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Introducing Maisy to Kalani went smoothly. Cire could sense a perceptible shift in how the naga was interacting with them. He didn’t know if the change was precipitated by Maisy being a noticeable elder, he silver hair made her age evident, or if it was because she was a female. It might have simply been a result of having an obviously more knowledgeable understanding of how to move a conversation along.

Shortly after introductions Kalani had transitioned into speaking a rough brogue style speech that utterly baffled Cire. Apparently, the naga queen also spoke an archaic version of dwarfish. This was immensely beneficial as Cire had done a poor job translating. He had kept inserting opinions and ideas to the point at which Maisy had made him reiterate Kalani’s words repeatedly.

The elf and dwarf had powwowed about general objectives for the negotiation. Cire gave Maisy carte blanche for general discussion and feeling things out. She had pressed him again about his intentions for the naga settlement. Ultimately, he went with his gut, it was his turn to razz Maisy back.

“Try to figure out as much as you can about them. Reveal as much as you think prudent. You’re the one who impressed me with your magic and wanted to be an emissary. Let’s see if you’re as good with your tongue as you think you are.”

Shaking her head, Maisy rolled her eyes and shot back.

“Ohhh dear, I believe I impressed you with far more than my magic. Now go run along and play with the others while I talk with the queen. She seems very insistent on us visiting her home. I have my suspicions, but I would like to confirm them. It will be easier if you leave me to it.”

Happy to hand things over to more experienced hands, Cire moved back to the others. He fished through his pack and pulled out some dried figs. They had been down here for a while and without being able to track the sun he had lost track of time. Munching on the vittles he caught on to the conversation he had walked into.

“…the stone was down here. Well, we be thinkin’ it was, on account o’ the oathbreakers having it,” Durg explained.

“And you gave it to Cire? Why didn’t one of you keep it, or sell it and split the proceeds?” Nicolas questioned and then hurriedly added. “Not that you are a bad choice Cire, you just seem a bit unprepared for everything.”

Selene motioned to Durg with her head. “You think Durg or I would have been any better of a choice? We already talked about it with Cire and made our decision. Not that anything can be done about it now.”

“I understand that, well I understand how out of the three of you it ended up in Cire’s hands. I suppose I find it more puzzling that you didn’t just sell the thing like Nic said,” Andre chimed in.

Cire chuckled and shrugged as he joined the chat. “I didn’t even think about that to be honest, I just bonded the stone when they gave it to me. Same thing when I made them heirs, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time.”

“We considered it. Durg and I had plenty of time to talk about it when Cire was injured and unconscious. We judged that there would be little chance of us selling it for what it was worth and managing to stay alive during the process. At least this way we have a better chance of keeping our heads.” Selene pointedly steered the conversation, not wanting for Cire to get careless and overshare, more.

“On that note, Cire do you know when we are going to get out of this place? It doesn’t look like the naga are going to have us for dinner, but that one hasn’t left like the others.”

Cire looked over to Maisy and Kalani enthusiastically conversing, in a much more relaxed manner than he had induced, and smiled.

“I don’t think it will be too long now. Maisy appears to be doing a better job at reading the landscape than me. We should probably just hold tight though, I doubt interfering would help things along.”

During the wait Durg had suggested that they try and find the duergar bodies they had still yet to strip of any valuables. The others had wisely pointed out that it would be very difficult now that they were most likely scattered amongst the mushroom remains. They mainly spent time being bored. However, Durg satisfied himself by stuffing everyone’s packs to the brim with choice specimens of mushroom.

By the time Maisy finished up her parley, Cire had begun to regret not rummaging around for the duergar. It would have at least given them something to do. He had thoroughly familiarized himself with the massive cavern they were in. It was actually a large squared room the size of a small sports arena. He didn’t know if it was a converted natural cavern, but it was hard to imagine removing the amount of stone it would have taken to clear the space.

Intricately carved dwarven figures were inlaid into the massive columns that dominated the room. The alcoves along the walls, upon closer inspection, were clearly living spaces carved into the rock. Commercial style open faced shops ringed the lower level and as he looked up the wall he saw more closed off spaces. Rotted out wooden ladders connected various dwellings or were laying in jumbles of dust and splinters.

The northern and southern walls had archways similar in a fashion to the tunnel leading down the eastern side, however they were blocked by huge stones. The massive stone wedges seemed purposefully constructed for their tasks and the seam between the tunnel and the stone couldn’t fit a piece of paper between them. He had only been able to inspect the southern arch, it was far closer, but he assumed that the blocked tunnel across the hall to be in similar condition. A now unobscured tunnel arch to the west was still clogged with mushrooms that had not been caught up in the explosion.

Cire had been about to suggest that the group start investigating the buildings set into the walls, but Maisy’s return had forestalled any need to assuage the tedium. On top of that, whatever news she had to share would either be interesting or lead to their deliverance from waiting around in a dark, dank hole. Unfortunately for most of the group, they had to wait as she whisked Cire away for a private discussion.

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“I am going to get straight to it because I would prefer not to stay down here overnight and we still have plenty of work to do. She was a hard nut to crack. The queen really didn’t want to give many details away before we make a pact, but I know enough about this place to make some good guesses.” Maisy reached into a small white leather pouch on her belt and produced a much larger waterskin and took a long drink.

“Naga are a very intelligent and traditionally reclusive species. They normally live in wetlands, swamps, or near rivers. It doesn’t make any sense that they would be trapped down here in an ancient dwarven city. I do mean trapped when I say it. I don’t think they have a way out of here. We don’t know how big this place is, so we don’t know how big of a nest we are dealing with, but they have obviously been here a long time.”

Nodding, Cire agreed. He didn’t know how long it had been since ancient elvish was simply elvish, but it had to be noteworthy. There was something else suspicious about the naga that lined up with this observation.

“Everyone kept saying that she looked strange for a naga. Durg, I think, said they don’t normally have arms. I haven’t ever seen one before to compare, but she has some elven features. I know those well enough to recognize them. You think they are descendants of the original inhabitants of this place, Miletus? She also speaks ancient elvish and dwarfish, I can’t think of any other reason that a tribe of naga would speak both dead languages. I suppose they aren’t exactly dead though.”

Giving Cire an appraising look, Maisy had not anticipated him putting it all together without walking him through it. She patted him on the hip with her common mischievous smile.

“You’re not all golden hair and pearly white teeth, at least you have a working mind. That’s why she was willing to negotiate, I think they want to be able to leave, but I don’t think they want to abandon their home. On the face of it, we both want something that costs the other nothing besides positioning. Queen Kalani most assuredly has more ambitions personally. Depending on what you are willing to trade, I think it would be a relatively simple thing to bond their settlement. Otherwise we can both step to the side and let each other pass.”

“I don’t have any problem figuring out a way to get them out of this trap. I couldn’t imagine my entire existence being confined to a cave, even a really big one. You have pushed for bonding settlements, Sunset included, a couple of times now. You were really vague about what that would do besides the tantalizing prospect of nebulous power. I would be more willing to lean in that direction if you gave me a hint or two about what it means to do that. Also, I don’t really have much to trade besides a couple of magic items, most of which I haven’t even identified yet,” Cire said.

“I can’t tell you explicitly what sort of effect bonding the Mistfall Lake settlement would have on your house or territory. The benefits of bonding Sunset are what I a most familiar with, obviously. You experienced the Glimmer Boon when I blessed you. It would be similar to a permanent version of that boon for your house, perhaps a much more minor version for all those within your capital or territory.” She waved her hand towards Kalani and continued.

“As far as her settlement, it would most likely be linked to whatever blessing Hera provides her worshipers and the people who live in it. Which in this case are naga. So, I don’t really know. The hamlet has a community of mainly dwarves and humans. Hence, Theia, my goddess, provides a gift that is most appropriate for them.”

Cire was finally starting to make sense of the larger process at play.

“Okay, got it. I still don’t really know what I have to offer to trade with a settlement though. I don’t have my own city so it’s not like we can trade goods with them. I imagine you have some ideas though.”

“You have far more to barter with than you seem to realize. You don’t own all the land in the territory, but anything that is unclaimed is ostensibly yours by right. As oblique as the queen has been, I have been as well. She has very little understanding of just how little power you possess.”

Suspiciously grinning, Maisy looked Cire up and down. “There are a lot of options to secure allies. Given that she has obviously ambitious there is a very simple route to take. Queen Kalani and her people worship Hera. Are you familiar with arranged marriages?”

“You can’t be serious. What does that have to do with the naga worshiping Hera? She is pretty for a snake lady, but that isn’t saying much, she would be terrifying to wake up next to.” Dubious skepticism rang through Cire’s words like a church bell on a quiet night.

“I am serious. Hera, Queen of the Gods, has reign over many things. However, marriage is one of her principal dominions. I have run into no small amount of curses directed my way invoked in her name by unhappy wives during my years.” Maisy locked eyes with the taller elf.

“If you think about it rationally, it makes plenty of sense. Your a young lord who will get no small amount of suitors once you are open with the world. I am sure the queen will see the value in being one of your first spouses. You in turn have the opportunity to start off building your territorial power in a way that would otherwise take remarkably longer. I would obviously suggest waiting to discover the size of the settlement and the resources they are offering before agreeing.”

Cire was tired of circumstances dictating his decisions. At first blush Maisy’s suggestion had felt like he was being forced into an uncomfortable position. He chided himself mentally for his reaction. It was simply an option. He understood Selene’s reaction when he had made her an heir much better now.

Maisy was right that it made a certain degree of sense as well. Cire had started to feel vulnerable the more information he learned about his position. It would be nice to start building a foundation that could provide some protection.

“Wait, what do you mean one of my first spouses? I am not exactly looking to have a harem. That has always seemed like far more trouble than it’s worth. Besides, people make all sorts of terrible assumptions about men with harems.”

Rich chuckles proceed Maisy’s chastisement, he would have to start learning sooner than later. “My dear lord, it hardly matters if you are looking to have one or not. Political marriages, often loveless and absent, are quite expected of men in your position. By the gods, I wasn’t joking about how I ended up running a small hamlet in the middle of no where. The dwarven king I was involved with had many wives. It only took one of them, with a particularly vindictive streak, to drive me from the city.”

Maisy had just soured Cire on the prospect further, but she had re-framed how he looked at the concept of the marriage. He was no stranger to how arranged marriage had been used through royal history on earth. Cire figured that sometimes those relationships worked out, even if they started with a business perspective. However, he was pretty sure that no British prince or princess had to worry about their prospective spouse being reptilian.

“Okay, no harm in feeling things out. See what Kalani can offer and ask her to be more specific about what she wants. In other words, put together a tentative agreement to set things in motion. If she can’t offer enough, or she is asking for too much, we move on and revisit this another day. Since your fate will be tied to mine in many ways moving forward, I trust you to protect my interests.”

Typical behavior for Maisy in Cire’s experience would be for her to follow up his request with a double entendre. He had left a few easy targets for her to jump on. The silver hair dwarf stroked her long silver braid once and then nodded.

“Yes, my lord, I shall.”