I DON’T WANT IT! What is he even thinking? I can’t just take his kingdom. I mean, I know I planned to as an eventuality, but literally nothing is in place. This is utterly unfair! I NEED ANSWERS NOW!

Think! I need more time to discuss with everyone. This is a great opportunity if I can offload it onto others. What I needed was time and a way to talk to everyone I cast Thought Haste and Mental Meeting in rapid succession. 

Instantly the scenery changed to the inside of the library. Don, Bearista, and my council all stood in the library. They looked around in utter confusion.

“You are all now inside my memobrary. We shall use it as a meeting space to sort out whatever this is. Don, you have a lot to answer for. I am extremely confused and frustrated.”

“Is this the fabled library in the goddess’ head? There was a story that the goddess kept a replica of everything in her head, but I didn’t think it was real. I am really in the library inside the goddess’ head!” he said excitedly, looking around like me when I get a new book.

It hadn’t hit me that this would be more of a reward than anything. Rewarding him was far from what I wanted to do right now.

“F O C U S!” I said, letter by letter, my annoyance clear. “What is going on? Firth said I would be happy with what you were giving me. Not more work.”

Firth took a long blink before answering, “I am sorry—”

“It is not his fault, Goddess Astrid. I led him to believe that I was giving you the royal library, not the whole kingdom with it. I am sure by now you know that things are going to fall apart soon. This was really the only chance to make a smooth transition.”

My eye started to twitch; he wasn’t wrong. I appreciated his honesty. He also didn’t let Firth take the fall.

“No, I could have just come in when they needed me most, and then they would have had to rely on me and been more grateful for the help.”

“That is true; they would have appreciated it more. However, how many would have been hurt to reach that point? This isn’t a small refuge like Astraville. When you showed your divinity earlier, it only solidified my plan to give you the throne. That is why I was smiling; the timing was great.”

He was right, but my thoughts were racing. I hadn’t considered what would happen in the meantime until I took over with Firth. Thinking of Firth, I turned to the others.

“This would be better, right? It makes sense to me, but what are we going to do?” I asked my leadership.

They seemed to be contemplating what to say.

“It would be for the best. Don is correct about a smoother transition. You would just have to make some sort of display to everyone in the kingdom to really seal the deal. Kobrick, do you have any ideas?”

“Well, I actually already had plans for this, but I had to see if it was within the Goddess’s capabilities,” Kobrick said, pausing to seek approval. His eyes shifted between Don and me.

“Don’t worry; I can trim his memory if necessary.”

“Well, what I was working with was that people would be injured, sick, and hungry. So, I was thinking that you could give a speech talking about how we wanted to address these issues. Then, tell everyone that you would cure anyone who believed in you. This would cause them to revere you. Additionally, if it is currently being done, you could also cure the mental ailments left behind by those who were a part of the attack on you. Most of the corporate dome isn’t back to full production due to your actions in the dome.”

That definitely sounded workable. I felt guilty remembering all the people who had been caught up in my terror spell, but they should have gotten over it by now.

“I like where you are going with this. Do you have anything else prepared?”

“That is really all I had prepared. I was focusing on this meeting to get things done in time for the refuge to start doing trade with the kingdom.”

“Okay, prepare some more ideas while I talk with the others.”

“How much time do I have?”

“We are in a 3-minute-to-second ratio. For every 3 minutes we spend here, 1 second will pass outside. I don’t often do this because of the side effects on the brain if done incorrectly. Also, an overreliance on it can cause issues with one’s self and those who observe the flow of time.”

Everyone seemed silent in response to what I said.

“What are those who watch time?” Don asked, being the first to speak up sounding interested. Luckily, it was him and I could easily disregard him.

“They are not something you need to worry about. There is no need to worry if it involves me. We have an understanding. However, you and I do not. I need more information about what is going on.”

The bearista stared at me, looking deep into my eyes. I had a feeling they wanted to know more, but I wouldn’t share that piece of information.

Don spoke up, getting things back on track. “There have been multiple attempts on my life, as well as many more foiled plans. The advanced gem protection I have from my birthplace has allowed me to survive, but an all-out attack would be the end of me. I fear it will come when the mine dries up.”

“I assume Donna was involved as well.”

“Yes,” he said, looking ashamed and taking a sigh.

“Why not confront her or at least confine her to her room?”

“She has stronger connections with the nobility and other stakeholders than I do, due to her close relationship with my now thankfully deceased wife.” His lips pursed at the mention of his deceased wife, hinting that there was much more to it.

“Okay, I understand that you want to save yourself.”

“Not just myself, but everyone here. The way the otherkin are treated is despicable, but I have little control over it due to the corporation's interference as well as the nobility. They have even tied the hands of your church. I could have simply left and gone to my home dome, but too many would suffer if I did.”

That was a significant piece of information. It seems my church may have an excuse. Putting it all together, it appears that the nobility and the corporations were colluding against the people, and my church was just a bystander.

“It’s all about greed, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

HUMANS, people are just SO!

“Firth, do you have any resolutions for this?”

“I do Goddess, you could take over leadership and easily push through any change needed.”

OH NO YOU DON’T!

“No, I have other things to attend to. I was serious when I said I can’t just focus on here. Also, the two of you aren’t getting out of your positions that easily.”

Firth and Don looked at each other, confused.

“That’s right. Don, you have been a king and royal your whole life, and on multiple occasions, you have chosen the position. Firth, you already had plans to take over and lead. Here is what we are going to do.”

Everyone focused on me.

“We need more books and knowledge. When I was little, I wanted my own kingdom and wanted to call it Bookdom. That is what we are going with. It will be my ‘holy’ land. Don, you shall stay as the main king by my divine decree, and Firth shall be the Hand of the King. Fienna shall be next in succession as the bibliophile princess. Since this was already in Firth’s plans, it should work.”

“What about my daughter? She would be next in line by anyone else’s standards. Not that she deserves it, I just don’t want any confusion.”

“Agreed, she doesn’t. I would have Tara on the throne before her.” Highthorn’s eyes bulged out in shock. “Donna is no longer a citizen of this country and shall be a refugee restricted to your grounds. This shall remove any claim she has to the throne as she is no longer a citizen. She now has fewer rights than those she tried to kill in Astraville.”

“That would work. Thank you for not actually kicking her out,” Don said, sounding a little relieved.

“Even though you are trying to act like you don’t care, you are still a father and wouldn’t watch your own child die. But know this, one more offence and I will throw her in the dungeon of legend.”

He nodded and remained silent.

“Firth, how do you feel about this? What would Fienna’s thoughts be? We should get her consent before making the announcement. I want to give her the choice since none of you have really given me a real choice. Though having a next-in-line chosen by me will bring people some relief.”

“It is a good idea. I have asked her about it before, though she likely didn’t realize how serious I was. It was always a ‘just in case’ measure. She promised to take over my position if I couldn’t handle it. She thought that was only referring to the refuge, not the whole kingdom.”

So slippery! It seemed like matters were being handled.

“Let’s take some time to think things through and come up with any issues while Kobrick works on my speech.”

Highthorn came up to me. “Were you serious about Tara?”

“Haha,” I laughed, breaking some of the pressure in the room. “Sort of. I mean, I was just referencing girls that could be a princess I would rather have in charge than Donna.”

Firth came over and whispered something in my ear. “I think you should have Lian take over Astraville. She has always wanted it, and she has always tried to do right by it. I think she has made a real personal improvement as of late.”

“Are you sure? Haven’t you two had issues before?”

“All of those have gone away. Don’t say anything, but we have actually gotten quite close. Likely due to me leading the charge in defending her. What her ex-husband did wasn’t her fault.”

UNEXPECTED LOVERS! hehe. Well, let them do what they want. If they did tie the knot down the path, it would help to unify Astraville and Bookdom even more. Firth has always been the useful outsider to Astraville and Lian was a native. Even if she did offend me, people seeing them together would do everyone good.

I paced around a little, thinking about any issues and making plans to deal with them. It’s always hard not just to make people listen via mental alteration.

“Lian, can you come here?” I said, calling her over while she was talking to Don.

“What were you and Don talking about?”

“Oh, we were both agreeing that my parents’ family is disgraceful.”

“Hmm, you talking calmly with him is surprising. It shows you have grown. With that, after Firth’s suggestion, I will have you take over Astraville’s affairs. Though Liz is still my hand there. Well, if you want it. Do you? “

She shook for a moment, eyes blinking. “Yes, Yes I do. I would love to, but.”

“But what?”

“I want to get the other council members nod of approval.”

“Very well then. When you get back, get that arranged. If it doesn’t go well, I have other things for you.” Her choice in seeing how the others felt about it first was really impressive. It seemed like Firth was right. She has grown.

Lian went off to talk to Highthorn, with Firth following close behind.

I didn’t have the time to deal with Astraville and with the council watching her. She would be a good fit. She put it and its residents first, which is what I wanted in place.

Don approached me next. “This is unrelated to Bookdom, but I need help clearing up an idea I had.”

My eyebrow raised, but I motioned for him to proceed.

“Well, you said you don’t have enough time to read, but you have a lot of time here. Why can’t you read things here?”

“Because I can only access things I have read and only loosely interact with things I have seen while here. It works off of memories. I am mainly here while I sleep, unless I need something specific.”

“Okay, then why can’t you just fast flip through all the pages of a book while looking at them? Later, pull up those memories of the pages, read them, and internalize them?”

My mouth dropped agape as I froze in place. WHY HAVEN’T I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT?!? THAT WOULD LITERALLY DOUBLE MY READING TIME!