>>5843611“I am, aren’t I?” the Queen said with a brittle laugh, and she ran a hand through her hair, removing some of it from the hair-band in her exasperation. “But… Things are complicated, just now. I cannot act as, ah, unilaterally as perhaps my father might have… Or my brothers.”
You wondered why that might be… Though your private knowledge of her ‘situation’ and your intuition made you suspect reptilian machinations or related power-struggles were involved. It made your stomach churn and heart flutter. What was HAPPENING to this city? Could you trust this woman after all? If not… Well, the council was more trustworthy then, surely? Perhaps it was good they were involved?
“I’m afraid I must insist,” you reaffirmed. “Or, really, the Fairy Court of Old Maple Hill must insist. This must be guaranteed before they, or I, will share their secrets.”
“But the Council will need proof that it works,” the Queen insisted. “Things are… Fragile right now. Giving away land to foreign, demihuman demigods—or, sorry, that’s not the preferred term is it?”
“Well—” you began.
“It’s just not viable right now,” the Queen hastily interrupted. “I can’t be seen to… I can’t do that. I’m…”
So the council suspected something of the Queen’s involvement with agents of the Dark Gods, you gathered. They were watching her. Rightly so! Still, at this point in time, that made them your immediate obstacle.
What did you do?
>Acquiesced to perform the ritual upon one test subject as a proof-of-concept, though it means the others will have to wait>Approached Izzy with the offer to join you in this ritual—finally curing HER of her blight, hopefully, and proving the efficacy that way>Offered up the cure freely—it couldn’t wait, and you would trust that the Queen and Council would make good on their end afterwards>Threatened the Queen with your knowledge of her husband’s identity and her child’s parentage, should she not pull some strings to make this happen>Write-in