The Foolhardies 227 The Alliance

"Nice to see you again, Lord Rah," I said as genially as I could while the memory of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d trying to ambush me and my friends outside the Undercroft remained fresh in my mind. 

Aura and I were standing behind Darah while she lounged on her chair at the head of the Great Hall's long table. Opposite us was Lord Rah. Standing behind him was Dawn, the Dawnbreaker. Everyone else had cleared the room so whatever was discussed would remain between the five of us. 

Dawn nodded her head toward me. It was most likely her version of a warm handshake. I smiled back at her although that might not have been the best move since Aura noticed it as well. It would be just my luck if she misunderstood.

It was just typical of Darah to look at ease while everyone around her was tense. Perhaps one day, after all the battles had hardened me enough, I too would be relaxed in these types of situations. 

"So…" Darah played around with the knife in her hands. "What brings you to my neck of the woods, Rah?"

"You know very well why I'm here, Darah," Rah said in a snippy tone. 

"The Scarlet Moon," Darah answered confidently. 

"The Scarlet Moon," Lord Rah repeated. 

"The Scarlet Moon?" I asked confused. 

Lord Rah's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned his gaze on me. 

"Um, shutting up now," I whispered. 

He waited a few more seconds, probably ensuring I was done with dumb questions, before continuing his explanation. "The Scarlet Moon have interfered in the affairs of the central regions long enough… They have become a thorn on all our backsides."

I rolled my eyes. He could have just said 'b.u.t.ts'.

"Nice of you to finally notice what my clan's been dealing with for the last two hundred years…" Darah chuckled softly. 

Darah sat forward and set her elbows on the table. Her hands clasped together, their fingers intertwined. 

"But you didn't call me all this way so we could both gripe about the injustices of the Scarlet Moon," Darah continued. "So again… why did you request this meeting, Rah?" 

Rah tapped long fingers against the wood of my table. Yes, I would like to point that fact out. And yet I was a simple observer in this exchange. 

"It has come to my clan's attention that you have recently allied yourselves with that group of failures," Lord Rah said. 

And I noticed he spat the word 'that' like it was some kind of nasty word. 

"The Starfall clan," Darah answered. 

That's when it clicked in my head. Rah hated the leader of the Starfall clan, my senior Sense Knight, the Lord of Stars. 

"Yes…" Lord Rah answered. 

"If we're discussing allies," Darah replied, "Then I already know that you've allied yourselves with the Mighty Federation in the Northwest." 

I'd once heard about the renowned strength clan from Edo, which was also the land of his birth. Known to the rest of the Fayne as the Mighty Federation, its inhabitants are known for strictly following a single law, one Darwin might have agreed on — only the fittest can survive. 

"That alliance will benefit your clan as well should these negotiations prove fruitful," Lord Rah answered. 

"And here we come to the heart of the matter," Darah smiled. "You seek a grand alliance… one that might challenge the might of the Scarlet Moon in the north."

Lord Rah nodded silently. 

"Holy…" I stopped myself just as Rah's eyes glanced toward me. 

Darah chuckled. 

"My strategist is right to be surprised, Rah," Darah continued. "It has been five hundred years since more than two clans have allied with each other… not since the coming of the empty throne…"

Lord Rah laughed a long and hearty laugh. 

"You think too small, Darah," he said after he'd finished laughing. "I do not speak of an alliance between four clans… I speak of an alliance of eight — a third of the remaining twenty-one fairy clans."

Even Darah looked momentarily taken aback. I'm pretty sure Aura and I looked like we'd just had our minds blown, which was the case. 

It was a while later when Darah asked her question, "Who else would join such an unthinkable proposal?"

Darah slapped the table. 

"The Hermitage…" she answered her own question. 

Lord Rah nodded. "The Hermitage is already at war with the Scarlet Moon… and they're already allied with the Chariot Lords of Wheel Nation."

"And the remaining two?" Darah asked, and although I couldn't see her face from my spot behind her, I was pretty sure she had an eyebrow raised at Lord Rah. 

"I believe the Skysc.r.a.per clan can be coerced into joining this alliance for they too have had recent… difficulties with the Scarlet Moon," Lord Rah answered. "I believe it will be up to you to convince the final member of our grand alliance to join us."

Darah was quiet for a long moment. Long enough for Lord Rah to decide we needed a clue to whatever he was talking about. 

"In the not so distant past, this structure," as he said relic, Lord Rah's eyes travelled across the room, "was the derelict home of brigands and thieves… Now it is flouris.h.i.+ng, a growing center of trade here in the eastern side of the Westmarch."

Lord Rah's fingers continued to tap on the table — and I could have sworn he was drumming the beat to the happy birthday song.

"It has come to my clan's attention that this growth is in part due to your flouris.h.i.+ng trade with Broken Sellsword's Canyon—"

"—Which is a base of operations for the Lover's Embrace," I finished for him just before I realized that I'd once again interrupted one of the most powerful beings in one of the largest clans in the Fayne. 

I sighed, realizing that I might as well push forward with the budding idea inside my mind. 

"You want us to use our contacts with their clan to convince the Lover's Embrace to join the alliance too," I deduced. 

It took a second longer than natural for Lord Rah to answer, "Yes," and I a.s.sumed it was because he thought talking to me, a lowly one-thousand-man commander, was beneath him. 

To make myself feel better, I recalled the moment Lord Rah got his b.u.t.t kicked by Chris Pint, the Lord of Stars. 

"You are already well-connected to one of their clan's chief operators within the central region," Lord Rah insisted. "I see no reason why she would not help you gain an audience with Embrace's leaders.h.i.+p." 

Darah glanced over her shoulder to me. 

"Is it possible, Dean?" Darah asked. 

"Y…yes, ma'am," I answered. 

I neglected to tell them that the possibility wasn't very high. In all my dealings with Kallista, not once did she offer any info on her clan. But Darah and Lord Rah didn't need to know that. 

Darah turned back to Lord Rah. She too drummed her fingers on the table as if in mimicry of him. 

"a.s.suming we can get all our eggs in one basket and this grand alliance actually happens… to what end?" she asked. 

"To the end of the Scarlet Moon," Lord Rah answered quickly. "It'll be a great war the likes of which has never been seen before… One that'll shake the very foundations of the Fayne…"

I doubt Lord Rah knew how accurate his statement would turn out to be. In fact, this 'Great War' he proposed to Darah would be the catalyst for an event Aura had once mentioned to me and Luca while we sat underneath a starry sky — I believe she called it Ragnarok.