Racknar and Elizabeth had just broken camp, resting between tasks. They've already spent nearly half the time they gave themselves before the war officially started. Despite Racknar's normal routine of focusing on the mission he has actually kept his word in spending time with Elizabeth and the e done a lot of talking. Talking about the past, their feelings, the future. They felt closer. After the last bit was packed it was actually Elizabeth who would suggest moving forward first. “Alright, all packed up. Time to head out to our next location.”

  Much to her surprise, the normally quick to action Racknar shook his head. “Not yet.” He paused briefly. “Not today.” He sat down on the ground and started gathering rocks. “Would you mind using prestidigitation to create some mind instrumentation?” At first Elizabeth was confused, then a sudden realization hit her. She's seen him do something similar before, back in his past life. She remembers this ritual. She sat down and used the spell to create gentle string music, remembering the song that goes with this ritual, she surprised Racknar when it was she who started singing as he gathered and arranged rocks.

  “Down go the reeds, as the winds a-blowin’~ Down go the reeds, like a river flowin’~ Sway go the trees, vines of the willow~ Sway go the trees, as samaras fall~” Racknar picks up the song himself, his deep voice stretching through the area. “Stars in the sky, do they still glimmer~ Sun in the sky, does it still shine~ Come tell me why, the world's still turning~ Come tell me why, the skies don't weep~” Racknar's song continued. “Now that you're gone, the wind’s song feels empty~ Now that you're gone, hollow and cold~ World doesn't morn, it hardly knew thee~ World doesn't morn, this rain in mine~”

  Racknar continued to arrange rocks, Elizabeth taking over the singing. “Down go the reeds, as the winds a-blowin’~ Down go the reeds, like a river flowin’~ Sway go the trees, vines of the willow~ Sway go the trees, as samaras fall~” Racknar finished arranging the rocks and singing, a small tear running from one of his many eyes. He gives a slight sniffle before cleaning his face before looking at Elizabeth. “You… remember my ritual?” Elizabeth nodded with a bittersweet smile. “Yeah, in fact I did it every year after you passed away. This unique little thing you created to express the feelings you couldn't feel fully.”

  Racknar stood up. “I'm ready to start going.” Elizabeth also stood. “So… who are we morning again?” Racknar chuckled. “My mother. The one in this life. She caught Locath’s blessing and I had to kill her to keep it contained.” Elizabeth frowned. “That's…. Rough. It must have been early on before you had all the resources for whatever.” Racknar nodded, not saying much. It's clear he doesn't exactly want to talk about right now and he already told her what happened before.

  Elizabeth found herself reminiscing about her past life as she and Racknar rode spiders to their destination. Remembering the first time she saw his self made ritual. Racknar, or Jon as he was back then, had issues feeling and identifying emotions. However, he could still feel things, just not as strongly. Losing someone is still difficult, even for him. Having issues expressing his emotions he created the ritual using things from different cultures and created the song. Though she distinctly remembered it having more verses.

  “So what happened to the rest of the song?” Racknar looked at Elizabeth after she asked the question. He'd have an eyebrow raised if he had any. “We don't exactly have the time for that right now. I was surprised you remembered it at all let alone sang it for the anniversary of my death.” Elizabeth nodded. “I didn't realize just how much I cared until you were gone. Jon…. Racknar. I… love you. And I think I have for a very long time.”

  Racknar froze, she said before she thought she might have feelings but now she was being so blunt and forward. He definitely couldn't ignore her and last time he told her to wait because he had been through some stuff and needed to sort through his feelings. He started to think of every moment they shared in this life and the last. He was sure he cared about her, enough to consider trying to date. But love, romantic love? Was that what he felt for her? And even if it was, was he even good enough for her?

  “Elizabeth, you're a queen. You have to think about your people. I mean… choosing me would end the royal line or hand off the crown to your brother when you die instead of your child. You need to think about the future and not be selfish.” Everything Racknar was saying was true, but it wasn't the real reason he wasn't letting himself say something back yet. Elizabeth huffed. “I've known you too long to fall for that Racknar. Stop trying to dodge the conversation.”

  Racknar sighed. “I definitely have feelings, and I've been sifting through them and…. I think it's the same thing for me, Elizabeth.” Elizabeth reached over, offering her hand from behind him on the spider. Racknar grabbed it, and held it gently. This was finally happening, they finally officially acknowledged their feelings and have chosen to give being a couple a serious try. They kept moving, same as always, but it felt different now that they were actually together.

  Elizabeth hugged Racknar's back tightly and nuzzled it, no longer worried about whether or not he'd accept her feelings. Now she knows he feels the same. Finally, after all these years, two lifetimes of doubt, she finally had the thing she once denied she even wanted. Though she still wasn't exactly sure how dating was even going to work. This world was so different, and she was a queen. She was sure they'd figure things out though, she wasn't worried.

  Racknar suddenly stopped the spider. “What's up? bandits? wolves?” Elizabeth wasn't sure why they stopped, and Racknar didn't explain when asked like he normally would. He hopped off the spider and looked at her. He then grabbed her face and pulled it in, pressing her lips to his mandibles. His fangs twitched, as if indicating he was trying to kiss her. She responded in kind, kissing his mandibles. It wasn't the first time, but it felt different. More intimate, more complete. A real kiss shared by a couple who were officially in a serious relationship.

  Even though Racknar couldn't actually kiss back because he didn't have lips, it didn't stop Elizabeth's heart from fluttering as she continued to kiss the black chitinous mandibles that slightly opened and closed as if desperate to return the gesture. Elizabeth pushed in more, all the pent up feelings transferred into this intimate moment of passion. Racknar wrapped his arms around and pulled her in more, his own pent up feelings being put into this moment.

  After a while Racknar eventually let Elizabeth loose, allowing her to catch her breath and gave her some pace. Her breath was heavy, her face slightly red, and her heart racing. Elizabeth ran her hand on Racknar's chest and smiled. “T-that was… nice. Really nice.” Racknar's fangs curled into a smile. “Yeah, it was.” The tender moment was over now, and Elizabeth knew Racknar would start to move forward again.

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  However, he did something else that surprised her. He tapped Achilles on the upper back indicating that he wanted her to drive. He would be the one riding bitch, and sitting behind her. Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat as she imagined having Racknar pressed up to her back behind her. “A-are you sure? I mean..” She started to fidget and sweat a bit. This felt so sudden. Though it probably wasn't like that and he just wanted a break from driving after that kiss it was hard for Elizabeth not to let her mind wander.

  With a heavy blush Elizabeth climbed onto Achilles’ back in the spot Racknar was sitting before and waited for him to get back on. Once he was on he wrapped his arms around her and she could feel his warmth once again. This time it was him pressing to her back instead of the other way around. Elizabeth found it extremely difficult to focus on steering Achilles due to how distracted she was by Racknar's presence. She didn't want to assume he was doing this with the knowledge of how it affects her because he normally doesn't think of that sort of thing or act out of lust outside him resisting his heat cycle every year.

  Elizabeth moved her hand to gently rub on Racknar's. The rough pumice rock like chitin with thick feeler hairs was oddly comforting when she held it or had her hand held by it. It wasn't the hand itself or its warmth but the person those things belonged to. Every tiny show of affection was deeply appreciated, especially knowing how difficult it was for Racknar to finally let someone in like this after everything he's been through. Elizabeth quickly found herself treasuring every tiny gesture like a precious gemstone.

  Elizabeth didn't want the moment to end, but they reached their destination. A town that had been neglecting to pay its taxes for almost a year. Since the two were traveling anyway, Elizabeth figured it was worth investigating. Achilles shifted a bit from side to side as he moved forward, rocking to two a little bit as they reached the edge of the town. Racknar and Elizabeth hop off and Achilles is unsummoned before they enter the town wall. Nothing looked abnormal, the guards stood at the door and bowed before the princess as she entered. There was light foot traffic and the guard patrols were all on time.

  The town seemed to move like a well oiled machine of a factory that had prepared for inspection. Not a single thing was out of place, not a single person broke rhythm by tripping or bumping into one another. It was as if the entire town was in sync and on an exact schedule. Racknar couldn't help but find it unsettling. “It's… uncanny. Everything looks perfect, like nothing is wrong. But that's… even worse. I'm freaking out a little bit.”

  Elizabeth went pale, she was well aware of how knowledgeable Racknar was when it came to the monsters of this world. Him being this uneasy meant that he had ideas and none of them good. Racknar took another look around before walking in the direction of the mayor's manor. The building itself was nice compared to the other houses but modest in comparison to Camelot Castle. Racknar gestured to the building. “Whatever is doing this is likely running things from here, knowing it's the home of the person that runs this town it wouldn't be able to help itself.”

  Elizabeth started to feel even more uneasy. “And if the citizens of the town attack us to prevent us from doing anything?” Racknar let out a grunt. “As soon as I noticed how off this place was I started using other senses. Black Iron Spiders can see in infrared. Not a single person in this town has a heat signature. To put it bluntly, they are already dead. Nothing more than well preserved puppet corpses. What we are seeing here is the Dance Macabre. But it's a bit different then how it's usually described in the books, though not outside the wheelhouse of how it's used.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “Some sort of necromancer then?” Racknar shook his head. “Not exactly. These weren't corpses risen from the dead. Rather they were killed one by one with magic being put in their corpse to keep it from decaying and to control its movement. It would have been slow and methodical. This isn't a lich or something like what we'd usually fight. This is the work of an Undead Conductor, technically a type of demon. An infernal fiend from one of the Nine Circles of Hell. Specifically the eighth circle, Melbolge, if I remember correctly.”

  Elizabeth put her hand to her chin. “That's the circle of Fraud right? Ruled by… was it Melbolgea or Belial.” Racknar chuckled. “They're the same person in this world actually. One of the few demon lords that actively change gender on a regular basis. Similar to how Asmodeus can shape shift a bit as the Mother of all Succubi. Anyway, we should probably kill it. Once it's dead the puppets stop. Also, since these puppets are just corpses there's no need to hold back.”

  Elizabeth nodded with a somber expression as they moved forward, ready to kill this demon who puppets corpses. When they reached the manor, defended by guards, Elizabeth simply introduced herself in the hopes they would play their part and let her through. After all, it was clear to her they weren't being directly controlled. Rather, they were following a complex set of commands in order to give the illusion that everything was normal. Unfortunately for the demon its play was too flawless, giving away its falsehood.

  As she expected she was let in without objections, with Racknar allowed to follow her. “It seems they were programmed to act as normally as possible, that includes letting the Queen in with little question.” Elizabeth nodded to Racknar's comment as they continued to the office of the mayor. “So… once we enter this turns into a fight as the demon gives the order to kill us, right?” The two were practically right outside the door when Elizabeth asked. Racknar simply modded as they reached the door.

  Racknar slowly reached for the handle, and gave Elizabeth one last confirmation look before swinging it open and running in. Once in, the mayor looks at them in confusion before Racknar points at them. “Alright Conductor, the jig is up. We know this entire town is one big dance macabre. There's no use hiding it.” A small demon wiggles out from under the desk before it grows to full size. “What?! How?! My performance was flawless!” Racknar sighed. “That's the problem, humans are flawed. They fall behind schedule, they bump into one another, they make mistakes. Everything is too organized and it feels weird and wrong.”

  The demonic conductor stood frozen with a finger up, mouth agape. “....Well fuck me right in the ass. Seriously?! My fake was that the okay was too flawless? How did no one notice? I've been making these puppets dance for nearly a year now. Oh uhhh….. I didn't kill them by the way. They were like this when I got here, dead I mean. I know I know, if from the circle of fraud so you can't trust me. I swear on Styx it's the truth.”

  Racknar let out a long exasperated sigh. “Any idea what killed them?” The demon sat frozen for a bit. “You… believe me? Okay, well… you might not believe this second part but they were killed by some sort of balloon plant that looked suspiciously like a Gazer beast.” Racknar sighed. “I actually know exactly what you are talking about. Funnily enough the spore balloon was actually a favorite monster to use for me in a past life. Loved throwing them at adventurers, would even sneak in a Gazer just to fuck with them.”

  Elizabeth looked at Racknar with her hands to her hips. “That's evil. You were an evil game master. How sadistic could you possibly be to do that to players?” Racknar shrugged. “I thought it was funny. Watching the players freak out thinking it was a Gazer, then when they find out it was just a Gas Spore they let their guard down a bit. Then boom, Gazer beast.” Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I'm so glad I never played Creatures and Catacombs with you as the GM. Anyway…. So what exactly is going on here? If you didn't kill them then why?”

  The conductor looked extremely confused but shook themselves off. “I saw an opportunity to practice my art, so I took it. I'm not a fighter, I'm a thespian. An underappreciated talent.” Racknar sighed again. “We only came down here because the town wasn't paying taxes, and didn't expect the most pacifistic and honest conductor demon to be the cause. Tell you what, refine your art, and as long as you send taxes and don't kill anyone we’ll leave you alone.”

  The demon tilted its head. “Seriously?” Racknar nodded. “Follow the laws, run the town smoothly, no killing, follow that and you can be like the shadow mayor of this town. I honestly don't care as long as the taxes are paid and you don't kill anyone. It's not like you sent in the Gas Spores. Though I'll definitely have to let the guild know to give adventurers information on the monster and his to identify it.” The demon brings out its hand. “I'll add your input into my play. Not a single soul will know the difference.” Racknar shook his hand. “You'll die otherwise.”

  The demon's eyes widened, its hands still locked in the handshake. “You…. Damn it. I can't believe I just made a pact with those conditions. Whatever, as long as I stay within the law, don't kill people, and pay taxes I won't die.” Racknar nodded again. “Also if another person discovers you, I won't exactly be there to save you. You're on your own.” Racknar finally lets go of the handshake. The demon looked at its hand and sighed. “The things we do for art.” Racknar and Elizabeth started to head out, there was no need for combat in this case. “That could have been worse.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “Yeah, we could have had to kill the entire town. Yes I know they're technically already dead but you know what I mean.” Racknar chuckled and they made their way back out of town before summoning Achilles and hopping on again. Racknar lets Elizabeth drive once again as they start their journey to the next location.