Lilith smiled sweetly. "We would need you to follow some rules. You see, Amaya is a rather benevolent archfey, as long as you don't harm what she considers hers."

  I nodded, I certainly had a tendency to get angry if my friends were hurt.

  Lilith continued: "You also need to know that Amaya sees her people as hers. Her soldiers, her farmers, her citizens... She does not play games with them and is rather unhappy if one gets hurt."

  "You would expect me to care for peasants?" Ashema asked.

  "I expect you to get stabbed, if you stab my people." I added, helpfully.

  "I volunteer to stab her!" Shani said. "Or more likely slice her, slicing works too, right?"

  I nodded. "Slicing is acceptable."

  "Amaya has plans in the mortal realms, and so do I." Lilith said. "That means any further action you take there needs to be approved by us. We are reasonable people, however we can't have you hinder our long term goals. Surely you understand?"

  "What kind of goals?" Ashema asked.

  "My ladies are going to take indirect control of Iron Rock and will use it to influence the realm." Lily proudly stated.

  "We are going to turn it into a city of magic and we will encourage demons, fey and mortals to mingle. Actually, any magical creature is welcome. Kitsune, dragons,..." I explained.

  Ashema's eyes widened and she looked at Lilith. "You are going to lure the mortals into one city with the promise of magic, then you will bind them to your succubi and fey."

  "Now now, we are not binding anyone. We just encourage them to mingle. Who would not want a succubus or fey friend?" Lilith wondered.

  "I have to admit my perception of demons has changed a lot since I met Lily." Lucy admitted. "Then again, my perception of everything changed since I met Amaya."

  Ashema pondered that for a while. "I see. I can respect your efforts and perhaps even offer my help? If there are any opposed to your policies I can make people disappear."

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  I narrowed my eyes.

  "Only with your explicit approval! I could offer you agents under your direct command!" She added, hastily.

  "I am not a fan of using assassins." I stated.

  "They don't have to be assassins." Lilith said. "Ashema's demons are masters of shadow magic, they could be hidden bodyguards, or spies. They could collect incriminating evidence. My succubi are great at infiltration but her agents are better at pure stealth."

  "You do make a good point." I agreed.

  "But we are also generous to those on our side." Lilith stated. "If you work with us, under our rules, you will get access to the mortal realm. As long as you do not go against our goals, or cause needless harm. The mortal realm is full of opportunities."

  I was not sure if I trusted Ashema not to cause harm but I was willing to let Lilith lead the negotiations. I could always snackify Ashema if she stepped out of line.

  Lilith continued: "There are still agents of the former Inquisition in the mortal realm and there are still those bound by the runes. Beravis is likely compromised to some extent. Your agents could be useful at hunting them down and we could offer you some payment for every enslaved you bring to us, so we can free them."

  "Oh, that is a good idea." I agreed.

  "Can I join the hunt?" Shani asked.

  "Uh, you are not really subtle. But you can go in if they find a big cell and they need some backup." I said.

  "Hm. Intriguing." Ashema commented. "What if I offered certain services to the mortals? Could I run an assassins guild?"

  "As long as you are not targeting our people I do not think there would be an issue." Lilith replied.

  "We would need some rules." I interjected. "You will refrain from targeting kids, for example. If mortals want to hire you to kill other mortals I am not going to stop it, as long as you are not hurting our people. But you need to have some standards and some morals."

  "I believe I can work with that." Ashema agreed.

  "What about food?" Lucy asked.

  "Food?" I wondered.

  "Do you have any delicacies, Ashema? Anything we really need to try? I bet there are special shadow plants, or something." Lucy said.

  "I do have excellent tea, I suppose." Ashema replied.

  "The tea is great." Meluza added. "They also have shadow grapes here."

  "Oh yeah, any deal should certainly include trade, especially when it comes to food. Good call, Lucy." I said.

  "That can be arranged." Ashema agreed.

  "What about Pazuzu?" Meluza asked.

  "Was he a part of this whole abduction thing?" I looked at Ashema.

  "I… I would have reached a deal with him, if you had lost the battle. He is very interested in Meluza and since I did not join Abaddon I would have needed some backup if his faction had won." Ashema replied.

  "You should not have underestimated my ladies." Lily stated.

  "True, however I did not know enough about Amaya, or any of you. Even Lilith, your rise came quickly and you had far more control over your powers than I had anticipated. I did the sensible thing." Ashema defended herself.

  "Maybe we should feed Pazuzu to Haruka." I suggested.

  "Or we simply inform him that any further aggression will lead to his annihilation, then we let him continue. He does keep some of the wild demons in check and we do not need to spend more resources hunting him down." Lilith proposed.

  "I guess…" I reluctantly agreed.

  "Splendid! Why don't we formalise a deal, Ashema." Lilith said, with a sweet smile.