Do be careful. Domgalein and their Gerla Hounds are not to be trifled with, and I won’t have you taking hasty risks when we are so close to our goal. We still have contact with some of our old allies, though we are not as strong as we once were. Why would the humans have given the crystal to the Domgalein, I wonder? I was not aware they had an alliance, however tenuous. I suspect treachery. Walk softly, warrior-mine, and seek patience. Is there a fairy ring nearby? I could attempt to renew negotiations with the fey or even the goblins if it would be of use to you. Consider it. I know you find them deplorable, but we need allies in this time, and they too have cause to war with the humans. They have cause to war with our kind as well, but one can hope them capable of choosing a side rather than standing back like craven carrion eaters.

I have sent word to Dira and Kolq Feil, though I fear I have not yet received a response. They should be very far south now, almost to their goal, so I shan’t allow the delay in reply to cause concern just yet. Their last missive remained hopeful that they would find the artifacts they seek, which can only be a boon to us.

Concerning my dracling – never you mind. A true leader cannot share her every secret, else what need would you have of me! Obtaining the egg was hardly a simple task, though, so train the portal beast carefully. The last time one went feral, it took five to subdue it, and your forces are as thinly spread as my own.

I cannot heed your wisdom concerning the pregnancy. One of the other concubines tried to assassinate the king, the stupid whore. Not one of ours, of course, just a disgruntled human girl. She nearly succeeded, too. Ever since, the king has ordered the rest of us under a tighter watch. It took more skill than I wish to confess to keep those searching my quarters from finding my urn of homesoil. I am less adept at impersonal illusion than you, and no less than ten searchers rifled my possessions.

I was lucky to feed from the knight when I could. I was right about him. Ripe and bursting with passion, his lust was sweet and thick. A virgin, would you believe it? With the attempt on the king’s life to distract him, I may attempt to conceal our relationship for the time being and pluck that fruit again. Feeding only from the king has become sporadic at best of late, and I will need multiple sources if I am to sustain myself and both proto-faye.

The moon is tomorrow. When next we speak, I shall be carrying, and our presence here even more fragile. If I am discovered, they will destroy not one soul but three.

I hesitated to speak of this, but if your scar has inflamed then there is no longer time for doubt. In truth, I have no answer for you regarding those who come with the night, but I sense that they are stirring as the humans scream word of our presence from the very mountaintops. I do not know what will happen once they learn that we still walk the land. Their hatred for our kind runs deeper than even our memory of what caused it. The best we can hope for is that we shall regain the crystal and our kingdom before they reach full strength. With the humans under our thrall, we might be able to fight them back, as we once did.

~Kyuu

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