Astaroth reappeared in the corridor they had taken him from, his mouth open to protest. But he clamped it shut when he noticed he wasn't in Aravelle's presence anymore.
'That old codger… He shoved me out the moment he was done talking. He could have at least let me ask him for a better solution then, just post someone who will sense me…' he complained, internally.
Astaroth resumed walking toward the throne room, a bit peeved at his new dilemma. Someone who could sense mana meant at least a mage.
But he couldn't just take one out of his patrols for a guarding job, could he?
This put him in a foul mood.
Reaching the throne room, Astaroth noticed nobody was inside, and clicked his tongue.
'He held me for so long, the meeting is over…'
"Guard, do you know the queen's whereabouts?"
The guard to the right of the door smacked his heels together.
"Yes, Your Highness! The queen has advised to tell you if you were looking for her, to look for the moonlit sky, and the maiden of stars, sir!"
Astaroth looked at the guard, who was shouting and winced.
"At ease, my friend. I don't want you people to be so uptight around me. It makes me uncomfortable…"
"I'm sorry, sir!" the guard shouted, taking a bow.
Astaroth sighed.
"Thank you for your help, soldier."
He walked away, thinking about the words of the guard.
'A riddle? Really? Good thing I know what she meant because I would have searched for a while…'
Astaroth started walking toward the palace entrance and walked into the plaza that faced it.
A few new nobles were walking to and fro, across the plaza, and not a single one missed a beat, saluting him when he crossed paths with them.
"Your Highness."
"Your Majesty."
"King Astaroth. What a pleasant surprise meeting you here!"
Astaroth waved and smiled at them, remembering Phoenix's words to act cordially with them, as much as he could, but he kept walking all along.
He had no time for idle banter and meaningless chatter.
Once he was far enough from the doors that he could see more than one layer of branches above his head, he leaned down and jumped with all his strength.
The leap alone brought him ten feet off the ground, before he stepped on the air and started making his way upwards.
The guards and nobles watched him lift toward the bough of the tree palace, with a mix of dread at seeing the monarch take risks, and joy at witnessing his magic in action.
Even though this was the most basic of spells, in Astaroth's opinion, many magicians never learned how to fly or take air at all. For them, it was a sign of power to reach the skies with ease.
But Astaroth ignored them, making his way toward a very specific area of the bough over Bastion City. The place he had taken the maid, Coral, not too long ago.
The place where he and Phoenix had slept under the moonlit sky and met with Lady Anulo, to infuse the evolution fruit with star Aether.
It took him a while, one step at a time like this, but he eventually made it to his target branch. And there she was, waiting for him while staring out at the kingdom from above, Phoenix.
His Sky Steps was not a noisy spell, so he took it upon himself to sneak up on Phoenix, to embrace her from behind. But the moment he landed on the enormous branch near her, she spun around.
"Good, you didn't make me wait too long."
"Aww. I wanted to sneak up on you…" Astaroth pouted.
Phoenix giggled lightly, making butterflies flutter in Astaroth's stomach.
"I was practicing my new skill, so I felt you coming from inside the palace. I'm glad you understood my riddle."
Astaroth smirked.
"I would never dare forget that night. A night under the moonlit skies with the most perfect of women? Only a fool would forget that."
"Oh, you sweet-talker," Phoenix scolded, with a smile and a light punch to his shoulder.
But she sunk into his chest, kissing his exposed neck softly.
"Where were you today? You were gone for hours."
Astaroth frowned.
"Hours? I was gone for less than one hour…"
Phoenix looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Have you looked at the time since you came back?" she asked, her eyebrow still cocked.
Astaroth opened up his interface, wanting to refute her claims, but when he looked at the integrated clock, he gasped.
He really had been gone for hours. Three hours, to be precise.
"That fucking mage… He brought me into his domain, and I'm guessing there is a time dilatation spell in it. It was less than an hour for me…"
"What mage?" Phoenix asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Aravelle. The Elf mage we saved in the dungeon. That mage."
Phoenix's mouth opened in surprise.
"He's still alive? He must be ancient by now."
Astaroth laughed at her words.
"That's putting it lightly. But he doesn't look ancient. Apparently, he's many millennia old and isn't about to die, either. But that's irrelevant. He took me there to talk to me, and now I have many things to discuss with you and with Khalor."
Phoenix looked at him and smiled.
"Look at you, wanting to take responsibility for the kingdom. Keep it up, and you might make a great king someday."
Astaroth almost coughed at her words, feeling like he had been stabbed.
"I'll call him back for you. I heard he had finished his task on the dark continent, for now. So he should be available," Phoenix said with an enormous smile, seeing Astaroth's reaction to her covert insult.
"We should discuss this with our military officers as well. I have a conundrum to resolve, and their input might help me find a solution," Astaroth added, his face pouty.
Phoenix nodded her head and headed toward the edge of the branch.
"In that case, let's head down. See you on the ground!" she blurted out before stepping off the branch.
Astaroth felt his heart skip as he saw her disappear.
"I will never wonder why she sticks with me… Two peas in a pod, I swear…" he muttered, jumping off with a bound.
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