151 Three Kings (2/2)

He leaned back in his seat. \”And I meant it, too… but after I saw these guys mobilizing, I figured I'd come and see if you needed my help.\”

\”I'm assuming there's a catch?\” I asked.

\”You assume correctly.\” He rubbed his thumb and fingers together. \”There's something I want that's in your power to give.\”

He spared a knowing glance at Aura beside me.

Thinking back on all the ladies around his arm, I was already prepared to reject his proposal. No way would I give Aura away to this lecher. But then he said something that was really quite astonishing.

\”I want the scent of the fairy who survived the deadliest toxin known to the Fayne,\” he said.

Before I could even finish processing that strange request, the other two lords arrived to join the discussion.

The Lord of Stars turned his attentions on the other two, sending each of them an intense glare that they returned right back at him. It seemed these three weren't about to back down from each other.

After what was a tense non-verbal exchange of sizing each other up, the first to speak was Lord Rah.

\”I'm surprised to find you outside of a brothel, Christopher,\” Lord Rah said, in a quiet voice that belied the intensity of his gaze.

\”The south was getting a little too quiet for me,\” Lord of Stars replied in the same relaxed tone he'd given me. \”I thought I'd come up and see what kind of trouble I could get into.\”

\”Liar,\” Lord Rah spat. \”You were lulled into my domain by the same thing that brought so many other fools.\”

The three pairs of eyes focused on Ty, and he seemed to visibly shrink from their gaze.

\”What will it take for you two miscreants to leave?\” Lord Rah asked.

\”Excuse me?\” Lord of Stars asked with a raised eyebrow.

\”You want to bribe us?\” Ardeen Spellweaver confirmed with a similarly raised eyebrow.

\”You're an elf who murdered his own father to attain power while this one,\” Lord inclined his head toward the Lord of Stars, \”is known to overindulge himself in all manner of pleasures… Yes, I assume you can be bribed.\”

The Lord of Stars laughed a long and hearty laugh that ended with the drawing of one of his swords.

\”Those are fighting words, fire-eater,\” he said still in his jovial tone.

The Lord of Stars brandished his weapon menacingly at Lord Rah who had pointed his spear tip back at the Lord of Stars.

\”And here I thought we were in the middle of negotiations,\” Ardeen Spellweaver sighed.

And while the three of them resumed another bout of death stares, Aura tapped on my arm to get my attention.

\”I think I know what the Lord of Stars wants,\” Aura whispered.

\”What is it?\” I asked in an undertone.

\”He has the gift of sense like you… his must be related to smell,\” she revealed. \”And the scent he wants… I think he means the scent of my brother… and if so, then we can give that to him.\”

\”Seriously?\” I asked with a furrowed brow. \”You're not worried about whatever perverted thing he plans to do with Auranos' scent?\”

\”We'll deal with it then, isn't that what you always say?\” she reminded me. \”What matters is that we now might have a definite exit strategy.\”

I sighed. She was right. All other concerns were secondary to escaping.

\”Alright, Chris Pint,\” my voice was loud enough to interrupt the argument of the three lords. \”I'll bet on you. Get us out of here and you've got a deal.\”