Chapter Twenty-Four
Devona hated her life…
The Tyrian Summit was due to start within the hour, and, because of her previously acknowledged lack of courage to break her bonding with Coran, she was compelled to attend as the acting "left hand" of Ascalon.
The problem; she was staring down at her clothing options like a child at the dinner table presented with her two worst foods.
On one hand, she could dress true to her profession, and wear the armor that such expense had been put into providing for her... if she weren't terrified she'd be confused for an exotic dancer. Seriously, she wasn't certain if she'd even wear that for battle. Nonetheless, it would suggest she wasn't a typical lady that would be entertained with babbling small talk… just random acts of perversion.
Then… there was a white lace and satin dress. The problem there was obvious. Maybe it was a reaction to all the "lady drills" her mother put her through, but Devona absolutely loathed looking and acting overly feminine… it made her feel fake and pathetic. If this were a normal situation, she wouldn't have hesitated, but the official capacity of the summit suggested that all the pomp and circumstance she loathed would be present in force.
"Madam Devona, your presence is required in the Grand Hall." One of the Ascalon retainers brought by Coran declared from the other side of the closed door.
"I shall be out shortly." The warrior replied, panic starting to set in. Moments later, the desire not to be stared at like a steak brought before a table of starving men won out, and she took the dress and stepped into it, deftly pulling buttoning the back closed, oddly proud that she could do so without assistance.
Devona examined herself in the mirror, and loathed what she saw. At least the stylists found they couldn't do much with her hair save clean it and tie it into a ponytail. Even then, she looked like a girl who hadn't as much as done one bit of manual labor in her life. It was insulting to her fighter's mentality.
Without even bothering to knock, the near waifish form of Yuu entered Devona's chambers, dressed in the same Shade Armor that she always seemed to be seen in. Devona sniffed… it just wasn't fair.
"Coran's been asking for you for the last fifteen minutes." The black-garbed scout commented haughtily. "If anything, will you please hurry so that he'll stop bothering me about it?"
Devona found herself chuckling. She actually liked the brooding daughter of Idori, even if Yuu gave no indication at any time that such feelings were reciprocated. Devona had experience dealing with the anti-social, and knew it could take a long time for such people to feel comfortable dealing with others.
"I am on my way now." Devona said, turning away from the mirror, and accepting Yuu's motion to leave the chambers first. The shorter woman then took stride next to the warrior as the pair turned towards the conference hall in which the summit would be held in.
"By the way, I overheard something that might interest you." Yuu said flatly.
"Really?" Devona replied, feigning interest partly.
"It appears that Queen Salma is under pressure to find herself a husband. Apparently, the favorite for that role is King Coran."
Devona blinked. "What? How do you know this?"
Yuu looked up at the warrior with a patronizing expression. "I'm a Shade. I'm quite skilled at hearing things I'm not supposed to. Apparently, the nobility of Kryta see an opportunity to infuse Doric's bloodline into the noble pool, as well as the possibility of reuniting both kingdoms under one royal family."
Devona froze, the blood in her veins going cold. "You are certain about this?"
"As certain as the people who spoke it were." The black-clothed woman answered. "I'm not even certain anymore why I bothered you with it. After all, it's not like it concerns you, right? You're just biding your time to break the bonding you have anyway, correct?"
"Right." Devona answered, pleased that she hid the shakiness in her voice. "Once Ascalon is set to rights, and the nobles stop worrying about the royal line, I can sever the bond officially without being run out of the kingdom. This news about Queen Salma in fact is quite a boon for me. How could I challenge a queen's wish to marry?"
"Indeed. You'd be off the hook, as it were." Yuu said dismissively, then stopped abruptly. "Well, here we are. Keep good spirits, Devona. You shouldn't have to play queen much longer." Yuu then turned about on her heel, and retreated down the hall.
The Shade then slinked off towards the Krytan wing, where Queen Salma and her entourage was starting to approach the conference hall. Yuu nodded respectfully to the queen, then asked the queen for permission to speak with one of her followers. With a nod, Salma allowed the object of Yuu's search to step aside for a short time.
"The plan is in place. Just do what I ask of you, and don't freelance." Yuu said, loud enough to appear merely conversational, but not loud enough to be overheard by the still moving procession.
"Of course." Yuu's conspirator replied. "It'll work, right?"
"If what you've told me of Queen Salma is correct… it'll work like a charm. I've come to know Devona quite well. She'll come to you, and you merely tell her what she doesn't want to hear. Understand?"
"Yes. I've got it. I'm not stupid."
"Not trying to imply you are. Just making sure we're both on the same page. Now get going before someone starts to wonder what is taking you so long."
"I'm not sure the lives the Dredges are living now are all that much better than the lives they had inside Sorrow's Furnace." Coran remarked, not hiding his displeasure towards the samples of the species working as drudges inside the Keep since the Stone Summit were forced to retreat from that hotbed.
"I sometimes think that myself." King Ironhammer acknowledged to the Ascalon monarch's surprise. "But they have very useful skills beyond service duties, and it will take time to teach them others. Besides, at least working for me and the Deldrimor they get fed regularly and aren't beaten to death. That, and consider that I have not forced any Dredge to leave their underground home, and in fact have declared that the Deldrimor nation will fight to protect their land as if it were ours."
"True enough." Coran replied. "Just be careful how you proceed. Integrating a new race with different cultures and mores can be a trying process even under the best of conditions."
"Wisdom beyond your apparent years." Ironhammer noted. "Now, do explain to me something I heard a month or so back… something about taking down the trebuchets along your Northern Wall? Isn't that inviting an attack from the Charr?"
"Perhaps, but it will be at their peril." The young king answered. "I suppose I should probably tell you the whole story, just so that you don't get the wrong idea…" at that point, Coran's voice dropped below what Devona could hear from her position, leaning against the wall near the main door, looking for the first opportunity for her to slip out at next recess, as she was utterly bored out of her mind. Really… what could she possibly contribute?
"I must say how lucky of a woman you are." A voice said out of her cone of vision. Devona turned her head to see the splendidly arrayed Queen Salma next to her, a crystal goblet of fruit wine in her right hand, barely sipped from judging from its relative fullness.
"Am I?" Devona replied, forcing herself not to sound catty. In truth, the warrior was feeling somewhat threatened and intimidated by the Krytan queen's presence. Salma was hardly an ugly woman, even with the heavy tattoos that marked her family line and original status as a Priestess in the Temple of Ages, common body art for all of the Krytan people, as opposed to only the monks in Ascalon society. In fact, she had an exotic loveliness that Devona had no doubt any man would find appealing.
Devona forced back a self-loathing sigh. She was intimidated of a woman who she could probably snap in half with her bare hands… all because of some damn rumor Yuu overheard.
At that moment, Salma's eyes turned towards the two kings in quiet conversation. "King Coran is a remarkably intelligent man with knowledge that would make him the envy of Tyria."
"That is true… but I can also say that his smarts make him somewhat aggravating to deal with as well. It seems like he always has the answers, and will not hesitate to bore you to tears with tidbits that simply do not interest you in the slightest." Devona said with a scoff. She was surprising herself with her tone. She had never found Coran boring, even when he starting saying things that she had no hope of understanding at beyond the basest of levels.
"I don't know about that." Salma replied, and her voice seemed to become wistful. "I am looking forward to the opportunity to pleasure his tool with the techniques I learned in the Temple…"
Devona choked on the wine she had just started to sip, and coughed several times before gaining enough breath to ask incredulously, "What did you just say?"
Startled by Devona's accusing question, Salma took a step back, and said nervously, "I said I was looking forward to measuring the tools he's using to restore his kingdom against the techniques of natural balance I learned while in the Temple of Ages. What did you think I said?"
"Oh! Nothing! I just didn't hear you clearly the first time." Devona replied, turning away to prevent the queen from seeing the embarrassment creeping up her neck and face. Grenth take her… she was starting to hear things.
"Now if only King Ironhammer would stop monopolizing your betrothed's attention, I could get my chance to pry into his mind." Salma then winked, "Although, I will say if you didn't already have his eye, I'd be tempted to pry into more than that."
It took every fiber of Devona's brain not to rearrange the suggestive facial expression of the Krytan queen. But even as one part of her wanted to strangle the jungle slut, the words out of her mouth reflected much greater indifference. "My bonding to Coran was merely the result of misplaced good intentions by the late King Adelbern. It isn't a serious commitment."
"Oh." Salma seemed genuinely surprised by that, and Devona cattily thought it must have been a very pleasant surprise indeed. Once again, the warrior felt her fingers convulse, fighting to close into fists. To the warrior's dismay, she was finding it very difficult not to apply some of her professions manner of debate to the proceedings…
"What?" The shout from King Ironhammer dispelled the tension, and turned all the attention in the room towards the dwarven monarch. The Deldrimor leader's face was contorted in near indignant rage, and his words seemed close to the disjointed ravings of a lunatic "How? When? Who? Where did you learn… that lard ridden grease spot of a dolyak's mating! He got irritated that I got sick of his experiments, and decided to get back at me, didn't he? I'll flay the skin off his bones for this treason!"
"Jalis, at ease… none of your people has betrayed anything." Coran said, trying to soothe the angered dwarf. "Perhaps I should have explained first that I learned the science from a completely independent source. You honestly didn't expect this knowledge to remain your people's secret forever, did you?"
"No… I suppose not." King Ironhammer said, slowly losing the red fury in his cheeks. "But… this a great power you're toying with, and you said you've made that stuff into…"
"Yes. Let me assure you that I am extremely confident in what I'm doing."
"If you say so… I hope you're right, young man. I sincerely hope you're right." Jalis said warily, pausing to finish the rest of the mug of ale in front of him. Then, noticing that everyone was staring at him due to his display, he adjusted his collar and said, "Well, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to recess for the evening meal. Come with me to the Mead Hall, and we will resume the summit in here by the end of the next hour."