After eating their meal in a far more peaceful atmosphere than Lydia had expected, they continued their conversation.
"I heard people say that this last war was our chance to take back our lands. It's been ongoing for a year now and the people's faith in General Obadiah is dwindling." She further explained.
"Now that I say it, I think Duke Festus Obadiah is the same General Obadiah I had heard of."
"That explains why he spake of Azroth being in desperate need of my leadership." The beast murmured. "For a war that may change the fate of Azroth, why doth the emperor himself not lead it?" He did not have time to ask Obadiah these things after he was freed because they were in a hurry to make it to the witch.
"Ah, I do not know the matters of the court but from what I've heard in the market, the people call the emperor a weasel. They say he is the kind of emperor who only feasts, and dines in the comfort of women in the palace. All he does is issue orders. Of course, the words of the villagers cannot be trusted, it could be untrue words coming from bittered hearts."
"Nay, those words soundeth true. Obadiah spake likewise when he did set me free. To think my Empire hath fallen unto the hands of such a man as ruler. It is no wonder the northerners would dare covet my Azroth."
Lydia saw how he spoke about the empire and saw that he valued it indeed. Maybe the savior the empire needed was really this beast.
"Indeed." She says and rose from her seat. "I beg Your Majesty's permission to turn in for the night. All the grinding I did today will tell on my shoulders if I do not get some good night's rest." She says and he nods, indicating that she could do as she pleased.
"Good Night Sire." She says and walked towards the door to the basement where she had turned to her abode for the night. As she reached the door, she paused and stared at him.
"Oh, Sire, The empire has long stopped being called Azroth. It was renamed after the death or disappearance of the one who united it. It is now known as Cazroth." With those words she disappeared into the basement.
The beast stayed up after she turned in for the night, and he kept muttering the name in his head, "Cazroth."
He muttered the empire's name over and over and over again. And when he opened his lips to say it out loud, he said, "Lydia." And the thought of the warm meal she had fed him filled his head till he too lost his consciousness to sleep.
The night was still and calm, and in a cottage deep in the forest by a lake slept two beings…
A witch,
And a beast.