196. Royalty: Tabitha

The King's castle is big and old. It overlooks the military base and the long-range Trebuchet on the walls looks like they will have the range to strike out into the river. Inside the castle is surprisingly nice. Thick carpets and soft wall coverings. You don’t get any higher up the chain than the king. King Thorbjørn has a reputation as a grumpy, no-nonsense dwarf. Let's test that, shall we?

There is a subtle smell. It is not overpowering, but it is there. I looked at Wiremu, and he was affected by it. I assume it is there to mask and interfere with the senses of smell. When I told Wiremu I wanted Dianne to accompany me, he was hesitant that the disguise would hold up to such a close inspection. I argued that his Veneer and Roleplay Skills are on the cusp of becoming Journeyman Level, and this sort of test will probably push them over the line. Probably only three or four people there might see through it, and I am not sure it matters. It probably wouldn’t go beyond a select group. This whole thing is fiction. If the King is going to acknowledge Modrica’s death, then this will just get combined with that secret. However, and this was the argument that persuaded him, that I would need his skills if things went bad in the worst possible way. At least Wiremu has got his body temperature down to normal.

Skavt is also with us as she is the head of my security team. It could almost be a girl's shopping trip. Must remember not to let that slip to Wiremu. I was dressed in a black pantsuit that allowed free movement. They can stuff their stupid dresses where the sun doesn’t shine. Skavt and Dianne were in leather armour, as normal security would be. We were disarmed at the gate, not that it meant anything to Wiremu and myself, and I had a spare something for Skavt in my newly expanded Spatial Pocket.

So here I was, walking to the doors of the throne room flanked by Skavt and Dianne. The Royal protocol officer was yabbering at us about where to stop and bow and how to address the different people there. To be quite frank, I tuned him out near the start. I was done playing their game.

The doors opened, and I was announced in a loud voice. They only announced me. Skavt and Dianne were ignored as simple bodyguards. I wasn’t about to correct their mistake, and we would use the advantage they just handed us.

King Thorbjørn was on his throne, and he looked as old as the castle. The throne was raised above the floor by four steps. A Royal Guard flanked each side of the throne. Two more guards were at the base of the steps, and then three pairs of guards stood on each side of the path to the throne, and another pair were by the entrance door.

The king's advisors were on one side of the hall near the throne, including a scribe taking notes. Some were in uniform. They were obviously the military advisors. The protocol officer joined this group. On the other side of the hall were some chairs, and there were about a half dozen well-dressed nobles. Duke Terry was there, and I recognised several others from being introduced after the shows.

Next to the Guards at the base of the steps to the throne were two obvious affinity users. One of them was Kelda. The other was an older orc. Both were in military uniform. They announced their affinities with elements beside them. Kelda had an open flame, and the orc had a gourd of water. It baffled me why you would announce to potential enemies what affinities you had. You are giving away free information that could be used against you. What a bunch of idiots.

I walked up to the clearly marked place where we were to stop and then stood there, hands behind my back, looking the King in the eye. As we stood there, I saw Kelda’s eye move over us, then suddenly flick back to Dianne. Her eyes narrowed. She knew something was not right. Then her eyes suddenly widened in surprise as she figured it out. Wiremu didn’t move, but I could still feel the amusement rolling off him. His Roleplay Skill should level just from that effort alone.

“You bow to respect the King!” an angry voice from the noble side said.

I ensured my voice was loud and clear, “This Kingdom has lost all respect I had for it.” I didn’t lose eye contact with the King.

That set the nobles aghast.

The same voice said, “Who are you to challenge the King?”

My tone was rather scathing this time, “I am Skygge of the Elemental Traders. I was just announced at the door. You really are a bunch of idiots, aren’t you?” I sensed Kelda’s lips twitch up.

“How dare you. I chal…”

“Silence!” came the stern command from the throne. There was definitely Skill usage there.

The King continued, “This time, I actually agree with the woman.”

“Your majesty,” said the voice, “May I challenge this person to a duel for my house's honour and the honour of the Kingdom?”

“No, you may not.” King Thorbjørn pointed to one of his military advisors, “You, tell the idiot why.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Skygge is the, sorry, was the Krvne Sestre of the orc Modrica. Modrica was not a trained warrior but had two Journeyman-level fighting classes. One of them was nearly at Master Level. She had one fighting Specialisation at Journeyman and one in high apprentice. She had two master-level fighting Skills. It would be sheer folly to assume Modrica’s Krvne Sestre was any less skilled.”

Shit, that sounded impressive. I was definitely less skilled. The speaker had paled, suddenly aware of the shit he was in. I could see the other nobles reassessing me. I looked like a thin, mostly harmless girl. I liked people underestimating me like that.

“Unfortunately,” The King continued, “It is the King's job to protect his weaker and more idiotic subjects.”

I could just hear the King storing this up to be used later and the idiot realising he owed the King. The King got up and came down the steps stopping on the second from the bottom. That meant he was about eye height with me, as he wasn’t a tall dwarf. He was definitely a wide dwarf and had thick muscular arms, but he didn’t appear to be overweight. He was definitely elderly, although his beard hid most of that.

“We have done you wrong, lass.” King Thorbjørn continued. “Regardless of what happened that night, we did you wrong. We agreed to protect Modrica, and we failed.”

That is a good start. I could see some nobles were uncomfortable with the King admitting a debt like that. There were mixed reactions on the administrator side as well.

“What’s being done to track down the assassins?”

“Captian?” questioned the King,

“Yes, your Majesty. The Wyvern is with a known outlaw group that has been seen in the southern provinces before. The group has various names, including The Flying Bandit, Sky Death, and Dragons Breath. They have not been known to attack an established military base before. The Wyvern is thought to be bonded to an Avion called Kǒuchòu. The Wyvern has a lot of stories circulating, but we are not sure of their reliability. No one has caught them, although they have been on the military outlaw list for fifteen years.”

“That is what you know about them. What I asked is what is being done to track them down.”

The captain continued, “We have notified our southern bases that they are on the move toward their last known direction. We had two scouts with bird bonds tracking them, but they lost them in cloud cover a day south of here.”

“The bounty on Modrica and I would not have been enough to make the risk of attacking a military base viable. There had to be an additional incentive or reason.”

“You know how… That was a lot of coin, Ma’am,” the Captian said.

“I would not have done it for that. I know how mercenaries and outlaws think. I am a Two Mark Registered Mercenary and half of a very successful team. I have carried out my share of registered assassinations. That was not enough coin for the risk.” Let the nobles take that as the warning it is. Then I remembered there were idiots there, so I added, “And I will avenge Modrica.”

“I was not informed you were a mercenary, lady Skygge?” The King said. His guard was decidedly uneasy with how close the King was to a self-confessed assassin.

“I suspect there is a lot you are not told, your Majesty.”

“You think there was inside help,” the King said.

“Let me put it this way. The Wyvern had time to make three attack runs, spewing bright green fire and burning people and buildings before your alarm bells even started ringing. Three runs of bright green fire in the sky and not a single alarm bell. My associate was riding to the rescue and broke straight through the Northern gates, and still not an alarm bell sounded. Of course, it was an inside job!”

“You are very well informed of the events, Lady Skygge. I didn’t think you were there,” the King said.

“As I said, there is a lot you are not told. You will have to decide if it is incompetence or traitorous. Either way, you need different advisors.”

“Indeed,” Thorbjørn replied. I could see many uncomfortable people on both sides of the room.

“The only two competent people I saw there were Lieutenant Kelda, here, who was the first army person to actually do something and Lieutenant Williams, who was in charge of the catapults on the wall. The two most competent people in the army are mere lieutenants. It surprises me that you still have a kingdom.”

“Humph,” he grunted, “I haven’t been spoken to like that for decades. Do you want a job, lass?”

“No. I won’t work for you.” then I dropped my voice to a menacing tone, “This is personal.”

“Indeed.” the king replied. “You know our military would like to meet this associate who can smash through steel gates.”

“Well, your military is shit out of luck.”

The King just stared at me for several long seconds. Then he burst into laughter. “You have no fear, do you, lass? Most people are too scared to say no to the King. I have metered out severe punishments to those who have, but that doesn’t worry you does it? And they told me you were just an actress and a comedian who dabbled as a merchant.”

“Never underestimate the power of a comedian.”

“Huh,” and he burst into a full belly laugh for several minutes. I am an amazing comedian. When he gathered himself, he said, “You are definitely a unique comedian.” He gathered himself together and then went back up the stairs and sat on the throne. “Right,” he said, “Let's get this back on track. I, King Thorbjørn, formally apologise for the way we failed your Krvne Sestre, Lady Skygge. You are hereby given the noble title of Countess for services rendered to the Kingdom, both here and in Obalno and Hrothgar.” That was a surprise to everybody in the room except one unremarkable lady sitting at the back of the administrator section. “This title doesn’t come with lands, unfortunately, but I am given to believe you have no need of lands. You will be Countess at large, officially called Countess Auditor. You will report to only the King of Kirghiz.”

This put me about the middle of the pack in the ranks of nobility, except for the part about reporting directly to the King. That was a Duke level of privilege. I nodded my head at the king. I guess I should show some respect. Maybe my nobility was going to my head.

“Your first task Countess Skygge is to route out the treason that led to this failure. You will have a military liaison. As one of the only two competent people in our military, I hereby assign Lieutenant Kelda as your liaison.” This was a surprise to Kelda. “The Lieutenant has the advantage of also knowing the way of the noble houses. Lieutenant, you are relieved of all other duties at this time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kelda replied and snapped a crisp salute.

“The army wanted me to bring up the cost of repairs to two of their gates.”

“Well, I would like to bring the army’s attention to the fact that we left at least one Monster core sitting in the middle of their base. I also know for a fact that it was Modrica that killed the Griffon, so that core belongs to me. Where is it?”

King Thorbjørn looked over to the military Captian. The Captain picked up a piece of paper, “There is a griffon listed among the carcasses,” he paused, “The head is listed separately. There is no Monster core listed, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty,” Lieutenant Kelda spoke up, “I was there toward the end of the fight. I did not see the Monster Kill, but I did see the carcass when the defenders retreated through the wharf gate. The carcass was unbutchered. They did not take the core. Lieutenants Perrich, Tremaine and Rickard were the first on the scene with their squads.”

“There you go, Captain. You will investigate.” Thorbjørn said.

“If you investigate well, Captian, the odds are good that we will end up in the same place,” I added.

Several nobles seemed uncomfortable. It wasn’t particularly hot in here. I did feel the urge to pay them a visit, for the sake of their health, of course.

“Very well,” said the king, “Do you have any other matters to bring up, Countess?”

“Yes, your Majesty. I would like a Royal Decree.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “A Royal Decree for what, Countess Skygge.”

“I would like a Royal Decree for Dianne Prints to have full access to the Lore Society records, including all restricted material.”

“There are some dangerous scrolls there. Who is Dianne Prints?”

“I am, your Majesty,” Wiremu replied, to everybody's surprise.

“And why do you want this access?”

“I like reading, your Majesty.” What a liar.

The King's eyes narrowed, but he was wise enough not to push in this public arena. “Very well, I will arrange it, but I want something in return Countess.”

I just raise my eyebrows in a question. My nobility doesn’t have me fawning at his feet yet.

“I want tickets for me and the wife to come to the first show when the Comedic Rhythm starts up performances again.”

“Very well, your Majesty, I will arrange it.” That is probably the best publicity the Comedic Rhythm will ever get.

We were then dismissed, and the King retired to his chambers. I don’t know why they don’t just say it plainly. What is so hard about saying the King went to take a shit?

I am sure the reports of this meeting are going to become a legend. I am sure the King knows I am a citizen of the Empire if he knows about Hrothgar. One day I might tell him that he had just made the Black Butcher a Countess. Maybe. One thing for sure is everybody will be scrambling to find out who Dianne Prints is. I hope Wiremu’s Roleplay Skill Levelled. He is going to need it.