Reincarnated as a Dark Elf Chapter 7

  Chapter title: Hidden Enemies and Revelations

  “Today, I’m visiting Carahe’s first publishing house. It’s called the Johannesheim special” Grace started her inner monologue “It’s an unofficial visit made by my grandmother Dowager Queen Hedy and Crown Princess Hilda and they were accompanied by three dozen royal guardsmen and a company of dragon knights.”

  The royal carriage was a lovely white and light blue which was being pulled by several horse sized land dragons and Captain Thane started to let out those in the closely packed carriage.

  “I’m going to the publishing house for two reasons. First of all I love history. I loved it in my last life and I still do in my second life and I want to see how close these people got to the Gutenberg printing press and second Lady Bergen is on this trip so I’m going to try and look for proof of her wrong-doing and prove she’s the Swallow” Grace inner monologue.

  Grace was wearing a dark green dress she had on the pendent she received from her parents and her parents wedding rings, pendent and wedding rings she never took off, the latter of which allowed her to access their magical storage space and the pendent’s special abilities she couldn’t do without, and finally the golden ring with the royal crest, all official members of the royal family of Carrahe were required to wear on their ring fingers to prove they were royalty. Only royals were allowed to wear them.

  Dowager Queen Hedy wore a dark blue dress while Crown Princess Hilda wore a light blue dress and since both women were warriors at heart they were both armed with their swords despite Captain Thane, Lady Bergen, and the numerous guards and dismounted dragon knights being brought in tow.

  Once the carriage rolled up and Captain Thane opened the door he helped first Dowager Queen Hedy to step out, followed by Crown Princess Hilda and then he helped Grace to get out followed by Lady Bergen.

  Then out came Lenny and Enkida followed by Lenny’s older sister Lotta who was Princess Hilda’s chief handmaiden.

  Lotta was blond like her mother at a very tall 8ft 6in tall and muscular like any Carrahe Barbarian. She looked like a true body-builder like so many of them. She was dressed as a maid.

  Both Lenny and Enkida were dressed as maids too. Well maids-in-training.

  “Remember ladies you are to always be two steps behind your master and always to either the right or left of them, understood” Lotta said to her sister and adopted sister like an instructor.

  “YES SISTER” they both said in unison and with bright smiles.

  Grace inner monologued again “If you're wondering what’s going on with Lenny and Enkida. It’s this. After the Dragon Day Fair Lenny and Enkida had become very extremely attached to me and since I was a princess someone decided that those two should come and serve me as maids-in-training and become my handmaidens. I didn’t like the idea of them competing for the job so I made them both my handmaidens. I was surprised it was allowed. Now they’re learning the basics of cooking, cleaning, and etiquette like proper servants. Another request I made that I was surprised was granted was that they also learn how to read, write, and do basic math. As far as I’m concerned those two are my friends not servants. But I probably can’t say that openly” Grace thought.

  Then a stray thought came across Grace “They’ve been binding backwards for me ever since I’ve come here. Servants bending over backwards to please royalty is a thing in every monarchy, but my new found family have also been bending over backwards for me without complaint. And although I haven’t been too outrageous in my requests, still some complaints or comments should’ve come my way from my adopted siblings. I wonder what’s going on” she thought.

  With the Royal Party and guards assembled and present with lots of curious onlookers present the party entered the publishing house.

  Since the visit was unofficial a lot of chaos was caused inside the publishing house itself once it was discovered who was paying them a call. People scampered around like headless chickens trying to tidy the place up in a futile gesture to look clean and tidy.

  The owner of the publishing house and the editor of the Johannesheim Special, a man called Hans Pietsen ran out to greet the Royal Party.

  He was a tall muscular man like so many in Carrahe with a shiny bald head, a long beard and mustache. He wore the outfits of a craftsman with a leather apron on. It had many different tools jammed into its pockets. Ink stains were visible on his clothes.

  “Your Royal Highnesses it’s an honor for you to visit my humble establishment as wholly unexpected as it is” Mr. Pietsen said as he bowed.

  Dowager Queen Hedy spoke “In case you were wondering why we are here, my granddaughters were pestering their parents to come visit the publishing house but they were too busy, so I came in their name” she explained.

  “Well that’s the official story. But unofficially some nobles were advocating for the publishing house to be shut down, and this visit as unofficial as it is, is meant to show that it has royal support” Grace inner monologued.

  “Please show us the printing presses Lord Pietsen” Crown Princess Hilda asked. She was just barely able to say printing presses.

  “Follow me please” Mr. Pietsen said, leading the way.

  The publishing house owner led the Royal Party on a tour of the whole building. It was a large wooden structure the size of a warehouse. It had many rooms inside. Some were used as storage for printing materials, others were offices, others were used to house the printing presses themselves.

  People were inside all of them writing, taking inventory, or taking inventory of supplies, or they were working the printing presses. They all looked very busy.

  Mr. Pietsen talked about it all as he guided the Royal party.

  The Dowager Queen and Crown Princess showed measured interest in everything. The servants maintained their professionalism to varying degrees and at all times and showed little or no interest.

  It was Grace herself that was on Cloud Nine. The Historian in her was loving the blast from the past vibes the place was giving her. She was smiling brightly.

  They soon came to a room with a printing press in it. A young man with brown hair was working on it. He was wearing the same craftsman outfit and leather apron as Mr. Pietsen.

  “And this man is Lars he’s my best printer, please demonstrate how the presses work” Mr. Pietsen after walking up to him and introducing, then asking the young man.

  “Yes boss,” Lars replied.

  “How does it work?” Lenny asked in a whisper.

  Grace closed her eyes concentrated and then answered her “A series of Letters are taken from a series of wooden cubbies, and first turned into words and then sentences and they are formed into paragraphs in the bottom part of the press itself until they’re all lined up nice and neat and then a roller is dipped in ink and rolled onto the words set inside the press, and then a piece of paper is set neatly inside and the top of the press is pulled down using a lever and the paper is pressed into the inked words. After the words are pressed into the paper it’s removed, new ink is applied to the words and a new piece of paper is set inside the press and the top is pressed down again and it’s only a matter of repeating the process as many times as need be.”

  Then Grace opened her eyes after she finished explaining and noticed everyone present was looking at her with a lot of interest and no small amount of surprise.

  “Oops, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be rude” she apologized.

  “Lord Pietsen is my granddaughter right about the process” the Dowager Queen asked.

  Mr. Pietsen took a short moment to think and then replied “Yes Lady Grace is right about how it’s basically performed.” “But how did you know, your highness?” he asked Grace while looking at her.

  “I figured it out once I saw how it was all set up” Grace answered somewhat distantly and with an embarrassed grimace on her face.

  “Ugh, what a lame excuse, but I can’t tell them I saw it demonstrated on a documentary about Colonial Life in America, from my last life” Grace thought.

  “Well I’m impressed the 5th princess is a very perceptive young lady” Mr. Pietsen remarked with admiration in his voice.

  “I can’t believe they bought it”Grace thought with an embarrassed smile and feeling quite mortified inside. She was from then on determined not to stand out anymore than necessary. But would soon prove hard to do.

  They all moved on.

  It wasn’t long before the Royal Party came into a room with a printing press that wasn’t being used for any reason. A table was on the side with cubbies full of letters.

  It was suggested to Grace that she might want to stay and put some letters together into words. It was meant for her to have a little fun and pass the time.

  The adults then left to go over some records. And Grace, Lenny, and Enkida were alone together and the former suggested to her two friends slash servants that they all put together words together.

  All three little girls then spent a very long time together putting words together like mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, out of metal letters with the characters Argea would recognize.

  They all had some nice laughs and conversation over it. The moment was meant to be cute and light-hearted between friends.

  Then a small mishap occurred in which some ink fell onto Lenny and Enkida’s faces but barely missed Grace’s.

  “Oh Lotta emergency” Grace said.

  Lotta came in and saw what happened “Oh you two” she remarked a bit despondent. Grabbed a handkerchief and started whipping off her sisters and adopted sisters faces like a mother. “You’re lucky this happened in private if you had been in front of the nobility or royalty you two would’ve tarnished your reputations and your masters. You must never let that happen” Lotto scolded as she cleaned them up.

  Grace was smiling at this until a sickening feeling suddenly came over her. It was the pendant her father gave her that was warning her of danger through its danger sense ability.

  Quickly looking around Grace didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Everything was normal. Then she got an idea.

  She closed her eyes and used her superior Dark Elf hearing. Grace focused on different sounds. Many of them were mundane or mundane conversations. It took some time to find what she was looking for or more accurately who.

  “I can’t believe we can’t do anything with those Royal Guardsmen around” she heard someone complain at a distance. It was suspicious.

  “Relax, we just need to wait for the right moment to strike” a second person comforted the first.

  “Not Good, I must do something” Grace thought.

  She opened her eyes and looked at Lotta, Lenny, and Enkida. Lotta had just finished scolding her two little sisters.

  “Lotta, we have a problem” Grace said to the older sister. She tried to sound urgent.

  “Yes your highness, what is it?” Lotta asked. She seemed a little reluctant to listen.

  “Someone is here that shouldn’t be and I believe they intend to do harm” Grace said looking worried.

  “How do you know?” Lotta asked.

  “I heard them speaking,” Grace said, looking the older handmaiden in the eye and praying she wouldn’t ask any further.

  Lotta sighed “Princess Hilda, will you please come in here, it’s important” she shouted out for her princess.

  Princess Hilda came into the room and Grace was encouraged to tell her older step-sister what she told Lotta.

  The natural thing Princess Hilda concluded was that there was another attempt on her life. So Captain Thane along with the rest of the Royal Guard began to search the building. Work stopped and everyone was put into a single place to be carefully watched. Just in case. Chaos was evident again.

  Nothing was found.

  As this was going on Grace, Lenny, and Enkida along with Lotta were herded into a room that was out of the way. Lotta had a dagger in hand and looked out the door for possible threats. They couldn’t leave just in case someone was attempting to assassinate any of the other royals in the building.

  Grace felt uneasy. The sickening feeling that was her danger sense went off again. Looking around she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  The room they were in had supplies on shelves for the publishing house with a window at the other end.

  Then Grace noticed Enkida holding her nose. The little wolf-girl seemed to be in pain. She had a hunch.

  “Kida is something wrong” Grace asked the little wolf-girl and using a shortened version of her name.

  “Bad smell, Enkida feels like her nose is under attack” the little wolf-girl said as well as she could. After only a few weeks in civilization Enkida was barely able to speak a full sentence.

  Grace didn’t mind and knew no one else did. She grabbed a container from a nearby shelf that was at the little girl’s eye level.

  She opened it “Smell this” Grace asked. Enkida did as asked. “Is that what you're smelling?” came the question.

  “No” came Enkida’s reply.

  “What about this?” Grace asked, opening another container.

  “No” came the little wolf-girl’s reply.

  “What are you doing?” Lenny asked, looking confused.

  “Acting on a hunch,” Grace answered.

  “A what” Lenny asked looking more confused.

  “Not Important” Grace said as she took a third container, opened it and held it to Enkida’s nose. “What about this one?” she asked.

  She took a sniff and suddenly held her nose again “Yes, but stronger” Enkida answered.

  Grace then looked at the word written on the container “Oil” she said the single word very seriously.

  “Oil, what’s that?” Lenny asked.

  “Oh right, Lenny and Enkida are both five year old children, of course they wouldn’t know” Grace thought.

  “Oil is used to lubricate certain metal parts on machines like the printing press, to ensure they work properly” Grace explained.

  Recognition seemed to dawn on both little girls.

  “It can also be flammable” Grace began but then she stopped herself upon recognizing what was coming next.

  “Wait, those men I heard earlier didn’t say kill or assassinate they only said strike, and Enkida’s been smelling oil but not the kind for machines, it must be crude oil she’s smelling, which means those men aren’t Assassin’s they’re Arsonists, THEY’RE HERE TO BURN THE BUILDING DOWN, of course an assassin can never anticipate the unexpected and our sudden arrival here must’ve thrown off their time table” Grace inner monologued.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Lotta” Grace called out. Nothing. She was gone. Probably searching somewhere.

  Closing her eyes Grace listened for the wayward servant. She heard the evil goons first.

  “How much longer do we have to be here” the first goon asked.

  “Not much longer, our contact told us the Royal Guard is almost finished searching, they’ll never find us here” the second goon reassured him.

  Then Grace heard Lotta “Oh my skirt is caught” she said. Then a small ripping sound was heard followed by something falling.

  “Lotta” Grace said with concern.

  Grace, Lenny, and Enkida all went out of the supply room. A few rooms down they found Lotta out cold on the floor. A box with metal letters had fallen onto her head.

  “Sister” Lenny and Enkida said in concerned unison and went over to her lying body on the ground. They got down onto the ground and tried to get Lotta to wake up.

  Grace did the same and checked her pulse. “Your sister will be alright,” she assured them.

  “That’s good” Lenny said she and Enkida both calmed down.

  “Enkida I need you to lead me to where you were smelling the very strong oil” Grace asked.

  “Why?” Enkida asked.

  “Please Enkida, this is very important” Grace asked.

  “Alright” Enkida agreed reluctantly.

  Enkida then led the way sniffing the air followed by Grace and Lenny. They somehow avoided all of the adults in the building who were busy still dealing with the chaos in the building.

  “What the hell is wrong with me, I’m about to lead two children into a very dangerous situation, I need to ask them to leave soon” Grace thought.

  They eventually came to a doorway with a set of stairs that looked like they led down into the building’s basement.

  “I need to make this simple,” Grace thought.

  “So the strong smell is coming from down there” Grace asked.

  “Yes,” Enkida answered.

  Grace activated Hawker’s sense. Sure enough she spotted two large human shaped figures glowing red in the back of the basement. She turned it off.

  “Okay you two” Grace began “Go find the Royal Guard and tell them I’ve been abducted by the bad guys and you tracked them here” Grace ordered.

  “But” they tried to say.

  “Do it,” Grace commanded as she looked at her friends. Neither of them argued any further and they ran off to do her bidding.

  Grace turned around and began to descend the stairs “I sounded just like a certain evil lord from a galaxy, far, far, away” she thought.

  She used her stealth abilities and Hawker’s sense to maneuver around the basement and sneak over to where the bad guys were. The basement was a tangle of spare printing press parts, and other things along with broken machines. Small torches light the room.

  It wasn’t long before Grace found out why the bad guys hadn’t been found. They were hiding in a room that was disused and out of the way. It was very easy to miss and surrounded by supplies and other boxes that blocked off the view of the door.

  Finding her way up to the door she turned on Hawkers Sense again. She assessed the situation on the other side “Yep two guys sitting on crates, containers of oil inside the room, and maybe pitch and straw. Some unlit torches, unlit matches, and few candles very wisely kept away from anything flammable. A window giving off light inside. Now what to do?” Grace assessed.

  But any plans she might’ve thought of were spoiled when the sickening feeling signalling danger went off and before she could react someone very strong pushed her forward. She burst through the door and made a very comedic fall to the ground, hard. It happened right in front of the two goons.

  “Ouch, damn, this is probably one of the downsides to being a child again” Grace thought.

  The Goons suddenly stood up in a panic. “What is the meaning of this?” one of the goons demanded.

  “And how could you have let this Dark Ears brat find you two when the Royal Guard failed” came an angry male voice.

  Grace looked and saw that it was Lars Pietsen’s best printer that had spoken. He had pushed her.

  “I know you, your Lars, you work for Lord Pietsen” Grace remarked as she got off the ground.

  “Oh thank you for remembering me, your highness,” Lars said in a mocking tone.

  “Your highness,” one of the goons said, sounding confused.

  “Yes this is the Dark Ears the Royal Family adopted into their ranks a few weeks ago” Lars pointed out.

  “Ah, not my princess,” another goon remarked derisively.

  Lars walked around and grabbed Grace roughly by the collar of her dress in the process. She grunted in pain and she heard a jingling sound coming from Lars pockets.

  “How dare you, you sold out your boss for a fistful of coins” Grace accused.

  “Ah you sound like a royal,” Lars remarked mockingly.

  “I am a royal and you will cease treating me with such gross disrespect or face the consequences” Grace said angrily “Let me go” she demanded.

  “Ohh, I’m so scared,” he mocked again. Then he put Grace to one side of the room before releasing her. The two goons laughed.

  “I guess I have no choice, I need to use my memory sphere’s to keep these goons off-balance until the royal guard arrives” Grace thought.

  “I have a better idea, take a look inside one of the goons coats” Aries interjected inside Grace’s head.

  “Well it’s been awhile since I’ve heard from you Aries” Grace remarked inside her head.

  “Look inside, now” Aries insisted.

  “Okay” Grace complied.

  Looking inside the jacket of one of the goons. They might’ve been dressed in ordinary looking clothes but they did have coats.

  And inside one of the coats was the familiar symbol of the Spider-Temple. A spider standing on top of a temple at the center of a web.

  Grace gasped “You’re with the Spider-Temple” she said out loud before she could stop herself.

  “What” one of the goons shouted and they both got really violent looks on their faces upon realizing what Grace noticed.

  “How do you know that you little bitch” one of the goons shouted and they slapped Grace who fell onto the ground again in quick response.

  She made a pained sound while trying to get up again.

  The Goons were enraged and they took out daggers. They looked scary. “How do you know about us?” the goon demanded.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Grace replied after getting up.

  She had this look of “I want you dead” on her face. Her own rage burned with the fire of a thousand suns. It was greater than these goons.

  Then her Unsettling Presence ability activated. It made her look like she was bathed in a black flame that terrified all who saw it. This time the ability was turned up to an eleven.

  This caused Lars and the two goons to suddenly cower in fear and beg for their lives. It appeared as if a nightmarish monster had appeared before them and had them completely at their mercy.

  In an instant the tables had turned on them.

  “Why is the Spider-Temple here?” Grace asked in a quiet but menacing voice. “Why would they want to burn down a publishing house” she also asked in the same way.

  Somehow the Goon that threatened Grace earlier was the only one who managed to answer “Our bosses have bribed all the royal scribes, and they feared the publishing house would take all of their jobs, so as part of the bribe we agreed to burn it down as part of Operation Mirage” they said.

  “Your bosses are the Golem and the Swallow correct” Grace asked, maintaining the same level of quiet menace.

  “Yes they’re the leaders of the Spider-Temple in Carrahe and they have something big planned” the terrified goon answered.

  “What is it?” Grace asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s a secret known only to our highest leaders. The rest of us are being kept in the dark about it. They only tell us just enough to be effective. But rumor has it it’s going off soon, that’s all I know I swear it” the terrified goon said sounding very scared.

  They quickly collapsed onto the ground along with the other two. Now they were little more than huge quivering masses of flesh now in shock.

  Grace looked through the pockets of the Goon she was questioning and found a piece of paper which had all the names of all the Royal Scribes attached and thus confirmed what the goon was saying.

  “This is the name of every Royal Scribe in the court. I’ve even met a few of them. Is loyalty only a word to them” Grace remarked with raw anger. Then she calmed herself down “Well at least none of them know my secret” she added in. Then sighed in relief.

  She had deactivated Unsettling Presence by now.

  Then the sounds of footsteps and clanging armor and weapons were heard. Someone spoke the word “Hurry.” The Royal Guard was about to arrive.

  “Better late than never” Grace remarked in a whisper.

  She put the list where it could easily be found and got onto the floor to blend in and make it look as if she had been terrified like the rest of the quivering masses of flesh that were supposed to be grown but bad men, on the ground. She then called out for help once on the ground when she heard the guard get close enough. Which hastened the coming footsteps.

  The Royal Guard burst through the door, weapons drawn, and expecting trouble. When they found the scene they all asked questions loudly and rapidly. It was chaos. Until Captain Thane came through the door and quickly restored order.

  “Princess are you well, did they hurt you” Captain Thane asked.

  Grace put her hand to the bruise on her face “Oh right Lars did hit me, and as much as I despise him it wouldn’t be good if he was instantly killed. Not till he’s thoroughly interrogated" Grace thought.

  “Sorry, I ended up falling down. It was my own fault” Grace assured with a smile.

  “You escort the Princess back to her Grandmother” Captain Thane ordered a random guardsmen.

  “Yes sir” the Guard saluted.

  “Before I go” Grace began as she got up “These men were talking about burning the building down” she said pointing to the two goons quivering on the ground “And he’s the one who let them in, you’ll find what motivated him to do it in one of his pockets” she said pointing to Lars “Okay, I’m ready to go” she said non-chalantly.

  “Oooh, these men have soiled themselves” a guard said as they tried to pick up a goon.

  “Oops, I think I went overboard with Unsettling Presence” Grace thought with an embarrassed face. Then she was escorted out.

  “Hello, what’s this?” Grace heard Captain Thane say. Then she heard him pick up the list left behind. “Oh by the gods” she heard him say. This caused Grace to smile.

  “I’m pretty sure you won’t waste any time reporting this to the Royal Family Captain Thane and given by how gracefully you move and how you react to certain things, I’d say you’re also a card carrying member of the Ashe too. Which means you’ll report this to them too” Grace thought.

  Grace made it back to her family. She was scolded slightly by her Grandmother and Adopted Sister. And that was it.

  Shortly afterwards the Royal Scribes indicated on the list were quietly arrested. Upon interrogation a number of them admitted to bribery. The Publishing House would stay standing for a long time to come. And this Operation Mirage has officially been put out of action.

  “The Spider-Temple wants control over the narrative of a future event, over something they are going to do and soon. It must be very reprehensible in order for them to try and spread lies and misinformation to deceive future generations. Sadly something that’s often repeated in history” Grace thought as she came out of the publishing house with Lenny and Enkida in tow.

  Lotta with an ice pack on head was acting a lot more like a proper babysitter.

  A large crowd of onlookers had gathered around the publishing house. And a regiment of Royal Guards and dismounted Dragon Knights were keeping them all at bay.

  Many onlookers looked at Grace with contempt which was nothing new. But many surprisingly didn’t. A few of them were actually arguing over the supposed merits of—Slavery.

  “The Kingdom practices Slavery” Grace thought. This made her feel sad and upset hearing about this.

  “Get into the coach Princess” Lotta gently ordered when Grace and friends lingered outside. She obeyed and she, Lenny, and Enkida all got into the carriage.

  Grace looked out the carriage window and heard people chanting “Down with Slavery, Down with Feudalism” then the blind was pulled down by Lotta.

  They were soon joined by Dowager Queen Hedy, Crown Princess Hilda, and Lady Bergen. Captain Thane would ride on top with the carriage driver on the way home.

  The carriage was soon underway.

  At first there was only silence in the carriage.

  Grace broke the silence with a question she knew the answer to and filled her with anger “Grandmother does Carrahe practice slavery?”

  “Yes the Kingdom does” The Dowager Queen confirmed.

  Grace bristled at the answer. She was so enraged she narrowly avoided using Unsettling Presence inside the carriage.

  She lowered her head “I was enslaved” she began with emotion laced in her voice. “I was enslaved by bandits who intended to sell me and my baby sister into slavery but not before they made me their plaything and YOUR supporting this filthy practice” she nearly shouted.

  The Dowager Queen was sitting across from Grace and she put her hand over her granddaughter’s mouth before she could say anything else.

  “No the Royal Family does not support Slavery and hasn’t for over a century, but part of our nobility does” the Dowager Queen pointed out.

  Grace noticed the shame that washed over everyone inside the carriage.

  “Slavery is the Kingdom’s Greatest shame” Crown Princess Hilda remarked.

  “Your hatred of slavery is more than earned. My dear” the Dowager Queen said to Grace as she removed her hand from Grace’s mouth.

  “Why does the kingdom allow Slavery to persist, Grandmother?” Grace asked.

  “It’s a long and complicated story, Grace” came the reply.

  “Indulge me,” Grace said solemnly.

  The adults were unsure how to respond at first.

  “Of course, to them I’m a five year old child in their eyes and not a fully grown adult on the inside” Grace thought.

  The Dowager Queen then spoke “It involves my own Grandmother Queen Heather I who I admired so much I named my own daughter and heir after her when the time came” she started “She would eventually become known as The Law-Giver, many of our current laws were ones she put into effect. She was the first of the Royal Family to oppose Slavery. She called it an abomination. But a number of nobles disagreed viewing slaves as cheap disposable labor and they blocked all attempts she made to abolish slavery. They even threatened to revolt. This caused the Law-Giver to back away. But the damage had already been done. Divisions formed in our nobility and citizenry. With those opposed to slavery and those who support its continued existence. Divisions I’m sorry to say still exist.”

  “And with the Royal Family caught in the middle trying to keep the peace between the two factions” Grace added in.

  “Correct” the Dowager Queen replied, sounding a bit surprised. “Before she passed away my grandmother swore that is Slavery wasn’t abolished a terrible tragedy would occur that would force us to confront the issue. She swore that it would be a Civil War. Where she got it no one can say” the Dowager Queen finished.

  “I wonder where she got that too. Parts of this sound like the political issues that tore the United States apart and forced them to fight the Civil War. That was certainly tragic” Grace thought.

  Then another thought occurred to her. “Grandmother, if the Royal Family has been trying to keep the peace in the kingdom, then it has to stay neutral on the issue. But by adopting me as a former slave into the royal family a political controversy must have erupted” Grace asked.

  A moment of silence followed.

  “Yes that is the case, but you must stay out of it” Princess Hilda started “You’re a child Grace, you should focus on being a child, and find happiness, you deserve that much given what you’ve gone through” she added in.

  A tear went down Grace’s face “If my existence was going to cause such problems, why reveal me at all, why not hide me and Genja away” she asked.

  “There was no hiding you two away” the Dowager Queen replied.

  Grace looked around at everyone for an explanation.

  “Remember when we flew over Johannesheim for the first time” Princess Hilda said “Well a lot of people saw you riding Leah, and couldn’t believe the untamable dragon had been tamed and tamed by a child” she said.

  “So keeping us a secret was impossible,” Grace remarked.

  “Correct, controlling the story was our only option” the Dowager Queen replied.

  “I didn’t mean to cause a problem, let alone a lot of them,” Grace said with a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Enkida and Lenny, who had been silent at that moment, chose to be Grace’s friends and gave her a comforting hug together.

  “Oh Grace” came with a familiar voice.

  The whole scene changed suddenly. Grace found herself inside her mindscape. It was dark all around as usual. And inside a jail cell sitting on her normal throne of skulls was the strikingly beautiful former goddess of War Aries. Two metal strips went over the private areas of her naked body.

  Aries still looked angry. But somehow she sounded normal when she spoke.

  “Well this is a first, you normally don’t talk to me more than once a day. It must be important” Grace remarked.

  Aries looked at Grace as she spoke “In the restricted section of the Carrahe Royal Library there is a book that no one can read due to its unusual language. You need to go and read it ASAP” Aries ordered.

  “Why” Grace asked casually.

  “You're missing a piece of the puzzle to the story your family just told you. Several pieces. And they’ve been keeping things from you. The book will provide the piece’s” Aries pointed out.

  “But if no one can read the book—” Grace said.

  “You will have no problem reading it” Aries interrupted.

  “Since I’m only five years old in this life, they’re probably not going to give it to me if I ask. Chances are I’ll have to find a way to break-in” Grace remarked.

  “That is correct,” Aries replied.

  “Assuming that I manage to get into the restricted section, where would this book be found and what does it look like?” Grace asked.

  “It’s in section three and it’s a big black book. It stands out you should have no problem finding it” Aries replied “But I must warn you. Don’t take the book out of the restricted section. There is a spell in place that prevents the removal of books and materials from the restricted section, without permission you will need to utilize a means to copy the books contents” Aries said.

  “I think I know a way to do it,” Grace remarked after a moment of thought.

  “One more thing” Aries said “Don’t get caught, either going into or out of the restricted section of the Library and don’t stay very long either, if your caught the Slave Nobles will use that as an excuse to have you and your sister placed under house arrest for the foreseeable future and that will be a disaster” she warned.

  “Damn Double Standards” Grace said looking upset. It didn’t seem lady-like or child-like. But she didn’t care.

  “Everything you do, you must be careful not to get into too much trouble openly or you will only pour more fuel into the fire of the political controversy raging at the moment” Aries warned.

  “I understand,” Grace said, feeling despondent.

  Aries nodded and then she fell asleep.

  The scene then changed to the Royal Carriage again. Grace was back. She was back in the carriage again with everyone looking on with concern.

  “I’m sorry for scaring you all" Grace apologized.

  Everyone fused over her. But other than that the trip back to the Royal Palace was uneventful.