“OK, that’s the book. I don’t know what it is, but what archdemon?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Gastropé’ asked, surprised.
“No, this is the first time I’ve heard archdemon mentioned does that come later in your story?” Damien asked.
“No,” Jenn said, “It’s what Lenamare told us this morning. He told us an archdemon was after the book, in addition to Exador. I would have thought you knew. He said the archdemon and his horde were on their way to Freehold now to claim the book.”
Damien smiled sickly, rubbing his head. “No. Curse them. If that’s true, then no one has bothered to tell us. Although it would explain why the Rod is marching on us.” The five travelers looked uncomfortably around at each other. It didn’t seem to be a good point to bring up the real reason the Rod was marching toward Freehold at this point.
“We’ll have to investigate this and prepare accordingly. I’ll also have to ask Lenamare and Exador both, a few more questions. Did Lenamare happen to mention which archdemon?” Jenn just shook her head. “Very well, continue with your story.” Damien told her as the servants began replacing the now empty dinner plates with desert bowls. Ice cream, it appeared to Edwyrd.
Jenn continued from there. Detailing her capture and subsequent rescue by Rupert and the demon. She passed rather quickly over their trip through the Abyss, and essentially neglected to mention Verigas at all. She simply told the wizard that the demon’s gateway was a bit off and that they’d ended up in Gizzor Del.
Edwyrd was relieved when Damien didn’t ask about the coincidence of just finding Rupert’s cousin there by happenstance. He did appear curious about where Tom went, but no one could provide him with any answers. Jenn told the story of the pirates from her perspective, and neither Edwyrd nor Maelen contradicted her interpretation of events. After she’d passed out, it was mainly the story that Edwyrd had told her. When asked by Damien about these events, Edwyrd basically reiterated the same story. Maelen simply looking at him in his usual inscrutable fashion. Jenn simply stated that from Hoggensforth they’d made their way directly to Freehold.
“You didn’t encounter the Rod along the way?” Damien asked.
“No,” Gastropé told him, semi-truthfully. “They must have been behind us the entire time.”
“You made remarkable progress then.” Damien said thoughtfully, apparently trying to add up days.
“Well we were in a hurry to get to Freehold. We knew that Lenamare would be wanting his book back, even if we didn’t know what was in it.” Edwyrd told Damien.
Damien just nodded thoughtfully. “This other demon, the little one, it is still waiting with you for the return of the big demon?” Damien asked.
“Yes,” Jenn said sourly. “Whenever that is. Apparently it claims it can’t get back to the Abyss on its own.”
Damien looked puzzled over this. “But demons can always return to the Abyss on their own, if they aren’t constrained from doing so.” While they can’t make their way here without help, return is never a problem.”
Jenn looked surprised. Mainly surprised she hadn’t thought of this. Edwyrd hadn’t thought of it because it was a non-issue to him. He’d assumed Tizzy had wanted to stay around and would just leave when he felt like it. It really didn’t seem fair for Edwyrd to insist on him returning. It was, after all, a free world. Free for those without masters, Edwyrd corrected himself.
“You’re right!” Jenn told Damien, looking around at the others. “Why didn’t we think of this?” Gastropé just shrugged, Maelen shrugged, apparently feeling like Edwyrd, that it wasn’t his business what the demon did. “It must be acting as an agent for the big demon!”
“Don’t you think you’re being just a little over-paranoid here?” Edwyrd asked her. “Must everything have an ulterior motive?” He was getting tired of being blamed for being more devious and evil than he was.
Before Jenn could angrily retort, Damien spoke up on her behalf. ‘We don’t know for sure what the little demon is doing. While it may just be hanging around for its own enjoyment, we can’t be sure. We have to at least consider all possibilities. Mortal politics can be complicated, demonic politics are often even more so. If there is an archdemon after this book, this Tom demon could be working for that demon... or... nevermind that.” Damien had obviously been going to say more but changed his mind. Now, Edwyrd was getting paranoid, and he was the point of the paranoid discussion.
Eventually, Damien ushered his guests out with a servant to lead them back to their rooms. He had continued to question them for about another hour after desert. He finally decided he had as much information as he was going to get from them.
“What do you think?” Antefalken asked as he shut the door. The bard had been hiding in a nearby room listening to the entire conversation with his demonic hearing.
