“Oh, stop sulking Ren. Your maturity is starting to look a little shaky.” Teases Sarah.

  I pout and look away from her. We are walking through the royal gardens, One pads along with me, and Sarah is still acting as my guard. She seems to be assigned to me for the foreseeable future. It has actually been really nice, out of everyone, she teases me the least about my age. We have been discussing things from earth, talking to her has helped me remember a few things, going to a concert, eating cheesesteaks, playing a certain game on my phone.

  Turning her phone over in my hands, I stare at the dark screen, “Enna, could you charge this?”

  Sarah laughs, “Seriously, Ren? How is she going to do that?”

  Enna takes the phone in her claws, turning it over and over, “A unique material. Putting electricity into it, without destroying it? That would be something for the dwarves, perhaps.”

  “Except there are no dwarves around here.” Sarah sighs. “Whatever, it’s useless anyways.”

  “Not useless.” I murmur, “It’s a reminder of home, and has precious memories on it.”

  Sarah smiles down at me, ruffling my hair. “Maybe you can recruit some dwarves to your hive, get something working in a few hundred years.”

  “Not a bad idea.” Enna actually agrees, “Subjugating the other races could be useful, and is an inevitability anyways.”

  “She’s serious, isn’t she?” Sarah jerks her head towards Enna.

  “Yeah, and she hasn’t been wrong yet so…” I trail off.

  That gets an eyebrow raise from Sarah, “You’re really considering it? Damn girl, you go. Rule the world.”

  “I promise you’ll have special privileges after I take over.” I laugh.

  “You joke,” The hero gets suddenly stern, “But you probably could. From what you told me; you can just grow and grow your hive until you just overwhelm your enemies. Even old Gwyna is just one person.”

  I kick a loose rock and look up at Sarah, she doesn’t seem upset or anything, “Well, I dunno, I kinda haven’t planned out that far. Who says I need to grow that big? Maybe I want to get strong and live peacefully with my neighbors.”

  “Mmm…” Sarah looks thoughtful, “That might not be an option. Humans are notoriously bad at getting along with people who are different from them.”

  “I know,” My words are quiet, “The claws and horns aren't reassuring.”

  Sarah rolls her eyes, “Not you, dummy. You,” She points at me, “are adorable. She,” pointing at Enna, “is a giant, sexy, demoness with claws as long as my sword.”

  We reach an open area with a pond, flowerbeds are blooming, and everything is nice and quiet. Apparently, the royal family don’t make use of the royal gardens much, even though there is a prince and a few princesses. Everyone seems to be keeping me at a comfortable distance, which, fair enough. In my opinion, they should be trying to butter me up so we can have healthy relations or something, but what do I know about diplomacy; I need a diplomat Vess.

  Enna predicts my needs and sits down near the pond, allowing me to plop into her lap shortly after.

  Sarah sits nearby, “Not helping the baby allegations.”

  I stick my tongue out, “You're just jealous you don’t have a soft, warm, comfy seat.”

  One takes the opportunity to steal a seat in Sarah’s lap, snuggling down immediately and letting out a content huff.

  “Traitor.”

  The hero rubs One’s tummy, causing him to roll on his back and stick his legs in the air. She giggles, “You said that this was your first summon?”

  “Yeah, humble origins and all that. I don’t really use the whelps for anything anymore. There’s around six of them left, playing back in my hive, the one in your lap is the very first one though.”

  “Terribly childish name.” Sarah shoots me a teasing smile.

  I fall back on my best defense, sticking my tongue out at her, making her giggle.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t go with Sir Oscar to push out the invaders.”

  Sarah starts rubbing One behind his ear nubs, how did she know that’s his favorite spot? She meets my gaze with a smile, “Yeah, I was going to, but you were deemed more important.”

  “How long do you think it’s going to take?”

  “Hard to say,” She looks into the sky, considering, “Could be a year or more, depending on how hard the winter is. I doubt the Karnakans want to weather another winter away from home.”

  “I was thinking of building up my forces and then launching them at the border to brute force the problem.” Enna tsks at my idea, we already discussed it and she doesn’t approve. Rolling my eyes, I add, “Enna doesn’t want me to waste my time, not until I’m ready to conquer Karnaka.”

  “Damn, no joke? You really are going all world conqueror?”

  “Maaaaabye?” I hunch my shoulders, “Is that bad? Enna really wants me to.”

  “And why is that Enna?” asks the hero.

  Enna gently runs her fingers through my hair, rubbing around the base of my horns, relaxing me back into her, “It is merely what the Vess do, spread and spread until no corner of the earth is untouched by our glory.”

  “Ooookay, that is some evil villain shit if I ever heard it. You serious Ren? Is your brain hardwired to want to do Vess shit now?” Sarah asks, voice much more concerned now.

  “Um…” I squirm a little, I can’t help it, “Kinda? I think I do have some new instincts now, but they aren’t overwhelming or anything. I’m not about to start slaughtering innocent people or knocking over kingdoms for no reason.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Hope you’re right.”

  I shrug, “Not much I can do about it.”

  Sarah sits up, readjusting her sword to a more comfortable spot, “So, what are your evil plans then? What next? After you're done hanging out in the castle, trying to make friends.”

  “Probably go back to the hive and find some more dungeons to farm.”

  “Farm dungeons?” Sarah perks up, looking very interested all of a sudden.

  I glance at Enna, who seems very pleased with this conversation, “Yeah, I send my Vess into dungeons, they kill everything as soon as it respawns over and over.”

  “And you get a share of the XP?”

  I have enough sense to look guilty, “Uhhh, no I get all of the XP.”

  Sarah is practically salivating, “You have these dungeons all to yourself? No, of course you do, you're all the way out in the Spinesnap.” She changes tactics, “Take me with you.”

  Enna is radiating a feeling of reassurance and pleasure, is this another one of her schemes?

  Sarah continues, “Seriously, there is a freaking waiting list here in the capital for the nearby dungeons, and they are the only way to get any decent XP. Even with my hero perks, it’s too slow, I haven’t gained a level in weeks!” She practically growls her displeasure, “Leveling up is pretty much the only good part of this rpg nightmare, I love pushing my limits, and I’ve been stuck for forever now.”

  “Doesn’t the capital need you? Since they summoned you and all…” I’m not sure I’m following her logic.

  She waves her hand, “Nah, now that the war is pretty much over, they won’t have a use for me. And anyways, you can just demand me as an envoy from the human lands or whatever.” Clearly, she somehow knows even less about politics than I do.

  Enna chooses now to chime in, practically purring, “I’m sure Sarah would be delighted to get away from here. She’s been practically enslaved by these humans; you would be doing her an immense kindness.”

  I huff and cross my arms, “Enna you don’t need to be so manipulative, I get it, and I agree.” Looking at Sarah, she does look pretty into it, maybe it’s not a bad idea. “I’ll think about it? And you think about it some more too, you're basically asking me to take you away from civilization into a dark hole in the ground full of nightmarish creatures.”

  “Ironhill is within a day's travel.” Enna is quick to point out.

  I feel like Sarah is an impulsive person, “Just think about it for longer than one second, okay?”

  “Yeah, thought about it,” I roll my eyes, she continues unperturbed, “Besides, we don’t want to be here when the next war rolls in.”

  My brain stops for a second, “What?”

  “What do you mean ‘what’? You think the Great States are going to sit idly by while Karnaka is vulnerable? Not to mention whatever north and south Tarenbaum are getting up to, the nation city Majular, and, oh yeah, the freaking huge nation of Isoban; always hungry to scoop up some more territory.”

  I just continue to give Sarah my blankest stare. She pinches the bridge of her nose, “You don’t know anything do you?”

  What do I usually do to look cute? I Smile and duck my head, “Um, I’m nine months old?”

  Sarah shakes her head, “Whatever, it’s not really that important yet, Lotheris is in a relatively safe area. The north border is secured by the frozen wastes, the west is protected by your Spinsnap mountains, south is Karnaka. The immediate threat is Isoban to the east, a huge nation that stretches all the way from the northern wastes, down to the great desert.” Poor One is displaced as she gets up and starts to pace, “Now that Lotheris and Karnaka are weakened from their war, it is likely that Isoban will swoop in and eat us up. That is a war we cannot win, I want to be as far away as possible.”

  “Ah,” Crap. Sleeping constantly and not finding out about the world is coming back to bite me. I have access to all the knowledge of the capital, and I’m not doing anything with it. I really need a knowledge Vess.

  “It seems our hero hasn’t been completely truthful about why she wants to leave the capital.” Enna chuckles.

  “I-I thought she knew!” Sarah runs a hand through her hair. “Look, what I said earlier is still true, and besides, you clearly need someone on your side who actually knows what the heck is going on in the world.”

  “How long do we have?” Maybe I should have stayed hidden in my mountains, now doesn’t seem like a good time to be allies with Lotheris.

  “Who knows, old Isoban is slow, could still be years.” Sarah guesses.

  Ugh. I fully collapse into Enna’s embrace. “We need to get back to the hive, I need to pump out soldiers.”

  “Patience, my queen.” Enna strokes my hair, “We must attend your ball before we make our leave.”

  “My what?” I look up blinking sleepily, ready to nap.

  “You can’t be serious.” Sarah laughs, “She doesn’t even know about the ball? Enna, seriously, you need to keep your queen in the loop.”

  “Mmm,” Enna makes a vague noise of agreement, “Perhaps, however, her majesty doesn’t like to concern herself with most things.”

  “Renna.” Sarah gives me a stern look, “You have a ball, to celebrate the alliance between you and King Danish. It’s also likely to show you off to all the curious nobles.”

  “Show me off?”

  Sarah rolls her eyes, exasperated, “Is she unable to speak properly now? Look, it’s pretty simple. You’re a foreign entity, the subject of a bunch of speculation and gossip and shit. The king needs to show you off to all his subjects to let them know he has you under control and they don’t need to be scared or whatever.”

  I really want to sleep. Looking up at Enna, I ask, “I feel like this is all happening so suddenly, how long have I been in the capital?”

  “Two weeks, my queen.” Enna answers with grace.

  I blink. Has it been two weeks? I remember sleeping in that nice comfy bed I was given and eating a lot of juicy meat. I think I took a bath with Andra in the royal baths? I barely remember it, where did the time go? Is something wrong with my head?

  “I think something might be wrong with me.” I look for help from my new human friend.

  She sighs, “Well, I wouldn’t know about that. You certainly sleep a lot, and when you aren’t sleeping you often have your head in the clouds, either eating or cuddling with your caretaker.” She pauses to consider me, “I was surprised you haven’t really been doing anything. Like, you swoop in to save the capital, and then, that’s it. Everyone assumed you would try to seize power or at least try to convert nobles to your side, try to swing the court in your favor. You kinda just have everyone neutral and confused with your inaction.”

  “I thought Enna would handle it?” I try.

  “She has been busy taking care of you, if you haven’t noticed.” Sarah is starting to look genuinely concerned. “Is she always like this?”

  Enna merely shrugs, wrapping me tighter in her embrace, “It is not my place to question her grace”

  “Okaaayyy.” The hero draws out the word, “Clearly, you need some help.”

  A tear slips down my cheek. I just wanna sleep, I don’t want to deal with any of this. Can’t my Vess just handle everything for me? Is that so wrong?

  “Are you okay?” Sarah approaches and looks down to make eye contact, “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” She rubs the back of her head, looking around awkwardly.

  I should be more responsible, I came here all excited to help Lotheris, but it’s all just a big mess. Now I’m gona have a big fight with an even bigger nation, and innocent people are going to die, and this isn’t a game. People are going to expect things from me; I’m going to have to interact with people. I’m going to fail, I’m going to let them down, and people are gona die because of my inability to function like I should. I can’t do it. I can’t. I don’t want to interact with the world, I need to hide in my hive, this was a mistake. Why did I do this? I’m always like this.

  I curl into myself more and more. I wish I could get more than just one tear out.