NOVEL FROG Chapter 171: A Deal?
“Of course. I would not expect you to summon me without clear terms.” Lilith said. “I will have one of my servants create a draft for you to look over.”
Damn. We did not have a lawyer on our team. Who was good with contracts? Then again, did we need something complicated? In the end, we were the stronger party if it came to a straight fight. Lilith wouldn't want to escalate things.
Lilith stretched. “It’s been a long time since I have entered the mortal plane. A shame that it has to be under such circumstances. Maybe I should take a vacation afterwards.”
“You have been here before?” Lucy asked.
“Sure. I have even visited the realm of the fey. Staying in hell for millenia can get a bit boring. I assume you are a rather young kitsune? Maybe I know your parents?”
“I doubt that.” I said with a smirk.
“I can assure you that you have never met my parents.” Lucy said. “What about yours?”
“Oh, you are interested in my origins?” Lilith smiled.
“Don’t bother.” I said. “No powerful ancient being is going to tell you the truth. She likely has more than one story, all carefully crafted.”
“Why?” Lucy asked.
“To confuse her enemies. You can create a story with a fake weakness. You can have contradicting stories to keep people guessing. You can have a heroic origin to inspire your followers. Maybe she was a young succubus once, abused by bigger demons. She led a revolution and brought freedom to her kind. Maybe she is ancient, made by the gods themselves. Maybe she found an artefact that transformed her…” I explained.
Lilith looked at Erin, who was still kneeling. Then she looked at me. “You talk surprisingly freely about such things.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like this is a huge secret.” Then again, cults believed all sorts of things without questioning it. Did Lilith have a cult?
“You need to trust your servants more. Or change your hiring standards.” Lucy said. “We even gave ours the armour of a demon lord!”
“What?” Lilith sounded confused.
“Lily does wear Mantus’ former armour.” I clarified. “We did not need it ourselves.” The last statement was mostly to make Lilith contemplate the gear we had access to.
“Come here, girl.” Lilith said. To her annoyance Lily did not comply, instead she looked at us. We nodded. Then Lily approached her former mistress.
Lilith frowned as she studied the armour. Her eyes glowed yellow. “The maid outfit is part of the armour? You… you modified a demonic masterpiece… Why?”
“Because I am a maid knight!” Lily declared proudly. “I am the leader of a new order.”
“Most people train their servants as assassins. You want them silent and stealthy. Not in a straight fight. Also, most knights would consider it demeaning to serve as a maid.” Lilith said.
“Most people don’t give maids the respect they deserve. But as you can see, we greatly value ours. Who cares what other people think?” I said.
“Indeed. I am proud to be a maid knight!” Lily confirmed. Then she summoned Storm’s Blossom. Lilith raised an eyebrow as she saw the weapon but did not look alarmed.
Lily performed a series of practice swings to show off the illusionary blossoms. Lilith tried to touch one. Her finger went straight through the illusion.
“I admit that is impressive. You truly seem to value your maid knight.” Lilith looked thoughtful. Then she looked at her own servant. “Erin.”
“Yes, mistress.” The kneeling succubus trembled slightly.
“You have heard way too much.” Lilith said.
“I swear I will keep your secrets!” Erin assured her.
“Of course you will. Still, I will have to do something. Why don’t we try an experiment? My peers here are telling me that I should put more trust into my subordinates. You will serve as my personal liaison to house Delphinium. And once I am summoned, you will be my maid and personal assistant. If you perform your duties well, you will be rewarded.”
“Yes, I will not disappoint you!” Erin promised.
“We still have not agreed to summon you.” Lucy pointed out.
“Come now, we are past that part in our negotiations. Clearly our interests align and it’s only a matter of figuring out the details. Speaking of details, why did you bring a human? She has not said anything so far.”
“Sandra was controlled by the Inquisition. We freed her.” I explained.
“Interesting. I suspect you have offered her a job?”
“Of course she is welcome to work for us. And we are hoping she can assist in creating a cure.” Lucy said.
“I will send my best researchers to help with that. Once I have been summoned, of course.” Lilith said.
“We should return to the palace and discuss this with our allies.” I said. I would also like their input on any agreement Lilith proposed.
“Ah, your allies. Will the Lady of the Forest be part of our agreement?” Lilith asked.
Damn. Everyone just assumed I knew her because I was an archfey.
“No. We have no deal with her and I do not know her position on the matter.” I responded.
“She is a bit of a recluse. And lazy, if you ask me.” Lilith said. “No matter, I will look forward to meeting you in person. I will inform Erin as soon as I have a proposal for our agreement. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Then she turned towards Erin. “Rise, you are now representing me.”
The succubus shot up and stood straight. “Yes mistress!”
“Hm. Maybe call me queen, or lady. Something more regal. Mortals are usually more impressed by that.”
“Yes, my queen.” Erin said.
“Perfect. Do not disappoint me.” Lilith dissolved into a cloud of smoke and disappeared.
“That… that was intense.” Sandra said.
“You could have waited outside.” I pointed out.
“True. But I wanted to see the queen of succubi.” She responded.
“Fair enough. Let’s see if Nira has run away.” I said.
The young succubus was still here. She was pacing in front of the door and yelped as we opened it.
“You... you did not sell me, right?” She asked.
“Of course not. We do not own you.” Lucy said. “You were not even part of the conversation.”
“Yes. Now let’s get back to the palace. I can’t wait to see their faces when we propose to summon Lilith.”
Nira looked like she was about to faint. I smiled and started walking towards the palace.