They are here

It had been around a week since Doreen had bought the book from the market. She had not eaten in days and had turned into a complete zombie.

The book had Doreen ultimately imprisoned and hooked, and she was ready to do anything for an answer, as she believed the book had them.

"There is a way of gaining the knowledge you seek, but it does not come for free. Are you willing to pay it?" the text said in the book.

Doreen hesitated.

"You need to show resolve. Place your left hand on the book and cut it off with your spear. Only then shall you receive the knowledge you crave....."

Doreen looked at her spear. She wasn't sure, but she slowly started reaching out for it.

Before Doreen could grab her weapon, the book's concentration was stopped when a large sound was heard overhead and shook the entire palace.

In the other room, Yosef looked outside and saw a sizeable imperial gravity ship coming down on Kairouan. It was like the one that had appeared on the battlefield and caused so much chaos.

The citizens of Kairouan went inside in fear of this large war machine.

"Well, it seems they came here to look for us," Amala said as she was ready to shoot an arrow at it.

"Don't shoot it. We are guests here at Kairouan, and we should refrain from making the queen mad by starting a battle at her home. And still, you think you can harm such a behemoth? Those cannons would just unleash their fury at us immediately and destroy half the city, trying to aim at us," Joan said.

~~

The ship docked on the side of the mountain used as a gravity ship harbor. Out of the vessel came prince Segeric along with two sentinels of embers and a handful of Varangians.

A couple of witches came to greet the prince along with six Saracen Kairouan city watch guards.

"Not a step further, main worlder," the witch said and pointed at the prince with her scythe.

The sentinels stepped forward to counter the threat, but the prince quickly came between them.

"Please, please. Maybe you should ask your queen. I am sure she would like to talk with me. After all, we are not the only main worlders here," the prince explained.

The witches were spooked, as the prince knew about Rufus and his friends, who were guests of the queen.

~~

The prince was allowed to get an audience with the queen and was guided to the throne room. There the queen waited for the smiling prince to enter. Satifa didn't look pleased but annoyed.

"My good queen, you truly look more beautiful than the singers describe you," the prince stated.

"Well, thank you, but please. Tell me what the emperor wants."

"How do you know the emperor sent me? Maybe I came here of my own accord."

"Hahahahaha. Do not waste your time on dumb jokes. I know of you. The loyal hound of the emperor, and you live purely and ONLY for the emperor."

The prince raised an eyebrow but proceeded to continue to explain his arrival.

"We know that king Rufus of the Fairfax kingdom is here, and we would like you to give him to us or force him to stay here until the war on the main world is over. We only ask you not to meddle in our and the main world's affairs," Segeric explained.

"And why should I obey the emperor? He is not my master."

"Well, no, but I bet you want to keep the relationship between our two factions neutral and not....hostile. If the queen of the green solo moon world is sheltering a king of a hostile nation, then the green solo moon world will also be perceived as...hostile."

The queen felt insulted and started to summon her swarm of locusts. The sentinels of embers readied their fire staffs to defend their prince, but the prince didn't seem worried.

"You know that being hostile toward an imperial prince also means war. As I have proven, the empire can wage war on you, thanks to our gravity ships," the prince explained and forced the queen to calm down.

She didn't answer at first.

"Can I have some time to think about it? To come to a decision takes time," the queen explained.

"Of course, you may. Around five days should be enough?"

"Yes....that is fine," the queen said, as she had no other choice.

~~

Soon an entire section of the queen's palace had been occupied by the prince's men. Varangians guarded the hallways with one sentinel of embers along with them. They coldly had long staredowns with the Ghersengs, who were guarding the palace wing where Rufus and his friends resided.

~~

"We need to flee from here while we can. Even we can't take on the imperial forces and the Saracens if they decide to come after us," Joan noted.

"You think running back home will solve anything? Then we won't definitely have the queen's support," Amala noted.

Rufus was looking around.

"Where is Doreen?" he asked.

"I saw her walking with a book in her hand towards the wing where the imperials live," Liana said.

~~

Doreen was walking calmly with the mysterious book in her hand. It was like she was in a trance and had no idea what she was doing.

As she was getting closer to the Varangians guarding the prince's room, they lowered their battle axes and tried to command Doreen to stop.

"Halt, not a step further," a sentinel of embers yelled and pointed her flaming staff at her.

Then an evil aura started coming from the book, enticing everyone. It was like an invisible hand was gasping on the throats on all, forcing them to obey.

Doreen then offered the book to the sentinel, who, without hesitation, grabbed it. Doreen then walked away, not having blinked once. The imperials and Doreen then parted ways, with the sentinel carrying the book back to the prince's chamber.

Doreen then fell to one knee and gasped for air. The book had stolen much of her divinity, and she was frail now. She looked around and had no idea what she was doing and how she had gotten there.

~~

The prince looked and saw the sentinel entering his room. He saw that she was not in control of herself. He felt winds of pandora coming from the book and readied to fight.

The same malicious power started to tempt and force the hand of the prince.

"Stop trying to seduce me....you demon!" the prince yelled and blocked the malicious divine aura from the book.

"Aaaah....it seems I have found a perfect partner," the sentinel said.

The demon was talking through the imperial warrior by controlling her.

"What is a demon doing here? Tell me what you want?" Segeric demanded.

"Hahahaha, humans. Always the most forceful of the species in the universe. I am surprised that you even know what a demon is, knowing not many on this moon world know of our existence. Tell me, what is your name," the demon inquired.

"I am the second prince of the Heian empire, Segeric Phokas. And your name, or do demons even have names."

"Not everyone, but only those who have been able to make a name for themselves, is entitled to have one."

"So, what is your name?"

"Caval."