Chapter Thirteen - Onyx and Pearls

The door latched sharply behind him as Adric left Thale’s office. He tucked his book under his arm and looked right to make his way to the giant staircase that would take him back up to the sixth floor. Adric’s mind was wandering off to the necraphym that Amos mentioned. He hadn’t said so, but he was pretty sure he had read something similar in his book, before. He opened the book and started flipping through the pages, looking for any clues while he walked down the hall. He was sure if he had read it that it must have come from this book, where else would he have read something about the necraphym? Adric was so busy flipping through the pages in the book, that he nearly walked head-long into a group of people standing, blocking the entrance to the staircase. At the sight of three sets of feet, he halted abruptly and looked up from the book.

Adric was slightly taken aback by what stood before him. A woman flanked by two rather large men were looking directly at him, as though ridiculous for having the gall to stand in the walkway. The tall, thin woman was dressed lavishly in a long dress that brushed the ground beneath her. Overly ornate rings decorated her fingers, and her neck was surrounded by countless, glimmering pearls. Intricate designs wove their way around the hem of her garments, and her expression practically dripped with an excess of self-importance. As for the other two men, they merely stood on either side of the woman, each with a look of absolute submission on his face. Adric had never met any of them.

“Hi, excuse me,” he said with a smile. And he held out his hand in greeting. The two men exchange puzzled looks. The woman raised her eyebrows, a look of utter bemusement spreading across her face. The man on her left stepped forward. Thinking the man was going to introduce himself to Adric, Adric turned and extended his hand toward the approaching man. But the other man did not accept Adric’s greeting. Instead, he shoved Adric aside with his forearm, and said, abruptly,

“Excuse you.” Adric quickly took a step to the side, and the other man and the woman then side-stepped him and began walking on as though Adric had never been there.

“Excuse you!” Adric shouted over his shoulder. The three of them stopped, and the woman looked over her shoulder. Adric almost started to say something else, but before he could conjure the words, her face broke into a revolting smile and she cackled in hilarity, then turned and continued on her way.

For a moment, Adric wanted to pursue the woman. But he thought better of it and turned back to the staircase. He found his way blocked yet again, except this time, by field marshal Verrik.

“Do you know those people?” Adric asked, annoyed.

“I do. Come on.” Verrik nudged him in their direction.

“Where are we going?” Adric asked.

“The conference room, this is always worth it,” Verrik said with a grin on his face.

“Who are they?” Adric asked, yielding to Verrik’s strong arm.

“That,” said Verrik, still grinning, “Is Lady Narda of Lorlea.” Adric’s eyes widened.

“Oh, who is she to go pushing me around?” Asked Adric.

“She doesn’t know who you are. Even if she did, I doubt that would change anything.” Noticing the incredulous look on Adric’s face, Verrik added, “At least, until your official coronation has been observed.”

“Does Thale know she’s here?”

“He’s about to. That’s the best part.” Verrik was still grinning.

“What’s so funny?” Asked Adric.

“Thale is the only one who can handle Nar… I mean, Lady Narda.”

“What does she want?”

“Well, that’s the big surprise isn’t it?” Verrik clucked his tongue. “She probably wants a piece of that ruby under guard, that’s usually what she’s after.” Adric laughed out loud. “Yes, quite,” Verrik said in agreement, as though laughter wasn’t one of his skillsets. “She usually arrives bad-tempered anyway. It takes her nearly twice as long to get here since she has to go around the Tulusbian Forest instead of going through it.”

“Why can’t she go through it?” Adric asked.

“She had a nasty run-in with the wood nymphs. You saw how she just treated you. They banished her from their forest.” Adric grinned at the thought of Lady Narda being chased from the forest by a group of wood nymphs.

“Have you ever met the wood nymphs?” Adric asked.

“No. The only person I know who has, is Elric.” Adric had never met the wood nymphs either, but he had heard of them. He knew nothing of them except that they lived in the Tulusbian Forest. He wouldn’t mind meeting them one day, but he thought he might like to know more about what Lady Narda had done to get on their bad side before he trekked into their territory. Wood nymphs were supposed to be extremely quick and brutal if provoked. But the stories of their beautiful cities in the treetops, and their unearthly music was enough to drive away his skepticisms.

Pretty soon, Verrik was leading Adric into the conference room. A large wooden table was in the center of the room with many chairs surrounding it. Lord Thale was already occupying the head chair at the far end of the room. On his left were Lady Narda and her two escorts. Across from them, Ivar and Oneas sat to Thale’s right. Verrik and Adric joined them. Once Lady Narda realized who had just joined them, she leapt from her seat, knocking it over. One of her guards picked it back up as she shouted,

“Who is this that would join us in these matters that don’t concern commoners such as himself?" She had never even made eye contact with Adric. Adric rose as quickly as she had done, determined, this time, to make his name and his position known to her. He was tired of her attitude toward him and was ready to start throwing some of his own weight around. He opened his mouth to speak, but just before the words could escape him, Thale raised his hand to silence him and spoke in his place.

“This man is a valued member of my senior staff, that’s more than you need to know, you’ll accord him the respect due to him as set forth by the agreements between our peoples.” Thale’s language was firm and direct. Narda obviously did not like what she heard.

“My lady…” the guard on her right said, calmly. She clearly knew her place. She nodded to the guardsman, took a deep breath and positioned herself back in her seat straight-backed with the dignity befitting a woman of her class.

It was as she sat down that the door opened once more. Elric, Avan, and Gaden walked through looking travel-worn. They entered and took seats nearest to Adric.

“Where’s your jacket? Why are you wearing chain mail?” Adric whispered to Gaden. Gaden waved his hand, and Adric looked back up at Thale.

Narda paused and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the interruption.

“I have come here to discuss a new amendment to the treaty between us.”

“An amendment ending with your owning that ruby, no doubt,” Verrik mumbled, taking a pitcher of water, and pouring out a small portion into a goblet.

“Kaean.” She snapped her fingers at the man on her immediate right. The man pulled a wide leather pouch from beneath his seat and untied the string holding it closed. He began pulling out a roll of paper, but before he could fully remove it, Narda snatched it from him and thrust it forcefully toward Thale. Verrik, being a nearer reach than Thale, reached to take the roll from her, but she snatched her hand back and then offered it to Thale once more. Thale took the roll of paper and untied the red bow holding it together. He let the paper fall open onto the table. His eyes skimmed it for a brief moment, before reading aloud,

“The ruling councils of both the Alldelan government and the Lorlean government, being called by any name referencing any position suggesting the office of power, leadership, government, or sanctioned informant, militia, advisor, steward, stewardess, monarch, or similar, are hereby bound to make known the presence and knowledge of all information regarding any stone, stones, weapons, tools, and research pertaining to the supernatural. Furthermore, any place of storage or guard must be agreed upon by both represented parties, as aforenamed, Alldel and Lorlea. If an agreeable place of storage or guard or representative of guard cannot be reached, a third party arbitrator may be summoned by the party or parties who so challenge the current arrangement of said items aforementioned. This amendment, being signed and sealed by the current Steward of Alldel and the Stewardess of Lorlea at the time of signing, represents a binding contract of peace between these two peoples and is represented by the allied relationship between Alldel and Lorlea in designated wartime as agreed by all parties represented in this document. Once signed, this amendment shall not be altered, construed, or redacted in any way, form, or fashion, except by termination of the treaty as a whole, or by the monarch of either nation once a new line of royalty is established by either representative.” Thale dropped the roll of paper onto the table and looked up at Narda.

“Why?” He said simply. Narda widened her eyes.

“Because you need my help, that’s why. How many times have you called on me, asking for my assistance with your international dealings?”

“We all know this isn’t about Lorlea charging to rescue Alldel.” Elric interrupted. Narda turned to face him.

“No, I dare say it’s not. This isn’t about Lorlea charging to anyone’s rescue. This is about extending peaceful relations.”

“And yet, peace cannot be attained nor sustained unless one is willing to make a stand,” Verrik said.

“Nevertheless, here we are,” Thale said. “There is a fresh proposal that sits on the table before us, and we must now examine it and make a decision. Lady Narda, we will need time to examine this and talk it over. You know Alldel will not reach a decision right now.”

“You do realize you must act quickly,” she said.

“I do. But not so quickly that we forget our due diligence. The Council thanks Lorlea for their proposal, and you have my word that a decision will be reached within the week.” Narda stared in silence for a moment. Adric wondered if she was about to protest again, but she did not. Narda rose from her seat and beckoned for her aids to follow her from the hall.

After she left the room, Oneas made to stand, motioning in her direction. Thale held up his hand to stop him, he waited for a brief moment, and then said,

“Okay, now go. And don’t let her catch you.” Oneas left the room and followed Lady Narda.

“You see what she’s doing, don’t you?” Verrik asked him.

“Yes, of course, I do.”

“Then there can be no question. We must refuse the offer.”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, what is she doing?” Gaden asked.

“It’s a rouse,” Elric answered. He reached for the document and pulled it closer to him. “Narda is baiting us. She knows Alldel is looking for allies, and particularly, Alldel has been trying to gain Lorlea as an ally for a while now. The last part of this, the part where it talks about allies in times of war, that’s the bait. She knows that won’t bind her to this war.” She’s hoping we won’t see that, and we’ll sign.”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t fully understand,” Gaden said.

“This requires an agreement by both parties. If Lorlea does not sign off on this war, then they are not bound to honor it. And since we have already engaged, all she has to do is say that she did not endorse this war, and she will have no obligation to fulfill her end of the treaty.”

“But why?”

“Well, it all comes down to the ruby. She wants a say in where it’s kept and who guards it because that would mean she knows where to find it. She’s hoping to trade us information on her stones for our information, and she’s using the war allies item as leverage.”

“What ruby?” Gaden asked.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Adric said, realizing he had been left out of the conversation he had just had with Amos.

“But still, even if she knows where it’s kept, she can’t use it. So what’s the harm?” Gaden asked.

“Having her once step closer to it is not a comforting thought. It’s also worth mentioning that we already have a great deal of knowledge about the Staff of Lorlea, and since its power is broken, there’s not much that can be done for it, but the ruby is a different story. It’s a fountain of power waiting to be tapped and having her in the dark about it is the way we prefer to keep her. It wouldn’t be nearly the great trade she’s making it out to be, more like a clever trick to hand over our information to her.” Gaden went quiet.

“Then Verrik is right. We can’t sign that,” Adric said.

“Not necessarily,” Thale said.

“If we can find a way to manipulate the wording, we might use this to our advantage,” Elric explained.

“You mean to try and play her own game against her?” Verrik grinned.

“Exactly,” Thale said. “No, we will not sign this as it is now. But let’s see if we can’t add our own little spin to this. I shall leave this on the table here. I would like each of you, in your own time, to come by and study it. Learn it well and see if you can invent some way to twist these words around. We will reconvene at this time one week from today. Dismissed.”

There was a great rumbling of chairs on the hard floor as they all rose from the conference table. Most people were beginning to file out of the conference room, but Elric, Avan, and Gaden stayed behind and waited for the room to clear. Adric waited for Gaden. As the room cleared, Elric approached Thale with a scrap of paper in his hand.

“Not another treaty.” Thale smiled.

“You’ll soon wish that’s all it is.” Elric handed it to Thale, who read it and then sighed. He looked up at Elric.

“And let me guess…”

“Soceria,” Avan said. Thale’s eyes widened.

“Are you seriously asking for permission to scout Soceria?”

“Of course not,” Elric said. “We’re asking for permission to petition the Council.”

“No,” Thale said simply. “No, you’re not to petition the Socerian Council about crimes that may or may not have been committed by their king six hundred years ago!” Thale stood and raised his voice at the last few words, as though frustration were growing with each syllable. Elric snatched the slip of paper from Thale’s hand and brandished it in his face.

“This isn’t some petty story that we can just throw into the fire and pretend it never existed! You know this isn’t the first time something has…”

“Do you have any idea what this would do to our relationship with Soceria if I ordered three executive officers to march through their gates and demand the truth of their king? We can’t win this war without Soceria.”

“Then don’t order us to go,” Elric said distinctly. Thale hesitated for a brief moment and then said to Elric, his eyes unblinking,

“As a representative of Alldel, I cannot endorse your request to scout Soceria, and I hereby place you all on a temporary leave of absence for suggesting such an action. You are not to represent Alldel in any way unless otherwise notified. Have I made myself clear to you, Elric?” Elric nodded his head silently. Gaden could have sworn he saw a stifled grin flit across Elric’s face before he said,

“We understand our orders.”