Dungeon Status:

Tier 2

Level 31/100

Heart 3,686,400/3,686,400

Experience 261,843/921,600

Mithril 5,560

Adamantine 3,202

Mana 6,420

Poison, Greater 500

Deadly Scorpion Venom 51

Quest: Kill 11 city dwellers.

Quest: Half populate your dungeon: Workers 46/66 | Monsters 52/67 | Traps 117/162

Quest: Reach level 50.

The meeting was swiftly held. Travis had gotten Stephan, Penelope, and Felna a seat at it—though in Penelope's case the "seat" was more "a large space where she could fit part of herself." Christine asked for Eliza to be there, so they could judge her reaction, and had Howard's second in charge of the merchants fill in for him. Brolly, to Travis' surprise, invited Sergeant Thomas Brave and Breath of Spring.

All the extras had ultimately been Stephan's doing, and Travis wasn't going to argue with him when it came to politics. He got to watch through seven sets of eyes, three of them non-lizard, and could hear well enough. Only Stephan couldn't hear him in reply. "Are you all ready? They're approaching the front doors."

Penelope let everyone know, which is how the guests found them all in an animated conversation about whatever trade topic Christine made up on the spot. Travis watched the self-important man step in first, clear his throat, then repeat himself when no one seemed to even notice him.

Travis kept up a running commentary for Penelope and Felna's benefit. "Liz's not happy with how we're treating the noble group. I don't think she expected us to welcome them with open arms, but this is— Oh, Christine's moving on."

"Sorry, we're expecting some important guests. You'll have— Oh." Christine didn't sound the least bit actually surprised that when she lifted her head, the guests in question were present. "Are you going to announce your lady?"

The short guy looked near apoplexy. Clearing his throat again, he enunciated, "May I present the Lady Elanor Fitzgerald, third niece of Marquess Fitzgerald of West Reaches." Stepping to the side, he bowed as the young lady from the window stepped forward with the two big guards at her side.

Travis studied the two men, mostly because he knew everyone else was focused on Elanor. One, who had some vaguely feline features (slight muzzle, some sharper than normal canine teeth that protruded a little when he frowned, which he was). He had a sword and a buckler and under his shirt Travis saw a flash of what looked like chain mail. The other looked human, and had two equal length swords at his hips, and likewise seemed to have some kind of light chain mail under his shirt. Travis relayed his assessment of both to Felna and Penelope, then asked Fife about them too.

"Sword and buckler, with chain armor, will be a defensive type like me. Other guy will be a dervish. I'm coming over and will wait in the crowd outside the city hall. Get Brayden, Luddy, and Wild to back me up. Oh, and Jack. I keep forgetting about him. How's his magic coming along?"

Relaying her request, Travis turned his full attention back to the meeting, only to find Stephan standing up and clearing his throat. "Forgive me, I'm not as eloquent as a herald, but since we're lacking such I seem to have been volunteered for that duty." Walking around the table and gesturing to Christine, he began, "Baroness Christine Sellswell and Baron Brolly Windchime, both of Northridge." He sketched a bow toward the two council members.

"Holy shit! Pen, can you see that? Look at Liz! She looked like she just swallowed a bag of lemons!" Travis couldn't hold back his laughter, and neither could Penelope.

The rumble from where she was curled in the corner of the warehouse-like room drew a lot of attention. She stood and walked toward the table. Both the bodyguards drew their blades, though no one else did.

"And I should also add, Lady Penelope Bogblood, dragon boss of Travis, dungeon of Northridge." The bow Stephan executed was every bit as deep as he'd given Christine and Brolly.

Nodding her head, Penelope sat down and said, "Thank you."

Elanor's eyes widened at the sight of a real, live dragon. When the dragon (a lady dragon, or so the lizard man had said) spoke, she could feel their voice in her chest. What was even more startling was that the dragon sat down as if being here was perfectly normal—and the nice cat lady winked at Elanor. Hope leapt within her that she'd get away from the annoying people her uncle sent.

"And this is Lady Breath of Spring, boss of Breeze, dungeon of Northridge." Stephan was enjoying himself immensely. Despite looking at the entourage of the visiting lady, he observed out of the corner of his eye that Eliza seemed in a complete panic.

"Now that we all know who each other are, would her ladyship wish to take a seat and discuss why she asked us to see her?" Penelope liked the curious and devoid of fear expression on Elanor's face. She smiled, happy to see the young lady's expression turn to even more wonder.

Looking over the assembled, Christine nodded and said, "As always, Lady Penelope has the right of it. Forgive us for being one member short at this time, Baron Howard Tailor is off taking care of some business for us." Gesturing to the lone place at the table, Christine felt every bit the predator that Penelope looked.

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Elanor walked forward and took the last seat at the table, ignoring what her bodyguards were doing or why Harold might be glaring at her.

"If you don't put away those weapons, we might have to take exception to you drawing swords on a council member of the city." Brolly welcomed his role as noble if only so he could give such idiots an order with no ability for them to gainsay him. "And by that I mean right now. I'll vouch for Lady Elanor's safety."

"Sheath your swords," Harold said under his breath, then raised his voice again. "Would Lady Elanor wish myself to be at her disposal while discu—?"

"No, thank you. You may leave." Elanor said the words the nice cat lady mouthed to her. It made Elanor's eyebrows rise in surprise at hearing her voice so steadily say them.

Unable to keep from purring, Felna wanted to reach out and pet the little "kitten" on the head and tell her she was doing great. There was something about her demeanor that shouted for her to protect the noblewoman. When Harold left the room, having to shove the guards before him, she let loose a little laugh. "Well said, Lady Elanor."

Everything had turned upside down. Eliza hadn't heard a single hint of the council members buying peerages, nor had she expected to see them isolate the noble she was here to guide to leading the city. Harold had been her contact, and now the man was excluded from this important meeting. "The lady isn't—"

"Sorry, Liz. Is something troubling you?" Christine asked, her tone bordering on asking a child if they are feeling poorly.

Scrabbling for the scraps of her plan—the plan that had worked so many times before—Eliza steadied her voice and said, "I don't think it's proper to question the young lady without her retainer present."

"My lady," Stephan began, his face holding as neutral as he could, "might I know your age?"

"Seventeen, sir." Elanor knew her manners, and knew that Stephan didn't require being called sir, but he spoke exactly as a well-spoken gentleman would. "I don't need Harold here."

"There you go. Not only is Lady Elanor of age to make her own decisions, she has made one as a demonstration." Stephan inclined his head toward Elanor. "Now, what is it you wished to speak of?"

"I—" Her eyes snapping to Felna, Elanor saw the woman give her a little nod. Saying a little prayer to Sandwalker in her head, she said, "My uncle made them bring me here and wants me to take over the city."

"You were supposed to meet with a conspirator in Northridge?" Stephan asked.

Elanor looked around the room, her eyes ending up locked with Felna. "I am, but I don't know who it is. Harold does, though." She paused for a moment, worry filling her. "You won't send me back, will you?" It was only Felna's smile that gave her hope.

Penelope picked then to insinuate herself into the conversation. "What do you think, Liz? It seems like someone has infiltrated the city and will be acting subversive. How would we track down that kind of spy and what do you think should be the punishment?"

All the shreds of her plans now lay in tatters. Eliza could see a pretty noose being fitted to her neck in the near future—moments after she'd been divested of all her talismans. While the dragon that was within striking distance was looking at her like she knew who the spy was, Eliza reached her hand down casually to her side.

Prepared for the motion, and in the right position to deal with it, Brolly caught Eliza's hand before it could make it to her belt knife. His grip was tight enough to keep her from making contact with the handle despite her leverage. "I think it's a good question, don't you?"

Felna was out of her seat and moving before her own mind processed what she was seeing. Felna reached behind Eliza's back and grabbed the elbow of her other arm and jerked it back against her stomach. "What were you planning to do with this powder? Poison? Killing yourself or the baron here?" She pried the little square of powder from Eliza's hand and cast neutralize poison on it—the flare of blue flames was the affirmative answer to her question.

Christine, meanwhile, turned to Elanor Fitzgerald and gave the young woman her warmest smile. "You have done nothing against the city, its people, nor its dungeons. In fact, you have helped us flush a viper out of our little home. You are welcome to stay as long as you wish. If you need somewhere friendly to stay, Felna has already offered lodgings."

Looking at Felna, Elanor dared hope that the woman had been honest with her. She'd never have believed her parents would have let her uncle send her away like this, though, and it had her questioning everyone's motives. "Truly?"

Feeling a deep purring in her head, that was her god's way of reassuring her, Felna nodded. "Yes, kitte—" Her eyes lost focus for a moment, and despite blinking them, wouldn't regain it. She coughed and felt her arms go weak. "Poi—"

While everyone else stared in shock, Brolly brought his free arm around—fingers clenching during the swing—and connected with Eliza's jaw. His punch turned her head sharply and he felt her go limp in his arms. "Dammit, she had more poison. Is Felna dead?"

Rising to her feet, Penelope reached across the table with one of her talons and grabbed for Eliza, only to have the woman vanish. "Talisman. Did she have one of ours?" Felna, though, was merely a pile of loot on the ground. Not that Penelope was worried about her—organizing a resurrection wouldn't be difficult.

"Felna's here, Pen. She died, but she's with me. Sorry, I might have broken her talisman by insisting she come here instead. Didn't know I could do that," Travis said, relief leaking through his voice. "You need to reassure the girl. I don't care about that damn spy, Felna made a promise and I intend to keep it."

Penelope looked toward Elanor, who looked terrified. "Relax. Felna is safe. The spy got away, though. Felna says," Penelope had Travis relaying the words to her, "to tell her kitten that the dragon is her new best friend and will not let Harold or anyone else hurt you. She— Ugh, do I have to?" Sighing, Pen rolled her eyes. "May the sand burn your paws, so you learn some sense."

Elanor was getting a bad case of emotional whiplash. She had no idea how dragons worked, but the only reason this one would know those words would be if she was a friend of the nice cat lady. "You're sure she's okay?"

"I'll take you to her right now. Uh, once we've resurrected her." Penelope walked around the table, leaving the little pile of gear that Felna's death, as a dungeon monster, had left behind. She crouched down beside Elanor and held out a foreleg to use as a step. "Climb on, but don't tell Fife I let you ride on my back."

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