“Lordavis!” a faraway voice called. “Lordavis, wake up!”

I disliked it. Even with its distance, I felt as though it was too loud. My head burned. I wanted to sleep. I didn't want to be told what to do. Whoever it was, they had the wrong Lordavis.

It came again, this time with a slap across my features. I roused, dimly, and nearly toppled out of an embrace. “What?”

A blurry face peered back. I couldn't discern any features and I wasn't going to try. “You're awake. Good. You have to get us out of here.”

“What?” I said again.

“I came to rescue you,” said the face.

Rescue me? Was I in need of rescuing? I didn't think I needed a rescue. I couldn't remember and I couldn't make sense of the statement. I responded with, “What?”

“Oh no,” replied the face with resignation.

“I don't...rescue...what,” I mumbled, lulling back and letting the searing darkness have its way with me.

“No. No, no, no, no, no.” I was jostled, slapped, and called for some more. “Lordavis, you have to wake up. We're in trouble."

“Mm,” I said. Good for us, whatever that meant.

“I should have left you there,” fretted the face, or so I assumed, as it was the same voice and I had stopped looking. “Maybe I could have come back with the worms. I wasn't thinking clearly. I might have figured out some way to communicate.” Then, “You have to help. We're going to die. There's so many of them! They all have swords.”

“I can't die,” I mumbled with amusement. “That would be bad.”

“They'll have no problem killing me.”

“Hm.” It was nice on the edge of sleep. I liked the warm feeling. It almost negated the burning.

“You need to get us out of here,” the face tried again, shaking me. “Do that thing where you go from one place to another.”

“Mm.”

“I'm serious. If they haven't already discovered you're gone, they'll discover it--”

“FIND THEM!” That wasn't the face. It sounded even further away. Very angry. Very angry indeed. “DO NOT LET THE MAGUS ESCAPE!”

“Oh no,” the face whined again.

I chuckled. The notion of keeping me from escaping, whatever the circumstance, was humorous. “I can go where'er I want.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” insisted the face. I felt like I was floating. “How about we do that? How about you get us out of here?" Here? Where was here? I was nowhere. I was fine with it. Nowhere didn't bother me any. The face entreated, "Or maybe call in the worms?”

“I have lots of worms,” I confirmed.

“Show me?” tried the face. We stopped moving with a curse.

“THERE THEY ARE!” followed by a din of muffled shouts. We regained our speed. How curious it was to float without any effort.

“What?” I mumbled.

“Showmeyourworms!” It was garbled and sharp. I didn't like it.

“What?”

There was nothing more. I nearly drifted back into unconsciousness when the face said, “I think Rott's missing. You should reach out to Rott.”

“Rott's not missing,” I said.

“Where is he?” needled the face.

“S'not missing,” I replied. Blearily, I looked around. I saw brown and no worms. With annoyance and more energy than I felt I had, I called, “Rott! Where are you?”

“Good,” came the rapid response. “Keep doing that. Try the others. See if they know where Rott is.”

“Rott,” I called again, grumbling and rubbing my forehead. This was too much. I wanted to sleep. “Rott, come here.”

“More.”

“'s enough,” I said. “He's hiding.”

“Keep calling,” urged the face with a squeeze. “Please keep calling. Please keep calling.”

“Rott,” I shouted with the last of my strength. “Come here!”

I sunk back into darkness as the world around me shook. It was too much to stay awake. Everything seared with a hot burning sensation that only truly left when I gave into my fatigue. I gladly returned to slumber and did not pay any further mind to the face or the voices.

I awoke feeling astronomically sluggish and weak. I lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, the same ceiling I saw every morning when I rose. Except I didn't feel as though I could rise. There was a weight upon my chest and shifting enough to regard it nearly sent me back to sleep. Rott, curled into a ball, blinked and looked at me. There was tremendous enthusiasm in his voice as he cried, My liege! You're awake!

“What happened?”

The worm wrapped around me and continued his sappiness. You were gone! We didn't know what to do!

“Gone?” I couldn't make sense of the notion. “Where had I gone?”

Queen Chidsey had you! She set up camp in the Kingdom of Ever-Worms.

“What?” I was incredulous. “No, she hasn't. I told her--” Vague memories returned. I cursed emphatically. “I'm going to deal with her.” I attempted to push up and found it a struggle.

You can't! insisted Rott. You're still recovering.

“I'll be fine,” I said and collapsed onto my back. Chidsey would know what it meant to cross me as soon as I found my second wind. Rott slid off my belly and disappeared down the corridor. I had a sinking suspicion I knew what was next.

Nolwud poked a head through the doorway. “Shaking it off?”

“Mm.” I draped an arm over my eyes. Rott, accompanying the inventor, hoisted himself back on the bed and nestled beside my head.

“She got you good.” The blankets were pushed aside as my bandaged abdomen was exposed. “I wasn't sure if it required a doctor or healer.”

“Tell me you didn't call one,” I said.

“I didn't,” assured Nolwud. “Only because you didn't seem to be getting worse. I figured if you were removed from the source, you'd probably recover.” Then, “It's been about a week.”

“A week?”

“Since you left.” The Technologist held up fingers. “About two days to find you and another five recovering.”

“I remember stinging,” I related.

Nolwud's hands clapped. “Yes. I guess they weren't trying to kill you, which is fortunate. I, uh, had to go in and get you. That was...an ordeal.”

“How'd you manage that?” I slurred rather more than I intended.

“Rott came to retrieve me. You really ought to be thanking him. I just, you know, went in and...” The Technologist trailed off. “You were in a bad way. Completely out of it.”

“Oh.” I wasn't interested in hearing the dumb things I did under the influence of the toxin.

“But, uhm, yeah, so you called in the worms,” Nolwud continued. “And they came. And, well, you were out of it, like I said...”

“Right,” I said, uncertain where this was going.

“My liege,” said Nolwud. “They went all out when they realized what had happened. They indiscriminately attacked everyone except you and I.”

I tiled my head. “I see.” I was disappointed to have missed the slaughter.

“I tried to rouse you but it didn't work and I can't communicate with them.”

I frowned. “Did they kill Chidsey?” I looked to Rott. “Did you kill Chidsey?”

“I don't know, my liege,” both worm and inventor answered in unison.

“That would be bad,” I said, feeling a strange nostalgia in the phrasing. “That would be quite bad.”

The Technologist paced the room. “I was going to suggest that, if you're up to it, we could go investigate the burrow site. It's collapsed now, the worms annihilated it, but we might be able to dig through and see what we can find. However, it doesn't appear you're fully healed and-”

“I'm healed,” I asserted, trying to sit up again. I managed it this time and felt pretty triumphant.

“...and,” Nolwud remarked, “Gallivur is on the way.”

I shook the clouds from my head. “What?”

Nolwud shrugged sheepishly. “I said Gallivur is on the way. With ten-thousand phids. To see Painyll.” Then, “Fourmikari sent word while you were sleeping.”

I swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. That changed everything. “If Gallivur is on the way, I must go greet-”

“I'm not saying this to be contrary,” Nolwud interjected. “But you don't look up to it, my liege.”

I sneered. “I'm always up to dealing with Gallivur. In fact, that news has made me feel better.”

Nolwud tapped upon jaw. “Let me think on it, my liege.”

“There's nothing for you to think on,” I said snidely. “It's my decision. It's my kingdom.” The sooner the inventor understood that, the better.

“Would you like some water?” Nolwud offered, a glass in hand. I had somehow neglected to notice it. “You must be parched.”

I awoke to the sound of my chamber door creaking open. Already facing towards it, I was startled to see Gallivur walking through. The champion rapped on the wood as well as stated, “Knock knock. How are you feeling?”

I should have been up and out of bed. The sluggishness had returned with a vengeance. I stared dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”

“Coming to see you.” Gallivur dragged a chair from the corner and set it beside where I lay. “Your Technologist said you were under the weather. I wanted to make sure it wasn't, you know.” A tap upon the chest. "We're terribly worried about your cardiovascular health in Forumikari."

“I'm going to kill you before I die,” I decreed weakly.

Gallivur made a show of looking around the room. “You know, I've never been in your personal chambers before. They seem a bit small.”

I glared. “They serve their purpose.”

“You've got bigger ones, don't you? I can't imagine Revergnols would have slept in a literal closet.”

“They've always been mine,” I said succinctly. “I saw no reason to change.”

“So.” Gallivur lifted the edge of the blanket. “What sort of wound are we nursing?” I slapped the hand away.

“Try that again,” I warned, “and I will melt your face off.”

Gallivur's arms folded. The champion sunk into the chair. “What happened? Your Technologist was tight-jawed and the other-- whooo, he's something, isn't he?” The posture corrected. “How are you not sick of him?”

“I am,” I said.

“Fourmikari will take him off your hands,” said Gallivur. “I can take him away with me today.” Then, “You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

“Ahem,” Nolwud's voice echoed from behind. Did the Technologist wait in the corridor? “Champion Gallivur, I don't think any agreements should be brokered while my liege Lordavis is not within full faculty control.”

“What does that mean?” I wondered aloud. Gallivur sighed.

“Fine. Fair.” Gallivur went back to my injury. “You were going to tell me how you wound up bedridden.”

“I don't know that I was,” I said, settling into a comfortable position on my stomach. I didn't need to look at Gallivur. I could rest and talk.

“Did you already dispatch this one too?” A reference to the poor soul carved up by my laser.

“You don't need to worry,” I mocked. “It wasn't an assassin.”

“Are you sure?”

“About what?”

“That it wasn't an assassin.”

“It wasn't an assassin,” I reiterated firmly. “No one was trying to kill me.”

“Well, the way I see it,” Gallivur began.

“My liege Lordavis is recovering from a poisoning,” Nolwud explained. “What's left of the poison is being counterbalanced with a sedative. There is little damage internally, I believe.”

“I'm on a sedative?” I mused. That explained things. Maybe. “Huh.”

“I just wondered,” said Gallivur innocently. “That's all.”

“Why?" I jeered. "Looking for someone you can drag off to the Delvers again?”

Gallivur chuckled. “You figured that out? I suppose you had your time alone." The champion adopted a solemn mien. "Before you carried out grisly murder.”

“I knew before that,” I remarked, “Because of the enchanted dagger.”

The champion didn't have an immediate response.

“Do you want to fight, Gallivur?” I yawned. If need be, I could forgo my relaxation. I was feeling pretty good. I could take Gallivur.

“No, I want you to speak a little more about that dagger you mentioned.” Then, “Do you still have it?”

“Somewhere.” I wrapped my arms around a pillow and buried my face. “ith nus likh th pisnr ndd iht.”

“Again,” Gallivur pulled the pillow away from my forehead. I scowled. The champion shook the headrest for emphasis. “Say that again.”

"Champion Gallivur," Nolwud objected.

“We gave it back,” I elaborated, tugging the pillow. “Then the prisoner didn't need it, so we kept it in the end.”

Gallivur tapped the edge of the mattress. “You're so clever with your magic, Lordavis. I bet you already identified the spell cast upon it.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Gallivur demanded, “What kind of spell?”

I didn't answer.

“Lordavis.”

“...you don't know anything about magic,” I muttered. “It wouldn't be worth it to explain.”

“A brief explanation,” said Gallivur.

“It's a drawing out spell,” I said. “It's designed to pull forth specific things.”

“Like,” suggested Gallivur facetiously, “Cataclysmic entities bound in the heart of a magus?”

“Good luck with that,” I mocked.

“This spell,” Gallivur prodded, “How close to the target does it need to be to work?”

“Not very.”

“I see,” said Gallivur sternly. “This spell can only be cast on knife blades?”

“No, it can be cast on anything.”

The champion let out a short sigh. “So, hypothetically, an arrow? Or a dart?”

“It's a stupid spell,” I said, settling into my reclaimed pillow. “And it didn't succeed.”

“Where is the dagger now, Lordavis?”

I had already addressed that. “I told you, we took it with us.”

Gallivur was unrelenting. “I don't like the idea of you having that laying around.”

“I don't like the idea of you talking to me,” I countered. “I don't like the idea of you breathing.”

Two dismissive pats on my back. I genuinely almost had it in me to open my eyes. “Yeah, I know.” The chair dragged back to its original location. Footsteps away. A quiet, “Technologist, a word.”

“What?” Nolwud replied.

“If you come across any daggers...” I didn't hear the rest.

“I didn't even see the one that stabbed me,” scoffed Nolwud. “I don't think I can tell one from another.”

Footsteps back. The sound of minor ransacking.

“I don't think Lordavis would want you--” Nolwud started.

“It's moot; it's not here.” Gallivur moved past. I sensed the motion. “If you happen upon it, I want it.”

“It's not yours to take,” I mumbled.

“It's my responsibility to keep Fourmikari safe,” quipped Gallivur. “Whether you like it or not.”

When I next awoke, it was dark. Rott was beside me, an indication of Gallivur's departure. I groaned as the worm put forth, My liege.

“I hope I'm not this tired forever.”

You look better, said the worm. From what I can tell of your kind.

“Accursed Gallivur,” I seethed. “I'm going to destroy Fourmikari. I'm going to destroy their champion.”

My liege, you're not well enough. Rott fidgeted. He drew near and pressed against me. Why was Gallivur here?

“To see the poet.”

Why?

“To confirm we actually have the poet. Fourmikari needs to confirm before they allow themselves to become indignant.” I stretched my neck. “I hope they're angry. I hope they hate us.”

What should we do if they attack and you're gone?

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

My liege, we had no idea what you do with you in Queen Chidsey's clutches. Nothing worked.

“What are talking about? You obliterated her pathetic camp.”

We came because you called, Rott said. But if you hadn't called, we wouldn't have come. If, for some reason, Fourmikari takes you away and you do not call, what should we do?

“Swarm,” I said bluntly. “Always swarm. Isn't that what I said when I set you on Nova?” I smiled, reminiscing about that destructive day. “Wasn't that glorious?”

Nova was different. Nova didn't have swords. They didn't have anything.

“Swarm,” I said. Then, “Do you remember what we did with that dagger from the assassin?”

No, my liege. Why?

“Gallivur asked. I don't remember either. It's here somewhere.”

Do you want us to find it?

“Yes,” I said. “Don't be obvious. Don't let Nolwud know. Gallivur asked the inventor to search for it. We're not going to let Gallivur have it.”

Yes, my liege.

“Also, send the message that I want the burrow searched. If Chidsey's body is there...” I didn't know. What if it was?

I believe everyone present was consumed, said Rott.

“That's going to be a problem if it gets out,” I said. “Chidsey was a queen.”

What happens when you kill a queen?

My thoughts drifted. I meant to kill everyone eventually. Perhaps facing down powerful retribution early on would remove the obstacle before its time. Perhaps it was the approach I should have taken from the start. But then I would have neglect Fourmikari and if my time was limited, I wanted to ensure I saw the end of that damn city. Wiping out a kingdom was more complicated than it seemed.

My liege?

“When you kill a queen,” I said, “Those with allegiance set certain events into motion. It's a whole a thing.”

What events, my liege? Rott asked.

I yawned. “I can't think of it right now. It's probably nothing to worry about at time juncture.” I added, “They have to know you've done it in the first place and then they have to care. It's not a divine sense.”

Then if we find Queen Chidsey in the ruins, Rott said, we should eat her.

“Yes,” I said, more certain this time. “Without a doubt.”

I hope she suffered, said Rott.

“Why is that?” I asked.

Because you're suffering, my liege.

“Hardly,” I replied. “The burning went away. I'm not that weak, Rott.”

The Kingdom of Ever-Worms is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for a worm, Rott remarked. I hope you know how grateful we are for you, my liege.

“Where is this coming from?” I asked, taken off guard by the appreciation.

You might have died, said Rott. I don't want you to die without knowing what we think. What we all think.

“I wasn't going to die,” I chided. “Chidsey specifically kept me alive.”

All the same, said Rott, snuggling affectionately, Who knows if you'll be that lucky next time?