It was with a pang of both relief and regret that Erik and his retinue found their road taking them out from the mythical forests of the fae folk and headed for civilization. The splendor had rather been dampened by his rather mixed experiences and he was just happy to have the wheels of his metal carriage rolling along cobbled roads. Sweet, sweet evenly cut and competently constructed cobbled roads. 

The forest gave way to vast rolling hills which eventually led to fields of wheat and grain as they’d passed by many a town and village on their way. The diminutive prince found himself starting to relax at the familiar sights and sounds. It was naturally vastly different from his homeland but it was a civilization that wasn’t built around a tree. That was a bonus in his book even if it wasn’t as memorable or scenic as either the elf or fairy kingdoms. 

Of course he wasn’t here for sightseeing and a city loomed in the distance Lucius opened up his Princess Diary. He had given up on that particular battle of refuting the name, much to both Erik’s and Ryna’s amusement that it could fluster the older man. He scanned the pages of his little book before speaking up. 

“Our next visit is with her Grace, Duchess Iona Vastar, mistress of the Duchy of Livana, the largest duchy within the Queendom of Telys. While not a royal herself, she is perhaps one of the wealthiest women in the region.” Lucius said. 

“Not a royal? Interesting. Father really reaching down for anything at this point.” The prince snorted. 

Ryna scratched her chin. “Telys isn’t a country we know much of where I come from since the forest between us and them is vast and hard to get through. A Queendom though?” She looked at Lucius curiously. 

“Yes, as opposed to a number of human nations, Telys is a matriarchal feudal nation. Family lines are traced down the women.” The man confirmed. 

Erik rolled his eyes. “Sexism is sexism, whether it’s men lording over women or women over men. The sign of a regressive society no matter which way it flips.” The prince remarked. 

Ryna tapped along her chin. “I’m inclined to agree, however it's easier to say than put into practice. Our country is nominally egalitarian but for years it was the case no woman could hold a sword. While it's illegal to bar women from military service, the military has a number of elements that are holdovers from before Princess Silverhand took over operations.” The knight stated. 

He lifted a brow. “The difficulty of making such a society happen should not be a bar in the way to start walking along the course. Still, a fair point I suppose.” Odd, Princess Silverhand had seemed so utterly towering and strong to him. Yet because of how she was born she had difficulties in her own society. It was something he had never considered. In that vein he could see the appeal of a society ruled by women some might find. 

Whatever the case their carriage made its way through the streets of the city. There were many that gave the automated carriage a wary eye as it traveled through the urban center. Eventually they arrived at the courtyard of a rather impressive castle and Ryna offered her hand to Erik. He stepped onto the palm of the knight as both she and Lucius stepped out into the courtyard and were met by a couple of maids. They bowed their heads to them. 

“I present Prince Erik Lostrem, son of Mage-King Fredrick Lostrem of Eteria. Master of Illusionism, Vice-Director of Golem Design and Manufacture, Holder of thirteen separate patents on various inventions, and second in line for the throne of Eteria.” Lucius announced to the servants. 

“We are honored to receive his grace. Her grace, the Duchess, has requested a private audience with the prince. She has also prepared quarters for his retainers that they might rest from the trials of a long road.” One of the maids said. 

Of course she did. This was becoming old hat at this point. He looked at Lucius and then to Ryna and shrugged. “Sounds like you two get a break. Royal orders. I’ll entertain the Duchess privately.” This was at the very least a step up from the kidnapping.

“Good luck, your grace, I’m sure this time will go swimmingly!” Ryna said with a bit of optimistic enthusiasm. 

With that he was handed off to a dark haired maid and found himself carried along through the halls of the castle. Strangely enough, not a man in sight that he could see from their walking through the halls. All ladies, even the servants. What an odd place. Well he didn’t dwell on it too much and instead focused on his task at hand. He wasn’t particularly interested in marriage and honestly still just wanted to get this over with. The ironic thing is the quickest way to finish it was to just marry. His father clearly had composed the list to wear down his will. 

The maid knocked upon a fine oaken door and a voice called from within. “Enter.” 

As the door swung open Erik found himself in a room that actually looked familiar to him. An office of sorts, not unlike his own. It was rather neat and tidy with actual bookcases arrayed behind the desk. Fine art adorned the walls on either side and behind the desk itself was where his suitor for this visit sat, quill in hand with the slightest smudging of ink upon her fingers as she worked. 

She was… different. Not different so much from other humans, but in the way she looked. Every princess he had spoken with and enjoyed the company of was, by the standards of their race, a young woman. Duchess Iona was not. He would have placed her in her high thirties or early forties. She had aged rather gracefully, but the slightest signs of her maturity were clear to see on her face. Mature was indeed what sprang to his mind when he looked at her. Her blonde hair was tied back in a fancy bun and her red and black dress was quite impressive and thick. When she looked up from her work, her blue eyes met Erik’s and when their gazes met he knew immediately he was not dealing with an airhead. 

“Prince Erik Lostrem? You arrived a bit earlier than expected. Set him down on the desk and fetch some wine.” She spoke first to Erik and then to the maid who bowed and set him down. 

He stood upon the desk and looming before him was this woman. Iona finished writing whatever she was working on before setting her quill aside and taking out a handkerchief to wipe away at the slight ink stains upon her slender pale fingers. There were echoes of Princess Silverhand in how she carried herself, her movements being purposeful and it was quite clear she was a woman used to work. 

“Ah. Yes, well, the roads were kind since arriving in the Queendom. The roads are well maintained and not a single brigand set upon us.” He said.

“Yes we do rather like to keep the cockroaches firmly under their rocks around Telys.” The woman said with a chuckle. “I’m pleased you’ve found your travels here easy, Prince.” 

The woman reached for a little wooden box nearby and opened it up to reveal a rather fancy looking and long pipe. She worked with it for a moment before lighting it and taking a long drag of the device. Smoking was quite common among the Homunculi, pipes and cigars mostly, it was frankly shocking to see it here and a bit nostalgic. At least until the massive blonde exhaled and a cloud of noxious tobacco found its way over to him. He coughed and sputtered, waving his hand in front of his face as the woman leaned back in her chair. 

“When Frederick sent word he wanted to potentially match his second son with me I must admit, I was a tad surprised. While similar in age numerically you are rather… youthful. Still I’m not one to turn aside his requests.” She stated. 

“You, ack, know my father well then?” That was surprising to hear. Thus far all of the suitors seemed to know of him through correspondence but Iona spoke as though she knew him personally. 

“Oh indeed. Years back he was searching for some artifact or other in my lands. I was younger then of course. An interesting little man. Bit eccentric but I hardly hold it against him. Still it almost feels criminal for him to request you as my suitor. Tsk.” She shook her head. 

“Let me guess, not your type?” He was getting a bit of that lately. 

“Oh no, you certainly *are* my type. Small, easy on the eyes, a bit prissy even. A delightful combination. For me anyway.” She chuckled as the door to her office opened up and her maid entered. 

For whatever reason there was an ominous way she said that last bit. The maid set a wineglass down on the desk and started pouring out a ruby red liquid into it. When she finished she left the bottle at Iona’s bidding. The Duchess picked it up and took a long sip before setting it aside and offering Erik a smirk. 

“Less fortunate for you sadly, Prince.” She said as she flicked her fingers over the homunculus. 

He knew the feeling of magic taking hold of him from anywhere. She muttered some words under her breath and Erik felt a twisting feeling take hold of him. He tried to use his own magic to push back against whatever was gripping him, but the force of whatever spell Iona was using was far too great. Erik felt the world spinning around him as the two and a half inch tall prince lost his balance and fell over. 

He blinked away the blurriness in his eyes and when he looked up again he found his breath halt in his chest. Two and a half inches had rather waned, decreasing down to a mere quarter of an inch tall. The homunculus found himself staring up and up, and up further still as he looked upon the now much *much* larger form of Duchess Iona. All humans towered to some degree, but with his scale reduced to such a pitiful size Erik found the vastness of the world around him even more than normal. 

The wineglass she had set down had seemed tall compared to him. Now it seemed like a building in its own right, the gleaming class holding a lake of red wine inside of it. The expanse of her desk was a landscape in its own right and in the distance there sat the older blonde, her blue eyes possessing a light of amusement as she looked down at Erik Lostrem more than any other suitor on his journey thus far. 

“Only issue was you were perhaps a bit too big for my tastes, but that takes care of that. Consider yourself fortunate, Prince Erik Lostrem, I, Duchess Iona Vastar will accept your proposal of marriage and adoration.” The woman said with a booming chuckle. 

“B-but I haven’t proposed yet! Also, change me back right this instant!” He shouted up to the woman. 

“Details. After I’m done with you, you’ll be on your knees and begging for the opportunity to be bound to me. Also, you’re a mage of some skill aren’t you? Surely such a *simple* spell as a human like myself could cast would be no trouble for the great Erik Lostrem. Now sit still.” 

Iona’s free hand descended for his reduced form and Erik didn’t hesitate, he started running before finding himself upon the edge of the desk very quickly. He looked down and saw a vast drop toward the carpeted floor below. He looked back and saw her hand coming for him, having just needed a slight adjustment as he hadn’t really moved all that far comparatively. He looked down again. Logic was telling him it would be fine to jump, his durability combined with the fact falls like this were not damaging to smaller beings would ensure he would be fine. Yet his legs shaked as instinct told him it was impossibly far down. 

He schooled himself and took a deep breath before jumping just as her hand reached him, the fingers of the blonde catching open air as he plummeted toward the carpet below. He let out a scream as air blew by his body and he fell the extremely long drop to the carpet below, landing hard atop one of the fibers. He grunted from the impact but it was indeed not lethal or even enough to hurt him all that much. The reduced scale working for him here. 

A sound echoed through the sky above. A booming chuckle that sent his blood cold. “Oh Prince, you really haven’t thought this one through have you? For a race known for its intellect you’re managing a rather bug level of thinking.” 

It was when he could hear her chair being pushed back and the booming of her steps from her standing up that he reflected that maybe she was correct on that part.