Mirror Princess: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 2)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Averyl’s maid Marguerite fixed up a tasty lunch for Guy and the others. A gourmet fruit salad for Averyl and Rachael, BLT sandwiches, and a rich cup of potato soup for everyone else. Turns out, Marguerite had a high-level cooking skill. Guy asked if she could share some cooking recipes with him, to which she happily obliged. One was a cheesecake, the other a pizza perfect for a fae. Naturally, Marguerite’s cooking recipes favored the dietary needs of a fae. She even shared some extra ingredients pulled from her inventory.

  Guy looked at the cheesecake recipe.

  Cheesecake

  Cooking level required: 5

  Butter x1

  Graham Crackers x1

  Flour x1

  Sour Cream x1

  Vanilla x1

  Cream Cheese x4

  Sugar x2

  Milk x1

  Strawberry x1

  Egg x3

  Thermal Crystal x2

  Marguerite had given Guy enough to make a whole cheesecake.

  As they ate, Averyl explained what had happened after Xanthe sent her away on the Gabriel, captained by a star-human named Patrick O’Connor. Henrietta sat in the corner and read a book while humming a song to herself.

  According to Ulysses, O’Connor was smuggling fae off Faeheim, who had classes. And it made perfect sense. The servant, Rain, who Averyl had fallen in love with, had boarded O’Connor’s ship. Rain somehow got ejected into space while trapped in a stasis field, then ended up as Rachael’s patient in the fleet and the subject of one of the first quests Guy received after he became a Paladin.

  Xanthe leaned against the wall, pressing her raven wings against it, arms crossed. “So run that by me once more,” Xanthe said. “What exactly happened after I sent you with those star-dwellers?” She snapped her fingers repeatedly. “Blast, what were their names again?”

  “Patrick O’Connor of the Gabriel,” Guy said.

  “Ah, yes,” Averyl said and reached for a porcelain teacup. “He brought me here to Alfheimr after a brief layover on Sayaron. According to O’Connor, it was to throw off the sentinels who were in pursuit.”

  “Guess we’re not the only star-dwellers the sentinels want a piece of,” Guy said. “Did O’Conner say where he was taking the Gabriel?”

  Averyl held the teacup elegantly and put it to her lips to drink. She pulled it away to speak as she made a no shake of her head. “No, he did not.”

  Rachael sat crossed-legged on her chair. “That’s not good.”

  Guy grimaced. “If O’Connor took the Gabriel back to the fleet . . .”

  “Then we have no home if the sentinels followed him,” Rachael finished for him.

  “Did O’Connor say anything else that might suggest where he planned to go next?” Guy asked Averyl.

  “No, the last thing he told me, as I departed, was to be on the lookout for individuals of a resistance movement. However, no such group has reached out to me.”

  “Resistance?” Kam said, his unshaven faun face contorted with shock.

  “Here?” Zuran added, also looking shocked.

  Averyl looked at Zuran and Kam as she held her teacup in her slender hands. “You know about them?”

  “On Faeheim, yeah,” Kam said. “They help the other nations defend themselves against Autumnfall.”

  “Rumor has it, the resistance started in the empire, but nobody knows for sure,” Zuran said. “They are organized and seem to know a lot.”

  Kam nodded in agreement. “Indeed. Tis why I kept Nijana masquerading as Averyl a secret from you all.”

  Guy reclined on the chair with his arms crossed and shook his head at Kam. “Heh, smooth move there, bud.”

  “Thought she was working for the resistance,” Kam said to him. “I did not want to botch her plans because of me loose lips. But, as we learned, Nijana is not a resistance member. She is Averyl’s double and a thief.”

  “Which brings us to the original question,” Rachael said, tilting her gaze to the genuine princess seated before them. “Why does Averyl have a double?”

  “Unfortunately, I am just as clueless about Nijana as you are,” Averyl said. “How did you come to find her?”

  “Back on Faeheim, Xanthe and I searched your room,” Rachael said. “We found out that the empire arrested you, then made plans to have you executed. Of course, as it turned out, they arrested Nijana, thinking she was you.”

  Averyl was about to take another sip of her tea until she heard Rachael’s words. Instead, she held the cup close to her lips and gasped. “Executed? Me? Why would my father order such a thing?”

  “It was to trick you into marrying Wylume,” Guy said.

  Averyl placed the teacup on the small saucer lying on the table. “So it is true then, my father has gone mad . . .” She stared into the teacup, its reflection shooting back her sulking glare. “This is most depressing news. Ever since those two humans showed up, my father has been a changed man, for the worse.”

  “Two humans?” Guy asked, though he had a feeling who one of them was.

  “Wylume and his father,” Averyl revealed. “They are envoys of the sentinels and have been swaying my father to make risky attacks across Faeheim. Meanwhile, I was to marry Wylume as part of their agreement.”

  “Not anymore,” Guy said. “I kinda killed him.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yep, I swiped his soul crystal too . . . until your double, Nijana stole it from me.”

  “It would appear I missed quite a bit since my departure from my world,” Averyl said.

  The Planet of the Elves – Quest Complete

  Obtained: 2000 Experience Points

  “And it would appear the White Dragon learned enough,” Guy said.

  Rachael has attained level 13!

  Zuran has attained level 15!

  Kam has attained level 14!

  Ulysses has attained level 7!

  Henrietta has attained level 9!

  “Whoa!” Henrietta screamed and dropped the book she was reading. The level-up notification startled her.

  “Nice,” Guy said. “I gotta share more quests with you all.”

  “Oh dear,” Henrietta mumbled. She retrieved the book, adjusted her reading glasses, and crossed her legs as she sat back down.

  “Sorry to interrupt your book there, Henrietta,” Guy said to her.

  “It is quite all right.” Henrietta flipped it open and found the page she was on. “My intelligence has risen by one point! I can read slightly faster now.” Her jaw dropped with joy as she faced Guy.

  He returned the grin and glanced at the fae princess seated ahead. “So, anyway, Averyl—”

  “This is extraordinary!” Henrietta squealed with excitement. An awkward silence fell as everyone shifted their gaze to her. Henrietta looked away from her book, shut her eyes, and smiled. “Oh, do not mind me, carry on!”

  Guy gave Averyl a quick recap. He talked about his journey, the sentinels, and how they transported a detachment of imperials to the planet Mennaze to murder its human population, turning their bodies into soul crystals that they’d collect. And it wasn’t just the people of Mennaze. The empire targeted fae across Faeheim and made them suffer the same fate. He told Averyl about the White Dragon, something that Guy and Rachael believed to be an AI that used quests to communicate and guide them. Apparently, communication through quests was the only way for the White Dragon to help them without drawing attention to the sentinels. Oh, and the sentinels wanted to destroy the star-dweller fleet, likely to prevent them from discovering the corruption changing the galaxy.

  There was a lot to talk about, and after twenty minutes, everyone was on the same page. Well, so he hoped. Henrietta, the axe-wielding librarian, simply flipped the page to her book and continued reading.

  “So we have two challenges ahead then,” Guy said. “New Svartálfar and their alliance with the Autumnfall Empire, and Averyl’s double, Nijana who has Dianna’s Ocarina, Wylume’s soul crystal, and she’s probably ca
using a lot of ruckus behind our backs as we speak. Goddamn it, did I miss anything else?”

  “I think you covered the important stuff, Guy,” Rachael said.

  “Good, because fuck, that was a mouthful.”

  “I am concerned about Nijana’s next move,” Averyl said. “Whatever she does next, the elves would blame me for it. Bad enough, my father has sent his army to this world to capture me. Some elves have already questioned if it was right for the king to take me in.”

  “And if the empire finds Nijana, believing she’s the real deal . . .” Ulysses said, breaking his silence. “Well, things could get interesting.”

  “I believe she may be close,” Averyl said. “I saw a woman who looked exactly like me. She was with a group of . . .” Averyl grimaced. “Ugh.”

  Guy leaned forward. “A group of who?”

  “People killers . . .” Averyl said with reluctance. “But I really dislike that term. I think the elves need to come up with a better one—”

  “Thank you! Thank you!” Guy shouted with his hands raised. “People killers is a stupid name, and I’ve been saying that since we got here. Thank you! Someone, please give this woman a prize!”

  “So it is settled then?” Zuran asked.

  “That Averyl and I were right about people killer being a stupid fucking name?”

  “I meant our next move . . .” Zuran said drily.

  Guy snorted. “Oh, right.”

  Zuran continued. “We find Nijana before the empire, or the dark elves do?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s our best bet,” Guy said. “We can’t attack New Svartálfar or the empire head-on with our levels and gear. Hopefully, we’ll gain some XP and levels and better loot while we’re at it.”

  Guy received a new quest.

  The Mirror Princess

  Objective: Find and capture Nijana before she ruins Averyl’s reputation and ends up in the hands of the empire.

  Issued by: White Dragon

  Reward: 3000 Experience Points

  Accept quest? Yes/No

  Rachael leaned toward the screen, narrowing her eyes at it. “Is that the White Dragon, again?”

  “You betcha.” Guy accepted the quest, then shared it with everyone.

  “If Nijana is afflicted as you say,” Averyl said. “Then it is safe to assume she is trying to level up as quickly as possible. The best lower-level areas are to the southeast.”

  “All right, cool. That’s where we’ll go,” Guy said. “Ulysses, might want to let Arn know what we plan to do.”

  Ulysses nodded and pulled out his communicator. “Good idea, mon ami.” He put the device to his elven ears, stood and walked to the corner, and waited for Arn to pick up the call. He did after a minute.

  “Arn, you busy?” Ulysses said, speaking into the communicator. “I got a big update to tell you. What? You got the Seraphim working again?! That is the best fucking news I’ve heard all day. Ugh. Why . . .? You’re back in orbit? So how’s that a bad thing? Yeah, we’ve noticed. Please don’t say sentinel ships. . . Fuck.”

  Ulysses sighed and lowered the device. Guy and Rachael exchanged worrying looks.

  The star-elf lifted the communicator to speak. “Let me guess, they shot you? Hmm, so the sentinels can’t scan the Seraphim when the power is out. . . good to know. Yeah, that’s probably why they didn’t see us after we crash-landed. The Seraphim had no power. Those Mages knocking out the power indirectly saved us. Okay, so you’re safe then? Well, yeah, you’re in a decaying orbit until you turn the power back on. How much time do you have, mon ami? Who the fuck else is on the Seraphim? You brought fucking hookers aboard?! Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself then as you count down the hours left until you burn up in the atmosphere and fucking die! I swear if I find one cum stain anywhere on my ship . . .”

  Ulysses ended the call, put the communicator away, and sighed while holding his hips. Guy stood from his chair and walked toward him. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how badly are we fucked?”

  “Arn got power back,” Ulysses explained. “He took the Seraphim into orbit but had to power down to avoid sentinel detection. Because he had to act quickly, the Seraphim ended up in a decaying orbit. He has two, maybe three, days before the Seraphim falls into the planet’s gravity well.”

  “I’m going to say that’s a five. I can work with five.”

  “Sounds like we have two options, then,” Rachael said, having joined the two. “Have Arn power the Seraphim on and quickly pick us up or . . .”

  “Or we stay the course here and let him die,” Ulysses said grimly.

  “Or,” Guy said and paused for a dramatic effect. He had a third option to add. “We do what we came here to do within the two to three days Arn has left.”

  “I’d feel a lot safer if we just left,” Ulysses said.

  “Yeah, but think about it, man,” Guy said. “The sentinels are here, yet we haven’t seen them. Now we know why. They’re busy looking for the Seraphim, which they can’t see so long as it’s powered down and in a decaying orbit. As long as Arn’s up there in the Seraphim, the sentinels won’t be a problem down here. So, let’s finish what we came here to do. After that, we signal for Arn to pick us up. Then, we haul ass into hyperspace before the sentinels blows us the fuck up.”

  Heh, easier said than done, and you know that. We’re working against the clock now . . .

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The groundskeepers tending to the enormous front yard garden of Averyl’s chateau spun away from their duties. An elven maid had left the chateau’s front door and called out to the gardeners, stating that lunch was being served. The tired and sweaty workers stored their tools in their Inventory screens, then followed the maid inside the chateau, disappearing from sight.

  None of them knew Nijana had lurked behind the immaculately trimmed shrubbery, watching and waiting for that very moment. Somewhere inside that luxury mansion was Averyl, her extravagant clothes, and jewels, lots and lots of coins, fantastic food, and wines. And of course, Guy, and his companions whom she watched enter the chateau. They were bound to have brought their expensive gear with them. Nijana could hardly contain herself. She shut her eyes and smiled brightly at how wealthy she was going to become. The only thing stopping her was the real Averyl.

  But once I get rid of her . . . “Oh, my, oh, my.”

  Nijana walked through the chateau’s front yard, past its porcelain white fountains spraying a never-ending geyser of water, past its greenery, past the rose garden, then climbed its steps to bring her closer to the front door—

  Synaria appeared in front of Nijana.

  The petite druid Assassin placed her hands on her hips. “There you are!”

  “Shush! Not so loud, Synaria.”

  “So anyway, I made the transactions since that star-dweller gave you cold feet,” Synaria explained. “But the guards might have spotted me. We have to leave soon. Are you listening to me? What are you looking at?!”

  Nijana gestured ahead. “I found my next big heist.”

  Synaria’s right bunny ear lifted in sync with her right eyebrow. The chateau had impressed her, too. Nijana and Synaria crept along the side of the chateau’s exterior, found a window, and stood on their toes to peek through it. The two glimpsed Averyl entertaining her new house guests seated in the chateau’s study. Guy was among them, his mouth opening and closing to speak, but with Nijana and Synaria outside, they couldn’t hear what he or the others were saying.

  “Well, well, well,” Synaria said, with a hint of amazement in her voice. “You are the spitting image of that, lass. It is like you stepped out from a mirror.”

  Nijana peered at Averyl seated elegantly in one of the study’s leather chairs, teacup in hand. She studied her double’s attire and grimaced. “If I can get her outfit,” Nijana said. “I may be able to walk into that manor and pluck anything I want.”

  “Might fetch a good price from the broker, too. I’m game.”

  The star-elf, Ulysses, had
stood up and walked toward their window holding a star-dweller machina device to his face and spoke into it. Nijana ducked before he saw her peeking through the window. Synaria didn’t dip with her. She yanked the druid Assassin down with her. They were out of sight now, and Nijana looked at her René’s Cove Tunic and tugged on the black corset.

  “I can’t go in looking like a wandering minstrel, though,” Nijana said. “I need that dress Averyl has on.”

  “Eh,” Synaria readjusted her bunny ear head accessory. “When we first met, you were wearing one of Averyl’s dresses, no?”

  “Yes, and we ruined it treading through that swamp in the mists.”

  “Correction, you ruined it. You could have put on the Bard gear you have now.”

  “In any case,” Nijana said. “I need to dress like Averyl, and I’d rather not risk breaking into the chateau to raid her wardrobe. That star-dweller Paladin might see me.”

  “Aye, I can see how that would be an issue,” Synaria said. “You will stop what you were doing to admire his handsome features.”

  Nijana slowly looked at the druid. “What the fuck?”

  Synaria closed her eyes and held back a smirk. “I saw you staring at him just now.”

  “I was trying to read his lips.”

  “Or were you fantasizing about doing something to his lips?—”

  “Shut up and go steal me one of Averyl’s dresses.”

  “What do you want me to do? Strip her naked and run off with it?”

  “Shouldn’t be hard. You switched your class from Mage to Assassin,” Nijana said, then resumed her search of the chateau’s sidewalls. “Or you know, just kill her, and take it.”

  Synaria followed behind, her gaze fixed on the chateau’s top floor windows. “I would need to get Averyl alone. I’m a level 15 Assassin, not the level 21 Mage. Guy and his friends may have rubbish equipment and no subclasses, but in a large group like that? One of them would kill me. Then we have the city guards to deal with should someone alert them . . .”