Kip stared at the empty chair, a bottomless pit forming in his stomach. Akun, maybe one of the most unhinged monsters he’s ever met, was missing. Where would his vendetta against the humans take him?. He had to do something. He turned to Lala and said, “You have to find Akun.”

  “I… will try.” Said Lala. She got up, and the king noticed instantly.

  “My vision!” said the king. “Beautiful elf, please! Tell me you won't be gone long.”

  “Er, not at all. Dear King. I… merely have to excuse myself to the washroom. Which way is it?”

  The king snapped, and a maid appeared. Lala smiled and gave a mini curtsey. Kip grabbed Lala’s arm and pulled her down, “Seems, the elf went over a little too well. Once you’re in the washroom, change into one of your other forms. Savvy?”

  Lala nodded, and she smiled at the king. Ironwood’s helmet creaked as it followed her getting up from the table and leaving. Kip turned to the king and said, “So, have you ever been to Shangra? We’d love to have you next time.”

  The king shook his head, “Quite the ways, no?”

  Lala followed the maid down the hall.

  “We’ve got a lovely washroom,” said the maid, “Only the finest noblewomen have used it. Snuck in there once me-self. Best wee I ever had.”

  She had to lose the maid. The unfortunate thing was that if they were in a lavish washroom that only the king and king’s guests could use, the new person coming out would be immediately suspicious.

  “Lovely, but could we use the washroom farther out? The servant’s one? I… am technically a servant of the dark lord’s, and it wouldn’t be fitting for me to use it.” Said Lala.

  The maid stared at her strangely, “I wouldn’t tell. Like I said, the servants sneak in when they get the chance.”

  “Still, if the dark lord finds out… may we use the servants’ washroom?”

  “If you’d like. Come now,” The maid walked her past the golden door that housed the best bathroom Lala would never get to see in her life.

  “Worked here long, have you?” Lala asked.

  “Me, my ma, my da, my brotha. The king employed our whole family. Me grandmam was a maid for the king. It’s the family business.”

  “Fascinating,” Said Lala as they kept walking down the halls. They made their way to a door with a symbol of a woman in a dress.

  The maid walked two more steps forward and set up right next to the door, standing like a stone statue next to the door. “Here she is.”

  “Thank you.” Said Lala, who waited for the maid to retreat, “Uhm… You may go.”

  “I’ll stay with you to lead you back.”

  “Right.” Lala, “Uhm… I might be in here a while. Maybe something I ate.”

  “Let me know of any dish you think was poorly cooked or poisoned, and we’ll interrogate the chef responsible immediately.” Said the maid coldly.

  “No, no!” Said Lala, “No… not the dish… the truth is… that because Elves experience time differently than you humans… that we take much longer in the washroom. I hope you can understand that.”

  “Days?” The maid asked.

  “Uh… maybe half an hour?”

  “I’ll wait patiently.” The maid said.

  “Right… Oh, final thing… may I have your bonnet and frock?”

  “...Why?”

  “F-for fun?” Said Lala.

  The maid handed her her bonnet and frock. Lala thanked her and entered the washroom. She closed the stall door behind her and shook her head. Her straight blonde hair added volume and became auburn. Her elven features receded into human ones. Rosy cheeks and colored eyes. Instead of the sleek features of Baela, her cheeks rounded, her face became smaller. She was back to her default look of the red-headed woman. She placed the bonnet on her face, then the frock around her neck. She turned over the blouse she had on to reveal a black undershirt. As a changeling, it was common to bring a spare set of clothes wherever she went. With that, she opened the stall door. But just as she did, the washroom door opened. Baela closed it and hid back in the stall.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Two women looked at themselves in the mirror as they adjusted their makeup.

  “Did you see the boar made out of clouds?” One of the women asked.

  “Crazy that a pig’s eating dinner. You know, the king almost served boar. It took all the councilors to talk him out of it.”

  “Wow. That’s messed up.”

  “I know. I almost feel bad for those monsters. The king’s just like… Hold on,” Then in a low voice she whispered, “Check the stalls.”

  Lala looked down and lifted her legs off the ground. She held her breath as the women inspected the stalls.

  “You know why they’re here, right?”

  “I thought it was for peace talks.”

  “Ugh, no. That would. What’s the point of that? We’re winning the war. You know how Sezami is. He’s all about the next thrill. Games. New foods. Old foods. New monsters. He’s probably having loads of fun laughing at these creatures behind their back.”

  “Damn. And that poor little guy’s fighting so hard for his frog son or whatever.”

  “Yeah, Sezami just wanted to meet the kobold in charge of the dark lord’s army.”

  The two exited the bathroom, saying ‘hi’ to the maid standing outside. The catty one made a mental note to report her for uniform violation later.

  Lala let out her breath. She opened the door and exited the bathroom. The maid nodded politely at this brand new person but kept her guard as Lala left to the next search the castle.

  How hard was it to find a skeleton wearing leather with a flaming head? How did Akun escape with nobody noticing? These were good questions. The truth is, most servants did notice. But it was not in their best interest to say anything. So… Lala asked someone, “Hey, have you seen one of the dark siders around?”

  “Dark siders?” The servant asked.

  “Uh, monsters. I mean. Yes, the monster with the flaming head?”

  “In the library. Nosing around. Not that he has a nose to do so.”

  Lala thanked that person, then when they left, she turned to another and said, “Sorry, where exactly is the library? I’m all turned around and don’t know where I’m going.”

  That next servant pointed them to the library. Lala made her way there. “This is not good,” Thought Lala, “There could be only one reason someone as hot-headed and revenge-minded as Akun would want to go to a place as delicate and paper-filled as the library.” Lala sped up, moving from hallway to corridor, first at a walk, then evolving that into a trot.

  The entry to the library had no doors. It was a wide open frame that led into a much larger wing of the castle. Lala was sweating as she burst through. The smell of paper instantly filled her nostrils. She did not smell burning. Yet. Lala searched for Akun frantically, her red hair sticking to her face from sweat. She turned to the person at the library counter and said, “Uhm, have you seen-”

  The librarian did not need any more info. The old woman pointed up at the second floor, where Lala saw the pit fiend staring up at a large tapestry of a mountain.

  “You didn’t stop him?” Lala asked.

  The librarian cocked her head, “Everyone deserves to learn, sweetie.”

  Lala nodded a thank you and moved to the winding stairs. She climbed up them and approached Akun slowly.

  “Akun?” She asked.

  Akun did not turn his back. Lala said again, louder, “Akun?”

  Akun turned around. He stared at the redheaded girl in front of him. Lala lifted her hair and exposed her scar. His mouth opened, and a soft ‘ahh’ came out as he realized. He turned back to the large tapestry on the wall, “You know what they call this piece?”

  Lala looked up. It depicted a volcano, drooling lava. On the mountainside were people, one side had humans, elves, orcs, and dwarves. They were surrounded by demons and devils. Creatures with bat wings. A dragon blowing fire. From the scene, it looked like the humans didn’t have a chance.

  “It’s called ‘Victory at Mad Mountain.’ Can you believe that?”

  “Are you… familiar with the incident?” This caused Akun to turn to Lala. He glared at her through his empty eyes. She realized she’d said something wrong, “Sorry.”

  “Intimately.” Akun said, “I’m intimately familiar with the Mad Mountain Massacre. Mad Mountain was a border town between this plane and hell. The humans decided we were a threat before we could ever become one. And now I’m here.”

  “We should get back to dinner, Akun. You’re missed.” Lala said.

  “Don’t you hate them? Don’t you hate them for what they’ve done?” He looked over the balcony at the library, to all the people perusing books, “I hate them. I hate them for what they did to you, and I don’t even know you.”

  Lala shook her head softly, “I don’t hate them.”

  “You’re a changeling who can never fully change. Like breaking the wing off a baby bird.”

  He reached out, almost to touch her scar, but she pulled back. Akun dropped his hand to his side, “Sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry.” Said Lala.

  “For what?”

  “For… for not hating them I suppose.”

  Akun was taken aback, but he let out a cackle, “The dark lord probably wants us back at dinner, right?”

  “Yes, uh… I’m not even sure it’s worth it anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I overheard some servants in the washroom. The king just has us here for entertainment. I’m not sure that Kip is going to get what he wants out of this meeting.”

  Akun shook his head, “Humans.”

  Akun gestured with his hand to let her know to lead the way. Lala and Akun made their way back down the winding stairs and made it back to the castle hallway. Lala turned to Akun, “You have to go back. I need to change back into the elf, and a maid is waiting for me!”

  Lala started to scurry off, and Akun called out, “Hey, uh! La-... Hey!”

  Lala turned back. Akun stood there for a moment.

  “What?”

  He shook his head, “Never mind. See you at dinner.”

  Lala made her way back to the bathroom, where she saw the maid from before still standing guard, not speaking to anyone going in. She nodded at her and entered the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time, taking off her frock and apron. There was a ruckus from outside. She turned to hear the maid say, “Hey! You can’t go in there! Ouch!”

  Lala heard the maid’s body fall to the ground after being pushed. The door opened, and metal boots clanged against the stone tile as the person stepped inside.

  Lala was face-to-face with Ironwood. Lala still needed to change back into Baela.

  “Uhm, sir.. I…” Before Lala could say anything, Ironwood reached over and grabbed Lala’s red hair, pulling it up to expose her omnipresent scar.

  Follow To Earn A Bonus Chapter:

  Touch Azami's Hand To Read 6 Weeks Ahead: