“Lura Fadan, daughter of Vander Fadan. I did not expect to see you here today.”

  “The same can be said for you, Hafrad Silverstone, son of Hafred. I believe it must be nearly fifty years since we last met.”

  “Forty-eight years, three months, and seven days. No dwarf could ever forget such a barbaric attempt at a trade offer.”

  “Our terms were more than fair, but greed kept you from accepting that.”

  All in all, Elijah supposed this wasn’t the worst way the two delegates' meeting could’ve happened. Neither party could’ve allowed themselves to miss the other after hearing of their presence, and neither Louis nor Vera could argue against it effectively. Not seeing the so-called ‘traditional enemy’ eye-to-eye was apparently a sin in itself.

  “Both of you, please, contain yourselves,” Vera tried again, standing between the two diplomats. “There is no need for hostilities now.”

  “Oh, I had no intention of being hostile,” Lura quickly denied. “If Hafrad took my words as such, he must have misunderstood.”

  “Because elven tongues don’t carry the ability for condescension?” Hafrad spat back. “Your people have a precedent for just that. From the first age’s wars, where you twigs tried to enslave those you thought unworthy, and—”

  “Finish your sentence and Ethon will consider your words to be on behalf of your king.”

  “My king would gladly stand by my side! Can you say the same for yours?”

  In some way, it was a miracle that they had been able to herd the two diplomats into the castle. If this happened on the streets, Elijah was sure the rumors would’ve already reached Castilla.

  “If you don’t cease this display of immaturity, Serenova will no longer consider dealings with your respective lands,” Vera threatened, stopping both delegates from approaching each other. Hafrad’s right hand, which had slowly approached the handle of his axe, stilled. “I recognize that your people have a history stretching further back than the first human settlement, but, please, look past it for just one meeting. It wasn’t my intention to meet with you both on the same day, but the gods have seemingly decided to twist the strings, and yet we still have matters that need to be discussed.”

  Neither the elf nor the dwarf said anything for a time, making the air grow heavy before Hafrrad breathed out.

  “It is not my place to question Duron’s choice,” the dwarf conceded. “I arrive today with the hope to forge new bonds, stronger than those before it. The intention was for these bonds to grow between Darim and Serenova, but… no dwarf can ignore the shape these stones have formed.”

  The worst part of his words was that they sounded sincere. Elijah could detect no conceit in the tone, no hidden meanings, nothing more than an honest attempt at temporary peace. Hafrad Silverstone, who a minute before had been ready to draw his axe to declare an official statement against Ethon, showed his colors as a diplomat.

  How much of the previous display had been exaggerated to further incite a response from Lura?

  “While many of my brethren would not entertain the thought, I recognize the need for temporarily moving past this,” Lura agreed after some thought. “But, again, I must question why you are here. From what I know, official dealings between Serenova and Darim have been non-existent over land, and the merchant’s guild hasn't made use of your ports for more than a hundred years now.”

  “There are more ways to travel than on land and sea,” Vera said, a smile accompanying her words.

  “Ancient tunnels then,” the elven diplomat concluded, which neither of the other parties confirmed. “Tunnels which, to the best of my knowledge, Castilla have not heard of. Very intriguing.”

  “Darim is under no obligation to inform Castilla of any parts of our structures and vice versa,” Hafrad explained. “Likewise, there is no formal agreement between our countries to avoid dealings with Serenova, and neither is there an obligation to notify other parties of our dealings. If Ethon was unaware of what occurs within the borders of Serenova, that is no fault of ours.”

  “That is true, though the lack of open agreements still makes me curious,” Lura replied, finally sparing the other members of the group a glance. A second was spent on Elijah and a few more on Sasha who seemed to incite a darker expression from the elf that was quickly hidden. “As you said, there are no agreements requiring that the dealings between Serenova and Darim are made public, but I regardless have to request it.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Vera said, before Hafrad had a chance to open his mouth. “While I would love to have this discussion, wouldn’t it be more prudent to do it in a proper setting?”

  It certainly wouldn't hurt to do this somewhere I can sit down.

  Elijah didn’t voice the comment aloud, not seeing the need. The others were already on his side, agreeing that having talks out in the halls of the castle wasn’t good for discreteness. Even if the remaining castle servants were loyal, the looseness of human lips was undeniable.

  And so the group moved along to the top of the eastern tower, adjacent to one of the royal gardens, where a large circular table and chairs had already been arranged. Refreshments were off to the side, and Elijah stole a piece of bread before he sat down.

  Not everybody got to sit, however, as two had quietly left. Grace needed to leave for the family restaurant to announce her return and Sasha couldn’t be bothered to sit through the talks.

  Frankly, Elijah shared the sentiment.

  “Sorry for the lateness,” Alin apologized, as he walked into the meeting room with the aid of his cane. “My assistant just informed me of both of your arrivals.”

  “It’s no problem, Alin,” Vera assured the old mage while accepting a stack of papers from Harper. “We should have everything here that needs to be discussed. Continuing from where we had to pause, I also ask you, Hafrad, if your king can accept that Ethon learns the terms of our trading.”

  “This is not a topic we have been sworn to secrecy on, so we have nothing against sharing our history,” Hafrad said. “To summarize, Serenova and Darim have had a standing agreement for the past fifty years surrounding the acquisition of a varying percentage of gold harvested from the dungeon in Kulvik. In return, we offer an abundance of resources from our dungeon, allowing both sides to benefit greatly.”

  One detail is missing.

  “That has been the standard agreement for the past five decades, yes, but there has been a significant shift in the dynamic which was revealed just a few days ago,” Vera added, nodding at Jack who had been half-distracted by the paper he’d been handed. “If you didn’t already know, Jack Larson, my subordinate, is a Metamancer.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “He explained as much to me, when we met some weeks ago,” Lura confirmed. “An intriguing ability, being able to turn wood into a small diamond, but it is not rare nor significant enough amongst the dwarves to cause a reaction like this.”

  “The human turned gold into mithril,” Hafrad supplied.

  …

  “Could you repeat yourself? I believe I misheard.”

  “You didn’t,” the dwarf said deadpan. “It was less than a gram but it was mithril nonetheless.”

  “... Now that is intriguing,” the elven diplomat commented, after some time to deliberate. “Even if we don’t hold this metal as highly as the dwarven people, we can recognize when a barrier has been broken.”

  “As you should,” Hafrad replied, arms crossed.

  “This, however, begs the question of what offers are being made because of this discovery,” Lura continued, the elf’s eyes once again returning to Vera. “With an ability of this importance, I must assume that it carries a very high price.”

  Elijah wondered if the blatancy was intentional, as he grabbed another bun from the refreshment table.

  ‘Can I have a sausage?’ Dawn requested from within.

  ‘Sure.’

  He grabbed a few of the small ones as he returned to his seat, giving the first to the duck when she manifested on the table.

  ‘At least make an attempt to chew.’

  “This matter was the reason that Hafrad was escorted to Kulvik,” Louis illustrated, drawing back Elijah’s attention. “With the gravity of the situation, we felt it best if the queen could hear any potential offers personally.”

  “And an offer shall be made,” Hafrad assured them. Elijah could see the dwarf was unhappy with the presence of the elven diplomat in the same room, but the previous agreement made this opinion remain unsaid. “As I have informed you previously, Darim will not directly aid you in any potential battle against Castilla. Until such a time when Castilla decides to take up arms against us, Darim will remain neutral.

  “However, a revelation on this scale has caused great interest from my king, Fror Trueforge, son of Thror Trueforge. While it will not cause us to break our oaths, we can aid your cause in other ways.”

  “Forgive me for being blunt regarding this matter, but our goal is to fortify our military in preparation for a Castillan invasion,” Alin cut in. “If your oaths stop you from granting us aid in this regard, I’m unsure if a deal can be made.”

  “I believe my king’s offer fits your requirements,” Hafrad assured the old mage. “As written in the pledge between Castilla and Darim, no soldier under the banner of either country or hired on behalf of either country, may take up arms against the other. This effectively stops us from supplying you with dwarven warriors and mages, but it does not hinder our ability to supply you with dwarven weapons and armor.”

  Quite the loophole. Elijah didn’t doubt that it had been put into the pledge by Castilla, to exploit in the future if need be, but the thought that the dwarves would use it themselves was surprising. From the days he’d been in the company of the diplomat, he hadn’t expected to hear something like this.

  “Could you be more specific with what you could potentially supply?” Vera requested, at which point she was handed a piece of paper from the dwarf. The contents remained unsaid, leaving Elijah and the others out of the know, but the subtle smile on the queen’s face boded well. “There would have to be some… adjustments to the varying amounts, and some modifications to the sizings listed, but I will happily admit that this deal would be very beneficial to our cause.”

  “Queen Vera Newell, daughter of Mason Newell, the ability to transmute mithril is unprecedented, and an opportunity for the dwarven people to restore a treasure that we lost to time millennia ago,” Hafrad countered. “Have you ever heard of the Crown of Maral?”

  Elijah hadn’t, and neither did most of the group present, but both Alin and Lura’s back straightened a little upon hearing the name.

  “You found the pieces?” Lura asked.

  “The pieces that remained,” the dwarf confirmed. “The millennia buried condemned some parts to be forever lost, but we have gathered what we could.”

  “Sorry, could we have some context to this relic?” Vera requested, which Hafrad was more than happy to provide.

  “It is the first crown that a dwarf ever wore, said to have been crafted under the guidance of Duron itself,” the dwarf clarified. “While it was never given one of the many enchantments that the crowns after it carried, its pure mithril structure makes it an invaluable piece of dwarven history.”

  “Three point one pure kilos of mithril,” Alin added, eliciting a smile from Hafrad. “So, I must assume that these are the terms. If Jack restores the crown, Darim will offer its support?”

  “Yes,” Hafrad confirmed. “I need to also mention that the repairing of the crown has to take place inside Darim’s borders. This safety of the relic is above all other priorities.”

  “That is… acceptable,” Vera said hesitantly. Elijah didn’t like how she looked his way afterward. “I will need some time to discuss this with my advisors, but I have difficulty finding anything that would stop this deal from going through.”

  “In that regard, I could be of assistance.”

  Of course, you had to cut in right there.

  Elijah closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the arguing to start up once again.

  “What do you mean?” Vera asked the elven diplomat. “Does Ethon have an offer that they wish to bring to the table?”

  “Indeed we do,” Lura professed. “Whatever amount of weaponry Darim is proposing, we offer twice the amount with the same, or potentially superior, quality.”

  The cracking of wood, as Hafrad gripped the table, was impossible to miss.

  “We both agreed to be civil during this meeting, Lura Fadan, daughter of Vander Fadan, so I must ask why you insult Darim in such a way.”

  “Is a mere counter-offer enough for you to react in such a way, Hafred?”

  “When you’ve personally proclaimed that you don’t put as high a value to mithril as my people yet offer a higher price? Yes.”

  “Would your deal require that the mithril is transmuted in Ethon or would it suffice to have it transmuted here and transported to Ethon afterward?” Vera asked.

  Another splintering of wood could be heard.

  “Whichever you would feel most comfortable with,” Lura provided, her tone professional and light, in stark contrast to the angry look from Hafrad. “I will also need to include my king in these discussions if you decide to consider our offer, but that can wait.”

  At this point, Elijah was fully expecting that Hafrad would stand up in protest, and yet the opposite was true. That fury that had started brewing in the dwarven chest had deflated, a calmer pair of eyes studying the elven form.

  What was the play here?

  ‘Sausage,’ Dawn reminded Elijah, nearly snapping his index finger in search of the last pieces of meat. ‘Give.’

  He relented, releasing the last pieces before wiping his hand on a napkin.

  “I think what all parties need is some time to consider internally what has been discussed in this meeting,” Alin suggested, bringing the focus back to the old mage. “There are obvious opportunities to benefit from, and…”

  Alin grew quiet, as the old man’s head turned towards the windows.

  “Is something wrong?” Vera questioned, obviously concerned by the silence.

  “Maybe,” came the response, as Alin used his cane to move closer to the window. Elijah followed him, looking for whatever was captivating the other man. “It’s been decades since I’ve felt this energy.”

  “What energy?” Elijah asked before it reached him too.

  A wave of… it was hard to describe. An inversion of what he saw when looking into Sasha’s core? The feeling of reality becoming double-layered, a near-perfect replica on top of the original.

  “The by-product of astral gates.”