It took a few for everyone to settle back down, but I put on some relaxing background music, and that seemed to do the trick.

Aside from the suicidally stupid vole, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Since Devlen got woken up, I decided to take his shift too and just let him sleep. I'll just take a nap when we get home.

Temmie kept me company, but we didn't resume our chat. Just listened to music, the road, and the sounds of the night together. Hard to describe what it's like, but she just sorta makes herself known.

I got us to the city just as the walls were being opened for the day, and drove straight to the Garden. Devlen and Deluca's carriage was still there, so they could take it home. I'm just parking when Oliver's number pops up on my smart watch.

"Morning Sorrel." He opens the conversation. "I trust the trip back was uneventful."

"Aside from a vole trying to kill us all with a suicide attack, yeah." I laugh at the absurdity of the scene.

"That sounds like a story." I can hear the smile in his voice. "Care to come over for lunch and tell it." This is obviously a request from Vivian to hear about the worm and the shard.

"That's fine, it'll give me a chance for a nap." I can get by without it, but I'd rather not. "I'll see you around noon, then." I set the time and disconnect.

"Mind going on your own?" Amelia asks. "There's some stuff I wanted to do in the city today."

"That's fine." I nod. "I'm guessing if you're skiving off, then so is Apricot."

"Pinball!" Is all she says before running to the house.

"Guess that's that." I chuckle before turning to the mage couple. "We'll see you two at the party, yes?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Deluca says emphatically. "And, thank you for inviting us."

"Yes, thank you." Devlen adds and turns to his wife. "Come on Del, all I can think about is a long hot bath right now." I hitch up their carriage for them, and they sit next to each other in the driver's box. They leave while chatting happily to each other.

Amelia and I then head inside where her parents are just preparing breakfast.

"Welcome back." Turner greets us with a smile, and a hug for his daughter. "I thought I saw a pixie shaped blur heading for the game room."

"Morning." I yawn out. "And goodnight. I'm gonna head up to bed and catch some sleep before I have to head to the palace." I kiss Amelia on the cheek. "I'll see you tonight when you get back, be safe out there."

"You too, and good luck with Faye when she finds out that Apricot didn't tag along." The blonde laughs at my retreating back. "I love you." She says right before I turn the corner.

"Love you too." I reply before another yawn overtakes me.

***

"Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!" - "Buzz Buzz Buzz" - "Reeeooo! Reeeooo!" My triple alarm goes off and I have to hold myself back from vaporising that side of the room.

"Ugh! Need caffeine." I flop out of bed, cleaning and dressing myself with magic in one go. "Should have just stayed up, I'd feel less tired right now." I grumble as I head down to the kitchen.

"Was that racket you?" Apricot comes running up as I reach the ground floor. "You made me jump so hard that I tilted the machine."

"Sorry, sweetie." I pull her into a side hug and drag her with me to the kitchen. "Let me make it up to you with an early lunch. And are you sure you don't want to come to the castle with me? The Princess will be so disappointed when you don't show up."

"I'm not one to turn down food, but aren't you going there for lunch?" She completely ignores my comment about Faye.

"Yeah, but that's then, I'm hungry now." My stomach growls to prove my point. "I need some iced-tea and pizza."

"Ooh, pizza sounds good. Make that mag-marg-margurta... you know the one." She fumbles the name margherita. "I'll just take some juice though." She pours herself a glass from the jug in the fridge.

"Coming right up." I set to it and have a small pizza in front of us a couple minutes later. "One margherita for the marchioness." I take a couple slices and leave the rest for her.

"Thank you." She takes a bite, and the stretches from her lips to the slice. "Mmm, yummy. So, how's your new game coming along? I couldn't really get a good grasp on what you were making yesterday."

"It's Good." I say after washing a bite down with a gulp of tea. "It's a lot more complex than anything I've done so far. So, I was only able to get the basic framework done." I project an image of what the finished product will look like.

"Worms? Really?" She guffaws. "Oh, that's perfect."

"Yeah, I thought you'd get a kick out of that." A wide grin splits my face. "And since it's turn based, level difference shouldn't affect the game play. Speaking of, I forgot to ask how you two made out. I jumped straight to sixteen, and should be halfway to seventeen."

"We're both at thirteen now, though I'm only just, but Amelia said she feels close to fourteen." She mumbles around a mouthful of pizza.

"Nice, I was planning to take you girls leveling soon, guess this saved us the trip. Stupid over-sized worm was more useful that we could have hoped."

"Mhm." She nods along. "Any plans for the shard?"

"Leave it in my inventory and forget about it?" I shrug. "It all depends on whether the crown wants it, really. But if Vivian does leave it to me, then... I might have some ideas. But, I'm nowhere near ready to tackle something this powerful, not yet."

"I love that crazy grin you get when you're figuring out how to do the impossible." She smiles at me with a bit of pizza sauce on her chin. I lean forward to lick it up but she pushes me away. "Nuh uh, you've got an appointment to keep." She giggles and scoops up the sauce with a finger before licking it clean.

"Nnn. Stupid royals." I toss the crust onto my plate and down the rest of the tea.

"Don't worry, I'll use my tongue for something else once you get back." Her laughter fills the kitchen as I shake my head and get up. I walk past her squeezing her ass on my way out of the kitchen. To which she just laughs harder.

Amelia took the car again, so I take her motorcycle up to the castle. I get plenty of strange looks on the way, but also hear the term iron horse more than once. It seems the story of my helping Westra's mother has already started to spread.

Once at the castle a butler guides me up to the royal apartments. I enter a small dining room with Vivian, Faye, and Oliver sitting around a table. The food has been set out, but no one has started eating yet.

"Sorrel, thank you for joining us." Oliver stands to greet me.

"Yes, thank you." The queen nods from her seat. "And thank you for dealing with that little pest problem." She smiles as she says the word 'little'.

"Your Majesty, you are most welcome." I bow to her.

"Vivian, please."

"Vivian." I nod my head to her. "And, hello Faye. Sorry, but the girls had other things to do today." She looks a bit crestfallen at that. "To make up for it, I brought copies for you of all the new games I've been making, and some more movies." I materialize some glass cubes and three Gameboys and set them on a copy of the board game table from my game room.

"Thank you uncle Sorrel." Her eyes light up.

"You can play after lunch." Her mom says with a loving smile. "Speaking of..." She starts loading her plate, and the rest of us follow suit.

"So, how have things been here? Any word from across the border?" I ask and stab a forkful of the lovely meal prepared for us.

"They haven't mobilized any more troops." Oliver answers. "But, there's also no signs of them disbanding the ones they have already gathered. But, that Palmer a.. ahem bloke." He was totally going to say 'ass', but stopped himself with a look at the princess. "He got into a shouting match with their king and stormed off. He seems to have fled the country altogether."

"That's one piece of good news, at least." I nod and we all focus on our food after that.

Once we finish eating, some maids come in to clear the plates away.

"So about the thing you found." Oliver starts once they leave the room, but I raise a finger to forestall him.

"I'm sorry Vivian, but one of your maids is an imposter." I say calmly and project an image of the fake. A young-ish brunette with her hair up in a bun.

"What? How can you tell?" Oliver jumps out of his seat.

"I took the liberty of memorizing all of the palace's servants, down to the smallest detail." I explain and show an image of the original next to the copy, and then zoom in on their eyes. "She's good, but her eyes are different. There's a few other small things too. Freckles that are only painted on, and she got one in the wrong spot. There's also a few beauty marks under her clothes that she didn't bother with. A cavity in her back tooth, stuff like that." Her breasts are a half-size larger too, but that's hardly relevant.

"Dear, why don't you go play your new rune games in the other room." Vivian sends her daughter away. "Sorrel, scan the rest of them. Please." She adds the please as an afterthought.

"Already doing it." I say with my eyes closed. "There's a footman I don't recognize." I display his image. "Everyone else matches."

"His mother was sick recently." Oliver says at seeing the young man's picture. "He took a couple weeks off to care for her. I double checked his story, and it checked out, but I'll have him watched from now on just to be sure."

"I'm sorry. I know this is the last thing you need right now." I bow to the Queen again.

"No, it's my fault." Oliver spits out. "I should have noticed her, never thought to check everyone's eyes like that. Color and shape yes, but the small structures, no."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." I try to calm the mage. "I wouldn't have even noticed if her heart rate didn't increase for a second when she first saw me. She's very clearly a professional."

"It's not your fault, old friend." Vivian pats Oliver on the shoulder "You're paid to be paranoid, but some people just get it naturally." She laughs, teasing me and breaking the tension at the same time.

"Heh." I laugh at myself. "I've been trying to work on that, but without the girls here..." I trail off, a bit ashamed that I let my bad habits take over again.

"I'm just afraid that I'm getting too old for this." Oliver sighs out.

"Don't be silly." Vivian rebukes her court wizard lightly. "If I hadn't awakened, you likely would have outlived me and Faye both. None of us were ready for this, but the situation is what it is and we will adapt."

"I can help too." I offer. "I've been meaning to build a medical imaging rune, it could easily be adapted into a security device." Maybe not as easy as I'm making it out to be, but not impossible either. "At the very least, I could make an eye and fingerprint scanner, though the gloves that everyone wears may make the latter somewhat difficult."

"I hate to sound ungrateful, but what is in this for you?" Oliver asks. "You've already done so much for Larendath when you really don't need to. I know I shouldn't turn my professional paranoia against you, but you just don't make sense lad."

"Oliver it's alright. I trust Sorrel and he can keep his secrets." The Queen says, probably afraid that I'll get annoyed and destroy her country or something like that.

"No, he's right. I don't... make sense, or need to help." I agree with the aged wizard. "I won't tell you everything, but I will tell you that I received a great gift from the gods... Well, one of them at least. I feel it's my duty to repay this gift by helping out where I can."

I take a deep breath before continuing. "But, mostly I just want a safe place to raise a family. Keeping you safe is just a means to an end, really. Probably not the answer you wish it could be, but I think you're pragmatic enough to accept it for what it is." I lay it out plainly for Vivian.

"You're right, and I am. But, most importantly, my gut says to trust you. My father once told me that I should trust that feeling, not blindly, mind you. But still, he told me to pay it heed and see if the person that generates the feeling is worthy of it. And, you Sorrel have proven to be."

"Are you sure I didn't just charm you with my dancing?" I joke to break the tension. "Sorry, we may be a trio, but Amelia is still the jealous type." I send her a wink.

"There's that cheek again." She smiles and Oliver snorts, having recovered from his shock induced bout of paranoia.

"Thank you." Oliver bows his head to me. "And, I'm sorry for accusing you. But between giant bloody worms, Divine shards, and an imposter slipping in right under my nose. It was all just a bit too much, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"No worries." I wave it off. "Speaking of the shard, I'm guessing you guys want it. I'm happy to turn it over, but wouldn't recommend doing so in the middle of the city."

"Keep it." Vivian says. "It's safer with you than anywhere else." She pauses for a moment before shaking her head, almost like she was going to say something but changed her mind. "We've already received Devlen's report, and we need to deal with this situation now. So, you can head back home."

"Of course." I rise and bow before speaking more. "My condolences for your maid, I promise I'll get right to work on the security runes."

"Thank you, but it can wait until after your party." She speaks with false cheer, but I can see a deep sadness in her eyes. "You've already lost two days of preparation time, and you need this to help cement your place in society. Especially after I selfishly dragged you to the forefront like I did."

"Vivian-" I try to speak but she raises her hand to forestall me.

"No. I knew you were a good man, a powerful, yet compassionate man. One who would take his responsibilities seriously, even if they were thrust on you." She looks me dead in the eyes. "I made a conscious decision to use you. To en-noble you in order to use your strength as shield for my country. I sent Oliver to ask for your aid getting to Riverton because I knew you would step in to help." She takes a breath.

"And, even though you made your displeasure clear." She continues with a wry smile. "You still did it in a way that made me look good, that made Larendath look strong. And, how did I repay you? By dumping more responsibility on your shoulders. As Queen I cannot say that I won't use you again in the future. But, I can and will promise that I will not do so lightly. You deserve your peaceful life, and I as your monarch shall do everything in my power to give it to you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." I bow once again. "I swear that if you do need to call on me, then I will do everything in my power to protect Larendath, my home." She returns my bow, and then some.

We've said all that needs saying, so I leave. Oliver follows me out of the room to go deal with the imposter, the guards having already snatched her up at his spelled command. I use the same spell he did to send the princess, a quick "Bye Faye, I'll tell Apricot you missed her."

Getting back on the motorcycle, I ride off sedately while heavy thoughts fill my head. I had wanted to propose some of my plans for the country, but that can wait. "I've got a party to finish prepping for, after all." I snort at the absurdity of it all.

***