The Foolhardies 170 The King's Speech

Aurana told me to go back to my post while she escorted the Lord of Stars away from the battlements and onto the path that led to the Palanquin Palace's main doors.

I could hear him muttering under his breath the whole time she dragged him away, but he did turn around once to remind me not to get tricked by the glutton.

His exact words were, "Don't let that wily fox sink her fangs into you or she'll rip off your manhood!"

After the strange pair of the dignified princess and brutish lord finally left me alone on the palace walls, I spent a bit more time just standing there and taking in the view before me.

The sight of the cityscape below had a calming effect on me, allowing me to absorb all the information Chris Pint had given me.

"I could get used to this," I whispered. "A moment of peace in a chaotic world, how far and few between these moments were for a soldier like me. Heh."

As the night breeze swept my hair back, I wondered just how many sixteen-year-olds could say something like that where I came from. Then I thought about the fact that there were a lot of human teenagers who'd been swept off into the Fayne like me, Ashley, and Luca was—like that blonde girl Chris Pint had rescued at the slave auction—that I started feeling sheepish for my earlier thoughts.

The sound of bells chiming reached my ears like a stark reminder that I was about to be late.

I rushed down the steps as quickly as I could and made my way through the walkway that led to a side door into the Palanquin Palace.

My last view before reaching the door and stepping inside it was that of the palace's domed roof and the spiral towers on its four corners that reached up to the sky with their canopy of leaves.

By the time I reached the Patriarch's Hall, the Lord of Stars and the chief members of his entourage were already inside it. So I had to stealthily squeeze my way through the crowd of officers, officials, and n.o.ble fairies to reach my spot next to Al Sheridan which was exactly behind Darah and Thors. And while Thors and Al offered me a sympathetic smile, their boss, who was unfortunately also my boss, had given me the cold-eyed stare that told me I was going to get it later for coming in late.

Behind me, a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

"Why don't you ever just do things the right way, Dean," Luca whispered.

"I didn't ask to get dragged away," I whispered back.

I heard my brother sigh, and once more wondered why the big brother was getting the reprimand.

The smell of rich pines filled my nostrils as I breathed in a sigh of my own, and turned my attention onto the wooden platform right below the one that held the empty patriarch's seat. The Lord of Stars was there and animatedly talking with Aura while his advisors, which included Thea, waited patiently behind them.

I had no doubt that he was. .h.i.tting on her. The grin on his face said as much. Hopefully, Aura wasn't shallow enough to fall for those rugged good looks of his.

Moments later, the bells chimed a second time and the court steward announced the arrival of our Patriarch.

"Auranos Trickhaven, third of his name, thirty-seventh Patriarch of the Trickster Pavilion," the steward boomed.

Auranos appeared through the side door, and for the first time since I met him, there were no aids to help him walk. Coming up behind him were Chancellors Orryn and Kairon, both of whom looked slightly worried that there was no one to support their master.

No, Auranos was walking on his own, and although he used a cane to do so, there was a significantly dignified aura about him that contrasted with the inherent wildness that Chris Pint exuded.

The patriarch did not immediately sit on his throne but instead walked over to the edge of his dais and extended a welcome hand wrapped in bandages toward the patriarch of the Starfall clan.

"I believe this is how humans greet each other," he said in his soft but commanding voice.

Despite the heavily bandaged hand, Chris Pint didn't even hesitate to take it.

They shook to the applause of most in the wooden hall, but I think mine was the loudest of all.

A second seat was brought in so that the two patriarchs' who were equal in rank could sit side by side on the top dais. This wasn't normally done as we were in Trickster territory which meant Auranos should hold higher status, but our patriarch didn't care about things like that. He preferred they entered into the negotiations as equals.

Once more I was given the impression that Aura's big brother was something else—definitely someone worth elevating to the empty throne.

Princess Aurana joined the chancellors in their places on the lower platforms which were close enough to run to Auranos' side should he need a.s.sistance.

Edo was there too. He was standing behind Aurana now but he'd been the one to bring Chris Pint's chair in.

Another round of pleasantries began between the two patriarchs' and we all bore witness to the flatteries and gift-giving.

"I wanted to thank you properly for sharing your scent with me," Chris Pint laughed. He raised a hand toward Thea and gestured her forward. "So I brought bottles of the finest scents I've ever sampled on my journeys in the Fayne… perhaps they can help to soothe your condition."

Thea carried a small gilded chest in her hands and offered it to Chancellor Kairon who stepped forward to accept it on the Auranos' behalf.

"Thank you for the gesture… I'm sure they will be of good use to me," Auranos responded genially. "I wonder if the scent I provided has been of use to you as well."

This was my question too. It was a really weird request he made of me and Aura after all.

Chris Pint nodded seriously. "The scent of one who survived the taint of Drakon's Blight… now I have a cure if I ever get poisoned by that d.a.m.nable stuff."

"If only we all could share in the gifts you possess," Auranos chuckled to himself. Then he turned a curious glance at Darah and I knew he was looking for me somehow. "Luckily, my clan has also been blessed with the legacy of the gatekeepers."

Chris Pint chuckled too. "A sprout… that's what you have. Nothing more. Up to you how you bring him up. Whether he becomes the power you desire him to be or the tool of your destruction, heh, we're all double-edge swords, you know."

By the confused stares of many onlookers, I gathered that not many knew my secret, but those were aware of my fairy gift sent me wary-eyed stares.

Imagine being glared at by the most powerful people in the government with something that was half-expectant and half-annoyance, and tell me you wouldn't want to shrink out of view too.

Thankfully, the initial negotiations began and all thought of the young wielder of the sense of sight disappeared from the onlookers' minds. Their focus turned on the battle of wits between the two clan leaders.

"So, I'll lend you soldiers to help in your war against one of the biggest and baddest clans in the Fayne," Chris Pint began. "And you'll provide me with forces to ensure the southern clans don't band together against me."

Auranos nodded. "Our long conflict with the Sunspire Dominion has dragged on for long enough… we require more strength to end their threat on our western border."

"But will you stop at just the border?" Chris Pint asked knowingly.

He leaned back on his seat and waited for the patriarch's response. It came after a long moment of reflection. But when the patriarch spoke, he addressed not just the Lord of Stars, but all of us who were gathered there.

"Too long has our kind been in conflict with one another for no reason other than a quest for power. The bodies have piled up so high that the deaths of our loved ones rival the Peak of Bloodsword Mountain," the patriarch stated.

He struggled to rise from his seat but waved off any effort to help him.

"We fairies have been leaderless for far too long… and there have been a great many dark days with no hand to guide us through… I fear that if this rudderless path continues then we will not survive to see the next century," he proclaimed. "We will be wiped out by our own foolish desires long before the five gates open and Ragnarok comes to claim us."

Nervous murmurs permeated the hall at this p.r.o.nouncement of doom and gloom.

"I seek an ending to this warring clans era, not for myself…" the patriarch showed off his bandaged hands to the crowd and we all saw the b.l.o.o.d.y stains forming underneath the white fabric, "but for the generation that comes after us… to give them a chance to build a better world, a kingdom of the Fayne far better than the one our ancestors built."

The murmurs changed, turning now into inspired awe at the injured elf who stood up straight despite his many pains, who spoke with a strong yet quiet voice that imbued all of us with feelings of hope.

"I do not seek the empty throne so that I might sit on it and impose my will upon the world…" he turned his gaze on his fellow patriarch. "I seek it only to right our course, to change our b.l.o.o.d.y fate…"

He paused and took a long raspy breath.

"And I know this path will be far bloodier than any conflict before it, and a great many will hate us for choosing it, but I will gladly take in their ire… I will gladly sacrifice myself so that we might carve this future into being," he spoke.  

The officers and n.o.bles of the Trickster Pavilion began to shout that they would follow the patriarch into whatever abyss he was running headlong into.

"Together… we will unite the clans… we will unite the Fayne!" He roared louder than I'd ever heard him before.

There wasn't a single person there connected to the Trickster Pavilion who didn't have their hands raised. In fact, there were even some among the Starfall clan who looked up at Auranos in awe. Even the Lord of Stars was gazing up at his fellow patriarch with a warm grin on his face.

All of us were caught up in that inspiring moment. At least until the patriarch began to cough and cough, and then doubled over to the point where Chris Pint had to help him back to his seat which in itself was an interesting conclusion to the beginning of the summit.