Arthur's Point of View

Capital of Vithari - Dwardew

“I see…” Was the Druid’s unsure reply. “My name is Lady Turiel, and much like the Prince, I am also interested in you. Your answer was very vague when you introduced yourself.”

“I am the King’s Advisor, Tart.” The only other Dwarf who hadn’t said anything finally spoke. “I agree with the Lady. What is your purpose for coming here?”

Gesturing to Ventari, she rolled her eyes and answered. “The two of us made a deal. In exchange for his help, he will be given access to all our records, restricted or not. Arthur has also asked for our help once all this has been dealt with.” The Queen explained.

Vitar frowned at this. “Forgive me, mother, but giving in to such a request from our ally seems like he is taking advantage of our situation.” He said as he looked at me.

I nodded. “Which is fair because I am.”

“Admitting to this in front of us is bold.” General Dwar said in a low tone.

He received a shrug in return. “I mean, I’m not going to lie I definitely used the situation to my advantage.” Three of the Dwarves present glared at me. “But let me ask you this, do you think these requests are not worth the return of your Queen? Is my help truly worth so little in your eyes? Did you not see me upon my arrival?”

“The Queen’s return should’ve been a courtesy, along with your cooperation.” Dwar replied.

“As for your arrival, much of what happened is still fresh in my mind, but magic is not something I would hope to understand.” Vitar added.

Ventari moved to the head of the table as she cut the two off. “Enough!” She then gestured to me. “Lestrania wasn’t going to aid in my return. With everything that they’ve been dealing with, they had that right. Arthur went out of his way and has gone above and beyond for me and our people.” Then she turned to me. “Stop antagonizing my son and General.”

Gesturing to them, I responded to Ventari. “But they make it so easy.” That got me a small glare in turn. Holding up my hands, I sighed. “Fine. It’s mostly my own nerves that I keep poking fun at the situation. I gotta poke while I can. Who knows, maybe this time I’ll lose both my arms.” Many seemed confused at that.

Sitting down, the Dwarven Queen spoke in a serious tone. “Before our return trip here, Arthur had been pronounced dead from a battle with Demons far more powerful than I could probably imagine.” Many in the room looked surprised at that. “He came back with only one arm, only to reenter battle time and time again while protecting Helmsforth. His power is very, very, real.”

Lady Turiel seemed the most interested. “You died?”

“Yeah, it happens every now and then.” I said in a drawn-out tone.

“You were missing an arm?” Vitar questioned in disbelief as he looked at me.

“Got it back, so don’t worry.”

General Dwar seemed to be skeptical. “And you saw these, my Queen? Or were these just rumors?”

To my surprise, her glare switched over to the General. “I did not see him come back to life, but I heard dozens talk about it. As for his actual wounds, I did see those, including his missing arm.” She then sighed. “I know it sounds hard to believe, but Arthur isn’t a normal person.”

Elincia leaned over to me. “I think she just called you weird.” She stated.

“It did sound like it.” I confirmed.

“Well, to be fair, Sir, you are weird.” Kheri quickly added.

“Does this seem like a joke to you?” Tart inquired, and we all turned to him. “We’re at war! We’ve been struggling to survive for the last-“

“Tart!” Ventari spoke in a commanding tone, and the advisor went silent before she looked back at me. “Arthur, he’s right. This is serious. What do you plan on doing?”

Vitar stood, which wasn’t very high, and gestured to me. “Why are you asking him? We should be coming up with our own strategy.”

Dwar nodded. “The Prince is right. He has been leading us well in your absence and the King’s. If anyone should, it’s him.”

Turiel quickly spoke as well. “While Prince Vitar has been very hospitable and responded accordingly to the Demon Army, we also have to take into account that we haven’t made any progress.” She smiled sincerely at the Prince. “We are alive because of you, but should we continue down this path, it will only be until our supplies run out.”

“What was the first thing Sir Arthur did when we arrived?” Elincia suddenly asked the room.