Alice spread her hands, palms up, in a helpless gesture.

  “The push for action came from the Kargath priests. They spoke of old grievances, but were those the real reasons? I doubt it. From what I’ve gathered, it all feels too coordinated. I can’t say who’s behind it, but one thing’s clear, this has been building for a while and may be tied to the growing animosity toward Drackar’s tribe.

  They didn’t say it outright, but their next move might well have been against Drackar. And where are Drackar and his people? Right here. If they had turned against him, they would’ve been coming from all directions, wouldn’t they? But that’s just my speculation, based on how harshly those priests have condemned him.”

  She gave a short chuckle as she glanced at me.

  “Of course, some things have changed in the meantime, haven’t they? Now they’re all retreating.”

  Hm. So, if I hadn’t attacked K’hordock’s castle, we’d be staring at an orc civil war right now? Oh, well… I lifted my shoulders in a shrug.

  “Did everything go smoothly?” I asked.

  She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  “Well, almost. I had to argue with a few people, but in the end, Grubber had the best arguments, so they were convinced pretty quickly.”

  I raised a brow.

  “Uh. So, there were arguments. With the priests? How bad did it get?”

  She gave me an impish look.

  “No, the priests weren’t there. They stayed home to pray to their god. There was just one incident with an idiot who tried to shoot me. It was hard to convince Grubber to spit him out afterward. Please don’t be mad at him for that. Nothing else worth mentioning.”

  Why would I be mad at him? I blinked but didn’t comment.

  “Did you cover the whole area?” I asked, changing the subject. “I thought you'd need a couple of days for that...”

  She shook her head.

  “Grubber can fly very fast, and from up there we could see far. I think we caught everything—unless there were some exceptionally well-camouflaged forces sneaking through the forests. But now, they all know you told them to retreat, so...”

  “Did you not freeze to death on his back? How’s your cold and wind resistance?”

  She chuckled.

  “There was no need for that. I stayed mostly as a shadow by his side. It’s the best and simplest way for us. That way, he could fly as fast as he wanted, and I could still talk to him.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. Pretty ingenious way to travel.

  “You did well!” I praised her.

  “I envy you!” Ju said, pointing a finger at Alice’s chest. “I had to endure all that freezing wind up there with Lores!”

  Jin’Sue paused mid-bite, raised his head to glance at me, and slowly pulled the orange flag from his backpack.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Drats!

  I snorted and focused back on my aura. I’d gotten distracted by the conversation and lost control. He gave a small nod and swapped the flag back to yellow, then resumed eating his soup.

  I noticed Alice’s curious gaze and chuckled.

  “He’s my aura gauge. I’m trying to train myself not to harm humans with my aura.”

  “But she’s not making much progress,” Ju added with a snicker. “That’s why she hides here in this corner of the yard. Fewer humans around...”

  I huffed, mildly offended... but Ju was right.

  “You’re just shifting your mana around, trying to reduce it wherever there are humans. I don’t think that’s a real solution to your problem,” Ju said with a shrug.

  I pouted. What else was I supposed to do?

  “Maybe with more practice, I’ll start doing it automatically,” I offered in my defense.

  Alice raised her hands to the sides, as if outlining a shape.

  “What if you try to keep your aura closer to your body, like those aura fighters do?” she suggested.

  Aura fighters trained to maintain their aura in a thin, concentrated layer around their bodies. In doing so, they sacrificed their domain range, but gained increased mobility and resistance.

  “Hm,” I huffed. “You want to turn me into an aura warrior? Wouldn’t that just delay the moment the mana gets released, and then we end up in the same situation anyway?”

  Ju shrugged.

  “It might still be a good idea. You wouldn’t have to give up your domain entirely like the fighters do, but just keep the magic within it thinner. You could release mana in controlled waves when no one's nearby... or,” she turned to me with a mischievous grin, “even better, condense it into mana crystals. I wonder... could you produce one or two a day? How much gold would that be worth?”

  “I’m not the goose that lays golden eggs!” I protested.

  “Why not?” Ju shot back with a grin.

  I rolled my eyes and sighed, just in time to catch the boy raising the red flag.

  Drats.

  I focused again, calming my aura to ease him—and all the other humans in the area.

  I gave Ju an angry snort, but… maybe there was something to her idea. I focused, trying to gather as much mana as I could around myself. A few minutes later, I noticed the boy wiping sweat from his brow and switching the red flag to yellow. He even hesitated, hand hovering over the green one.

  The difference was clear. This time, I wasn’t clearing mana away from others, I was simply keeping most of it close to me, letting only a thin layer leak outward. So far, it seemed to be working!

  I turned to Alice. “The baron’s in the yard, looking for me. Can you please direct him here? And by the way, judging by how Grubber’s eyeing the horses, he seems hungry. Could you take care of that? I’d rather not lose any horses right now…”

  Alice chuckled. “Oh, well, Lynx did promise to take him buffalo hunting! Do you know where Lynx is?”

  “He’s in Fred’s smithy,” I said.

  “Fred?” she asked, confused.

  I rolled my eyes. “Long story. He’s in the smithy.”

  She gave a bow. “Then I’ll take my leave, my Queen!”

  Ju gave me a sideways glance. “How far can you see with your domain? You're starting to get uncanny…”

  I shrugged.

  “From here to the gate. About that far. I’ll go meet the baron. Want to come with me?”

  She shook her head.

  “Only if you need me, Your Highness. Otherwise, I still have work to finish here.”

  I raised a brow.

  “Actually, what potions are you working on?”

  “I’m making one for a poor soul who has trouble falling asleep and doesn’t want to be charmed, Your Highness.”

  Why did I get the feeling she was poking fun at me?

  I rolled my eyes and left to meet the baron, who was approaching with one of the paladins in tow.