Dressed in a white and yellow flowing robe, preposterously clean for someone jogging across a dusty mountain valley, Maisy worked over the information she had to go on. Those fools had been messing around in the ruins of the ancient city. Maybe she shouldn’t have pushed them into a corner.

Even Stacy, the most capable for the task of the higher level residents, had stayed away from the potential danger lurking in that long forgotten place. She had made sweeps every few months searching for the stone. However, her spell cast a wide net and provided little detail of the area it covered.

Dangerous beasts and magical creatures abounded throughout the unclaimed territory. Without a ruling house there was no common order in a whole host of ways. This was one of many reasons she had been able to carve out her small piece of the world. However, she had never expected there to be a nest of naga slithering under their feet.

Cire’s action to send for her was one of the few pieces of information that had made any sense about the situation. The group had been caught in some sort of giant explosion because they had stupidly attacked an unfamiliar monster without considering the consequences. Then he had somehow prevented an ambush from the naga by opening a dialogue with the creatures.

By the time her group reached the desecrated grove at the center of the valley most were winded. Maisy had pushed them hard. Stout actually flopped down and laid on the ground as he caught his breath. Nicolas and Andre were hunched over with their hands on their knees. Only the silver haired dwarf showed no signs of distress from the ragged pace.

“So, Selene is critically injured. Cire is talking with the naga. He sent you to come get me, but he didn’t tell you anything else?”

Gasping in between breaths, Nicolas struggled out a response while shaking his head in the negative. “No ma’am, can’t say that he did. Just that he would really appreciate it if you both you and Stout came.”

The hamlet was still caught up in its work for the day. Miners were toiling away pulling ore from the mountains and lumberjacks were harvesting timber. Maisy had wanted to shut down operations and bring everyone to the ruins. Never the less, she had the suspicion that doing so would have not only exposed her secret, but Cire’s as well. That was something far more significant to consider.

If he had only needed healing he wouldn’t have asked for Stout. I wonder what that boy is up to. Obviously they were trying to dig up more about this place before sitting down with me again. I really should have just made it more clear what I want out of this. I just had to go with the impressive display and cryptic request. Hopefully the situation didn’t get so out of hand that I can’t salvage it.

Maisy waited for the brothers to fully regain their composure before she pulled Stout to his feet. She thrust a rope into his hands.

“I know it’s been years since we have done anything like this, but do try and keep up.”

Her easy smile affixed firmly in place, the leader of the hamlet began chanting. Maisy’s hands delicately traced lines and circles in the air before her. Occluded by the bright sunshine, a soft yellow light gathered on her skin. The light pooled in her hands as she uttered the last lines of her incantation with clear and resonant words.

“Theia, goddess of the light and bright, guide my path and pierce the veil of darkness. Shine and illuminate.”

Gathering from the energy suffusing Maisy’s body a twinkling miniature star formed between her hands. The bright globe floated away and then down the giant bore leading to the cavern. It stopped towards the top and held position. She wanted the spell active, but she didn’t want to give away everything.

“I’m going to leave the light in the tunnel until I need it. That means you two need to be able to see in the dark because we are not going to be casually throwing around any torches. Come here,” Maisy instructed the two humans.

There was no incantation or gestures to accompany the next spell. The female dwarf simply closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment before touching each man on the temple. Maisy dusted her hands off and picked up one of the ropes.

“Theia is the goddess of sight, first and foremost. She will grant you vision in far more than darkness. It will only last a short while, let me know if you need me to bless you with it again. Now hurry along.”

Before either of the brothers could ask any questions, she had hopped over the side and started rappelling down into the pit. Andreas and Nicolas were soon to follow, smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Grumbling and complaining, Stout brought up the rear.

Getting to Selene and Durg was uneventful if a bit difficult. The group had to navigate carefully around heaps of blasted apart mushroom bits. Most of the eastern side of the cavern was traversable compared with the goopy amalgamated mass that covered the floor on the other side. Maisy would have liked to explore the space, at least with her eyes, but she was focused on her task.

When she saw Selene no worse off for wear sitting next to Durg, she was more than a little frustrated. She skirted around Cire and the Naga, watching them talk. Once the two groups had gathered together Maisy gave Selene a quick once over. She pressed her palm to the elven woman’s chest and a pulse of mana spread into Selene and back into the dwarf. There was no outward display of power, only an echo in the ambient magic gathered around them. When Maisy was satisfied that Selene had no lasting damage she removed her hand.

“How long have they been talking? Is that elvish? Do you know what he has told her?”

Selene leaned over and whispered into Maisy’s ear before standing up.

“Not too long, she has been waiting here by herself for quite some time. He just went over there a bit ago. Its ancient elvish, I don’t understand much of it, not enough to hazard a guess at what they are saying.”

Cire had noticed the commotion as the two brothers returned with Maisy and Stout. He excused himself from his conversation with Kalani and joined them. Pointedly looking at Maisy he addressed their situation.

“So, this will come as a bit of a surprise for Nic and Andre, but considering what they have just gone through I think they have a right to know. I am in way over my head and I am beginning to realize just how far above me the water is. The good thing is, I think Kalani is swimming down there with me.”

“Kalani? The strange looking naga?” Maisy inquired.

“Strange looking? I hadn’t seen a naga before, but a snake person doesn’t exactly look normal to me in the first place. She introduced herself as Kalani, Queen of the Lantern Naga of Mistfall Lake.” Cire looked back at Kalani, who had resumed her patient still position observing the group.

“I didn’t really have any better options. Our party was pretty banged up and Selene was completely out of the fight. So I took a gamble, still not sure if it paid off or if I am just playing into her hand. I told her I am the ruler of the territory and that I wanted to negotiate. I figured at the bare minimum it would buy us some time. She has been rather helpful and agreeable since then.”

Everyone but Durg’s eyes went wide for various reasons when Cire revealed his position. Durg already knew, so he had been watching the others and taking amusement in their reactions. The first to speak was Maisy, taking control of the situation before it could spiral.

“That explains it. Well, at least some of it. I think you and I should have a quick talk Cire. I imagine circumstances between us have changed.”

Cire nodded and peeled off from the rest of the group with Maisy before they could start in with questions. The two huddled amongst the mushroom carcasses a small ways away from the others. There was no doubt that they could be overheard if any of the others had tried, but they appeared to be busily talking between themselves.

“They have indeed changed. I have more details about the bargain you wanted me to accept. But I have also gotten into a pretty sticky situation that I have no idea how to navigate. I was thinking that instead of haggling or tricking me, we could put everything out in the open when we get out of here. To that end, I seem to remember something about you wanting to serve as the emissary for my house.” Cire immediately jumped straight into the crux of the matter.

The experienced dwarf had spent many years in the high dwarven courts politicing. Bizarre situations were hardly rare for nobles and aristocrats, but this was odd to say the least. Cire wasn’t willing to just assent to her previous demands to garner her assistance, but he was giving her upfront concessions. Maisy knew that she would have come to help Selene in any case.

Maisy wondered how much he had already given away to the serpent. She had wanted to wait until he had completed far more of the process of establishing his capital and consolidating the territory before she got involved. On one hand, she would have immediate influence over how the area was developed. On the other hand, she would have to deal with the myriad of struggles of getting things moving and she knew that headache all too well.

“I did, but I hadn’t anticipated you needing one so soon, dear. You really don’t like to wait do you? It’s all jumping straight into the action, no foreplay.” Maisy teased, she wasn’t in a hurry anymore and she might as well have her fun. Young men were always so easy.

Cire was thankful for the dim setting given his flushed features. He may have a depth of experience when it came to expense reports and requisition requests, but he had never been good at flirting or sexually charged conversation. He knew she was lightening the mood, but it made him uneasy in an entirely different way than Kalani.

When Cire didn’t respond Maisy prompted him with additional questions.

“What have you told her besides basic introductions? Do you know what she wants? Do you even know what you want to accomplish?”

Explaining what he had told Kalani didn’t go over well, partially because Maisy couldn’t quite comprehend what Cire was saying either. Cire didn’t overtly talk about accruing power, wealth, or influence. He was thinking of the territory like a guild or business, not an empire. She could fix that easily enough in the long term, but she put it out of her mind. She summed up the salient points as she saw them.

“Let me see if I understand. You have both been dancing around exchanging platitudes. She managed to get you to talk and spill your intentions. On top of that, she has been watching you this entire time. She even gave you healing potions, and I can’t believe I am saying this, that you administered to Selene without identifying. Am I missing anything?” She had started to let an exasperated tone leak into her voice towards the end of her statement, but she reigned it in before her question.

“Before I go meet with her I need to get as much information as possible. I don’t want to make anymore of a hash of this than you already have.”

Furrowing his brow in thought, Cire tried to think back over the last few hours. They had pretty much covered everything. Most of the stress and his focused had been directed towards Selene’s condition. He looked back over at Kalani and he was immediately reminded of the first time he had laid eyes on her.

“Well, there is this one other thing. Right after the explosion, we all saw her kill and eat some of that other naga over there. You can see pieces of it on the ground mixed in with the mushroom chunks. I’ve been trying to figure out why she did that, but just asking outright doesn’t feel like the best approach.”

“You’re lucky you’re so pretty.” Maisy said as she sighed and patted his arm. “Brave too, maybe foolhardy. But at least plenty of interesting things have happened since you crawled into my bed.”

Now, I am about to go and represent your interests Cire. That means you need to decide what you want to do. You don’t really have any resources to trade, but you do have some options when it comes to bartering. Do you want to bond their settlement to the territory through an alliance, leave them be, or do you want to declare them enemies?”

Chagrined, Cire looked uncomfortable and shifted on his feet. He wasn’t used to making decisions with such significant implications. Ultimately he realized that he didn’t have to make that choice until he had more information.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t even really think about that. I was just busy making sure we stayed alive and conning my way through not getting attacked. It didn’t really occur to me what to negotiate for. I figured you could help out with that. I’ve just been trying to build a rapport so she doesn’t bring her whole village back here and eat us all.”

Maisy clucked her tongue. “I don’t think she’s likely to do that, otherwise you wouldn’t have been alive by the time I got here. She obviously wants something that you can provide. A queen wouldn’t have waited around personally to attend to you regardless of how small her settlement is.”

“I was thinking along those same lines. Now that you and Stout are here, and she still hasn’t called back any of the others we aren’t in the same kind of danger as before. Kalani doesn’t seem like the type of person who would willing trade away advantages without expecting something in return,” Cire explained.

“Ohh, so you’re on a first name basis with our scaly vixen are you? Manage to figure out what she likes to eat besides eating her own kind?” Maisy felt like it was important to remind Cire that he was not dealing with a creature he understood, it was easier to deliver those messages packaged with a dusting of levity and sarcasm.

“Well, we might as well head over. You will need to translate for me. Make sure we present a united front, my lord.”