Where the Heart Is, Part 27
In the wake of Elianna's plea, Mockingbird stands there, caught facing the very same choice that upended her life all those years ago. But the shame that made her run away back then is still with her, even stronger now. She doesn't know if she has the courage to confront it.
Fortunately, you know that she does have the courage. She just needs a little help to believe it herself.
You kneel down, placing a hand on her shoulder. Elianna tenses at that, her expression stricken. Her hopes of getting through to Mockingbird were already uncertain... but now she sees a demon about to weigh in with his own honeyed manipulation. Mockingbird looks at you, and you let the tension hang in the air for just a moment longer before you speak.
"Go to her," you urge gently. "You know you'll regret it if you don't. You already know how it feels to live that way. And if you do run again, it will feel just as horrible for her as it will for you. So go. Open your heart to each other. Say all the things you've wished you could say for so long. Show her your true, whole self. You both deserve that."
Elianna's eyes widen in shock at your unexpected words. Mockingbird stares at you for a few seconds longer, before nodding. Then, shakily, she turns and walks back to the woman who raised her. Even then she can't meet Elianna's gaze, staring at the ground while she fidgets, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"I'm... I'm really, really sorry..." the young halfling says in a barely-audible voice. "For everything. I... know that I let you down. Over and over again. I know I'm not the kind of person you wanted me to be. Someone who stole, and who lied about it. For a long time, that hurt so much that I tried to run away and hide. So you wouldn't know how bad I was messing up. So you wouldn't see all the ways that I was... that I was throwing away everything you tried to give me."
At this point, Mockingbird is struggling to hold back tears. "But... even then, I couldn't stay away completely. So I put on a mask. And I lied even more. Lies on top of lies. I thought it was better that way. But... maybe it wasn't. Maybe I was just making it worse after all. I... I really don't know."
She draws in a shuddering breath. "But... at least right now... at least tonight... I think I can tell the truth for once." As she speaks, she reaches up with a trembling hand, and takes off her mask in front of Elianna, pulling her hood back.
"I'm sorry," Polly whispers, still looking at the ground. "I'm so sorry for everyth—"
But at that point, Elianna can no longer restrain herself enough to let Polly continue. She kneels down and pulls the young halfling into a crushing embrace, clinging to her with everything she has as tears run down her cheeks.
"You don't know how afraid I was..." Elianna says in a broken voice. "When you ran. When I couldn't find you, no matter how hard I looked. I was afraid that the city had devoured you, like it does to so many others. I was afraid that you had died... and that you had died thinking I was angry with you. I was so afraid that I would never get the chance to tell you again just how much I love you... my dear, sweet Polly."
And just like that, the last remaining shred of Polly's composure shatters. There's no more room for confessions or apologies, as she simply starts to bawl her eyes out right there in the middle of the street, clinging to Elianna just as tight as Elianna is clinging to her, burying her face into her warmth.
You watch their tearful scene with a satisfied smile, until Alicia walks over to stand next to you. You're not sure you've ever seen an expression as conflicted as the one that the paladin looks at you with.
She could win. Right now. All it would take is a single sword swing... and a single betrayal. You don't think someone like her would actually do it. Breaking your oath is wrong, after all. Still, considering how great a threat she thinks you pose to everyone she cares about—to her nation, to her friends, to her family—you imagine that the sheer, gut-wrenching pressure to compromise her principles must be... beyond words.
"Well. Somehow we made it through." You keep watching the other two heroines embrace at first. But then you look over at Alicia, giving her a fleeting, conspiratorial little smile. "So... does this mean that I get to see the rest of your plan now? I admit, I am a bit curious how far you're willing to stretch 'alive and uninjured' for me."
Alicia flinches, almost imperceptibly. But she doesn't look surprised that you've anticipated her next move. In fact, she didn't even look surprised when you chose to help Mockingbird find closure, rather than attempt to flee.
"I am sorry," she says. And you do hear actual regret in her voice, beneath her disciplined calm. "Rest assured, I will fully abide by the terms of our agreement. And... if it had only been myself at risk... I would have preferred to show more leniency than keeping to the strict letter alone."
"Oh, you have nothing to apologize for," you respond, reassuringly. "A devil is the last being in all the Cosmos with any room to complain if a mortal phrases the terms of a deal carefully. And no one would blame you for being so careful out of concern for your friends."
Then you glance once more at Polly and Elianna's tearful reunion. "Anyway... it was worth it."
Of course, any consolation you offer her only twists the knife even more. As you knew it would. Especially since she knows, with absolute certainty, that you aren't lying to her. Which leaves her in the position of screwing over an ally—however temporary an ally you were—who risked his life to save hers. No matter how well she can justify it in the larger picture... that simple fact eats away at her.
Still, regardless of her own feelings, Alicia remains wholeheartedly determined to do the right thing. Even though it feels like any choice she makes in this situation will be wrong, for one reason or another. No matter what she does, she'll feel guilty for doing it. It's sad to watch, honestly. Why do mortals insist on tying themselves up in such complicated, contradictory snarls of "honor" and "morality", when they could just be sharing the far simpler blessings of Pleasure with each other instead?
Why can't they see what they're missing?
Someday, you'll show it to her in a way she can understand. But right now, Alicia is making her move. She reaches out and grabs hold of your forearm, pulling you even closer. Divine power gathers at the point of contact, as she speaks an invocation. "Oh wise Selal, who watches over all of us for our protection, especially over the weak and the innocent. Ensure that this malefactor shall not escape your sight... and grant that his path shall be ever revealed to your servant, that he might no longer mislead your faithful."
You feel a pulsating heat blaze to life where she's touching you, and a bright glow radiates between her fingers. When she finally removes her hand, you see that your skin now bears a glowing sigil, about the size of a large coin. Studying it, you confirm that it is a tracking invocation. One that will allow Alicia to know what direction you are relative to her at all times.
"I'm a little surprised," you admit, raising your arm to examine it from a few different angles. "I was honestly worried you might do worse. You're not even going to try to seal away any of my powers?"
"No," Alicia says, her voice unyielding. "That could be considered a form of injury."
"Ah, I see." So this is how she's chosen to balance between those competing pressures that are crushing her from either direction, while trying to hold herself on the right path. "Well. Then it seems our paths may cross again soon."
"They will," she agrees. "And when it happens... I will stop you. By the sword, if necessary. But..."
She pauses, and then her expression softens, just a little. "But I hope it will not be necessary. Though I know that hope may prove a foolish one. I cannot deny that there is a... kindness... within you. Even if it is twisted by your nature. Even if it manifests in acts of corruption. I only wish that you could see that there is a better way. I... will do my best to show it to you. If it can be done without endangering the innocent."
An ironic smile crosses your lips, and you can't help yourself. "It sounds like you're saying you want to save me..." you say, echoing her own words back to her that she said to you in your shared dream. "You. A paladin."
"Of course that's what I'm saying," Alicia repeats your own words back as well, without hesitation. "Don't you think everyone deserves to have someone like that?"
And with that, the battle lines are drawn. Of course, in practical terms, even if she only imprisons you with a view toward "reforming" you, that could still be every bit as disastrous to your actual, specific plans. Especially with the specter of the Incubus King hanging over you, and your incomplete preparations to deal with him.
Still, it's a nice thought on her part, at least.
Elianna and Polly, meanwhile, have now pulled apart a little, the initial rush of emotion now calming. "You don't need to leave," Elianna urges again, trying once again to get through to the young rogue. "There's so much I want to say to you. Please stay here with me."
Of all the times when the pull of your allure has been tested... there has never been a greater trial than this moment. Polly looks back over her shoulder at you. And, with everything hanging in the balance... you meet her eyes.
Your expression has to be perfect here, or all is lost. You have to convey all the right emotions. Concern for Polly herself, and what's best for her. Concern for Elianna, if the war isn't stopped. Concern for the mistress you care so deeply about, who is in danger back in Kovora. And all of that tied together by the smoldering promise that she can have more of the inhuman pleasure she's already tasted. You have to call all that to mind. Entirely without words. All while looking as soulful as you possibly can.
It's enough.
Polly gives you a look of utter gratitude. She understands how much you're risking so that she could have this closure. Then she turns back to Elianna. "I'm sorry," she says, sadly. "I really, really want to stay. And I will, once this is all over! But... I think I've found where I need to be right now. I think I've found the thing I need to do. Not as the person I thought I was supposed to be... but as the person I am."
Elianna flinches as though struck. Polly quickly holds up her hands. "Don't worry!" she says. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise. I know things look scary for us right now, but... it's really not like that. You'll... you'll just have to trust me, for now. I'm going to make sure nothing hurts you. And this is the best way. And... I mean... it's just... he's... really not as bad as you think he is!"
Rather than let the poor girl flounder through her disjointed attempts to justify her newfound lover to her mother-figure, you chose this point to step in. "If I may interject," you say, pointing off down the street to some approaching soldiers. "We're about to have more company. If you intend to honor our agreement and allow us to leave, we had best be departing soon."
The fight between Yirithiel and Sevariel did carry the two of them away from the main area of the battle... but not by that much. And now that the fire is under control, all the soldiers and mages are starting to spread out and investigate just what the Hell was going on here. "I suspect you'll need to give some explanations to your people," you tell Alicia. "For our part, it's time we were gone."
Elianna opens her mouth, frantically trying to think of something more to say. But she's cut off as Polly dives back in for one more hug. Then she darts away, the two of you vanishing into the shadows of the city. Polly makes sure not to look back. You, however, look back in her stead, watching as Alicia takes Elianna into a comforting embrace, as the cleric tearfully watches her wayward child depart once again.
You turn back down to look at the young halfling. "Thank you," you say. And the words are genuinely heartfelt. "I know that couldn't have been easy."
Polly sniffles, running a hand across her eyes as her shoulders shake. "S'okay..." she says. "I... wouldn't have even dared to talk to her in the first place, if you hadn't helped me. I wasn't going to turn around and screw you over, not after that. Elianna... she'll... understand, when it's all over. How this was all for the best."
Then she looks up at you, her face stained with tear-tracks. "She... will understand, right?"
"Of course she will," you say, soothingly. "It's like I told you before. We just need to create a future that will be better than anything a war between Nelin and Kovora could have created. And that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to make her—and all your friends—truly happy."
Polly looks down again. Then she presses her mask back tight onto her face to hide the evidence of her crying. "Can we... can we take a minute before we meet up with Verika?" she asks in a small voice, muffled by her hands. "I... don't want her to see me like this."
You glance up to the rooftops, where Verika is already crouched, looking down fondly at the young halfling. But she does back off, giving Mockingbird the privacy she desires. You, for your part, reach down and place a reassuring hand on Mockingbird's shoulder. "Don't worry..." you say. "Your secret is safe with me."
Once you do—officially—connect up with Verika, the three of you waste no time in gathering supplies and leaving the city the next day. You can't help looking over your shoulder the entire time. Even though you know that Zethuriel is almost certainly in no shape to try anything, and won't be for some time... just the idea that he's out there somewhere is enough to make your skin crawl.
There's no time to purchase a horse. So instead you take the form of a horse for the journey back, Verika and Mockingbird riding you during the day as you make for Kovora. When night falls, you make camp, setting up a tent along with your bedrolls. Mockingbird takes a long look at those bedrolls, before turning to you and Verika.
"So, ummm..." she begins, suddenly uncertain. "Which one of us is going to be... I mean... you know... tonight... with him?"
Verika laughs at that, a long, sensual laugh. "Oh, my little Mockingbird..." she murmurs, sliding over to kneel behind the much shorter girl. She wraps her arms around the halfling, molding her voluptuous body against the other heroine from behind. "That is entirely the wrong question."
Mockingbird lets out the most adorable little eep. Her face turns red behind the mask as Verika begins to undress her. You close in from the front, casting aside your clothes as well. Mockingbird's eyes go comically wide as she stares at your erect cock. "I... that's... it goes... inside me?" she squeaks. "How does it fit?"
"Don't worry," Verika breathes into her ear, holding her tight, then giving her ear a little nibble. "It will fit."
The drow holds her tight, keeping her in place for you as you advance. You reach down between Mockingbird's legs, your hand cupping her cunt possessively. Then you start to finger her while Verika plays with her small breasts. Mockingbird thrashes in Verika's grasp as the two of you toy with her, and it's barely any time at all before she's soaking wet. "Oh goddesses..." she gasps out as you work her up. "Oh goddesses, oh goddesses, oh goddesses!"
Before long, you're ready to take the next step. Verika pulls Mockingbird back down onto one of the bedrolls and spreads her legs, offering the young halfling up to you for the taking. You kneel down, then start by letting your cock rest on Mockingbird's pelvis and abdomen. Letting her feel your member, warm against her naked skin. Letting her see how deep she will be taking you. She gulps, in a heady mixture of apprehension and anticipation.
Then you pull back, lining up to push it inside her. You take it slow at first, inch by inch, allowing her to adjust to the invading presence that is conquering her oh-so-tight channel. She surrenders with everything she has, looking up at you in terrified rapture, her eyes silently begging for you to give her more as she's penetrated by something sized for a larger race. Meaning that for her, this experience is particularly overwhelming.
Eventually, you do fully hilt within her. By now any intelligible speech has departed the young halfling entirely. She clings to you, spasming around you, gasping for breath. You give her a second to adjust, then start to slowly pull back out again, before thrusting back in, faster and more urgently this time. Mockingbird's eyes roll back in her head, while she arcs backward, something that allows Verika to slide a hand under her chin and start making out with Mockingbird from behind as you fuck her.
Mockingbird lets out a long, ecstatic moan into Verika's mouth. Soon enough, you're picking up the pace. The young halfling is trapped tight between the two of you, locked in a hot and sweaty prison of flesh, a demonic cock despoiling her as she lets out noises of wild, desperate delight. Her legs aren't long enough to fully wrap around you. But she tries anyway, tries to pull you deeper, tries to give you more of herself.
You draw it out, effortlessly controlling the pace as the inexperienced young woman comes undone beneath you. Her body shudders and jerks with countless mini-orgasms, but you don't let her experience the full effect until the proper moment. She's gasping for breath, looking up at you with unbridled need as you fuck her harder and harder. Until at last you drive her over the edge, releasing right into her womb, as she convulses in a devastating orgasm before slumping between the two of you.
Even then you're far from done. Verika pulls her off of you, then pats the bliss-wracked girl's cheek until she coaxes her back into a more conscious state. "Now's no time to rest," Verika tells her firmly. "We have to clean up the mess that you made."
Sliding her fingers into Mockingbird's hair, Verika guides her head down toward your crotch. You use one of your backpacks to prop yourself up, reclining there. The drow has her young pupil start licking at your member, cleaning off the juices that now coat it. Soon Verika joins in as well, the two stealthy heroines both lying in front of you, their tongues intertwining as they worship your member, while also pressing their naked bodies against each other.
Once you're satisfied with their efforts you allow yourself to ejaculate again, coating both of their yearning faces with an inhuman amount of your seed. They immediately start to clean each other off as well, hungrily licking up the semen in an affectionate display. Nor do you stop there. Next you pull Verika over on top of you in a reverse position, her back toward you, indicating for her to ride your cock from that angle. She obeys immediately, bouncing atop you with utter, wanton abandon. Now it's Mockingbird who takes the initiative, moving in front of the drow to grope her breasts. The halfling watches in wonderment, seeing what it looks like from the outside as you claim someone.
Eventually you come in Verika as well, giving her a reward for all her hard work on this mission. Even that is not the end, as you continue to fuck long into the night. But mortal stamina does have its limits, even when boosted by your corruptive boon. When you finally reach that point, it's with a lover nestled under each arm, completely spent as you listen to the sounds of the night outside your tent.
With some time to yourself, you take a closer look at the invocation Alicia put on you. After studying it for a few minutes, you bring one of your fingers up to it in an attempt to take it apart. There's a small flash of light, and you jerk your hand back, swallowing a curse. Your finger is numb and tingly now from the jolt. Even your highly enhanced regeneration takes a few seconds to remove that numbness, coming as it did from messing with the internal structure of such a powerful locus of holy energy.
Well. This will be quite the headache to deal with. Alicia has crafted this invocation with devilishly clever protections on it. You are confident you could dispel it eventually... with enough time and effort. Especially if you enlist the help of Nevati and Ceriss, since the mortals have no special weakness to holy power. But the question is how much time you can afford to devote to that, as opposed to other courses of action.
As it stands, by the time you reach Kovora, you estimate that you could at least make some headway on dispelling this invocation. Not enough to remove it completely, though. Only enough to diffuse the signal it gives out, to the point where Alicia couldn't find your precise location at close range. At longer ranges, however, she'd still be very much aware of your broad, general location.
In other words, so long as this invocation is on you, even if you go after a different heroine than the one Alicia starts out guarding, she'll be able to determine where you're headed and adjust her plans. Meaning that, even in the best case, you'd probably only have a couple of days before she showed up at the other location, hot on your heels.
There is, however, an even more pressing matter that demands your focus. Using some of the Lust that you gathered from tonight's orgy, you call on the synergy between your dreamwalking and corruptive boon powers. You go into a meditative state, entering the Plane of Dreams. Then you shift the fabric of your own dream to show you an image of someone bearing your corruptive boon, as well as their surroundings. Lily, in this case. You silently watch over your mistress, in anticipation of the attack from Zethuriel's minion.
She's asleep at the moment, though you notice that she has her staff right beside her in bed. You also note that her sleep appears to be not entirely innocent tonight, her face flushed as she shifts beneath the covers. You wonder what dreams your boon is inspiring in her, as she waits for your return.
You shift your view to the drow guards outside, and see that they have indeed been joined by a water elemental. You can tell at a glance that this one is far older and wilder than Nevati's summon, his tall, elongated body only carrying the vague suggestion of a humanoid form. He is constantly in flux, and it can be difficult to tell where the water ends and what passes for his flesh begins. Your eyebrows go up. Lily has outdone herself with this one. You just hope she was careful about the price that an elemental of this power would require.
You watch and you watch, and for hours nothing happens. You know full well that the attack may not happen at all tonight, and that you will need to get some sleep at some point. Still, you keep your watchful gaze over your mistress's defenses for just a little while longer. Which is when you see another drow approach at a run.
"Danger!" she calls out frantically. "Danger! There's someone threatening her highness! You need to—"
But she doesn't get any further, as the guards immediately turn, draw their bows and start shooting at her without the slightest hesitation. They know that a shapeshifter is coming. And as such, they respond to even the slightest deviation from established protocol with immediate, deadly force. The "drow" curses, her body blurring to the side as she dodges between the hail of arrows, then lunges toward them with such inhuman speed that they can barely react.
The water elemental, however, can. He surges forward, a half-dozen different torrents exploding out from him to curl toward his target along different, arcing paths, some of them catching their target with glancing blows. And then the two of them are locked into combat, tearing away at each other with supernaturally powerful strikes.
Even as "she" fights, the drow disguise bleeds away, revealing another withered incubus beneath. He soon has the elemental on the defensive, his blows, sending the creature reeling... until a drow, one of the sorceresses, completes an incantation. Then the entire hallway lights up with hidden anti-demon trap runes, which they must have painstaking cast over the preceding days. Powerful arcane energy lashes out, crackling through the air like lightning to seek out the incubus and wrack his body.
The demon roars in pain, allowing the water elemental to take the upper hand, driving him back. But gritting his teeth, the demon seems to focus on something. You can't tell what it is... until you notice protective runes on all of the defenders start to light up in a wave expanding out from him.
Then you understand. He must have a lust aura power. And he just enveloped the entire hallway in it, aiming to cripple their ability to fight back. But once again, the drow were forewarned what manner of foe they might be facing. And they clearly learned from their previous defeat at your hands, back when you were helping Verika. Knowing that their foe was another incubus, they made sure to cast protective wards against such lust-inducing powers.
Even then, their defense isn't perfect. At least not for the opponents closest to him, who are taking the most concentrated effect. His lust aura must be particularly powerful, since it manages to—partially—pierce even such magical defenses. The defenders start to falter, and once again the vicious battle swings back in the demon's favor. But since he's also suffering from the trap that the drow set, this time it's still very close.
And then Lily bursts through the door and out into the hallway.
She's still wearing her nightclothes, but her staff is in her hand, pure arcane might raging around her. She levels her staff at the demon, and speaks a single resonating word of magical power, releasing a spell that she'd been preparing out of sight. With all the allies also engaging the enemy, she doesn't have the clearest shot. But she fires a single, concentrated lance of crackling green energy that winds through the chaos. The incubus flings himself away, trying to dodge... but the elemental manages to snare the demon's ankle with a tendril of water, halting him just long enough for the attack to clip his right arm.
The resulting blast annihilates that entire arm, as well as a most of the incubus' shoulder, and a good chunk of his torso. The demon lets out an animal howl of agony, flinging himself headlong down the hallway in an all-out retreat. The water elemental lunges after him, but the demon is already regenerating... as well as simultaneously shapeshifting into the smallest bird he can possibly manage. In mere seconds he has vanished out the nearest window, lost to the dark night sky.
You exhale. Well... that could have gone much worse. True, the incubus did get away, and is still out there. But you had mostly resigned yourself to that possibility. At least Lily is safe.
You also use your scrying to briefly check in on the actual member of the drow guard that the incubus was impersonating. After all, if he had abducted her for interrogation, as his comrades did with Yvette, you might have needed to summon her to safety. But it seems this incubus didn't want to risk tipping his hand before his attack, instead simply opting to use her face while she was elsewhere.
The trip back to Kovora continues without any complication, at least on your end. You continue to keep an eye on Lily when you have the chance. There's no guarantee that the enemy incubus has given up, after all. Who knows when he might be back with a different plan? Still, there are no signs of further attempts that you detect.
What you do see, however, is when the main granary catches fire.
Key to the distribution of food to your forces, it holds most of what you've been able to gather from the meager farming efforts like the village you visited, as well as much of what you've brought in from other sources. And now it's burning. Which you can see from Lily's vantage point, as she looks out from the parapet after being awakened by her guard. You grimace. You can see Melca's fingerprints all over this. She wants to force you to bring Fallhazel back without letting on that she wants it. And this is her brutal play toward that end.
No doubt she's had her high priest Nergan arrange it through intermediaries, so that the arson couldn't be traced back to her or her church. No doubt, if you were to investigate it, it would appear on the surface to be the work of some rebel faction or some such. No doubt they've been carefully setting this in motion, ever since your conversation with Melca in Lily's dream.
And since this attack was set in motion so far in advance... that is likely why they had no direct way to change the plan that their indirect, unwitting catspaws were following, after Lily then went and summoned the best possible counter against it.
The leader of her guard is hesitant about sending away such a powerful part of her protective force, worried that this might be part of a feint by the same demon. Lily, however, doesn't hesitate for a moment. "Go!" she calls to her summon. "Put it out, without damaging the rest of the building!"
The water elemental makes a grumbling assent. Then he leaps from the parapet, water flowing out in front of him to form an ice ramp that he slides down, shooting toward the granary. Even as he approaches, he's already conjuring water from the very air, dark clouds forming above the burning building ready to pour down upon what lies below.
The fire resists being extinguished, at first. More than normal flame would, actually. The arsonist was probably given some magical or alchemical trick to ensure that their attack couldn't be stopped so easily. But against a water elemental of this power, it's useless. He just keeps pouring on the deluge, all the more as he arrives himself. Soon he's manipulating the water into roiling spheres that float through the air at his whim, perfectly engulfing the flaming areas and smothering them utterly. And just like that, Melca's attempted sabotage is thwarted.
And the best part? You didn't even suggest that Lily summon a water elemental to begin with. It's clearly not something you did because you suspected Melca might try this, so it gives no hint that you're onto her scheming. This is something Lily came up with completely on her own initiative.
Feeling undeniably smug on behalf of the young queen, you close down your scrying and get some sleep, before continuing on toward Kovora the following day. And of course, all throughout your journey you make sure to take time to further induct Mockingbird into the glories of Lust, teaching her more and more of the wonders you have to offer.
The incubus lurking in Kovora makes no further attempts. Has he received new orders from Zethuriel? You're not sure. Either way, you don't see any sign of him. You do, however, happen to scry on another noteworthy event while you're pausing for lunch. One that Melca probably envisioned as the follow-up to her arson attempt. High Priest Nergan is standing in an audience before Lily in her throne room, pretending to look ashamed.
"It is just as you say, your highness..." he says, his head bowed low. "The food for the feast of the Summer Solstice is traditionally provided by the Church of Melca. However... with the decrease in raids, it has been hard for us to collect offerings of tribute from her warriors. And I have heard that your reserves are now overflowing. Might we request your intervention, in an area where your... unorthodox policies... have created a lack?"
You snort. You can see Nergan's game here. It was envisioned a two-pronged assault. Hit the granary to destroy Lily's reserves, and then push this unexpected burden onto her. All to force you into calling Fallhazel back into Kovoran territory. Even now, with the fire having failed in its purpose, he's hoping to use this to put as much pressure on you as he can. And if Lily were unable to provide, it would no doubt be a serious hit to morale.
But thanks to all your other preparations, Lily should have more than enough at her disposal to fulfill this unexpected need. In fact... there might even be an opportunity here, if she decides to take it. Just as allowing the festival to languish could prove a detriment to winning over those not yet convinced, if she goes above and beyond, showing that her way results in an abundance not seen in the previous years, that could boost morale even more. Perhaps even winning over some of the remaining holdouts in the orcish army through the display.
Grinning, you invisibly watch the exchange play out, interested to see how Lily decides. What choice will the young queen make, regarding the food for the festival?
Kovora Food Reserves: 4 (Normal drain is 1/mission; certain events or actions can cost food)
