Humans Don't Make Good Familiars

Jake's POV

Later, in our squad's quarters, I found Suma and talked to her about what Sela-Car and I had discussed. "That is completely insane." Suma said. Frankly, I didn't even blame her. It kinda was. "First, it is illegal. Second, no sane individual would agree to such a thing."

"I did."

"… My response remains the same."

"… Fair. But it isn't illegal. According to Sela-Car–"

"Here we go." She shook her head.

"According to Sela-Car–" I continued, ignoring her "– it is only illegal to perform that Rite of Dominance. But this would not be the Rite, it would be forming a familiar's bond. That is perfectly legal, so long as they consent to it before."

"Even should that be true, why would you do so?"

"The special forces need a way to change the Railgun spell on the fly. Setting up magic circles on this scale would be too difficult, as far as I understood it anyway, and they would make easy targets too. Plus, according to that Neame I spoke to earlier, the one setting up the circles outside the walls, if something did happen to the circle, it would explode. Which might make a good trap, but not if it goes off when our people are standing on them."

"Perhaps, but… I doubt anyone would ever agree to this."

"It cannot hurt to at least broach the topic to anyone interested."

She shook her head and sighed, "And you want me to perform all of these bonding spells, do you not?"

"Please and thank you."

"You do realize how difficult it will be, correct? Why not perform them yourself? You know how."

"I only know how to perform simple ones for weapons. We need more complex circles, like the one on my arm."

Her wings drooped a bit, "I will perform the spells. But you must realize it will take days to perform them all. I can only perform so many at once. And there are a great number of our special forces."

"We may not have days. We should get some help."

"Perhaps the Queen can requisition some aid?"

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"Maybe we should just start, and ask the Queen for help after? Someone once said, it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

"A fool, Farnír; a fool said that."

"Probably. I'll go and talk to her then." I stood up and started walking away.

"Farnír," Suma called out.

"Yes?"

"If I am to perform so many spells… I want raisin bread."

I laughed, "Deal. If we live, I'll get the fancy kind with cinnamon." With that, I left and went to the Queen.

Queen Ompera was in her bunker, fresh out of a meeting of some kind and still followed by her normal retinue of aids. She was perched on a wooden post in a private room. I was led in by a Neame who announced my arrival and asked permission for me to enter. "Come." She declared. I walked into the room, and glanced around. My mum wasn't here, which was odd. The two had gotten rather close lately. Since Mum arrived, she seemed to always be with the Queen. "Greetings, Farnír. What has brought you here? If you are looking for your mother, she is taking rest at the moment."

"It isn't that your Majesty. I have run into a slight problem with the special forces training, and need your help… and maybe permission, with something."

"What has happened? I was under the impression that their training was going well."

"It was, but while training, we discovered that apparently, I have been unknowingly using a magic circle for many of my spells." I pulled up my sleeve to show her the circle on my arm.

"Your familiar's circle? I see. That would explain how you can cast such complex magic despite your lack of formal training. What is it exactly that you need then? Resources to create circles?"

"In a manner of speaking. I want to have the familiar's bond spell cast on the special forces. To be clear, I do not mean to Rite of Dominance. Only the bond itself." I said, trying to sound as reasonable as possible. With the exception of Suma, because of your bond, reading Neame's emotions was kinda difficult, especially when they are trying to hide them. The Queen's demeanor barely changed when I said this. The only indication of a response or that she even heard me was a slight twitch of her tailfeathers. "And only one the Neame who agree. No one would be forced into this." I added, quickly. She said nothing, so I took the opportunity to explain myself in greater depth; going into the pros and cons, and my reasoning for it all.

"Let me make sure I understand your proposal. You want to make my special forces, and their international equivalents, into your familiars… rogue familiars, might I add. Was that correct?" She asked.

"Uh, yes…?"

"I would have liked to have been consulted on this before." She said sternly.

"But, I am. I haven't done anything yet." I said confused.

She narrowed her eyes, doubting me. "You have not?"

"No."

"I see. In truth, I suspected that you had already begun, and were here to ask for permission retroactively. Or perhaps beg forgiveness for already starting." I started to sweat a little.

"I would never, your Majesty." I lied.

"I'm sure…" She lied. "Anyway, I grant you permission to perform the bonding spell on any Neame who consents. However, this only applies to the Drakes. For the forces of the other nations, I will seek permission from Chancellor Aye-Aron on your behalf. As for King Hidra, he attends you classes, does he not? You should speak with him personally. But be sure to be respectful. This is an odd request, after all."

"Thank you, your Majesty. I shall take my leave now."

"Farnír, I do have one condition." She said.

"Oh? Of course, Queen Ompera. Anything."

"You must spend more time with your mother. She worries."