"Well, we could try, but I don't think you'd be able to hide it from him."

  "Look, that other guy, he's not broadcasting all over that he's a prince now, is he?" Kerrie asked.

  "There's another prince?" Harmony said, and Cinnamon perked up.

  "Yeah, Bratsch, I think his name is? He killed Talt after SJ softened him up," Kerrie said, "but that's not the point here. He's lying low, right?"

  Mihalis nodded.

  "Then tell Ennakoida and the rest that you're lying low as well. That you don't want the lions to come here and level the place before you've fully invested it with your power or some line of BS like that. That you saw what they did to Talt, so you're going to take the same tried-and-true approach that allowed you to survive while most everyone else died."

  "What if he balks?"

  "Then you order him !" Kerrie said with a grin. "I mean, they're djevels, the boss doesn't have to explain himself. They do it your way, or you'll replace them with someone who does, right?"

  "I think she has a point," Harmony said.

  "Yeah, but her hair hides it so well!" Jade said and ruffled Kerrie's head as Kerrie laughed.

  "Well, let's grab a quick bite and go. I don't want to put this off any longer than I have to," Mihalis said as he and the girls joined his sisters at the table.

  Breakfast didn't take long. Mihalis found he really didn't have much of an appetite this morning, and his sisters didn't take all that long, either.

  When he got up to leave, he took a moment to kiss Talin, Caitin, Azure, Taeria, Rika, Jade, Kerrie, and Beri. Then, after checking his aspect and his sword, they left.

  The trip to the labs passed quickly, and the guards just waved them all inside when they got to the main gate.

  "How do we get into the labs?" he asked.

  "We've got badges and codes," Noje told him, "plus the guards know the three of us, and you as well, I'm sure."

  "What time do you usually show up?"

  "Seven. We do the check, give the all clear, and everyone else comes in. We're actually not that early, so if whatever you're doing doesn't take long, no one will even notice."

  "I'll try to keep that in mind."

  When they got to the doorway into the lab, Noje used her keycard to get them in the first door. They entered codes and talked to the guards once they were in the mantrap.

  "Don't you have a card, Mike?" one of the guards asked from behind the bulletproof window.

  Mihalis shook his head. "I don't actually work for Doctor Ruxton. We're friends, and I help him out whenever he needs a hand."

  "So what brings you here today?"

  "I want to see how everything's holding up. After all, I am the one who got Doc that biskop. So I've got a bit of a responsibility there to follow up now and again."

  "Oh, okay. I just have to write down why you're here in the logbook."

  "Checking to be sure everything's okay with the biskop. Does that work?"

  "Entering it now." The door buzzed and opened. "Have a good day!"

  "Thanks," the girls said and smiled at the guards in the booth as they went inside.

  "You know, if this does work, do you think you could order the biskop to tell you if he's figured out a way to escape?" Cinnamon asked him.

  "Can sure try," Mihalis replied with a smile.

  When they got to the door, Noje and Harmony went through all the security protocols to make sure the biskop was still secure in his test chamber. Once that was done, they cycled in, two at a time, through the security mantrap.

  Once inside, Mihalis looked around to see what, if anything, in the room had changed. Other than a few new computers that hadn't been here before, it seemed to be the same. That done, he joined Harmony and Cinnamon as they checked the physical parts of the container. Noje was checking the wards.

  The biskop just sat there and watched. Opening up his empathy a bit, he could tell the biskop feared his sisters. When he saw Mihalis, that fear went up a notch.

  "Tell me your name," Mihalis said in demonic as the girls finished up.

  "Who are you?" it growled, standing up.

  "Prince Mihalis."

  "You are not a prince!"

  Leaning on his incubus powers of Persuasion and Intimidation, he pushed a bunch of power into his words as he focused on the biskop.

  "Tell me your name, now ."

  He felt the biskop's fear spike as its eyes widened.

  "Værktøj. My name is Værktøj!"

  "Værktøj, I am here to collect your oath. Swear yourself to me."

  "I will do no such thing! I belong to Prince Talt!"

  "Prince Talt is dead. I am finding myself in need of new lords here in this new land. Swear yourself to me, and I may consider elevating you to such a role."

  Mihalis had all his empathetic abilities going as he studied Værktøj. He could feel the doubt, and surprisingly even a desire to have a lord or prince once again. But there was also a lot of distrust there as well.

  "You do not look like one of us," Værktøj finally spit out.

  "That's because my kind came here from the Onderwereld many, many ages ago. We have discovered how to survive here, and I have decided, as the most powerful of our kind, to gather the lords to me." Mihalis paused a moment, and tapping into the power pool, he pumped up his Persuasion and Intimidation abilities, but this time, he also pushed a fair bit of power into Bend Will.

  "Now, get down on your knees and swear !"

  Surprisingly, Værktøj immediately fell to his knees.

  "I, Værktøj, swear myself into your service, Prince Mihalis!"

  Mihalis took a step forward and put his hand on the side of the chamber. Reaching out with his Pull ability, he grabbed onto Værktøj's power. It wasn't easy, with the chamber in the way, but suddenly, he had him!

  Værktøj was his!

  "My Prince!" Værktøj said, prostrating himself before him. "What is your command?"

  "Have you figured out how to escape the chamber yet?"

  "No, My Prince, I have not."

  "Well, when you do, tell one of these three what you discovered, but you are not to leave the chamber without my permission, understood?"

  "Yes, My Prince," Værktøj said. Mihalis could feel that he had some doubts, but he could also feel that, even without using his powers, his words had an impact on Værktøj's will.

  "So it worked, then?" Cinnamon asked in a soft voice.

  "Yes, yes it did. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'd like to sit down for a while and sort this all out."

  "What about him?" she asked with a slight nod of her head towards the chamber.

  "For now, it's business as usual. If anybody asks why I'm here at this point, I'm just curious. Now, I need to figure this out. This is… different."

  Conversations

  "So, it worked," Mihalis said, looking over at his father, Mom Estrella, the First, the First's wives—Keairra, Saf'kij, Jipouet, Peym, Nibisa, Dienna, Sasha—and the entire first pride as well. Several of the females were currently in the heads of his dark elf sisters.

  "What are you getting from him?" Kalif asked.

  "Just a small bit of power, honestly. I also have a fair bit of—not control, but I guess you could say influence ? But only when I'm there giving him orders. Other than that, not much. It's really pretty weak; I can barely feel him in the jet as we're heading east, and right now? Here on the mountain? I can't feel him at all."

  "What about the power you're getting from him? How does it feel?"

  "A lot like what we get when we kill one of them, but without the memories. Best I can guess is, it's getting converted, just like what we pull out of them when we die."

  "Esti?" Kalif said, turning to his much younger sister.

  Estrella looked thoughtful for a moment.

  "Here's what I know for sure: when they swear to a lord or a prince, there is a power transfer that takes place continually. Also, a percentage of the power a lord gets from his underlings is also transferred up. I don't know whether that comes from the lord's share of power from his followers, or if it's a new demand put on his followers.

  "Though I suspect it's the former."

  "What do the lords get from their princes? If they're giving up power, why would they take the oath?" Mihalis asked.

  "Security, mainly."

  "Huh?"

  "Mihalis, a prince is a hell of a lot more powerful than a lord. Even a weak prince can kill almost any lord, and when they do, they get all the lord's followers when they absorb the dead lord."

  "Then why even have lords? Why not just gather everyone directly to yourself?"

  "Because there's some sort of limit on how many followers a djevel can have," Estrella said with a shake of her head. "I don't fully understand it, but a lord can only have so many and handle so much power. When a prince kills a lord and takes his followers, he passes them on to whomever he raises to take the dead lord's place. While a prince can handle a lot more power than a lord can, he can't have any more followers than any other lord."

  "Hence the power pyramid," Kalif said with a nod of agreement.

  "Have you taken any other oaths?" the First asked.

  Mihalis shook his head. "I'm still sorting this out. If I think I can handle this, and you all think I should do it, I'll take Hengity's. He's the former advisor to Talt who was put on the Bartertown Council to keep an eye on it for him."

  "If you have control over him, how was Talt planning to overthrow Sladd?" Reagjin asked.

  "I'd say the amount of control or influence a prince has over an underling decreases as the level of said underling increases," Kalif said, and then looked at Estrella. "That sound about right to you?"

  Estrella nodded. "I'm sure Mihalis is going to have a lot less control over Ennakoida than he does over the biskop, or even the advisor on the council."

  "I do have one major concern I want to get right out of the way before we move forward," Kalif said, looking at Sean and the First.

  "What's that?" Sean asked.

  "Mihalis shouldn't set foot on the mountain until he's no longer tied to any of the djevels."

  "Why not?" Sean asked, frowning.

  "Remember when I told you, after you got back from the Onderwereld, that a djevel getting in here could be a bad thing?"

  "But he just said he's not connected with the biskop while he's in here," Denup pointed out.

  "But his body isn't here , only his mind is. I'm worried if he comes here in body when he's connected to that lord—or any djevel, for that matter—it may form a link here."

  "And that would be a bad thing," Sean and the First both said together.

  "I don't understand," Mihalis said.

  "The djevels used to go to the Onderwereld when they died, and they reincarnated there, just like we do here," the First said, looking Mihalis in the eye.

  "So why don't they go back there now?"

  "Because we destroyed it, or technically your father, your mother, Roxy, Estrella, and Peg did when they ate the last surviving denizen of the race that created it."

  "Huh?"

  "Michael, we were created—we lions, that is—to defeat the djevels, to kill them, to stop them from being a plague on the rest of creation. We, all the lions, have parts of the djevels, as well as the race that accidentally spawned them, in our makeup. However distantly it may be, we're related to them."

  Mihalis just stood there, staring at the First.

  "Oh, that's the short version of the speech you're not supposed to get until you're much older. But seeing as you'll probably figure out most of that if you take Ennakoida's oath, I thought it was only fair that you knew."

  "How… how did this happen?"

  "We," the First motioned to the others around him, "killed and ate a djevel prince, along with one of that other race, who in a remarkable—for them at least—act of self-sacrifice, lured the prince to Earth so we'd kill them both and eat them. He'd obviously planned for this and taken steps, because after that, we became immortal, and slowly began our journey to self-awareness."

  "That… that's a lot to take in, Grandpa."

  "We only learned all of it when we destroyed the Onderwereld," Kalif said.

  "Also, you're not allowed to tell anyone else about this, other than those of us here," his father said. "This is our most important secret, and no one else is to know this, unless the First—and only the First—deems it wise to tell them."

  "I just had a thought," Denup said.

  Everyone looked at him.

  "What happens if he dies again? When he reincarnates?"

  "We'll have to kill Ennakoida and any other djevels he's taken the oath from before he comes back," Kalif said. "So make sure we know whose oaths you have, Michael, and please keep it to just those lords."

  Mihalis nodded. "While I'm still worried about the effects it might have on me, I have to ask before I make up my mind. Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandmas, do you think I should do this?"

  "It would help us control the djevels inside the DEZ, and maybe elsewhere as well," the First said. "It would also prevent Prince Bratsch from becoming too powerful. However," he gave a soft growl and looked Mihalis in the eye, "I do not want you to do it unless you're okay with it. I haven't yet made up my mind whether I'm going to allow you to do this, Mihalis. You may take the advisor's oath, but we'll talk again before you take any more.

  "Further, when you take the advisor's oath, have your sisters as well as your wife Taeria there."

  "Why?"

  "Because I'd like to know what benefits he receives from you, if any. If taking an oath from a djevel gives them any discernable benefit, we won't be doing it."

  Mihalis nodded. The last thing anyone wanted was to make the djevels more powerful.

  "Does anyone have anything else they wish to say?" Sean asked, looking around the group.

  Everyone shook their heads no.

  "In that case, I guess we're done here. Mike, keep me informed, and if you can't reach me, talk to Kalif. He's the one who's studied this the most."

  Mihalis nodded again. Getting up, he took a minute to give everyone a hug, then left the mountain.

  "So, how worried are you, Dad?" Kalif asked.

  "Very," the First rumbled. "I don't think the djevels will get any powers from it, but I am worried about the affect it may have on Mihalis.

  "Yeah, I don't know if I could stand to see him uncontrollably violent and quick to kill anything that annoys him like a certain sister of mine," Kalif said, looking at Estrella and winking.

  "Ah, you're just jealous," she said with a smile. "But," she said, looking serious again, "if Dad here does allow him to do it, and he agrees, we can always kill those who've sworn to him if there's a problem, and that'll end it right there."

  "Won't he get Ennakoida's followers if he dies?"

  "Only if he's right there when it happens, or if he's the one killing him. Back on the Onderwereld, if a lord died a true death, the prince he was sworn to would have to pick a successor and send it around to the dead lord's biskops and other sworn members to take their oaths. That was part of why losing one to us or another djevel was always such a big issue. It made them harder to replace."

  "Ah, good! It's nice to have options," Kalif said. "If anyone thinks of anything important, let me know."

  Everyone nodded, and with that, the meeting broke up.

  §

  Cinnamon was sitting in the council chambers listening to each of the members give their daily report. Cynthia's was the simplest, because they talked several times a day, when Cynthia wasn't spending the night in Cinnamon's bed.

  Cinnamon was finding that she liked Cynthia. She wasn't evil so much as amoral. She wanted power and would do whatever it took to get it, but she was enough of a realist to know she wasn't all that powerful by herself. She needed to ally herself to someone who was powerful.

  She also understood, after Cinnamon sat her down and had a little heart-to-heart, that if she truly wanted that alliance, she need to understand that not only would she be a minor power instead of a major one, she needed to be loyal. As in completely. No one liked a traitor; even the people you became a traitor for would never trust you, and would get rid of you the first chance that came along.

  While loyalty was always rewarded, and it went both ways.

  "So if I'm loyal, Michael will sleep with me?"

  "If he doesn't, I'll have a little talk with him," Cinnamon said with a smirk. "But not right now, he's got a lot going on currently, and he's very focused on putting everything together."

  "I'm just worried about what's going to happen with Lord Ennakoida," Cynthia admitted. "I'm wondering if I need to corner Arsy and find out what's going on. He works for Ennakoida; if anyone would know, he would."

  Cinnamon just smiled at that. Until Mike had made his decision, no, Arsy wouldn't really know.

  Irrie was the last one to make his report, as his was really the shortest of them all. Cinnamon was honestly thinking of just killing him, or having Mike kill him, and replacing him with that Fomorian, Brostian, who was actually running things. She talked with him about once a week, and was a lot more impressed by him than most of the people she dealt with.

  Honestly, once you got used to the goat's head, he was a pretty well-built demon.

  Yeah, she'd definitely have to talk to Michael about that.

  "I'll be in my office if you want me," Cynthia whispered, running her hand across Cinnamon's back as the meeting broke up. After a couple minutes, it was just her and Hengity again.

  "Yes?" she asked, looking at him.

  "Have you told Michael that I'm ready to give him my oath?"

  " Yes, you have, and yes, he's going to take it when he returns ," Reagjin spoke up in her head, surprising her.

  " And good morning to you, too! Where've you been the last couple of days ?"

  " Trying not to be a backseat driver as you seduced Cynthia, of course ."

  " I'm still not sure who seduced who. But she is fun ."