King Kendrick, Sir Vulmine, and Maple shared a glance as they approached the throne room, where they would shortly be seeing King Augustus, Queen Isabella, and Lord Takrok. They had already filed a report about what happened in the woman’s past to lead her and her brother to the point of assaulting the king, and had also put in their request for extradition.

In said request, they had made clear their reasons.

The first listed reason was that it presented a strong allied front, showing that to assault Mare would be no different than to assault Kitharn.

The second reason was that Maple was a specialist in the field, and it would allow them to research what happened, as well as possible counters to the crystalline bodies.

Reason three was that they could more easily contain the threat, given the sheer number of higher level individuals that lived in Kitharn. This was worded carefully, as to not imply that Kitharn was stronger than Mare. It was true that Mare had a military multiple times larger than Kitharn’s, after all. But due to the nature of Kitharn, and the way that they drew in pre-existing groups of non-humans that had to survive in rough and difficult environments, to say nothing of the violence they had encountered at the hands of humans during the much more xenophobic previous regime… it was a given that the average level of the majority of the soldiers and citizens was somewhat higher than Mare.

Reason four was that it took pressure off of Mare to keep the assassin alive, and to prevent anyone from getting hurt in the inevitable attempts that would be made on Riven and Reven’s life.

There was one final cause given, but this one was much more personal in nature. This one was tailored more for the king, the easiest of those to convince; the twins were as much a victim in this as anyone else, arguably more so. The only ones who possibly had it worse off were those who were killed, but even they had ready access to resurrection magic. The only consequences they truly faced were lost levels and the psychological impacts. The king was barely clipped, everyone else was just scared or hurt. Not even the boy, Alister, wound up suffering permanent harm after chasing the twins to their safehouse. The twins, however, had undergone unthinkable suffering, if the reports from the later interrogation were to be believed. Given as they were done under influence of the and spells, conducted by an expert interrogator, Maple was prone to believe them.

It had been a couple of days since those requests were put in, and they were finally told to come to the throne room. There were only the three royals in question in attendance, with the rest of the usual entourage absent. “Ah, you’re here. Very good,” said King Augustus, seeming tense, “We read over your request, and while I agree with your points and think that extradition is a good option, well…”

Queen Isabella tsked. “I appreciate the formality of your request, but it feels silly to send a letter to someone you’re right next door to. Though I can appreciate that you addressed it to me, knowing well how my dear husband would respond,” she said with a tense chuckle, “I admit, your arguments are… compelling enough, but I must know that your own king takes it seriously. If they were to show their face in Mare again, nevermind in a similarly destructive role, it would look quite badly on Kitharn and Mare both.”

Kendrick scoffed. “Of course I take it seriously. It’s important to Maple, so it’s important to me,” he shrugged. “Besides, you’re right. If they got out, it would be… really embarrassing for everybody. So I’ll make sure they don’t try anything again,” he said with a firm nod.

“Embarrassing is that it happened at all, stupid. What you’re talking about is a political disaster,” said the scowling Lord Takrok. “Don’t screw this up. Matter of fact, I’m coming with you… or rather, I’m making a shade with about two hundred and fifty levels and sending them with you,” he stated firmly, seeking no permission and brooking no argument.

Maple paused, uncertain it was a good idea. "Is that really necessary? I feel you'd be much better served here," she said, shaking her head. "I assure you, we can keep them in line."

The dragon scoffed. "I don't care. I am doing so because I want to. Kitharn is as much my territory as Mare, after all. Besides, if they can get the drop on me, they can get the drop on you."

An annoyed look adorned the slime's face, armor clanking a bit as she crossed her arms. "I mean no offense, Lord Takrok… but we will be keeping a watchful eye on the issue. We have warning now. They caught us off guard by hitting us with something we couldn't reasonably predict. While it's plausible they could do so again, I doubt they'd want to play their hand so fully in such short order."

The dragon stared at her for a moment before speaking, tone mildly offended. "And why should I not go along? Are you so proud you'd refuse additional security on a high priority target? It's not as though I'd be stopping you from doing anything. Is there a particular reason YOU don't want me there? It's not like I need your permission to navigate my own territory to my heart's content anyway."

Maple's annoyance only grew as he made a combination of both valid points as well as displays of arrogance and personal attacks.

"It's hardly a matter of pride or not wanting you there," though she didn't, she thought internally. "It undermines the display of faith to send such a mighty envoy alongside. It says you don't trust our ability to manage our cargo."

"So it IS pride," he said, puffing up a bit with pleasure at his accurate prediction.

"I… what? How do you get that from what I said?" Her tone was incredulous, arching a brow.

Sir Vulmine and Kendrick both looked on awkwardly, uncertain of how, or if, they should step in. It was out of character for her to be so argumentative, but she always got this way with Takrok.

"Your tone, obviously. Besides, it'll just be a shade."

"Tell that to the rumor mill. Our reputation as respected warriors is important. We don't have enough time on the throne to rule by more than might, unfortunately, so we need to spare every bit of gossip that we can."

"Fine. I'll make it look like someone else."

"That's not… Lord Takrok, if only a single individual came along, it would give the same impression. It would be assumed that they were powerful unless it's publicly known to be otherwise."

Takrok hopped down from where he sat on the queen's lap, his tiny dragon form landing gracefully, "You would prefer a full contingent?"

"If a…" she nearly said "babysitter", but repressed the word. "If an escort is necessary, then yes, I'd prefer something more conventional."

"Very well. I'll have others come too and disguise myself among them. Would you like to choose my form while you're at it?" He teased, clearly enjoying himself at this point.

"Maple. Are you okay?" Kendrick asked after a moment of a staredown between the two. "I think you're melting your armor a little…"

"My armor is fine. You just… do as you please, Lord Takrok."

"I plan to."

"As per usual, yes. Is there more we need discuss, King Augustus, Queen Isabella? I would like to begin preparations as to have this ordeal over with swiftly."

King Augustus was unsuccessfully attempting to hide a grin against his cup. "Hmm? Oh, no, I do believe that's all."

The queen watched on with an amused smile, "I do daresay there's more that needs to be discussed, yes. But we can leave it to a manifest of required resources."

"Of course, I'll put that together for you right away, my liege," Sir Vulmine said, bowing and backing out of the room.

"As Lord Takrok goes… I do believe him going is a good idea, albeit under disguise and among others. I apologize for him being a handful," she continued, head tilted a bit, "Though I do find it interesting that he gets under your membrane so. It seems you'll have time to discuss the matter during your travels. Hopefully Lord Takrok can manage a bit more maturity during said discussion than this one."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're implying, Queen Isabella," Maple said as Takrok simply grumbled about maturity.

"I'm sure. Will Sir Vulmine be going with you during your travels? His experience could be invaluable."

The slime didn't even consider for a moment before nodding, "With your permission. It's always a pleasure to travel with Father."

"Of course. Do take care. I believe we can adjourn this meeting."