The Queen took a gulp of her wine before she inhaled. She turned her chair and leaned back. "I have a theory that Lira wishes to get rid of me so she could marry my husband and have more authority."
Aqua raised her brow.
"Of course, she can't allow anyone to know that she plans to do that. I noticed her trying to cozy up to him recently." With a swirl, she stared at Aqua, who gripped the cup with both hands and slowly sipped the wine.
"Do you like the wine, dear? It is some of the finest vintages."
Aqua took an awkward sniff and then brought it to her lips. "It's delicious." Aqua smiled as she took another sip.
Soleah smiled wryly, "Good, I got this bottle just to share with you."
Aqua's cheeks turned red, and her ears twitched. "I… Thanks…"
"Heh~ Don't thank me. You saved my life tonight."
"But, Soleah… you speak as if you are sure your husband wouldn't fall for her charms even if you survive."
She leaned on her palm, "Why wouldn't I be? That man is more loyal than a hound. I am certain he would rather kill himself than cheat on me, even if someone charmed him."
Aqua let out a giggle. The queen had trusted her lover more than she could believe was possible.
"I am not worried about him being seduced, however, I do worry about Lira's more desperate actions. She was calm and more subtle in her dealings before." Her brows furrowed as she spoke about Lira.
She was clearly worried about her, yet she knew precious little.
Aqua sighed as she thought about her experiences in Red Dawn and what she had witnessed within Lira.
"Soleah, I have a theory." Aqua finished her drink, and with a tap, the cup appeared on the table.
The Queen tilted her head slightly, "Oh? Do tell me."
"I haven't told you the whole truth about what I witnessed in Red Dawn."
Soleah frowned as her hand tightened around the cup. "Oh?"
"More of… I haven't told you the full extent of what they planned to do to Sheira." She shook her head.
"Tell me, I am getting worried."
Aqua blinked slowly as she exhaled, "The way they enslave elves and other non-humans is different than what you might think."
Soleah grabbed the bottle and poured more for both of them.
Aqua grabbed the cup and bowed slightly.
"Please tell me."
"They use fragments of time to put elves into a time loop of mind control until the mind breaks…" She looked down at the wine as she swirled it.
"Time? That should not be possible… Nobody can play with it."
She shook her head, "And yet they did it. They brazenly use those fragments to break the minds."
Soleah's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Did…they do that to Sheira?"
"You are correct, that's what happened to Sheira. However, I came just in time to save her."
Soleah smiled, "Even more reason to appreciate you. Please continue."
"All of the slaves carried the fragment; yet the majority cannot be saved… If I were even an hour late, Sheira would have been forever lost."
"That means… that Red Dawn is an enemy that we cannot afford to negotiate with…"
Aqua merely nodded.
"Could you tell me… how did you save my darling Shei?"
"I turned her into a goddess."
Clank
Soleah's cup fell on the floor.
"What?!"
"It was unfortunate, but that was the only way to save her life."
Soleah sighed, "I won't question you, despite this making me incredibly curious. I trust you. But would you be willing to tell me more down the road? Maybe even tomorrow when you teach Sheira? Of course, it is merely an ask, do not feel forced to do so."
With a nod, Aqua leaned back," Sure. So in my eyes, all those slaves had a dark haze around them."
The Queen raised her eyebrow.
"Lira has that haze, too. I suspect she works with Red Dawn, but I am unsure what her goal is…"
Soleah sighed loudly, "That… makes sense. If Red Dawn is so hostile, then Lira is even more dangerous than I thought."
"Incredibly so, I advise against underestimating anything concerning Red Dawn."
"If someone like you is cautious… I understand, I will warn my husband too… I don't want him to send my darlings to such a dangerous place." The queen nodded. It was wise to be cautious, and if someone whom she could tell was extremely powerful and was concerned, it meant that she should be too.
"What is more… When I extracted the memories of these assassins, they did not know anything about Lira other than the name. Unfortunately, that means I was not able to get anything useful out of them."
"You can even do that?!" The Queen placed her hand in front of her mouth and giggled, "Amazing, you are a perfect teacher for my Shei… Maybe I should ask for tutoring too."
The queen let out a hearty laugh before she went silent. "My daughter… a goddess… so proud of her! No wonder she calls you mommy, too."
Aqua blushed. "It is kind of embarrassing."
"I do not think so, Dear. You basically gave her a rebirth, poor girl could not use magic since her birth, and now she has an amazing opportunity to study under someone as amazing as you." She smiled, "And I have a suspicion you know exactly why she couldn't?"
Aqua nodded, "Because her blood was too pure, she produced Divinity. She was a nascent goddess."
Soleah's eyes closed as she inhaled sharply, "I feel like I will faint if you tell me more, so I will drop it. However, I still wish to offer you my sincerest thanks."
"It's fine… I really like Sheira and Azure, I wouldn't have let them die." She admitted as her ears slumped down.
The hands traveled to her mouth again as she burst out in elegant laughter, "I can't… You are absolutely adorable!"
"Soleah… why do you want these assassins alive? They wanted to kill you."
With a grin, the Queen stood up and, with a cast of a spell, the Assassins were bound in icy chains. "I want to use them as spies on Lira."
Aqua tilted her head; that reason was not enough in her eyes. "Can you trust them?"
"Dear, they are not even gonna know they are the spies. I doubt they even remember you had beaten them up. So I will place a surveillance spell on them and follow closely what Lira plans to do."
With a sigh, Aqua added, "And I guess you will need me to protect you?"
"Only if you wish to do so."
"I'll do it."
"Hah, you are very reliable, dear." The queen placed her elbow on her hand and leaned her face on her palm as she ignored Aqua's blush.
A groan reached their ears.
"Oh, what do we have here? Little Assassins are waking up?" Soleah grinned with sadistic glee. "Sleep, boys." With a cast of a spell, they were forced back into the slumber.
The Queen raised her scepter before she turned to Aqua. "Do you perhaps have better surveillance spells?"
"I do…" The Queen looked at Aqua with puppy eyes, "Could you show me?"
Aqua closed her eyes as she exhaled, "Sure."
With enthusiasm unbecoming of the Queen, she stared as Aqua's hands glowed pale blue light. Aqua approached the unconscious trio and brought her hand to the lead assassin's head.
"I will modify their memory as if they were never able to find you."
Soleah nodded along as Aqua continued to explain everything.
However, her gaze wandered to the invisible Sun God. Come on, don't laugh at me! You said I can care about her and help her!
Despite the cackling, she couldn't be mad at Sun God; he was right with everything he had said. The three elven girls she had met until now deserved her care, and thus she was willing to teach.
But what if… She shook her head. She had to stop her thoughts from wandering, no matter what. Sun God had told her they were self-destructive, and thus needed to be redirected or for her to learn how to trust and let go of her crippling fear of loss.
The mind was fragile in a way. Aqua had only known loss and grief; thus, as a means to protect itself, her mind had learned that it must not get attached or risk the pain once again, yet due to Sun God, she was able to cope and find a way forward.
She would count on Azure. She would trust Sheira, and she would put hope in Soleah. While her own brain would attempt to make her distrust them and fear losing them, she would try her best to stay on course.
Those three had the potential to offer her what she had been seeking all her life.
Her spell coursed through the Assassins as she marked them for observation. She had implanted a spell that would allow those with permission to use their eyes and ears as their own.
Her grin widened. "Done."
"Oh? That soon? You are really skilled." Soleah clapped.
"You could say so…" Her ears twitched at the praise.
"You are so humble." Soleah stepped forward and placed her hand on Aqua's shoulder. "You should go get some rest. I will deal with these boys."
With a nod, Aqua left the Queen's chambers.
"I didn't expect you to agree to help her so quickly." Sun God cackled for a moment before he stopped, "Yet, I am glad. This is a good step for you."
"It would not have been as easy to accept if not for your assurance. Thank you again… my dear teacher," Aqua smiled warmly as she made her way toward her room.