AN: The next chapter is turning out to be rather long, so you get another APGt Administration chapter to help me feel like progress is being made. 
Anyway, please don't spoil stuff for canon! When in doubt, spoiler-tag it. [Ispoiler](Text)[/ispoiler] is your friend.
The Dread Empire of Praes' current Black Knight, Amadeus, was having an unusually productive and peaceful day with no noteworthy crises looming. That state of affairs automatically made him suspicious and wary. To become Named was to assume a role in the overarching story of Evil versus Good. That story abhorred a vacuum; if a day appeared as though it would pass without any problems, Creation would
make problems. Even if it was something as minor as a fight between subordinates or tearing one's shirt and being ogled by passerby,
something would happen.
Amadeus found himself relieved when a runner from Wekesa, the Warlock, requested Lord Black's presence
'At his earliest convenience.' That phrasing implied that the planned reintroduction of Masego to Creation had not gone as intended, but not disastrously so. The Black Knight took the time to finish the current chapter of a pre-Conquest Callowan fairy tale before setting out at a carefully unhurried pace.
As always, passing through the layered defensive wards leading into Warlock's tower let the Black Knight feel as though he was passing through a thin veil of water. Amadeus knew from cleanup reports that any true intruders would burst into flames before even managing to cross the threshold. Those who managed to survive and sidestep that particular defense would find even less pleasant fates waiting for them. Warlock's Name seemed particularly suited for horrifying defenses; the more terrible the fate, the easier it was for him to implement.
Amadeus hadn't been expecting what Wekesa wished to show him, though. The Warlock's adopted son, Masego, was nowhere to be seen and was presumably still in the artificial demiplane Wekesa had painstakingly placed between Creation, or the twisted chessboard of the gods, and Arcadia, the ephemeral realm of the fae. Amadeus wouldn't pretend to understand all the details; without the gift of magic, he was physically incapable of doing so.
However, that wasn't to say Wekesa's chosen laboratory was utterly devoid of children. A wide-eyed slip of a Callowan child — not even ten years of age, the Black Knight guessed — sat within a web of faintly glowing runes that Warlock continued tinkering with even as Amadeus walked in. Amadeus didn't recognize the exact array, but the red barrier formed by the arcane designs indicated it was obviously some manner of prison.
The disproportionately large presence of the girl herself immediately let Amadeus identify her as a would-be heroine — and more importantly, one seemingly as powerful as the Shining Prince killed during the Conquest of Callow. Or
probably a heroine, at least. Those strengthened by the Gods Below seldom appeared at such a young age; it took a certain strength of will to grasp for one of Below's names and hold it against all challengers. In contrast, the Gods Above empowered those who'd shown themselves useful.
The overall result was that there were far more child-heroes than there were villainous counterparts. Amadeus always found it ironic that those who complained the most about killing children happened to be the same side that fielded more of them. As always, the sheer hypocrisy of heroes was
infuriating.
"Child or not, you should know that caging a heroine is borderline madness," Amadeus noted aloud. "What justifies such an action?"
Wekesa opened his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by the Named herself. Unusual, that; if a heroic prisoner truly needed to be kept alive, then either unconsciousness or magically-enforced silence would be a necessity. Amadeus himself had to resist the urge to skewer the presumed heroine with a spear of shadows. Letting someone with such weighty words speak was seldom a good idea.
"It's closer to fencing than a proper prison," the girl answered in a monotone.
"The barrier is vulnerable to overwhelming amounts of energy or force. The orders also have yet to be properly identity-locked; minor modifications by the contained could release the energy as a damaging surge in one or more directions."
Amadeus paused and quirked a questioning eyebrow at Wekesa. Mind control wasn't something Warlock usually dabbled in; it had a tendency to fail at the most inconvenient times possible. Was that just how the girl spoke, then? It wouldn't be anywhere near the strangest quirk Amadeus had seen among Named.
"She appeared in Masego's nursery without tripping any of the wards," Wekesa informed him, obviously irritated by both the girl and her interruption. "They
still haven't detected her and I do not wish for her eradication when they do. The array is to ensure she
remains alive."
Amadeus did have to admit that was a fairly good justification. Children making stupid decisions and paying the price was a tale almost as old as the gods themselves and rather neatly sidestepped the usual problems with keeping Named prisoner. As long as she wasn't kept inside for more than a few hours and they didn't plot her demise, Creation should accept the excuse without any problems. Assuming the girl herself didn't interfere, at least, and
that was an assumption Amadeus had long since learned to reject. Still, better to risk one threat and learn of others than to kill the girl outright and never learn of any. The Dread Empire was overdue for a major (attempt at a) setback.
However, that didn't stop Amadeus from readying an attack the moment the girl turned wide brown eyes upon him.
"Black Knight is too narrow of a Concept to last indefinitely," she told him.
"Consider switching to 'Black' or 'Knight' instead. You can include the warrior, morality, and light-based aspects as needed."
Wekesa ignored the child with the ease of one used to ignoring wailing experimental subjects, shrieking devils, and screaming devilish experimental subjects. Amadeus was not so reckless; children often made sense, if only to themselves, and one with as much weight as this girl would be nudging Fate down certain paths with every word she spoke. He wouldn't be surprised if she had a Name specifically devoted to
'predicting' the future — or, more accurately, forcing it to comply. Above was all too fond of insulting interventions and trying to steal a fight long after it'd clearly been lost.
Bastards.
"She can't tell the difference between Creation, my Tower, and Masego's nursery," Wekesa said shortly. "As you can see, the rest seems nonsensical and she refuses to tell me her Name."
"Correction: My name is Taylor Hebert," the child rebuked.
"That was the fourth time I have told you, Warlock, and the first time I have informed Black Knight. Supplementary information: The laws of your simulacrum seem to have enough errors to introduce minor inconsistencies. I recommend using real phenomena to calibrate it and locate any errors."
Wekesa looked up from his work and glared at the girl.
"I know my tower doesn't obey the same rules as Creation itself, child," Wekesa growled. "Part of the
point is to determine what properties are a construction of Creation and which simply
exist. I would thank you not to criticize my work without knowing what I intend."
Harsh tone or not, the fact that Wekesa was answering at all was rather telling. His patience for those he considered imbeciles was all-but nonexistent. Even if he hadn't expressly said anything, the fact that he'd sent for Amadeus also indicated Warlock wanted help determining what to do with her. Oh, they'd probably still need to kill her — turning a child to Evil seldom lasted more than a few years, and their near-inevitable return to the Gods Above tended to leave villains dead — but it was possible she wasn't truly a heroine after all or her mindset would allow a more permanent conversion. Unlikely, of course, but not
impossible. Amadeus assumed a patient expression and kneeled just outside the outermost ring of runes.
"You might know
'Names' by another word," Amadeus began kindly. "Bestowals, Damnations—"
"My Concept?" the girl interrupted.
"I already told Warlock. It's not my fault the simulacrum doesn't seem to allow large information transfers."
"You
screeched at me," Warlock said tartly. "I'd hardly call that an answer. I am Warlock and you're perfectly capable of saying
that Name without issues. Stop acting like an imbecile and tell us your own."
The girl blinked twice.
"Oh, you mean in human-speech. I believe I attached my identity tag to even that; you may need to fix your simulacrum or receivers. I am Queen Administrator."
Wekesa's movements stuttered while the clockwork machinery of Amadeus's Name and mind began working in earnest. That wasn't a Name either of them recognized, Black Knight was sure, but Callow hadn't exactly been successfully conquered before. The Gods Above usually placed a hand on the scale to support their minions, but they might be willing to
step on the scale to undo the conquest of one of the foremost bastions of Good on the continent of Calernia. Amadeus would've been willing to swear that he'd systematically slain every last Fairfax and everyone who could possibly have a claim to their throne, yet Queen Administrator's obvious Callowan ancestry and the
Queen part of her Name both indicated the existence of a story saying otherwise. A long-lost bastard from generations past, perhaps.
That didn't feel quite
right, though. Queen or not, Named or not, she'd wandered into the capital of the Dread Empire of Praes without any visible discomfort whatsoever and Amadeus was still confident he could kill her without too much trouble. Her Name might be heavy, but it wasn't a focused sort of weight; she couldn't have had the Name for very long. Amadeus's entire career had shown the superiority of carefully applied power over brute force. A weapon was useless if its wielder used it recklessly.
Was it meddling by the Gods Below, then? An attempt to make their claim on Callow
'official' by introducing some manner of monarch? The Tower and Dread Empress of Praes would not appreciate the competition, Amadeus was sure, and it wasn't as though Callow was inexperienced with rebellions against false monarchs. Installing a puppet would be begging for trouble.
"I believe politeness obligates me to say it is a pleasure to meet you," Queen Administrator added.
"But it hasn't. Masego was more fun; can I go back to discussing simulation mechanics with him? It was much more interesting than finding more holes in Warlock's fence. It needs improvement."
Amadeus almost expected Queen Administrator to die then and there. Warlock's
specialty was warding. Hearing a slip of a child insult his works was the sort of thing he'd casually kill their caretakers for.
"The mere possibility of subordination is not a
flaw," Wekesa snapped. "Usurpation is the essence of sorcery. The nature of reality ensures we cannot stake a claim without also allowing others a chance to make claims of their own. Most practitioners have not a
tenth of your power; that array is more than adequate to hold them and I'm already aware it couldn't contain you."
Queen Administrator rather neatly demonstrated a lack of mind control by pouting. Apparently, the emotionlessness was just her default state of being.
"But I'm booooored," she whined.
"At least Masego listened to me when I told him how to improve his works. You just get obstinate."
Amadeus decided to intervene again before Warlock felt it necessary to strangle the child with his bare hands. The promise of a possible asset could only carry one so far.
"If you wish to demonstrate your knowledge, perhaps you could start with why his wards don't recognize you?" Amadeus suggested. "If you'll recall, that
is why he needs to keep you in there."
Queen Administrator's pout faded back into the kind of impassive visage Black Knight often wore himself.
"My leading hypothesis is one or more errors in your simulation," Queen Administrator informed them.
"It seems capable of recognizing my existence, yet my identification is beyond its apparent limitations for information conveyance. This limitation ensures that targeted variables cannot establish a lock. The current 'ward' demonstrates that effects targeting an area without specifically targeting me will continue to work properly."
The girl paused and tilted her head to one side.
"This is your simulation, isn't it?" Queen Administrator questioned.
"I apologize if I've been giving you feedback you can't act upon. I'd assumed Warlock made the current simulacrum, yet it seems to be missing a maker's mark."
Wekesa slowed to a stop and exchanged a look with Amadeus. Whatever she meant seemed to make sense to
her, but the longer they picked at it, the more clueless they would seem and the better her chances of escaping or even defeating them in any conflict. Best to just eavesdrop on someone else as they tried learning what she knew.
"Instead of risking you stepping out, why don't we bring Masego in here?" Wekesa suggested.
Queen Administrator instantly brightened.
"That would probably be best. I'm still working on determining all the effects of local errors, but with his help, we could make Friends together!"
Amadeus made a mental note to have a few prisoners brought somewhere nearby; the emphasis on the word
'Friend' made it sound more like mind control. Villainously inclined mages were infamous for acting first and never having second thoughts, so it was best to have them practice on acceptable targets instead of whoever was closest.
…He should probably arrange to move the reserves of goblinfire out of the city, too. The last thing they needed was for Queen Administrator to try to see how the
'simulacrum' held up to magic-eating fire incapable of being doused until seven days had passed. Amadeus's work with the orphanages of Callow had made him well aware of how much children seemed to enjoy playing with fire;
special fire might be too much to resist. It would be better to just remove the temptation entirely.
