Hey boss.

This is your unwilling minion writing you. I wonder if you’ve forgotten about me, seeing as you haven’t bothered to contact me after your tyrannical takeover of my house. My feelings aren’t hurt. I’d be happy if you never darkened my doorstep again. Or summoned me to random places in the middle of the night. Or levy unreasonable demands against me and my whole family.

Fen has just reminded me that I need to stay on topic.

In case you haven’t heard, which I highly doubt, the king is preparing a new decree. One that will ban the existence of our partners. Obviously, this would be very bad for both of us.

To be frank, I blame you. The Grimoires practically ran the kingdom. My father could walk sideways through Summer Spire and no one would dare look him in the eye. The king had to listen to what he had to say. We had respect, wealth, and power.

Then my father meets you. Lou the slacker. Quiet, bitter, Lou who always watched me with grit teeth, so aware of her mortality but unable to set down that colossal Tome pride. Unremarkable Lou who should have been nothing but a footnote in the steady decline of your family. But no. Somehow, defying all expectations and common sense, my father leaves his meeting with you a madman and you have control over the succubi.

Don’t think I’m an idiot. We have been parleying with Burning Earth for generations. You have those idiots in the palace mesmerized with the mysteries of summoning or whatever other nonsense but you and I both know there’s only one way you could have beaten my father with his circle five virtue and taken over my family. Somehow, someway, you contracted a stronger succbus.

I wonder. Is it that circle three thrall on the verge of becoming a virtue, making her significantly stronger than a thrall should be, that no member of the Grimoire family has ever seen? Or maybe it’s that little imp that’s never been seen before? Seeing that they are a famed race of shapeshifters, you couldn’t have thought that everyone would be fooled into taking them at face value.

What do you do with what has to be the strongest succubus ever summoned? You run off to play in the Grand Hall. You could have done anything. Probably made yourself queen with enough time, but no. No! Instead, you level a bunch of irrational demands on me.

Fen has made sure I followed them perfectly, despite my many reasonable objections. As a new family head, I should be consolidating my power, perhaps reminding the nobles of Summer Spire why they feared the Grimoire name. Instead, I have been using the considerable resources at my disposal, and ultimately your disposal, to purchase summoning records.

Enough gold to buy a city and you use it to buy up crumbling journals. You know as well as I do that half of all records are complete garbage. Another fourth are idiots bragging about luring phage lords into their circles but have never formed a contract. Most of what remains, we already have that information in our libraries.

Worse, you want to piece together their life stories. Which is only possible by summoning the elementals they summoned and hoping those beings can remember the ants that snatched away a few minutes in their near infinite lives.

Is it any wonder that I can’t pull my family together? You may control the succubi but they can’t function in society. You need people for that, people you’ve made no effort to bring to our side. So, they hate us. Or they hate me. They are actively working against me. While they may not be able to depose me, they can certainly provide opportunities for rivals and enemies to get ahead.

Nobles who used to quake when my father entered the room now openly sneer at us. Not just because we haven’t been making moves in the political circles, but because of your inane decree not to, as you put it, misuse the mental affinity against the innocent.

You know like I know that there’s no one innocent amongst nobility. Secrets are bad, yes, but no one double crosses you when they know you’re willing to reach inside their head and turn it inside out. Well, now they know that we won’t do that and they’re walking all over us. Getting their payback.

Those that aren’t strutting on the grave of our reputation are still nipping at our heels. We’re acting so irrationally, it’s making them nervous. They think we’re using our meek façade to plot the fall of Harvest or something equally heinous. They want to destroy us to make sure we never reach our previous heights. Everyone else wants to destroy us just because we’ve been bastards for years. And you’ve tied my hands.

I bet you’re grinding your teeth in anger at my rant but I don’t care. Apparently, we’re all going to be executed soon. Unless you get off your ass, boss, and show me what you can do. I know you have a mean side. A mean, petty, sadistic, depraved side. We need the bitch, not the bum.

Or let me put aside some gold for my funeral. And for the love of the saints, let me be buried as a Grimoire. I won’t be able rest for eternity if my gravestone says Mason. Embarrass every other member of my family but you owe me that much for making me a slave.

Eagerly waiting for a response, boss.

-

Lou, this is your Fen.

No one has seen this paper, not even Junior as I write it beside him. I apologize for the tone of his letter but he needed the release. The atmosphere in Summer Spire is quite tense. It feels as if there are a hundred swords pointed at us from the dark and the Masons are not taking well to being ostracized. It is nothing my fellows cannot handle but as they insist on defying the change of leadership, there is no need to soothe their silly fears and fragile egos.

Despite what Junior thinks, we have the situation well-in-hand. This decree, while ambitious, is without fangs. There is no way the crown can enforce it. The king will not send an army against us. With the full might of the crown, he may drive us out of the city, which we have planned for. I have diligently followed your true instructions to move the Grimoire wealth out of the capital. We are ready to move at any moment.

Which brings me to why I have written this letter. This decree is far too sloppy to be meant as a countermeasure against the Grimoire family and Burning Earth. There have been no other measures taken and no one investigating our agents.

My theory is that the crown is targeting another group, another elemental listed in the decree, and using succubi as camouflage. I have included the list of the elementals and planes to be banned. It doesn’t help us out of our predicament as there are plenty willing to take advantage of the opportunity.

I am searching for the true target. In the meantime, how carefully shall I shield Junior and the rest of these fools? We are encouraging them to expand their repertoire as summoners but they amount to very little. Not worth the resources it would take to protect them if you ask me, but I suppose they might still make an investment for the future.

I wonder, will you be coming back to deal with this yourself? I admit, I am excited to see you again. Poor me, working diligently for you but left alone for so long. If I were a wife, who could fault me for moving on from such a neglectful spouse? But there is no moving on from you, my summoner. Poor me.

I await your direction.

Ever loyal, Fen.