Several hours later, the queen called an audience with Arad present. As a way of thanking him for saving the elves.
Arad walked toward the throne hall, checking the new clothes the maids gave him. The tight black suit and frilled white necktie strangled him. Each chance he got, he pulled on them like an annoyed kid.
“Calm down, it’s not like you really can’t breathe,” Aella stared at him, almost ripping the necktie.
“It’s not harmful, just annoying.” Arad replied, sighing, “It’s hard to move. Those clothes are tight,”
Aella giggled, “I mean, no one expected someone of your size to need it,” He started at his wide arms and chest almost ripping the clothes. She could bet that he would tear them if he flexed a bit.
“We shouldn’t stand before her for long, as long as the nobles keep their mouths shut.” Isdis sighed, “We already talked with the queen once.”
Lydia stood beside Aella, her fists on her hips, “Just ignore them. It would be faster that way,”
Arad looked at her, “Do you know where is Jack? I haven’t seen him since I woke up,”
“You’re looking for me. How considerate,” Jack called them from the end of the hallway, approaching with a smile. Like Arad, the maids gave him a suit, but he got a white one.
Arad smiled, “Where did you disappear to?” He approached.
Jack smiled, dragging Arad away, “Give us a moment ladies. I need chief for a second,”
At the room at the end of the hallway, Jack sat on a chair, staring at Arad.
“So, what did happen?” Arad looked at him with a smile, expecting something.
“Of course, I kept my ears open and got some sweet info about this place,” He pulled out a small map.
“This is the capital, the map isn’t detailed, but it’s better than nothing. If you went this way north, you would enter the sacred forest of the world tree, and that clown Grant is there getting healed.” Jack pointed, “We better avoid that place. It’s more trouble than we need,”
“I agree, is it guarded?” Arad looked at the map.
“A lot,” Jack nodded and then pointed at another spot, “This is the capital’s auction, and I already asked about a special deal just a moment ago,” He giggled.
“What kind of deal?” Arad stared at him.
“I heard you got hold of some, let’s say rare stuff. And some people there are willing to pay a lot for, enough for a man to retire,” He smiled.
“You’re talking about the queen’s clothes. That had been less than two hours ago,” Arad smiled.
“Words travel fast, especially through the guards. They can’t remain shut about such a topic to save their lives,” Jack sighed, “Now the nobles are going to be a pain to deal with,”
“We have to head for the meeting now. We talk about that later,” Arad smiled, “I’m sure she has something interesting to say.”
***
Everyone stood before the throne hall gate, and the two guards slowly pushed it open, “The queen awaits your arrival. You’re now in the royal presence.”
Arad walked in the front, Aella trailing on his right and Isdis on his left. Eris slowly marched behind him, her face covered with a black veil.
Thud! Jack walked in the back, relaxed as he stared around, glaring at the nobles with a grin. CRACK! Lydia punched his side, “Behave for a bit,”
BANG! BANG! The queen’s speaker marched from, stroking his long white beard as he knocked the ground with his wooden staff.
“You’re in the presence of her Majesty, the ruler of the great elvish kingdom. Queen Cerilla Zylphyra,” BANG! He knocked again, “Bow down!”
Arad stared at the old man, crossing his arms and giving him a passive stare.
The old man looked around, clearing his throat with a worried face, “Ahem! Bow down!”
The guards, nobles, and maids in the back bowed, but Arad kept staring at the old man, glaring directly into his eyes without moving an inch.
“You won’t bow?” The queen said from the back, smiling.
“I don’t feel like,” Arad stared at her, “I was willing to do it until I took a bath and my head cleared out,”
The queen looked at Aella, “And you?”
Aella smiled, “You sure aren’t asking me to bow after my husband refused,”
The queen stared at Isdis, “You represent the humans. I can’t expect you to bow, do I?”
“Of course, I won’t,” Isids smiled, “But I might do it if Arad did it,” She smiled.
She then looked toward Eris, “And you, night child,”
“Make me,” Eris glared at her from beneath the veil, “I won’t mind sucking on your neck for a bit,” She giggled.
The queen smiled, “I expected no less from you,” She shifted her gaze toward Jack and Lydia, “What about you two?”
Jack smiled, “Depends on how much you’re willing to pay,”
Lydia grabbed the hilt of her sword, “Paladins only bow and pray to their god.” She pulled it and pointed at the queen, “I would die before bowing to a mortal…” She stopped at that last word, thinking about it for a second, “Yeah,” And she nodded.
“I see,” The queen giggled, “I understand. I didn’t expect less,”
“Insolence!” A man shouted in the middle of the nobles, glaring at Arad, “That’s unacceptable, to stand before the queen without bowing!” He growled at Arad.
Arad looked at the noble, lifting an eyebrow.
“Boot licker,” Jack mumbled, giggling.
The noble got angrier, looking at the queen. “Your majesty, may I speak?”
“I believe that everyone should speak freely. I won’t berate them for not bowing as I won’t prevent you from speaking your mind,” The queen smiled, and the man turned toward Arad.
“He’s dangerous. A monster like him should be eliminated.” The noble pointed at Arad,
Arad nodded, “I do agree with you. I’m kinda dangerous,” He smiled, mocking the man.
The man’s face turned red, “You dare…The whole elvish kingdom stands before you, monster. You soon shall taste death. Rampaging on hour land will never go unpunished.”
As Arad stared at the man, he could hear a voice inside his head. Doma spoke to him, giving him a small insight into the man’s past.
“It’s not about dealing with him or not. It’s about how much effort and damage it would take,” Jack sighed in the back.
“Let me show him why I’m dangerous,” Arad smiled, looking at the queen, “Can I?”
“Do what you like,”
ZON! Arad disappeared for a second and then reappeared in the blink of an eye, two elvish women standing beside him, confused.
The elvish noble face paled as the two women stared at him, “Jhon?” One of them gasped, “Father?” the other one looked at him confused.
“How did you!” The elf noble growled in rage, pulling his sword, “Get your filth hands off them!” He pointed at Arad, getting a spell ready at the tip.
Arad smiled, “Come on,” He grabbed the two women on my shoulders, “I brought them for their own good. He stared at the queen,” His eyes flashed purple, and a large metal safe fell in front of the queen’s legs. 𝗼𝐯𝐞𝐥．𝐜𝐨𝗺
“Check the inside,” Arad smiled.
The man looked back, seeing the safe and getting terrified, “You bastard! How did you get that!”
The queen knocked on the safe with her legs, looking at the guards, “This thing is locked tight. Who can open it for me?”
“Ahem,” The queen froze, hearing a voice beside her. “I can do it, but I would expect some payment,” Jack already stood beside the queen’s throne, smiling.
CLANG! The guards gasped, pointing their spears at him, “How did you get here?”
“It’s your job to figure that out, not mine,” Jack smiled, looking at the queen, “What do you say,”
“You can take anything money related inside the safe if what inside proved intriguing to me,” The queen replied, looking at Jack with a grin, “I do have a hunch at what’s inside,”
“Your majesty, don’t be fooled by those scandals. That safe is merely…” He grunted, unable to figure out what to say, “It isn’t important,”
Everyone fell silent for a second, unable to believe the pathetic excuse.
“…Click out of five, back to one. Three is binding, click out of four, and it’s wide open,” Jack smiled, spreading the safe’s door open with a smile.
The queen looked inside from her throne, her eyes opening wide as she jumped to snatch some papers from the safe.
She started reading them, her nose almost sticking to the paper.
“Your majesty,” The noble cried, staring at the queen.
She glared back at him, her eyes flashing with a faint blue light, “Shut up!” CRACK! His body levitated, and his arms stuck to his torso as he could barely breathe.
“This is treason. Since when you were selling slaves to the orcs?” The queen growled, and the noble could feel his torso crushed under her will.
“I never did! Those are forged! Fake!” He cried.
“He’s been doing it for the last three hundred years,” Arad said from the back with a passive face.
“Take him away,” The queen growled, and the guards dragged the noble out, and approached his wife and daughter. “You two are coming as well. This is treason,”
“Those two are innocent. They joined his life after the fact, and didn’t know about it at all,” Arad smiled, “The rest of the family, on the other hand, worked with him for a cut in the profit,”
“They remain,” The queen sat back on her throne, putting one leg on the other, “No, this is a different matter, Arad Orion. How could you know about such a thing?”
Arad smiled, “Don’t underestimate the wisdom of wyrms.”
Inside Arad’s head, Doma talked with Mom.
^[So, I one day needed some elves to test a new curse and had to buy from that man, his prices were quite cheap compared to the bigger market, but his slaves were in bad shape.]^
[How bad are we talking bout?]
^[Beaten and starving for days and sometimes weeks. I went from testing a sleeping curse to caring for them,]^ Doma sighed, ^[Elves can’t really sleep. They meditate while sitting or pretending to be asleep. So I wanted to see if they could rest more by sleeping, and used a curse to knock them out,]^
[Did it work?]
^[Yes, but they didn’t get any more rest. They seemed to get confused after sleeping, like how humans act after taking a heavy hit to the head.]^