Two young women ran through the castle corridors. They lifted their ornate skirts to give their legs more mobility and reached the doors of the King's audience chamber. The guards were startled but they immediately recognized them. They wouldn't be posted at the inner chambers if they didn't.
"Your Highnesses, the court is in session."
Dawn rolled her eyes and stopped to catch her breath. Damn couch potato constitution Lumina had. That she spent most of her one month of life on a bed didn't help. If she hadn't used her favorite Butterfly Step and Tailwind spells she'd never even be there. She circulated some Life mana on her body to alleviate the weariness and wreathed herself in Steam mana to remove the sweat. Too bad humans couldn't do mana cladding.
"There is no time. Open the door or I'll break it down! NOW!" The fake Princess shouted.
"The King is receiving ambassadors. We can't open the door."
"Then don't open it but please step away for your own safety. Claire?" Dawn glanced at the real Princess and earned a nod. Claire knew her well enough to know what was about to happen.
"Ash Compression..."
"Incinerate!"
Pure fire mana covered the whole door and devoured all things flammable and melted all things meltable. The rush of the ashes being pulled in drove everything into a ball of cinders and molten metal that unceremoniously clattered down and rolled back into the corridor. Dawn was already draining the heat back to avoid burning anything else.
The guards decided to stand tall and man their posts, their backs straight at attention, spears at the ready. They wouldn't open the door even though there was none anymore. Anything else was beyond their control.
The court was in session as the guard stated earlier. The nobles and foreign dignitaries all turned around to see the two girls.
"Father!" Dawn yelled. "We emerged victorious from the dreary and treacherous ambush put up against us!"
"Excellent choice of words, 'sister'," Claire spoke with a quiet voice. "If your intention is to make our army march north tomorrow."
No, it wasn't. But if she were to be honest with herself, Dawn would lead the charge if things came to that. She was on a roll and her heart was boiling. Heath would sink one kilometer beneath the ocean if it depended on her. But dreams of conquest aside, what Dawn wanted was to tarnish and destroy any diplomatic capital Heath had. Get their name and drag it on the mud. She wouldn't even have to lower it any further, just add some water.
The presence of foreign dignitaries was a pleasant surprise. One she intended to use to its full extent to further her goals. Nothing like putting a man at the edge of a chasm to make him grab any rope thrown at him. She only needed the other actors to play their part, even though unwittingly.
And one of them, none other than Prince Lucien took the stage, "Who dares assault my dearest sisters? Woe and ruin upon them! The Light's wrath will see them cleansed from this land!"
Dawn wanted to shower him with applause. Through Aidan's sight, she knew the carriage with the Princes from Heath were crossing the gates as Lucien finished his speech.
It was King Helios' cue to speak. "Daughters, step forth. Are you hurt? Did those rascals dare draw a single drop of your blood?"
The foreign dignitaries parted to the sides of the aisle but didn't relinquish their spots at the front row.
"No, Father," Claire answered. "They marred not a single hair on us. With the help of our friend Princess Pearl of Gohar and the nobles from Yutis with us, my sister Lumina was able to defeat all our adversaries."
Dawn smiled and winked at Claire. That was marvelous. Grant Pearl prestige, show how close Yutis and Gohar were and mask Aidan's participation. Given the weight of the players involved, nobody would pay mind to a boy that just bled and puked at the back of the room during the fight.
She took Claire's hand and strutted forward through the red-carpeted aisle. The King and Crown Prince were standing up on the dais. The two women stopped a couple paces before the start of the stairs leading up into the dais.
"Your Majesty our father," Dawn spoke respectfully, "We rushed to give you the news. Let all know that we were peacefully celebrating our friendship near the academy when three Royals from Heath barged into the premises and assaulted us. They pitted their magic against ours, and their lead even drew blades against our party."
Dawn paused to give the peanut gallery of nobles time to gasp and whisper. She saw Lory and Pamela with their parents and winked at them.
"But we pushed them back. It was then they sent their knights and assassins disguised as maids upon us, but one after another they dropped like rotten fruit before us. We captured them but even though it was our right, we showed them mercy. The three of them, Crown Prince Brody, Princess Sierra, and Prince Brian are being brought here as we speak."
Putting names on the story made the whole room go nuts. The whispers now became shouts of indignation and support, most of them fake. Claire sighed and pulled as much air she could to build her pose and Dawn also stood tall before the throne. She wanted to kick the hornet's nest into the snout of the dragon and watch the world burn.
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Aidan pushed his female companions into a side room and closed the door moments before the three Princes from heath turned a bend in the castle corridor and walked past that very door. He was seeing through the eyes of his dragon familiar. Skippy was both invisible and camouflaged perched on a sconce on the corridor. After the trio of escorted Royals walked past, he silently slithered after them, following the group until the now doorless audience chambers.
Brian was hunched, walking with difficulty and clutching his back. Brody was missing one leg a hand below the knee and was walking supported by his last surviving Knight. Sierra was a little disheveled and empty-eyed, her makeup ruined in some places. She was still better than when she left the bakery, but there was only so much a single handmaid could do in a moving carriage in the little time she had.
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Skippy took a place atop a statue and rested his head where he could comfortably watch the whole chamber. There shouldn't be any surprises, but it paid to be prepared. Aidan focused his attention away from the dragon's sight and spoke to the Princess next to him.
"Pearl, you should go there. Sora, go with her and use your status as the ambassador of the squirrel-kin to raise some hell. Our goal is to push Brody to the edge both emotionally and politically. Whatever you can do to make the foreign dignitaries go against Heath, please do. Pearl, don't compromise too much. You only helped your friends stay out of harm's way."
The petite girl smiled, giggled once and tapped her gloved hand on Aidan's cheek. "Don't you dare try to teach me diplomacy and politics, Lord Aidan. I'm going there and I am going to raise hell for them. There is no force more terrible in this world than an angry princess. Well, Brody just got four." Pearl chortled. "Besides, they made MY champion bleed. I'd have their heads for way less than that, but I can't ruin my dearest friend's plans, can I?"
Aidan held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and a kiss. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness."
"Oh, please don't be cheeky, darling. I am the one to thank you a thousand times over. Finding a true friend for a Princess is like finding a dragon that knows no greed. I'm still on the lookout for the latter as our drooling little friend failed the test."
Aidan opened the door, "Off you go, Pearl. Beat them senseless."
She giggled once again, "As you wish, my champion. I'm sure to share the kills with your counterpart over there. Ambassador Sora?"
Sora walked past the door with Pearl side by side, leaving Aidan alone with Cythrel in the room. As the door closed, the elf pumped her mithril clad arms and smiled, cheering and hooting.
"That makes TWO! Up yours, douchebags!"
Aidan sighed and asked anyway, "Two what, Cythrel?"
"Two out of two retarded Crown Princes I've hit! Woohoo, I'm on a roll!" She shadowboxed with her bracers.
Aidan guffawed and hit his thigs, shedding a puff of dried blood. "Did you hit Brody?"
"I kicked ye olde royal cheeks!" She puffed her small chest, proud.
Aidan hugged the girl. "Don't make that a habit. It will end badly for you someday," He chided her.
"Nah," She waved one arm. "I have to do at least this much to be worthy of being in the God-Slayer's party. Cythrel the Prince Slayer... What do you think?"
He sighed, "What can I do to make you quiet down just until the hearing ends?"
She stopped to think for a while and opened up a mischievous smile, "I can't talk if my lips are busy, my hero," Cythrel purred.
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Sora and Pearl crossed the corridors in a hurry. They still walked at a pace that made Pearl look dignified. Then they passed past a couple of soldiers that were rolling a sphere of distorted metal and charcoal leaving a black trail across the stone floor.
"She didn't..." Pearl gasped.
Sora just rolled her eyes, "She did, doubt not. From the size of it, probably the King's door this time."
"That is something they will need to address," Pearl commented. "Now that it is public knowledge that Lumina can use Fire magic, they will expect her to have the Holy Element just like her mother, the late Queen Alina."
"I'll tell Aidan."
They reached the audience chamber and as expected, it had no door but six guards. One of them with a captain shoulder guard tapped his spear and bowed.
"Your Highness Pearl of Gohar, you are expected. Please enter."
Pearl bent her knees slightly and nodded. "Thank you, Captain. I will along with Ambassador Sora if that is fine with you."
"Please do, your Highness."
They went inside just as Dawn finished retelling the tale of the Six Royals Bakery fight before the three kneeling Princes from Heath. King Helios was with a stern gaze and Lucien was barely holding himself back.
"Princess Pearl of Gohar and Ambassador Sora of the squirrel-kin!" The royal crier announced them. The names were entered into the guest list at the last moment and for once he seemed glad that at least some sense of normalcy remained in that court session.
"Princess Pearl, Ambassador," King Helios addressed the newcomers. "As witnesses of the fight, please take a spot next to my daughters."
King Helios and Prince Lucien questioned Pearl and Sora about the events that happened. The back and forth took more than an hour since some of the higher nobles presents and some ambassadors also presented their questions.
Since both of them were foreign dignitaries, Pearl and Sora's testimonial weighed a lot. Pearl a little more than Sora because the former represented a wealthy nation and the latter only a tribe of beastkin. However, the squirrel-kin were well renowned for their diplomatic abilities on top of the already honorable behavior of the beastkin in general. As their retelling neared an end and having heard the same story twice, several of the ambassadors and representatives of foreign kingdoms and trade guilds were looking at Brody and his siblings with reproach.
After the story came to an end, an advisor came and whispered something to King Helios. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and declared.
"Our court mages detected no falsehood in the Princesses statement. Reports from the town guard and several bystanders that were questioned also corroborate what was told here."
Helios stopped speaking to let the crowd mumble and gossip. It was an important part of the court proceedings to let people propagate their opinions. The King's trusted advisors among the crowd would later poll these opinions and bring them to the King. This way he would know what the people of his court thought. It was still biased opinions as it wasn't too hard to pinpoint who was reporting to the King, but it was still better than nothing.
"Therefore," He continued after the blurb died spontaneously. "We from Yutis always regarded Heath as a trade partner if not as a friendly nation. The events of this afternoon bring us great sorrow. Since Princess Lumina magnanimously granted you mercy, We shall not sentence you to death. However, one of you struck at our guest Princess Pearl of Gohar with a magma spell. This is a slight that cannot be forgiven by us. Crown Princess Pearl of Gohar, you are free to demand any kind of compensation from them."
All eyes turned upon Pearl. The petite girl had to hold herself to not gloat or do something equally unsightly. The feeling was exhilarating for her. She locked eyes with Lucien and smiled. The hunk of a Prince was still immature but would make a great King. And an even better...
'Get your mind out of the gutter, Pearl! It is time to pass judgment!' She mentally reined herself in.
"Your Majesty King Helios. While it was true that Prince Brian tried to cast a spell, his poor wizardry left a lot of openings for a proper counter. Since no real harm was done by him, I will side with my friend Lumina in this. Gohar will demand a tribute of no less than five thousand gold pieces per year for a decade but we will grant our mercy to those three Royals."
The emissaries from several trade associations smiled. They knew that those fifty thousand gold pieces were a lot of money but a cheap price for the lives of three Royals. Losing three heirs could be catastrophic for a Kingdom. While Heath had no small amount of bastards with Royal blood to be elevated to heir status, it wasn't an easy thing to do. But the real thing that impressed the shrewd merchants was that Pearl demanded gold. One thing that all merchants learned when taking on international trade was that almost all gold in the continent was mined in Gohar. So were the gems and a lot of other metals and minerals. Forcing gold to flow back to Gohar's coffers would tip the prices of the yellow metal in their own favor, increasing the worth of the tribute.
They were smiling also because they had firsthand access to that information and they were going to profit a lot from it. Pearl was not worried and even glad she saw those smiles. These merchants would help spread far and wide what happened here in their negotiations, further cementing the damage caused to Heath. There would be some repercussions with Gohar but those would be minimal. Five thousand gold pieces per year would do much more than mitigate those repercussions.
"It is decided then, " King Helios declared. "Bring in the priest of Sancus. Let us sign the contract. Any of these present that want to sign it as witnesses are welcome to."
Princess Sierra winced at the declaration. Contracts were stronger the more important the people signing it. With that many nations and guilds signing, Heath would have no other choice than pay. Losing Sancus favor for a nation that controlled a lot of trade routes was not wise.
The contract was signed and the long court session finally adjourned. The three from Heath were sent to proper rooms in the guest wing of the castle, under heavy "protection" of Yutis' knights.