The meeting with the Low Council turned out to be tedious. They didn’t have authority. Having to go through their interrogation was more punishment than red tape.
Starbreaker admitted as such during a break after my first four hour session, a malicious grin firmly in place. “Even if my sister wasn’t acting against you, the Risen Council can be incredibly petty. And that was before the conflict. Now they’ve got so many real problems they use this to winnow people out. Especially those who’ve annoyed one of their members. Anyone who doesn’t have sovereign rights tends to spend a few days inside.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked while collecting a drink from the nearby table. Was pretty sure the break had been for the Low Council’s benefit, not mine. They weren’t allowed food or drink anymore than I was.
“I may wish to bring my sister to heel, but you have damaged my family.” Starbreaker grabbed the glass from my hand before I could react, downing it.
Rolling my eyes, I poured myself another, looking back towards the chamber. “How long are they gonna keep it up?”
“Until someone tells them to hurry along, probably.”
“Great. What’re you doing here, anyway? Come to watch me suffer?”
“I have better things to do with my time than to indulge in your suffering. I’m here because your lightsinger friend asked me to pass on a message. Apparently, ‘your friend found his acquaintance,’ whatever that means.”
“It means I’m going back in there alone.” Calbern had been planning to join me if his initial investigations didn’t turn anything up. While I was happy for him, I wasn’t looking forward to facing the pompous elves of the low council alone.
“Look on the bright side,” Starbreaker said, clapping me on the shoulder.
“There’s a bright side?”
“It could’ve been me!” With that, the man started walking away, chuckling softly.
I gave the man’s back a rude gesture. Before my hand fell, a soft ding sounded, indicating the session would resume in a minute. I marched inside. Knowing that nothing I said mattered, it was easier to tune them out. The only time I paid attention was when they asked a direct question. Which wasn’t often. They spent most of their time posturing, which left me with far too much time to think.
Time I used to contemplate my situation. The Low Council might’ve been delaying, but that they’d seen me immediately was a good sign, according to Sidhe. My new spymistress had joined Ari on the mirror the night before, which was the only contact we’d had. There hadn’t been time to slip away after Astralis’ interview. Heck, I hadn’t even had time to sleep. Being at Hydra meant I needed less, but a couple hours would’ve been nice.
As my eyes moved about the low council chamber, I realized I was letting them set the tempo. I’d felt so out of my depth, I hadn’t properly thought through more than half of Sidhe’s advice. One of the things I hadn’t considered… I was a Hydra-souled Magus Protectus. Which meant I had sovereign rights.
Sovereign rights meant I was recognized as a proper power, one who had to be treated with a certain level of respect, so long as I demanded it. It was an old rule of Terra Vistan law, meant to keep folk from wasting important people’s time.
That damn man had been taunting me.
I turned around in the middle of one of their questions and walked out. Several voices called out in protest, but no one stopped me.
There was no reason to play that particular game. The exit unwove as I strode towards it, a fascinating combination of arcane and nature. Roots formed a curtain that solidified and weakened as needed. I’d spent half the initial session studying the enchantments of the Low Council chamber. It hadn’t been an entirely wasted morning.
Waiting outside, arms crossed, was Starbreaker. He chuckled as the doors wove closed behind me. “Thought it’d take you another hour. Way to cost me a thousand Waves.”
“You seem pretty happy for someone who just lost a small fortune.”
He waved it off. “Better than having to wait another hour for you to bumble your way through. Come, my sister has to see you now that you’ve exercised your sovereign right.”
“You told me on purpose,” I said as I fell in beside him.
“Don’t think too much of it. I just want to get this sorted and get those kids home.”
“Fair enough.”
Following him to the lift, I noted it wasn’t as private as Astralis’s had been. The stops it did make all seemed somewhat exclusive, having high-end enchanted furniture and few people.
When it arrived, we were greeted by a number of figures that were hauntingly familiar. Plant golems that could’ve been clones of the ones kept on the Aranor family compound stood in neat rows. Their empty eyes swivelled to regard us as we stepped off.
If they were anything like the ones from the Aranor compound, they’d barely be able to hurt me as I was now. Yet Perth’s father had retained a few special plant golems that were capable assassins. It would be a surprise if a matriarch who was willing to sacrifice her brother’s great grandchildren over what was essentially a minor trade dispute didn’t have assassin golems of her own.
A pair of heavy doors were pulled open on the far end of the hall, revealing the matriarch in question. Halina Fores’thall didn’t look like an evil witch. Nor did she have the casual arrogance of Starbreaker. If anything, she looked like an accountant, with a pair of enchanted glasses balanced upon her nose, several pages spread on the desk in front of her. Without looking up, she said, “You’re early. I told you I didn’t want to see him for another two days.”
“No. You said you didn’t want to see him until the Low Council was done with him.” Starbreaker didn’t even bother hiding his smirk as walked up next to his sister and leaned against her desk, looking over her paperwork.
Halina let out a tired sigh as she glared at her brother over the rim of her glasses. “Which should have been two days. That fool Beggarest’s an even bigger windbag than he was before the war. What did you do?”
“Whatsever could you mean, dearest sister? I merely waited as instructed and brought him as soon as the Low Council was done.”
“Right.” The supposed matriarch adjusted her glasses before orienting on me. “So, how did you… hmm. He’s Hydra-souled. Katanek assured me he was still in Pegasus.”
At that point, I half felt like walking out like I had with the low council. Wasn’t sure if this was all some tactic or if they just didn’t care. Still, I’d come here to negotiate. “What’s it going to take to get you to leave us alone?”
“Direct, aren’t you.” For the first time since I’d walked in, something other than soft disappointment flitted across her face, though whatever it was, it didn’t stay long. “I like that. You want to know what it’ll take for us to leave you alone? Fine. Stop selling nature attuned materials in Terra Vista. And make restitution for our losses. I believe half a million Waves would suffice.”
“Half a million Waves? You seriously expect me to pay you half a million Waves after you sent people to kill my family then threatened to blow up my domain with a bunch of kids turned into bombs?”
“You asked what it would take to make us to leave you alone. That is what it would take to make it right.”
“He's got a point about the bombs. You promised me you wouldn't be doing that sort of thing anymore,” Starbreaker noted. I took a moment to reflect on the fact that he had said anymore and then promptly ignored it in favor of dealing with the negotiations instead.
Halina pushed her glasses up, glaring at her brother for several seconds before she turned back to me. “There are other solutions if you wish to make amends for your damage to house Fores’thall. I would also be willing to accept sufficient assets to offset our loss. Things we would have simply purchased had you not interfered.”
Starbreaker grunted at that, crossing his arms and nodding. Then he shook his head. “I don't really care about that part, sis. I just want to make sure the kids are okay.”
“Your bleeding heart is going to be the death of this clan,” Halina said, glaring at her brother. “They are acceptable expenditures.”
“People aren’t… you did it because they're not your direct descendants. Just because I don’t dote on my great grandkids doesn't mean they're disposable.”
“I did it because… it doesn't matter. This isn't the time to be having this discussion.” At that her attention returned to me, her enchanted glasses glinting. “You don't need to be a witness to this. You… If you truly want to get back on House Fores’thall's good side, you can go out and put your savage strength to use. Cull some of the monsters that have been making a mess of my district lately. Bring me their hides.”
My first instinct was to refuse. While I was considering, she handed a piece of paper to Starbreaker, who glanced at it before scoffing.
“Well if you manage it, it'll be interesting at least,” he said after reading the list and handing it to me.
I took the list from him and glanced it over, raising an eyebrow of my own.
Most of the names were monsters I was familiar with, each of them assigned a point value. At the top of the page was a total of a little more than seventy-two thousand, the number she’d apparently decided we owed.
The very idea almost had me refusing on the spot. But as I looked over the targets, I noted they included a phase hawk. One of the creatures I’d been considering for my first Hydra-souled integration. If I could gather up other materials on the list while I was hunting one down…
It wasn’t just the phase hawk either. There were a number of other interesting creatures in the Hydra soul range, Tier 4 monsters. It was possible I could complete more than one objective at once.
There was only one thing left to do.
“I accept your premise, but this total is ridiculous.”
Was wishing I’d been able to go with Calbern to meet his old friend. Even as a third wheel, it had to be better than this.
Halina adjusted her glasses, light glinting off them as she smiled. “Then I believe it is time for us to… haggle.”