Chapter 452: Walking Into A Trap?
Laz didn’t say anything right away. Not because he didn’t want to help, but because he didn’t want to promise something he couldn’t do. He honestly didn’t know how he had gotten in and therefore didn’t know how he could get out.
Sylvia took it as her asking too much. Sure, they just did what they did... but that didn’t mean he owed them anything since they had both benefited from what relationship between them.
Thinking she was asking too much, Sylvia said,
"Forgive me for demanding too much from you. We both know you don’t owe me or her anything. It was just a foolish mother’s dream for her child and possibly even her people...." Sylvia said, a smile hiding her tears.
While Laz’s ability to read woman was about as profound as a magic 8-ball, that didn’t mean he was a total moron. Before Sylvia felt worse, he interrupted her.
"I will happily take her with me. In fact, if you all could be freed, that would even be better. I have no problem doing that and wouldn’t hesitate for a moment if I could," Laz said as gently as he could.
"You will?" A ray of hope flashed in Sylvia’s eyes.
"Yes. But you have to understand that I have no idea how I got in here. It might not even be my fault we are here as there are others who came with me. Maybe one of them accidently opened the gate?" Laz said, revealing his thoughts.
Sylvia looked at him and smiled, her messy golden hair a halo around her beautiful face.
"I can almost guarantee that whatever brought you here was your doing and yours alone. I don’t have any evidence to support that... but in my heart I know it’s right." Sylvia snuggled up closer to Laz, resting her head against his warm chest while his arm became buried in her massive chest. Looking over on the other side of him, Genevieve was still fast asleep, a content smile on her face.
Laz decided not to think anymore and instead settled in, comfortable as the mother and daughter’s soft bodies intertwined with his.
In this manner, he fell asleep.
Sadly though, he was awoken rather quickly.
Sylvia was up and already dressed, her rather revealing outfit exchanged for a tight hugging gown. Despite outlining her impressive curves, the gown seemed durable and sturdy.
"What’s happening?" Laz asked, coming to while Genevieve stirred on the side of him.
"We need to get ready. While I am the queen of my people, I am not the only one who hold’s authority among them. There is an order whose soul purpose it is to take care of and interact with the mother tree which supports us all. As such, even if she doesn’t have real power, she has the hearts and ears of all of my people."
"Oh?" Laz said when she stopped.
’Must be like a religion or something huh? In the past, religious leaders were considered just as powerful as rulers if only because of the numbers of those who followed them,’ Laz thought to himself.
"And right now that little bitch is outside demanding to see the prisoner. Stupid skank knows she isn’t allowed to come inside so instead she is just going to stand out there and scream out all night until I agree to meet her..." Sylvia said before adding another few choice words.
"Why is she here though?" Laz questioned, feeling like he was missing something.
"Probably because she wants to have you. That bitch has a strange hobby of collecting men in the name of the mother, toying with them and then discarding them when she is done. And since you’re not even of our race, that would make you even more desirable to her..." Sylvia explained, grabbing a battle axe that looked far bigger than she was and strapping it to her back.
"And she’s allowed to do this?" They just let people in power get away with anything? Weren’t there laws here at all?
"Not really no. She normally ends up framing them with some foolish and inaccurate charge against the mother tree just so that they will have no right’s to resist her correctional training. I think she will probably blame this rot that has been assaulting the mother tree for months on you and your friends, all in an effort to get her hands on you..."
"Sounds like you don’t like this woman?" Laz asked.
"Not even in the least... Just leave her here for now. She will catch up once she wakes up," Sylvia said, noticing Laz attempting to wake the still sleeping Genevieve.
"Is that ok?" Laz said, reaching out to what Sylvia was trying to hand him.
"Yes. I can hide the changes to my level and realm from everyone else. As for you... Well... no one has really see you so I doubt they will notice anything if they do. My daughter, on the other hand, is always under the watch of everyone so it will be almost impossible for her to have grown so much in such a short amount of time. It’s too many questions."
The queen then helped Laz get dressed with a dark green and gold suit that she had picked out from somewhere.
"The fit is almost perfect," Laz marveled while Sylvia looked on in delight.
"Except for the chest area that seems way too tight." Laz complained and he finished buttoning it up.
"That’s because it used to belong to my husband. Come now and act as though you had just been through hell," Sylvia said, her words of encouragement a gentle reminder to not breath a word of anything to anyone about what just happened.
When they immerged from the steps of the ’playroom,’ Laz stayed at least six paces behind the queen. In doing so, he also slowed his pace and his step in such a way that made it seem like he was unable to move quickly.
As for Sylvia herself, Laz had to give her props as one of the best actresses he had ever seen. Considering what he had just witnessed of her for the last several hours, the person before him no bore no resemblance to what she had shown there.
The regal air surrounding her was enough to even make Laz considering bowing down. Of course he didn’t as there was something in his blood that made that impossible.
Still, looking at her stand and wait for him to ’catch up,’ Laz had to admit that she had the queen act down to a science.
As Laz stood there, seemingly weak on his feet, he noticed that gathered in front of him were three woman whose faces he couldn’t see. Two had masks of white with silver thread in the shape of a tree while the third wore gold of a similar style. Just this alone made it easy to identify who was in charge. That was the only obvious difference since they all wore white dresses that were surprisingly modest as they covered their entire top halves from waist to neck. The only revealing thing about them was the fact that their legs were completely bare with only a thin ribbon of cloth that ran down the front and back back like an extended loin cloth.
"My queen. I apologize for interrupting your interrogation, however I must insist that I speak with this human now as he is the only one who could have information on what is causing the damage to the mother tree," The woman in gold spoke, the contempt naked in her voice.
"Well fortunately for you, this young one has agreed to help out in any way possible. Therefore, instead of wasting any more time, we should go to the greatest source of rot and see what kind of a difference he can make," Sylvia said, a hint of command in her voice.
"But my queen. Bringing the human so close to the mother tree could prove to be a greater danger than..."
"ENOUGH. I have already secured his assistance in this. If there is something to be done, he shall do it. Any more talking or question asking at this point is akin to delay. Tell me, if you don’t want to see this problem resolved as soon as possible, what other motive is there behind that mask of yours?" Sylvia said, stopping her from not only wasting time, but also insinuating that the other woman’s goal had nothing to do with the mother tree. If that were the case, then it also had nothing to do with Laz either.
While it wasn’t an overly straight forward attack, it wasn’t a subtle one either. With no where else to go and no other complaints to make, the woman in gold relented.
"Then let us get there as soon as possible," the woman in gold said, turning around and heading down the corridor without bothering to wait for the queen.
"Well done," Laz whispered so that only Sylvia could hear him.
"It’s too easy. Ivana was never this easy to push around and yet now it seems like she is actually listening to reason and logic for once. Keep a close guard up as I don’t think this incident is nearly as straight forward as we currently believe," Sylvia gave Laz her warning before turning and following Ivana’s footsteps.
"What do you mean?" Laz said, several steps behind but still keeping pace with the queen’s quick step.
"I’m not sure, but if I were to die today, Genevieve is too young to inherit the throne just yet despite being at the age of maturity. As such, an interim ruler would have to be appointed until she came of age and met the proper status goals such as a suitable man by her side from the nobility. Of course all this hinges on if the elders are still apt to follow the rules passed down for generations. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten reports of them being bought over into Ivana’s camp despite her not having a clear path to the throne."
"But if you die and a crisis happens with the mother tree?" Laz said, catching on.
"Then that might just be enough to put aside thousands of years of history to do something new..."
