David Thompson
Stories
10
Chapters
4,245
Words
699.7 K
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0
Reading
2 d, 10 h
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When we arrived at the castle, it felt as though every last person in it was waiting for us. Which made sense, as we'd sent word ahead a week before we had left. It had taken some time to prepare for an extended absence for both Beatrice and me. So, they were expecting us. Beatrice flew a little bit ahead of me, but I quickly passed her as I zipped off in my excitement. We flew through the opened gate to be polite, even though we could have easily flown above the massive wall itself. As I emerged, I saw…-
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I stared at the father-daughter combo. Well. That was unexpected. Still, it made me even more proud of Beatrice. She had been so afraid of talking to her father, and yet here she was, reprimanding him for his mess. The man looked sufficiently chastened, so I wouldn't reprimand him too much, but I did want to express my displeasure. So I beeped at Beatrice. Normally, I would have simply projected my message, but I hoped that Beatrice would be able to make it more polite than I might've. Also, hearing the…
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The familiar sight of Bee's family home loomed in front of her like a dragon guarding a pile of gold. It was a fairly apt comparison, she knew, after seeing Daedalus up close. She walked down the paved path to the front door and raised the knocker. An instant after it fell, the family's butler, Chives, opened the door and welcomed her with a bow. "Miss Beatrice. Your father is expecting you." Bee nodded, somehow not surprised, as she stepped in and carefully rubbed the soles of her shoes against the…
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Bee walked into the city ahead of a small contingent of her people. To her surprise, the city guards were already hard at work, clearing a path through the busy streets toward the governor's mansion. Arthur, having left his second in charge of setting up camp outside the city walls, brought a squad of bodyguards along, but they were almost entirely unneeded. The only time one of them had to act was to help move a cart out of the way. The guards were very proficient at clearing the path, and soon, they…
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I had more than enough time to finish the wall. We didn't leave the next day or even the one after that. There was apparently a lot Beatrice had to take care of, which was fine with me. I even had time to add decorative filigree on all the crenellations along the wall, as well as those towers made of perfect crystal. They each rose 50% higher than the wall. There were also a few custom additions requested. With Arthur's suggestion, I mounted massive siege ballistae and trebuchets in an alternating…
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It turned out that the things Beatrix wanted to talk about were actually rather useful. While she was gone, the city itself had done well enough, but there was a larger kingdom as a whole to worry about. Already, a lot of the kingdom's systems were starting to fracture without the leadership they were used to. Some of the duchies had started to make aggressive moves against each other, and it was clear that someone powerful would need to come in and regain control from the top of the feudal pyramid. If…
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As soon as I felt my favorite human approach, I abandoned my latest project and soared up high in the sky, locking onto her position. I took off as fast as possible without shattering the windows, leaving a slight roar in my wake. As soon as I pulled up beside Beatrice, I excitedly started explaining my most recent project. I didn't even bother projecting anything with just the two of us. It was much more efficient for me to just explain in my normal, excited language of beeps. Beatrice understood it…
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Bee was a bit ashamed that she had taken so long to figure out her new skill. As it turned out, it wasn't nearly as hard as she was making it out to be. It was just a lot grosser. Getting things back out had taken a little bit of practice and a few empty stomachs. But now she was able to reach into her throat and pull out pretty much anything. Luckily, her extra-dimensional storage space didn't seem to have any negative effects on an item. Things came out just as pristine as they'd gone in. But it was…
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Bee followed Maranda out of the lab. She wasn't sure what help the girl was referring to or who could help her with such an odd skill. But at this point, she was willing to try almost anything. It was with equal parts surprise and chagrin that Bee followed Maranda into the Nighty Knights' training area. Of course. That was something she should have thought of herself. All these kids had extremely odd skills, most of them being completely unique and highly specific to their god. Of course, some of them…
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Bee felt her shoulders relax as her fingers ran through the carpet beneath her. The wind tossed her hair back, but not nearly as fiercely as it could have, whipping it about her face. Her enchanted rug moved at a steady pace as she left the capital behind. She wasn't in a rush to get to the castle, but she could still get there in less than a day's travel, at least by air. And recent events made her worry about the state of things there. It had been a rough week since she'd gotten back, and it was…
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