I was up bright and early the next day after the ball thanks to a very insistent Kieran not taking 'no, go away' as the order it was meant as and insisting, I drag my poor sorry carcass out of bed and eat breakfast. I would have to have a word with him about what was, and was not, an order. Also, apparently, Demonia had no coffee, in any kind of name, for me to drink. No wonder demons had such a bad reputation: most people must have encountered them just after waking up. Anyone would be a grouch without caffeine. Heck, I was homeless much of my adult life and even I splurged on my choice addiction. That was how necessary coffee was to one's existence.

  Kieran did not seem to be able to grasp that concept, however.

  "Come now, Lady Sin." He sighed, clearly getting exasperated with my slow progress into true consciousness. "You need to get dressed and be alert. Normally you could sleep the whole day and I would not dare rouse you, but you do have a great many esteemed guests at present."

  I groaned and stuffed a piece of toast into my mouth in a very un-queen like fashion. No coffee meant no effort spent on manners. "How many ended up staying in the end?" I asked. Well, more like mumbled. I really hoped I did not have to attend to three hundred self absorbed demon queens right now.

  "I was told that seven chose to stay in the end." He said, holding up a simple yet expensive looking short dress. "This one should do. These meetings, though important, tend to be rather informal in situations like these."

  "Wait- only seven?" I asked, feeling more awake suddenly. I thought for sure that at least a third of the guests were going to stay, if only to be nosey.

  Kieran chuckled, draping the dress over my bed, and rummaging through a dresser as he spoke. "I am sure you have realised by now that demons, and queens, tend to be concerned only with themselves. Queens are also hopeless gossips, given they have very little to do on a daily bases, especially the queens who are older and well established. They all figure that what ever the few who stay here hear, they will share in no time. No doubt what ever is discussed here this morning, eighty percent of the Realm will hear about it before this time tomorrow."

  "Wow, and I thought gossip spread fast on Earth with the internet and cell phones. The demon network must be a beast..."

  Kieran looked at me with a screwed-up face while holding a set of leg wraps the same color as the dress. "There are times when you speak, Lady Sin Andra, that I am completely lost as to how to comment."

  I laughed. "Sorry. Earth, talk I suppose. I will have to tell the people I know on Hearth about where I am from when I return. I was doing a semi- good job of keeping my Earth mannerisms in check for a good while, but I got out of the habit when I came here. They will be even more confused than you if I say something strange when we get there."

  "Indeed. But before thinking on that we must first get you through this meeting."

  "Yeah, yeah I'm getting ready alright." I stuffed a chunk of orange cheese into my mouth and pulled my sleeping gown up over my head with a sleepy grunt. "Where is Rougier anyway?" I asked Kieran as he pulled a brush out of gods only knew where and began attacking my hair, completely unphased by my nakedness.

  I had stopped caring about him seeing me nude a while ago. I had only been reticent for his sake in the first place, but when I once disrobed- in a hope that he would flee and let me get ten more minutes of sleep- and he just kept on trying to get me on my way, I realized that he couldn't care less what form of dress I was in. Nothing would prevent my butler from doing his job.

  "He took off for the stables as I was coming to wake you."

  "The stables?" I asked, pulling the white silky dress over my head, and doing up the single button over my cleavage. "Why the heck is he going there?"

  "he said he would rather smell your horses than breath in even one more lung full of demon perfume. He also said to bring him back a snack."

  I chuckled softly. "Sounds like something he would say. That does remind me though, I need to tame my new horses. Remind me to do so once we are done with this current chore."

  "Yes Milady. Though I feel I should point out that this is hardly a chore. More like a relaxing tea party." He said as I sat on the bed where he began lacing up the white leg wraps that I now saw had soft pink flowers embroidered on them. I wrinkled my nose at them. Sure, the out fit was nice, and I even look alright in it, but really it was not my style at all.

  "I don't suppose that this tea will have caffeine in it? A nice orange Peko perhaps?"

  Kieran clicked his tongue and stood up. "Yet again, I must tell you that I have no idea what this caffeine is that you seem to want so badly. I will point out that any kind of addiction is not good for you, however."

  "Tch! I see it as keeping the world safe. Caffeine is a medicine that stops me from murdering people who bug me."

  Kieran merely rolled his eyes then helped me to my feet. He turned to the large black tiger laying in the middle of the floor. Shinra had stayed with me last night and I saw no issue with that. "Will you be attending the Mistress, Miss Shinra?"

  "If it does not cause her any trouble than I would like to." Replied the cat in a voice much softer than you would expect of a tiger that must weigh close to a ton.

  "I do not think the other Queens will have an issue. Rougier may have caused a bit of a fuss depending on which queens are in attendance, but they will likely have no problem with you being there."

  "Good. Then I would like her to come." I said with a smile, reaching out a hand to pat her massive head, the blue gem between her horns glimmering in the morning sunlight filtering through the white curtains. "Having you around does make a statement." I laughed.

  "I will be there as well, standing at the back of the room with the butlers of the other queens. We are not permitted to speak during the Queen's Meeting unless addressed directly. I would suggest you also not interrupt Shinra." Said Kieran, running the brush through my hair again to be sure I was presentable. I really could not wait till all the pomp and circumstance was done and over with. Someone like me was just not cut out for palace life.

  "I will be discreet." Said the cat, blinking large eyes slowly. She seemed to have a studious nature that paired well with Kieran's serious yet kind one. I almost felt like calling her butler number two. Or perhaps, more like a bodyguard. She could go with me anywhere after all, even in her large form, with her ability to move from shadow to shadow and even hide in them. My own one-ton ninja tiger with steak knives for claws. I felt like she would murder a dude and then apologize for it, but in a way that sounded like she really wasn't all that sorry for it at all.

  "I am sure that Shinra will be a perfect gentle cat." I said with a smile. "While also terrifying any moron who thinks they can get within five feet of me.

  "As it should be." Agreed the tiger looking as smug as a cat with a head the size of an exercise ball could look.

  The meeting was taking place in the very room I first had my talk with Felicity and Garris, the very room we had been sharing meals together this whole time. I had begun to associate this place with pleasant thoughts and so decided to take it as a good sign that this is where these talks would be taking place today. The room was light and airy, the breeze warm and a little dry; a foreshadowing of the summer to come.

  The thought distracted me for a moment as I realised that the seasons here seemed to be in line with the ones on Hearth, where as the ones of Earth seemed to be different. There, winter would be in full swing, and I would have been scrounging left and right for what money I could find if only to get out of the cold for one more night and maybe even get a hot meal. How my life had changed. Now I found myself in a castle, warm and more than well fed, about to have a freaking tea party with a bunch of self indulgent demon queens... had it really been a few months since I had died? Time sure flies when you are fighting monsters and being tossed into demon portals, I guess.

  Pulling my thoughts back to the issue at hand I saw that I was the last to arrive. Oops. Kieran bowed to me once, turned the gathered queens over by the huge glass windows and bowed a second time. He then glided over to the far wall, where, several other men stood, as well as a couple women. He put his back to the wall and stood there, looking like he belonged, next to his father.

  "There you are Sin!" Trilled Felicity, the shortest of the gathered Queens by far, but also the most elaborately dressed in her usual gothic attire despite how warm it must been in this late spring heat. "We were beginning to worry." She added with a laugh.

  The other Queens looked to be a mix of amused and irritated. That was how most people looked at me these days, so I wasn't too worried. They were not openly hostile at least. I saw that Cristina, who gifted me my Andra Horses, was in attendance, as well as the three Queens that Victory said she was sure would stick around. Queen Mairith and Cinder stood next to one another, both holding glasses of wine despite the early hour and smiled my way.

  Mairith was short and stocky with shoulder length brown hair and a pinkish red hue to her skin. She had one black horn above her left brow. I did not see a broken stub nor a scare above her right brow so could only assume that this was just how her horns -or horn I supposed- grew naturally. She had a short red tail with boney ridges. She smiled kindly at me when our eyes met. I was a little mortified to realise that I could not remember her from the day before. Clearly, she had been one of the queens to get lost in the masses that had come to greet me.

  Queen Cinder, I recognized, however. She was tall and willowy, even standing above several of the butlers in the room. I had quickly come to realise that the female demons were naturally much smaller than their male counter parts and so figured that what ever males this woman produced must be giants. I did not see a giant over by the butlers but that was only what I expected. After all, I remembered that she was one of the few queens that had come with only female attendants, though I could not remember which was hers among the handful standing with the butlers.

  Cinder had rather generic demon features in my opinion. No doubt people who had lived in this world all their lives would have been able to say that she was distinctive but all I saw were averages sized and shaped horns and a plain whip like black tail with hooked head. Her height set her apart but other wise see just looked like what a human on earth would have considered a generic demon from the four or five standard images of demons.

  Three of the other Queens looked faintly familiar from the day before and each wore a neutral face, giving me a slight bow of their heads which I returned in kind as Shinra prowled in behind me. I saw them all eye her warily, but they did not show any out right fear as many had the day before at the sight of the Pangar Tiger. Either they had great confidence in my taming abilities, or they were trying to save face and not show fear. I was betting on the later reason.

  The last Queen in attendance I also recognized, and she wore the same sour look today has she had when Victory had pointed her out to me at the Ball. Queen Darcious was a slight woman with red curls done up elegantly atop her head and pale skin the color of cream. She had two horns but both were dead center of her forehead, one above the other. The bottom black horn was slightly longer than the top one. Her tail was a long and thick black scaled dragon tail with sharp black spikes down its length. She was eyeing me like I side of bad meat.

  Victory had said that this woman had a grudge against Rougier, and it seemed that that grudge now extended- to some extent- toward me. I could sympathize with her loss, but I would not just roll over and take what ever she deemed an appropriate punishment for me. I hadn't done anything wrong, and just because Rougier was my responsibility now, did not mean that I was responsible for the deeds of his past.

  "Sorry, I am not much of a morning person I'm afraid." I said with what I hoped was a kind and innocent smile. I rather doubt it was. Probably more like a guilty grimace, judging from the smirk I saw cross Kieran's face out of the corner of my eye.

  "No need to worry." Sang Felicity, waving a small hand. "We were not waiting long and I, at least, am used to your slow starts." She added with a little laugh. "Any way, come, let us sit!"

  Felicity lead us all to a large table surrounded by cushions and we each settled down on one. As soon as all Queens were seated a flurry of servants entered the room, making me believe that they were on the other side of the door, just waiting for this moment. I hope I didn't cause the meal to go cold. They laid out a wide variety of cakes and breads out on the table before us, the smell of sugar strong in the air. Then another group entered as the first left, this one carrying various tea pots and cups, getting us all situated for out talk.

  The whole fan fare took about five minute and when we were all settled in with a beverage- Cinder and Mairith ignoring theirs for the time being in favor of their wine- the servants disappeared from whence they came. Shinra decided to settle herself down at my back causing Queen Remedy and Felicity who sat either side of me to give her a warry look before returning to their plates and cups.

  The first fifteen minutes of the meeting were all dull small talk and introductions. I was starting to tone it out when Darcious opened her mouth and said in a rather biting tone. "I am sorry, but should we not know a little more about you Queen Sin." She glared around the room, as if looking for support. "We have come to greet you, a surprise stranger amongst us, yet still no one has seen fit to explain one iota about who you are. How is it that there was a new queen, and none of us knew till a week ago? Who was your mother?"

  "Darcious!" Gasped Cinder, looking aghast. "That is so rude! Ones lineage- "

  "I think it is very important." Huffed the Queen, eyes still coldly locked on me. "We all seem determined to ignore the mystery for the sake of manners and tradition. Well, I say that that is foolish and dangerous. How can a queen appear out of nowhere, tame the monster of the wastes, and just expect us to accept it as fact, asking no questions?"

  Felicity looked like she was about to angerly snap at the other Queen, but I raised my hand and stopped her. Not breaking eye contact with Darcious I said, slow and quiet, "I had fully intended to give a complete explanation of myself here at this meeting, Queen Darcious. I was a little surprised to learn that there would be so few in attendance, as I don't have the time to go and speak to all the queens in person before I leave for Hearth. But I have been assured that what ever I say here will be spread to the others before much time passes."

  Darcious scoffed. "Not enough of an audience for you, are we?"

  "Hardly." I droned. "I just am pretty antisocial, and was not looking forward to having to repeat myself a dozen or so times. I have already told everything to Felicity, and I am sure I could have relied on her to spread the word if needed. But I figured that it would be more respectful to tell you all myself. Or was I wrong."

  There was a moment of awkward silence before Mairith sighed and shook her head. "Do not mind Darcious, Sin. Please, tell us what you wish for us to know. Darcious is right in that we are all curious about your origins."

  And so, for the second time in as many weeks, I told my tale once again. I told them of my Earthly origins, my death, and my rebirth as a demon on Hearth. I made sure they knew of my ignorance, and begged they for give any rudeness it may bring out, and that I was hoping to get heir advice and wisdom in the future.

  "This is all a little too fantastical to believe." Snapped Darcious. "You expect us to believe even half of it?"

  "I believe Sin whole heartedly." Said Felicity, coming to my defense. "And I know that you are aware of what my bloodline ability is, Queen Darcious. So, you either believe me, or you are going to sit there and call me a liar."

  There was a tense silence while Darcious fish lipped for a moment, looking to get herself out of the hole she had unwittingly put herself in. Felicity may have been young, but as a new queen she held a lot of pull in that she was a source of new wealth and alliances going forward. She had potential, and it would be foolish to burn any bridges before the girl had even come into her own yet. And unlike with me, she had no solid reason to have ill intent toward the young Queen.

  "I choose to believe this story." Rumbled Silvetta. She was a some what rounded Queen with pink cheeks and smooth skin. Her horns were hardly more than nubs on her for head and her tail forked halfway to the tip, its red scales a some what rosier hue than most. "There is no reason to lie that I can see. No good one, at least. And there is something different about Sin. Also, there is no denying that she is a Queen, as such, how would any one have hidden her for a century or more, till she came into her own. Why would any Queen hide a Queen born daughter? It makes more sense to believe Sin than to try and find some long winded conspiracy theory to explain away all the oddities."

  The other queens nodded and Darcious looked like she was suck on a lemon.

  I sighed. "I really have no idea how to prove what I am saying is true. I could describe Earth, but you would have no way to prove what I said was accurate or not. Anything I said on just about any subject would be unprovable as far as I can tell. But if felicity's bloodline ability is not enough for you that I do not know what else I could possibly do to convince you."

  Another silence, but this one was more contemplative than hostile or awkward in any way. Then Cinder spoke again. "So, you truly met the god Kradiff?" She asked sounding excited.

  I smiled slightly. "That's what he said he was. I have no way to confirm that I suppose. I was dead, he brought me to Hearth as a demon. If anyone other than a god of reincarnation can do that then these worlds are far scarier than I first thought."

  "Fascinating." Cinder said, eyes bright. "Other Queens have met gods over the years, next to the dragons were said to be the closest to them after all, but I do not think Kradiff was one of them. Usually, it is the Goddess of the Either or perhaps one of the other elemental gods... And neither has anyone ever described them as a human child."

  I snorted. "he said much the same. But how was I to know he was a god when I first opened my eyes, much less one that was supposed to look like a dragon? On Earth there are many religions and such, but I never subscribed to any of them. Before I died, If I was asked if there was a god, much less a lot of them, I would have said no. But here I am, and I plan on making the best of the life I have been given."

  "But not here?" Asked Darcious. I couldn't tell if she was happy about that or if she was insulted. Her face always looked sour, so it was hard to tell one emotion from another. "You intend to shun your responsibility as a queen, ignore the duty you have been given to start a line, and go and risk your life for a bunch of people who are not even demons?" Okay, she was disgusted, I guess.

  "Darcious, you are really being too harsh." Huffed Mairith, crossing her arms. "Even if Sin stayed, she would not be expected to start a line for some time. According to her she was barley thirty when she died, and has only been in this new body for a short few months. She may have the physical maturity of a full-grown demon, but to our kind she is still but a young woman hardly older than Felicity here. Or do you expect our young Queen here to begin a line as well?"

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  "Of course not." Snapped Darcious, eyes cold. "Felicity is not even capable of that yet. But she is thinking of that future and working towards it. TO continue our great demon race. What does this Sin want to do? Run off and loose her life while taming monsters in another world?" She made an aggravated noise and glared. "It is a queens scared duty to work for the people of this world. We dedicate our all to them, and they, in turn, make sure we are well cared for. How can you condone a Queen completely shirking those duties?"

  "Look." I snapped, not liking being told what I was and was not supposed to do with my life. "As far as I am concerned, Kradiff only made me a Queen out of pure absentmindedness. I was told by him- a god- that this life was mine to do with as I pleased. I was not given this new life as a punishment nor as a reward. I was not sent here to save this world or any other for that matter. I was sent here- or Hearth more specifically- simply because a god and a priest messed up and I had no place else to go. I had a choice to make, and I choose to come back to life as a demon and as a tamer. Those were the choices I made, not the responsibilities forced upon me."

  The others watched me closely but silently, even Darcious. I sighed again, feeling rather drained for it being so early. I really needed a good cup of fiervir. "As far as I am concerned, I have no responsibility to the demon race. My life Is my own. I have no ill will or distaste for the people here or its laws and customs. I would love to continue having a place here. And hell, maybe one day I would like to settle down and start that line that everyone here says is so good to have. But I have never seen myself as the mothering type. In my old life I never had any kids, and I never really gave it any thought in this life either. I can barley remember to feed myself much less have a baby that is going to rely on me too. But I am told that this is going to be a long life, and I know that opinions can change. I would like to have a place her, amongst my new people, for if or when this desire ever does come over me in the future."

  "It is your right Sin." Said Cinder with a dignified nod and a slight glare at Darcious. "Every queen, no matter how strange their origins may be, has a right to live and prosper on Demonia. She is given that right by the gods who gifted her to this realm. You may have come to this life in a very odd and round about way but that does not change the rights you have whatsoever. And no where does it say that a Queen must start a line of her own. Is it expected? Perhaps, but that is not a law or rule in any way. Besides, as you said, maybe in the future you will wish to continue the demon blood line the gods have gifted you. Until then your life is yours to live as you wish. Even if you decide to start a line it is still your life to live as you wish."

  I had to admit that my feelings on this subject were complicated and conflicted. I wanted my freedom. I wanted it like a dragon wanted treasure, and now that I had gotten a taste of it, I was loathed to let it go, even if being tied down the demon way didn't seem so bad either. Clearly a girl would be lucky to find herself instant royalty and in a race that prized and nearly worshiped the ground I was set to walk on. Every need or want I had was guaranteed to be fulfilled and with gusto and eagerness no less. But to me, it felt like a cage. Or maybe more like a nature preserve. Sure, I was the queen lion and the fences were miles away... but it was still a stagnant cage where I was expected to be and do things a certain way. I was not willing to confine myself to that life. Not yet at least. Not till I really got to live the life of magic and adventure I had longed for but never even dared dream would ever be mine before a few months ago.

  I had lived and grown in a cruel and practical world. There was no time or room for fantasy and dreams. I had that time, and I had that opportunity now and I planned on taking full advantage. I just didn't want to burn any bridges or offended to many of these people to do it. After all, out of all the truly wonderous creatures in these realms, it seemed like the long lived and highly magical demon queens were going to be in my life the longest and I was told they really held on to grudges.

  Case in point being the simmering Darcious, who sat before me with a scowl. She had lost her sister to the dragon Rougier a millennia ago yet she still held onto her hurt and rage. I never had a close family tie with anyone before but I cant even imagine remembering a person's face that I hadn't seen for that long much less stay angry and vengeful. Sad maybe, but that angry? No.

  "Darcious, I feel for your situation. "I said softly, knowing I was now treading on water that was probably more like lava... And I was never a very delicate creature. "But what ever happened in the past between the Queens and Rougier has next to nothing to do with me. Your ire is misdirected. Unfortunately, I can not let you beat the crap out of Rougier. He may deserve it and have it coming, I don't know, but he is mine now and I will not allow harm to come to him for vengeance's sake."

  She glared, lips turning in a scowl but made no move to comment, so I decided to continue, making my stance on the topic of my unruly dragon clear. "I may have no responsibility over the life Rougier had before we met, and I tamed him, but I fully intend to assume responsibility for him now. I can not see him disobeying me, but if it some how happened, or if he committed some grievance under my command, I fully intend to assume the consequences. As I do with any of my tames. As you all do with any of your lineage even. They may not be related to me via a blood line, or even by race, but I count all that I call mine as my family. I will attend to their faults, and I will defend them with my life."

  It was an odd sentiment for me: family. It had always been an 'f' word to me. An unclean and rejected thing that caused pain, heartache, and undue suffering. A cancer to be exercised. But since arriving on Hearth, I had been reassessing my view on the word and what it meant for me. Where those that I was beginning to see as 'mine' fell into that category. Because what I felt for most of those people I have come across since my rebirth wasn't really friendship. I found I was to possessive for such a word to be used. I figured Family fit well enough.

  "Tch." Said Darcious. The sound was derisive but there was a sort of deflated look about her now, like the anger was slowly leaving her body and she was getting a little empty without it. "So, you say but only those bound by blood are ones family. It is the demon way. Or do you laugh in the face of that tradition as well?"

  I blinked at the woman in irritation. "Rougier is bound to me by blood. As are all my tames. I am unsure if you were their when I tamed Shinra here, but many saw that it was a blood binding. So, by your logic they are, well and truly, my family then. But with or without blood, I am free to view whoever I want however I want. Shinra is family to me, as is Rougier. But so too are Felicity." I said nodding at the younger queen. "If she called me up right now and said she needed my aid and all that she loved and held dear were about to crumble around her I would drop what ever I was doing and lend aid, even if she did not tell me what the issue was. She is a sister which I never had before and no matter your opinion on the matter, it would not change my mind."

  Felicity seemed to tear up and smiled my way. Several other queens also seemed satisfied by this response. Darcious seemed to be holding out simply out of spite. "And what then? Do you also count your pet butler as family then? One who is without the aid of a queen is week and ineffective. Felicity may have to rely on those without a proper queen out of necessity- as do you I suppose- but I would hardly say that that made them family."

  "If you are speaking of Kieran then I assure you I very much hold him very dear to me." I said quite simply. "I'd say that he is my best friend and greatest supporter at this point, as a matter of fact. And I would ask that you not insinuate that he is without the support of a Queen. He has me. And I haven't heard him complain about that fact yet, despite being a very poor excuse for one, as you seem determined to point out."

  She narrowed her eyes as the others covered their mouths, looking rather scandalized. I didn't look back at Kieran but I could feel his eyes on me. I hoped he didn't mind me speaking of him so informally but I thought that he would be fine with it. Or I hoped at least.

  "He may have you in name." Said Cinder, her voice soft and caring, like she was speaking to a sick child. It made me narrow my eyes on her. She had been nothing but polite this whole time, but I was no infant to be coddled and babied. She winced under my scrutiny but continued all the same. "But the bond between a queen and her line is not something that can just be replaced. You are new to all this so you may not know, but a line without a queen is less than what they should be. It is not a matter of us all looking down on them- though I admit that some do just that- but it is a biological thing. Like a plant that no longer receives good water and sun light. Those left behind after their queen passes become weak and sickly and then slowly wither away."

  "She is right." Agreed Mairith, interrupting the retort I was about to spit out. "It is why Darcious and others loath Rougier so much." She explained. Also using the same tone, like I was a simpleton. Sure, I was not full aware of all I needed to know in this role as a demon queen but was it necessary to speak to me like I had just asked how to eat toast? But her words toward Rougier had me holding my tongue and listening. "He took the lives of four Queens. That is four lines that fell to this withering. Hundreds, and maybe even thousands of demons now have, or will, fade away. We had friends among them Sin'Andra." She implored and I let my anger fade in the wake of her pain. "Not just the Queens them selves, but amongst their people too. I had a lover in that battle who died. I was young and naive then but the pain was real. He was gone, and with out their queen I watched as his sister prematurely aged, his two closest brothers fell to illness less than a decade later."

  I sighed and watched my hands for a moment trying to organize my thoughts. "I am sorry." I said finally, looking not just at the two women who had reprimanded me, but all of them, Darcious included. "It had been explained to me in part, what happens when a queen passes but I guess I had not really considered the real ramifications till just now. Really am sorry for your losses. All of them..." I chose my next words carefully, as I wasn't really sure of the implications myself right now, but I was beginning to see a little of what Kieran had tried to tell me when he was gifted to me. What it meant that I could share my mana with him and others so freely. "But weather it was an unintended side effect, or maybe a bloodline trait of mine, Kieran is not without the support of a queen. I do not mean in name alone. I can, and have been, supplying him with my mana Gift since before he became my butler. I am still new to the process but I have zero difficulty in doing so as Felicity has tried to explain to me, that she has Gifting mana to those of her mother's line."

  Felicity had tried to explain the difficulty of it to me during our training sessions but I could not really comprehend what she was trying to explain. Apparently, when a queen shares the flow of mana with her own line it is as simple as breathing: Natural and instinctual. But when she tries to do the same for Garris and the others it is difficult. It was like trying to push putty through a small hole. Sure, it was possible but she couldn't do it without actual intent and a determination to get it done. It meant that for every task she had to apply concentration when a blood bonded queen to her lineage would simply do it, like the flick of the wrist, without a second thought. It was draining and even painful at times for the young Queen.

  "You claim that you can share the mana flow with the late queens line?" Asked Perna, another of the Queens in attendance who had been keeping their silence till now. She was of average height with dark hair and long jagged horns. "As if they were your own line?"

  I shrugged. "I do not have any frame of reference for that. But I do know that it is not difficult as Felicity has described to me. It was a little hard to get the hang of the process, having never known of it before, but then it was just easy. Like sharing mana with my tames."

  The women shared a significant look while Felicity, who looked irrationally smug. Like she was my proud mother or something. It almost made me laugh.

  "Varity." Said Cristina, another Queen who had kept silent this whole time till now. I wasn't surprised though, as she struck me as quite shy. At her barked word, as woman with dark gold hair, tanned skin, a single red horn on her brow, and nervous eyes stepped forward behind me. She had been standing with the butlers and maids but now stood a few feet behind me and I had to crane my neck around to see her. "This girl is a servant of mine. She is from a dead-line." Explained Christina. "As a newer queen I do not have many in my own line yet and so I employ those who have lost their queens and are led by Reihee. Varity's queen died a couple hundred years ago due to a tragic accident and many of that line that are still alive have joined me in my lands."

  I nodded at the young woman who was actually a couple hundred years old, apparently. She bowed low and waited for Christina to elaborate as to why she was called over. The Queen looked at me and said, "Would you be willing to Gift your mana to her? I know it is rather presumptuous of me, but I am curious. And maybe it will be one fact that we can confirm." She added, giving Darcious a rather cold look for woman who was normally so shy.

  I shrugged. It was no hair off my back. "Would you mind?" I asked the girl. I wasn't about to force my mana on her. Maybe it was silliness on my part, but it seemed like a rude thing to do. I feel that I would be offended it if someone did it to me, without it being a dire circumstance or without asking me first. The girl shook her head, wide eyed and a little pale now.

  I sent a thread of mana her way as Felicity and Garris had been training me. It was easy. Like throwing a ball to a child if the ball weighed as much as a feather. It involved nothing but a stray thought and my intent. And even those were minimal. We all watched as the girls' eyes grew even wider then suddenly fill with tears. She gasped and I was instantly worried I had hurt her some how.

  "It's-"She said in a soft and shaky voice. "Its like Queen Jillian has returned.;' She choked out, wiping at her tears. "I feel... I feel like me again."

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw bother Kiran and Garris nod . They both looked oddly wet eyed.

  "How is this possible?" Christina asked, amazed. Her question was not directed at anyone in particular but it was Felicity who answered.

  "Even Sin doesn't know. She truly does not see the enormity of this." She smiled at me and my confused expression. "Apparently, Earth, where she is from is saturated in unused mana. I think that she is just so used to it flowing threw and around her that she has no concept of it not existing at all or of it being diminished. Even now her standing mana pool is a staggering one-hundred thousand."

  "What?" gasped Darcious, looking pale and somehow, hopeful. "Is this true?"

  "According to the assessment I had done when I first arrived on Hearth." I confirmed. Though I have not had my status checked since then. My eyes wandered to where the spell had been placed on my hand at the adventurer's guild. It felt like a lifetime ago. I turned then to my butler. "Would you be able to check again for me Kieran." Man, those eyes of his were amazing things.

  I saw Kieran's lip twitch, like he knew what I was thinking as he stepped forward.

  "For those who do not know," Said felicity. "My late mother's bloodline ability was the All-Seeing Eye. Those of the line can see the statuses for anyone or anything with very few exceptions, so long as those things and people have mana."

  "Out of curiosity, have you ever examined me?" I asked him.

  Kieran shook his head. "No Milady. Though my father did upon your arrival."

  "Alright, go a head then." I was curious and I was sure that my mana pool was a little bigger than it had been.

  Kieran looked at me for a moment then I saw surprise flash over his face. Worried, I asked 'What is it?"

  "Your mana pool has indeed grown Sin Andra. You sit now at- well, at one-hundred and fifty thousand Milady..."

  "What?" I asked, dumbfounded. I thought I had gone up by one or two thousand. That was a lot after all. But an additional half my total mana? That was crazy. How was that even possible? "But- How? Why?"

  "I am afraid I do not know Lady Sin. But your other stats are a little higher as well. Not as drastic as your mana pool has grown but you have indeed improved since arriving here."

  "Well, you have been training." Breathed Felicity, also looking a little stunned. "Add that to the fact that you are from earth..."

  "Why would that matter?" I asked, confused.

  "Well, you said yourself, when you arrived, that the People of Hearth summon humans from Earth specifically because they hare so rich in mana and growth potential right?" Said Felicity, looking contemplative. "They have the capacity to grow swiftly and explosively in order to combat what the people of Hearth refer to as the Demon King."

  "Well, yes, but that is the Heroes. The ones chosen for the express purpose of fighting that enemy..."

  "But is it them specifically that are special? What If the only thing that makes them heroes is that they were brought from earth? What If the individual had no bearing at all?"

  I recalled Commander Rice of the Bellana guard telling me of some of the former heroes. How some were merely heroes in name alone and were never such in their actions. In the last summoning there was even a man from earth who became a demon summoner and even switched sides, joining the Demon King and its armies. It is true that being summoned did not mean you had what it took to be a hero. But was it true that anyone from earth had this explosive potential then?

  "So, you are like the demon Hero." Smiled the young Queen, her silver curls reflecting the sun outside the large windows.

  I screwed up my face. "I don't know if I like that..." I grumped making several of the others laugh.

  Christina smiled and shook her head. "What ever the reason, this is a truly amazing thing. Who knows how great your power will reach. And the fact that you can share that mana with other demons not of your own line... well, that is as close to a demonic miracle as I have ever seen."

  Even Darcious nodded at that, her eyes down cast and contemplative. "And you can do this with any demon?" She asked, eyeing Cristina's Verity.

  I nodded. "I haven't run into any problems yet at least. Not with demons nor with monster. Or even land for that matter. Now that I have been made aware of the mana flows around me its a simple thing to touch them, even send my mana their way. My control is still lacking, but Garris has told me that that is something that will come with time and practice."

  "I have to think on this more." Mumbled the cranky queen, turned thoughtful.

  "All that aside," Sighed Mairith with a roll of her eyes. "Could we not actually get to the reason we are here. I am fairly sure it was not to talk down to our new sister Queen. Nor was it to marvel at her many and varied talents. I find this all fascinating, but I do have a line to run, and the day is a wasting away."

  The others laughed and nodded. I dismissed Kieran back to the butlers and settled back against Shinra, still thinking as the other queens began speaking of land divides.

  It felt like I had been in denial for some time now on just how different I had become since coming to these realms. Sure, I accepted on face value that I was no longer human, and that magic and monsters were real. But there were things I was trying to subconsciously push aside. One of them being the fact that the only thing separating me from Markus and the other summoned Heroes, was the fact that I was here by mistake while they were intentional. But apparently, we were all here at random. And if that was the case, then that meant that we were a lot more a like then I wanted to believe. Was it some how my duty to remove the anti-mana stain from Hearth, as it was for the other heroes?

  I didn't want that to be true. I didn't want to have that kind of responsibility. I didn't want any responsibility as a matter of fact and I would have been very happy to keep on being a lazy person. The truth was that I had already decided that I was going to aid the heroes in their quest. I wasn't sure exactly when this decision had been made or what made me make it specifically, but it was clear to me now that I had made it. I had a lot of mana, but really, compared to not only the heroes, but even people like the Squad Captains I was far inferior in all other areas. Sure, I could take out Joe-Nobody the bandit, but a real one-on-one with a being of power? Id be burnt toast in no time flat.

  I was a side character. I wasn't the main protagonist of this epic tale of Demon Kings and Heroes. It would never be by my little hand that the great evil would be thwarted, and the world brought back to piece. But I was beginning to think that I was, perhaps, meant to be a strong supporting character in this tale. I could help. And that was never something I was able to do before. And I realized now, exactly how much not being the victim and being part of the solution meant to me. And I was okay with that.

  "-Could spare the Leiter River, but it is hardly prime farming or even hunting grounds." I heard Cinder say in a worried voice, pulling me back to the issue a hand. "Sin would not be able to grow there at all and I am also sure that neither of you could spare the connecting lands."

  I saw Mairith and Cristina nod solemnly. "We may have to call a larger meeting," Felicity sighed. "See where we can find a better fit for Sin, where she can actually have a chance to prosper."

  "Why not giver her the damn wastelands." Grumbled Darcious, not really paying much attention. "Its not like she is planning on using any of the land any way." Suddenly she seemed to realize that she had spoken out loud, and winced.

  "That was unfair to suggest." Huffed Cinder, eyeing the other queen, irritated. "Weather she decides to use the land now, later, or never, she has a right to lands of her own. Real and true lands. Not that poison."

  "You take your anger too far Darcious." Sighed another queen disapprovingly.

  But I suddenly had an epiphany. A light went off in my heard and I smiled. "No, it's a fine idea." I said breathlessly.

  "What?" Gasped Cristina. "You do not need to bend to Darcious' ire Sin, we can find you another place." Even Darcious looked shocked at my amusement.

  "No. It makes sense, anyway, given it was partially Rougier's fault that this happened to those lands. But I think I may have a way to fix them." I said excitedly. "It will take a long time and it won't be easy... and I may need to find other things to aid me if I want it to go faster."

  "What are you talking about Sin?"

  "We can get the Feeder Worms to clean the place." I spoke.

  The others shook their heads sadly and Felicity addressed me. "We already explained to you before sin. The feeder worms won't go near that soil. They hate it."

  "We have all tried to cleanse those lands and its impossible." Said Mairith sadly. "There was once a grate lake there of the purest of waters, watched over by my good friend, Queen Aura, for millennia. It was corrupted in the battle and Aura was killed. I am afraid there is no hope..."

  "I can not speak for the source of the corruption..." I said slowly, wanting to know more about it. "But as for the feeder worms, I have a plan. It is not that the soil in the wastelands is poison to them right? The don't eat it because they do not like the taste or whatever. But they can clean it."

  "Well, yes." Laughed Felicity with an incredulous shake of her head. "But it is not like you can just tell a bunch of monsters to ignore the taste and... and..." she trailed off as comprehension of what I was suggesting hit her.

  "Exactly!" I exclaimed as the dawning look of wonder came over her young face.

  "I don't understand." Hissed Darcious looking suspicious.

  "Sin is a tamer! A very mana rich tamer at that." Exclaimed Felicity, picking up on my excitement.

  I saw understanding flash across Cinder's face next. "And mana worms may be talented and useful little bugs, but they are weak."

  "That's right." I said with a smile. "I could make temporary contracts with a great many of them. An insane number of them." I added when I remembered just how large my mana pool now was. "And if I tell them to clean it, bad taste or not that is what they will do."

  "But" said Felicity, deflating somewhat. "That area is massive. Surly it would take years to clean it all."

  "And the feeder worms can only do so much. If the corruption is in the water as many suspect, then, no matter how much they clean, the corruption will just keep coming back."

  "Alright." I said, determined and feeling in the depths of my self that this was the right course. "How about I go and see this corruption source for myself? I know that the corruption will not have an affect on me. After all, I spent a week wandering aimlessly through it when I first got here, and nothing made me sick."

  "It is true that people or monsters seem unaffected" Agreed Cinder thoughtfully. "The corruption seems to affect the land itself and not the creatures that inhabit it."

  "Then I would like to go to this lake where the source of the corruption lies. Maybe I can figure something out that hasn't occurred to you all. If I can fix the issue than I will take those lands as my own, no matter how long it takes to fix them. But if it is indeed hopeless, then we can call another meeting to discuss the issue." The others nodded and made some whispers but, in the end, agreed with the plan going forward.