The heavy musk of sex still clouded my bedroom when I teleported into it. A soft flush touched my cheeks, and my body ached at the lingering memory. It’d been different than the first time, in ways I hadn’t expected. Not only because I was the receiver, but because when I’d opened my eyes, Treasure had still been there. I wanted to stop time to enjoy him for a while longer, but I needed to conserve my strength for the fight ahead.
I’d dressed in casual clothes when I’d dropped Trey off, but I needed to change into something more imposing before the show began. I opened my wardrobe and stared at the black options available. I hadn’t worn black in front of the royal champions, hoping to avoid jogging any of their memories. What memories they’d already maintained were troublesome enough. Now I had to find something imposing that also obscured my identity.
I picked out a black waistcoat and ran my thumb over the embroidery. The thread was also black, so the details needed to be felt more than seen. Not ideal for a loud, obnoxious presentation, but the thought of Treasure running his hands over my chest made up my mind.
The black cloak I chose weighed heavier on my shoulders than I remembered. As soon as I’d pulled the hood up, I grimaced as myperipheral vision narrowed. During my apprenticeship, I prioritized aesthetics over practicality because so many evil professionals refused to take anyone seriously without them. After months of wearing more comfortable civilian clothing, I wondered why I’d ever bothered trying to impress them.
Once dressed, I needed to prepare the minions for the champions’ arrival. Remind them of their roles and help them polish their acting skills. Teleporting to the throne room would have been easier, but it would have also cost more energy. Besides, I had hours before anyone arrived—I could walk.
I opened my bedroom door and stared in surprise at the guard standing outside of it—an orc, this time. “What are you doing here?” More importantly, howlonghad he been standing there, and how much had he heard?
The orc straightened to attention. “Guarding your rooms, my liege.”
“I’ve already said I don’t need my rooms guarded. You should be patrolling or—” I waved my hand vaguely “—standing menacingly somewhere.”
“I know you wanted us to be seen, your lordship, but Captain assigned me here after the adventurers began snooping around.”
I stared at him, hoping he’d gotten the order of events wrong. “You mean that your captain assigned you herebeforethe adventurersarrivein case they snoop around, right?”
The orc’s brow furrowed as he processed the question and all its italics. “The adventurers arrived yesterday.”
“What do you mean—they can’t have. I’ve been with them the whole time.”
“Not sure how to be any clearer. A group of four adventurers arrived at the lair, wanting to speak with you or your apprentice. We told them you weren’t in, and that you didn’t have an apprentice, so they asked to wait.”
Five years living in the lair, and not a single adventurer had ever made it to our front door. Even the royal champions wouldn’t have succeeded without help. How did an unrelated quest wind up at my door at the exact wrong moment?
“Where are the adventurers now?” I didn’t like the idea of strangers roaming around my lair. The best way to deal with them would have been to reset time to before they arrived, meet them at the door and scare them off. But if I did that, there was no guaranteeeverything would proceed the same way. No guarantee that last night would happen again. If I couldn’t deal with themthen, I’d have to deal with themnow.
“Not sure. I chased one off—crusty old fellow going through a midlife crisis—yesterday but haven’t seen any today.”
Why did the man’s midlife crises have to involve a quest of all things?
“Mimsy!” I shouted.
A green blur zoomed through the corridor and smacked straight into my chest. “Master Wilde, how did we do?” it asked, clinging onto me. Its wings fluttered in excitement, and it beamed as it waited for praise.
“You did adequately,” I said, patting its head.
Mimsy turned and shouted at the top of its lungs. “We did adequately!”
Bitsy and Bop cheered from somewhere down the hall.
“Where is the other group of adventurers?” I asked.
“Somewhere,” Mimsy replied unhelpfully.
The orc poked Mimsy with the side of his club. The imp floated leisurely to the left without seeming to notice. “Be more specific, imp.”
“Well, how should I know! They keep moving. First, they were in the throne room, but that gets boring after a while because there’s nothing to look at, not even a throne anymore. Next, they went to Princess Delilah’s room, since it’s on the first floor and you told us to keep them away from the stairs. But thatalsodoesn’t have much to look at because she was hardly here, so they got bored of that too. Then they went around the city, interviewing people. Don’t worry, Master, all of us told them how great and terrible you are.”
I sighed. If they were as convincing as they’d been with the royal champions, no wonder the adventurers had stuck around. I’d underestimated the benefits of a genuinely fearsome reputation. “Is that where they are now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bring a message to Captain Fyodor and Captain Sisyph,” I ordered. “Round up the adventurers and herd them into the throne room. I’ll deal with them there.”
Mimsy saluted crookedly and flew down the corridor, grabbing Bitsy and Bop on the way.
