Maestra, these floors are off-limit until the banquet begins. Could you please come with us?”

“Oh, I'm reaaally sorry. My husband left me here alone and I couldn't find the way. Such a gigaaantic palace and I have never been here before, could you soldiers guide this lost lady to safety?.”

With the use of a high-pitched voice and some drastic innocent gestures so to reinforce her appearance, the soldiers immediately started to softened up.

“This way, Maestra.”

The soldier pointed back into the hallway where she entered. She couldn't resist yet without making a commotion so she began to move.

“It would be the best to join your husband again. If you can tell us his name we will do the utmost to find him, Maestra”, one of the soldiers suddenly offered.

She kept her composure but she panicked for a second. She hadn’t prepared for such an offer and silently cursed herself for never paying attention to noble’s names and those that were allowed to be here for this banquet, a wrong name would blow her cover instantly.

She had to continue this theatre play.

“Gladly, but I don't know where my Dear ran off too, surely he is chasing skirts again.”

“Beg my pardon Maestra, but he is a fool to leave such a beauty behind to find another woman. I've never seen such a fine woman like you, without the mask I couldn't even imagine to bear the radiance of your full beauty.”

“Ohh, a man who is good with his work and mouth. What's your name soldier. Maybe I need some escort later after all this farce is over.”

The soldier suddenly turned red and averted his eyes.

“I'm no fitting man for this task you ask for Maestra, I'm a commoner working here. If they would ever find out that something happened I would have to pay.”

The soldier looked to this companion, who never spoke a word during this entire conversation.

“Nobody would ever hear a word from my lips and I could need two escorts, these are truly dangerous times”, she chirped and pulled both of them closer.

“I'm afraid we can't Maestra, now if you could name your husband.”

The second soldier came straight up ignored her and brought her back into the misery.

She had no other choice than to knock both of them out. She didn't want to do it initially because a missing patrol would raise awareness and could lead to her capture when others would ring the alert bell.

She couldn't summon her Mârden, it would take too much time, so she had to use a less gentle method.

Her hands were still on the soldiers, she she channeled some mana and gave them a little shock.

Both of them spasmed and collapsed, their metal armor crashing onto the floor. It sounded like an entire tray with metalware crashed on the floor, the narrow walls enhancing the sound.

She forgot this in the heat of the moment, “God damn it, I hope nobody heard this”, she cursed.

She remained silent for a few seconds before finally breathing again.

Checking the soldiers she concluded they took no harm, only a nasty headache would remain after they woke up.

She summoned her Mârden, put a camouflage spell on them.

Nobody would detect them unless they walked into the corner of the hallway.

After she waited for another minute to confirm nobody came she went on her way to her room.

The information from Laruth’s informant was mostly correct and she avoided the patrols in the area by hiding in unguarded guestrooms.

The closer she came to her room, the more patrols were around. Also there were permanent guards in front of the door and no visitors allowed which made it impossible to get through the front door.

But her room wasn't the aim, she wanted to access the room besides it.

She moved to a corner room when she got older, leaving only the door into the hallway and a room next to that she reserved for her own uses.

The room was mostly empty or used by Laruth when he overdid it with his work and used it for a place to stay the night, but what nobody knew was the secret door that was placed behind her nightstand.

When she moved in, she planned a bit ahead in case of danger. Two walls were covered in windows and the door was leading straight into the hallway, leaving few possibilities for escape.

A well paid worker she trusted did the work on the hidden door and moved far away the next day.

The door was planned to be an emergency exit but in this case it would help her to get inside.

Peeking around the corner she was waiting for the guard change. It was at that time, only for a few seconds, she could run down the hallway and sneak inside the room.

The second the guards moved she started sprinting down the hallway, she reached the door. She didn't have much time left and quickly pulled the handle down but the door didn't move an inch, it was locked.

“Curse you, Ba’en,” she damned the God of the Fortune and Luck.

She didn't have much time left, only seconds if she didn't waste them, and she needed an solution. She couldn't hide in this plain hallway, the door was locked, the way back too long and the guards would be here any moment.

She was just frozen in space, panicking and her mind in turmoil. She imagined the worst for her. Herself captured in front of Fiven, executed and her friends, without her support or protection, being on the run as long as they could and living in hiding.

There she was, the royal princess Roxanne, crying in the middle of the hallway with no way out. Her knees gave out and she succumbed on the floor, the guards arrived and saw a wailing mess.

____

“Identify yourself”, the guard shouted but she couldn't respond. The other guard came closer, weapon drawn and ready to strike.

He lifted her up and took off the mask but the final strike didn't come.

“It's the princess, what is she doing here? She is supposed to be in her room”, the guard identified her immediately.

“I don't know, but let's put her back, I'll go in inform Fiven´s corps. They should know what to do. We only had the order to let no one inside but nobody talked about her being outside.”

She was barely able to follow the conversation and after they locked her inside the room she, not quite princess-like, still cried and punched the door. There was nowhere to run and soon Fiven´s troops would arrive and take her but this time to a less safe place.

The weeping ebbed away and she calmed down but couldn't move, resting on the doorframe.

“Oi, are you finished with that senseless crying or do you need another minute or two?”

A female voice called her out, she was shocked. Nobody except her double was supposed to be here, even she would be bedridden and in a coma, but that what her eyes captured was refused by any logic.

The person wasn't supposed to be here, in the last hundreds years their kind never came so deep into their continent.

In her chair, behind the desk, was sitting a girl, her legs on the desk and the eyes on Roxanne. A beauty nonetheless but not a human. Hair colored like red leaves in the autumn and darker skin tone was rare for humans but for their kind nothing special. The hair in the front was splitted in two places by two horns, dark black and twisted to the back like a tiara around her head, as if it couldn't get any more obvious, a tail was waving back and forth next to her back.

Clad in a light black armor that shaped around her splendid body.

Humanity's worst scourge, peerless fighters, frenzied warmongers and a race who had a mindset that ruled by superiority through strength. Seeking fights where- and whenever possible, they enjoyed bloodbaths and wars and humans were only toys in their eyes. They revel in the fears of the ones they  killed and massacre of any enemies.

A Demon.