The showers had to be shared with everyone. Thankfully, they were big enough for four people to share so the strike team could wash the sewer stench off all at once. As Orbak took his armor off, thus cancelling the enchantment and returning his legs to their paralyzed state, the three mystery Elves helped maneuver him into the large stall. “Very kind of you,” he thanked them.
“Think nothing of it,” replied the plump Elf.
“You know, the other showers are full,” remarked one of the other two Elves.
“You don’t mind sharing with three women, do you?” asked the other.
“Ah, so you’re women,” mused Orbak. “Just as long as there’s no hanky-panky.”
“That dedicated to your wife?” asked the plump Elf.
“Exactly.”
“Well, no worries, we’ll be too preoccupied on getting the sewer smell off of us to even consider hanky-panky.”
“Perfect.” The Elves then started undoing their armor, helmets first. They finally revealed their faces and Orbak goggled. The plump Elf woman had short, curly, blonde hair. One of the other Elves had long, black hair with her bangs cut like a sugar bowl was used as a guide for the scissors. The other one had long, wavy, red hair. “No way!” breathed Orbak. “Moru?! Larima?! Curlandii?!”
“That’s us,” replied the black-haired Elf, Moru.
“The Three Maidens themselves joined in on this operation!” chuckled Orbak. “But why?”
“Because that rat, Skain, was my cousin,” explained the red-haired Elf, Larima. “He passed an edict saying that we NEEDED to make comedies about darker-skinned people ‘learning their place’.”
“You can guess how well we took that,” continued the blonde Elf, Curlandii.
“Besides, we make comedies where we fight the Trinnies,” said Moru. “We took some training and figured ‘what the heck, we’ll fight them for real’.”
“Why’d you hide your faces?” asked Orbak.
“Would Arsha have taken us seriously if we went to her without our masks?”
“…Fair point, she might have dismissed it out of hand. Well, your service was most welcome, ladies! If you still wish to fight, once Orbak settles things here, we’re building the Mid to Under Realmgate and taking the fight straight to Dr. Borg!”
“Your Majesty, we’d be honored!” cheered Curlandii. She ‘carelessly’ tossed the scrub brush at Moru. Moru yelped as it hit her. She grabbed Curlandii’s shoulder and turned her around so she could face her.
“Remind me to kill you later!” she growled, continuing the improv routine.
“I’ll make a note of it,” said Curlandii. She then patted her pockets. “I ain’t got a pencil!”
“Well, I changed my mind! I’m gonna do it right now!” Moru then grabbed Curlandii’s nose and then bonked it with her other fist.
“Hey, leave her alone!” called Larima.
“What are you butting in for?!” Moru extended her pointer and middle fingers and jabbed them at Larima’s eyes, but Larima blocked the eye poke. Moru then grinned. “Well, blocked me that time.” She then slapped Larima’s cheek. “Get out, you!” Curlandii then tapped Moru’s shoulder. When Moru turned to her, Curlandii waved her hand in front of Moru’s face, making her follow it. Curlandii then brought the hand up, then sharply dropped it, making Moru follow it. Larima laughed.
“You always fall for that!” she giggled. Moru then struck their bellies, then their heads.
“GO ON! GET STARTED ALREADY!” Moru grabbed their ears and dragged them to a locker so they could put their clothes in them. Orbak laughed.
“Even in times of war, you still know how to bring the funny!” he called. The Three Maidens then bowed comically, bonking their heads in the process.
Everyone in the castle finally finished their showers, reveling in being clean. Elgrad made his way to the office and looked over the reports concerning Largandra. He clicked his tongue in irritation. Skain left things in a fearful mess and Elgrad had to clean it up. He had to take down the wall, rebuild homes that were destroyed during the wall’s construction, destroy the robots within the wall, restore supply lines, get the ships moving again, and rebuild the Mid to Over and Mid to Under Realmgates. Arsha came into the office. “Hey, Daddy, did you know that those Elves that helped us were actually the Three Maidens?” she asked.
“Yeah, Orbak told me about that when he was brought to a wheelchair by them,” answered Elgrad. Arsha then saw the reports.
“Oh, Sweet Ones! Look at this mess!”
“My sentiments exactly. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Need any help?”
“…Now that you mention it, I think this would be a good chance for you to try out the throne. Do you think you can handle the Kartambo situation?”
“I’ll give it a good try.” Just then, the comms buzzed. Elgrad took the call.
“Go ahead,” he directed.
“It’s Lardeth, Your Majesty,” introduced the caller.
“Your lover’s in the room with me.”
“Hey, Princess!” called Arsha.
“Good to hear you, Foxy,” replied Lardeth. “We just got some great news. It turns out Markulak’s defection to us inspired other robots to form the Robot Liberation Front. A good chunk of the robots at the wall are with us just outside Largandra’s borders. However, a few are staying behind until you give the order for the wall to be destroyed. They wanted to give their lives for us instead of Dr. Borg.” The two Royanas looked at each other in surprise.
“Markulak’s more effective than I thought!” muttered Arsha.
“Tell them to wait for Arsha’s order,” directed Elgrad. “She’s got to get a handle on Kartambo right now.”
“Your advisor? Don’t tell me he didn’t protest Skain’s defiling of the throne!”
“It looks like he encouraged it for his own gains,” answered Arsha. “He was gonna publicly embarrass Skain and then take the throne, then have Largandra pledge fealty to the Trinnies. Only then would the wall come down.”
“Well, the Robot Liberation Front’s more than happy to upend that scheme. We’ve gotten everyone away from the wall, so the debris won’t hurt any civilians.”
“Good,” praised Elgrad. “We’ll give the signal for the robots inside to detonate the wall. Elgrad out.” He ended the call.
“And I just came up with an ultimatum for Kartambo,” chuckled Arsha.
“Can’t wait to see how you handle Mid-realm affairs!” said Elgrad. He then hugged Arsha.
“Daddy!” mumbled Arsha. She didn’t resist it, though. She simply hugged back.