41 War Machine (1/2)
”If you will allow me this small interruption, Lord Patriarch,” Chancellor Orryn bowed his silver curly-haired head to his master. Then he turned to face the people behind Great General Folkor. ”You there, if you think we are not monitoring the use of fairy gifts during this council meeting then your master has not trained to you well enough...”
He pointed a stubby finger at one of Folkor's two aids, an Asian looking human girl with straight black hair and a nose ring on her right nostril. She was probably a visere like me because slaves were not permitted in this hall which is why I had to leave Luca behind at the barracks.
”Lavinia... you should know better than to task your followers into spying on your fellow council members,” Orryn reproached.
Great General Folkor's response was quick. She rose from her chair and slapped the girl in the face. ”Stupid, stupid girl... I didn't ask you to do this, did I?”
Folkor spoke in a sing-song voice that was more playful than angry.
The girl shook her head in response. Her eyes were wide with fear right before she lowered her head in apology.
Of course, no one believed Folkor's lie. We all knew she probably had asked her visere to use her fairy gift during the council meeting. For what purpose, I could only guess.
I looked around the table and saw that both Grimthorn and Kairon also had viseres in their entourage. And a glance over at Orryn's back revealed that there was a human boy—smaller and younger than me—among his three aids.
It seems they all had the idea that Darah had for me which meant all these viseres gathered in this hall had fairy gifts similar to mine. Probably not Fool's Insight as I was told it was a very rare gift, but the others were most likely harboring similar sense-type skills as well.
Folkor slapped her aid again. This time on the other cheek.
”I hope you don't embarrass me anymore,” Folkor laughed after she said this. It was like several bells were chiming in unison.
She twirled around like a dancer would have done and returned to her seat, leaving the poor visere with her cheeks red and raw.
I felt sorry for the girl, but her misstep was a lucky coincidence for me because I nearly activated Fool's Insight myself before Chancellor Orryn caught her. Otherwise, I might have been the one getting the reprimand—and Darah's punch would have hurt a lot more.
The other viseres were also looking around at each other with wary eyes. I doubt any of them would start using their gifts now. It was clever of Orryn to nip the internal spying in the bud before the matter of the upcoming war was discussed.
My eyes caught Aura's pointed gaze.
She sent me an almost imperceptible shake of the head which I translated as ”don't do anything rash.”
I responded with an equally short nod of my head which I hoped she understood meant, ”Duh, I don't want to get hit by your monster of an aunt.”
”I hope that satisfies you, Lord Orryn,” Folkor said, her voice forcing my gaze away from my partner and back to the fairies around the table.
She smiled at the gnome, but I could tell there was no warmth in it. It seemed to me like all these council members really didn't like each other.
Orryn shook his head, and I could tell that he thought Folkor's show was nothing more than that, a show. Then he turned to face the patriarch and bowed a second time. ”I apologize for the rude showing, my lord.”
The patriarch had watched all this without moving. Not even a cough escaped his lips. Wordlessly, he waved a gloved hand for Orryn to continue.
With his master's approval, Orryn produced a three-inch wooden stick from his breast pocket. He tapped the end of this stick onto the round table.
Golden sparks, like a sparkler coming to life, shot out from the end of what I believed was a magician's wand.
The round table vibrated, slowly at first. then it increased in intensity that ended once the silver patterns crisscrossing across its surface erupted upward into a silver-like watery substance—which I knew from past experience was fairy dust.
As was its way, the fairy dust came together in a swirling round mass that floated a few inches above the table surface before spreading out into a series of tiny shapes that I instantly recognized as sprawling silver forests and mountains—and very quickly, the eastern outlying territories of the Trickster Pavilion appeared before us in sharply defined silver shades.
My feet shuffled forward and I inched closer to this floating map so I could study it more easily.
The floating virtual model showed the hill my Foolhardies conquered at the dead center of the map. Fort Darah was at its westernmost edge. On the right side of the map were wide flatlands, clusters of low hills, and small patches of forest. This was the western end of the Calmlands.
Orryn tapped on the floating map and a tiny silver army with tiny soldiers and tiny instruments of war appeared on the easternmost edge of the map. There were pegasi riders soaring in the skies above the army. Trebuchets and catapults lumbered across the field. These minuscule details were so lifelike that I swear that I even saw one hobgoblin soldier stretch its arms and yawn.
”As you can see, the Magsong Clan has sent a great host to reclaim the Western Calmlands from our grasp...” Orryn raised his short right arm to my hilltop. ”I have also learned from my little sprites that they won't stop at reclaiming the hilltop we took from them, but with the reclaimed mana resource, they'll push further west into the Pavilion's interior.”
”Is there a specific target?” Darah asked.
Orryn shook his head. ”It is unclear. However, I assume they are targeting the many deposits of natural resources in the region. If I had a guess...”
He pointed his wand at a series of low hills a few miles north of Forth Darah. ”The Mythril Mines of the Dawntreader family would be a worthy trophy.”
Next, Orryn pointed just south of Fort Darah. ”The great Redwood Forest produces much of our steelbark deposits... and there is the Fairy Fort hidden at its center.”
Lastly, Orryn pointed to the southwest where a bustling town could be found.
”Clown Town is also a viable destination... it is the top trading post in this region with a direct connection to Broken Sellsword's Canyon,” Orryn finished.
Grimthorn rose from his seat and slammed his fist on the table. ”These outlying territories ensure the growth of the inner regions... we cannot allow the Magesong clan a hold here.”
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Folkor raised a hand. ”This area is Darah's responsibility... why not have her handle this... unless,” Folkor glanced at Darah, ”you can't handle it yourself?”
Darah's smile didn't waver when she crossed her arms. ”It seems I must remind the Marshal of the South that the last time our armies had a joint training exercise, Roger,” She nodded toward Commander Thors, ”wiped the ground with your soldiers.”
Folkor's scowl was much more intense now. It was a glower that promised pain if the option was available.