Chapter 175 - The Princesses

Note : Chapters 176 and 177 have been written and added to the queue !

Chapter 175

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

City of Rebirth

Allya hastily bowed as the figure emerged from the shadow of the ship's armored docking port, and Alexandra had to stop herself from whistling softly. Princess indeed, the dark elf carried herself like she owned the entire tower, and her full suit of plate armor, only missing its helmet, was intricately designed by clearly an exquisite artist…and very clever enchanter, because the decoration was hiding a set of runes so well even Alexandra could only catch glimpses.

The princess crossed the distance, a couple of bodyguards emerging from the ship behind her, and Alexandra realized with a start that she was the only person outside of the bodyguards not bowing or some approximation thereof. And to say that she had no idea on how to give more than a perfunctory, perhaps even outright insulting to someone of royal blood, bow was a considerable understatement.

She gave the princess' armor one look, and gave her a resounding warrior's salute as she neared, slamming her fist on her breastplate. Several people looked at her oddly, including the dark elf's bodyguard, but the princess herself seemed to find it hilarious, as she returned the salute with an elaborate bow, before bowing to Allya.

"Baroness Allya Aubétoile, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Alfyris Sparal, princess of the kingdom of Arsir. A superfluous introduction given my staff's…entrance, but I do believe the least I can do is be polite."

Allya smiled as she straightened back up, and Alexandra knew the baroness well enough at this point to see the well hidden nervousness underneath it. Whatever the young woman had anticipated, this was not it. Not that Alexandra could blame her, especially as the ship had arrived bearing Rebirth's colors, not Arsir's!

Alexandra also noted that the princess didn't seem to be paying any attention to her at all, clearly dismissing her as some kind of military advisor or bodyguard. Which was fair, since Alexandra had opted against bringing her own coterie of bodyguards, especially as Jared was occupied helping Ella, who was currently getting the air defenses ready for deployment at a moment's notice, now that they had a suitable distraction.

"Your highness, I am very sorry I did not gather a welcoming party appropriate to your station. I was not warned of your arrival, nor did the ship carry your banner!"

The princess chuckled.

"It is quite alright baroness, that was on purpose. My visit here, while not unofficial, is not something my father, the King, wishes to advertise. In fact had the situation not been so dire, your position so…unique, and the people asking for help so important, I would have quite frankly delegated this task to a member of my retinue."

"I see. I thank you for the clarification." Allya looked around. "This is hardly the place for a meeting. If you would follow me? My council chamber should be able to accommodate you and your advisors while we discuss what you have come here for."

"Of course, lead the way baroness."

*****

"So, you are here as a negotiator?"

The dark elven princess nodded as she sat down in the council room, politely turning away the soldier offering her refreshments with a gesture and a smile. Allya had sent messengers ahead to prepare the way, and her troops had done an amazing job, despite the short notice, getting the place cleaned up, maps stored away, and making the council room look somewhat presentable again.

"Correct. Do not let my armor fool you, I am what you could call a political animal first and foremost, not a military commander, although as all members of my line I have been initiated into the art of war."

"A sad necessity for you and your kind." Said Allya with a grimace.

"Indeed. When Elkaryos' message reached us, my husband and I decided I would be better suited for this expedition. He is a great warrior, but fighting abominations from the Old World is not among his many skills I'm afraid. I left him behind to handle the rest of the negotiations for our order of weaponry with the Gorromarians."

"You could argue that leaving the warrior to negotiate while sending the politician in a warzone is, ah, counterintuitive." Interjected Crystal, and the princess clearly did a double take as she spoke, as disturbed as if the furniture had opened its mouth to interject. But she recovered quickly, clearly opting that, when in doubt, being polite and treating someone like an equal was the better way to go, to Allya's immense relief.

The last thing she needed was for a feud to begin between the dungeon core and the princess. Despite Crystal clearly caring for her to some level, given the little stunt at the tower -and waving off her panicked apologies about stabbing her like it had not been much to worry about-, she wasn't sure she could convince the Earth-born to bury a grudge. And she doubted the king of Arsir would have sent his daughter to negotiate if the offer wasn't something she really needed to at least consider, no matter what the princess said about having delegating it under other circumstances.

"To most it would be, but I doubt you yourself are short on military expertise, what with the renowned captain Calder and guildmaster Starvak by your side. Besides which, when dealing with Gorromarians at least, soldiers make the greatest negotiators, which was why my husband was here in the first place, I mostly handled the logistics. That is also the reason for my armor, I'm afraid our…martial friends, despite their impressive technological prowess, see politicians as little more than worms." She shrugged. "And since, as you said, I was heading into a warzone, I thought it wise to avoid tempting fate by switching to a more comfortable outfit."

"I suppose that is fair."

There was a short, awkward silence, then the princess cleared her throat.

"I am sorry, but I do not believe I know you, or have been briefed on you. You are…?"

"Crystal. Dungeon core of the Dungeon factory dungeon." Crystal clicked her tongue. "I just realized that is a bit of a repetitive mouthful, and I really should find a better introduction."

Alfyris went pale. Which, for a dark elf effectively meant a lighter shade of purple, and Allya hid a wince.

"Ah. Lady Crystal, my apologies, I was warned you took a more…direct approach to dealing with surface matters than most dungeon cores, but I was not made aware you would be here. Or that you had an avatar."

"I do not, but I do use my boss as such. My apologies for the confusion."

"It is quite alright." The princess coughed, before refocusing on Allya, clearly a bit off balance. The baroness smiled internally, it was nice seeing Alexandra having that effect on other people. Gods knew she had it on her! "I suppose I should dispense with the small talk and get to my reason for being here. Several people of great importance have asked favors of both my father and the leadership of the syndicate, not to mention the Omega Conglomerate. In response, the kingdom of Arsir, the syndicate and the conglomerate coordinated in sending the ship I came in, the Dusk Blade, here, alongside a sizeable contingent from the syndicate. I was originally supposed to take delivery of the ship on behalf of my kingdom's airfleet, thus it is crewed by royal skyers, carrying syndicate troops and the ship itself is still technically property of the conglomerate on a loan to you until it is recovered by the kingdom or permanently detached to Rebirth." The princess smiled. "A bit of a mess as you can see. I have also been charged by both my father and the syndicate to conduct several assessments and negotiate agreements with Rebirth."

Allya mentally twitched. Several people of great importance? She only knew of one who had done this, and it was Elkaryos. Maybe he had asked some others in the merchants guild to back him, but he no doubt would have had to make concessions and would have told her. What the hell was going on here?

"I assume those assessments and agreements have to do with the loot provided by Crystal's dungeon?"

The princess nodded, stealing a brief, uncomfortable glance at the dungeon core. Clearly she was trying to find a way out of her faux pas, probably attempting to read whether the dungeon core had been offended and was simply putting up a facade, or genuinely didn't mind.

Yeah good luck with that, thought the baroness. If Crystal had kept everyone in the dark about how she wasn't even a natural dungeon to begin with, let alone an extradimensional, the princess would see what the dungeon core wanted her to see, period.

"Yes. Among other things. Your town is also in a perfect spot for a Syndicate presence to conduct all manners of transactions all over the continent, and you are well known as a proponent both of equality and emancipation-" The princess trailed off as Allya raised her hand.

"Before this goes any further, I will be clear. I will not host a terrorist base or training camp in Rebirth, period."

Alfyris chuckled.

"Believe it or not, the same people who asked those favors pointed this as a red line. Do not worry, while I am well aware the Syndicate has something of a reputation, we also have a great deal of more peaceful operations to conduct, usually of the lucrative or propaganda kind." To pay and pave the way for the more violent ones of course, but the princess wasn't about to say that out loud. The subtext was clear though. "And this presence, this enclave, will be restricted to these operations. We will, of course, make concessions and offer assistance in exchange for your blessings on this matter."

Allya sighed internally. She wasn't necessarily all that comfortable with the concept, but she needed all the help she could get right now. Besides, it would help grow her web of commercial and military contacts, which was exactly what she'd need to survive Sunrise's onslaught, if they got that far. All that for…potentially some shady dealings being conducted on her territory for an organization whose ultimate goals she sympathized with.

Overall, not a very hard choice.

"I see. Well, I believe the least I can do is hear you out. Of course, I'm afraid negotiating in earnest will have to wait, what with the current troubles."

"Of course. I have already instructed the Dusk Blade's captain to put himself under the command of your airfleet, under captain…Calder, was it?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Then I propose that we adjourn then. I mean no offense, but the journey has been long, and I am looking forward to sleeping on land again." It was a request…but the princess' tone made it clear that she expected to be granted, and the baroness nodded. "Splendid. Oh, and before I forget! Since my ship would probably outrun most couriers given the rather hectic state of affairs in the kingdom, even before the current upheaval, it was also loaded with a variety of packages and letters. I was given to understand one of them was directed to you."

Allya blinked. Mail for her?

*****

The package turned out to be a rather large envelope. One heavily secured envelope. The paper was covered in runes, and a shiver ran down Allya's spine as she recognized the sigil of the WMC. The World Mage Court had a large hand in communications -they had, after all, created the communication crystal network-, but their involvement in letters and other more mundane methods was usually limited.

Unless you knew the right people. This letter was marked as a diplomatic communiqué, almost guaranteed to be safe, although she had Trira check it regardless beforehand, and amply provided with security measures.

The kind that would leave a pile of ashes and a very dead spy if someone tried to open it without her mana signature.

She looked at it for a few seconds, alone in her office, before taking a deep breath and holding her hand over it. The paper flashed as it recognized her mana signature, and split open. She hesitated, and then reached inside.

The enveloppe contained two letters, actually. One whose penmanship's she instantly recognized.

Cassissa Lumière. Princess of the Eris Empire…and the woman over who she'd had the duel that had gotten her exiled.

The second one was odder. Less refined but more professional. She wasn't sure but she thought it was from her butler, that old bureaucrat Olivier. She read it quickly, as much out of curiosity as to put off reading Cassissa's letter for a few seconds longer.

Uh. Detailed instructions on how to send an answer. Seemed almost pulled straight out of a spy manual. Actually, it might be. And it explained how the letter had become a diplomatic communiqué, protected by the WMC. Gods knew the Eris Empire's bureaucracy used that trick often enough to pass documents they'd rather not fall into the wrong hands.

Like, say, their financial records.

She read it a second time, before putting it down and sighing. There was little reason to put it off, but she still did.

A solid minute passed, before she gathered her courage, and opened the second letter.