Love's Labors, Part 14


Nevati stares at you and Ceriss, unsure of what to make of your heartfelt assurance. Her tomboyish fire elemental fidgets, glancing back and forth in confusion as she tries to keep up with everything that's going on, while the more buxom water elemental watches you suspiciously, like she expects you to lunge at her mistress at any moment.

Instead, you smile. "For the moment, though... why don't we focus on looking for the information you came here to research? I have an interest in learning more about that subject as well. So our goals actually align in that respect."

As you intended, your sudden offer throws Nevati even further off her stride. "W-wha—? But... but h-how do you even know what I'm h-here to look for?"

You wink at her, conspiratorially. "Oh, I knew what you were coming here to look for before you even set foot in Kovora."

The implication that she's been in the palm of your demonic hand this entire time is not lost on the young wizard. She wants to write it off as a bluff... but she can hear the utter certainty in your voice, so unlike her own lack of it. And it fits with your complete mastery of the situation so far. She shivers a little, looking down at the floor.

It's here that Moghi interjects. "Wait!" the vampire blurts out, agitated. "Wait, wait, wait, you cannot just... let her search our records after all this! She is an intruder! One of the enemies I am tasked with defending this place against!"

You turn to Moghi, giving her a winsome smile. Standing up, you place a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," you reassure her, subtly running your thumb up and down the vampire's neck, which causes her to shiver. "I know this is irregular. But it really is in the interests of Kovora that we find this information. And once we do, I'll make sure she leaves without any further difficulty. Couldn't you give us permission to study here, just for a little while? On your authority as your Queen's right hand? Could you make that exception? For me?"

Moghi looks away, unable to meet your eyes. Trying—and failing—not to visibly lean into your touch. "Well I... suppose I could do that..." she finally mumbles bashfully, as she fidgets in place. "I am not doing for you, though! I mean... if it really is in the interests of Kovora, then... I suppose I have no choice, as a fellow servant of a Witch Queen..."

Nevati and her two remaining elementals watch you work, stunned by the extent to which you've tamed the fierce vampire. Especially considering how she was fighting you tooth and nail only recently. They're stunned... and also unnerved. Afraid of what will become of them by the time you're done.

You let them ruminate on the possibilities for a few seconds, before distracting them again. "Well then!" you say, grinning. "This is a very large library, and it would obviously take quite some time for us to search the usual way. What do you think, Archmage Wrancyne? Might there be a way to speed the process up? Through a bit of divination magic, perhaps?"

Nevati startles at the sudden change in topic. "I... uh..." she begins, fumbling a little. "I d-do have a spell that I use. T-to search through large c-c-collections of text for certain words or phrases." She reaches into her pack, pulling out one of the books she brought with her, holding it up in one hand. Then, with her other hand, she traces a spell into the air with her staff. Once complete, the runes start to release a gentle stream of glowing motes.

The tiny pinpricks of light waft and float through the air, spreading out to fill the small area that Nevati targeted for this demonstration. Any that draw near to the book in the gnome's hand veer toward their target, coalescing to swirl around it. Their faint radiance bathes half of Nevati's face in a shifting golden light.

After a few more seconds, she dismisses the spell. "But... it's only d-designed for searching p-places I'm supposed to be," she continues. The tiny wizard gestures around at the rows upon rows of dusty shelves as they stretch off into the distance. "I already checked, and some of these volumes have p-protective wards on them. To p-prevent theft. If I t-tried to use that spell here, it would set them off."

She pauses, then continues. "But... if we do have p-permission to search now, maybe it would be okay?"

You cough. "It would still probably be best not to unduly disturb the mistress of this realm," you say, as diplomatically as possible. After all, you rather doubt that the vampire queen would be nearly so amenable to all this as her (smitten) subordinate is, should the undead monarch ever catch wind of what is going on. "But perhaps we can spare her the bother. What if we modified your spell to be a bit more... circumspect?"

Nevati nods, thoughtfully. "It would definitely be p-possible," she agrees. "If we had enough time, that is. But... the modifications would need to be tailored to the specific type of ward that we're trying to circumvent. And there's always the risk that more than one type has been used here over the centuries. If the wards are too different, p-precautions against one style might not work against others."

"Hmmm..." You ponder the problem for a moment, before offering another idea. "Well... what if we crafted the spell to test the ambient magic in the air around the book? Before even attempting to read any of the text, I mean. If there's more than one kind of ward being used, they'll probably give off different signatures. And if the ward is of a type we haven't worked up a countermeasure for yet, we could modify the spell to point those books out, but to keep its distance."

The gnome blinks, looking at you like she's seeing you with new eyes. "Yes... yes of course!" she says, immediately becoming more animated. She kneels down and pulls off her pack, rummaging hastily through it to pull out several scrolls, a quill, and a set of inks of various shifting colors. You note that the more swept up in the idea she gets, the more her nervous stammer seems to fade. "We could encode all the ambient signatures of the wards that we have figured out a way to bypass into a helixical spell matrix! And then have the core spell check against them all at once!"

Nevati sketches furiously on the parchment, jotting down runes and equations at a breathtaking pace. You kneel down next to her, pointing to one part of her writing. "Oh, now this is clever. You're lining up the atheric transfer between the two runic pathways so they cancel out, aren't you? So there isn't any interference with the mana detection. Then... what if you did something similar with the divination invocation as well? That might give us some extra safety, so there's less chance of accidentally tripping any of the wards..."

Ceriss also kneels down around the parchments, and the three of you start to brainstorm back and forth, bouncing ideas off each other. It surprises even you how quickly Nevati loses herself in what she's doing. Not just in the fascinating new puzzle... but in working on it with two other people who can actually understand her.

The lonely young wizard clings to that small happiness. Even here—in a doomed situation, at her enemy's mercy—it's precious enough to her that she can't help but open herself to it. Soon she's leaning in even closer to you, forgetting the danger you pose entirely. You're not even using your aphrodisiac to wear down her guard. No... she's just so caught up in talking about magic that she loses track of everything else.

You almost feel bad for how vulnerable the little gnome is, in this situation you've contrived for her. Lured away from her normal protections, with the woman she's adored from afar for so long now helping to reel her in. She never stood a chance, not really. And everyone there can see it, except her. Even her remaining familiars clearly know, in their heart of hearts, what a lost cause it is. It's obvious as they watch Nevati excitedly telling you her next idea.

She's just so fucking defenseless.

You don't put any pressure on her. You don't have the slightest need to. You just go with the flow, letting her open her heart to you more and more, as the modifications to her divination spell take shape. Soon there are only a few more tweaks left, before it should be ready.

It's only then that Nevati finally notices just how much she's lowered her guard. She leans in even further to make a point, gesturing to some of the runes that you had been collaborating on... only to belatedly realize just how close she is to you. Your faces only inches apart.

She freezes, like a small animal caught in the gaze of a predator. You look back at her, right into her eyes. Letting her see both the intensity in your gaze... and letting her realize that you didn't take advantage of her lowered guard when you easily could have.

She trembles, and you can hear her heartbeat thumping painfully in her chest as she hesitates there between the two of you, chewing her lower lip. Her brilliant mind is going blank, as she struggles for something—anything—to say. Does she want to beg you to show mercy?

Does she want to beg you to show no mercy?

"I... I know you could probably t-t-take me any time you w-want to..." she finally says, barely audible. "I don't think I could resist anymore. I'm... not even a g-good person like Ceriss is. Before I m-met her, it didn't even occur to me to use my m-magic to help people. I just... stayed holed up in my tower. Working on my theories."

Then Nevati shifts her gaze slightly, looking at Ceriss now, tears in her eyes. "It was s-seeing her... seeing how w-wonderful she was... that made me want to change a little. I wanted to be m-more like her. I... I w-wanted to be the kind of p-person... that she could maybe..."

Her voice breaks. Ceriss reaches out a comforting hand, holding Nevati by the side of her arm. Sniffling, the small wizard continues. "So if Ceriss is on your s-side, then... there p-probably wasn't ever any hope for me. B-because all the things that were really good about me... were mostly just me t-trying to follow her. And... and I d-don't think I can stop f-following her now. B-because..."

She pauses, looking around her. At her familiars by her side. At you and Ceriss, hunched over the intriguing magical puzzle. Tackling it together with the lonely little wizard.

Then she draws in a deep, shuddering breath before continuing, her voice barely above a whisper. "Because this... r-right here... is everything I've ever really wanted."

The small heroine bares her heart to you, knowing that she's left herself completely at your mercy. The question is... how you will respond?

You could absolutely take her, accepting her surrender and putting an absolute end to any conflicted uncertainty still plauging her, claiming her and her remaining elementals in an orgy, right here and now. Once Nevati experiences it for herself, you know that it will obliterate and remaining doubts she might have had, securing her full and earnest cooperation.

On the other hand... you are still on a clock. It's only a matter of time before you're discovered down here, once the true ruler of this crypt starts to suspect that something has gone wrong. You just don't know how long you have before that happens. If you want to make sure that you get your hands on whatever secrets this library holds, you could take things slower.

Even if you don't have outright sex with her, simply comforting Nevati while she's in this fragile state could still bring her most of the way toward accepting you. With probably only a slight push required later on, at some later time that might fit better into your overall plans. Holding off—just for the moment—might not bring her over as completely and utterly as fucking her would... but it would ensure that you're able to put your spell into practice, and see what information you and Nevati can glean from it.