Chapter 58: Negotiations

Where were they? Sapphire had rounded the corner with Herron to find an empty Grand hall and a quick check confirmed they weren't in the greeting hall either. She walked up to the edge as confidently as she could manage, peering down. There they were, three dragons and more than a dozen dragonettes, all standing opposite Nunuk with the others all lined up behind her in rank and file.

She trotted back to where Tom was hiding inside.

“They’re down below, stay here we will come get you, or all come up here, okay? So stay out of sight just for now.”

“I’ll go hide” Tom replied in an annoyed tone. She felt almost like kids trying to trick the adults, but if anyone knew how to hide it was Tom. Even if he had once again been made as unstealthy as possible and he didn’t seem thrilled by the prospect.

Sapphire and Herron walked out onto the platform looking as stately as they could manage before dropping off the ledge taking to the wing circling down to where the others were discussing.

Sapphire hadn’t seen a dragon of the royal guard since she was in the capitol 5 years ago and this was no young recruit like Jarix. It was in fact a huge red dragon, heavy-set, barrel-chested multiple scars, and even some fairly nasty-looking old injuries. It had spines missing and a cracked and broken left horn to boot.

It was wearing more armor than she had ever seen on a dragon and it was beautifully decorated. If that was enchanted armor it was likely worth more than the keep. On its back, over its haunches, was mounted a single light ballista as well, pointed rearward. She had heard of the practice for use against a chasing target.

His escorts were also all royal-guard both male and female. They were clad in various kinds of armor and all held different weapons, in fact, they seemed like a rather varied bunch. Looking at the shoulder markings though. It couldn't be… What was a full squad of veterans doing here!? That was insanity.

And that dragon. Sapphire had never seen a dragon look old before, nor did this one. But it was covered in scarring and the closer she looked the more she found. He had to be a veteran of countless battles and possibly centuries of service!

She wasn’t sure if she was excited to meet them or sour at the fact they had rejected her way back when. She was definitely scared of why they were here though. If they were about to defend the killing of a traitor against someone who could bring an escort of royal guard veterans out here, this might be a very bad day.

The residents of the keep were lined up behind Nunuk standing at attention. Even the kids were there, all crowded around Apuma, who was actually standing with his back straight for once.

She touched down alongside Herron with as much grace as she could manage, walking to join the line beside Jackalope.

“I see tardiness is another quality of your subjects, Bizmati” The lead robed figure spat out with evident distaste. “You didn’t even have a welcoming committee and then you proceed to come dropping in willy nilly. Disgraceful.”

“And terrible manners one found in yours. Not to mention bad memory” Nunuk retorded unfazed.

“And what do you mean by that, might I ask?”

“You failed to roll out your flag. How were we supposed to welcome strangers?”

“Perhaps your scouts are about as useless as yourself. We arrived under flag as per protocol.” the robed figures replied lifting her snout and looking to the side.

Jackalope leaned over to whisper to Sapphire ”Like hell they did.”

“Anyway your inadequacies aside. Do you expect me to believe that my cousin Dashu, who has served as a trained member of the citizen’s militia, member of the Free trader’s and long-serving escort of said traders betrayed all of his oaths and aided a DARK KNIGHT in entering your keep?” Long-serving my arse Sapphire thought to herself. From what Vulzan said he had been with them for a few years and the guy hadn’t even turned thirty yet.

Sapphire studied the robed figure as best she could, it would appear to be a woman even if she was a little on the small side, but her temper betrayed the truth. She wasn’t wearing any weapons, at least not openly. Her robes were fine white silk with silver and blue trimmings bearing embroidered symbols Sapphire didn't recognize. Her horns had silver plating hammered over them at the tips with gold chain and jewelry hanging from them. She looked stinking rich.

“As I stated he was originally deceived into thinking he was dealing with mere common scum and villainy. Only following the first battle did he become aware darklings were involved. Following that encounter, threats, and promises of revenge should he not do as ordered, combined with his weak spine, made him cooperate.”

“Preposterous! He...”

“During his trial, he stated he feared for the safety of his family. Judging by the escort you brought along perhaps he was even dumber than we thought. Or are you in fact incapable of defending your family?” Nunuk was clearly not taking shit from anyone today. Sapphire did wonder whether that was a smart move in this situation though.

“A trial held where his defender was the one he was supposed to have betrayed. That is no trial, Bizmati, that is a travesty!”

“It’s hard to find impartial parties when you betrayed everyone within a day's flight.” Nunuk retorted in a forced calm.

“Then why would you proceed with such a trial. Have you no concept of fairness in law!?” The woman gave no such courtesy, it was perfectly clear she was absolutely furious.

“We had everything we needed to condemn him. He confessed to his crimes, we found evidence he had been communicating with the enemy, and it explained the enemies actions perfectly.”

“What is this evidence you speak of? I want to see it immediately and how did you manage to make him confess? He had no reason to give you a confession!”

Nunuk snapped her fingers and Rachuck came up with the earrings and the helmet of the Litch plate.

“This is a set of enchanted earrings that allow for communication. My husband tested them himself, they are not cursed and are indeed still functional. Here is the helmet of the knight in question and his sword. The sword is indeed cursed, so please be careful.” Nunuk was trying to sound cordial, Sapphire though could hear the contempt clear as day.

The lead armored figure came up to take the helmet. She was a little shorter than Jackalope, but still an imposing figure. Her armor was silver trimmed with three golden bands on her shoulders marking her as a colonel.

Sapphire leaned over to Jackalope “What in the god’s will is a colonel doing out here?”

Jackalope just shrugged “How the fuck should I know. I didn't even know she was a colonel”

“I must say fighting off an attack of this size after they breached your gates is quite a feat, not to mention you only took a single casualty. How did you manage such a thing?” Her voice was calm but inquisitive. The colonel pointed to Vulzan and Tyborg “From their account you have a very powerful warrior amongst your number. Where is he?”

“Tom is currently waiting for us to make our proper acquaintance. He is not of our kind, so we thought it best to avoid any misunderstandings.” Nunuk Replied in a much more respectful tone bowing her head slightly.

“You're hiding the means to attack us! The arrogance of such an action!” A male robed figure shouted out.

The colonel just sighed. “Lady Bizmati would you mind getting him down here so all parties may have peace of mind” Well at least the colonel didn't seem like an angry arsehole. In fact, she sounded a bit annoyed if anything. That likely meant she was here under orders rather than of her free will. That was honestly even scarier to Sapphire.

“Jackalope would you mind?” Nunuk went, turning back to them.

“Yes, ma’am, right away” Jarix did seem to take an interest in that as his head turned to follow Jacky as she departed.

“He can’t even fly? What sort of man is he?” The angry woman spat out.

“No he can’t and to address the earlier screaming, Tom is a dangerous fighter, but I hardly think he’s capable of downing a truly legendary dragon and a squad of veterans like what you seemed to think necessary to bring to visit a frontier keep.” Nunuk sounded more than a bit condescending, it was a good point though. This was a terrible waste of veteran warriors that could surely have been put to better use elsewhere and did she know the dragon?

“A frontier keep that had possibly fallen to corruption and one can never be too careful. You never know what might be hiding out here.” Had Jackalope still been there Sapphire would have expected her to call the robed woman a coward. And what did she mean fallen to corruption?

“I assure you we're very much still here and doing just fine. There have been no attacks since Vulzan's departure.” Apuma tried, sounding as diplomatic as he could manage. Head bowed low.

“You expect that to reassure me, if you had already fallen, darklings wouldn’t need to knock now would they?” The sheer arrogance of that insult. To insinuate they had fallen to corruption while standing in front of her, Sapphire felt her fist clench up involuntarily.

“Are you accusing me and my keep of being lacking in purity? Sapphire met the unicorn Kalestine not even two weeks ago, as did Tom in fact, and a further three of my number. Do you think the great Kalestine would not have done something if we had turned?” Nunuk stated with a fair amount of malice in her voice.

That sparked a discussion on who had just insulted the will of a unicorn with those statements, which carried on for a bit till the colonel seemingly got tired of listening to it.

“Not to interrupt the shouting match but was this you Lady Bizmati?” The colonel held up the helmet showing the dent where Tom’s revolver had bounced off.

“No that was Tom’s doing, he was the one who downed the cursed creature in the end,” Nunuk replied. The colonel turning back to inspect the damage with a curious look on her face.

“Speaking of the devil” Vulzan went, in a clearly forced optimistic tone, looking up at Jackalope coming into land.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Right, so he had been left in an empty keep once again dressed up like a drag queen knight, except now he was without his boots too and his feet needed a bath. He had found a window slit that overlocked the proceedings below and they appeared to still be discussing. He sighed looking down at himself, he looked like a clown and he was supposed to meet some, apparently, very important people.

Perhaps he had some time to make a few final adjustments. Well first of his cape. Sapphire had wanted it plain white, but he had a better idea. They did use their blood to dye things so by his deductions, he should be using red anyway.

One quick memory challenge later he was draped in one of the oldest flags still in service complete with gold embroidered Danish royal insignia because fuck procedure. He looked more like a rich football fan in his eyes but there was no way they could complain about this, and more importantly, he didn't look like a human pretending to be a dragonette.

A quick sprint down to his stuff and some digging yielded his old rank tabs and insignia. With the pauldrons it couldn’t go on the sleeves, so the vest would do. It wasn’t like proper procedure mattered anyway, wearing these again was technically illegal. He slapped them on. If these were military people it might help a bit.

He pondered switching out his tiara thing for his battered helmet. Shiva had managed to straighten everything out, but the paint was still chipped and cracked though. He elected to keep the tiara and the jewelry. Surely it was there for a reason following the debacle of getting it.

As he looked through his things he cursed his already cold feet. He had even had his boots modified so they would be more appropriate. He had a pair of sandals with him though, those might do. As he was going to put them on he heard Jackalope shout out from above.

“Where the fuck are you hiding, come on the bitch wants to see you.” Okay, that wasn’t entirely how Tom had expected to have their guests described.

He got on the sandals in a hurry and made his way up the stairs again. “Coming”

He made it up the stairs to see Jackalope pacing back and forth.

“Why did you hide in the basement and what is that?” She went pointing at him.

“Me” he replied, spreading his arms out.

“Funny. Heads up the lead lady in the robes is a bitch and likely out to get us, so be nice. Oh and the one in armor is a colonel so don’t insult her please.”

“So don’t call her a bitch?” he asked. Jackalope just did the finger guns at him like he had shown her, looking down a bit annoyed at the still bandaged left hand. Swearing a bit under her breath before looking up.

“You’ll make a diplomat yet, now come on.”

They took off running over the edge circling down to the procession below. Tom didn’t have the best feeling about this. He was fairly sure this was the first time he had heard of possibly important diplomatic talks being carried out by a dude in sandals wearing a flag as a cape. He made a mental note to add this to the list of stupid ideas.

Jackalope swung into land and he got off, hitting the ground running. Smooth he thought to himself. He was getting better at this, when he remembered the ride was over at least. He trotted over to join the line beside Jackalope and Sapphire.

Sapphire had a sort of pained expression looking at him before turning back to face their oposition. There was a fair amount of gawking from every new face all staring at him. He had sort of expected that, the one Jackalope thought was a bitch appeared unfazed though as she went to speak Nunuk beat her to it.

“Thank you, Tom. Now since you ordered us all out here shall we get on with it?” The robed lady looked very annoyed at being talked over, as she replied.

“Well, your little keep is hardly spacious so we thought we would spare you the embarrassment of running out of chairs.” The robed woman spat. “But let’s ‘get on with it’, gods how uncivilized.”

Right then, bitch first class identified. What kind of a comment was that? It wasn’t even true, they could all have been seated in the grand hall, even if it might be a little tight and not counting the dragons of course.

This was who he had been dressed up to impress? First impressions weren't his strong suit, but she was truly terrible. Nunuk and the bitch, had engaged in what was best described as verbal warfare for several minutes. The keep’s dragonettes and himself growing more and more irritated by the moment just looking on in silence.

The one in the fancy armor just stood there, seemingly more interested in Tom and the others than the two arguing. The subject appeared to be that Dashu’s trial hadn't been good enough for the bitch and she didn’t believe the judgment was correct. The fact they had evidence and witnesses in both Vulzan, Tyborg, and Archeon. Didn’t seem to faze her. She also claimed he would never have confessed to such a crime since he had been instructed to never do so.

That comment drew the attention of the one in the fancy armor. “Did you tell him that or is this a general thing in your family lady Flaxen?”

“It’s common sense that if accused of a crime you shouldn’t confess before a trial.” The bitch replied as if even a child should know that. The colonel just huffed, looking back to Tom. “He would never have done such a thing.”

“He was persuaded to do so,” Nunuk replied.

“You tortured my sweet cousin!?”

“I tortured a traitor” Nunuk continued “Colonel Hashaw, what is the proper procedure for obtaining information from captured enemy combatants?”

“Extract the required information by any means necessary of course.” She replied drawing an evil grin.

“My cousin was no traitor and he was most definitely no enemy combatant.”

“He infiltrated my keep, under the guise of a friend and misused our trust to let the enemy in our door. He was second only to the knight himself in terms of damage done to my keep.”

“He would do no such thing!”

“You said so already, you pompous prick! Yet he fucking did now, didn’t he!?” Jackalope finally snapped. The bitch looked like she had just been smacked in the face as she took a step back, hand on her chest in shock.

“How dare you speak to your betters like that huntress! Have you no clue who I am!?” Tom wasn’t sure if the fury in her voice was more show or if he should be ready on the draw, but the woman appeared to be spitting with anger at this point.

Shiva managed to shut Jackalope's mouth before the reply came, which judging by her expression would not have improved the situation.

“Hashaw, would you take the word of such undisciplined savages over that of a city warden?” The colonel turned to the by now nearly manic looking woman.

“Colonel Hashaw... And I believe your judgment may be impaired at the moment. I require that you calm down before I’m willing to join this discussion” Tom knew military folk dealing with bulshit when he saw it, though that was a rather impressive display of self-control.

“You!…” The woman looked almost like she was going to strike the armored woman for a second raising her hand. The armored one just stared her down raising an eye ridge stom guessed. In the end, she thought better of it.

“Now then” The armored woman started turning away from the bitch.“ I believe proper introductions are in order now that we are all here. The remaining ones aren’t going to be joining us correct?”

“Correct, they aren’t expected back for a while yet” Nunuk clarified in a much more respectful tone.

“Very good. I am Colonel Hashaw, that fine gentleman behind me is Baron and that lot is his crew.” Tom nearly let out a snicker at that one. He looked about at the dragonettes of the keep who were all staring like they had seen a ghost or something.

“We have been in charge of overseeing the training young Jarix here, who has managed to meet or exceed all expectations placed upon him and as such has recently joined the ranks of the royal guard proper.” Hashaw looked around for a bit with a satisfied smirk. Tom guessed she was reveling in their expressions. He just tried not to smile too much. The Red Baron, seriously. What were the fucking odds?.

“As you are likely well aware, Archeon has requested his son’s first deployment is to your keep. Following the recent escalations in hostilities in the area, we have elected to consider that request. However, following accusations of criminal behavior, it was decided the truth should be known before the request could be granted.” Hostilities in the area… was it not just them or were they the area?

“Did I forget anything, old boy?” She went, turning back to look at the large red dragon.

“I think that about covers it,” The dragon answered in a deep calm rumbling tone. He sounded even rougher than Archeon and kinda raspy too, almost like he was a smoker. It sort of made sense in a weird way, being a fire-breather and all. Tom wondered whether lightning or fire would be rougher on the throat.

“Very good, Lady Nunuke, I will require any evidence in your possession, as well as all eyewitness accounts to be given under oath. A thorough inspection of your keep would also be appreciated.” Hashaw continued.

Oh shit, Tom thought at that last one.

“Of course, do you require lodging for your crew and... passengers?” Nunuk responded.

“Let the kid and his father take the greeting hall. They might not be seeing each other again for a while. If you have a few extra tents I wouldn’t mind though” Hashaw looking to the bitch for a split second.

“I will have what we got sent down for you.”

“Excellent that can wait though. Lady Flaxen I strongly recommend you take a rest before we return to deliberations. This part does not concern you.” The furious woman looked like she was going to launch into another tirade before backing off with a huff, walking over to Baron with her companions in tow.

“You.” She went pointing to Tom, walking over to him “We need to have a talk. Jarix, come on over boy, you wouldn’t shut up about this guy all the way here. Even if he looks ridiculous and was possibly involved in a terrible accident at some point,” She looked at him with a pained if not very genuine expression. ”ouch. And Vulzan You said he was very modest?” She gestured at Tom. Her voice was somewhere around sarcasm and laughing at a bad joke.

You’ve got to be kidding me’ Tom thought to himself. All that to impress an angry bitch and a soldier that doesn't care.