CHAPTER 455: DIGNITY AND CHOICE (1/2)
As the saying went, before hitting a dog, look at its master. Just because Paliseth did not care about this mixed blood granddaughter of hers, there was no guarantee that in the future she wouldn’t suddenly take an interest in her. What then? Lanbael clearly couldn’t just conjure up another granddaughter. That why was Aishael had been safe up till now.
Just because Paliseth could abuse her own children, didn’t mean that others were allowed to.
Besides, if Lanbael were to really kill off Aishael, she might just start a rebellion amongst the Half-Elves. Naturally, the Half-Elves weren’t a threat on their own. The problem was if they allied with the slaves -now that would be trouble.
However, just because she couldn’t kill Aishael, that didn’t mean she couldn’t make life difficult for her. By using her position as the elder of the colosseum, and the opportunity provided by Paliseth when she wanted to butter me up, she arranged for Aishael’s mother to be the slave sent out to fight…
As for Sarkath, there was no doubt that Paliseth had given him a mission beforehand. Yet he had no way of knowing who he was about to fight, especially not when Paliseth had completely forgotten about this non-Dark Elven daughter-in-law of hers. Not that he would have minded either way, being the pure-blooded snob that he was.
I’m sure the two of them would have gotten along famously…
Essentially, that was the gist of the situation leading up to Aisha’s untimely death. A cruel and disheartening set of circumstances that made one question the value of being an intelligent species, if all that was achieved was more excuses to kill each other.
Naturally, all that philosophical talk was irrelevant right now. All that mattered now was Aishael and the heavy burden that was laid on her as a result. She was a smart little girl, but the weight on her shoulders was already beginning to suffocate her.
It was at that point that Lanbael suddenly brought up an interesting question. “Matriarch, I’ve heard news of stirrings in the south.”
“Yes. The Harpies and the Minotaurs have banded together to cause trouble for some reason.” Paliseth gave her subordinate a thoughtful look as if she had already seen through her intentions. “You have something to say about this?”
“I wouldn’t dare. But I do have a suggestion I would like to make.” Lanbael eyed me trepidatiously at that point. Seeing that I had no intention of stopping her, she continued. “I suspect something is amiss in the south. I would like for the Half-Elven army to be deployed.”
“The Half-Elven army…”
“I gave full authority of this war to Zurnalin. She should have been busy gathering up the Murlocs, meaning she should be done by about now.”
“I’m sure her Blood Drake Riders are more than capable of handling such a matter, but with the Half-Elves aiding them, their job would only get easier.” At this point, Lanbael was almost certain that her plan to have them sent out would pass through. With that in mind, she pressed the point further. “Those harpies are airborne creatures. While the Blood Drake Riders are powerful in a charge, they would be exposed against such creatures. But if the Half-Elves were there to back them up with their bows and magicks, the casualties would undoubtedly be lower.”
“Hmmm. A fair point.”
Paliseth nodded her head in agreement. Even though this was probably Lanbael trying to take revenge on the Half-Elves, there was no denying that she had a point.
While in a cavalry charge, it would be nearly impossible to pay attention to the skies so some form of backup was definitely needed. And as long as they could focus solely on the Minotaurs, this entire battle would be a walk in the park.
However, that raised another question as well. Couldn’t the normal Dark Elven armies perform the same job as well? Clearly, Lanbael was pushing them out on purpose.