“All I’m saying is, we just saw an artifact that can fake a person’s Class. It was sitting on the table, even! And yet, the whole room takes one look at her Status and starts bowing to the new Queen.”

  “Duke Ariman recognised her, Kelsey,” Suliel said patiently.

  “He hasn’t seen her in twenty years, he said,” Kelsey retorted. “A bit of makeup and I bet I could convince him he was looking at his long-lost princess.”

  Anton snorted. “I don’t think that’s likely,” he said. “And besides, you’re forgetting the most important reason. Half the people in that room were Rose Circle members.”

  “So it was all a performance, then?” Kelsey asked. “Half the crowd tricks the other rubes into going along with the scam?”

  “Not entirely,” Suliel said primly. “And please don’t refer to our new Queen as a scam. I don’t think most of those in the room knew she was going to appear—we didn’t. But they were primed to accept her.”

  “Don’t forget that monstrous Charisma,” Aris added with a shudder. “I haven’t felt pressured like that since we fought the Obsidian Autarch. Hard to go against something like that.”

  “Whatever,” Kelsey grumbled. “I just think you guys could be a lot less trusting.” She glared at the servants. None of them were looking at her, but they worked faster anyway. Suliel tsked in annoyance.

  They were packing up to go back home. This meant, Anton had found, a lot of sitting around while the servants did the work. Kelsey could have transported all the supplies they needed, but they hadn’t wished to advertise her capacities at this stage. So they’d done it the traditional way, which was a large entourage of servants and an excessive, to Anton’s eyes, baggage train.

  Anton knew he had been spoiled by Kelsey’s abilities, but it felt decadent to travel with more luggage than he could carry. Some of the… footmen had been assigned specifically to pack and unpack.

  Anton wasn’t sure which of the staff were footmen. They all had feet, after all. His thoughts were interrupted by a firm knock on their chamber door. Anton got to his feet and then remembered that he had people for that now. With an irritated grimace, he gestured for the maid, already standing in place, to open the door.

  Standing behind it was an older man in priestly robes. His dark skin showed signs of exposure to the weather, and his short-cropped hair showed a hint of silver. Anton thought he remembered him from Lord Levinscant’s entourage. He hadn’t been wearing robes then, though.

  Before he said anything, Anton used Delver’s Discernment.

  Maqur Sehra, Level 23, Human, Voice of Giann, Initiate of Giann/Acolyte of Giann/Voice of Giann, S: 6 T: 12 A: 10 D: 10 P: 39 W: 50 C: 37

  “Good day to you, Lord Nos,” the man said.

  “And to you, Voice Sehra,” Suliel replied.

  Anton started, remembering his manners. “Ah! Good day to you, Voice Sehra! Would you like to come in?”

  Well. He remembered that he had manners. Somewhere.

  Maqur Sehra bowed his head. “Thank you, Lord Nos, I would.”

  He stepped forward. The suite that they had been granted included a room for receiving guests, and Suliel led the priest to a comfortable chair. Anton mostly focused on staying out of the way while tea was offered and accepted.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a priest—er, Voice—of Giann before,” he said during a lull in the proceedings.

  “They don’t get out to the backwater baronies that much,” Suliel said with what might be a self-depreciating smile. “The Church of Rulership tends to concentrate its efforts in the capital.”

  “That’s a little unfair,” Maqur said mildly. He accepted a cup of tea from a maid. “Every church maintains a greater presence in the capital, simply because that is where the worshippers are. We do send out pastoralists to advise rulers of every rank, including Barons.”

  He sipped his tea and shrugged.

  “If you haven’t seen any of us in Kirido, then you should take that as a sign that your father had a reputation for ruling wisely and well.”

  “Not that wisely,” Kelsey put in. Suliel shot her a poisonous look that was probably accompanied by some scathing mental commentary. Kelsey looked back with a bland smile, entirely unaffected.

  “Ah, yes,” the priest said, looking at Kelsey intensely. “I believe you prefer to be called Kelsey, do you not?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “You’ve done your research,” Kelsey said, looking warily at the man.

  “Of course,” Maqur said, bowing. “It is only natural for me to have done so, as it is you that I have come to see.”

  Kelsey sat up a little straighter. “Oh? That makes a change, most of the nobles here won’t say so much as boo to me.”

  Maqur shrugged. “I’m not a noble. I try to act as my god leads me to, and he led me to you.”

  “Did he,” Kelsey said flatly. “Did he have anything to say about me?”

  “You misunderstand the relationship between priests and their god,” Maqur said modestly. “It is very rare to receive an actual message. I just felt that it would be a good idea to see you and lend a sympathetic ear.”

  Kelsey stared at him. “If I’m gonna rant about the gods, we might want to do it where the servants can’t hear.”

  Maqur bowed again. “The grounds here are quite extensive,” he said. “Go far enough and I’m sure you can find a place where even screams will go unnoticed.”

  Kelsey jumped to her feet. “Well, now you’ve got me interested!” she declared. “Let’s go for a walk!”

  “I’ll come with you,” Anton put in. Not just because of the geas, but because he didn’t entirely trust Kelsey to be alone with a priest.

  “Spoilsport,” Kelsey said, reading his intention exactly. “But that was the deal. Let’s go.”

  They managed to find a fairly secluded spot on the grounds. Anton didn’t think their privacy would hold up to screaming, but normal conversation should go unheard, even if there was someone like Zaphar lurking about.

  Kelsey didn’t start talking immediately, so Maquar filled the silence.

  “I was surprised to see that you are leaving, Lord Nos. Are you not part of the battle planning?”

  “I don’t have high enough rank for that, and my barony is not expected to be a part of the first assault,” Anton said. “I was given leave to return and prepare my forces to be held in reserve.”

  “I see. I’m no military theorist, but I would have thought they’d want a hero on the front lines. And isn’t your barony the source of the new weapons?”

  Anton glanced at Kelsey. “The new weapons are untested. They’re not going to risk the battle on them.”

  Kelsey snorted. “Bunch of chicken-livered stick-in-the-muds. They’ll see soon enough.”

  She took a deep breath and a long look around before starting to speak.

  “I guess I don’t know where I stand when it comes to the gods,” she said.

  Maqur raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure I can provide any special insight there,” he said. “Doctrinally, dungeons are said to be the tools of the gods, made to hone the mortal races, spurring improvement.”

  “Tools, not servants,” Kelsey pointed out.

  “A fair point, the notion that dungeons are people is not widespread,” Maqur admitted. “But personhood comes with drawbacks. I doubt that the general population would accept the number of deaths caused by dungeons if they thought a person was behind them.”

  “I do like the casual murder,” Kelsey muttered. “I’ve had to cut down since the whole sovereignty thing.”

  “This contradiction is, I think, at the heart of why you’re being ignored here,” Maqur continued. “They see a person who has killed and think that you must be held to account. But they know you are a dungeon, which traditionally is… not. Unable to reconcile these ideas, they ignore you.”

  “I guess I’m not getting invited to the prom any time soon,” Kelsey griped. “As hurtful as that is, that’s not the main problem I have.”

  Maqur looked at her calmly. “Disputes between a god and mortals are normally mediated by the priest of the god in question. But Riadi has no priests.”

  “‘Zat so,” Kelsey said sourly.

  “As far as I’m aware. I can’t speak for strange and foreign lands, of course. It is said that to seek his favour or wisdom, you must enter a dungeon. If you live, you’ve gained his wisdom, and if you die, you’ve gained his favour.”

  “What kind of favour is that?” Anton asked.

  “Another chance,” Maqur replied. “Reincarnated in another life somewhere.”

  “I doubt that’s true,” Kelsey said. “He certainly hasn’t been nudging my hands at all.”

  She held up a single finger and paused, thinking about her question. Maqur waited patiently.

  “How much,” Kelsey said at last, “Do the gods see?”

  “That’s hard to say,” Maqur responded. “They seem aware of what they deem necessary to be aware of. That’s a little vague, so allow me to make a guess as to what you mean. They are probably not aware of what goes on in your dungeon. That would be Riadi’s domain.”

  “See, what I don’t know is, are any of the other gods in bed with Riadi on this. And I can’t talk about it, because Riadi would hear.”

  Maqur nodded slowly. “I see… yes, as an avatar of one of his dungeons, I imagine Riadi pays close attention to you. To evade his gaze… You would need to enter the sanctum of a god that chooses not to cooperate with him and allow access.”

  “Well, great, except I still don’t know who’s in cahoots with him.”

  “Hmm…” Maqur mused. “Would an audience with a god suffice? Aside from Leyn and Anyn, it is very rare for gods to lie. Even Stredyn is… direct in his hostility.”

  “Well… yeah? But you just said they don’t give audiences.”

  “It is very rare,” Maqur agreed. “But there is precedent. There have been recorded cases where a hero, whose values align with a particular god, has sought and won an audience with that god.”

  He looked at Anton speculatively. “Your class is Heroic Liberator,” he said. “There are some that would say that replacing an unjust king with a just one is a form of liberation.”

  “I just got it because I freed a lot of slaves,” Anton admitted. “I don’t like the idea of owning people.”

  “But you have a title, you’re not against the concept of governance.”

  “I guess someone has to be in charge? But they shouldn’t be too… tyrannical. I sort of fell into my title, to be honest.”

  “The just king rules by laws, not fiat,” Maqur stated. “Just laws apply to all; they protect good while restraining evil. Would you agree?”

  “That sounds pretty reasonable,” Anton agreed.

  “Then I think it’s worth a try,” Maqur said. “Obviously, it’s Giann that decides if you’re worthy, but I think you have a good chance of success.”

  “Wait, me? Get an audience with a god?” Anton exclaimed. “I wouldn’t know what to say!”

  “I’d tag along,” Kelsey purred. “We have a geas between us; the gods wouldn’t want to leave me behind.”

  “I suppose that might work,” Maqur allowed. “If you want to try for it, you will need to go to the capital. The High Priest can issue a quest that will set you on your path.”

  “The capital?” Anton asked with dismay. “That might be… a little difficult.”

  “Have a little faith, Lord Nos,” Maqur said. “In your Queen, and in what we have started here. “I have no doubt that you will be treading the streets of Bures in due course.”

  Kelsey clapped Anton on the back. “Yeah, we’ve got this, buddy. One way or another, we’re going to Disneyland!”