Abigail
"Me
?!
"
I asked, staring at Doll like she'd grown a second head. Which, to be frank, would have been more believable in my opinion. I mean, why
couldn't
the fucking divine creation grow a second skull? It would make a hell of a lot more sense than putting
me
in charge! "I don't know how to... do anything you do! I don't even know what it
is
!
"
"Managing territory, largely," Doll replied calmly, clearly neither phased nor surprised at my outburst. "As well as acting as a bridge between the other Generals and the Demon Queen, of course. It's the latter role that makes me think of you in particular, though I do believe you could learn to manage all aspects of the job with proper training."
"Maybe," I reluctantly agreed. "With
training.
But there's gotta be better women than me for the job! You know, people who've been trained all their lives to deal with this shit? Like the bloodliners? Why would they even
listen
to a 'red blood' like me?"
"Because you have the queen's ear," Doll replied. "And because, for all their training, nobody else has managed to get it. Most didn't even try - they'd written her off years ago at this point. Yet now there's you.- an unknown stranger with the Queen's ear. Arguably the most influential person in the tower aside from the Queen herself, and the most
dangerous
as well if left 'uncontrolled.'"
"So what?" I demanded. "You wanna
control
me, now?"
"No," Doll said, shaking her head. "Though I wouldn't mind if the others
thought
that way. At least until you learn enough to control
them."
"Right, because
that's
a possibility. I bet they won't even listen to me!"
"Not at first," Doll agreed. "But with Devilla's backing, you can
make them
.
"
"I'm not sure I really like the sound of that," Devilla muttered from the sidelines.
"Which is exactly why you're unfit to rule," Doll declared. "You'd rather seek the approval of others than demand it. That is arguably a fine quality in a person, but not so great in a leader who needs to bring the other nine unruly Generals to heel. Or eight, if you follow my plan and select Abigail as the one to lead."
"Something I still haven't agreed to!" I pointed out. "I mean, what do
I
even get out of this? It sounds like one big headache to me."
"More like a series of moderate headaches," Doll replied. "None of which will be impossible for us to navigate together. And as for what you get... how about enough political standing to marry the Queen without drawing the ire of every bloodline in the tower?'
"That's... I'm not even thinking about marriage with her yet!" I pointed out, decidedly
not
blushing at the idea.
"But you're certainly heading in that direction," Doll countered. "And if you don't start preparing
now
then it might be too late. This opportunity in particular likely won't come again if you refuse it."
"How about we discuss it later?" Devilla suggested, probably noticing how I hesitated for a second. Not because I was actually
considering
this insane proposal, or anything, but... She did sort of have a point about this being a once in a lifetime chance. "For now I think the most important thing is to free the slime girls. With you taking over Sylvanna's duties we can surely afford a day or two before appointing her successor?"
"A day or two, perhaps," Doll agreed. "But be warned - once the opening is revealed it's only a matter of time before someone tries to claim it."
"Even knowing they'd have to deal with
me
as a consequence?" Devilla asked, arching an eyebrow.
"That might cause them
some
delay," Doll admitted, "but I wouldn't bank on it. You would be shocked at the lengths many will go for power and authority...or perhaps not given how much you've already suffered at the hands of those trying to use you for their own benefit."
"Fine. I'll tell you no in a day or two then," I interrupted, glaring at Doll. "But for now, can we
please
focus on something less ridiculous than me being head General? Like the depetrification of an entire species that's currently waiting for us?"
"As I said, there's plenty of preparations to go through before freeing the slime girls," Doll replied calmly. "That said, I'm sure Sylvanna is as eager as you, if not more... I wouldn't be surprised if she is already down there..."
"Waiting
where?"
"In the storage room where the slimes are kept, of course," Doll replied. "Come... I'll show you."
***
Devilla
***
A 'storage room.' That's what Doll called it. To me, however, it looked more like the staging room for some sort of horror production. Or perhaps the workshop of a madman? What with the multitude of statues present, each frozen in a rictus of terror. There weren't that many of them - a bit over a dozen, perhaps? - but they were all small figures. Children. Those not allowed to participate in the great merge that the slimes had gathered for.
The true masterpiece of the entire abomination, however, weren't those small statues. It was the massive orb in the center of the room, seemingly carved from smooth grey stone. It towered high above me, stretching towards the very ceiling of the tower floor.
Every inch of it was covered in faces and limbs, evidence of individual slimes trying to escape their massive meld. Too late, though - the petrification must have happened far too fast for any such escape. Not that the Heroine of the time would have allowed them escape, regardless.
