When Lina walked into the upstairs parlor with Gourry she was not surprised to find that Han, Leia, Sylphiel, Rick and Naga were all waiting and speculating. The room became quiet as they all turned to look at her expectantly and Lina folded her arms across her chest as she walked over to a chair, "There is good news and bad news regarding Zelgadis." Gourry sat beside her as she wondered how angry Zel would be to learn about how they were talking about him behind his back, but then decided that given the circumstances it was really beyond all of their control. "We have good reason to believe that Zel was arrested by the Kingdom of Xoana for a crime he very well could have committed while he was working for Rezo."
Lina started to explain about how Duchess Oriana had confronted and blackmailed Amelia and was wrapping up just as Luna came in and sat down quietly in a chair close to their parents. Lina felt herself grow tense as she stuttered but managed to get control of herself. She would not let Luna know just how terrified she was of her without a fight! "And that's the long and short of it. Sis, what's happened since we last talked?"
"I had to inform the Eternal Queen about the latest developments."
Lina's first instinct was to ask how mad the Eternal Queen was, but she managed to bite her tongue and say instead, "What did she say?"
"First, she reiterated that our school has been a resounding success so far and that every institution has growing pains. It was only a matter of time before some scandal came our way, and considering the lives that people who slay Mazoku lead, something like this was bound to happen eventually. She is confident that we can do damage control."
"That's great for your school," Naga said, "How is Amelia doing?"
"She's pacing like a caged, cornered animal and can barely think straight. None of us can get her to calm down and think this through. Which leads me to," Luna said as she looked at Sylphiel and Rick, "Duchess Oriana has asked to be ruler of Lyzeille in exchange for Duke Zelgadis' release. The Eternal Queen and I are pushing against this, we still prefer for the two of you to rule Lyzeille, but Amelia is wanting the Duke released as soon as possible and plans to back Duchess Oriana as a result."
"What!?" Naga yelled as her hair stood up, "She must have lost her marbles if she is even thinking like that! She can't give into blackmail like this!"
"What other choice does she have if she's going to save Zel?" Rick asked. "They say that Xoana has the death penalty."
Naga tsked as she waved her finger in front of his face, "You forget we're royalty! We play by different rules. And Amelia should know better. If she caves into Duchess Oriana now she'll be caving to her for the rest of her life!"
"I agree it isn't a great long term solution, but I don't think Amelia has much of a choice." Lina said, "The facts of the matter point to Zel being guilty."
"There you go, thinking like a commoner." Naga said, "If she backs down now she tells Oriana that she can continue to use this against her to get her dancing to her tune. If she thinks this will be a one time thing she is more naïve than I expect! It sets a horrible precedent."
"I don't mind if you find someone else to be regents of Lyzeille," Sylphiel said, "But Duchess Oriana? I've not met her but from what I've heard about her I have serious concerns about her ability to restore Lyzeille to its former glory and do what is right for our people. While I sympathize with Amelia wanting her husband freed as soon as possible, and while I certainly want to see Duke Zelgadis released, I must voice my concerns about the person she would be leaving my country to."
"The Eternal Queen agrees with you." Luna said, "And she does not plan to support Princess Amelia in this. However, considering how close the agreement to put Queen Maeve on the throne in Dils was and how people want some checks on Zeferia's power, if Princess Amelia influences Saillune to back Duchess Oriana in Lyzeille, then Duchess Oriana will likely be successful."
"This won't make Zeferia and Saillune enemies?" Han asked.
"The Eternal Queen understands the position Princess Amelia is in. And Amelia understands the Eternal Queen's position. It's nothing personal. You win some, you lose some." Luna said.
"This isn't the end of this! Amelia can't cave into that scheming Duchess. I'm going to go talk some sense into her!" Naga said as she as she walked out the door.
"Naga, wait!" Lina said as she stood up in alarm, "We're already down one teacher!"
"I'll be back by tomorrow. Storms won't hurt me!" she said as she cackled and continued walking as Lina buried her head in her arms.
"I need to get back to Zefiel City myself." Luna said as she stood up, "I'll see if she wants to use the carriage. Sorry I couldn't stay longer."
"Here." Lina said quietly as she handed her the relevant journals.
"Thanks." Luna said, and then she reflected a moment, "So far you've handled this crisis well."
Lina relaxed a bit, especially as she wasn't feeling competent at all in her abilities here. She'd never trained for something like this! "I was thinking you were going to go for the knife."
"People qualified to teach at this school, those who have done extraordinary things, seldom have completely unblemished pasts." Luna said with a sigh, "Granted, the Duke's past is a bit worse than the rest of yours. We have some contingency measures in place. Now, I'd love to stay for dinner but there is quite a lot going on in Zefiel City and we want to get back there before dark."
Leia and Han got up to hug her and say their goodbyes and after a moment Lina got up and joined them. Luna walked out and Lina sighed and sat back down beside Gourry and put her hand on his knee and felt relief that if someone had to end up in prison, it was Zel and not Gourry. Gourry looked at her and said, "I'm surprised you're not fighting this more."
"It's really out of my field, isn't it?" Lina replied, "Besides, I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be. Go to trial? Zel could die if he's found guilty. Cave in to Duchess Oriana? It's like Naga said, she'll have to dance to her tune for a long time if she does. But even if we did find where they're keeping Zel and bust him out, then what? Send him and Amelia to live on the run with an infant? There's no winning solution here."
"That makes sense. Too much sense." He said quietly. "So what do we do?"
"Keep the school going." Lina said, "We're all going to be putting extra time in to cover for Zel until he gets back. And I am confident that we will get him back! So we're going to keep things running smoothly until then. First, we figure out how to shift our schedules so his classes are covered."
"First we need to figure out what we tell the students." Han said.
"Damn." Lina said, "We tell them that Zel was called away on urgent, top secret business."
"But with the rumors going around, especially because they are aware of how he was nearly framed for the murders of Nerys and Bruce's parents…" Rick said.
"They are going to do all sort of speculating and we can't stop that." Lina said, "I wish we could but we can't. Not without doing something drastic like expelling people for it, and that's not the tone I want to set for this institution. Let them speculate he's being framed for some other murder. Or that he committed it. We can't control what they speculate, only what our official word is. And our official word is that he was called away on urgent, top secret business."
"Understood." Han said.
"We also have the dinner with Morticia tonight, don't we?" Leia asked. "Or should we postpone that?"
"We need to continue running as normally as possible." Lina said, "Besides, she rescued Gourry. We owe her. And this mystery with M isn't going away just because Zel got arrested. We can't let this distract us from bigger problems."
"And I hate to say it, but the situation with M is potentially a bigger problem than Zel being arrested." Gourry said.
"Right. So dinner with Morticia is on. Now what else…"
"Excuse me," Moe said as he walked in, "But does anyone know where Naga disappeared to?"
Lina looked at Gourry in surprise, "You mean she didn't tell you she was leaving?"
"What?" Moe asked, "What do you mean leaving?"
"She probably missed you on the way to the carriage." Leia said consolingly, "Amelia is in crisis and she's going to Zefiel City to help."
"There wasn't much time." Sylphiel said as they saw the look on Moe's face, "She might have even missed you as you were looking for her."
"Right," Moe said stiffly as he walked in and sat down, "So, what's going on in Zefiel City? And has there been any word on Zel?"
"I'd like to thank you personally for breaking the curse and saving my life." Gourry said to Morticia once dinner had been served.
"It was fun." Morticia said with a sly smile.
"It was also dangerous." Leia said.
"It makes life more interesting that way." Morticia said. "Besides, I was raised by a Black Widow. I'm used to danger."
Lina and several others nearly spit out their drinks. "Black Widow?" Lina repeated. "You say that so casually!"
Morticia raised an eyebrow, "It's just the family business."
"Your family business is to be a Black Widow?" Sylphiel repeated slowly.
"Mother was very good at it." Morticia said dreamily. "She even managed to seduce a detective who swore he'd bring her down."
"Are you planning to continue this business?" Gourry asked.
"Well," Morticia said, "As much as it would disappoint my dear mother, it does seem as though my talents are suited in other directions. And besides, when I look at Gomez, I just have that sense that he's someone I could enjoy for a very, very long time. It would be such a shame to kill him."
"Don't say that so casually!" Lina yelled. "We can't let you kill Gomez, or anyone else in cold blood for that matter. I mean, yes, we will train you to kill Mazoku, but that's different than killing another human being!"
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I did just say that I would be letting my dear mother down by not pursuing the family business after all. No, I am committed to a different path."
"So tell us about this path you are planning to take." Han said.
"To use my talents to commune with Dark Lords and bring them to their knees before me."
"When you say bring them to their knees before you, what exactly do you mean by that?" Leia asked.
Morticia smiled cloyingly, "Why, turn them to dust. What else?"
"I need to know you have no intention of resurrecting Shabrangidu!" Lina said directly.
"Why would I do that?" Morticia asked, "I don't go around worshipping Dark Lords. I break them to my will."
Lina felt herself slump forward as she wondered if she should take Morticia at face value or dismiss her as some melodramatic teenage girl, or worse, simply delusional. "Well, that clears things up."
"I'm happy to help." Morticia said as she finished sipping her tea. "That was simply delicious. I must say I have been enjoying my time here thoroughly so far."
"We're glad to hear it." Lina said stoically.
"Is it all right if I adjourn for the night? I don't want to get behind on my schoolwork."
"Of course. Have a wonderful evening." Lina said. Morticia stood up and seemed to float out of the room without a care in the world as Lina looked around the table in disbelief. As soon as the door closed behind her Lina said, "I don't know what to think."
"We have to warn poor Gomez." Leia said.
"But if she really is planning to kill him do you think she'd be so open about it?" Sylphiel asked.
"Like I said, I don't know what to think." Lina said.
"Gourry, what do you think? Is she M?" Han asked.
Gourry exhaled slowly, "I don't know if she's M, but I don't think she's right in the head either."
"That much we can all agree on." Lina said.
"Well, she did say that this opportunity would prevent her from going down her mother's path." Sylphiel said. "But she didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with that path."
"That's what worries me." Lina said.
Leia shrugged, "Perhaps her mother only ensnared the most vile of men."
"That still doesn't make it right." Han said.
Lina sighed, "Great, so two days into this new school year and Zel is in prison, Naga has fled to Zefiel City and may or may not be back by tomorrow, and we have a student who may be a psychopath but she may not even be the student we genuinely need to be concerned about!"
"But hey, Gourry could have died a few days ago and he's still here, so even though it is bad, it could be a lot worse." Han pointed out.
Lina sighed as she started to caress Gourry's knee beneath the table and knew in an instant that as long as they stuck together it would be okay. Gourry put his hand over hers and squeezed it assuringly and she exhaled as she felt strength surge through her as she closed her eyes and smiled. "That's a good point, Dad."
It was hard to focus on the document in front of her, and Amelia found that she kept having to go back and re-read a sentence or even an entire paragraph because her concentration would falter under the weight of her anxieties over how Zelgadis was doing. But even as shaken as she was she couldn't sign a document without reading it thoroughly.
Irritation flared through Amelia as she reflected that all the document really needed to say was that she would support Duchess Oriana in her bid to be Queen of Lyzeille in exchange for Zelgadis's immediate release and for the Kingdom of Xoana's silence. But it could never be that simple. So Amelia read carefully to ensure that was all she was agreeing to.
The longer it takes you to read this, the longer Zel is a prisoner! Focus Amelia!
Amelia took a deep breath and started reading again only to have her concentration shattered once more by a rather familiar laugh as a presence entered the room and wrapped an arm around her, "Amelia darling, what do you think you are doing?"
"Getting my husband back." Amelia said as she held her head up high.
"But at what cost?" Naga asked as she sat on the desk and grabbed the document and started reading through it.
"What else am I supposed to do?" Amelia asked as she tried to grab the paper but Naga kept it away from her.
"If you think that this is the only time Duchess Oriana will use this against you…"
"It's the price we'll have to pay." Amelia said as she lurched forward and snatched it.
"But why? Zel is innocent."
Amelia opened her mouth to speak and Naga put her finger over it, "Uh-uh-uh! No, no no!" Naga sang, "You never give an inch in a situation like this! Have you forgotten everything our dear mother taught us? Royalty never admits fault or apologizes! We are flawless and have no faults to own!"
"And call some little kid whose father was murdered a liar?" Amelia asked.
"We call him what his is, traumatized and mistaken. Zel didn't do it, he just thinks he did because he didn't know what he was seeing. And we will find the person who did and prosecute them to the full extent of the law."
"So we'll frame someone else for this." Amelia said as she shook her head. "How is that just?"
"Because we're not framing anyone," Naga said as she bopped her on the head, "Zel is innocent and we are going to prove it!"
"But what if he's not?" Amelia said as tears filled her eyes as she shook her head, "Being under Oriana's heel is better than dead! Or this getting out publicly."
"Dirt comes out about us royals all the time! And if you ignore it, it will go away! But caving into blackmail like this? You're setting yourself up for a lifetime of trouble." Naga said.
"There has to be some punishment. This is justice catching up to us. Better this than Zel rotting in jail or worse." Amelia said.
"Daddy sure did spoil you with his righteous talk." Naga said as she facepalmed, "Truth doesn't matter for people like us. Dirt does. And someone like Duchess Oriana has to have some dirt on her. If you aren't going to go for the offensive then at least stall while I dig up the dirt. Two can play at this game of blackmail."
"And let Zel suffer?" Amelia asked as tears filled her eyes, "Sis! I'm so scared for him! What if Duchess Oriana is lying and he's out there lying in a ditch dying alone while we negotiate this? Or what if she isn't and they're mistreating him and he's hurt and in pain and…"
Naga grabbed her shoulders and then kissed her forehead, "She has no reason to lie, and every reason to treat him well. Give me till tomorrow afternoon."
Amelia laughed sardonically as she grabbed her quill and turned from Naga, "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Amelia, I order you to stop!" Naga said.
Something flashed in Amelia's eyes as she turned towards her, "Don't you dare!"
"I can't let you act against the best interests of our kingdom!" Naga said firmly.
Amelia's eyes narrowed as she said, "If you try and stop me then I will tell Moe about the baby!"
Naga went red but said, "Go ahead and tell him then. Meanwhile, you wouldn't attack a pregnant woman, would you?"
"Huh?" Amelia said, and then suddenly Naga lurched forward and snatched the paper from her and tore it in half, folded it together and tore it again.
"There." Naga said as tears fell down Amelia's face as she cast a spell to burn the remains to ash and let them fall of the floor, "Re-drawing that agreement will buy me some time at least. Now if you'll excuse me, I have dirt to dig up."
Naga walked out and closed the door behind her as Amelia crumpled to the ground and wondered how many other people would betray her before this was over.
AN: Being the parent of school age kids, I want to say the whole parallels between Lina overseeing a schoolyear from hell with the beginning of the 2021 schoolyear from hell currently unfolding is purely coincidental. Stay safe ya'll.