Amaro straightened his back, “Alright, you want our terms? Condition one: We refuse to embarrass or humiliate the Tibur in any way,” he said, “That means if we win you cannot pretend you did it without the help of the Tibur. You cannot downplay the role the Tibur have in helping you win.”
“Done. I had intended to do the opposite anyway. The Tibur are nobility just like the rest of us, and it would be foolish to believe they are unworthy when I have already seen and experienced the contrary. Pretending my rivals are hopelessly weak takes away from the achievement of beating them in the first place. Make no mistake, I will ensure everyone knows how worthy the Tibur are as my rivals.”
“We also wanna make sure you don’t bully anyone who doesn’t want to fight just because they’re a Tibur,” Kaara said, “No more ambushing or coercing people into a fight if they don’t want to.”
“While I cannot promise there won’t be any bad actors working for me, I can promise to punish them if they step out of line. Will that suffice?”
“It will.” Amaro said, “Secondly, we want authority. You see us as elite? Then allow us to command those that work under you.”
Deka thought for a moment, “So you mean to say all of you wish to be my captains? I don’t have an issue with that so long as you remember that my authority and orders will always outweigh yours. Additionally, if you ever go against my authority I will treat you like a traitor. That is the responsibility of being in charge so if you can accept that then it’s a deal. Beyond that, you can even assemble teams of your own who follow your command for all I care. So long as it all funnels back to me in the end.”
“If you’re gonna agree to that, then we should also be able to punish anyone in your group if they step out of line,” Kaara said.
Deka chuckled, “Well that saves me the effort of assigning people to do it themselves. So long as you don’t use this authority to weaken my army with infighting, I see no problem with it.”
“Lastly, if we promise to help you in good faith, then when the night of the Siren Ceremony comes, you will do everything in your power to ensure that the Tibur survive the Malaki.”
“I cannot promise to rescue every Tibur. Especially if they are too weak to survive the ceremony. I will also not put my own life at risk to save a Tibur. However, I will do everything in my power to increase the odds of their survival by any means necessary. Is that agreeable?”
Amaro hesitated, looking to Kaara for the answer.
“It is,” Kaara said firmly. She trusted her family to take care of themselves.
“Good, then if that is everything I welcome you to my army as captains.”
“One more thing,” Amaro said.
“I’ll let you know now that you’ve already asked for quite a bit. Speak carefully.”
“We want you to teach us how to use this ‘Ux’ thing as soon as possible. We also want you to read the scrolls to us by tonight.”
Deka smirked, “That is the only leverage I have over you for your loyalty in the end. I have been generous with accepting your demands thus far, but this one is different. If I read the scrolls out to you tonight, then what’s stopping you from betraying me tomorrow morning?”
“You have my word as the eldest of the Xirxus family.”
“Not a lot of weight behind those words with the reputation you’ve gathered.”
“My siblings have given their word of loyalty as well should you agree to these terms. If my word doesn’t mean much, then take their word instead.”
“I’m going to need more than that, I'm afraid. Something to keep you truly loyal to me.”
“Think of it as a sign of trust,” Kaara said, “If you can trust us to not betray you after losing your leverage we can trust you to make good on your end of the deal. People look down on my family all the time because they allow non-nobles to become Tibur. I want to show them that doesn’t make a difference and we can all work together. That’s why I would stay more than anything. Including those silly scrolls.”
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Deka rolled his eyes, “Unfortunately, I don’t work on platitudes and happy thoughts like the Tibur.”
“Perhaps something more cynical to think about then,” Amaro said, “During the Siren Ceremony those monsters won’t care if our blood is that of a Tibur, Xirxus, or the Emperor. They will bathe in it indiscriminately. Wouldn’t you want to know who you can trust when the time comes to fight one?”
“The only person in the world I can truly trust is myself,” Deka said coldly, “However, I suppose you do make a good point. I can’t have anyone stabbing me in the back during the ceremony.” He touched knuckle to chin in thought, “How about this then, if I read the contents of those scrolls, then you will all promise to be my personal guardians at the risk of your own lives.”
“Just me and Amaro, no one else,” Kaara said.
“I suppose the two of you are sufficient. Let’s compromise, then. If I agree to read the scrolls to you, I will only read one per night until it is finished. After which, I will teach you how to read them yourselves. Additionally I will only train the two of you in Ux techniques as you will be my guardians. In exchange, you must accomplish tasks that I assign to you during this mock war. If you fail, then I do not have to read anything that night.”
Amaro looked to Kaara, “What do you think?”
“That sounds fine to me, I guess. If we don’t like the task, we don’t need him to read that day. As long as he doesn’t destroy them it’s okay.”
“Then we have a deal. I will read one of the scrolls to you each night and train you in fully awakening your Ux. In return, the two of you will bodyguard me with your lives on the night of the Siren Ceremony. If you betray me, then understand I have already commanded my followers to retaliate.”
“I can agree to those terms,” Amaro said.
Kaara paused. She wanted Deka to understand that she would have helped him if he had just asked instead of doing all of this. There was a chance she could have convinced Rorik and Arik to join him too.
But when she looked at Amaro and heard the way the two of them spoke to each other, she knew Deka needed this leverage no matter what. She had only ever known the trust of her fellow tribesmen, but it was easy to see how fickle alliances with nobility were.
Even so, it didn’t sit right with her that this relationship was built on a foundation of one side holding something against the other. In the end, however, this was about more than just her feelings on the matter.
“What is your answer, Kaara?” Deka said.
“You don’t have to threaten my family. You have your word and I have mine. But if you need that to set your mind at ease, then I agree. I will protect you with my life as if you’re my family too, and that’s my word as a huntress.”
“Good, then if that is all out of the way, I have some other business to attend to. I will let the others know of your decision. Enjoy the rest of your day, I will have a job for you to be completed before tonight. If you accomplish it, then I will read one scroll of your choosing. From now on you are under my banner and I am your superior. If you understand that, then you are dismissed.”
“Yes sir!” Kaara said with an exaggerated salute. At the very least, she could have some fun pretending to be in the military again. Every year she participated in these mock wars, but it was only this year where things felt serious. Perhaps it was the stakes behind the event, or perhaps it was the way Deka had involved her in it.
The two of them exited the tent, Amaro letting out a deep sigh of relief, “Well it looks as if we’ve gotten everything we wanted. I’m shocked at how well that went. I was sure he would push back on at least one topic, but it seems like Deka’s interests are aligned with ours more than we initially thought.”
“I suppose you’re right about that, but Deka hasn’t done anything evil.”
“What do you mean? He’s insulted and humiliated you publicly, he’s blackmailed us into joining his army, and he aims to defeat your family.”
“Well, I humiliated the two of you publicly. And I’ve opposed Tadios in these war games before. I suppose I didn’t blackmail anyone, but you nearly threatened him back there.”
“When did I do that?”
“When you told him it would just be us during the Siren Ceremony. You made him believe we’d stab him in the back or something.”
“It was the truth wasn’t it?”
Kaara shook her head, “Even if I hated his guts, I wouldn’t do that. Getting killed by a Malaki is a fate worse than death.”
“If they’re evil, then they deserve a fate worse than death.”
“But Deka’s not evil.”
“And how do you know that? With how he carries himself it would be naive to fall for his compliments.”
“Malaki are true evil. Deka hasn’t gone down that path yet. Sure, we might not like him, but I think it’s because Deka is distrustful and self absorbed. I think he has to be given a reason to care about others beyond what they can do for him.”
They walked in silence for a little bit before Amaro finally spoke again, “You’re amazing, Kaara.”
Kaara tilted her head with a smug expression on her face, “Yeah? I know,” she grinned.
Amaro grinned back.
A body flew past them and toppled a tree over.