“Well? Haemish, what is this little creature? An experiment of yours?” The sharp, cold voice continued, and Aarav whipped around only to see a stern-looking woman glaring at him and Haemish. Aarav took in her appearance; black hair cascaded down to the small of her back, shiny and reflective like a shampoo commercial from the old world. Nice hair, she had dark brown irises almost black, and he realised with a start, huge pupils. They seemed to take over the entire iris. A small sharp nose below flicked slightly up at its end. A stern-looking mouth with soft creases at the corners made her look like she had a slight frown, held up by a long and toned neck and well-defined collarbones.

Her build was more athletic than curvaceous. Her arms were slim but very well defined and muscled. Her legs were hard to see with the dress on, but there was something about the way she stood, like a tiger observing potential prey. Her stance said she was ready to pounce, sprint, or duck and roll. This woman was a wild card, a coiled spring, waiting to strike at a perceived threat.

When he looked back up at her eyes, he shivered. This woman, she is the most dangerous thing I have even seen, far worse than the thugs he had dealt with in his past lives, more terrifying than that night in the basement with Ami. The Panther was a candle to this bonfire. And the vast underground creature had been a force of nature, like a hurricane or these forceful winds. Comparing this woman to that would be like comparing an approaching tsunami against the axe murderer that had chosen you as lucky target number fifteen, and he had already killed fourteen other people, and you knew it.

Every instinct in Aarav told him he needed to get away from this woman. His lizard brain was trying to claw its way to the surface and make him retreat. Instead, he shrank back, taking the nutrition brick with him. No sense in dying hungry. If I have to go:

The cold expression on her face at his one eye and mouth; did not help his trembling. “Well?” her single word held a promise and Aarav shivered at the implied threat there. Aarav was sure that the taste of blood in his mouth was just in his head, and he didn’t have any blood in this body.

“Uhh…hmmm…well, you see…itisacreaturewepickedupintheforestandthenbroughthere!” After the initial hesitant tone, Haemish blurted out the rest in a long string with complete unintelligibility. It took Aarav a moment to separate it all for coherence. When he did, he realised this feeling of imminent death might not be unique to him. Haemish was also flustered; the normally calm but grumbling old man was out of sorts! It was almost enough to make Aarav laugh out loud, but he didn’t. The eyes were still there, still watching.

“Interesting, and it speaks? Does it simply repeat what it hears, or is it intelligent? Very curious indeed.” Aarav would have wiped the sweat from his brow if he sweated and had a brow.

Is that sweat? No, it’s just Slime. This woman is making me sweat my equivalent of blood. The eyes of death had shifted their focus to Haemish as their owner spoke.

“I-it…ss-seems in-telligent y-you-ur majesty.” Oh, the queen is here. Wait, what? What is she doing here? Aarav was surprised. No, that was an understatement on par with calling a shotgun blast to the face a minor scratch.

“Oh good, good. Enough Haemish, leave me. All of you.” This woman dismissed Haemish and the others without as much as a gesture. Words were enough. Aarav continued to look at the woman in front of him. If he hadn’t been so terrified of her, he might have thought, physically, she was attractive. But that oozing sense of dread that rolled off her couldn’t be ignored.

Haemish bowed and withdrew, followed by his apprentices, told to leave his lab like a child. Huh, it sucks to be you, buddy! Actually, no, I would rather be where he is going instead of here with- Aarav gulped -that. The dragon lady was staring at him, and she had never stopped; maybe she would never stop.

Then all of a sudden, the pressure vanished as it had never been. This situation is a little too surreal, let me guess. The queen masked her presence, like some ninja from the stories! Aarav continued to look at her waiting for what was to come next. It was unnerving, just waiting for what was likely to be calamitous. Haemish had no power to remain here, and therefore it was now clear. He had no authority to protect Aarav. The realisation hit him as the nutrition block had earlier. This Queen was the person he needed to ingratiate himself to, or one of them anyway.

“Hello, little one, what is your name?” Okay, I am not sure whether to be offended or excited. On the one hand, getting treated like a child means they’re less likely to kill me. People don’t just go around slaughtering babies and puppies, but they don’t treat them with respect either. I can make this work, I think.

“Hello.” Innocent and bright did not work with a chain smokers voice, and he gave it a try. “Hello!” Yes, much better. Now I sound like I smoke ten a day instead of fifty! Aarav was not able to hide some of the embarrassment from his face.

“You have a very expressive face for a monster…what are you?” The no-nonsense tone was back at the end. This time, she sounded like she was telling off a petulant child. Aarav sighed inwardly, let the dance begin.

“Your Majesty…” he began. She raised a hand to cut him off.

“No titles or pleasantries. You do not care for any of that, do you?” the Queen asked like it was a foregone conclusion. Of course, it was. Aarav was a monster for the forest, and what did he care for the subtleties of court and politics?

“I was just using the name Haemish used for you...was that wrong?”

“Do not play games with me; you know more than you are letting on. If you don’t play games with me, I will be as honest as possible. I don’t have time for tip-toeing and testing with you.” And the eyes are back. Aarav looked away, unable to make eye contact.

Did she have a Skill that could tell when he was lying? It seemed like an obvious thing to want to have. Aarav didn’t have it, though. Could I get something like that? As usual, he got distracted. The woman was still staring at him. Maybe she is just good at reading people; perception must have far more uses than physical awareness of surroundings. Maybe mental and spiritual awareness as well? However, I haven’t noticed anything.

”Very well, I am not very familiar with titles, having not interacted with any royalty myself. However, I know what the title means, and I agree, and I do not care for them either way. It is respectful to use your title, though, and I will not use it then if it puts you at ease.”

“Haha, you have some gall, puts me at ease...hmmm, yes, I suppose it does put me at ease. I would like you to call me Isabella, and that is the name I had before I gained the titles. Understood?”

“You make requests like orders...very well, Isabella. I will call by the name you have requested.” Was he speaking more stiffly than usual? It seemed like the right way to talk to a queen, but at the same time, it did feel odd and new as well. He reflected that he was talking a little more like Haemish did.

“Now that the irritating part of the conversation is out of the way, I will ask again, what are you?”

“Shouldn’t you be asking WHO I am? Isn’t asking what I am rude...?” Aarav could help to ask.

“Hmm...if you were human, perhaps those social conventions might apply, but in this case, no, I believe I asked you to speak candidly. I intend to do so and would not have you holding back while I ask you questions.”

“Very well,” Aarav said with a sigh, “I am a Slime Monster. However, I can speak Darfan.”

“A...Slime Monster...there has to be more to it though, you are made of some mushy, slime as you say, but you also have the clarity of water... and I can see almost right through you. Are you eating while I speak to you? Now, who is being rude!” Aarav had indeed continued to dissolve the brick he was sitting on, and since he was clear, she could vaguely see through him to where he slowly dissolved the block. He had given up on Consume Blorenar when his Mana ran out, though.

“You don’t happen to have a Mana Potion do you?”