62 The Night Eyes

"What are we going to do…" Cedez echoed, switching to English and rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"That's what I asked, yes!" Dave fretted, as he too changed languages.

"It's simple," Cedez said, her voice a soothing balm to Dave's frayed nerves. "We take Remy and we move her somewhere else, safe and far away, while the Watch searches Rimzadria Estate."

With a graceful flourish, she pantomimed the plan, her slender fingers lifting an invisible something and moving it off to the side.

"I'm sure a bright adventurer like you can figure out a place to hide a dragon for the day?" Cedez tilted her dark, vulpine head, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Yes," Dave sighed, resigned to the task ahead.

"Well then, there you go," Cedez affirmed, her voice a gentle encouragement. "What's the problem then? Are you going to miss her sparkly lap so much that you'll explode?"

Dave squinted at the foxgirl as she broke out into a fit of giggles.

"I would offer my lap as consolation," Cedez added, her slender hand padding her thigh with an exaggerated flourish. "But alas, this lap would send your soul on a one-way magical adventure from which there is no return."

"Har-har," Dave retorted, his eyes rolling in mock amusement.

"I bet you're dreaming about this luscious lap," Cedez laughed, her voice a playful tease.

"Stop that," Dave chided. "I'm trying to have a serious discussion here."

Cedez stuck her tongue out at him, unrepentant. "Go on then. Seriously discuss me. I know you want to."

"You know everything about everyone in Shandria?" Dave asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Not everything," Cedez admitted, a wry smile playing on her lips. "But I'm more or less aware of names, passions, and relationships when I talk to someone in person. The ward of Shandria feeds on people's dreams," she nodded, her eyes taking on a far-off look. "Her Divine Shadow observes all beneath the light of the red runes."

"I can't help but feel this is a nightmarish privacy violation," Dave said, his brow furrowing in discomfort.

"Hrmmmmm?" Cedez hummed, her tone a mix of curiosity.

"You watching everyone at night and while they're sleeping is weird, okay?" Dave said, his voice tinged with unease.

"I can't help it," Cedez shrugged. "I know what the ward knows. I was born this way. Don't shame me for what I cannot control. The Shadow doesn't even have eyelids. I can't even close my eyes at night!" Her voice quivered with the weight of her burden.

Dave frowned, his empathy stirring.

"You know, I don't really perceive information in real time as the Shadow," Cedez mused, her voice taking on a note of introspection. "It sort of floats in my head when I'm awake, like this weird soup of relationship data points. When I stare at someone from Shandria for a bit, I recall their name and desires."

"Moving on," Dave sighed. "You know about the God-Emperor's spies and saboteurs?"

"Yep," Cedez nodded, her eyes gleaming with knowledge. "They're sleeping in Shandria, therefore I know what their dastardly plans are."

"Shouldn't you know the plans of the Shandrian Lords then too?" Dave demanded, his voice filled with expectation. "What's Burgundy planning, for example? Who’s got a necromancer on call? Who killed your predecessor?”

"I… I have no idea what the high Lords of Shandria are dreaming about," Cedez confessed, her voice laced with frustration. "They know how the ward works, so they use a different type of shadow-blocking runes… green ones that won't let the Shadow peer into their rooms at night or feed on them."

"Well, that's shit," Dave commented, disappointment etched on his face.

"That's politics," Cedez shrugged, her tone resigned.

"Right," Dave said. "So you knew about the floral terrorist and you just sat on it for three weeks?"

"Yes," Cedez nodded. "Until an opportunity arose to weaponize the information to help us, I sat on it. The spies and saboteurs won't strike the ward or the Town Watch until the invasion is looming on the horizon anyway. They're gathering power and bribing idiots for now. I spent a pretty good card on you, you should be happy."

"Is that what we are to you?" Dave asked, his eyes searching for a deeper meaning. "Cards?"

"Ohh, that's a fun analogy!" Cedez purred, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Yes. You're my adorkable joker card, the future infinite Archmage, one that can magically turn into any other card with a ring of power!"

"I can't tell if you're joking or being serious," Dave said..

"Why not both?" Cedez wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"You offered the tracker slaves," Dave said, his voice heavy with concern. "That doesn't sit right with me."

"Have you tried being less of a square?" Cedez tilted her head, her smile crooked. "I'm trying to help your ass, and you're nitpicking. Pick, pick, pick. By the Gods, just be happy that I like you enough to protect you!"

"Which one?" Dave asked, his gaze unwavering. "Am I a card or someone you actually care about?"

"Both!" Cedez waved her arms exasperatedly. "To her Divine Shadow, you're just a trump card in the big fat stack that's Shandria, that has to be dealt in time to protect the city…"

Dave's frown deepened, the weight of her words settling upon his shoulders like an invisible mantle.

"But to me," Cedez declared, her hand crossing her chest as her voice softened. "To this simple foxgirl from a family of a farmer and a cloth-mender, you're… someone I care about. Why is this so bloody difficult to understand? I'm two sides of one coin. Heads and tails. A simple fox and her Divine Shadow. Charisma mage and the Devourer of dreams. What I consume as the Shadow, I radiate as Cedez Astra!"

"I see," Dave murmured.

"You think I don't feel bad about feeding on people's mana at night?" the dark foxgirl snapped, wet sparks flickering at the edges of her eyes. "That's the price of keeping the city safe! I know that you want to impose your otherworlder morality on Shandria, but you can't just wrap an owl over a basketball! Yes, I've used Officer Giron's greed, and I've offered Tracker Laconi slaves because she's got a damn anti-charisma artifact in her pocket that was throwing me off… but I did it to protect Remi!"

"I get it," Dave said gently, reaching out to grasp her hand. "I know… thank you."

In that moment, Cedez wrapped him in a tight embrace.

One-two-three-four-five.

Sparks rushed across his body, and he let go of her at the last second.

"Phew," she exhaled with a soft smile, wiping her eyes. "My kingdom for a longer hug!"

"You know," Dave mused, his eyes searching hers. "I can theoretically un-Sovereign you if you want to be just Cedez."

"What?" she blinked. “How?!”

"If there's another Dave on Arxtruria, it means that the concept of clinical death is a usable hack when it comes to magic," he explained, the gears of his mind turning with newfound clarity. "If we slow down your heart, put you on ice, suspend your body… create what's called 'clinical death', would the ward let you go?"

"Holy stars, that's… actually quite clever," the foxkin gasped, her eyes widening with admiration. "Not that I would dump my responsibility as the Sovereign onto a newborn because I want longer hugs, but this could be weaponized… in other ways."

"Other ways?" Dave asked, his curiosity piqued. "What are you suggesting?"

"If Remy dies," Cedez said, her voice dropping to a hushed whisper. "If her heart stops long enough… her name might become grayed out in the book of slaves owned by the Bondsmen Guild. If she's legally dead, they might stop searching for her. It's a loophole, get it?"

"'Might vanish' isn't good enough," Dave said, his voice firm with resolve. "We aren't going to stop Remy's heart for that."

"Fine, fine," Cedez conceded, her expression softening. "Let's put it on the back burner until we figure out something better and more… legally permanent."

Dave nodded in agreement. The pair headed to the caretaker cottage where Dave explained to the dragoness that the watchmen were looking for her and were planning a raid tomorrow, so she would have to relocate for a bit.

"Where would I go?" The dragoness asked, her scales dancing with brilliant orange tones. She had clearly grown accustomed to working in Rimzadria with Svenn aiding her in her tasks.

"I know just the place," Dave said, a warm smile spreading across his face as he envisioned the sanctuary he had in mind. "I think that you're going to love it."