story window. “I thought that thing had killed you and the others.”

“It nearly did,” Roric said as he approached with his ears pinned back. “And you are going to pay for it.” His voice was a low growl as the group looked at the woman firmly held by Jaina. Gwen strode up, her armor still gleaming as she towered over the woman who trembled before her.

“So this is the source of the chaos in my land,” Gwen said as she leaned lower. “You are going to pay for harming my daughter.”

“I had no choice,” Alexandria squeaked as she withered under Gwen’s angry gaze.

“What do you mean you had no choice?” Gwen demanded as she suddenly reached out, grabbing Alexandria by the scruff of her dress and hoisting her into the air with ease. “I have heard the story of your cruelty and violence. A woman who sees only personal gain and will trample anyone who gets in her way.”

“I didn’t mean for it to go this far!” Alexandria cried as her feet flailed helplessly in the air. “I made a promise I couldn’t keep, and things got out of hand. They threatened to take my girls if I couldn’t deliver.”

“Who threatened you?” Gwen asked while shaking the woman.

“Mother,” Hannah called and put a hand on her arm. “The woman is falling apart. Please, I have a feeling she isn't the villain we think she is, so put her down and let her catch her breath.”

Gwen nodded and set Alexandria on her feet, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts. Jaina couldn't help but feel cold toward the woman, but she would hear her out for Hannah's sake. When Alexandria began, a story of mistakes, foolish promises, and demands unfolded. She admitted to putting her brothel near the spawn to find newly arrived girls who might be interested in being whores. She would offer them a home and a place to learn the trade of being a slave girl. It was all part of a plan by guilds that sold high-value women to powerful individuals in the north. All of it was voluntary; the girls were never forced or coerced, at least not by Alexandria. She loved her girls and loved being the one who cared for them. They never wanted anything and were free to take days off when they desired. She even kept money aside, saving it up in the event a girl chose to leave. When they did, she paid them from these savings so they would have all the money they needed to set up someplace else.

“So where does this go wrong?” Gwen demanded.

“I got involved in the contest of princes in the north,” Alexandria admitted. “The silken princes are going to form an empire, but only one of them can rule supreme. They are competing to see who can build the most unique and impressive harem of beautiful women. The winner becomes one of the most powerful men or women in the world.”

“This contest again,” Jaina scoffed. “It’s caused nothing but chaos.”

“I am familiar with this,” Gwen replied. “I was sent a letter from one of the princesses offering me a sizeable sum for any girls of unique quality under my ownership.”

“So they are going to choose an emperor solely based on the size of his harem?”

Hannah asked.

“Not size,” Alexandria replied. “I told you this when we first met. It's the uniqueness of the girl that matters. A rare race and class combination like Jaina is worth twenty elf women.”

“I feel insulted,” Breanne remarked.

“That’s the price of being so common a race,” Evalynn added.

“Explain how this contest turned you into a vindictive murderer,” Gwen demanded.

Jaina wanted to hear this answer as well and waited patiently for Alexandria to reply. The answer was simple, she took money in advance, promising the group of players searching the south for rare girls that she could deliver. She assumed her location to several spawns would ensure a woman of unique quality would come along sometime. When the wait grew too long, the men returned to harass Alexandria in her brothel. They demanded she produce something they could use, or they would take some of her girls in repayment. She was terrified of any of her girls being dragged away, and she spread her net wide. She began to pay rogues guilds in neighboring areas to search for girls for her. She grew desperate as the days went by, and suddenly, a girl emerged. The girl was a shapeshifter and a seductress who had come to New Eden to be a sex slave. It was like a gift from heaven, delivered into her hands in her time of need. However, when she looked closer, the girl already had a master, but that didn't matter. It was a gnoll, a beast race with no title, land, or anything to offer. She was sure she could convince this girl to join her, especially since she hungered to be in a collar.

“That’s a pretty vicious outlook,” Breanne said. “Dismissing Roric like that.”

“I'm sorry,” Alexandria said as she stared at the ground. “I didn't think she would want to serve a beastman with nothing to offer. I didn't know at the time that they had come in together. I made my first couple of attempts to persuade her and used my deceptions to entice her, but she resisted. I was trying to think of some way to convince her when the collectors returned. They demanded I pay them their money back in full or hand over two girls. None of my girls wanted to go with them, and I would never force them to do such a thing. I told them I had found a girl that would guarantee the winner, but I needed more time and money to convince her.”

“And now we see where this takes a dark turn,” Evalynn stated.

“I was desperate,” Alexandria cried, tears falling from her cheek. “They gave me a huge sum but warned me I had better deliver. I made one more attempt to sway Jaina, but she flat-out refused, pointing to the collar around her neck. I was shocked and made a snap decision, paying the rogues to kill Roric so the collar would vanish while I tried to kidnap her.”

“Ahh, the battle in the shop,” Evalynn said.

“Yes,” Alexandria replied. “In all my planning, I failed to notice he had taken a second slave girl. You took me completely by surprise and ruined my plan. I just wanted to get Jaina into my brothel and show her my girls while I explained my dilemma.”

“And you think that would have changed my mind?” Jaina demanded. “I told you a dozen times I came here specifically to play with Roric. I don't want to be somebody else slave girl.”

“I was going to make you the concubine of the next great emperor,” Alexandria replied.

“And become a queen of your own province,” Evalynn accused.

“I didn't care about the money anymore,” Alexandria argued. “I just wanted to save my girls. I started making plans to sneak them out and hide them in other towns just in case I failed.”

“So that’s why your brothel closed,” Gisley said. “You were trying to protect your girls.”

“Yes,” Alexandria said with a nod. “I sent them all away the day you left town, and I went after you. I was going to confront you as a group and explain my situation, but they found me first.”

The group listened as Alexandria admitted to losing her nerve. The hunters were angry that her girls were gone, so they decided to take her instead. She pleaded with them, assuring them she could get the money back, and made her failed attempt to steal their profits. When they stole it back, and she faced the hunters empty-handed, they were enraged. They wanted to know why she found it so hard to convince a slave girl to go north, and she explained Jaina's devotion to Roric. They demanded she use her deception powers to convince Roric to give Jaina up. Alexandria explained that Jaina wouldn't accept that, so they demanded she deceive Jaina too. Then she made a fatal mistake. In a panic, she explained that Jaina's class was naturally resistant to her powers. She said she was already too high in level to deceive and would resist any such effort. The solution was simple they confiscated the money she had, then brought in an ally summoner to create a fire elemental. They turned the extremely powerful monster loose on the town in the hopes of resetting Jaina so she could be controlled.

Jaina felt sick to hear how this had gone so terribly wrong and how their true enemy had been the groups seeking girls for the various princes. Alexandria had indeed made a promise she couldn't keep, and now she had a gun to her head. Assassins were hired to ensure the job was done, but Roric's enhanced senses sniffed them out, and they also failed. Every gold they spent trying to secure Jaina was laid on Alexandria's head until she was in their debt for a fortune.

“That’s not fair,” Gisley said. “They spent that money on their own.”

“I doubt they cared,” Rajeen replied. “They see her as the reason Jaina was not acquired properly, and returning with such rare women would have made them wealthy indeed.”

“So why did you use your powers to turn the surrounding town against our home?” Roric demanded.

“I didn't,” Alexandria admitted. “At least not willingly. They put a collar on me and forced me to help them. They told me if you got away, they would take it out of my hide, and I would work the streets until I paid them back not only the money I owed but the king's fortunes they would have made from Jaina.”

“Cowards,” Hannah spat. “Hiding behind you so you are the villain.”

“She is a villain,” Chandice countered. “Despite how these thugs coerced her, she is the one who tied her fortunes to them in the first place.”

“I agree,” Gwen said with narrow eyes.

“I want to hear the rest,” Hannah insisted as she approached Alexandria. “They told me you used magical posters to sway people. How did you do that?”

Jaina wasn't surprised that Hannah wanted to know how the magic worked. Alexandria explained that it was the hunting group. They paid high-level enchanters to burn her magic into a visual spell that subtly affected the view with a mild suggestion. The magic wasn't perfect, and agents had to keep refreshing the power by channeling into the posters secretly at night. It cost them a fortune to put it all into place, but the goal was simple. They wanted to make it seem that they would never find peace because Alexandria was always hunting them. They would turn Roric’s home into a hunting ground where players killed them repeatedly while pinning all the blame on Alexandria. Then the group would show up like rescuing saviors and offer Roric the money he would need to start over in exchange for Jaina. They would promise they had the means and resources to protect her from Alexandria and that she would never bother them again. They had specially crafted magical devices to help convince him he was selling her for her own good. After all, he loved her so much he would want to see her somewhere she would be safe and happy.

“This is sick,” Quinny said. “These people are monsters.”

“Was Moon any different?” Breanne asked.

“No, they are all monsters,” Quinny agreed.

“The rule of an empire is on the line,” Rajeen stated. “One to rival the power of even King Kevin. The hunting group that brings back a prize like Jaina will find themselves rulers of the kingdoms inside it. I am not surprised that these men went to such lengths to acquire her. I am more surprised they didn’t try harder.”

“Such is the lust for power,” Gwen agreed. “That is why I chose a class that would evolve into a queen. I didn’t want to have to earn it, scrabbling for power by any means necessary.”

“I wanted it to stop,” Alexandria sobbed. “I just wanted to find a home for my brothel and start over. I didn't want anything to do with the contest in the north anymore, but they put all those costs on me. They said I was going to pay back every penny if they failed to gain Jaina.”

“So, how do you end up in the north with the monster cat?” Hannah asked.

“They lost track of Jaina,” Alexandria said. “She vanished from their sight, and none of their spies could locate her. They turned on me, taking me north to where I was sure they were going to sell me. Instead, I was presented to an order of priests and holy knights called the Oath keepers. They shackled me to that creature and gave me one last chance. If I could bring Jaina back before the contest ended, they would allow me to pay them back from the profits of a brothel. If not, I would be sold into a harem to add to the number of girls it could keep.”

“But they can’t force you to do something like that,” Gisley insisted. “The collar would never lock unless you went willingly.”

“I would have,” Alexandria said and started to sob. “They found my girls, all of them. They told me where they were and what they were doing. They said they would make my girls suffer if I didn't accept the collar.”

“They really are monsters,” Evalynn replied.

“People like this make me sick,” Hannah agreed. “But you were willing to suffer that to keep them safe. You're not as bad as we thought you were.”

“She is not out of the fire yet,” Rajeen stated firmly. “She is still responsible for putting all this in motion. Yes, she lost control, but she still kicked over the first domino and started the cascade of events that led to this.”

“People make mistakes not knowing what will happen down the road,” Hannah insisted.

“Heather, you are too forgiving,” Breanne urged.

Jaina agreed, but even she was starting to feel some sympathy for Alexandria. Maybe circumstances got out of her control, and she wasn't to be blamed for what happened. Still, she asked about the cat, and Alexandria explained how it kept firm control of her. It was an insurance policy to ensure she kept hunting for Jaina, and then when they found her, bring her in. The monster kept her in a cage at night, mocking her for breaking her promise. Alexandria hunted around the north for Jaina while slowly moving south. She had all but given up hope when suddenly, out of the blue, Jaina appeared. She captured who she thought was Jaina, only to learn it was Princess Hannah in disguise.

“Ahh, the ill-fated abduction,” Breanne remarked. “Why did you not use your cat to stop us?”

“She revealed her true self while I was interrogating her,” Alexandria replied. “Once we knew we had the wrong target, he saw no need to reveal himself. He is how I escaped your trap and the city, running south to the next one. Then we ran into a red-haired woman asking about Rajeen and Roric. I approached her, and she told me the name of the city Rajeen was living in and how she was connected to Roric. She didn't have the money for a portal and was providing oral sex in exchange for a quick profit. I used my abilities to convince a mage to open a portal at a reduced price for a blow job, and I tagged along. Rajeen turned out to be gone, but plenty of people knew where. I arranged another portal to the new city, and together we arrived, and here we are.”

“Idris led you here,” Roric said distastefully.

“Don't blame her,” Jaina insisted. “She had no idea she was leading a viper into our midst, and she doesn't even remember it.”

“No, I told her to forget it,” Alexandria admitted.

“But, such a suggestion is not permanent,” Rajeen insisted. “We are aware of your gem, but even with such a device, your command would only have lasted a day or two.”

“It was the collar,” Alexandria replied. “It linked me to the Lammasu and allowed me to boost my power with his. All the gem did was lower people's resistance and made them easy to suggest. The true power was the lion. Besides, the gem broke after five uses anyway.”

“I told you it would break,” Chandice remarked.

“So, your power isn’t permanent,” Hannah stated.

“No,” Alexandria admitted. “Even with the Lammasu boosting me, I doubt it would have lasted more than a week. Eventually, all those memories will come flooding back, and people will know what I have done.”

Jaina was relieved to know that all the missing memories would return, but Hannah wasn't done. She wanted to talk to Alexandria about the mechanics of memory manipulation, but Umtha cut her off. The goblin woman reminded her that she had promised not to keep chasing after her lost memories. She was upset that Hannah was exploring this option, and so was Frank, who urged her to let it go.

With a sigh, Hannah let it go, but Jaina could see she was disappointed. Now the conversation turned to Alexandria and what would be done with her. Obviously, she was going to fail in her task, and soon, the people she was in debt to would come looking for her. The death of the lamassu would only add to their anger and potentially lead to more trouble. Hannah implored them to give Alexandria a chance to redeem herself, but that was asking too much. Frank pointed to her blood-soaked torn outfit and reminded her that it was Alexandria's fault.

“So what do we do with her?” Gisley asked.

Jaina saw Hannah turn to her mother with a pleading look. Gwen looked annoyed but relented to her daughter and took charge of the woman. She would sit in a cell in the castle where her guards were too high in level to be affected by her charms. That would give them more time to decide what to do with her and come up with a reasonable course of action.

“Does this mean it’s over?” Gisley asked as Gwen summoned five guards to escort Alexandria away.

“No,” Roric said while wrapping around the tender fairy. “It means we have taken a dangerous person into our midst. These hunters are sure to come looking for her, and they seem to be the true source of our problems.”

“We will help you fight them,” Frank said as Hannah leaned into his chest. “No matter what comes.”

Jaina looked to Alexandria as she was led away and wondered what would happen next. Was this the end of a long story of frustration, or were the silken princes going to attempt to claim her again? If Rajeen was right, she was potentially the slave that would decide who rules the empire, meaning they would be fools to give up now.

“Can we please go home,” Jaina said. “I just want to feel safe.”

Roric nodded and led them away, taking his girls back to the inn where they would be surrounded by guards and protection. Jaina just wanted a drink and a place to rest as her mind spun at the revelation that Alexandria had only been the tip of the iceberg. She needed time to think and a safe place to do so but suddenly found comfort when a soft hand wrapped around hers. She looked over to see Hannah at her side, smiling sympathetically. Perhaps, it wouldn't be such a bad day after all.