The browns had placed Lo on the bed in the private quarters. Her top and coat had been removed and the bandages had been replaced, as well as more being added to cover her more private areas. Lilith was sat on the edge of the bed, overlooking her, making she was alright, and slowly stroking her hair.

"How's she doing?" Gnarl asked, taking a seat next to the succubus but having to jump slightly.

"No sign of improvement, I'm not sure if she wants to get better though."

"What does want have to do with it?"

Lilith tilted her her head to one side. "The mind is a powerful thing, if she doesn't want to heal it'll slow the process down."

"But, why wouldn't she want to get better, it's simple self-preservation."

"Sent away from her home to a living hell, lost the future she was going to be given, abandoned by her friends and the person she thinks loves her, attacked, nearly died twice, almost raped, all in the span of less than three weeks, what makes you think she thinks she has anything to live for."

"I don't know, but she didn't lay down and die. Anyway, look at you, taking care of her, it almost looks as if you genuinely care for her."

Lilith slowly turned around. "Would it really be so unlikely. We've looked after her, made sure she was put into a good school, kept her safe when possible. While you were down here I was watching her grow up. It's strange, I'm practically her mother and we've never even met before."

"Would a mother send her child to the wasteland?"

"Well, sometimes you have to throw them in the deep end to teach them a lesson."

"And what lesson is that?"

"If your given something good, then you should take it."

"You do realise that at the end of all this, she will have to be disposed off?"

"She may not, we might be able to convince her to join him. She can help rule, and if he ever tires, then she can take over. She would be his heir anyway."

"Yes, but he doesn't know that, and she won't accept it. She was raised for half her life thinking she was going to rule most of the known world, she won't settle for anything less."

"We'll see Gnarl, but now I'm going to check on Giblet about getting her some armour made."

"But what about the old Overlord's armour? It was a lot of trouble getting it back."

"I get the feeling she'll prefer something lighter, more agile."

"All this will be pointless if she doesn't join us, what happens if she doesn't, she didn't last time."

"She will, she's got nothing to lose now, and so much to gain. Then, there's this." Lilith produced a set of papers bound by black leather and waved it in the air. "If we had managed to get this before we told her she would have joined us."

"Humans are so strange, always writing their secrets down and making them so easy to find."

The group arrived at the capital about three days after they'd left the wasteland. John feeling defeated, Tristen begin quieter than usual, Khalenhad acting nervous, and Mirah was her usual bitchy self. When they entered the main keep they were barely noticed, until they were outside the throne room and the doors opened. John had been expected to be walked in and given a punishment, but instead a dark skinned woman came out smiling, followed by John's mother.

"You! How could you just run off like that?" Audrey yelled before pulling the boy into a hug. "You are never going to do anything like that again."

The woman next to her gave a smile. "I'm guessing you're the prince that went to save Lo then, where is she?"

John's hand turned into a fist and he started staring at the floor. "We, we couldn't get to her in time."

"What do you mean you couldn't save her? Is she dead? Did you bring back the body?"

Khalenhad cleared his throat. "This would be better discussed in private, we have, information that is vital to the kingdom."

"No, you're going to tell me what happened to Lo, or I'm going to make you."

"You are threatening my son."

"I don't care, Lo's a friend of mine and I want to know what's happened to her, now tell me."

"The king needs to hear this first." Khalenhad stated. "What business do you have here anyway?"

"My name, is Anise, second at the Mage's College and future lady of Nordberg. My business here is securing my fiancé's position as lord due to his takeover."

"Takeover?"

"He tried to have the old lord removed peacfully, but he refused."

"Does of kingdom support usurpers?"

"If they remain part of the kingdom, treat their people better and get results, then yes."

The queen gave a slight huff. "Admittedly we don't want everyone rising up, but her future husband does have a claim and the documents she's brought have shown that his rule has had many positive effects."

"Anyway, if you're only willing to give the news to the king then I'd better come with you, from the sound of it, it will affect everyone."

Mirah gave a small clap. "If this is all finished up then I have to report back to Oberon."

Khalenhad grabbed her arm. "You're to bring him back here, and send someone to get dwarven ambassador, we're going to need all the help we can get."

It took an hour for everyone to arrive, Drez came with his father and Oberon following an annoyed looking Mirah. They had gathered inside the throne room but no one was sat down.

"What is this about Khalenhad? What's so important that only the leaders of the three races can hear?"

"During our venture into the wasteland, we were unable to recover Lo, however we discovered information vital to the survival to everyone who walks upon the ground."

Oberon remained at his usual level headedness. "And what is that?"

"The girl was taken by a horde of savage, brown creatures. They were roughly three foot in height, and were led by a creature of a similar height, but blue and appeared to be almost amphibian in appearance."

"You describe the overlord's minions."

Baleon's eyes went wide. "Is this true? Has the monster returned?"

Khalenhad gave a nod then Mirah spoke up. "What concerns me most is the fact that he's willing to make himself known, just to capture someone."

Drez shook his head. "It wasn't a capture. It was a rescue."

His father shot him a venomous look. "My apologies sirs, the boy doesn't know when to be quiet."

Baleon looked to be in deep thought. "No, the boy is right. He wouldn't know we had plans for her so he wouldn't know her value, her rescue may have been to corrupt her to his side."

Mirah spoke next. "The girl has power, when we were searching for her I found the remains of one of the creatures that preside there, it was frozen alive."

Anise bit her lip slightly. "Lo tried not to use magic, one time some boys were bullying her about being an elf and when she gets scared something in her makes her fight back with her own sorcery. The three of them that attacked her were found to have little willpower left, they had to go through three months of counselling just to get them able to be around her again, let alone talk. She didn't get punished as because she literally can't help it, but she said she would only use magic when she had to, not when she wanted to."

Baleon walked to one of the chairs and started drumming his fingers on the arm. "Are you telling me the girl's managed to kill a monster, without using her full power."

"Yes."

"Then let's hope she doesn't follow him, I do not like to think about what would happen otherwise."

Lo was awake but wouldn't open her eyes. Her entire body ached, but the bed felt so soft. She gave a smile as well as a relived sigh. It had all been a dream. The wasteland, being abandoned, none of it was real. That meant Tristen was lying next to her, she wouldn't trick anyone, she would tell them what had happened and maybe try to get to know John a bit more. He was actually nice, honest, and she did feel something between them but he shouldn't have told Drez or Tristen.

It was when she felt a thick porridge being poured into her mouth that the illusion shattered and she opened her eyes. When she didn't realise the room or the blonde woman feeding her. She took a deep breath before a bolt of blue light hit her carer and she was flung across the room. She pulled herself up slowly before examing her own body. She was half naked, only a few strips of linen and the trousers she had been wearing covering her and she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

She slowly pulled herself up and suppressed a scream, instead letting out a whimper. She swung her legs off the edge and stood up, one hand clutching her bandaged stomach and the other against the wall to keep herself upright as pain shot her wounded leg. She started limping towards the door, hobbling along until she came to a balcony and saw a small, hunched figure.

"Gnarl?"

"Ah, it's nice to see you awake mistress." Gnarl moved towards her and grabbed her arm that was against the wall and rested it on his back, turning her around and guiding her back to the bedchamber.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

"We found you wounded in the wasteland and brought you here, keeping you alive is our main concern."

"What about getting me to join you?"

"Can you join us if you're dead?"

"I suppose not. Who is she by the way?" Lo pointed towards Lilith's limp form as Gnarl placed her on the bed. "And where are my clothes?"

"Her name's Lilith, and we thought it best to get rid of them as they were dirty and we didn't want the wound to fester."

"I doubt a normal person would work with you so what's wrong with her?"

"Nothing."

"Then why is she helping you?"

"Mutual benefit. We have made it so you may return to the surface if you so choose, however, I wouldn't recommend it."

"And why is that?"

Gnarl moved over to the succubus's body before moving back with a set of papers in a dark leather covering. "The humans call this the black missive, and I think you will be rather interested with what's inside."

Lo quickly grabbed the item and untied the leather binding. She read the words quickly but with each one she felt her heart sink. "But, but that can't be right."

"The document is genuine, you may examine it as much as you like but you will found no evidence of forgery."

She looked at the bottom of the later, taking care to look at the signets and signatures that belonged to the leaders of the noble houses, each one assigned their own small section with only a few empty. What perplexed her the most was the water mark.

"This symbol, what does it mean?"

"That belongs to the king's oldest advisor, a women who helped him bring down the previous overlord. Her name, is Rose."

Oberon sat cross legged on the floor with Mirah knelt before him.

"What do you have to report about the girl?"

"There is certainly a family resemblance, same hair and eye colour, she has her mothers glow. She has power as well, the whole area radiated it but she stood out."

"But there's something you remain uncertain about."

"Her power, it was like looking at a picture of the sun on the horizon, you couldn't tell if the light was disappearing or coming, all I can do is hope the darkness is being purged, and not the darkness claiming all."

"We both know there is power in the darkness," Oberon opened a hidden compartment in his gauntlet and pulled out a small box made of silvery wood "the item in this box is merely a husk of it's former self, yet it still has enough energy to blind the paladins from miles away."