“Welcome to Tephon, weary travelers! Let me introduce myself as Bain Rusta, the humble leader of this great and magnificent city. My family has helped guide the people of Tephon to prosperity through countless generations, and have, by the grace of the benevolent Heavenly Eye, overseen it during times of difficulty and good fortune.
“It is my family’s great honor to host a legendary elf and two guests from the human race, which we did not even know existed until tonight. I must also thank you, on behalf of all the demons of Tephon, for clearing our northern path up the River Tephon. The merciful Heavenly Eye must be shining upon us by sending us such powerful hunters, hunters whose fame will undoubtedly spread to all corners of the known world.
“I have also been informed by my ministers, some of whom greeted you with our scout party after seeing you bring such massive monster carcasses behind you, that you crossed over the great mountains from where the River Tephon is birthed! Your status as explorers and adventurers must surely be unequaled.
“More astonishing still, my ministers say you already know our language! How you accomplished such a feat so quickly is beyond my comprehension, but I would like to express our city’s willingness to also learn your people’s language, so that we may communicate as equals once we send a trade party to your homeland, with your approval and support, of course.”
The ruler of the city of Tephon finished his long winded speech and met my gaze. He had been speaking as if in trace words that seemed not to have been prepared by him. His ministers glanced at him with a smile, and graciously bowed to him and to our party.
I snuck a glance at Kelser and Kol, both of whom had decided to bow to Bain Rusta on the advice of the ministers who had met us on the outskirts of the city. Those same ministers said that they could not compel a legendary elf to bow to a demon, but that they recommended it as a gesture of goodwill anyway. I met the old demon’s gaze and did not bow. Something about the way the ministers had said that to me told me it would be more than a ‘gesture of goodwill’ for a legendary elf to bow here. I wanted to sigh at being roped into courtly intrigue and politics so soon, but that would not have been appropriate.
The local ruler was an old demon with spotty skin and gray hair with patches of white poking through. He was wearing the cotton-like clothes that Kol had been wearing when she first came to our side of the mountains, but the old ruler’s clothes were brightly colored. In fact, they were so brightly colored that they looked off-putting and garish. Almost as if the colors were there to impress the wealth and resources of the old man, rather than to look good. The old demon’s tail weakly poked out from behind him. Bain Rusta rubbed his hands together as if he was cold, which let me see the many scars that ran across his palm and fingers.
“Thank you, your grace. I appreciate your kind words and hospitality. What I have seen so far of the city of Tephon, at least on my way from the edge of the city to your enclave here on the hill in the center of the city, is impressive. Your people have done a magnificent job in building this great city, its roads and wells and sanitation system. I am looking forward to visiting your market tonight, especially after selling the monster carcasses that we brought with us to the city. I believe your ministers said they were going to appraise their worth, please do let them know that I am willing to sell them to your grace at a reasonable price, to show my gratitude to you and your people.
“However, your grace, I must also seek a favor from you. Our party is tired and would appreciate a place to rest for the night, but in the morning, I would appreciate it if you could give us directions to the capital of your kingdom. The elders of the human tribes on the other side of the mountains have expressed an interest in establishing diplomatic ties between the human and demon races. Of course, trade must naturally flow from your city of Tephon, but I am sure you will understand why an audience with your sovereign is necessary,” I said.
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The ministers grimaced and looked at each other. The old demon Bain, however, didn’t show any reaction at all. Instead, he nodded slowly and went on another long winded expression of gratitude in which he barely managed to sneak in the fact that he would be happy to give us directions in the morning, and that we can rest in the guest rooms in his family’s villa up here on the hill in the center of the city. He also said that he would accompany us through the market and would buy for us whatever we wanted from the market, and although I wanted to reject the offer, I ultimately agreed to it. I realized that this would be how he paid for the monster carcasses we had brought and how he would try to establish closer ties to me personally. Despite this old demon’s blank expression and seeming subservience to his ministers, he definitely knew how to garner favor with other people.
Kelser also greeted the old demon, saying that he was a representative of the human race and that his elders had told him to tell the people on the other side of the mountain about what kind of goods the humans could trade. He said they had various kinds of fruits, vegetables, and grains, all of which he described to Bain Rusta who agreed that these were things they could not find on this side of the mountain. Kelser also told Bain about various monster products, like hides and bones, and also shared that his people had unearthed a lot of silver and gold, which made the ministers grin a little more widely.
At that time, I also asked the lord if I could exchange some of the silver and gold that I had brought with me for coins that would be accepted by the traders and merchants in the kingdom. Bain asked me how much gold and silver I wanted to exchange, which I told him, and then he asked his minister to bring out the appropriate amount of coins from the treasury. When the minister returned with the coins, the old demon walked up to me and personally passed into my hands a bag full of gold and silver coins. He then pushed back the bag that I was about to exchange with him, saying he had no intention of accepting any money from a legendary elf, and that the bag full of coins was his gift to our party.
He then led us out of the lord’s meeting chambers, and down the hill into the city proper. As the ministers melted away, a small group of younger demons surrounded us on all sides. These younger demons wore iron armor and had short swords dangling by their sides. Bain Rusta nodded to the oldest of the guards, who nodded back to him and greeted our party. We then made our way down to the market with our armed escort.
I wondered if security was always this tight around the lord or if he was just being protective of our guests. However, then I realized he wasn’t trying to protect us. This was a not so subtle show of force. The demons of Tephon were probably terrified that a party of three had managed to clear a path that they didn’t dare to clear with an entire army. It also dawned on me, based on the ministers’ actions, that the demons probably thought that the ‘legendary elf’ had somehow cleared the way with elfin magic, which would align with the wildest stories about elves that Princess Kol had shared with me as well.
As we went around the market, it became obvious that word of our arrival and of ‘my’ power had already spread throughout the city. Most of the demons didn’t dare to look me in the eye, and many tried to give me things for free. Of course, all of them hid their fear behind expressions of gratitude, and although they were definitely grateful that I had cleared the path, I could see that they were all mostly fearful and in awe. Surprisingly, the armed guards had probably gone a long way in making the ordinary demons feel less afraid. The old ruler Bain’s also dropped his guarded demeanor and started talking to me with smiles and the occasional laugh, probably to show that he was on good terms with me and that as long as he was in charge, nobody needed to be afraid of the powerful, legendary elf.
I couldn’t help but sigh for real this time. I couldn’t believe that I had walked right into the politics of the city like this. The worst part was I wasn’t the one who killed the monsters on the path along the river! I didn’t even want to bring them with us to the city! I glanced at Kelser and Kol. They smiled at me in return.