69 Chapter 69 - The Far Kings visi (1/2)
Kenji was pretty nervous as he waited on his side of a round table at Tariak's only noble estate. Thanks to the deep pockets of Lord Richmond's replacement, it was one of the few buildings that had remained intact.
To his right sat Lord Swan, the overlord to Lord Richmond's replacement and representative of King Thunberad. Seeing as Lord Richmond had near run the place into the ground, Lord Swan had decided to personally take over the local duties until the current crisis was properly dealt with.
To Kenji's left was Almanac, representative of the Adventurer alliance and the people of Tariak.
Then there was Kenji, fiddling his thumbs as the boy knight. Tenko sat behind him having an even harder time sitting still, while Violet remained hidden away with Grey and Gold Beans in another room. If it came to it she would pop out and reduce the Far King to ash with her Starfire Bracers, but with the previous talks having gone so well Kenji doubted that would be necessary.
Well, 'talks' might not be strong enough a word. To be honest Kenji had gone a little far with his detailed description of just how the ash would rain down upon the Fae people if they refused. And perhaps the mention of how common folk tend to guillotine unpopular kings was a little far, the messenger having paled upon hearing of what a 'guillotine' was and apparently assuming Kenji was the execution machines inventer.
When Kenji had pointed out the device was only necessary for the sheer number of executions a revolution would demand...well the promise of an agreement had come swiftly afterwards.
Striding between a grand door held open by a pair of Silver Swan Knights, came the Far King himself flanked with two Knights of his own. He had insisted he be the one to negotiate, along with an insistence that it be pronounced that it was the Far King who was extending the offer of negotiation after pushing Tariak to the brink. Kenji could appreciate why, reputation having meant so much in his favourite MMO games and could comprehend that a king perceived to be weak might not remain king much longer.
The Far King appeared so feminine at first Kenji assumed him a woman, with soft lips and an almost timid expression. But those rounded eyes with long black eyelashes were filled with lakes of the deepest crimson, like ancient wine, and crested with flecks gold. Their intensity spoke of ancient power, and his purple silk clothes that shifted colour and curled around his lithe body like vines stank of riches beyond mortal imagination.
Kenji realised once again the power he had played. The Far King most likely had some political reason preventing him from an all out war, because it felt to Kenji as if the King and his twin guards themselves could have lain waste to the entire region. Perhaps....the Far King really was the main force behind this deal after all, and Kenji's threats were not as threatening as he had hoped?
Bah, this is why Kenji always got lost in the gambling houses. There was just something about the game of bluffs that got the blood flowing, and with so much on the line Kenji felt like this was his biggest gamble ever.
With the life of him and the entire region as the bet.
The Far King's knights were bound in gold, each standing seven feet tall and wielding their bristling auras like searchlights as they scanned the room for threats. Yet Kenji had already removed all iron from the room well in advance, even the old iron nails had been replace with well fitting wood in the Japanese style.
Another accidental introduction, his little childhood curiosity in woodwork having sent the surviving craftsmen into a fervour as they anointed him the Wood Prince. Kenji would have admitted that he had smirked and pointed out since it was in the morning if he could be the 'Morning Wood Prince?' which had been readily been taken up, much to his amusement.
”As you have requested, the usual rules of Fae interaction will be halted while this meeting continues. You will not be compelled by the rules of Fae Hospitality, and no decision is binding until both parties willingly agree to sign a contract in their own blood. Ambassador of the humans, have you yet decided on an impartial mediator?”
Kenji nodded.
”My thanks for complying to my requests, King of the Fae. For our mediator, I request the presence of the Fourth god, Truthblade.” Kenji said this fully believing the God's presence to be an outlandish notion, merely wanting to test the waters of possibility.
To his well hidden shock, the Far King readily agreed.
Closing his eyes, the Far King focused, and in the next moment the black wings of a fallen angel appeared amidst a portal made of shining blades. She was not the god himself, with but twin wings, yet still had that same silver armour bound in a tapestry of warfare and raven black hair that curled at its tips. With heavenly features she held a supernatural beauty, but there was no denying the threatening presence of her long blade taller than she was and sharper than an executioner's axe.
”I have been sent to mediate, no magic bar that binding the honest agreement of both parties will take place while the servant of the Truthblade is present. Failure to comply will result in the summary damnation of the transgressor,” the angel said with the all authority of the cosmos, leaving everyone bar the Far King cowed by her mere presence.
”Might I ask, who is this Fourth god? I admit I've never had the pleasure to hear of him,” Almanac beamed with his most flattering smile at the otherworldly woman floating above him.
The fallen angel instantly brightened at the request, rocking slightly to either side in the air as she spoke.
”The Fourth god is the king of honour, holder of truth and the only god to remain to their purpose. While the others became filled with corrupt greed he-”
”My time is valuable, angel,” the Far King muttered. Instantly the fallen angel shut her mouth and looked a tad embarrassed as she floated to watch from the corner of the room.
”Maybe later then,” Almanac mouthed, the fallen angel replying with a little nod and a shy smile.