So, this was Olgar.

Not gonna lie, he was pretty intimidating.

Azarus hummed noncommittedly in response to his greeting. He turned his gaze away from Olgar for a moment in order to drag it along the crowd of perhaps fifteen other dwarves at Olgar’s back. Turning it back Olgar, Azarus spoke again. “Quite the welcoming party for little old me.”

Olgar spread his arms, palms out. “A coincidence, I assure you. I wouldn’t dream of impeding your business with the Prince.” He said, somewhat insincerely. Someone in the crowd behind him snickered before they were audibly shushed. Olgar didn’t blink. “I have business with her as well, you see.”

Azarus crossed his arms. “Is that a fact?”

“Oh, indeed,” Olgar said with a smile. “However, I will be gracious and allow you right of first meeting. After all,” His eyes narrowed, and his smile took a more sinister edge. “It’s always a pleasure to welcome the blood of the Raven back to the halls.”

“Thank you kindly, then,” Azarus said stonily. He took a step forward, putting himself within arm’s reach of Olgar. Azarus met his eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have business with the Prince.”

Olgar didn’t move or say anything for a moment. He just stared straight back into Azarus’s eyes without blinking. Slowly, I became aware that the hall had quieted to watch the confrontation between the two dwarves. There was a sense of tension rising in the air as the two of them just continued to stare into each other’s eyes.

It was broken when Olgar’s smile widened slightly and he stepped aside. “Of course, cousin.” With an exaggerated gesture, Olgar swept his right arm out to the side in the direction of the throne. The crowd that had been standing with Olgar shuffled to the sides to allow a path through at his unspoken command. Without another word to Olgar, Azarus started walking again.

Letting out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, I hurried to catch up to Azarus as he made his way through the crowd. But as I was passing Olgar, I couldn’t help but turn my eyes to look at him for a moment. I found Olgar looking right back at me.

A chill went down my spine when our eyes met.

If it was possible, Olgar’s smile grew larger. This time with teeth visible.

Hurriedly looking away from him, I picked up the pace.

God, there was something wrong with that dwarf. I could see it in his eyes.

Catching up with Azarus, I let out a shuddering breath behind him. I wiped the back of my right hand across my brow, finding it soaked with sweat. “Fuck.” I whispered quietly to myself, under my breath. Breathing in, I tried to calm myself down before we met with the Prince. After a moment, I stepped from behind Azarus to his right, but still behind him. Somehow, I knew I shouldn’t walk beside him.

Looking up, I could actually see the throne now that we were past the crowd. It was, like most dwarven extravagances, mostly made of gold. Large and exquisitely molded, I didn’t know if it was just gilded or entirely made out of gold. It didn’t look like it had been sized for a dwarf, it was so large. The solid base of the throne was seated upon a raised dais that you had to look up at in order to view the throne. The stone on the far wall was much darker, and framed in gold prominently in the center of it was a large circular window. On either side of the throne were large banners of what must be the symbol of House Florens, the flying raven on a field of red clasping a flower, edged in gold. But what drew the eye the most was the statue that towered over the back of the throne.

It was a huge, golden raven. Massive, it was hunched over the throne as if it were protecting it. Two huge wings rested on either side of the throne, flat on the ground, each feather immaculately detailed. The head of the raven, with eyes made of two enormous rubies, stared out at the hall from just over the top of the throne. The fading afternoon sunlight danced in those eyes, making them seem almost alive.

But the throne itself was empty.

I didn’t have much time to be surprised by this, as without a word Piccio hurried past Azarus and I. By the time we had reached the foot of the stairs that led up the dais to the throne, Piccio had ascended halfway up it before turning to look out at the crowd. I saw him make a small gesture with his hands off to the side. Without a word, two dwarves carrying long trumpets stepped out from behind a pair of pillars to stand at the base of the dais. Piccio visibly took a large breath before he began bellowing.

“Announcing!” His voice echoed through the hall, ending all other noise within it. “Her Highness, the Lady of Rhoscara! The Prince of Cardinal! Pentarch of the Principality of Velancia! Prince Elysael, of House Florens! Long may she reign!”

“Long may she reign.” The hall echoed back in a myriad of voices, some more enthusiastic than others.

With a grinding noise, I could hear the throne room doors that had been closed behind Azarus and I begin to open again. I began to turn around only to be stopped by a firm hand falling on my shoulder. Following it, I found that Azarus had stopped me. He shook his head at me.

“Follow my lead,” Azarus whispered to me. With his hand still on my shoulder, he led me off to the side of the carpet that spanned the length of the room. When we reached it, he knelt on one knee and gestured for me to do the same. I did as he bid, looking around curiously as I did so. Every other person in the room was doing something similar. They were all coming up to kneel at the edge of the carpet and bow their head, even Olgar and his companions. “Hey.” I heard Azarus whisper to me. “Lower your head, yeah?” He said quietly, once I’d turned to face him. Okay, I guess. I lowered my head.

Once the doors finished grinding open, I heard metal-clad feet begin to march into the hall. At the same time, two clear trumpets rang out across the hall in a short tune that I wasn’t familiar with. There were so many of them that I couldn’t accurately make out just how many people were marching into the hall. Was the Prince armored or something?

The sound of marching armored feet grew closer and closer to Azarus and I, even though I couldn’t see them with my head lowered. Before long, the procession had passed right by Azarus and I. I was incredibly curious about them, but I could see that Azarus hadn’t raised his head from where it was lowered, so I didn’t raise mine either. From what I could tell, the procession began to spread out along the dais as they reached it. Suddenly, all of the armored feet stopped moving to my ears. Straining them, I could hear something else moving. Where before all I could hear was metal-covered feet on stone, now I could hear what sounded like the swishing of fabric and much softer footsteps begin to ascend towards the throne.

After a few more moments of silence, I heard a firm, feminine voice ring out across the hall. “I, Elysael of House Florens, Prince of the Cardinal Halls, do hereby call this session of the Scarlet Court to order.”

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The shuffling of feet and the creaking of boots whispered through the throne room as upwards of a hundred people rose to their feet at once. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Azarus was one of them, so I followed his lead. Rising to my feet I directed my gaze towards the throne, curious about the person that commanded so much power and respect in these parts.

I wasn’t disappointed.

By far the most striking female dwarf I had seen so far, the Prince was almost ethereally beautiful. She possessed a slimmer build than I had typically seen on most other dwarves, who almost to one were stockier than humanity. I couldn’t be sure, considering how she was sitting ramrod straight on her throne, but I would place her about average height for her species, so maybe about chest height on myself. She had the red hair that I was starting to expect was a telltale sign of House Florens members worn long and unbound, almost impractically so. As well, she had the same golden eyes that I had noticed in dwarven aristocracy. With her, the hair was a lighter shade than either Azarus’s or Olgar’s, while her eyes were shining far more noticeably than either of theirs. Possessed of fair skin, she was wearing a flowing silken dress of white with golden embroidery, with an almost militaristic cut to it. Instead of a crown, she wore a large golden torque around her neck, as well as a single large teardrop-shaped ruby seemingly set into her brow.

Standing at attention along the dais was a squad of those same avian-themed knights I’ve seen multiple times so far. Additionally, on the left and right of the throne were two more of the knights, this time holding House Florens banners. These guys must have been the procession I’d heard.

The Prince neither blinked nor took her eyes off of the hall when she spoke again. “Steward Piccio.”

Piccio bowed his head in her direction from his position halfway up the dais. “Yes, your highness?”

“State the scheduled itinerary of the court, this day.” The Prince said evenly.

“Of course, your highness,” Piccio replied subserviently. Raising his head and drawing a scroll from his waist, Piccio turned back to face the hall. Unrolling the scroll and clearing his throat, Piccio read from the scroll in a clear voice. “Firstly, petitioners to the court this day include the honorable Lord Lozaki, the honorable Lady Hollawo, and the honorable Lord Olgar. Secondly, there is a dispute to be resolved in regard to pasture rights involving Houses Marino and Donnato. Finally, there is the welcoming of Lord Azarus during his scheduled visit to the Cardinal Halls.”

Okay, I was a little confused, and judging by the murmuring in the hall, I wasn’t the only one. Risking a glance over to Olgar, I found that he surprisingly had a wry smile on his painted lips. He didn’t seem super upset about the news of a schedule, which I was a little confused by. Wasn’t this supposed to be some big dramatic showdown between the Prince, Azarus, and Olgar?

“Hmm.” I heard Azarus give an approving noise. I turned my head slightly to look at him with a questioning look on my face. He must have noticed because he turned to face me too. “It’s a good move.” He whispered to me. “Ely must have thrown together an itinerary real quick in order to make it seem like she planned this. ‘Scheduled’, yeah?”

Oh, I get it now. By making this seem like a normal day at court instead of a rushed confrontation, it makes it seem like Azarus wasn’t here for anything important. I gave Azarus a slight nod to show I understood. Before I turned back to watch the Prince though, I gave Azarus the side-eye as well. “Ely, huh?” I whispered to him. He gave me the stink eye back. The Prince drew our attention back shortly, however.

“Very well.” The Prince continued smoothly. “Court is now in session. Proceed.”

“The throne calls upon Lord Lozaki, of House Romano!” Piccio immediately called out into the hall.

For the next maybe half an hour, two separate dwarves approached the throne and aired their petitions to the Prince. The first wanted something to do with an inheritance? Sounded like he was pissed about an uncle. The Prince pretty much dismissed him and said to come back with the uncle in order to present a fair hearing. That guy veritably slunk out of the hall with his tail between his legs. The second one had some kind of routine business about zoning laws for her tannery business. I didn’t understand most of the back and forth with this one, as it seemed to involve specific local ordinances. After a while, the Prince ruled in her favor and gave her some kind of concession? I didn’t fully follow it, and judging by the attitude of the audience in the hall, they didn’t either. A not insignificant number of dwarves had left the hall during both petitions, as it seemed like they might not get the show they were looking for. I didn’t blame them, this was kinda boring.

But enough stuck around, because it was Olgar’s turn to petition the throne next. Now this I was interested in. What reason did he manufacture to be here?

I saw Piccio take a deep breath. “The throne calls upon Lord Olgar, of House Florens!” He announced.

The hall took up a low murmur. This apparently didn’t sit right with the Prince, as she very obviously narrowed her eyes. “Silence.” Her voice rang out in the hall, clear as a bell. The hall fell silent at her command. Shifting her eyes to look at Olgar, she spoke again. “Approach, cousin.”

Olgar did as commanded and smoothly approached the throne from where he had been standing off to the side. Once he reached the foot of the dais, he bowed at the waist towards the Prince. “Hail the Raven Throne.” He intoned in a strong voice. He stayed bent over for some reason, though.

The Prince let him stay bowed for several seconds before speaking. “Rise, cousin. State your petition.” For the first time, her composure broke slightly. She sighed. “Even though I suspect I know what it is.”

Olgar rose from his bow and smiled up at the Prince. “Your Highness is as wise as she is beautiful. Indeed, I have come before you today in order to reiterate a previous petition.” In a grand gesture, he spread his arms wide. “I speak, of course, of my petition to intervene in the conflict further south. With your permission, I would rally my company and present myself to the human King in order to lend my aid against the Sculpted menace!” He finished, in a gallant tone of voice.

Polite clapping arose from the dwarves that he’d brought with himself, very obviously his supporters.

The Prince let the clapping stop before speaking again. “Denied.” She said flatly.

Olgar didn’t seem surprised by this. He stretched his right arm in her direction in an entreating direction, his left hand over his heart. “Will you not tell us your reasoning, my Prince?”

The Prince furrowed her brow slightly. “As I have told you before, the rebellion occurring within the Kingdom of Herztal is a purely internal matter. The decision arrived at by the Principal Convocation is that the Principality is not to intervene in a foreign affair of murky morality. No dwarven mercenary companies are to involve themselves in the conflict, under threat of exile. As you well know.”

Olgar bowed his head in her direction. “It is as you say, my Prince. However!” He exclaimed, snapping his head back up. “Could you not entreat your fellow Princes to rescind their decision?! Even now, the poor citizens of Herztal suffer under constant threat of Sculpted terroristic acts! As a right-thinking noble, nay, as a moral person! Is it not our duty to liberate the frightened masses of humanity from the threat of the vile Sculpted?!” He cried dramatically.

“No.” The Prince said flatly. “It is not. I will not gainsay the other Princes, nor will I challenge our collective decision. Furthermore, as you well know, it was my personal, on the record, stated belief that the situation within Herztal is too nebulous to support either side in the conflict. I will not allow members of my House to intervene in it.”

Despite how enthralled I was in the drama playing out before me, I was still able to catch Azarus’s face twisting out of the corner of my eye. Twisting my head in his direction, I could see that he had an almost uncomfortable scowl on his face. Noticing me, he just shook his head in my direction. I was curious, but I directed my gaze back to the scene before us.

Olgar sighed theatrically. “Very well, my Prince. I will abide by your decision.” He finished mournfully. He bowed towards the throne again, but he was interrupted by the Prince before he could leave.

“Olgar.” The Prince said coldly. Olgar stopped mid-motion from where he’d been turning to leave to look back up at the Prince. “You will not petition for this again. Am I understood?”

Olgar bowed again. “Yes, my Prince. As you command.” At the Prince’s slight nod, he turned and left the foot of the dais to return to his supporters. As he was turning to leave though, I caught a look at his face. He didn’t look like he’d just been rebuked. In fact, from the look on his face, you’d think he’d just won something, instead of being denied.

The hall was quiet for a moment before the Prince broke it. She cut her eyes in the direction of Piccio and spoke. “Continue, Steward.”

Piccio stepped forward from where he had stepped back. He brought his scroll back up. “The throne calls upon Lady Marien, of House Marino, and Lord Ronaldo, of House Donnato!”