Chapter 2 - The Promise

“You failed to kill him?” Mirima’s cold expression froze the two soldiers stiff, who had delivered the bad news.

The tent they were in was lined with colorful tapestries and in the center was a lounging chair which the princess sat on. The man in the suit stood silently next to her, holding a gold gilded serving tray with assorted dry snacks and a tea set. As the soldiers were about to explain, the suited man spoke up “They seemed to have encountered a magus.”

“A magus? How could there be one in these forsaken lands, Jaunde?” she asked quizzically.

“I’m not sure about the specifics but I was able to sense a large mana disturbance. Whoever it is, they should at least be a magus master.” Jaunde replied unenthusiastically.

“Yes, it’s true that we encountered a magus. He seems to be the grandfather of the boy. He was able to block one of our strikes and injure two of us with just a wave of his hand.” a soldier hurriedly said.

“He also said he would meet with you, your highness.” the other added.

“The two of you can leave.” Mirima waved her hand and the two soldiers exited the tent.

“Princess, you were just exiled to this place and already gained a powerful enemy. I suggest you try to apologize and gift him a few treasures.” warned Jaunde.

“But that boy deserves to die. I’ve never been so humiliated before.” As she remembered what Arnest said, tears began to stream down her porcelain face.

“And being exiled from your home country due to being an incompetent princess wasn’t humiliating?” Jaunde taunted the crying beauty.

“That was different! Hmph, men from all over the empire revere me as a goddess yet this country bumpkin is truly blind.” she surprisingly regained her composure after being called incompetent.

“Well it’s not like the boy is wrong, you really are lacking in that area.” Jaunde muttered under his breath, while looking downward at her chest.

Fox Village. Inside the elder’s hut.

“Ahhh!” screamed Arnest as his grandfather ripped out the arrow from his leg.

“Couldn’t you have been a bit more gentle?” Arnest said but Black Fox ignored him and took out a blackened green paste and pressed it into his wound. Arnest screamed again, gripping the fur bed he was laying on in pain.

“It’s your own fault for getting into a fight. If you don’t want to be in pain, don’t pointlessly start them.” Black Fox lazily said.

“It wasn’t even my fault! He just got angry because I said he wasn’t a princess!” Arnest bitterly said as he rubbed his now almost healed wound.

“How would you know if it was a princess or not? You’ve never seen a girl before.” Black Fox starting roasting a small hare with his fire magic, completely uninterested with Arnest’s idiocy.

“Rufus told me that girls have long hair and big chests. Although he had long hair he didn’t even have a tiny bulge.” he said defensively.

“Rufus, you really are the village idiot. I’ll be sure to educate you.” Black Fox villainously smiled as he hacked the burnt hare into two portions. Tossing one half to Arnest, he began to explain the intricacies of women and their various biological differences they had compared to men.

A few days passed by after the fated encounter between the humans and elves. The elven camp was set up on the beach and a small defensive wall was erected, to keep the princess safe. Although this caused some of the villagers to be upset that they now had to go to the beach further away to fish, the heavily armored elves with their sharp swords deterred anyone from voicing their anger out loud.

When the four suns rose on the fourth day, the guards stationed at the entrance to the elven camp saw two dark shadows emerge from the forest. “Who goes there? State your business!” shouted one of them.

As the silhouettes continued to approach the guards drew their swords. The taller silhouette lowered his hood from his black cloak and revealed his aged, smiling face. One of the soldiers immediately put away his weapon and started to kneel. “Lord magus, right this way. The princess has been anticipating your arrival.” Hearing this, the other soldier also lowered his weapon and immediately kneeled.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the princess’s tent. A soldier raised his voice and said “Your highness, the esteemed magus has arrived to meet with you.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“You may enter.” a feminine and regal voice sounded out.

When they entered the tent, an appealing scent of a foreign flower filled the air. A short, but heavily decorated wooden table was in the middle while there was a few posh sitting chairs. Unreservedly, Black Fox and Arnest took a seat across from Mirima.

“Thank you for coming, to my humble camp. I wanted to apolo-” Mirima started to speak but Black Fox raised his hand and shook his head.

“I’ve come here with my grandson for mainly one reason. Arnest.” he said as he then looked to Arnest.

“I’m sorry for being rude the other day, princess.” shyly said Arnest, seemingly ashamed. Mirima stared at the boy in disbelief and when she locked eyes with Arnest, he quickly looked away. Flabbergasted at the change in his attitude, she mainly felt elated that he had called her “princess” instead of a man. “He finally recognizes my peerless beauty, heh.” she smugly thought.

Once she finished with her own self-delusions, she was fast to say “It was clearly only a misunderstanding! I was in the wrong mostly.” while pleasantly smiling.

“Now that he has apologized, I would also like to make some reparations.” Black Fox said while scanning the room. The only one present in the room besides the three of them was Jaunde who looked like a typical servant. Clearing his throat, he asked “I was wondering what would attract a princess of the Tryll Kingdom to the exiled lands? Perhaps I can help you with what you’re looking for. Even the seemingly impossible becomes possible for me, the great Black Fox.”

Jaunde started to frown and whispered into Mirma’s ear “You shouldn’t tell him the real reason you’re here. Tell him you’re here on behalf of the king.”

“What’s the matter?” seeing Jaunde’s reaction, Black Fox also started to frown.

While still smiling, she replied “I’m here on behalf of the king but I’m not sure I can share details of my mission with others.”

“I can swear a blood oath to the gods if you would like.” candidly offered Black Fox.

Mirima’s face flushed ghost white. A blood oath is done by two or more parties, offering to be completely truthful and honorable to whatever they decide. It’s usually done between a lord and his servants but it isn’t uncommon for it to be done between people trading goods or information. However what is uncommon is a blood oath to the gods. If one were to renege on a normal blood oath they would normally die. Breaking a blood oath to the gods would shatter your soul, preventing you from reincarnating or continuing on into the afterlife. If she were to agree to Black Fox’s offer, she couldn’t lie about being on a mission and would be forced to come clean.

“There’s no need for that, honorable magus Black Fox.” Jaunde said. “If you’re willing to go that far, I’m sure it would be alright to tell you the true purpose of her majesty's visit to the exiled lands.”

Thinking with his quick wit, Jaunde continued “The king has given Princess Mirima the task of unifying Lanex and making it a vassal state of Tryll Kingdom. If you would humble us with your assistance, we would greatly appreciate your help. Of course, there would be many rewards as well.”

Black Fox wasn’t too surprised by this information. Lanex has always been considered human lands and now that the Tryll Kingdom had conquered the human kingdom, Legati, it was natural that they would continue to expand. The only surprising thing was it had only been five years since the capital city of Legati fell to elven forces. The speed at which they were expanding was truly terrifying.

“Although rewards are good, I’m worried about one thing.” Black Fox replied after a while. “I’ve heard that most of the humans on the Trilantus continent, the ones who were part of the Legati Kingdom, were enslaved. What will happen to the humans who are living here?”

Mirima furrowed her thin brows and glanced at Jaunde. “The princess can abide to a blood oath and swear that if you help her, the humans living on Lanex will be free from slavery.” answered Jaunde.

“A blood oath to the gods?” Black Fox stared at the young princess.

Jaunde whispered into Mirima’s ear again and her face brightened. “Yes, of course.” Mirima said.

“Then I, Black Fox, swear to the gods that I will help Princess Mirima conquer Lanex.” and then Black Fox slashed his left hand, blood dripping down his palm.

“And I, Mirima Edeif Tryll, promise to the gods that when I unify Lanex the humans within our borders will be free and not enslaved.” Jaunde handed her a golden dagger and she lightly slashed her left hand as well.

Black Fox and Mirima clasped their bloody hands together and a faint golden light exuded, signifying the god’s acknowledgement of the pact. And thus the unlikely alliance was formed between humans and elves for the first time in more than a millennium.