Angel is already moving towards the door and says, "No time to waste. Show us to the carriage please, Mayor?"

Maverick is heading for the door also. Carla stays mounted on Lucky.

  Matt wonders if Lucky will stick his head out the carriage door window while they drive?  Obviously he goes along for the ride.

  "Well, helping the parents of a friend is definitely up there on 'things I will drop everything to do'."  Was it weird that Matt was thinking of the King and Queen as 'Adam's Parents'.

OOC: One of the only pointless trivia bits I remember from He-Man.  "Wait, Adam's Mom is a space pilot from Earth?"  Alas, I do not think we ever saw her shoot down Skeletor's things with a fighter jet at any point.

Soon the carriage is underway with everyone packed inside.  Though it is a luxury type (and armored), it wasn't really built for 7 occupants.  Fortunately, two of those occupants are small and can fit on laps, but it's still kinda cozy.  And bumpy.

Mittens is sure to "wheee!" every time there's an especially big bump.  "Don't worry overmuch about your parents, Adam.  They'll recover."

"And how long will that take?"

"Dunno."

"Didn't think so."

Angel asks Mittens, "Is the idea his parents will get better a prediction, or an educated guess?"

Maverick wiggles on Mitts' lap while Carla sits on Matt's.

  Matt multi-classes in Angel Baby handler, after all.  "For simplicities sake, I tend to assume it's just normal unless she outright states it's prophetic skewed."

"Mmm pretty sure it's prediction.  Not to sound morbid or anything, but now that we have the means to revive folks comparatively easy, if someone we care about dies of a death curse, well...  we can just revive 'em.  Most curses don't last forever, so dying might just shake it."

"You think my mom is under a curse?"

"Educated guess.  Healers can usually deal with injury and disease, so my next thought is curse."

Maverick says, "Sounds like we need to round up the spell-casters in the palace until this thing is resolved. Of course, whoever cursed her may have already gotten away, but... at the least, we shouldn't let anyone leave until it's resolved."

Angel says, "I'm sure the king would have ordered that already. But good thought."

  "I'm sure most would prefer not to die in the first place."  That and it things were getting violent and crazy around the palace, a reminder that death was cheap for Royalty but not for the subjects might not be good.

"Wild guess it wasn't a spellcaster.  If it were arcane or divine in nature, one of the arcane or divine casters in the employ of the crown would have figured it out by now.  No I think it's something more primal.  'Course I could be wrong and the conspiracy is so expansive that everyone who should be spotting the cure are in on it."

Adam just remains quiet.

Angel says, "Well it's like you said; We can resurrect dead people now. But let's not advertise that. In fact, I would say only the King and Queen should know. And to be sure they don't let it get out, we'll fill them in on the baggage that came with this crown as a result of its powers and political significance."

Maverick says, "And even then, we should only tell them if we have to use it. Until then..." he offers the crown to Carla so she can wear it for a bit, "I say the crown is just between us."

Carla smiles as she wears the crown, but gives Adam a concerned look.

  "Well, that and there's about a month before the crown can even do that again itself in the place of a royal cleric."  Maybe it was a low level kingdom, there were a lot of those.

"Yupyup!" Mits agrees with a thumbs-up.

Eventually the group is taken to the King's bedroom where the Queen is laying.  Adam's dad welcomes him with a big hug and Adam then hugs his mom.  Much catch-up is exchanged which includes introductions of Adam's new best friends who are of course thanked for helping to return Adam home safe.  It is then discovered that because of the crisis, Adam's sister and uncle have been taking care of most of the King's duties because he refuses to leave his wife's side, but with Adam's return he will be expected to pitch in too.  The group is invited to have dinner with Adam's family.  A table is set right there in the bedroom and before long Adam's sister and uncle arrive to welcome him home with more hugs.

Angel isn't shy and is more than happy to meet the acquaintance of Adam's family, though she lets Adam do all the talking. She, Carla and Maverick, of COURSE, do not decline such an invitation and gladly sit around with the bunch to eat dinner. Which is when Carla passes the crown to Angel so she can have a turn wearing it.

Finally, during dinner, Angel asks, "Is there something we can do to aid the kingdom?"

  Matt is glad that traveling so long without tables, has not destroyed his table manners.   Some people might pay extra attention to conversation for political insights.  Matt does to learn names so he has something more specific to work with than say, 'dying mom'.

  "If there is, I doubt it's my blacksmithing work that will be what is needed."

Adam introduced each family member and friend starting with Carla and ending with Maverick.  He is sure to mention something impressive about each such as Carla's being an incarnate angel or Maverick striking the finishing blow on the necromancer.  His family is awed by Adam's amazing friends.

"Thank you for your generous offer," the king answers Angel, "There is always much that can be done to help out.  From repairing horseshoes," he nods at Matt, "To leading the church in prayer," he nods to Carla.  "My daughter should be able to get you up to speed on the greatest needs of the kingdom, and it will be your choice in what way you would like to lend a hand.  You of course will be rewarded for what you have already done and for everything more you chose to do."

Mittens whees.  "Royal treatment!  Fun!"

Adam chuckles.

---

Uncle: Duncan.  Sister: Teela.  Mother: Marlena.  Father: Randor.

Meanwhile, Carla had been doing some kind of religious looking ritual over a pitcher of water. She then pours it and offers it to the queen and hands a note to Adam that reads "This is Holy Water. We will be looking into the curse."

Angel nods. "We'll try to get leads on that, yeah. Every curse has a cure. Thankfully, they are usually simple to perform. The hard part is knowing what the cure is."

Maverick says, "If we find who cursed her, we find the cure. Besides, justice demands we find the culprit."

  Holy Water, Matt's actually qualified to make that at least.  Of course, it might be like comparing name brand cereal to actual coco puffs.

  "I wonder if we will be dealing with somebody silly enough to make the curse cure specifically state driving them from the land?"

"Or slaying them," Mittens ponders with Matt.

A taste tester takes the water from the queen's hand, takes a sip, then hands it back to her before she takes a sip.  It has no visible effect on her.  Adam reads the note aloud and thanks Carla.

"Well if anyone would have more luck than our investigators it would be you all," Adam's sister admits, "As dad said, all help is welcome.  Do try and take suspects alive for questioning, please."

"Take 'em alive is standard procedure for us," Mittens boasts, "Except against zombies and ghosts.  Because they're already dead."

"What she said," Adam agrees.

"I'm sure you're quite impressive in combat, Adam," his uncle interjects, "But your duties will involve a desk more than a sword from now on."

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! Lucky thinks.  He lets out a little happy roar and glomps Adam.  As much as Adam would like a break from combat...  he wasn't looking forward to paperwork.  But he doesn't complain.

While Adam takes the taste-tester in stride, Carla looks visibly offended. However, she doesn't say anything. As usual.

Maverick says, "Enjoy your break, Adam. I don't have any such duties, though, so I'll be going to find this person and bring them to justice."

Angel looks down at Maverick. "It used to be more dangerous for you to be anywhere else besides with the group, Maverick. But now it's a lot safer for you and you don't have to come with us."

Maverick says, "I don't have to. But I choose to."

  Matt can't exactly complain that Adam will be getting murdered less often, not without being insensitive of politically suicidal (Or would that be Suicide By Politics?).

  "Just what would Adam be overlooking from his desk chair, in particular?"  Keeping your first line of succession close with a day job was likely a bigger priority for the King than dictating the appropriate threat level of... However old Maverick was boys.

Mittens begins to write a note under Carla's nose such that only she or someone reading over her shoulder could see it.

Meanwhile she answers Angel aloud.  "Under normal circumstances it would be irresponsible of Maverick's adopted mommy to allow him to join her on a potentially dangerous quest, but he's a special case.  Not only has he proven to be more combat capable than most men by now, but I happen to know that without the experience he will gain as part of this team he will not survive into adulthood.  But with us not only will he survive, he'll become an even more capable hero than he already is."

Her note to Carla reads, "It would be a breach of honor for a taste tester to make an exception in anyone's case, even by not testing a drink given her by Adam.  If he didn't test absolutely everything, all a villain would have to do to poison the queen would be to disguise himself as someone she trusts.  Like Tikulti did to Yeraa.  We were all fooled by his deception."

Adam's sis answers Matt with a smirk that shows she's getting a kick out of her brother's being saddled with desk duty.  "Project assessment overview.  Division supervision progress report.  Reallocation revisions, budget oversight, revenue auditing, diplomatic letter response, judgement oversight.  The whole gamut."

Adam puts on a blank, jaded face.  This would be why I left home in search of adventure.

I'd offer to help, but I can't write, Lucky thinks, trying not to laugh.

Angel nods at Mittens, then looks back to the King. "I guess this means we'll have to say goodbye to Adam and Lucky. For now, anyway. The sooner we get to looking into things, the better."

Carla seems satisfied by Mittens' answer. In so far as a soundless sigh and relenting nod is satisfied. Then at what Angel says, Carla goes to hug Lucky, then heads to Adam, holding her arms up.

Maverick hugs Lucky, then gives Adam a forearm handshake.

To the list of things given Adam, Angel says, "If it makes you feel better, I'll be willing to help you with ALL of that when we get back."

  At the bureaucracy rundown, Matt comments "I'd ask which project and division, but I suspect the answer is 'all of them'."  Sounded more involved than running an inventory on nails and horseshoes.

  He looks over to Angel, but refrains from commenting on her enthusiasm for learning just how much money was in the royal budget.

Mits smiles that she was able to cheer up Carla a little and blows her a kiss.  Adam kneels down to hug Carla and returns the handshake.  Lucky too returns the goodbyes and is sure to herd Angel into the hugging as well.

"All of them is right," Adam's sis answers Matt.  She nods to Angel and says, "Unfortunately this kind of work cannot be delegated.  I I'm sure he would accept your offer if he could."

The group is eventually led to the guest suite.  It has it's own kitchen, dining area, living room, and eight bedrooms.  The servant that led them is a Kenku, and just stands by silently.

Angel glances around at the suite, then at her allies. "...these quarters sure are nice. So is it weird that I feel no more safe here than in the middle of a haunted cave? Common sense would dictate we're as safe as possible, inside a palace with royal guard who all happen to serve a close friend of ours. But I guess after being attacked so much, then seeing our dead enemies come back at us as undead, then seeing our *friends* attack us, it's kind of hard to feel safe anywhere anymore."

Angel flops her back against a wall. "I mean.. for what it's worth, I have always felt this way. But now I at least have you bunch and feel safer with you all around. But that said, I don't know that I can sleep alone anymore. I wonder if we'll all have post traumatic stress disorder."

Maverick asks, "What's post-a-matic stressed order?"

Angel says, "Post traumatic stress disorder; When a soldier comes back from war, they wind up jumpy for the rest of their lives. Certain sounds or sights activate bad memories, taking them back to the most terrifying parts of the war they thought they left behind."