A Tale of Two Proposals

'Did I just hear him right?!'

Noble felt her head spin. She knew that Emira and Counsel were at odds, but this?

"Ah!"

Pain shot up Noble's legs. Her emotional shock had led to a physical shock. She reflexively picked up her feet from the ground to resume her normal float.

"Are you alright?" Counsel saw sweat form on the woman's brow.

"Yes. I mean no! We cannot take over the kingdom!" Noble squealed.

Panicking, Counsel covered her mouth and looked to the door. When nothing happened, he lowered his palm and bowed.

"Forgive me, but I could not risk having someone overhear. Though I admit I should have found a better way to explain my thoughts."

Noble lowered her voice to a whisper. "I don't think there is a good way to let someone know that you want to form a rebellion in their name."

"I know Queen Emira is your aunt and as misguided as she is in her hatred for me, I do not wish to harm her." Counsel lied.

Feeling the spike in his emotion, Noble pursed her lips. "Do you want to try the truth this time?"

The man winced. 

"I shall rephrase. I do not want to harm her for your sake. Especially if she will retire peacefully. One hundred years is a glorious reign. It is time for new leadership." Counsel folded his hands as if he were doing Emira the greatest favor.

'At least he meant what he said about not hurting the queen this time…'

That was about the only positive thing that Noble could find in Counsel's words.

"You cannot do this. Not in my name. Emira still has many years of fight in her. She could be a great asset in the battle with the Lord of the Mountain."

The handsome man pushed back his blond locks with a frown. "Her Majesty will not fight with us—"

"Let me at least try!" Noble's voice rose. Thankfully this time she had not said anything treasonous.

Counsel's jaw tightened. "You are too trusting…"

"So you have said." Noble took a deep breath.

'I just want to conquer a nightmare, not get caught up in a political coup. I'm only a queen in the Dreamscape. I don't want to be a real one.'

"We have two days until the ceremony. Wait until I give my proposal to the Queen before you take any action." Noble's voice was firmer than she felt.

A delay tactic was as good as any other plan. With any luck, she could finish the nightmare before their world turned upside down.

A tense silence stretched between them. Resisting the urge to interfere, Noble felt a myriad of emotions filter through Counsel. At last, the man sighed and dipped his head.

"I live to serve, My Lady. I will not mention this again until after your meeting."

"Thank you," Noble felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders.

She had no cohort for this second nightmare. If the forces available were divided and became embroiled in a civil war, her chance of survival would be all but gone.

Noble had survived for more than a month and a half in the recreated world. Each day she was coming closer to when the conflict would reach its climax.

'Just hold on a little longer. The end of the nightmare is coming. I can feel it.'

"What are you looking at?" Noble stepped away from Counsel and toward the table in the center of his room.

"I am looking for a way into the tunnels under the city. The cave we found with the picture of the Lord of the Mountain makes me think the heart that he seeks is down there, maybe even directly below the palace. I would prefer not to go blindly breaking through walls if I can find an entrance." Counsel bent over the table and squinted.

Noble's eyes widened. "That is brilliant! If we find the heart, we can use it against the Tyrant to destroy him."

"It will be nice to have a way to control him…" the man tapped his chin as he stared at the page.

"I take it that you haven't had any luck?" Noble figured that the man would have been excited to share that information when he first saw her.

"None of the maps provided by the palace scribes have any markings. But I expected nothing less." The man gave a wry smile leaving the rest unsaid.

"Perhaps if I asked…" Noble bit her lip. "Never mind, let me look at what is here."

She stood on the opposite of the table and pointed. "Where is this in the kingdom?"

"This is a map of the palace, My Lady." Counsel's stern expression broke into a grin. "You always know how to make me smile."

"Heh, of course, it is the palace. You caught me!" Noble's ears burned.

'I hate maps. They are useful but frustrating.'

"My question still stands. What is this?"

"It's the throne room." Counsel patiently explained. He pointed out the key features so Noble could get her bearings.

"Hm…if I were wanting to hide an entrance, I would put it here, here, or here." Noble made her best guesses based on her knowledge of the Dream Realm and human nature.

Strange dead ends and unused spaces were the most likely areas.

"Kosi and I will look into it while you are at dinner." Counsel nodded.

The Symncus snored softly in response.

Noble smiled at the golden creature. "I wish I could join you both. I do enjoy exploring…"

A knock on the door preceded Lenore's timid voice. "I have your water, My Lady."

"I'll be right there!" Noble sent Counsel an apologetic glance.

Waving off her concern, the man rolled up the maps in front of him.

"I have to return these. While I'm there, I can bother the Librarian about those missing pages again. Who knows? Maybe I will get lucky."

"Let's hope so. Both for the pages and the secret passage." Noble bid the man farewell.

The meeting hadn't gone as expected, but she had salvaged as much of the situation as she could.

'What a mess!' 

Later that evening, Noble finally found some time alone for herself in her room. 

She had made a lot of promises and deals that day. 

Would she be able to follow through?

'I don't have a choice,' she reminded herself.

Her entire future depended on how she navigated the next few days.

'So I need a flawless master plan to show the Queen.'

Noble had been thinking about it long and hard. Additionally, she had been practicing the skills that she had developed since arriving.

It was time to use all of that skill and knowledge to use.

'The Spell made this trial so there is a way to beat the Tyrant. It can fly, and I can float. That has its advantages…and difficulties.'

An idea sparked in Noble's mind. She searched through the room and found a piece of paper and a writing utensil.

She wrote, marked out, and rewrote until an elegant plan was laid out in perfect detail.

The following days passed in a blur. Soon enough, it was almost time for the centennial celebration.

But first, Noble had her biggest hurdle yet in the Nightmare.

And the meeting was not one that Noble would soon forget.