"It occurs to me that a lesser conquest might make a good testing ground for the resources and strategies involved in taking over the Queenscourt, under some circumstances."

"My suspicion is I'd rather be caught by the Queen than by Thorn."

"Plausible. The effectiveness and advisability of testing this way depends on what your resources and strategies are."

"Bizarre mortal magic. Tea."

"I don't know much about bizarre mortal magic, but I have a high opinion of Tea's competence and effectiveness."

"Well, the aura of drunk harmonics is new."

"What a charming description."

"Speaking of which, do you happen to know why it's reputed to be impossible to do sorcery in the mortal world? It seems to be news to you too that this is false."

"I've seen gates before. The locations they led to were impossible to do sorcery in, as far as I could tell without going through to try it personally. Compared to the intense harmonic noise they displayed, Tea's disruptive aura is positively sedate."

"Huh."

"Returning to the subject of the Queen's flawed governance, in what other ways do you expect to do better than it?"

"Having avoided attracting her attention since I started I don't have a lot of details on how she actually runs things but if books are anything to go by I am infinitely more opposed to torture. Speaking of which, the phrasing 'you may without extraneous action or violent motion assume and remain in a sitting position' is probably fine."

"I can offer you plenty of information about how the Queen runs things. And I agree with your assessment of that order."

Tea repeats the order.

And now Arcane is sitting up with his wings neatly folded instead of all over the floor.

"I'd be fascinated to know what you have to say about how the Queen runs things."

"She is extremely effective at enforcing only and exactly the sort of good behaviour she cares about while leaving people otherwise free. There are some prisoners kept in conditions such as eternally drowning in a bowl of water, and she sometimes uses torture as a deterrent to bad behaviour, but she does not use torture for entertainment or encourage her vassals to do so. She is very standoffish even with highly valued vassals."

"Why is someone eternally drowning?"

"That is the sort of thing that happens when one personally upsets the Queen to a sufficient degree."

"Aha. Bad behavior such as?"

"Well, for example, if I were to assist you in attempting to overthrow the Queenscourt this would be voluntary disloyalty from a Queenscourt member and would not be viewed kindly."

"For that matter, attempting to overthrow the Queenscourt will probably not endear you to her either."

"Well, yes, but I'm not being wedged into a choice of that or being turned into a small animal and kept in a box, am I."

"It's true, you aren't."