I was tempted.

I was being led in this direction. It seemed inevitable that I claim land at some point. But did I want this land?

I quickly minimized the prompt window; I didn't want to take the chance of mistakenly clicking yes or no before I'd come to a reasoned decision. There was no need to rush, and I wanted to discuss the situation with my Vassals before I made one.

Making better use of my resources was one of the lessons I needed to learn, one that I hoped to utilize methodically until I began adhering to the practice religiously. It didn't mean I would automatically make better decisions, or that I shouldn't respond quickly when needed. But when I had the time, I planned on being more thoughtful, to try to use the intelligence gains I was accumulating in my decision-making process.

"What's wrong with him?" Cedric asked drawing my attention back to Lord Kel. "Shouldn't the Wild Hunt have claimed him?"

"I think his mind is gone," Lohne replied. "It happens in the later stage of Elfshot addiction. And without Lady Patricia alive to control his actions, he's like a puppet whose strings have been cut."

"That would make the most sense," Uron agreed, "and it explains why the Hunt didn't claim him. Everyone knows that children and the innocent are never claimed by the Hunt. What isn't widely known is that occasionally, those whose minds have shattered, those considered insane are also ignored.

"Sadly. In those cases, where the Hunt allows them to survive, it is no mercy. They become little more than beasts. If they aren't insane the soon are, as they devolve into savagery, their minds further broken. They lose all sense of self. In every case, they die soon after the Hunt passes, always in extreme agony as they rend and tear at their bodies. Ultimately, they become creatures of horror, as they devour and consume their own flesh.

"It would have been more merciful for the Hunt to have killed him."

Lord Kel's Majordomo Desmond approached and interrupted our conversation, "Your Highness. What are your orders?" He asked obsequiously.

He seemed certain I would remain to run the keep now that Lord Kel was indisposed. I'm sure in his experience not many people would have turned down the opportunity. Assuming control over an established Demesne would be attractive to most of those that hungered for power. I hadn't decided yet. The System prompt was minimized for now, and I was ignoring the incessant flashing reminder, I would not be rushed into deciding.

"Show us to an office or private room where I can consult with my Vassals," I commanded the Majordomo, "I will need to see Lord Kel's Seneschal, Captain of Guard, Heir, and any other high ranking or Government officials he trusted to help him run Kel Keep. Gather them together in his council chambers. I will meet with them in thirty minutes."

I had noticed Squire Leian off to the side being comforted as she dealt with the loss of her father, but I choose to ignore her for now. What comfort could I offer? And any words of condolence or sympathy would only sound hollow and false. After all, no matter how I sympathized with her, I was still the instrument of vengeance that had called the Wild Hunt. Even if her father had been the instrument of his own doom.

She would need to find someone to hate and rail against. Someone to direct her anger and frustration with. And with Lady Patricia dead, the only person left was me. My actions may have been virtuous, but what do honor, and virtue mean when your father has lost his mind and will soon die a painful agonizing death.

Desmond led us deeper into the Keep, quickly leading us to a hallway. The path was completely devoid of life, no one hindered or barred our way as Desmond opened the door to Lord Kel's office. He assured me the room was soundproof and constantly swept for listening devices. A regular sweep had just been performed so the room should be clean.

After we entered the room, he took pains to assure me that we would not be disturbed. Finally, before excusing himself he drew my attention to a connecting door, a door that opened into Lord Kel's council chambers. He promised to have the required people gathered and waiting for me in this room within the time appointed.

Once he had left, I addressed my guards, "Sweep the room again for listening devices. Then two of you step out and guard the entrance, make sure no one approaches or listens at the door. One for each door."

They were quick and efficient, withdrawing and brandishing glowing gems that resonated. Gems that had been crafted and enchanted to detect the hidden and illuminate that which did not belong.

They detected not one but five devices that had been concealed. Powerful devices that had been used to spy on and monitor Lord Kel. It made me wonder; was his team that swept for bugs corrupt or were the devices replaced as quickly as they were found? Easily done if the Lord insisted on a regular schedule for his sweeps.

Gil and Dreyken were chosen to guard the doors, each stepping out to guard against intrusion. It was the first time I'd seen Gil and Ril not act in concert. It made me wonder why, until I realized, that they might not trust the new guards.

Dreyken and Cullen had yet to prove their worth in battle, and honestly, at this point, I was hoping they would not have too soon or ever. I trusted their motivations over Gil and Ril, but that was more because I was still annoyed about how they had acted when we'd been kidnapped to the Summerlands. No matter how naïve and short-sighted that hope might be, I knew that battle was going to be a mainstay of my life.

At the last moment, I decided to send Ril and Cullen out to support Gil and Dreyken. The number of listening devices demonstrated the lengths people would go to discover what transpired in this room. I thought the additional guards at the doors would bolster and increase the chances that those that gathered and conspired would be stymied in their efforts, further ensuring our privacy.

I'm sure most would realize what we would be discussing, but I would bet good gold that none would guess the direction this discussion would take.

Once we had the office to ourselves, I turned to my Vassals, "The System has offered Kel Demesne to me as a reward for the recent events. Lady Patricia is dead. Lord Kel is effectively dead. But Squire Leian lives and is Lord Kel's heir. I suppose by rules of primogenitor the fief should honestly fall to her, but with her rank, I don't see how she can maintain control.

"Thoughts? What do you consider the pros and cons of accepting the System's reward?" I asked.

It took a few moments before they responded as each of them cast surreptitious looks at the other, hoping someone else would bite the bullet and speak. I wasn't sure what kind of mental gymnastics or subtle body cues they were able to interpret, but eventually, they came to a consensus. Lohne admitted defeat and answered.

"It really depends on what Your Highnesses long-term goals are," she began. "If safety is paramount, then it makes sense to accept the reward. Kel fief is about as far as you can get from the Capital and the halls of power as one can possibly be. It is remote. It has no dungeon or natural resources of great wealth to rely on. And most of the town's income is generated by agriculture. Kel fief produces wheat and fish in abundance. But little else."

"By accepting you would be submitting to Duke A'Daoine's rule. These lands are part and parcel of his duchy, bestowed on his family by the Seelie Monarchs. So, unless you are determined to court open battle, or petition the Seelie Monarchy for forfeiture of Duke A'Daoine's claim, your rank of Prince would be meaningless.

"That is unlikely to happen. The Monarchs would take great delight in denying your petition, insulting you in the process.

"If they were foolish enough to cede these lands, it would set a precedent that would allow you to expand as you saw fit, grabbing more territory by right of battle.

"And it would lead to battle, to retain control of these lands you would have to do battle against Duke A'Daoine and the Seelie Monarchy eventually, unless you swear fealty as Duke A'Daoine's vassal," Uron continued taking up the conversation.

"Battle in this place would be problematic," Cedric said. "No hills, no way to control the direction of attack, and no walls to defend the city. Because of Kel's demesnes location, the thought of battle and war has had little sway on the construction of embankments and battlements. The city is just too remote from any Unseelie attack to make defenses a priority for the Seelie."

"Finally," Lohne said bringing their shared conversation to its conclusion, "the peoples in the area, although skilled in some cases, are not the best and brightest. People move and settle here because they want to escape the high stakes and fast-moving politics larger metropolitan areas encounter. If you were to declare this land separate from Duke A'Daoine's, you would experience a mass exodus as those that seek a quieter slower pace to life fled, concerned that they would be caught in the fallout as hostilities commenced."

"So, what happens if I refuse the reward and decide not to claim these lands?" I asked.

"Duke A'Daoine will decide. Since Squire Leian is so young and new to her Rank, a Regent will probably need to be installed. That is if the Duke doesn't decide to replace the Kel family completely with fresh leadership." Uron answered.

"And considering Thom's actions. That, Lady Patricia was a disguised Olympian. And that Lord Kel has ruined himself with Elfshot addiction. Chances are very high that he will decide to sweep the place clean and install a fresh set of retainers and vassals to restore order and root out corruption."

"That might seem harsh. But it would actually be most beneficial to the citizens. Either you or Duke A'Daoine are going to need to make drastic changes, not only in leadership and government for this fief, but in its readiness, preparedness, and defense. The Olympic Pantheon was able to hide and become so entrenched here, most certainly because this fief was ignored and thought of as trivial by all. This may serve as a lesson to those with greater power. And become an impetus of change. I'm sure Fief Kel isn't the only out of the way demesne that has been targeted by that Pantheon," Lohne declared.

[They're right,] Caraid added. [You can't afford to accept this reward. This is where you come when you want to retire and live a life of leisure. You have mandates that require you to become involved in not only World politics, but Universal politics. The quests you have been given won't allow you to claim this land and remain a passive bystander to events. You would bring misery and possibly a war to this area if you claimed it unless you swore fearsome Oaths to serve Duke A'Daoine.]

[S-Prime has gone past the point of hints, to almost bludgeon you by recent events. A confluence of fate and powers are gathering, and it seems as if you may be the fulcrum that determines how things will play out. S-Prime certainly believes that to be the case.]

Each of them had valid arguments that closely paralleled what I'd concluded soon after System had offered me these lands. I knew the safe thing to do would be to accept the reward and swear fealty to Duke A'Daoine. It would be smarter and remove me from the cosmic chessboard as both pawn and king. But I couldn't do it.

"I agree," I said, "accepting these lands would be the expedient choice, but not the most helpful. If Olympus and Asgard are to be stymied, then ignoring the problem and depending on others to discover a resolution is cowardly. And as you've so subtly hinted, this land is not suitable to further my agenda."

That said, I opened the System menu offering the reward and decisively refused.

[You have chosen not to claim the lands of Fief Kel. You have gained 20,000 gold]

I wondered briefly if that gold was System generated or removed from Kel's treasury. Either way, the funds were added to my coin pouch, and I was not going to refuse them.

Money hadn't really been an issue yet, but I could foresee a time when I would need vast sums. If I were going to build the kind of Kingdom I'd envisioned, I would need to be able to fund and build infrastructure. It may be crass and uncouth to worry about coinage when you are a Prince, but wages must be paid, retainers and vassals must be fed. I couldn't afford to ignore these realities no matter how crass and uncouth they may seem.

Speaking of, once that decision had been made, I realized two things. First, I was hungry; we were supposed to have been attending a banquet so none of us had eaten much earlier. And, second, I had to go to the restroom.

Battling was great for sweating the toxins from your body, and dying certainly slowed the process, but now that I had a moment of peace, the call of nature reminded me that Immortality was built on a foundation of mortality. Prince or pauper, we all must answer the call of nature, and I really had to piss. Thankfully, Lord Kel's office had an en-suite and I wouldn't need to embarrass myself when I attended the next meeting.

Hunger ignored, for now, Cedric gathered the guards outside Lord Kel's office, and we moved to enter the next room. Our discussion while fruitful had been quick, and we'd barely spent thirty minutes coming to a decision. None the less, the meeting room was almost full to bursting. It seemed anyone that was anyone had clamored for admittance and insisted they attend.

It mattered little to me who was in attendance, but Uron had other ideas. Motioning for me to remain in Lord Kel's office, he quickly and decisively began clearing the room of superfluous attendants and sycophants. Finally settling on an even dozen attendees, including Leian, the Majordomo, Lord Kel's Seneschal, and his most trusted advisers, Uron gave the all-clear and motioned for me to enter.

"Let's make this quick," I said addressing the room as soon as I entered, not bothering to claim a seat. "Lord Kel's situation is dire and cannot be ignored. He hasn't long to live, and his condition will only deteriorate as the Elfshot continues to destroy his body and mind.

"System has offered these lands as a reward for uncovering the truth about what has been going on here and defeating Lord Kel and Lady Patricia. I have refused. I have no claim on these lands. It was the Wild Hunt that acted. Their vengeance and retribution were satisfied when the battle was ended.

"Regardless, that means some decisions must be made until Duke A'Daoine has been apprised of the situation and can act.

"Leian," I continued ruthlessly, "just days ago you were a commoner. I doubt the Duke will invest you with these demesnes. You are simply not ranked high enough. Whether he will appoint a regent and council to rule for you until you are able to Rank up is his decision. Mine is to inform you that my plans to embark on our planned journey and leave these lands tomorrow will go forward.

"Lohne. You and Desmond should contact Duke A'Daoine and inform him of today's actions. All of today's actions. Stress the importance of the decimated ranks left in Lord Kel's forces because of the battle with the Wild Hunt. He will need to act expeditiously to maintain control over the area.

"Inform him that I will be traveling to his lands and will meet to discuss what occurred here today and over the past fortnight. The meeting shouldn't last long, but I would appreciate his attention when I arrive.

"I don't foresee a long stay, so guest rights or quarters are not necessary, but do make it clear that I intend to use the teleportation array to travel to the Capital as quickly as possible.

My pronouncements were not met with a cheer by Lord Kel's people. I hadn't thought they would be. Leian, especially, seemed to resent my words, I couldn't blame her. I could have sugar-coated them, tried to soften the blow, but enough obfuscation and smearing of truths had occurred.

Deceit and conspiracies are what had led us to the now. Perhaps hard truths were what was needed in order to shake the complacency of those that remained and remove the blinders from the eyes that these people had labored under.

I felt sympathy for them. But I didn't have the time to remain to ease their suffering. They would have to depend on each other for comfort.

[Quest generated - Meet with Duke A'Daoine and reveal the truth of Olympus' schemes and Sidhe co-conspirators.]