Barry had spent so much time with the Court that, when he spotted the tiny city of Seledo, he’d been forced to reassess his perception of the kingdom. As well as that of the scale of the Court itself. He had heard that the group of ‘rebels’ were not really much more than a ragtag group of maidens scrapping for survival. But things had looked far better than what he’d expected it to.

There weren’t crippled maidens, or starving ones, there was a well built prison, a well built palace, the defenses were meager, but the sense of discipline he got from the Dark Elves and the non-dark counterparts had mostly left him feeling like it was just a tiny Queendom in some far-off place.

One look at Seledo and Barry suddenly realized the urgency and tension from Embla whenever she spoke of ‘interacting’ with the Kingdom. Seledo must have had maybe ten thousand or so souls. A town with proper houses, a wooden barrier, watchtowers, proper cobblestone streets. And by contrast, the Court was, perhaps, a thousand. With small single or double room houses built into trees, meager barricades, the trees themselves were the only option for a watch-post.

And that was if he was being generous.

Their survival depended on remaining something the Kingdom considered not worth paying attention to.

“Can I really do this?”

“You will.” Lala replied, tightening her hand on his own as they walked. The Dark Elf’s skin was fair, and her hair was dark green. The change was not from some spell, but from dyes one of the old ladies from the Court had used on her. And it would last only a handful of days before it started wearing off.

Because Dark Elves would draw more attention than regular Elves.

As would Barry’s red hair. Thus why it’d been dyed black as well.

“You remember what to say?”

Despite her earlier reassurance, the maiden still looked more nervous than he did.

“I lost everything to the feral wave, including my other maidens, and we…” His gaze flickered to the copper collar around Lala’s throat. “We’re married.”

She didn’t blush or react to that, merely nodding and tightening her grip on his fingers ever so slightly. “And you inherited me from your father.”

Barry coughed a little. “Why is that important?”

“Because if either of us slips, it makes sense I’m not a maiden you raised yourself.”

“Slips… how?”

“Like walking hand in hand.”

Barry froze, pulling his hand out of hers and watching the amusement in her eyes. “Is it really a problem?”

“It’s not a problem, just something that will look odd.” The maiden replied leisurely, her normal teasing mood gone. “And the less attention, the better.”

“I’m still queasy about it.”

“Everything should go smoothly.”

“You should be introduced to the laws of Murphy.” Barry muttered under his breath.

Lala snorted loudly. “Unless this ‘Murphy’ was a sage in curses, I don’t see why they should be going around making laws.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Now that you mention it, I do think Murphy was a sage of curses.”

The Dark Elf perked immediately. “Really? I thought your world didn’t have magic or enchantments?”

“We don’t, but Murphy’s law is famous.” Barry muttered. “Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Lala immediately deflated. “Bah.”

“What?”

“That’s just a seller of acro-dust.”

“A what now?”

“Fake things. Tricks that take advantage of superstition.”

Barry leveled a glare at her. “You’re kidding. You can literally enchant objects to be magic and you’re talking about superstition?”

“Seen it with my own two eyes, yes, yes.” Lala was talking with a strange slurred accent, clearly mocking someone Barry didn’t know as she held up a pebble she’d picked up. “This here fine gem in disguise is nothing more and nothing less than a miracle. Yup, yup. All it needs is a little polish and a little shine, and you will only encounter the most docile of ferals. Bonded a Tigress and all, made her soft like a puppy.”

“But maidens can detect the whole spells and enchantment.”

“And if someone could make an enchantment that actually controlled fortune, nobles would hoard the thing.” She shrugged.

“I saw you give a bracelet that made people trip.”

“And it worked by messing with their sense of physical self-perception.” She waved off, a proud smirk on her lips. “The bitch totally deserved that one.” The chuckle that followed was a dark one. “She still thinks it’s meant to make her tireless.”

“Does it?”

“Sure, but not really enough to matter. It mostly makes her not feel her tiredness. And that’s what counts.” Lala scratched the tip of her sharp ear. “With subtle curses, there are lots of things that are more powerful by just making the person know they exist because you just sabotage yourself a lot better than any curse could.”

“Like breaking them from the ‘flow’.” Barry pipped up, earning a curious look. “You know, like when someone is totally focused and moving or doing stuff without thinking, like it’s automatic, and you mess with that.”

An impish grin grew on her face. “Do tell.”

“Well, it’s just something I caught on when playing online games.” He scratched his cheek. “If someone on the enemy team was doing really well, I’d just ask them how they were doing it. And sometimes that would throw them off because they’d focus on their own actions.” A slight nod. “Kind of like telling you that you’re breathing or that you have a tongue.”

“That’s a cute idea.” She laughed, very slowly licking her lips. “I do know what I’d want to do with my tongue, though, I ha-.” Her face stiffened, and the smile vanished, her head bowed slightly.

“Wh-.”

“It’s time to start pretending.” She whispered in a very hushed voice. “Dear owner.” She added a slight strain to her lips and a plasticity to her smile.

Barry had been just about ready to look around when he felt the barest sensation pointing upwards. His head snapped, and he saw two shadows approaching. Flying maidens that looked like they were trying to pretend to be tough. But there were bags under their eyes, and a slight paleness to their complexion. It spoke of long nights without rest.

“What’s your business in Seledo?”

Their gazes were on Barry, and it took him a second to compose himself. “We-.” He coughed, feeling a pinch in his throat. “I lost my farm. I am traveling and looking for opportunities.”

“Traveling rather light.” The winged one spoke, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “You have money and food?”

Barry quickly nodded, patting the pouch on his hip. “Yes, we had to sell what had survived the ferals.”

A slight nod of approval, their shoulders relaxed at that proclamation. “Name?”

“Barry Dodson.” He’d been told to give a different name, but Barry had just blurted the words out, feeling a bit too under pressure.

And the tension returned. The leader grimaced, about to say something before her companion patted her shoulder. “There’s no way they’re related.” The wing was pointed at Barry’s black hair.

“Excuse me?” He asked, blinking.

“Nothing of concern.” The maiden shook her head. “Don’t cause a ruckus and don’t expect to be able to meet with the Lord.”

Lala tensed at that proclamation. “My owner may be seeking to buy a maiden.”

“If it’s one owned by the Lord, then he will have to wait until after the Lord’s guests depart.”

The duo of maidens spread their wings and, with a powerful set of flaps, threw themselves upwards into the sky.

“FUCK!” Lala cursed under her breath, stomping her foot, glaring at the town.

“Everything will go smoothly, huh?”

“Shut up.”