Chapter 28: The Founding of the Alliance Part 4: Proposing the Alliance
Fortune Square was a bustle of activity as soldiers and state employees busied themselves with the clean up and repair. As this had been the stage of the initial battle with Longfang, the damage to this part of the city was quite extensive; Lady Luck had been completely destroyed, along with the decorative ornaments on either side, and the entire front of the Grand High Roller's Hall as well as most of the roof had either been burned away, or had been subsequently removed, with the other buildings in the Square suffering a similar fate. They spotted Captain Ya Pi amidst the chaos as he was overseeing and managing the commotion, and immediately beelined over to him.
"Captain," said Evan by way of greeting.
He seemed only mildly surprised to see them again. "Ah, King Evan. Back so soon I see? Is there something we can help you with?"
"We need to speak with Master Pugnacious about forming an alliance between our two kingdoms."
He raised his eyebrows. "An alliance you say?"
Evan nodded. "Yes, that's right. We need to stand together," he raised a clenched fist for emphasis, "against Dolor-ah… the man who stole Master Pugnacious' kingsbond."
"Indeed," he replied. "But I am afraid that Master Pugnacious is not currently in attendance at the Grand High Roller's Hall at the moment; He and Second Roller Ya Ya are somewhere in the city assisting with the repair effort."
"Winnin' back the people's favour, aye?" Batu wagered.
"Something like that. But he also said that it was his duty as Grand High Roller to assist with the repairs."
"How's that working out?" Roland asked.
Ya Pi raised a hand to his chin. "It may be a little too early to say; Much of their trust and respect for him has noticeably diminished following the trial, though most seem willing to allow him the chance to make amends for his actions. Whether or not he will succeed in this endeavour in their eyes," he spread his hands, "only time will tell."
"Sounds like he's got a long road ahead of him."
He nodded. "And I would agree. But he has my support," he placed a hand on his chest, "as well as Lady Ya Ya's."
"Where can we find them?"
"Regrettably I am afraid that I am unable to give you a more precise location."
"So we'll have to hunt them down."
"Indeed. The citizens may be able to help you in this endeavour, however."
"Right." He turned to the others. "Let's get on it then."
Their quest to find either Pugnacious or Ya Ya was hampered by the discovery of more broken hearts, as well as the necessity of finding the necessary pieces to fix them (with the higgledies' assistance). They all had more or less the same story; Ever since the outcome of Pugnacious' trial, they'd felt different depending on what piece of heart had been broken. "So what's going on, Lofty?" Tani asked.
"It's just as I thought, like. But let's find Pugnacious and Ya Ya first before I explain what's going on." So they continued on, and eventually came across someone who had seen both Pugnacious and Ya Ya in the area. Following this clue, they came upon more people who'd seen them, indicating that they were finally closing in on their location. Some of the dogfolk openly scoffed at the use of "Master Pugnacious", even refusing to address him as such, while others added scathing comments that made it clear exactly how they now felt about him. Roland couldn't really blame them after what had happened. But on the other hand… How was he to resist such a power? A voice in his head wondered. The power to break one's heart?
Suddenly Lofty stopped them in their tracks. "Hold up you lot? You smell that, mun?"
They sniffed the air. "Food!" Evan and Tani exclaimed.
"Ah, an it be smellin' good as well," said Batu.
"It does," Aranella agreed. "I didn't realise I was hungry."
"Neither did I," said Roland.
"It is past lunchtime, mun," said Lofty. "So let's eat!"
"Hmm." He looked thoughtful. "I wouldn't be too surprised if they've set up stations for serving food around the city, given the current state of the all restaurants and tea houses. We might find Ya Ya and Pugnacious at the one ahead."
"All the more reason to go check it out then, mun!"
"Hold on," he said, holding up a hand to stop them. "Let's not forget that the food being served there is for the people of Goldpaw. We should probably stick to our rations, or else agree to lend them a hand in exchange for a serving."
"Or they might let us buy it," Tani suggested.
"They might," he agreed. "I guess we'll see." So they followed their noses and soon found themselves joining the end of a queue. "Excuse me," he said to the dogfolk in front of them. "You wouldn't happen to have seen either Master Pugnacious or Second Roller Ya Ya would you?"
"Yes, actually I have. They're in the food court in the plaza ahead," he said gesturing over his shoulder with a thumb. "I saw them as I walked through to join the end of the queue. They seemed to be waiting for something, though," he shrugged, "I'm not sure what."
"That's perfect, thank you."
The dogfolk man ahead of the other suddenly interjected. "Well I hope he moves on," he said bitterly. "I don't think I could stand to eat anything with him watching us."
"If you don't think he's fit to be your leader anymore, why not call for him to stand down?" He asked casually.
"Without our Kingmaker to form a kingsbond with his successor, I'm afraid we have little choice but to tolerate him until Longfang is restored to us," he explained with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"But also until then, he has a chance to prove himself," the other added. "Prove that he is still deserving of the title of Grand High Roller."
"Do you think he can?" Evan asked, a touch of hopefulness colouring his tone.
"Pugnacious' schemes have helped many people in the past, so I'm willing to give him that much at least. But what he did isn't so easy to forgive," he said with a shrug, "and I'm sure there are many who won't, even with all this talk of him being broken hearted."
"We will see," the other simply replied with his nose in the air.
"Well, thank you both for your time," Roland said, concluding the conversation, before turning to the others. "All right, we've found them, let's go." Evan, Tani and Lofty aww'd in protest. "Come on, this is more important. We can eat later."
"Fine," they sighed. "Youe're right," Lofty added reluctantly.
They spotted Pugnacious and Ya Ya in the plaza, and just as the man had said, they appeared to be waiting for something as they were watching the people queue for food. Ya Ya was dressed in her usual attire, while Pugnacious was wearing something far more casual; Plain black trousers and a dark green jacket, and he was without his staff. "Master Pugnacious," Evan called out as they approached. "Lady Ya Ya."
They turned at the sound of their names and exchanged looks of surprise. "King Evan," he said by way of greeting. "I did not expect to see you back so soon. If you had sent me word of your visit, I would have taken the necessary steps to have you welcomed into Goldpaw, as well as made myself easier to find."
"If we had the ability to do so, I'm sure we would have," said Roland.
"Ah…" A look of realisation had blossomed on his face. "Forgive my assumption, of course you are just starting out." He raised a hand to his chin as he continued. "But your lack of a means of communication will be something that will need to be remedied in the near future."
"Sure, but how do you propose we do that?"
He gestured helpfully, "We can supply you with some of our messenger birds; We have more than enough for our own needs after all."
"Gosh, that's very kind of you," Evan remarked.
"Yeah," Roland added with a raised eyebrow before frowning. "What's the catch?"
Pugnacious shook his head. "You misunderstand, as I am afraid the offer is not entirely out of generosity. Many of my people have very recently become afflicted with a mysterious… ailment shall we say. Perhaps you may have encountered such individuals during your search?" He said, gesturing towards them. "If they are suffering from what I suspect they are suffering from, then we lack the means to accurately diagnose them. You on the other hand, do not, and with this we would require your aid."
"If youe're thinking broken heartedness, mun," said Lofty. "Then youe're dead on."
"Then it is as we feared," Ya Ya sighed, her shoulders sagging.
"What's going on, Master Pugnacious?" Aranella asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Pugnacious replied.
"Then it looks like now's the perfect time for me to explain what's going on," said Lofty.
"If you would," Ya Ya prompted.
"You remember what I said, like? About a Kingmaker and their people?"
"They share a bond with their Kingmaker but only to a certain extent," Aranella replied.
"That's right! And what happens to a King and Kingmaker who have had their kingsbond severed?"
"The Kingmaker goes berserk and the King dies, right?" Tani asked.
"They sure do! So what happens to the people when a kingsbond is severed?"
"We felt the bond break," said Ya Ya.
"Right, so that means the people must receive some of the backlash as well. Didn't think anything of it at the time, but as soon as I saw that man with the missing kindness I began to wonder. And now I'm pretty sure I'm right. Seems the backlash from the kingsbond severing was strong enough to break some of youer people's hearts, see."
"So this be what ye were meanin' when ye said Doloran weren't bein' involved this time," said Batu.
"Not directly anyway," he nodded.
"Doloran?" Ya Ya and Pugnacious chorused with identical frowns of confusion. They briefly exchanged looks.
"Right. We also have some information for you," Roland began. "Let's just say the man paid us a visit upon our return to Evermore and told us to stay out of his way." The rest of the party exchanged looks at that as that wasn't quite what had happened, but wisely kept quiet on the matter. "But he introduced himself to us as King Doloran of Allegoria."
"Allegoria?" Ya Ya repeated. She raised a hand to her chin and frowned. "I cannot say I've heard of such a nation."
"Nor I," Pugnacious agreed with a shake of his head.
"Did Niall mention anything to you about what we discussed?" Roland asked.
"He did," he confirmed with a nod. "You believe he means to use my stolen kingsbond to somehow make himself a Kingmaker."
"It be more than that, matey," Batu cut in. "We believe'e be wantin' te make'imself a Kingmaker what be stronger than any other, so'e can be conquerin' the other nations o'the world with it."
"But why?" Ya Ya asked.
He shrugged in exasperation. "Now'ow would we be knowin' that?"
"It's our best theory for why he would need more than one kingsbond," Roland explained. "If that's his goal."
"Oh… I see. That is a good question if that's true."
"I am not sure that I agree with your supposition of what his ultimate goal could be, given that it may be that he simply needs more than one kingsbond in order to finalise the creation of a Kingmaker," said Pugnacious.
"But surely a Kingmaker created with the power of more than one kingsbond would be a dreadfully powerful one?" Aranella asked.
"I do not consider that to be an unreasonable assumption, but it fails to take into account the process with which this Kingmaker may be made. What if much of the power of the kingsbonds will be used up, or burned away in the Kingmaker's creation?"
"I guess that's another explanation for why he'd need more than one," Roland conceded.
"But you think we're onto something when it comes to the whole making himself a Kingmaker?" Tani asked.
"Yes, I believe you are," Pugnacious confirmed with a nod. "Though whether or not you are correct," he spread his hands, "remains to be seen."
"Actually, we believe King Doloran has confirmed our suspicions of what he's up to," said Roland.
Pugnacious looked briefly surprised before his expression became grim. "Ah. I see what you mean. You believe this Allegoria to be the kingdom he is building. Certainly he would require a Kingmaker to call himself king."
"That's why we came to see you, Master Pugnacious," said Evan. "We want to forge an alliance between your kingdom and ours, in order to stand against Doloran and his Kingmaker."
"I see. And this would be from your belief that King Doloran intends to march on all the nations of the world."
"That's right."
"Hmm," he stroked his chin with one hand. "I concede it would be foolish to dismiss the idea so readily, given how little we know, so I do believe an alliance is a reasonable course of action. Still…"
"Ideally we'd stop him from accomplishing his goal in the first place," Roland commented. "But unfortunately we know far too little to be able to take decisive action in that regard. So forming the alliance is our next best option, at least until we know more."
"Indeed. And I quite agree with your reasoning. Still, what you suggest requires the consultation of Lady Luck."
"What now?" Roland asked flatly as the others uttered similar exclamations of disbelief in unison.
"Youe're kidding!" Lofty insisted.
Even Ya Ya objected. "Really?"
"Higgle?" Frumious asked, accompanied by the head tilt of confusion.
"But Lady Luck was destroyed, wasn't it?" Tani noted.
"What you speak of was the automaton," Pugnacious explained. "But the Mistress of Fortune herself cannot be harmed in such a way."
"Then what about the dice?" Evan asked.
"Any will suffice for this matter. It need not require the ceremonial dice." He turned to Ya Ya. "Ya Ya, do you have any dice on you?"
"I still have this," Tani replied, producing the dice she'd lifted from the Lucky Stars Casino.
"Ah, I see you have helped yourself to one of our state issued dice," he said, though there was an amused twinkle in his eye as he spoke.
"Yeah…" Tani replied awkwardly as she averted her gaze. "Um. Do you want it back then?"
He held up a hand in dismissal. "Please. Keep it as a memento. But if I may borrow it for a moment?"
"Sure." The dice was handed over.
"Thank you."
He held the dice aloft. "Oh Mistress of Fortune, I beseech your guidance on the matter of this alliance. Grant us an odd number if you deem this to be wise, if not, then let the number be even." He let the dice drop and they watched with baited breath as it rolled… and settled on a four.
"What?!" They gasped, taking a step back in shock as Evan shouted. "No!"
"Higgle!" The higgledies shouted, throwing their arms in the air.
"Interesting," Pugnacious commented, a hand raised to his chin. "It would seem that Lady Luck deems the alliance to be unwise."
"But that can't be…" Evan protested weakly as Tani retrieved the dice and the others exchanged defeated looks. Was that really it?
"Master Pugnacious-" Ya Ya began.
"Fortunately I disagree," Pugnacious spoke again, before Ya Ya could finish her sentence.
"Huh?" They chorused as Tani asked. "Really?"
He nodded. "These are unprecedented times we face, and so must take unprecedented actions," he continued. "Our world has known strife and chaos for so long that is now due for an era of peace and unity. We stand together or fall apart." He raised a clenched fist. "Goldpaw will stand with you." They cheered.
"Making a decision that goes against Lady Luck, huh?" Roland asked. "Are you sure your people will accept this?"
"I pray that they do, as it is in all of our best interests."
"Can't argue with that, but it sounds like you've got a way to go before you're back in their good books."
"Indeed…" He looked away. "But I suppose it is a measure of my character before this all happened, that they have given me the opportunity to begin with." He shook his head, his expression becoming one of determination. "I will not let them down a second time."
"Well good luck with that."
"Thank you. But as to the matter of the alliance; Would you be so kind as to join me in the Grand High Roller's Hall? I had intended to eat once the people had taken their share, but now that you are here," he smiled, "I will treat you to lunch so we can discuss the alliance further."
"We won't say no to that!" Lofty exclaimed.
"No indeed," Aranella agreed, clasping her hands together in gratitude. "Lunch would be wonderful, thank you."
"Very good. Then if you would please follow me."
"By the way, Master Pugnacious, how are the repairs going?" Evan asked as they walked.
"Well, it is as you can see," he replied. "The damage is quite extensive and many have been temporarily displaced from their homes. But I have seen to it that the homeless are being provided accommodation in the inns around Goldpaw – those that can still operate at least – and also in my own home."
"There's kind of you!" Lofty remarked.
"It is… the least I can do to provide for the needs of my people," he replied simply.
Roland and Lofty exchanged looks and Roland shook his head. "Boy that sure is quite the contrast to what you were saying to us last time."
"It is!" Evan agreed.
"Yes, I am sure," Pugnacious sighed. "As you said, Mr Roland, I was not myself. Though I could not see it at the time."
"I for one am glad to have you back, Master Pugnacious," said Ya Ya with a smile and clasped hands of happiness.
He returned her smile. "And it is good to be back, Ya Ya."
"What about the cost of all the repairs?" Aranella asked.
"I accumulated a lot of wealth from the tax rate over the past couple of months, it seems only right to put it to good use. But I will also be covering as much of the cost as I can manage myself, and a number of individuals – such as Mr Bradley Summers – have agreed to do the same."
"And Niall has also agreed to supply us with the necessary materials for our repairs," Ya Ya added.
"I thought as much," said Roland. "But what's he asking for in return?"
"Nothing," she replied.
"Really?" He quirked an eyebrow at that. "Nothing at all?"
"I am aware that he does not have the greatest reputation for generosity," said Pugnacious. "But he and I have been friends for many years. It is no trouble for him to aid us in our time of need; I would do the same for him."
"So he's just like that with people he doesn't know? Which is mostly everyone who isn't a greenling?" Tani asked.
"I suppose he is."
"So how did you two wind up being friends?"
"It is a long story," he replied. "And perhaps one day I shall tell it to you."
"That be a shame," said Batu as Tani and Evan and the higgledies voiced their disappointment. "We pirates be lovin' us the tellin'an'earin o'a good story."
"As do we all, but I am afraid that it will have to wait; We all have more pressing matters to attend to for the moment."
"Aye… ye be right in that."
They arrived at Fortune Square, which was the same bustle of activity that they had left.
"Master Pugnacious. Lady Ya Ya," Captain Ya Pi said, greeting them with the inclination of his head in place of a bow.
"Captain," they chorused. "We will be in discussion with King Evan regarding his proposal of an alliance between our two kingdoms," he continued.
"Understood, Master Pugnacious. I will see to it that you will not be disturbed."
"Thank you, Captain." They continued into the Grand High Roller's Hall and he lead them through the entrance hall to a dining area. The dining area was towards the back, and so had escaped much of the damage that the front portion had endured, though some of the roof was missing. "Please wait here," he instructed. "My kitchen staff are currently helping in the city, so I will have to cook the meal myself."
Off the party's exchange of looks, Ya Ya spoke, gesturing reassuringly. "Master Pugnacious is a very capable cook and has treated us to his cooking on many occasions."
"It will not be anything extravagant at this time however, but I hope you enjoy it all the same."
"I'm sure we will!" Lofty declared.
"Ya Ya, if you would lend me your assistance?"
"Of course, Master Pugnacious," she replied.
"Please make yourselves comfortable in the mean time, we will return momentarily."
They departed leaving the party to choose their seating. "Well he's certainly taken a turn for the benevolent," Aranella remarked.
"He sure has," Roland agreed.
"I be startin' te see why the people o'Goldpaw were thinkin' so'ighly of'im," Batu added. "If this," he gestured after Pugnacious, "be'ow'e really be."
"I think I like him," Tani added. "He's not as stuck up as I'd expected."
"Do you think he can win back their favour?" Evan asked.
"Perhaps he will, in time," Roland replied. "But there will probably some whose favour he'll never have again."
Evan looked downcast at that. "I just don't think it's fair, that Master Pugnacious is being blamed for everything when it was Doloran who was the one behind it all."
"I think I can see why they still would, even after being told what had really happened."
Evan looked up at him, his expression both curious and confused. "What do you mean?"
"It's…" He rubbed the back of his head, "a tricky subject. On the one hand," he gestured with one hand, "without his restraint, he obviously lacked any kind of self control, meaning that so long as he believed that what he was doing was ultimately for the greater good, then he thought the end would justify the means he used to get there. But on the other hand," he gestured with the other, "by his own admission he was still acting of his own volition and was still aware on some level that what he was doing was wrong." He spread his hands, "Or else he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to hide what he was up to."
"… Oh," he said then hummed, raising a hand to his chin in thought.
"But it's not really our problem, Evan," he said, sensing that Evan wanted to do more about it, even if he wasn't sure what. Before Evan could object he continued. "This is something Pugnacious has to do himself. Do you understand?"
He sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Yes… I understand."
"You'd help everyone if you could, wouldn't you Evan?" Tani asked fondly.
"Is that… bad?"
"Not exactly," Roland replied. "But you have to understand that you can't help everyone."
"I know… But I… I want to help where I can at least."
"Sure I get that. But don't lose sight of the bigger picture here; You're King of Evermore, that means you have a duty to your kingdom and your people first."
"R-right… of course."
"Higgle pig," said Runcible before patting his arm.
"Higgle," the other two higgledies agreed.
Evan managed a small smile at that. "Thank you, Frumious."
A/N: Pugnacious and by extension Goldpaw itself was kind of swept under the rug, once the Goldpaw arc was done (Hydropolis and Broadleaf get the same treatment as well to a certain extent, but Goldpaw definitely had it worse).
Consequently, Pugnacious didn't really get any rehabilitation for his role as that arc's antagonist, so now he will.