Jackal Among Snakes

Anneliese looked upon the group that was to meet the dwarven envoy. All here were the mortal champions of gods belonging to the Blackgard Union. They were all dressed finely in the black and gold colors of House Vasquer. They looked good, Anneliese thought, but Galamon pulled at his cuffs as though they were uncomfortable just the same as Stain did. Only Artur seemed to revel in the clothes—indeed, he’d donned a cloak bearing Argrave’s personal sunburst sigil repeated time and time again, and had imbued it with enchantments to keep him hovering off the ground.

The plan was to approach the dwarves not as the Kingdom of Vasquer, but rather the Blackgard Union—it would give a more intimidating aspect to the name, and ideally avoid any qualms that the democratic republican dwarven nation might have about working with a monarchy. Still…

Galamon, Vasquer’s knight-commander. Elenore, the king’s sister, and Durran, her husband. Melanie, a countess in Vasquer. The list went on and on, leading any keen observer to one conclusion—this party was comprised of those solely loyal to Argrave, and to Vasquer. Even if they called them divine envoys, the truth was rather obvious. The only saving grace of their composition…

“Ganbaatar. Your friendship in this time is a boon to us all.” Anneliese nodded to him.

The elf from the Bloodwoods dipped his head, his red eyes clear and unburdened. “Nonsense. It was friendship and responsibility both. The Qircassian Coalition is a greater enemy than we alone can handle.”

Anneliese could see the sincerity in his posture, but still added, “I am pleased you see it so. And congratulations on receiving Ghan’s blessing.”

The elf from the woods nodded curtly and looked away. Anneliese observed everyone else. The only one that was less than focused was Artur. As a human born with dwarfism, he was about to meet a race that called themselves ‘dwarves.’ She could imagine why he was uncomfortable.

“Elenore, Melanie, and I shall take the lead,” Anneliese continued, looking at everyone present. “But anyone else can feel free to interject. Argrave tells me the dwarves are a debate-loving people who appreciate the perspective of any dwarf. Mirroring that mentality cannot be a detriment.”

“Any dwarf. You think that means me?” Artur looked at her. Despite his jokes, she could tell he felt uneasy. “What if they take my presence as an insult?”

Anneliese met his gaze. “You are Almazora’s mortal champion. That is why you are here, Artur.”

He grunted under his breath and muttered, “Not what I asked, Your Highness, but…”

Anneliese took on a stern affect and said, “The true insult would be from their side toward ours—taking affront at a valuable member of both Vasquer and this alliance for merely being who he is.”

Artur floated away and turned, perhaps to hide his embarrassment, and said, “The flattery is appreciated, Your Highness.”

“Flattery and truth are not mutually exclusive,” Elenore contributed, then looked to Anneliese for the signal to go ahead. Artur was more at ease, so Anneliese had nothing more to do. She nodded, and Elenore directed them forth. “Let us be on our way. Remember—we dealt with the Ebon Cult. That should give us considerable leverage.”

They exited their room of the parliamentary hall, walking to greet the envoys. Orion led them while other Veidimen royal guards watched the back. The building had become suitably grander, with sizable gardens along its walkways and other buildings meant to accommodate the various diplomatic needs of the parliament and the royal family. It was becoming something of a palace, despite the absence of the king.

When they came to the small conference room, Orion opened up its double doors. Eight heads turned to look at them. The dwarves were short, squat, and brawny all. They stood at the table, the chairs pushed aside, and were surprisingly uniform in appearance. All eight were males, and wore white robes—togas, Argrave had called them—with their right shoulder and arm exposed. They had dark, curly hair, all about down to their ears, and wore wreaths of silver. They were immaculately shaven—face, arms, all of them.

envoys of the dwarven senate. We trust that your journey was without

tamed our cities well,” the closest of them

ago, I think it’s pretty

statues of our heroes, its senate hall still bears the inscriptions of our philosophy, and its design remains privy

“You have dropped a diamond to the floor, and now that we have picked it up and cleaned it, you would call it your own? Is this what the Dwarven Senate would convey to us after

and his zealots. But we did not expect, nor ask, for your aid. Our nation maintains a favorable, yet neutral perspective toward your actions. The dwarves put forth no claim on our old cities. We abandoned them for a reason. As such, they are yours

order, it seemed. Elenore seemed prepared to give them,

silver wreaths,” Anneliese continued, hardly acknowledging their ‘generous concession’ of the cities that they had abandoned. “I know some of your culture. The metals or gems that you are allowed to wear indicate your status in society.

one said politically, “In our capacity as envoys,

just messengers,” Durran rephrased. “Why didn’t you just

will simply deliver a message and have you return it. I am Queen Anneliese, and I speak on behalf of both the Kingdom of Vasquer and the Blackgard Union of which our kingdom is a part. Both say only this;

from the table. “Is that

the state,” Anneliese rephrased. “Your kind will perish just as ours if the cycle of judgment completes. You have your part to play in this.” She looked off to the side. “Alongside this message, you will deliver a gift: freshly-forged weapons. They are born of your smithing techniques, using your metals, but they were made in our lands with our knowledge. Let

nothing more but maintain the status quo that the underground-dwellers had endured for so long, even despite their contact with Anestis, a senator’s son. Their meeting

“Not… not how I expected that to go. That bit about

about it ages ago. Trust me—I saved

goes

nods. “Then, we need to invite Hause to the Blackgard Union. That’s all that remains for today.

#####

for the day—the Unsullied Knife that was capable of sundering flesh without irreparable harm was not costless, using both its user’s magic and willpower. It was always the Alchemist’s magic that ran out before his willpower, and

It was an unidentifiable scrap of meat, cooked well-done and given no seasoning whatsoever. The twenty-foot-tall gray giant, cramped into this tight space and hunched over half a dozen books,

Alchemist looked away from his book.

eyes widened. “Really?

keep you alive. You may be needed in all of this, regrettably,” he said. An eye opened on the side of his head and peered down at him. “Sataistador is no meek foe, nor are the thousand others that you have made. And your Inerrant Cloak will no

perhaps of equal power to that spear that they had used to infiltrate Erlebnis’ realm. It wouldn’t be blessed by several

hand. His mind realized at the wrong time it could’ve

rose. “Can an inanimate object hear, or see? This is what you

Argrave waved him away, but double-took when the Alchemist neared him.