Fits gathered his thoughts for a moment and continued.

„In short, she told me she had found a way to take us back on the Realm, only that it needed some preparations. Building weapons, training a beauhemian army to fight along with the strange creatures. Without an army as a deterrent, she said, they will not let us make our own country. It will be made with sacrifices; you, meaning me, were a fool for not fighting when you had access to the Realm’s power. I opposed her, I didn’t think we can win a war, but she couldn’t be reasoned with. We had elections, she won, I lost. And the rest, you’ve seen. She got that army, in some way. Beyond the overall numbers, those red imps are very skilled. They build safe guns for our men and armored vehicles. Regarding how she intends to get back on the Realm, that’s a mystery for me. I was kicked out of her confidence circle.”

„She’s indeed mad! We will crush easily any army who’d dare provoke us!” growled Vellantina like a lioness.

„I beg you to differ.”

It was Sem, and he pressed on.

„How big are the Continent’s armies, Miss Vellantina? You must have an idea.”

„Yeah, like I would say you! It’s a state secret.”

„As you wish, but I think I can approximate the numbers, you be the judge. The Coast has a handful, as their safety is guaranteed by Ohst and d’Ornia. Media and D’Ornia have around thirty thousand troops, and so has the City.”

„Plus mum’s shock troops, one of them worths ten normal soldiers.”

„I’ll give you that, so let’s say the City has thirty thousand troops more. The Westerners hire mercenaries from the Grass Sea Steppe, but they could easily hire forty thousand there. So, in total, around one hundred and sixty thousand soldiers. Let’s assume that all would fight together, stretching it a bit, but let’s assume it. And let’s assume lots of artillery, blimps, steam machine guns, you name it. Now, imagine five hundred thousand of those bird-headed monsters. They are called warbeasts, by the way. They don’t feel pain, don’t know fear, and don’t have weapons but can bend steel with their bare hands. Imagine fifty thousand insectoids, the wasps, who can fly as fast as a moving train and drop acid bombs. And imagine ten thousand little red monsters, the Red Engineers. The most dangerous of all, they can put up weapons factories in a matter of days and make you a bomb from salt and soap in an hour. All three species obey orders to the letter, whatever those would be. Can you see the Continent defeating them, now?”

„How do you know all this, Mister Sem?” asked Ulius with interest.

„Aha! Now I’m worthy of attention, I see. These armies were mass-produced one millennium ago, but they were so dangerous that they were forbidden in the end. Give me back my sheet, so I could ask for help. There is no way you could win against such opponents.”

„Do you think she has such a big army, Fits?” asked the Protectress.

„Could be. We never saw many, but they eat a lot. Animals run away from the mountains, even the crows, and Alienor takes almost every bit of food the people can produce. That’s why she’s called...

„The Scourge,” completed Ulius.

„The point is,” said Vella, „the army is still here, so maybe we have some time to figure out how to stop it. I wonder where Alienor had landed...”

„I have a theory,” said Ulius. „That sleeping girl on the sofa is a westerner, so she was in the West Autarchy before she got here. That old escape bead had made an equivalence of mass transfer. Being so far from the Realm, it took an equivalent mass to cheat on the immense energy such a tunnel would require. Thus, the spell transported Alienor in the Autarchy and took this girl in her place.”

„Li-Hua. My name is Li-Hua,” intervened the girl, pulling herself up. „I awoke long ago. I pretended to sleep so I could figure what’s going on. I was indeed snatched from the West Autarchy. Can you untie me, please?” she showed her wrists and ankles.

Frey’r made a gesture towards her, but she pushed herself back.

„I won’t let a Norse touch me!”

Frey’r raised his shoulders and let Sirinn do the honors; Li-Hua accepted the help with a smile, which brought frowns on Estella’s face.

I must warn her about him, on the first occasion!

„By the way, Estella, Ulius, we know each other. I’m Secretary’s Lau daughter, we met when we were kids.”

„Hey, I remember,” smiled Ulius. „You had all those cute dolls I wanted to play with but was too ashame to ask!”

„Dolls are things of the past, prince Ulius; let’s get to present matters. Do you think she’s a danger to my people? Back in the Realm, on her own...”

„Who knows?” Vella raised her shoulders. „But there are capable people on the Realm. If she makes herself noticed, they’ll take care. Mum or Dad can take head on every threat, be it a Nemesis level evil mage. Our chances to be rescued are higher with her there and you here. If they notice you’re missing, they’ll use magic to search for you. We... well, they believe we’re in an excursion; it will be many days before they do something.”

„Alienor will try to get back her army,” speculated Sem. „She needs it...”

„Look, I don’t want to be unpolite,” barged in Li-Hua, „But why on the Realm you don’t ask her, the Seer, to See? You’re ranting and ranting, and all I can hear are big if’s. Ask her what to do; it’s the simplest solution.”

The princess sighed with sorrow.

„I’m sorry, Li-Hua. What I see is meaningless now. The storm and the immediate threat are gone, but the futures are in a thick fog. I see a small light towards the north, and I feel we have a slight chance to return home if we go there, but it could be only a reminiscence of yesterday’s reading when getting the escape bead from Alienor was still a possibility.”

„Or maybe you feel her solution to get the army on the Realm,” proposed Sem. „If she prepared, she must have a way. Maybe they constructed a device, maybe they built spaceships, who knows. Something must be there, but going towards the army is a dreadful thought.”

„I do not feel dread from that idea,” Estella pursed her lips. „We might want to go there, after all. Because, sincerely, I do not see another way to get us home. I know, Sem, you will ask again for your scroll, to ask your masters for help, but that makes me uncomfortable, somehow. So I say pass, for now.”

„As you wish,” he raised his shoulders. „But you’ll see...”

„Why would such an army obey Alienor?” asked Fits. „I understand why our beauhemians trust her, but those creatures? Why?”

„They are mind-controlled, dear sir. They have implants, controlling devices, and she must have obtained the control codes,” explained Sem.

Fits sighed.

„We’ll worry about it later; it’s almost evening. Let's eat. I can tell you this, though. I will come with you to help you reason with Alienor’s beauhemians; I will help you with whatever, with just one condition. Spare her, please. It’s my fault. All this is my fault.”

„I can speak only for myself,” said Estella, but I can put a word with dad for an exile in the Islands.”

„I second,” agreed on Ulius. „Can we eat, please? I’ve had only sandwiches and cookies for an eternity.”

„Food is a good idea,” noded Li-Hua. I’m starving.”