I never did fall back to sleep. Instead I spent the night in my own thoughts. Once again looking through my memories of the past week, but with the lens of Fiena being a demon in disguise. Suddenly, things started to make sense. Her insistence for me to pull in as much mana as possible in spite of the dangers everyone else expressed. Her knowledge about the goings on in the palace. From guard movements to gossip she had been on top of it all. She even seemed to have knowledge no one in Acone had. From mana absorption to hero summoning. She was very well informed.

I felt like a fool. Even Bella had warned me to stay away from Fiena. I thought it was just jealousy, but maybe it was something more. Some ingrained sense between the hero and demons. I just don’t know.

Breakfast came and went. Guards changed shifts. Time crawled by.

A little while after the second bell tolled, I noted several mana signatures I recognized were ascending the stairs.

It was the Queen, Alea and Bella. Followed closely by Adekin and Sir Aborisey.

I quickly rose. To the surprise of the guard and Arba.

““Your Majesty,”” Arba, the guard and I said in near unison as the group entered the keep.

The queen went directly to Arba. “I am sorry for this Arba,” she said hands on the bars. “I promise I will get you out of here.”

While she moved to Arba. Bella moved to my cage and Alea remained with Adekin and Sir Aborisey.

“Are you alright, Elliot?” Bella asked concerned. “This cage. I can’t believe that… Are you alright?”

“I’m okay,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I hadn’t slept at all. “I’m glad you are all alright. That Fiena…”

“I know,” Bella said. “Prince Philip told me all about her visit last night.”

At least she didn’t say ‘I told you so.’

“Ahem,” Sir Aborisey coughed, catching everyone’s attention.

“Right, Elliot,” Her Majesty said with a bit of scorn in her voice. “Let me be very clear. You have not been cleared of wrongful involvement with the demon Fiena.”

Wait didn’t last night prove that she and I weren’t working together? Or at least that we weren’t both working with the demons?

“However,” she continued. “I have received some news which…is it true you can cure my daughter?”

“What?” Arba stated. “You can cure Laeanna?”

Shouldn’t that be princess Laeanna?

“Elliot,” Alea said moving to my cage. “If you can save my sister…please. Please do so.”

“It would, of course, go a long way to proving your innocence in this matter,” Sir Aborisey added.

But I wasn’t sure if my solution would work or not. It could just as easily make things worse. Then what?

“Sir Aborisey. Your Majesty. Your Highness,” I stated. “I do know the spell for physical mana absorption. The mana Alea told me was required for movement. And with my trait <Insight> I have been able to survive FIena’s attempt to turn me into an oni. However, I do not know that my solution would be capable of restoring Princess Laeanna.”

“But it could, right?” Alea pleaded. “You could save her.”

“If you can save Laeanna,” Arba stated. “Please use your knowledge to do so. False hero or not…please.”

Why was he so insistent? Perhaps he grew close to Laeanna. Sir Aborisey did say Arba had served the queen since she met the king.

“Can I ask,” I said hesitantly. “You know about my abilities, right?”

Everyone, but the guard nodded their heads.

“Then before I go any farther,” I said to Adekin and Sir Aborisey. “I recently learned that Fiena was disguising herself by wrapping beast and physical mana around her body. Shifting her appearance.”

I gulped. It was an important point, but also a serious accusation.

“Your Majesty,” I said to the queen. “You are using the same type of magic. That coupled with the mind magic between you and Arba – ”

“I see,” She said, cutting me off. “Then that is the reason for your suspicions.”

“You are in the wrong,” Sir Aborisey said. “Drop it.”

Wait was this something that was known? I thought it would be a huge bombshell. It seemed like the only person I surprised was Bella and the guard.

“It’s alright Theobald,” the queen said. “Is your willingness to help my daughter contingent on you learning this truth?”

Um…

“No. It is not your majesty. I just…um,” how should I respond.

Even as I answered, the mana was dropped. Her body morphed slightly, but the main difference was her ears. They began to grow. Sharpen. She was an elf.

“Your Majesty is an elf?” Bella stated.

“Indeed,” Queen Holone answered her. “My marriage with Philip was an arranged marriage designed to bring unity to our kingdoms.”

“But why hide your heritage?” I asked.

“Then you haven’t noticed,” Arba stated. “The humans of Acone are not all tolerant of other peoples. To have a queen of another race could bring condemnation of the royal family.”

“Wait then the people don’t know about your majesty?”

“No,” she responded.

“Some nobles are aware, but it is not common knowledge no,” Sir Aborisey added.

“Mother has had to hide her heritage since she entered into her marriage with father,” Alea said. “It’s not right, but …”

…But it was politically necessary. I immediately developed a resentment toward the people of Acone.

“That’s not right,” I reiterated.

“Wouldn’t public knowledge have worked to lessen the tensions?” Bella asked.

“More likely it would have caused a rift in the nation,” Sir Aborisey answered. “A division which could not be afforded as the demons gathered their armies.”

“But then what about the mana between you and Arba?” I asked. “Is that something elves are able to do?”

“No,” Arba answered. “It is my ability, [Mana Message]. It allows a one-way communication of information from me to a person I have made a connection with.”

‘Made a connection with.’ What does that mean?

“Now that you know there is nothing nefarious going on with Arba and I, would you please agree to help o…my daughter.”

“I told you that the information was not a condition of my assistance,” I emphasized. “Rather my hesitation is one of concern for Princess Laeanna. I know the spells, but only Fiena knows exactly what they do or how to use them. I feel that she never gave me all the knowledge required to safely utilize the skills.”

“But you didn’t turn into an oni,” Bella pointed out. “According to the princess you should have turned into an oni from performing that spell. But you didn’t. You succeeded in using the spell. So you must have figured it out. Just do it again.”

It wasn’t that easy. It’s possible I was just lucky. Who knew if the same method would work for a second spell?

But at the end of it all, what choice did I have?