"We saw Queen Artemis and King Graan descend from their obsidian thrones and fight at the gates of Granarius Prime when Queen Malphas Used the power of the Rage-that-Dwells in its entirety, physical reality bent as she fought them for an entire week without stopping, In a mad gamble to stop the Queen of Vermilion, the Royals deployed the first ever recorded use of a Tear from the All-Father, stalling Queen Malphas enough for them to retreat and later issue a ceasefire"
Elven Commander Veronica Windreaver of the Magenta squad, Granarius elite guerrilla operatives on her interview post-war to a reporter from the Imperium.
William paced around the castle, the plans with the druids had stalled in the last few days, they were against deploying taboo spells from their Granarius cousins, He didn't think he would need to reveal "Samantha's" real identity so soon but he needed an audience with those mad elves and their killer variant of the spore spell, including the finger fungi strain, ugh he thought, it would take a series of favors to get on their good side, some he could replicate like dealing with their bard, and cooking the foods both royals liked but getting that Hivemind made wine would be...Complicated.
"You can cook?" Lucrezia asked, she was feeling better these past few days, William managed to go down to what they were calling the Monolith's core room, and established that the melding had stalled.
"Sure can! It's nothing super fancy but I bet some recipes from the earth can translate well enough that King Graan would be pleased"
"You sure this "Samantha" has a long-range teleportation device? even if we use the highways it would take months to arrive in their capital city"
William showed her a game memory of the moment the Princess using her collar to open a door into the palace, He had been steadily drip-feeding more memories to Lucrezia now, the meld stalled meant that there was still some distinction between their individual experiences, to a certain degree that is.
"Do not think about that again Terran, it was embarrassing enough for me and I DO NOT want a rewind"
"Sorry?" William didn't know what to say, it was a rather complicated issue, knowing that his dreams could "leak" so to say towards Lucrezia's soul, the same could happen to her dreams, as he woke up from a particularly nasty dream where the woman had broken her leg while riding a horse the size of a pickup truck.
"I may have been willing to use necromancy before, but I can't believe I actually want to delve into the soul arts"
"We make do Lucrezia, we make do"
She sighed "So what's the plan? are you gonna walk to the woman and demand it? threaten her with that weapon Idun made?"
"As if. I'm not a maniac, shame on you for implying otherwise Lucrezia"
William coughed and spoke to her "First and foremost, we need to compose new music for their bard to play, don't ask me why the game never went into detail on it, second its food, King Graan is a big foodie, Earth recipes will be enough to earn enough goodwill from the madman together with the new music"
Lucrezia hummed in accord, William found the habit curious, he didn't know she liked music that much from the game info.
"And the Queen? how do we please her?"
A nervous laugh came from William's lip "Your parents wouldn't have a bottle of Hivemind made Wine would they?"
----------------------------------------
A scene was happening in the grand kitchen of the castle, Leanu came running when a maid dressed in full plate told her that Lady Lucrezia was harassing the Kitchen staff for foodstuff. Arriving there she saw her Lady arguing fiercely with the Head Chef, Angelo.
"-Do not put your nubile hands on my workstation! look at this...this disgrace you made against all that is holy in this realm!" he looked at Leanu, horrified, and screamed for help "Head Maid, stop this madness at once! the lady is possessed, she wishes to bake this monstrosity towards Kelis the goddess of bread for All-Father's sake!"
Leanu looked over, shushing the dramatic man, he was a great head chef she felt, but he was a native from Kehheim, Uumaries above those people had a flair for drama and raising a ruckus if their "traditions" were broken, including nobility trying to bake...Flatbread? she approached the young woman, who was sporting kitchen staff clothes, Saa'ryu nowhere in sight, which felt a little strange, those two were always together after all.
"...Forgot the yeast again, Jesus fuck it's hard doing by memory without an easy recipe...Oh, Leanu! what brings you here?" the maid raised her eyebrow, who was this Jesus fellow? All-Father above, if another rumor beings she would have to bust out the memory marbles to find out who started saying her lady was sleeping around! it was bad enough that the First Maid almost killed a Buttler who had started the last rumor...
"Lady Lucrezia, I was told you were in the kitchen causing quite the ruckus-"
"Ruckus! this is harassment, this noble can barely boil water much less make bread, look at this sad excuse of a dough! no eggs and no butter! who makes dough without BUTTER?!" the Head Chef rudely spoke over Leanu, the Head Maid turned to him and glared him down, the man backed off with a huff as the kitchen staff watched with a mix of glee, apprehension, and boredom, apparently whatever Lucrezia was doing here had been going for a while.
"I'm making a new dish, something that will impress even our Head Chef." Lucrezia said, ditching the failed mass of dough "Now that you are here Leanu, you can help, Head Chef over there is being a total ass and won't let the kitchen staff help me" the man went red but Leanu glared him down again, she turned to a staffer and motioned her to clean the workstation, this time she grabbed all the right ingredients.
Leanu watched in awe as the girl she raised started manning the kitchen utensils like she was a maid fresh from training, it took Lucrezia less than 20 minutes to prep the right dough this time, which looked like Orcish Taal, a popular street food dish they ate in the many festivals that happen across the year, after finishing needing the dough she cast some sort of spell that made the yeast raise it, something that would take at the very least an hour happening in a blink.
"Holy shit it worked!" She heard Her Lady mutter, the Head Chef sighed in disbelief and spoke "What a disgrace, using magic to fast forward the process, typical spoiled nobility" to which many of the Kitchen staff rolled their eyes when Lucrezia started throwing the dough up in the air and spinning it many were gobsmacked, one of the staffers even asking what in all that is holy her lady was doing! Leanu couldn't agree more.
"Start heating the oven, GO" Lucrezia said without taking her eyes from the spinning dough, the cornmeal flour that was below the dough flying across the kitchen, after feeling the dough was round enough she put the thing down and made a border around it, growing her brows and muttering something about wrong order. Leanu was close to intervening when Lucrezia started barking orders again, oil, cheese, tomato sauce, more cheese!
"I need sausages, cut in thin slices, they need to be heavy on spices" she spoke while prepping the cheese monstrosity, at this point the Head Chef had seen the method behind the madness and wasn't as sanguine about it, when he heard the request he bolted to the pantry and grabbed a magically sealed container.
"My Lady this is made from a specific goat farmed by Dwarfs in Xie, they blend numerous spices native to the Dynasty and blessed by local agricultural gods to achieve a taste unheard in this side of the world" He sliced a piece and offered it to Lucrezia who took a hearty bite of it.
Silence descended in the Kitchen, the Head Chef Elven ears going red in shame, Leanu was ready to offer the Half-Elf a lifeline when her Lady spoke again.
"Goddamn this is good"
She went back to the dough, slicing the sausage in thin circles. after poking it for what Leanu believe to be bubbles inside of it, she was satisfied and picked a rod of steel, shaping it to the format of the round dough, she then opened some sort of scroll and placed it on top of it, turning steel into stone.
Quickly placing said stone in the oven, Lucrezia placed the dough inside the oven and prayed to All-Father, the whole kitchen watched as she recited it when the Head Chef broke the reverie and asked "So, How long until this...Whatever this is cooked?"
"15 Minutes" and so they waited when it was done it was the Angelo himself who removed the new dish from the oven, his blessing granting him immunity from the fire, immediately the smell hit them, and something clicked inside the man, in an instant he felt his whole life change.
"Major blessing, heh Congratulations Head Chef Angelo" Lucrezia gave the man a small bow.
As Lucrezia sliced the new dish, everyone in the kitchen was salivating in anticipation, Lucrezia made enough for everyone and with a small bow said.
"I present to you, The Pizza"
----------------------------------------
"Tell me Terran, is there a reason we are rooting around my parent's bedroom? I fail to see the point of it, we don't need further evidence of their misdeeds do we?" Lucrezia was right, there won't be anything to find here when it came to more information on those people, but he wasn't here for intel, he was here for booze, more specifically, the only way to reliable get a bottle of that Hivemind made booze unless he went to the mega-dungeon in the capital and defeated its final boss for it.
"I need a bottle of that Special booze I told you about, your parents are supposed to have it, otherwise we will be out of luck when it comes to getting Queen Artemis to favor us"
"Can't we bring another liquor? The duchy is famous for its root beer and Mead"
"She hates Mead and sees bear as peasant grog, no it has to be that blasted bottle"
He felt puzzlement and curiosity, sighing William explained
"There's a very tight window in the castle siege to get it, otherwise you must return to the capital and run the dungeon twice, and the enemies there scale to your level which is just super annoying and time-consuming"
"Scale as in...?"
"As you level up they level up with you basically, I thought you had the terminology down Lucrezia, do you need more memories?"
"Gods no! let's not repeat the earlier incident-"
"You can talk with me if it's making you uncomfortable you know? I was told I'm a great listener, it was sis who told me but still..."
"NO! now find this stupid bottle so we can move to the next step of your plan, they better have those special fungi you mention, cause even speaking with a noble from Granaris is liable to get us charged with sedition of state authority and treason"
"Don't worry. will now help me with this" William pointed to a safe.
"Can't help you there Terran, I don't know the combination for the safe"
"The hard way it is then"
William placed his hand on the safe and sent a focused blast of Magnetism into the safe, feeling the whole thing crumble, he quickly removed his hand and canceled the blast, the door opening by flying into Lucrezia's parent's bed.
"They ain't gonna be needing that now heh" William smirked as he picked the prize, a bottle made of an unnamed metal the Hivemind can make from its biomass feeding process, he opened the bottle and on a whim took a swig of it, the liquid went down like fire and ash, with a sweet almost rotten after taste, William coughed until red in the face, he felt Lucrezia's disbelief and anger rise when she spoke
"By all that is holy why did you drink that!? Ugh, I felt from here! godsdamn it's bad"
"The description text said its taste was divine! goddamn it all I feel like I'm throwing up half the food I ate today"
William sat on the floor nursing the bottle, he closed the thing as the smell was making him shiver, Lucrezia was talking but he couldn't hear it well, that was when he saw the shadow people around the room, a legion of shades rushing, whispering and screaming at him, scared out of his mind William did the only thing he could to clear himself from the poison, he threw up until he was dry heaving.
"...William, can you hear me? speak with me godsdamnit, shit shit shit"
"I'm here Lucrezia, at least my brain is here, I think I just had an astral projection or this is pure poison, is everything alright down there?"
The woman didn't speak for several minutes, then he heard a heavy sigh of relief, the feeling blanketing him like being tucked into a bed as a young kid.
"Yes, thank the gods, Listen William, no drinking booze made from ancient space-faring galaxy destroyers ok? and no drugs as well, promise me"
"I don't think we want a repeat of that yeah, I promise Lucrezia"
"Good, Good now I hope the next step doesn't involve us getting poisoned?"
"I have a feeling you gonna like the final part of the plan Lucrezia, trust me"
----------------------------------------
Court Bard Hayden was feeling very cranky the past two weeks or so, Firstly she was confined to the castle grounds which while rather large, weren't enough for her to get inspiration for her magnum opus.
Then suddenly everyone and their mother is doing combat drills like they are preparing for a bloody siege, from who she didn't know until she had to seduce a guard into speaking what the hells was going on in the duchy, the boy didn't last an hour before he spilled the beans, and when she learned of all the horrible stuff that was happening outside of the walls it made sense why no one was getting out.
But what annoyed her the most was Lady Lucrezia's continuous skipping their music class, she noticed the mood had changed with the young woman, ever since she woke from that horrible fever she had, there was something else on her, an extra spring to her step like she was driven by something, something higher, divine even, in the last week she had swayed back the old Knight Commander, gotten a crew of dwarven engineers and weapon smiths to work for her, and even got assistance from a Winter Elven clan.
So when said Lady came to her quarters asking for help on "composing a brand new song" the bard couldn't help but get very frustrated at her, even if she knew better.
"Ahem, what's this contraption you are holding there Lady Lucrezia? it appears to me its a lute but, not of any shape I know of, and the college was very thorough when it came to them..." Very suspicious Hayden felt, while she had heard of new weapons being made by the dwarfs, she didn't know they had expanded to musical instruments, she watched as Lucrezia tuned the new instrument, its six strings glittering in the light from the chandeliers.
Kailistus Chalice! those strings were made out of mana crystals! How was she playing that...that thing without cutting her fingers off, that was when she heard the first notes being played, a queer and new sound flooding her ears, she then realized she didn't know it, the melody, the harmonization between the notes, how Lucrezia's hand slide from cord to the cord, forming shapes that produced notes, and even those there were some she had never heard of it.
When Lucrezia started to sing, Hayden was completely fixated on her, all her worries and complaints melting away as something higher than herself came to watch this event unfolding.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
"The many miles we walked"
"The many things we learned"
"The building of a shrine"
"Only just to burn"
"May the wind be at your back"
"Good fortune touch your hand"
"May the cards lay out a straight"
"All from your command"
"That's the way it is"
"That's the way it is"
"That's the way it is"
"That's the way it is"
As she kept playing the guitar Hayden could feel the words becoming images in front of her, the sadness and hopelessness they projected overwhelming her to the point she had to hold back her tears.
"Shine light into darkness"
"Shine light into darkness"
Hayden cried, the image in front of her, that was all doom and gloom became engulfed with rays of warm and welcoming light, just as the lyrics ended she felt a snap inside of her.
"Another Greater Blessing, I'm on a roll today" Lucrezia whispered as the Bard came to, immediately snatching her lute and composing a new song on the spot, riding the blessing high, she noticed her Lady looking up to the roof and did a small bow.
----------------------------------------
Samantha was walking along the hunt trails the Winter Elves used, now that the dungeon core had been taken care of they were safe for roaming she was told, it felt divine to walk around this sanctuary of life and death, a perfect balance kept by the hunters and druids in proper elven fashion, they even had tree houses! the elven woman was delighted, while her duties to her god kept her working in the underground fort, she also had a passion for the outdoors and nature.
She was an Elf after all.
"If they came here they would destroy it all, build their ugly iron and stone homes and roads, abuse magic and miracles both to bend it to their will, gods I hate them, and their mockery of elven culture"
Samantha thought back to her days on her parent's court, the many classes and dances, the dresses and banquets, but most importantly, the memory that was most engraved on her mind was of her parents, their mockery to all things elven, their attempts at forging a new culture inspired by the many races who lived in their country, their thirst for war at the flimsiest of excuses, many times she went on their parades, the marching of thousands of Granarius troops was a childhood staple, that and their pikes slamming in the ground with the bellowing of war cries.
"Never again" she whispered as she found a clearing with a river running on it, she conjured a sofa made of soil and wood and sat there in contemplation, so much had happened ever since she forsookç her old name and ties, from learning about the High Elves and their culture to joining with Idun and finding a place to belong, but still she was haunted by doubts and sorrow, she thought of her country, her people being enslaved by her parents to their horrid ideas of "culture"
She still had that little book a guard gave it to her so long ago "History of Kehheim and It's Culture" the spark that gave her hope to change Granarius, for the better, gone would be the warmongering and daredevil ways. it would be a proper elven nation.
Until her parents found about it that is, and had her biggest supporters exiled, she ran away the night after it, and ever since when for the past 100 years has been on the run, the only memento of her past as a Royal, the necklace she wore.
It was near high noon when she felt the presence of a very particular human, Raa’Tyrius Chosen, the one who saved them from a cold miserable life in the wastes, the young woman was dressed up to the nines she found, complete with a very intricate dress, it showed too much skin in her opinion but she didn't air those, she knew humans, in particular, had the fashion sense of primitives, something her parents would also emulate.
She also noticed that Lucrezia wasn't actually touching the ground, instead, she was floating in her iron disc, she had seen a Magnetic mage once, but the man wasn't keen on sharing his spells with others, the ever-present maid was also not present, something that made Samantha curious
"Your Highness Lady Lucrezia, is there anything I can help you with?" Samantha kneeled, she was told the human wasn't a fan but as a follower of Raa’Tyrius it was only proper to kneel, the wants of his chosen are damned, not that she spoke about it, the woman had many fervent followers, and bad-mouthing her was a quick way to get into a fight or worse, be paid a visit by the First Maid at night; one of the dwarfs had done it and he almost died of shock when he found the woman with a knife to his neck in the dead of the night.
"This is a nice spot, isn't it? mind if I have a set by your side?" she didn't wait and sat down with a plop, for minutes the two stared at the mostly untouched nature in front of them, that was when a dark as night crow cawed from a tree and landed on Lucrezia's lap, the woman took out a piece of bread and gave to the bird, who wagged his tail and chirped in happiness.
"They seem to like you, Your Highness"
"At first it took enough honeyed bread to feed a pack of dire horses to get these birds to trust me, but now I always get one or two begging for scraps, guess their lady gave the go-ahead to eat from my hand, or she favors me." A laugh came out of the young woman, but it was bitter, Samantha knew well enough the burden of a ruler, as Idun and she ran their people's day-to-day activities.
She also knew that anyone that gets favored by the Spear would eventually have to do deeds they wouldn't be able to forgive themselves for, she had seen many a noble in Granarius getting caught by Velkarius clergy and having their loved ones do the final blow, many couldn't do it, and it fell to the clergy to take their lives, but every once in a while you heard the criers shout about a son or daughter murdering their parents.
Lucrezia sighed and with an almost sorrowful tone spoke again " Lady Samantha, I'm afraid I'll need a big favor from you"
Samantha jumped, her heart beating a little faster now, a big favor? was she to fight in the frontlines when they decide to attack the ritual room she heard from Idun? Samantha knew a few spells but she was a tinkerer and philosopher, not a fighter, but if the woman asked by Raa’Tyrius she would do it! even if she had to die for it, her god gave her a chance to live a fulfilling life and save her country, to pay that price with her own life was nothing short of fair.
She saw Lucrezia retrieve a very fancy piece of paper from her person, unfolding it right in front of her, and with a small cough, started reading it.
"By the Decree of Immortal King Graan, lord of Granarius and warrior supreme, any information regarding the whereabouts of First Princess Emilya will be rewarded with 100.000 gold pieces and a nobility title within the Kingdom of Granarius" On it was a picture painted by one of the castle artists, it didn't look like Samantha at all, that was when Lucrezia tapped into the necklace in the picture, and Samantha felt her heart beating like the war drums from before a raid.
"I know Emilya," Lucrezia said and Emilya didn't fail to pick up her magic flaring up, she was expecting an attack to knock her out but senses told otherwise a barrier? Lucrezia feared an attack from her?
"Your Highness I wouldn't dare! by Raa’Tyrius I swear on my name I shan't touch nary a hair of your body" the elf kneeled again, only to find an exasperated Lucrezia moving to get her to stand again.
"But I thought-your Parents-"
"Lady Lucrezia I might hate my kin but never in my life would harm the one my god sent to use in our greatest time of need, Yes I'm frustrated you found out but I know Raa’Tyrius will protect me, even if should you try selling me for the reward" she spoke with fervor and conviction, Lucrezia put her hands up in the air and said
"Easy Lady Emilya, Easy I won't sell you gods above no, I just feared that bringing them up would upset you something fierce, I know about your cultural revolution and what they did to the ones that supported it" Lucrezia got a bit red in the ears, she was ashamed? Raa’Tyrius above! if Idun heard of this the dwarf would tan her hide!
Emilya calmed down "I assume this is about those ghoulish fungi you want from Father and Mother then? I can take you to the palace, but only if you promise to not let them chain me there again, in the name of Raa’Tyrius Himself Lucrezia you must promise"
"I swear an oath to Raa’Tyrius that I will not let them take you Emilya" Lucrezia placed a hand on her chest and from it a small glow came, forming into a gear made from mana crystals, the symbol of Raa’Tyrius.
"I never thought you were this devoured, I was led to believe the cultural revolution was the most important thing for you Emilya," Lucrezia said after sitting back on the sofa, she produced a bottle of tea and drank heavily from it, Emilya, on the other hand, remained standing.
"It was thanks to him that I found the strength to fight for my people Lady Lucrezia, After my supporters were exiled I was in a very angry and dark place, but I'm no fighter, I lack that edge my parents have, and gods they have teased me about it, but Raa’Tyrius gave me a chance, a chance to use what I loved to improve the lives of those who needed it the most, Those my parents in their lust for war and glory were forsaken, teachers, artists, merchants, those that didn't move their Warmachine forward, alas I had to leave them, my parents were hot on my tail when I found Idun."
Lucrezia was awestruck, she remained silent for several minutes until another crow landed on her, breaking the young human from her thoughts.
"They followed you all the way to the dwarven's home turf, huh, and now we will both walk right into their home..."
"If need be, I'll even wear a dress Lady Lucrezia, as long you keep the promise"
Lucrezia Nodded, Emilya pulled her necklace and sent a small pulse of mana towards it.
"Let's go then," Lucrezia said, getting up and cleaning herself with magic, both women walked through the portal that had just formed.
----------------------------------------
"We just teleported across two countries to reach Granarius Prime, and all you can do is stare at the statues?!"
"Look it's not my fault they are so well built, look! that's the one where Queen Artemis defeated the five dragons alone AND bare-handed! how can you not like that Lucrezia?"
"Please, the final stand against the sea elves is so much better than this, once we reach the capital you will see for real, not some fictional virtual rendition of it"
"I didn't know you were so patriotic dear, what's the next daily anthem signing before the sun rises?"
"Spare me the sarcasm Terran, now chin down, our lady comes"
William schooled his face, Lucrezia had prepared a martial dress that only northern nobles used, her short sword by her left side, and a cape with the coat of arms of the Wulfgrem on her right, the dire wolf's piercing red eyes making quite the fashion statement William thought.
Lucrezia had given access to all her memories of how to properly behave in the elven court, Unlike the High elves from Kehheim, Granarius Royalty had less taste for rituals and subtlety, being much more bombast and loud, but he wasn't here on a ball, Emilya showed up in a proper princess attire as well and both walked the halls of the castle before reaching the throne room, sometimes William would feel whispers behind him, which meant one thing from his game knowledge.
The Magenta Squad was here.
"I don't like this Terran, We should've brought at the very least the Knight Commander and a platoon of Senior Knights, I can feel these specters lurking just beyond our senses"
"In for a penny in for a pound Lucrezia, we can't back down now"
Silence, then he felt Lucrezia pumping herself up, he would laugh if the situation wasn't so dire, the reality of meeting people who started wars for fun hitting him, he borrowed some of that energy Lucrezia was leaking and after some deep breaths walked up the door Emilya was waiting.
The door opened with nary a sound, the throne room was surrender by huge marble towers and statues, paintings on the walls, and huge silk curtains all over the place. a crowd of musicians began playing their drums as loud as they could, and from the left side of the huge room, a 200 man strong formation began singing a song made specifically for Emilya's arrival at the court.
"If anything happens, you open that portal and jump on it as if your life depends on it, I'll hold them off alright?"
Emilya nodded, but she was confident her God would protect her.
the music ended as the two women reached the stairs leading to a gilded throne made out of solid Mythril and another made from Gold and Sapphire, William guessed their old Obisidian thrones were thrown away given how fast tastes changed in the court.
Immortal King Graan looked not a day over third, his long dark hair flowing behind his ears, and the iconic amber eyes burning with ambition, starting at him, a small smile on his face, his wood elven ancestry showing its telltales signs; the larger ears, the sunburnt skin and it's two rows of pointy teeth.
Immortal Queen Artemis on the other hand was the spitting image of High Elven Nobility, Taller than everyone else in the room, light golden hair cut in a severe bob and pale skin, but it was her eyes that William found himself staring at, they looked like well the best way to explain it would be saying like looking at the stars somewhere where light pollution wasn't a thing, and seeing the full scale of the stars on top of you. but William knew that out of the two she was the most dangerous, it was she who held off Queen Malphas so Graan could deploy the tear after all.
A crier showed up as William bowed the way one of high nobility had to and presented him to the court.
"I PRESENT THEE MY LIEGE LUCREZIA SOMMER WULFGREM, DUCHESS OF THE WULFGREM DUCHY FROM THE KINGDOM OF VERMILION" Horns blasted as the crier stopped screaming from the top of his lungs, Willaim noticed that they were playing Vermilion's National Anthem.
Bombastic indeed.
But calling him Duchess? that was odd to say the very least, spies on the city no doubt, he looked at Emilya who was staring her parents down, both smiling at her antics like parents do with a spoiled child.
"Raise thy head O childe of men and crimson, We welcome you in our humble home" King Graan got up from his throne and opened his arms, the drums increasing their tempo, the choir chanting in low and high tones.
William saw Emilya rolling her eyes, they were putting a show for him.
"Indulge them, we are already beyond the pale here. Sedition will be the least of your worries"
Queen Artemis moved her legs as the drums slowly decreased their tempo, she spoke in an authoritative almost commanding voice
"Thy Visit is an august one Duchess of Vermilion, to bring home our daughter Emilya after years away" she snapped her fingers, and table made out of solid diamond plopped in front of Wiliam "And bring thy majestical gifts to us" she waved at the table, clearly expecting William to plop down his goods.
Emilya groaned loudly at this and William couldn't help to crack a smile, in the game this particular interaction was way more hostile, the elven kings clearly not respecting the protagonist's commoner status.
William cleared his throat and raised his head.
"O Fair and Mighty Royals of Granarius, Jewel of the New World and Bastion of Freedom, To commemorate this long-overdue reunion I have prepared three gifts for your enjoyment, Behold Fair King Graan, the new dish I myself have brought to this word, granting a Greater Blessing to my Head Chef, the Pizza!" With a flair not unlike an earth magician, William "Summoned" the Pizza from Lucrezia's spatial ring, the thing was hot from the oven and the smell was simply delicious.
When he saw Graan lick his lips he knew he had the man, and now it was time to get the queen on his good side.
"For the Fair Queen Artemis, I have brought a good none other than the great red dragon himself has in his inventory, a bottle of distilled spirit made by the Hivemind!" he placed the bottle beside the pizza and saw the woman holding herself to not bolt across the hall to drink it, that was when William summoned the Magitech Guitar, going for the kill.
"But what is a good party without music" he looked to the choir and drummers and nodded, they nodded back and a tall dark elf came, he looked depressed, like the world had stolen all that was good in him, he came and stood beside the Queen and spoke.
"My liege, God Kailistus gave me a revelation, this human brings the key to aid me in my woes, I beg thee to listen to her music" he kneeled and William could hear soft sobbing, it was true then, the poor bard was stuck with a curse that made him unable to compose and find joy in the musical arts, in-game it was only a rumor that the devs never cleared up but now he could see it, it was true.
Emilya looked in shock, she rushed to the bard's side and hugged him, huh William thought, I guess she would be friends with the artsy types, but it was the King's reaction that shocked William, for the elf left the throne and raised the bard, speaking as he did so "Raise your head, my friend, If Kailistus gave thee a revelation then by Kailistus we will heed it So that all of Granarius can hear the great works of the bard Serasus!"
William felt the emotion in the King's voice, it had a power to it, the bard looked up with tears on his face and nodded towards William, who took a deep breath and tuned the guitar, the queen had summoned chairs around her diamond table and all four took a seat as a servent began poring the Hivemind drink.
William felt a little stage fright, picked not the song he sang to Hayden, but another he was a fan of, he believed the king would like it and began singing it.
"I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"
"And I fear no evil because I'm blind to it all"
"And my mind and my gun they comfort me"
"Because I know I'll kill my enemies when they come"
"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life"
"And I will dwell on this earth forevermore"
"Said, I walk beside the still waters and they restore my soul"
"But I can't walk on the path of the right because I'm wrong"
"Well, I came upon a man at the top of a hill"
"Called himself the savior of the human race"
"Said he come to save the world from destruction and pain"
"But I said, "How can you save the world from itself?"
'"Cause I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"
"And I fear no evil because I'm blind"
"Oh, and I walk beside the still waters and they restore my soul"
"But I know when I die my soul is damned"
The drums had joined him the mid-second verse, picking up the right note and rhythm, that was when William saw Serasu glow with the splendor of a Greater Blessing, and more importantly, saw a tiny specter leave the elf and get smitten by the Queen herself, who spat on the ground to Emilya's horror who in hushed whispers said "Mom please" only for the Queen to roll her eyes, as he finished the song the King raised from the chair, pizza half-eaten in hand and started clapping, the Queen did the same as both the choir and drummers played a cheery tune.
"Would you look at that, It actually worked heh" Lucrezia was feeling surprised, and somewhat happy, which was a win in Williams's book.
"Congratulations William, this was a hard-fought battle but you, no We made it through" she did a little bow near the Monolith and William did the same.
"Thank you, Lucrezia"