Arad walked out of the room, thinking. ^I can’t sense any power from that old man. Even asleep, he should at least leave some traces.^
[Your brother is far older than you. His senses are sharper and could probably tell what power the old man had even if they didn’t appear at first glance.]
Arad cracked his neck, stopping in the middle of the hallway and staring out of the window and to the garden, “Daytime. How long do you think is still until Brother’s plan?”
[About three days, give or take when they get the information they need.]
^I will go investigate something on my own.^ Arad turned and headed toward the king’s room.
“Baltos, it’s me Arad,”
“Arad? Come in,” Baltos replied from inside his room.
Arad walked in, seeing him asleep on his bed, still recovering from the curse’s impact. Humans are fragile. Had it been Arad that was cursed, he should’ve already recovered.
“Did you need something?” Baltos asked.
Arad scratched his head, “I wanted to ask you about something, but I won’t explain anything about why I’m asking.”
Baltos scratched his beard, “Brewing something, are you? Well, I’m used to dealing with troublemakers, so ask ahead.”
“Did you steal something from the elves? An artifact.” Arad asked.
The king blinked, “Artifact? No, the kingdom didn’t deal with the elves in almost three decades. We barely speak with each other.”
“So no,” Arad started thinking. That undead dragon he killed said he served the murder god, and the artifact Vars is looking for also belongs to that god. Vars is also a necromancer. Something is adding up too well.
“Is that all you have to ask?”
Arad then looked at Baltos, “You won’t ask why I’m asking?”
“I promised not to question you.” Baltos smiled, “But you have my word. The kingdom didn’t steal anything from the elves. At least from what I know, and I’m the king. And of course, I wouldn’t know every detail about the kings before me. You better ask Kin about that. She lived far longer.”
Arad nodded, standing up, and walked outside the room, searching for Kin.
“Kin, are you around?” Arad mumbled.
“You’ve been looking for me?” Kin called from behind Arad, and he turned with a smile.
“I just mumbled your name. Your ears are sharp,” Arad smiled.
“I have to listen in case Baltos calls me,” Kin smiled, “So, what did you want to ask about? I can’t listen into the rooms, especially Baltos’s room.”
“Did this kingdom steal something from the elves?” Arad asked.
“Define steal. When talking about kingdoms, there is a huge difference between stealing and scandalizing them.” Kin smiled.
“Took something without them liking it,” Arad replied.
“That makes several things across the years.” Kin smiled, “Well, most of them could’ve been returned had they agreed to give us what we paid them for it. Basically dealing that they wanted to back away from after dealing,”
“Thanks,” Arad thanked her and turned to leave.
“Wait, why are you asking,” Kin called him, “I didn’t give you any details, but this is still classified information. Do you have a reason to need them?”
Arad looked back at Kin, “Let’s keep at this. Someone told me you stole from the elves, and that’s the reason for the deteriorating relationship you have with them. But seeing what I saw here. I’m starting to think they were lying.”
“Someone trying to frame us?” Kin smiled, “I always thought that we had no reason to have such a bad relationship with elves. And it seemed like something was fueling the hatred, but couldn’t get a grasp on who it was or if they even existed.”
“That’s what I thought,” Arad replied, “When we crossed the border, a group seemed to want to start a war, and they tried to kill Isdis. I would get you an audience with the elf queen. After I settle matters here.”
“That would be sweet, it’s time elves and humans dropped this silly war.” Kin approached Arad, “But we won’t meet them on their land, and they won’t meet us here. It’s too risky for both sides.”
“You meet in my home,” Arad replied, “My domain is a neutral ground for the dragons to meet and make deals. It won’t hurt to let kingdoms use it as a neutral ground as well.”
“I won’t call you neutral while marrying Isdis,” Kin smiled.
“I have Aella, their last Deianira, and the wind spirit Zephyr. That should at least equal a princess,” Arad replied, “I could bring more people to prove the place is neutral.”
“The dragon generals?” Kin stared at Arad, wondering what kind of people he might bring to make it seem more plausible he wasn’t siding with anyone.
Arad thought for a second, scratching his chin, “How about Kayden Daemon? He’s the strongest world power, isn’t he? I’m sure he won’t refuse if I call him.”
“Speak such a name so easily. Do you know what kind of monster are you talking about?” Kin glared at Arad.
“I know. I saw him more than once to be sure that I can call him.” Arad smiled, “Or how about Alice Dagon? She might not come in person, but I’m sure she would spare me one of her clone puppets. Claug as well, but I’m not sure she would come.” Arad sighed, “Alcott will be there as well. Nina the Berserker is a name that no one wants to mess with. And how about a vampire lord? I know one and a werewolf progenitor as well.” He smiled.
“That’s,” Kin stared at Arad, a drop of sweat trailing down her forehead. “A lot,” She remembered what could happen if he were to die. None of those people he mentioned was a cursed witch or an ant queen capable of destroying the kingdom. He must be keeping them as a trump card.
Arad smiled, “So, what do you say?”
Kin stared at him, “You saved Baltos’s life and for that. I will trust you blindly for a while.” She smiled, “You have the kingdom behind your back.”
***
After that, Arad headed went on a walk across the castle. Everyone has gone back to sleep since they exhausted themselves last night in the battle. Aella was out, Mira was out, and Even Eris had retreated to her coffin.
As he was bored, Arad closed his eyes and sensed that Isdis was awake, and stressed in a room downstairs. ^Let’s see what she’s doing,^
When Arad reached the room, the two guards standing at the door stared at him, terrified. A sign on the door says, [Isdis’s Office: Do not disturb]
Arad looked at the two guards.
“Please go inside.” One of the guards smiled, moving out of the way. There was no way he would stand in front of a man who bodied a dragon. Paper can’t stop a cannon they say.
Arad knocked on the door and pushed it open.
For a split second, Isdis glared at the door with a hint of anger, but the moment she saw it was Arad, she went back to her work.
Arad walked inside, seeing two similar maids sitting beside Isids, passing her papers and writing their own.
“Doing something?” Arad asked.
“Father is recovering so I’m dealing with a lot of paperwork,” Isdis stopped and looked at Arad, “Brothers are now dealing with the headache called Alfred. Whether executing or banishing him, it’s their problem to figure out.”
“I see, and what you’re doing now is dealing with the kingdom’s…” He looked at her hands, “Papers?”
“No the kingdom, that’s Kin and Gin’s job now. I’m dealing with the aftermath of the white dragon attack.” She gave Arad one of the papers.
Damage details, death count, healing supplies, funds, armed manpower, unarmed manpower, food, housing, lack of rations, damage to the walls, a potential riot…
“That’s a load,” He gasped.
“My hands are tied down.” Isdis said with a smile, tapping the maids beside her, “Lucy I have those two with me,”
Arad looked at the maids, “They look similar,”
“Rey and Ray, twins. They’ve been serving me since I was four years old. As you might expect, they got the same royal training I did, so they are efficient in dealing with the kingdom’s matters just like Kin and Gin are to father.”
“I’m Ray,” The right maid replied, “And I’m Rey,” The left maid added with a passive face, and they got back to their work.
“They look young,” Arad inspected their faces. He couldn’t sense any real power from them, but they looked younger than he would expect maids had served Isdis since she was four years old.
“Ray and Rey are twenty-two years old. I’m twenty-one. They started serving me when they were five years old.” She smiled.
Ray looked at Arad, “Abandoned at the castle gate, so we were picked and trained as maids.”
“Albeit, we spent the first ten years studying with Isdis, rarely did any work besides brushing her hair or playing sword fight with her,” Rey added.
Arad then looked at Isdis, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Not paperwork,” Isdis shook her hands, “No offense, but you’re more suited to raw power jobs. Not writing reports.” She then paused, “Yeah, I’m the right job for you!”
Rey handed a paper to Arad, “I believe this is the one Lady Isdis is talking about,”
“A massive boulder is blocking the eastern wall. Please send more soldiers to remove it. If possible, we like to block a well just outside the wall that has been flooding nonstop since the fire disaster.” Arad looked at Isdis, “So, remove the boulder from the wall and use it to block a well, right?”
Isdis smiled, taking the paper from Arad’s hand and signing it, “Yes. Please show them this paper and have them sign it after you’re done,”
Arad stood, “Will be back soon,”
“You better take the western road. It’s shorter,” Ray showed Arad a map of the capital.
“No need,” [Void Step] With a smile, Arad disappeared into thin air.
“Ha!” The two maids stared around with a dumbfounded face, “Where did he go?” Ray gasped.
“Disappeared,” Rey said with a passive face.
With a smile, Isdis patted their heads, ruffling their hair. “Told you he’s strong, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Ray. 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
“Yes she did,” Rey.
“That’s right sister,” Rey.
“She didn’t say he can teleport,” Ray.
“She didn’t say that, sister,” Rey.
“Isdis lier,” Ray.
“Isids keeps details away,” Rey.