Chapter 70

  Flamey Elizabeth Hyde sat alone in the empty basement in Ashkaron’s house; everyone had left, leaving her in still silence and in a darkness illuminated by a single lantern burning flameslime. She let out a long sigh as she slouched down in the large chair that everyone — including her — generously called a throne, and she enjoyed the brief moment of peace that had been eluding her for the past few days. It had been busy since Uncle Tar-Tar had discovered — and a bit later accepted — that what she was doing was a hell-given duty of a princess of the Fourth Ring, and even busier after Daddy had asked her to tunnel out of Scaragar as fast as possible so she could join him for the final battle against the cursed, stupid and thoroughly revolting minotaur king. It was good to get a little bit of rest; she wondered how it was possible that she had even more work to do than before, even though Uncle had assumed responsibility for organizing, conducting and leading Operation Hell’s Moles for the Win — a name Daddy had provided without ever explaining what a “mole” was. They didn’t have to sneak around anyone anymore, instead, Uncle’s army was helping as much as they could, and the minotaur mages under her command had been casting their earth spells tirelessly, breaking up stone and rock so hard even the most experienced miner in Scaragar would have had trouble with. So how was she so busy all the time? Ah. Of course. A princess, a true princess, was always working for her Ring. And to make her Daddy proud. That’s why. And she would make Daddy proud, on this she wouldn’t budge, not one bit.

  Progress was good, even though the minotaurs seemed to have caught on to Renet-Lidan and her scouts snatching their mages; they were no longer chasing after Whirly during his daily flyarounds, and higher-level soldiers, probably captains, had been showing up higher on the slopes. It was better to make do with the earth mages she already had than to risk losing her scouts. The twenty-three minotaurs she had would be enough; the tunnel already ran long and deep, all the way down and under the hill and under the enemy camps. Her captive minotaurs and Scaragar’s miners alike estimated another twelve to fifteen days until they could surface somewhere in the Wilds. Just a little longer, Daddy, your princess will be there soon! But … a little bit of rest was good.

  She spent a pinch of Hell Mana, and her treasure appeared in her hands. Oh, how she missed the book; she had been so busy, so so busy, that she hadn’t been able to even hold it or take a quick peek at it for a long time. She opened the book, flipping the pages until she got to her favourite picture: the princess and all her friends eating fruits and cakes in a field covered in flowers. She gulped as her imagination placed her in that field, surrounded by unknown colours and scents and the mythical taste of the desserts of the Surface World. Hm. Crunchymel bars. Would a cake be better than those deliciously sweet treats? Would they? And talking about the chocolate bars, why didn’t she have any left? She had tried to make them last — an endeavour she had failed at miserably — and now she was sitting alone, all her followers as well as Uncle Tar-Tar expecting her to be out there to lead and motivate and to keep the minotaurs in line constantly, all without a single bite of a Crunchymel Bar to keep her motivated. Oh, the tragedy! But just wait, beautiful princess, just wait! Daddy had mentioned more than once that he would go to the Surface World once the Ring was secure, hadn’t he? And of course he wouldn’t leave the best demon-daughter ever behind, that would be unthinkable. And what did the Surface World have? Besides the Blessed heroes like Daddy? Cakes. The Surface World had cakes. And fruits. And probably other desserts she couldn’t even imagine.

  Flamey Elizabeth Hyde giggled and let her mouth curl up into the widest of grins. It wouldn’t be long now; the Third Ringers would soon be defeated, and nothing would stand in her way, nothing could keep her from embarking on the biggest of all quests: to discover everything and anything delicious the Surface World had to offer — together with Daddy, of course.

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  ‘Flamey!’

  The harsh voice of Uncle Tar-Tar put an abrupt stop to her musings. She quickly scrambled to her feet, putting her book back into storage in a small puff of Hell Mana. She forced the smile off her face and mustered the most serious look she could, all in a couple of heartbeats, just in time to greet the grumpy general as a hardworking and lovable princess. And a serious princess. Was she still grinning? No, she was exuding seriousness, so all good. Phew.

  ‘I’m here,’ she announced as Tar-Tar appeared, walking down the stairway. ‘Am I needed for something?’

  Uncle came into full view, walking to the small dais on which she stood, and he sighed loudly.

  ‘Your followers as well as your pet minotaurs work a lot faster and harder when you’re there. I hate to admit it, but yes: you are needed.’

  ‘Yay! I’ll be there in a flash,’ Flamey declared.

  ‘Yes. But before that,’ Tar-Tar said, sighing again. ‘Do you have any idea what a “holographic display” is?’

  ‘I … know what a “display” is. It’s that little thing on Whirly’s controller that shows us what he sees. I don’t know what “holographic” means. Why do you ask?’

  ‘I’ve just spoken with your father as well as Reinos and Riaret.’

  ‘Oh! How is Daddy? How are things going? Are they ready to defeat the enemy?’ Flamey bombarded the general with her questions as she stepped off the dais to stand before him.

  ‘They are ready. Reinos has reached Orroth and is in position, Riaret’s army is ready, your father’s catapults are ready. He says he’s going to use something called a “holographic display” as a distraction. I thought you might know what it is.’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ she admitted. ‘If Daddy wants to use it to distract an entire army, then it could be the same as Whirly’s display but bigger. Much bigger.’

  ‘Hm. I see,’ Uncle Tar-Tar hummed. ‘Incidentally, do you know what a “snowball” is?’

  ‘Snowball?’ Flamey rubbed her chin. ‘I’ve never heard that word before. Why?’

  ‘Operation Snowball in Hell,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘That’s what your father’s calling the battle to be fought at Orroth.’

  ‘Oh, like Operation Hell’s Moles for the Win?’

  ‘Yes. Whatever moles are.’ He nodded.

  ‘Well, I don’t know what snowballs are, but if Daddy gave that name, then they’re good,’ she stated proudly.

  ‘I thought you might say something like that.’ Tar-Tar deflated a little, then he straightened himself and said, ‘One last thing: have you ever heard of something called a “cat”?

  A cat? She had heard about cats, in fact, she knew exactly what a cat was. A second and some Hell Mana later, Flamey once again held her treasure in her hands, turning the pages, looking for a specific illustration. And there it was, and she proudly held it up for Uncle to see.

  ‘What am I looking at? What is this?’ he asked, almost growling in his infinite annoyance, something Flamey had expected and ignored.

  On this page, the human princess was strolling through a street, strange looking Surface World houses on either side, her retinue following her happily, and on one of the rooftops a small, four-legged pointy-eared creature sat, observing the procession down below. Flamey put a finger on the figure and said,

  ‘That is a cat. That’s what Daddy said.’ She grinned at the old general.

  ‘A Surface World critter?’ Tar-Tar mused unhappily. ‘Do you know why your father might want to acquire one of those things? It looks useless. And how did he even find one here?’

  Flamey’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Daddy had got a cat? A real cat? From the Surface World? There could be only one reason for it: princesses had to have a cat around them; her treasure, her book, had declared this clearly and unmistakably. Daddy was the absolute best!

  ‘I … I don’t … I don’t know why,’ she giggled the words, desperately trying not to start jumping up and down with joy.

  Uncle Tar-Tar just sighed as he usually did, and said,

  ‘I want you to be there to supervise the work as often and for as long as possible. I want that tunnel finished in ten days. If your father wins at Orroth, he is going to need us at the gate soon.’

  ‘He will win,’ Flamey said with absolute confidence.

  The grumpy old general nodded, probably in agreement, then turned around to leave the basement, beckoning her to follow. It was time to get back to motivating and encouraging her followers to do their best for their princess, their ruling demon lord, and for the Fourth Ring. Ah, the work of a princess never ends.