Josie escorted Rickard to the cells. He nodded that he wanted to take all the remaining

  prisoners. She nodded and took him to Transporter Room One. She would have the

  Enterprise put them down, make sure there were cells ready, and then put manacles on

  the prisoners and ship them down with birds.

  “Remember to keep the letter paper handy,” said Josie. “If there is some kind of

  emergency, I will come up here as fast as I can.”

  “If something happens to me,” said Rickard. “Do your best to look after Caroline. She

  will need all the help she can get if the Nobility turn on her.”

  “She’ll need all the help she can get with Case as her husband,” said Josie. “I will look

  after both of them, and Lois, to the best of my ability. And I think the Society will keep

  a partial eye on them so we might have to keep the peace for them until they can do

  things on their own.”

  “What are you going to do about Markus?,” asked Rickard.

  “Are you going to get on my back too?,” said Josie. “I think I can make my own

  decisions about my romantic life.”

  “I’m sure that you can,” said Rickard. “I’m interested because of Caroline, and you are

  becoming a bulwark for the kingdom. It behooves me to ask as the king if you are going

  to be fine with this romance no matter how it works out, good or ill.”

  “I don’t know how things will work out,” said Josie. “It’s been a while since I courted

  someone, and looking back I wasn’t very good with it.”

  “If you need advice, talk to Lois,” said Rickard. “She’s much better at personal things

  than I ever will be.”

  “Thanks,” said Josie. “Shall we get on with our business? The kids have already burned

  down one house in the middle of the city. I’m afraid that they will continue if I am not

  there to keep an eye on them.”

  “They are some fairly dangerous girls,” said Rickard. He smiled.

  “I should send them to live with you,” said Josie. “You can get Aviras to bite the faces

  off people you don’t like for some ice cream.”

  “We’ll see,” said Rickard. “Maybe a fearsome dragon is what I need to keep my staff

  in line.”

  They stepped on the transporter platform.

  “It couldn’t hurt,” said Josie. “Enterprise, beam us down. I need to arrange a landing

  spot for the rest of our prisoners.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine. It sent them down in a cloud of blue sparks.

  “Your Majesty,” said one of the guards. They snapped to attention as he looked around.

  “I like flying better than all this vanishing, and revanishing,” said King Rickard.

  “It takes a lot of getting used to,” said Josie. “Where we are from, teleportation hasn’t

  been invented yet.”

  “And when it is?,” said Rickard.

  “It will need champions of order, but the Society only seems to work sideways on our

  planet compared to here,” said Josie.

  “Is that good or bad?,” said Rickard.

  “I have no idea,” said Josie. “Where do you want Illheim and his gang put so we can get

  them off the Enterprise?”

  “I think the dungeon will be good for now,” said Rickard. “Sergeant Mim, I need you

  to summon the ranking commander of the capitol army upstairs to the planning room,

  ready the dungeon until I can transport prisoners to the Delve, and I will need a judge

  and a notary to strip a noble of titles. We’re going to busy in the next few hours. Also

  send someone to tell the Queen I am home, and Caroline is safe with her guardians.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” said Sergeant Mim. “I will get things started.”

  “Corporal Len,” said King Rickard. “Show us the dungeon while Mim is getting people

  readying to watch the prisoners we have.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” said Len. He saluted before turning and opening the door. He

  waited for Rickard and Josie to follow him from the throne room. They went down the

  hall to a set of stairs that led them down into the ground.

  “Did you find anything in the ground when you dug this out?,” said Josie.

  “No,” said Rickard. “The castle was put up before the nearby country was settled.

  Grecious actually spread out from here. Why?”

  “We’ve found a lot things underground since we started,” said Josie.

  “A lot of the histories indicate massive warrens in the south where we left Kyle,” said

  Rickard. “Some of it is put down to the goblin tribes, some of it is monsters. As yet, they

  haven’t made their way north.”

  “The Delve?,” said Josie.

  “So far there has not been monsters,” said the King. “The prisoners are expected to mine

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  minerals for the government until their time is up. If they go down too deep, and

  something happens, the chief warden is ordered to shut things down, and move all the

  prisoners to the anteroom until something can be done to help out.”

  “Has that ever happened?,” asked Josie.

  “Not as far as I know,” said Rickard. “The Delve was started by my great granduncle.

  In the four generations that it has been active, nothing has ever been reported as going

  wrong.”

  “Not what I expected from a prison,” said Josie.

  “I try to keep on top of things, and the Delve is one of the more important things,” said

  Rickard. “And it is near the center of the kingdom. If something happened there, the

  capitol could be next.”

  Len pulled a set of keys from a hook when they reached a door keeping them from going

  further. He unlocked the door and pushed it out of the way. He lit a lantern on the wall

  with flint and steel. A cellblock of cages stood beyond the barrier.

  “Corporal,” said the king. “We are going to be housing prisoners here until they can be

  sent to the Delve. I need a guard detail to keep them secure until transportation can be

  arranged.”

  “I will set up a squad, Your Majesty,” said Len.

  “Set up two,” said Rickard. “One of the prisoners is going to be my nephew. I want him

  kept as safe as can be until he is sent to his new home. I want to make sure he can’t

  escape justice.”

  “I will have a rotating schedule of guards for approval by the end of my shift,” said Len.

  “I will have to secure the detail from quarters.”

  “Go ahead,” said Rickard. “Madam Fox has to check on her younger sisters after we

  have arranged for Illheim’s arrival.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” said Len. He hurried from the chamber.

  More soldiers arrived as he left. They wore the uniform armor and tabard to show they

  were on duty, swords to show they were ready to fight.

  “Corporal Len is going to handle setting up the guard detail,” said Rickard. “He will

  arrange the schedule. I need you to hold station until we settle our business and the

  prisoners are transported to their final destination. Anyone not put on the guard duty

  is free to go back to their regular duties. Nothing must happen to these prisoners until

  they are handed over to the warden of the Delve.”

  “We will handle it, Your Majesty,” said the senior man.

  “Madam Fox?,” said Rickard.

  “Enterprise?,” said Josie into her com.

  “Acknowledged,” said the machine.

  “I’m bringing down Rickard’s prisoners,” said Josie. “Don’t be alarmed.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine.

  Josie transformed and sent out birds to gather up her targets. She waited until the chains

  snapped back and brought each of them down to a separate cell. She let the persona go.

  “What now, Uncle?,” asked Illheim.

  “We are going to be moving you out of here in a few days,” said Rickard. “Then you

  will be with your brother at the Delve. After that, I hope to see how much of your

  organization I can round up and send with you.”

  “You won’t get us all,” said Illheim.

  He winced as smoke drifted up from his hand. He looked at the back of his hand. He

  squinted. Did his skin look a little lighter than it had before?

  “I still have a vow I have to complete,” said Josie. “This way, whomever the King can

  put away will survive until I am done with the rest of your organization. After that, I

  might have to talk with you again.”

  “And then what?,” asked Illheim.

  “I have no idea,” said Josie. “I doubt it will be pleasant.”

  “Thank you for your help,” said Rickard.

  “If there are any more problems, send the letter,” said Josie. “The next time I will send

  Jack.”

  “That is not as comforting as you try to make it sound,” said Rickard.

  “I imagine not,” said Josie. “I have to go. Good night, gentlemen.”

  She transformed and used her magic to get back to the Enterprise as it started south.

  A short walk to the Lounge and she had the last of her passengers sitting at a table,

  talking about things. And thankfully none of it was about her romantic life ahead.

  “I am telling you,” said Jack. “A castle on the moon would make all of your friends

  jealous. You don’t even have to live there. You can just get a telescope and show your

  friends from here.”

  “Unless it’s on the wrong side of the moon,” said Mister Warner.

  “What does that mean?,” asked Vin.

  “Some moons are locked in place so you can only see one side from the ground,” said

  Mister Warner. “So if the supposed castle was built on the opposite side, no one would

  be able to see it from the ground.”

  “I would make sure that wouldn’t happen,” said Jack. “I would just need a little bit of

  money for the job.”

  “You’re rich,” said Josie. “What do you need scamming adventurers for a moon castle

  you would never build?”

  “But I would,” said Jack. “And secure transportation so they could move back and forth

  from Hawk Ridge to their space existence.”

  “The Society said no,” said Josie. She shook her head. “More importantly, I said no.

  We still have to drop our helpers off, and do one more thing before we can go home.

  Let’s move with a sense of urgency, please.”

  “Enterprise?,” said Jack. “Can you hit Hawk Ridge from here?”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine.

  “Let’s go, guys,” said Jack. “We’ll drop you off at the Hall.”

  “Case, and Budd,” said Josie. “You can talk to your beloveds, maybe hold hands. Don’t

  make Emily shoot you in the giblets. Vin, I will be glad to get Angelica to cook

  something for you and your wife at a certain point. She is very good. Markus, I will be

  glad to take you out without a chaperone some time in the future. I just don’t know

  when yet. It was a pleasure dealing with all of you on this excursion. I appreciate your

  help.”

  “So we can go?,” asked Case.

  “Yes,” said Josie. She waved her hand at them.

  Markus waited for the other three to leave the room behind Jack. He frowned down at

  the shorter woman.

  “Don’t worry, Josie,” said Markus. “I can wait until we have things a little more

  settled.”

  “Thank you,” said Josie. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “You better

  hurry before Vin starts talking about the inroads you have made on our romance.”

  Markus rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of her own manner dealing with her

  partner.

  “I’m just glad he doesn’t have command of something like the Enterprise,” said Markus.

  “He would be even more insufferable.”

  He left the room silently.

  “Getting back in the dating game?,” said Mister Warner.

  “How about you and Dot?,” asked Josie. She crossed her arms against the frown of her

  mentor.

  “We’re not dating,” said Mister Warner. “And if we were, I would be a terrible example

  for you to follow.”

  “We’re not dating either,” said Josie. “But I am willing to give him a chance. It’s been

  a long time for me, and I’m not sure he would date me if I wasn’t employing him at the

  hospital.”

  “I think the watch is a more significant factor,” said Mister Warner.

  “No wants to date a witch,” said Josie.

  “I was thinking about being an ear ripper,” said Mister Warner.

  “Jack,” said Josie.

  “Your reputation is greater than anything Jack said, or did,” said Mister Warner. He

  almost smiled. “Good luck with your romance.”

  “We’ll see how it goes,” said Josie. “I don’t see anything wrong with sitting on my

  patio, sipping some wine, and reading to pass the time.”

  “I feel the same way,” said Mister Warner.

  Jack came back into the Lounge, smiling quietly.

  “We have to drop off Mister Warner, and then we have to visit someone,” said Josie.

  “I’m ready if you’re ready,” said Jack.