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I had expected something like that.

"I thought you were talking about what I told her! I didn\'t think you meant like this." I answered.

"But she knew you were going to try and take the relic, didn\'t she?"

"At some point, but we didn\'t tell her we were doing it then. Anyway, she didn\'t seem to be in control of herself, it was almost as if…"

"Someone else was in control of her actions." Liz said finishing my sentence for me.

"You know something about it?"

"No…" Liz glanced across to Altria. "Or at least I didn\'t. I\'d theorised that it could be possible, to those that had undergone the ritual, but this might have confirmed that."

Altria squirmed under Liz\'s gaze. "Nothing like that is happening to me. I\'m sure of it!"

"I don\'t expect it has, yet. You haven\'t summoned enough or been doing it for long enough for it to have had that effect. Whereas Lillia has been doing this for a long time."

Hearing Liz say that had me worried, I needed to ask. "How long will she have been under the influence? You don\'t think that she\'s been controlled for the entire time that I\'ve been here, do you?"

Liz stopped to think for a moment before answering. "Controlled no. From what I\'ve seen and heard she\'s been herself, but it seems that someone was collecting information from her consciousness all of this time. They just chose that moment to take control and act. That is, if all of this wasn\'t of her own volition."

I couldn\'t believe she would have chosen to do that. "I don\'t think it was!"

"She wouldn\'t have, I\'ve known her all of this time…" Altria said loudly.

Serin spoke up next. "I wasn\'t there, but I don\'t believe this is what she would have wanted."

"Well, it seems we\'re all of a similar opinion." Answered Liz.

"But you said if it wasn\'t her own volition." Altria said.

"I simply meant that it can\'t be ruled out. From what I know of her, it seems out of character for her to behave that way. If she was putting on an act for all this time, it was a very convincing one!" Replied Liz.

"You knew all of this time, but you didn\'t say anything. If I\'d have known maybe I could have done something before it led to this…" I said while looking Liz in the eye.

She glanced away for a moment. "I\'m sorry Theo. I didn\'t know, I only had a suspicion. I didn\'t know it was at all plausible, all I had to go on was something I\'d heard long ago. I did urge caution to you, but perhaps I could have said more. I didn\'t want Lillia to know any more in case I was right, and if I wasn\'t I didn\'t want her to think I suspected her. You\'re right, I could have prevented this…"

I realised right away the impact my words had on her. This was something she had agonised about, and I\'d blamed her for the outcome as soon as things had turned bad. In fact, this was partially my fault. If I\'d only appeared more trustworthy from the beginning, she may have been confident enough to confide in me more.

"I don\'t think it\'s your fault Liz. Sorry I said that."

"Thank you, Theo, but I must hold some responsibility…"

"Then so do I."

​ Serin coughed. "Look, with hindsight perhaps any one of us could have done something to stop what happened. I don\'t think the fault for this lies with any of us. None of us can tell the future." She said.

"Serin\'s right, neither of you could have prevented this." Altria said chiming in too.

Liz smiled at our attempts to make her feel better. "Thanks both of you."

It was Altria that had the next questions. "When you said you heard something long ago, what did you hear? How did you come across that information?"

"Oh, so you didn\'t know… I once worked for your family. It was a long time ago, not long after the alliance was formed, and it was all the rage to invite those of the other races to work. I was hired as a court mage."

Altria\'s ears seemed to prick up. "Does that mean you know my mother?"

"I remember your mother, but I\'d doubt that she would recognise me now. She was a small child when I left."

She leant forward, now eager to find out more. "So, you heard about it from my great grandfather\'s ramblings?"

"That was my first clue yes. Something about it made me feel there was something more to it that mere ramblings. I left their service not long after he passed. I travelled as an adventurer for many years, trying to research the truth and feed my curiosity until I settled here."

Altria looked genuinely surprised. "I had no idea."

"Well, I was only a mage in their service, and it was a long time ago."

"And that was enough to set you on this path of research for all this time?"

"It wasn\'t the only clue. I have spent my time doing more than just research of this, in the intervening time!"

"I know, I didn\'t, I just meant that\'s impressive."

At least it seemed that Liz\'s line of thinking followed our own.

After hearing this I knew what my next question had to be. "I don\'t suppose you have a guess as to who is controlling Lillia?"

Liz almost groaned at my question. "Come on Theo, I\'m sure you\'ve guessed as much yourself already…"

I nodded. "The elven king, Lillia\'s own father."

"That\'s the most likely explanation."

"How do we free her?"

"Free her? That would be no easy feat, without removing her shard. It would mean removing the method of control from the king… But I might have an idea with regards to that."

"You have a plan?"

"Not so much of a plan, a hope perhaps. If we can search one of the shrines, we\'ll be able to prove that relics are the vessels the gods left behind. If we can prove that, we stand a chance of weakening the kings grip on power."

"But I thought no one was able to see the vessels."

"They aren\'t, at least not in these lands. There is or was an abandoned shrine in the lands held by the demon lord to the east. It\'s our only chance of finding out."

Lisa who had been listening quietly all this time, suddenly slapped her hands down on the desk drawing everyone\'s attention to her. "I\'ll issue the quest right away. It\'ll be the guilds first under the new regime! Will you take it?" She asked.

I glanced at the other girls. I was sure that I wouldn\'t need to ask them, and I was right, they were already nodding guessing what I was about to ask. "I think I can speak on behalf of the others when I say, we would do anything we could if we could help save Lillia."

"I hoped you would say that. If you succeed you might halt the march to war, not only help Lillia."

"Hold on, aren\'t you all getting a little carried away. I said this was just a hope. There\'s no telling that anyone would believe us even we found the evidence and even if they did, it might not be enough to stop the king and his supporters." Liz said sounding almost exasperated.

"We still have to try."

"I haven\'t even told you how dangerous this trek would be yet. It\'s deep within the lands held by the demons. No one has ever made it that far and returned to tell the tale. I should know, I lost my entire party the last time I tried."

"Even though, we still have to try." It was Serin that answered this time.

Liz put her head in her hands for a moment before answering. "Reckless…" She said before looking up again. "But I suppose, I will have to accompany you otherwise, you really will stand no chance of returning. I can\'t just entrust something this important to someone else."

"You don\'t have to. We\'re doing this to save our own friend." I replied.

"And the kingdom, anyway I\'d like the chance to prove my theory." She said with a smile. "Besides, there isn\'t much for me to do here. I have barely any customers and who knows, if things deteriorate here, I might not even be safe anymore."

"Something tells me that if you weren\'t safe, then no one would be!"

Liz just laughed at my response. As she did Lisa got up from her seat.

"Then the five of you will party up and head to the shrine. Although I expect there will be one more to add to your number." She said with a wry smile.

"Who? You\'ve already included Celine."

"I\'m surprised you haven\'t guessed. I expect they\'ll be along soon enough."

Then almost as if on cue there was a knock at the door.

"I thought it was about that time… Come in." Lisa called over as if she knew who it was on the other side.

The door swung open.