"Sorrel, how goes it?" Oliver greets us at the door to the castle.

"Good, I've got the first of the Runes with me. Thought I'd bring it by since there's some business I'd like to discuss."

"That is good, why don't you come on back, and I'll call Hilbert over." He starts guiding us down through the hallways of the palace. "So, what kind of business brings you over?"

"I heard there's an abandoned farm to the south of the city." I explain. "Amelia wants me to set up a little racetrack for our motorcycles, and that place sounds like it might be ideal."

"I know the place." He nods and displays a hologram of the place. "We sent Water and Earth Mages out several times to try and clear the well, but nothing stuck. I even went personally to make sure no one was sneaking in at night to re-foul it. After that didn't pan out, we just gave up on it."

"It looks more than large enough." I nod, already planning out the track. "Will there be any issues with us buying, or leasing it."

"Just one." He grins. "You've got to let me use it."

"Hah. Not a problem." I agree and play the movie of us on our dirt bikes. "I'll even give you a dirt bike." I made a couple extra when I was working on Lan's Iron Horse.

"I can see why you want him to build it now." He says to Amelia. "Ah, here's Hilbert, we can all talk in here." He takes us into a small, but richly furnished sitting room.

"Alright, this is what I've got so far." I pull out a rectangular device with a glass hand-shaped panel in it's center. "I'm still working on the eye scanner, but this works now. So, I thought I'd let you get a feel for it, and decide how you want to use it."

The Court Wizard puts his hand on the glass. A ray of white light quickly scans down the panel, which then dings and glows green while displaying a floating headshot along with his name. Hilbert follows his example and gets a similar response. I do the same and it pulses yellow, beeps and shows "Unrecognized hand print" floating in the air.

"Nice, but what if a Light Mage disguises his face and hand as someone with access?" Oliver does just that only for the Rune to start flashing bright red while an alarm sounds, and the word "Imposter!" appears mid-air. "Very nice, but what if I try this?" He changes his handprint to something unknown, and tries to override the color and sound.

"Ack!" Hilbert jumps back as a metal chain wraps around Oliver's wrist while steam hisses from one side, and a small flame from the other.

"I can customize all those responses, or have it send a signal elsewhere, but thought this a good demonstration." I say and reset the device.

"Alright, I think that's a good start." Oliver lets out a nervous laugh and rubs his wrist. "Care to explain just how you managed that. I could sense it scanning my hand with light, but that's all."

"Well, firstly it checks your fingerprints for a match." I show them how it does so by layering the scanned print against its database and shining light through, if any hits outside the print, then it tries rotating it first, before moving on to the next entry. "Then, if the prints match. The hidden Rune activates and double checks the vein pattern in your palm."

"I didn't even notice that part of the scan." Oliver looks impressed.

"Nor were you supposed to, I put a lot of effort into hiding that bit." I smile, and continue. "And, lastly. It uses a simple Farsight spell to make sure that the proper color is displayed, even when no color should be. It's not perfect, but I think it's alright for a first try."

"What's your second try going to be like?" Hilbert asks with a smile on his face.

"That one I want to work through gloves and even shoes if I can manage it." We end up with matching grins at that remark.

"Sorrel, you really are paranoid." Apricot shakes her head.

"But, he's the kind of paranoid we need right now." Oliver defends me. "Can you install this outside the Royal Apartments, and have it also send a signal inside."

"Of course, I also have some modified picture takers that can send a live image of what they see elsewhere." I take out a surveillance camera that's connected to a projector by a slim loop of glass fiber. "Set, these up and regular guards can keep watch from wherever you want them to." I feel a bit like Big Brother, but they already use Mages to snoop.

"If we set these up to watch the entrances, then we could re-allocate more of the Mage guards' time to detecting foreign Magics." Oliver picks up the camera and pans it around the room while watching the display. "How far can the signal travel over this cable?"

"I've only tested a few tens of meters. But, if you're thinking of the border, then it might be possible with a bit of work." At least, I know it was back on Dirt.

"Oh! I wasn't thinking quite that far, but that is very good to know." He examines the camera even closer. "Alright, let's get these set up, and I'll get you the deed to that farm. You know you can ask for more than that if you want."

"Mhm." I shrug. "What more do I need? And, besides, it's my duty as a noble to support the kingdom. Now, let's get this done, so I can go blow off some stress. Just thinking about why these Runes were needed got me all grumpy earlier."

"If it helps the imposter ended up spilling everything right away." He snorts. "Regular mercenary, that one. She was sent by Elialle to spy, but gave up her handlers without even being asked. Frankly she was embarrassed about being caught so quickly, and just asked not to be sent to the mines."

"And, did she say what the strongest country in Varecia wanted with Larendath?" I say with a sigh. 'This is exactly what I was afraid of.' I add inwardly.

"Regular reports about anything and everything we're up to." He lets out his own sigh as we reach the doors to the Royal Apartments. "Other than that, she wasn't told, and didn't know."

"Shame." I shake my head for a second before coming to attention as Vivian exits her apartments with Faye at her side. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Good afternoon, Princess." I greet the royals with a bow, while Amelia and Apricot curtsy.

"Good afternoon." She returns the greeting with a slight nod of her head. "Oliver informed me that you've finished the first of the security Runes. We wished to see it in action."

"Of, course Ma'am." I quickly install the palm scanner on the wall next to the door, and reconfigure the runes to also display the results just inside the door, where the guards on detail in the antechamber can see it. Next, I disguise a camera in the wall before adding its matching screen to the other side so they can see anyone that approaches.

"I saw you put it in, but I can't even tell where it is now." Captain Crothers exclaims while peering at the wall. A round of sniggering flows out from his men as they get a close up view of his nostril.

"Hah!" Faye snorts out after peering around the door. "We can see right up your nose." Hilbert blushes when she says that, and backs away from the wall quickly.

"Would you like to try it first Faye?" I ask the giggling Princess.

She looks up at her mom, and then rushes over to press her hand against it when the Queen nods her ascent. It works perfectly and shows her picture inside and out of the wall, with 'Princess Faye Laren' displayed above it. Vivian tries it next with a smile as it shows her as she was at the gala.

"I just need to know exactly who you want added to the list." I say.

"Just the Queen's guards, and these maids." Oliver conjures headshots of everyone that should have access, and it only takes me a moment to add them to the database.

"Done." I say with a nod.

"Good." She nods back. "Now, perhaps we could discuss some of these plans of yours." She says, and Princess Faye tugs on her dress. "And, perhaps a Princess-sized motorcycle... Or, preferably something safer looking." Apparently Faye was watching when Oliver projected out meeting for Vivian.

"I can do that." I smile and display an image of Faye in a go-cart with a five point harness and padded roll cage. "Don't worry Princess, this one's actually more fun, you’re lower to ground, so it feels like you're going faster."

"Oh, boy." Vivian sighs as her daughter's eyes light up and guides us into the apartments. Once we enter her study, she takes a seat behind a desk and her face turns serious. "I'm willing to give you free rein to do what-ever you like in Arcadia, but we need those troop transports, and armors."

"Cendassa may not be amassing any more troops." Oliver continues. "But, they are training the ones they have quite well. And, with Elialle's sudden interest we can't be too safe. There haven't been any reports from Ciranna, Alarath, or Asauria, but they've doubtless heard the news by now, and are likely just biding their time to see how things play out."

"I can make as many gambesons as you want, but I need iron if you want the heavier armors, or the vehicles." I sigh and seriously re-think, my "no killing" rule. This whole mess would be a lot easier if I could just wipe out a bunch of greedy bastards.

"It'll be okay, Sorrel." Amelia tells me while Apricot rubs my stiff shoulders.

I just nod and continue. "I also need to know what kind of transports you want." I display pictures of the dirt bike, the motorcycle, the bus, a Willys Jeep, a Humvee, a basic canvas covered truck, and a train filled with car after car of generic soldiers. "That, or I can just give everyone go-carts." I laugh and suddenly a squad of saber wielding cart riders are racing around the room.

"The iron won't be an issue." She ignores my attempt to lighten the mood. "We've increased production at the mines, and have been stockpiling ever since we first got word about Cendassa's actions. As for the vehicles, General Sauer is very interested in getting his scouts some of those motorcycles. Though, samples of the others would be useful."

"Okay." I say simply, because nothing else I can say will change the situation. "The big one requires laying down tracks first, but the rest won't be any problem. Though, if you don't want to rely on your Fire Mages, I'll still need to run Mana conduit out to Riverton, and presumably wherever you're training the troops at."

"Thank you." She bows to me from her chair. "I know this isn't easy for you, or at all what you wanted-"

"Vivian." I cut her off. "I knew this was coming as soon as I learned about Cendassa. Hells, I had a feeling something like this might happen as soon as I decided to report the Dungeon. So, you don't need to thank me for protecting my home. Just have someone deliver a list of what you need with the supplies. But, for now, if you'll excuse me, I would very much like to go forget about it all for a few hours."

***