Damian did not change his room in the modest stone keep even though the officials insisted on it — such things didn't matter.
After grabbing a quick dinner with the same people he had been talking to about the future of Sanctuary, and a long, alcohol-filled discussion at the same dinner table, they separated. It was 3 AM. Lucian had decided to stay for a day with her family. The Baron and all the Dawnstar refugees had been here for years now and had all built modest houses for themselves with whatever they had managed to keep with them from their villas and palaces.
The way the Sanctuary city was built: on top of a small, long green hill sat the stone keep, surrounding which was quite an open space sloping downward. Then came the more premium-quality residential area where big merchants and all the nobles taking refuge had built their houses. Then came more modestly built houses for the common people, followed by a quite big market and other government buildings, after which was the below-middle-class area with poorly built houses and densely packed recent arrivals and villagers from the border area. And then the city wall to keep the monsters away.
All in all, if Damian had to guess, some 65–70 thousand people lived here in total — around 20–30 thousand of which were just villagers from the borders and recent refugees from Dawnstar land, which was under the Empire after they had left and was now under Faerunia.
Damian didn't need to sleep, but keeping his eyes shut for a few hours made him feel like he was not missing out on something important. Seeing Lucian sleep had always put him at ease, but now even she was rarely asleep. A transcendent mind was alert at all times — even the smallest sound could wake them up, and in a second they were battle-ready.
The morning finally arrived, and Damian gave Einar charge for the day — if everything went well, before the day ended, this continent would have no active wars remaining anymore. Taking everyone with him was not ideal, so Damian only took Lucian — she wouldn't take no for an answer. Souldealer — only she knew the Emperor and some of the Faerunian officials among them — and Evrin. They had to meet the Elf Queen first before anything.
Sam was taking a day off to be with his now much 'impressive'-looking girlfriend and talk to the last surviving members of Asheborn House along with Grace about their future. Einar had her son to look after, and they needed someone here, especially when they had such high-value prisoners.
Evrin used a runic cube to open a waygate to her mother, and in a second all three of them were through the shimmering blue portal into the shiny palace of the Eldoris Queen. Even before he entered the waygate, he had sensed four distinct third-ranker mana signatures: the Elf Queen, the spellsword cousin of Vidalia, Vidalia herself — that was a surprise — and another one. The last one was much stronger than both Vidalia and the Queen herself. She too had that natural flavor to her mana — like all elves did — it was like standing in the middle of an open meadow, taking in all the fresh air.
They were waiting for them... The large hall with the throne on one side was completely empty other than the four transcendents and a few second-ranker soldiers as the Queen's guards.
"Welcome, Second Keeper of the Sanctuary. The Rootmother welcomes you back to Eldoris," a fancy-robed second ranker by the side of the Queen said loudly. The Rootmother was a title for Eldoris queens for ages.
Damian's eyes wandered from Vidalia to the new third ranker. When the robed court official finished, he looked back at the Queen.
"Rootmother honors me with warmth beyond measure. I feel at home."
He smiled. Evrin's mother was anything but a 'warm' person — few of them realized his excessive flattery was a joke.
"It has been a long time, Maximus," the Elf Queen said, ignoring his amusing remarks. "Or is it Damian or something else now?"
"The house which gave me the name didn't want me. Their given name does not define me," Damian replied.
"Indeed," said the Queen. "The Morph Vialist has never been forgotten even through these ten years of troubled times."
That was more than true. His potions had lasted them for the majority of those years and had given them enough time to develop their own technology to match the competition.
Damian turned towards Vidalia. "Didn't expect to see you here. Are you coming?"
"Faerunians heard the news of their two transcendents and fifteen thousand soldiers disappearing in a single day — the signs of a scorched battlefield and a giant steel statue were all they could find. They backed away from our border. As for joining you, if my liege says so, then I shall," replied Vidalia.
Ah, right. In front of her Queen, Vidalia always played the role of a soldier — to squash any voice rising in her support and make that an internal issue. He shouldn't have asked that.
"She will join you, rest assured," said the Queen of Eldoris.
Damian's eyes narrowed. That rest assured was unnecessary. It was as if she was saying, 'You can have my sister, don't worry.' What kind of image did they have of him?
"Before that, Lord Keeper," said the unknown older transcendent, "can we ask a few questions to ease the minds of our neighbors to the east?"
The mood in the throne room changed slightly. The Queen was sitting straighter now, Vidalia's eyes held caution while staring at the powerful elf in the most comfortable attire among all of them. The cousin of Vidalia, on the other hand, had been standing straight from the very second he entered, staring at him and Evrin with her hand resting on her sword — vigilant.
"Of course," Damian replied with a polite smile.
"Where is the Land-Breaker?" she asked.
"Back at his home. Where else?" he replied without missing a beat. The surprise was very skillfully suppressed by the group of elves; the court official was not so experienced — wide eyes and slightly open mouth.
"What happened to Hellstorm and the others on the island?" the Queen asked.
"What happens to intruders. Depthcaller was killed in a fight. Hellstorm and Lily of Ruin are prisoners in Sanctuary."