New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

While this conversation was taking place, the people in the treetop were having another conversation, one laced with panic for some of its participants.

"Queen Phoenix, we must get you to the training room. That's the only place where people can't forcibly teleport you out of," Alena said, trying to grab the queen's arm.

"Stop, Alena. There is no use. I know where the king is. There is no risk of me being snatched next. I would have already joined them if I had been needed," Phoenix said, trying to calm her down.

Alena looked at her with wide eyes.

Even Gabe was uncertain what to do. His duty was to protect the queen, so he couldn't let her out of his sight.

He put his hand on her shoulder to be sure she wouldn't get taken away without him.

Phoenix looked at him awkwardly, understanding what he was doing, but brushed his hand off.

"You all need to calm down. They aren't in danger," Phoenix insisted.

"How can you say that, your highness?! Leon, the king, and his guard have all disappeared in quick succession! How can you stay so calm?!"

"Alena, enough!" Phoenix barked.

The commander was having a normal reaction to a situation she knew nothing about. But Phoenix wasn't under the same circumstances.

She knew where Astaroth had been taken.

The commander stood in place, her eyes bewildered, as the queen rose to her feet and walked up to her.

"Snap out of your panic, commander. What example are you giving to your juniors? You should be the calm one in a situation like this. There is nothing to fear. The king and the others are still in the palace. Just in a part of it you don't know about."

Alena frowned.

She had gone through this palace, from root to branches, and knew every nook and cranny of it, even the secret room the king and queen had asked no one to go to.

How could the queen tell her there was a part of the palace she didn't know about?

"I know this palace inside and out, my queen. There is no place I don't know about."

Phoenix shook her head.

"But there is. A place where you can't go unless he wants you to. Hell, even Astaroth and I can't go there uninvited. Which is why, I assume, I'm still standing before you. But that person is not an enemy."

Alena narrowed her eyes at the queen.

"How can you be so sure? Do you know this person well, whoever they are?" she asked, suddenly on her guard.

"I do. We've met a few times. And he has been of help before. Who do you think made sure the infiltrators couldn't escape last month? No one in this kingdom can raise a barrier that strong except for him." Novel Fire - novelfire.net

"Are you talking about Aberon?" Alena asked, frowning.

"No. Not Aberon. Although he is mighty, he isn't that strong. No. I'm talking about someone else whose power level outmatches everyone in this kingdom. And we built our kingdom in his mage tower."

Alena was confused when they got someone who could out-power everyone in their kingdom. Leon was nothing to scoff at in the power department, and hearing that someone even stronger was present sent shivers down her spine.

'Just what kind of power are we sleeping over every night?' she wondered.

"In any case, I'll try to contact Astaroth through our messaging function, and we'll see what this is about. If he doesn't answer, we can start panicking after that, alright?" Phoenix asked the commander.

Alena sighed, dismayed at how calm the queen was.

"Fine. But I'll ready my troops for a retrieval operation in the meantime. I don't trust anyone I haven't met," the woman growled, conceding.

Phoenix smiled at her.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I'll keep you in the loop. We can start looking for him if he doesn't respond in the next half hour. Until then, get your men ready. But don't tell them who they will be looking for. It would cause a panic wave through the kingdom."

Alena nodded, understanding her duty. But she glared at Castien, ensuring he wouldn't open his mouth either.

"Hey, I'm not going to disobey an order from the queen, ma'am. My lips are sealed."

"Mine are too," Coral added.

As for Gabe, there was no way he would go against the queen's orders. That would guarantee a direct demotion, and possibly getting dropped from the Royal Guard.

When she saw him shake his head, Phoenix knew he would keep quiet, too. She nodded and cleared her throat.

"Then get to it. Coral, you go about your day like nothing happened, and I'll keep you updated as well, so you don't worry."

"Yes, Your Highness," Coral said, bowing.

"As for the others, you have a job to do. Get to it. I'll reach out to Astaroth in the meantime."

"Yes, Your Highness!" the others saluted.

As they left the branch, all aside from Gabe and Phoenix, the latter looked at the food still on the cloth and sighed.

"What a waste. At least they could have waited for us to finish eating before kicking the beehive…" she complained.

"I can have someone come and dispose of the food, Queen Phoenix," Gabe said.

"Don't have it disposed. Make sure it reaches the city. I heard some signs of poverty have started showing in the outer ring. Have those delivered to the families that need it most. You can ask Brienne; she'll have a list for you."

Gabe nodded, grabbing a small crystal ball from his pockets.

This permitted the Natives to communicate with people far away, acting like the messaging system the players had integrated into their interface.

She left him to his messaging, while she reached out to Astaroth through her own.

**

'Are you with Aravelle? And why did he grab you so suddenly? Are you safe?' she asked.

**

I took a few moments before the response came, which made her wonder if Aravelle had nefarious intentions. He had never been this abrupt before.

**

'I'm fine. Aravelle had something urgent to discuss with Leon, Selena, and me. I'll explain later when I'm back. But I'm safe.'

**

Phoenix sighed in relief before telling him she'd wait for him before logging off. Then, she notified the others that the king was safe.

But that didn't stop Alena from keeping her troops on standby if the situation changed.

'What could be so urgent that he nabbed him like this?' she wondered.

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