A Masquerade Game

A Visit from the Witch Queen

Two weeks later and Finral and Henry had been doing an excellent job of staying the hell away from all royal related business.

Nacht put him to work liasing with mission requests, which was surprisingly hard work and kept him busy from dawn till dusk.

It wasn't unpleasant, however, because Zora was there with him, which was even more strange because Finral had never made a friend so fast, but here they were.

Henry would pop in every now and then and more of his elusive sense of humour reared its fluffy, adorable head until he could actually make a joke without excusing himself to freak out in the library.

It was with a deep sense of foreboding, therefore, that Finral and Henry were summoned to attend The Witch Queen's visit to Vanessa. Zora, Noelle and Asta were also invited.

She had been coming weekly to visit Vanessa since falling ill and Finral watched as his best friend fell for her mother's antics. Vanessa had no intentions of marrying into royalty until The Witch Queen convinced her the money and status she would gain would be the only thing that could save her friends and family in the Forest.

A master of manipulation.

"You are late," The Witch Queen frowned as they entered.

"I'm sorry, mother," Vanessa said and took her seat.

Finral remained standing. He wasn't sure why he was here, but he didn't like the look in Witch Queen's eyes.

"As you are well aware, the second of three royal balls is almost upon us," She declared, with the air of someone announcing the approach of the Spanish Inquisition, "last time Kirsch Vermillion was absent, setting us back in our plan. His short visit here may have suggested we were out of the running altogether, thanks to a certain someone" she said, looking pointedly in Finral's direction. "however, on my frequent visits to the palace I have learned that Vanessa managed to impress the King himself with her performance at the ball. The Vermillions themselves is apparently likewise impressed with your beauty and grace."

Vanessa preened.

"Which means that this ball is of vital strategic importance. We must capitalize on the attention. Noelle, you have connections to wonderful garments from the royal seamstress so you are in charge of presentation."

"Um-"

"Vanessa, you will continue your training. You must learn to ensnare a man with your mind, not
only your face. We obviously still have a great deal of work to do in this regard." Vanessa's eyes flashed and she blushed.

"Yes, mother. Obviously."

"Henry, you are here because you have your own assignment. Seduce Langris Vaude."

There was a moment of shocked silence.

Even Finral couldn't laugh. Had the witch queen completely lost her mind?

Henry looked horrified.

"You....mean....distract," he said, his voice a pained squeak.

"Did I stutter?" The Witch Queen demanded, "While you were writhing like a pathetic worm in the library, I was gathering information to safeguard the future of my forest in my sickness. I am reliably informed that Kirsch holds Lord Langris' opinions on an extremely high standard. Considering everyone else in the kingdom hates this groggy little group, we need someone to convince Langris that Vanessa is the right choice so he can relay that to Kirsch. I would ask Finral but Langris does not seem to hold his opinion to a very high standard." Finral glared at Zora who laughed in the corner. "I also have heard from a very reliable source that, like you, Langris is a dedicated sword swallower."