She appeared at the door of the lower solar in mid-afternoon.

Arwin looked up. “You came.”

The Dark Enchantress wore a white blouse with lace cuffs that looked like they could be rolled up and buttoned back. The shirt was nearly skin-tight, and she wore the front partially unbuttoned, exposing her cleavage, the buttons heroically straining to contain it.

Arwin wasn’t sure that the garment would actually be able to do so for long. It looked like, any second, a button might pop off. He looked forward to the event and promised himself that he would keep a firm eye on the jiggly situation.

She also wore a tight, black pencil skirt that only reached mid-thigh and black stockings with lace tops. And, of course, she was in heels, though these were simple, black pumps. Her long hair was in a loose ponytail tied high up on the back of her head, and she released it, shaking the hair free, as she came closer.

When she saw Arwin surrounded by a pile of books on the table, she beamed. “You’re reading!”

“Wow, you’re so surprised. You didn’t think I could read?” He gave her a mock sad face.

“What? No, of course not.” She looked flustered.

“I’m appalled that you think so little of me. Is it my face or my voice? Do I look stupid, or do I sound stupid?”

She caught on to the teasing and gave him an apologetic look. “It’s…a little of both, actually. I’m so sorry.” She consolingly patted his shoulder.

The fact that she’d joked back caught him off guard. It tripped him up for a half-second. He hadn’t been expecting her to be so quick and witty. He recovered, though. “So, I guess I’m not valued for my brains. That’s sad. What do you like about me then?”

“Hmm.” She pretended to think, tapping her chin with her finger, then decided, “You have a cute butt.”

“Oh. Ok.” His face fell.

She added, “And I like your shoulders.”

“That’s nice, I suppose.” He sighed and shrugged those shoulders, the height of melodrama.

“You seem pretty insecure. Maybe I should lose interest.”

He hurriedly countered, “No, no.”

“It’s no trouble. I wouldn’t want you to feel bad.”

Ouch! “No! I’m good. Please, stay interested.”

Her eyes narrowed, and then she shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Arwin couldn’t help the silly smile on his face. He also couldn’t help but think that she’d just had the better of him in this back-and-forth. And that was highly unusual; not many people teased him back like that. It was intriguing to find someone willing to verbally play like this. He loved bantering.

He closed the book he’d been reading:

A Visual Guide to Succubi

and

How to Make Contracts with Them

She leaned over and caught the title. “Oh, good. I’m glad you found the picture books.”

He coughed a laugh, unsure if he was supposed to be embarrassed. It was honestly a really fascinating read. “Hey, now. I read the articles too.”

“So you’re trying to figure out how to summon a succubus?” She looked at him with a mock pout. “Are you so bored of me already?”

“Never!”

“Last night was so dull?”

“It was perfect.”

“Huh.” She turned away and crossed her arms. “I was going to invite you to look around the castle a bit, maybe have dinner together, but if you’d rather hang out with some girl from the Twisted Abyss, it’s fine. I understand.” She started walking away. “I’ll just leave you to it.” She dismissed him with a short wave.

“No! I’d love to come with you.”

“I’m going,” she called over her shoulder, her tone indicative that she was expecting to be followed.

He scrambled up and trailed after her, suddenly in a very good mood.

They made their way up the main stairs. He stepped gingerly to avoid creepy crawlies and their homes. The further upwards they ascended, the more the webs around them diminished. Arriving at a higher floor, the spiderwebs ceased altogether, leaving the area with a much cleaner and less intimidating feel. Arwin breathed a sigh and relaxed.

She exited the staircase, and he followed, finding himself in a large room with a domed ceiling. He came to a halt, taking in the scene around him. “What is this place?” he wondered aloud.

“It’s part museum, part hobby. I just thought you might fight it interesting.”

The room was dimly lit, most light coming from magical shafts of bright sunlight shining down on the many aquariums and terrariums on display. The stone walls and ceiling had been draped in royal blue velvet. Unlike the rest of the castle, the floor here was fully covered in rug. The colour of the carpet matched the drapes. Drapes and carpet deadened sound, and the deep blue gave the place a calming mood while allowing each display to stand out in contrast.

Around the outside of the room towered various vertical tanks, with dark-painted metal walkways high above for access. Some tanks had fish, others held exotic things that Arwin had never seen or imagined. There were several glowing species of jellyfish and some kind of underwater butterfly.

A handsome, well-muscled merman (triton?) lazily drifted on his back in one, somehow reading a book underwater. Some kind of large octopus-type thing, each arm at least two meters long, rested on the floor in another. Arwin knew the latter wasn’t a true octopus, for its tentacles weren’t eight; they were myriad. Hentai anime came to mind at the sight of it. It didn’t help that the odd cephalopod gave him a flirty wink with one of its saucer-sized eyes and suggestively wiggled some of those tentacles. The triton, on the other hand, barely gave Arwin a bored once-over before returning to reading.

He saw villainous swimming serpents and brightly coloured, and probably poisonous, sea snakes and fish. Lithe blue sharks swam with deadly grace, and whenever they came close to another of their kind, small bolts of blue lightning crackled across their sandpaper skin. Brilliant coral growths formed mountains and tunnels in the tanks. Many terrariums featured fanciful cities, towns, and shipwrecks rendered in exquisite miniature. Each had a fully formed miniature environment with landscapes and plants. There were mountains and deserts, and beaches and jungles.

“Wow!” Arwin exclaimed, trying to get his face as close as possible to what appeared to be a port town destroyed by an earthquake. Half the town was still on the top of an island, the other half had crumbled into the sea. Pretty red crabs crawled all over the ruins. “Did you make these? The artwork is incredibly detailed.”

The Enchantress was wandering along the line of tanks, away from him, hand trailing on the glass as she admired the contents. She corrected him, “They’re not art. They’re real.”

“Real?”

She paused and looked over her shoulder. “That was part of a small seaside town in the pirate isles long ago. An earthquake destroyed it. As the original inhabitants no longer used it, it was shrunken and preserved here. All of the others are from similar situations.”

“So, you didn’t shrink any of them down while they still had people in them before putting them in tanks? Give everyone crabs?”

She shrugged, and a mysterious smile appeared on her full lips. What was he to make of that response? Was she evil or teasing? Sometimes, it was hard to tell with her.

She laughed at the consternation on his face. “Nobody was harmed. The magic needed to do this was developed as part of a joint research project between a colleague and myself. I helped miniaturize the living things transferred to the preserved environment. Everything in the terrariums continues to exist as it had at full size.”

“Just for decoration?”

“No. My colleague is a kind of archeologist, historian, and preservationist. He’s devoted to preserving Heartstone’s past. If left alone, sites like that village would not just crumble in time but likely be torn down and built over by newcomers and then lost forever. Or gutted by adventurers and black market antiquities scavengers. He saves them. It’s like having a picture of the past, but better. A reminder that the past did, in fact, exist, and here’s exactly what it was like. But in a space-saving size that is conducive to museums and galleries. And, obviously, you don’t have loads of tourists traipsing all over them, causing damage. They have to stay behind the glass.”

“Genius!” Arwin eventually wandered into the center of the room, where there stood a gigantic glass bowl, at least a dozen meters in diameter. Inside was a large statue and a rainbow maelstrom of different goldfish.

Arwin pressed his hand against the centrepiece. It was as large as a small swimming pool. Peach, white, and pink gravel covered the bottom, and from out of it grew tall, multi-coloured fronds of black and pink vegetation that slowly waved in the current. A single lobster swam and played on the gravel, apparently orchestrating a good time. In the middle of the tank stood a statue of a nude human man and an equally nude mermaid entwined in the art of love, the young man kissing the girl. The statue was made entirely of rose-white coral but for pure gold necklaces, rings, and crowns worn by the romantic pair.

The Dark Enchantress joined him. “That was a real couple, long ago. A prince and a princess.”

“What happened to them?”

“They were cursed by a sea witch. Poor, unfortunate souls. Now they exist here, forever under the sea.” She sadly smiled. “But at least, this way, we, too, get to be part of their world.”

Hundreds of goldfish milled about the central aquarium, some in groups, some alone. Arwin exclaimed, honestly delighted, “These are adorable!” He watched one swim by. It had four eyes, pink scales and delicate streamers. “I’ve never seen most of these species.”

The Enchantress responded with pride, “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” She bent forward, face to the glass. Sunlight from above reflected off the gold on the statue and gave her face a yellow tinge. “Oh, it looks like the jewelled sunrises have had babies.” She pointed, referring to a specific species.

Following her finger, Arwin saw a handful of tiny, partially transparent babies milling about.

Her hand rose. “They’re gorgeous. But that’s a lot of younglings. We don’t want the tank to get too crowded. The old will have to make room for the new.” She used magic to take an adult up and out of the tank, spun it in the air, then dropped it into her mouth. She bit down, and the fish exploded within her cheeks with an audible pop. It made crunching sounds as she chewed with relish. Speaking with her mouth half full, she confided, “I love when they burst, and you feel that cold, wet explosion of fresh deliciousness and—” She broke off as she turned and caught sight of Arwin’s horrified reaction. Her mouth froze mid-chew.

Arwin looked at her in open disgust; he couldn’t help it. He feared his stomach was about to revolt on him.