AN: I'm back early guys. Because you are all the best, and I couldn't stay away any longer. And good news - I'll be reverting to my original update schedule, i.e. twice a week, most likely every Tuesday and Friday IST.
Just a funny fact - this chapter is the first ever I wrote for TCP. It's gone through a couple of edits so hopefully I've caught all the discrepancies, but fair warning! :-D
Enjoy! And thanks again for all the amazing reviews and feedback!
Lucy was nervous.
She marched alongside her companions, their dragon escort just a few steps ahead of them, heading at an agonizingly slow pace towards the imposing wrought-iron doors of the Magical Alliance's Council. As she walked, she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding - as if it were approaching a battle. Very much like the feeling she had every time she opened her own delicately engraved wooden doors to enter her court.
"If you twist your hem any harder, that beautiful buckle may come undone. I'm sure the dragon court would appreciate the fine figure you cut underneath that dress, as would I." Loke gave her a flirtatious wink along with his audacious little speech. However, even he could not hide the underlying strain of nerves in his voice, making his normally melodious voice a little rougher and deeper than usual.
"If that would give me an advantage in the confrontation we will undoubtedly face, I would gladly sacrifice my dignity for the sake of furthering the interests of my kingdom." The retort, which she meant to utter in sarcasm, came out a little too breathless to be taken as such.
Loke offered her a gentler smile. "My dear princess, you know I jest. You will be fine. Your speech has been well-rehearsed, we already know you have a reasonable amount of allies and even some close friends beyond those doors, and above all else - the cause for which you speak is a noble and just one, and one that you wholeheartedly espouse. Any simpleton will see the passion and love you possess for your people, and your desire to do good by them."
"Aye, but what would that mean to this particular council?" Laxus's gruff voice interrupted Loke's smooth tirade.
Loke shot him an irritated glance "As we've already discussed many a time, this council has as much desire for peace as we do. There is no assurance of such as long as King Jude eyes magic and all its practitioners as a plague that must be purged. This council has witnessed enough war in its lifetime - the option to ensure a stable and peaceful future is something they cannot afford to pass up."
"And as I've told you before, offering a stable future may not be enough. We will be walking into that chamber demanding their full support on mere promises of rewards in a distant future. Why would they fight for us when all we have are words in return?"
"Support need not always be violent in nature Laxus! We do not ask them to promise us their armies, merely to stand by us in case of a diplomatic dispute. Heaven knows, we may not even need that extent of their support - even whispers of their interest in our side, once spread skillfully in our court, could tilt the political power balance in our favor and…"
At this Lucy placed a soft finger over Loke's lips and a hand placatingly on her cousin's shoulder. "Yes, we have had this discussion many a time. And we have also agreed that there is no certainty in their support or their refusal. That is why we are here. To try. We owe at least that to Pergrande." She gave Loke a wan smile, dropping her hand and turning to her cousin.
"I know your reservations sir, but please trust me. All I want is to give Pergrande and its people the best chance possible when the time comes for them to be in charge of their own destinies." her voice was soft, still slightly shaky, but her eyes shone with determination and fire. Laxus's own softened at the sight.
"You are my leige-lord Lucy, I would follow your commands to the death. And I will say this, if anyone is capable of getting the support of this magical alliance, it would only be you."
Loke pouted, still not entirely appeased. "I still think our chances are more or less excellent, especially considering that King Igneel and Queen Grandine - the very dragons who will be heading the alliance - are in your debt for their life, Lucy."
At this, the younger fire dragon who was accompanying them turned to face the group with an apologetic air. "Err… forgive me, Sir Loke, for listening - but I'm afraid you are mistaken. King Igneel and Queen Grandine are not heading the alliance."
Loke frowned, but decided to ignore the fact that their guard had eavesdropped upon their entire conversation. It was not exactly a secret anyway, at least it wouldn't be in the next few minutes.
"Well then, who is their leader? The Princess of Dragons? Or the Dragon Council?"
"Nay, the Prince of Dragons. His majesty, END."
All three faces paled. Lucy trembled. "No… no, it cannot be. I heard he had not yet returned from the war…"
The young dragon gave her a gentle look as he addressed her directly. "He returned only a few days ago. This is the first meeting of the magical alliance after his official return to Alagesia, and they insisted that he be their leader henceforth."
Loke gnashed his teeth, whirling around to face Lucy. "We don't have to meet them right now, especially if you are not comfortable. I have heard enough rumors of the ferocity and cruelty of his majesty to be wary of him. We don't have to do this, certainly not today. We could do this another day, after ensuring our magical friends are by our side..."
"No. You should go." Laxus interrupted Loke again.
Loke shot him a look of exasperation. "Now is the time you choose to support me?! Honestly Laxus, half of those savage tales of the Prince I heard from you!"
"And I stand by them."
"But then why would you encourage her to face that monster?! At least give her the option to choose!"
"That would be a show of weakness. We have come this far. There is no backing out now."
"This is not a bloody war you fool! This is a diplomatic mission, her peace of mind and safety are paramount! She needs her wits about her else her ability to convince those people will be for naught!"
"ENOUGH!" Lucy gave them her infamous glare. The two males, though they towered above her, cowered at her look.
"I am not afraid. I have heard all the rumors you both have and more." Her brow furrowed. "I have heard some very… contradictory rumors as well. If anything, the Prince of Dragons intrigues me. The opportunity to meet him is something I look forward too, and if I did not have such a sombre purpose, I would be excited to meet such a fascinating creature." Her lips turned up slightly into a smile and her tone softened. "There is no such thing as a monster. I am sure he had his reasons for performing many of the actions that we have heard of, especially given that much of what both of you have heard are exaggerated accounts without all the facts. Do not judge him before we have even met him, you do us and him a disservice."
The dragons accompanying them stopped at this, all pretense of not listening forgotten. The elder, tall and quiet fire dragon turned to her and gave her a deep bow. "I understand now why your companions follow you so devotedly, your highness. Those words show a wisdom far beyond your age and experience. They show an intelligence and compassion that is rare in every species, but especially the human race. I am at your service, your majesty."
Lucy flushed at his praise, but before she could respond, the dragon straightened and gestured to the doors.
"It is time, your majesty."
Lucy took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Once she had calmed her fluttering nerves, she turned to her companions, giving them a curt nod. She then turned back to their dragon escorts, her head held high as she signalled her assent.
The younger dragon smiled in encouragement while the elder dragon lifted his head proudly and proceeded to instruct them on the courtesies of the Dragon Council's Assembly. The three humans listened in silence, absorbing his words. As soon as he was done, as instructed, the humans raised the hoods of their cloaks and pulled them in closer to their bodies, hiding themselves entirely from vision. The dragon escorts nodded in approval, turning around to open the huge doors.
Under her cloak, Lucy took one, last, steadying breath.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Natsu was bored.
For eight agonizingly long hours he had been forced to adorn the bejeweled and intricately woven raiment of dragon royalty, complete with the elaborate and handsome crown between his horns upon his head. Six of those hours had been spent in the uncomfortable and equally elaborate high-backed throne at the farthest end of the Dragon's Assembly hall, which was now temporarily serving as the assembly hall of the Magical Alliance. The one hour respite for lunch was hardly even that, for no respectable dragon could finish a decent lunch in just one hour! With an irritable sigh, he chanced a glance to his left. His father sat in the throne next to his, an equally disgruntled look upon his face. Natsu smirked. At least if he was suffering, it was not alone. The remaining members of the magical alliance council looked upon the current speaker in varying states of boredom. Natsu turned his attention back to this speaker with a sigh. The goblin prince was again upset about some trade deal being broken. 'Broken' being a matter of opinion. Specifically that of the goblins.
"So to summarize, I believe the council should treat this matter with the gravity it demands, meting out a proper punishment to those who are not honorable enough to uphold their promises."
"Thank you, Prince Ruben. Your concerns shall be addressed. But before I turn this over to the perusal of the members of the alliance, I would like to ask you a few questions."
The goblin prince's eyes flashed angrily for a second, but he turned to Natsu with exaggerated politeness. "But of course, Prince of Dragons. I will endeavour to answer any questions you may have."
"You say the fae folk of the bay entered into a trade agreement with you two years before? Which was that they would provide the requested necessary raw materials to create magical artifacts, provided you gave them a certain percentage of the final product?"
"Yes."
"And six months prior, they refused to do so?"
"Yes! And we were so astute at keeping our end of the deal but they…"
"What was their reason?"
"I-I beg your pardon?"
Natsu kept his gaze on the goblin prince steady, his deep jade eyes darkening slightly. "What was the reason they gave to explain their 'refusal'? The one that you have so conveniently left out of your narrative?"
The goblin prince grit his teeth, glaring at the Dragon Prince. "They… they have claimed their land had run out of that resource. Which is a blatant lie! We explored their land before making our deal, there is absolutely no way they could have run out of raw material in that amount of time."
"How much?"
"Wha- what?"
"How much was the quantity agreed upon per month? Surely you had a set quantity for barter to ensure this very scenario could not arise."
The goblin prince suddenly gulped dropping his gaze to his hands, which were trembling slightly. "Actually… I am not aware of the agreed upon quantity."
Natsu narrowed his eyes at his reaction. Before he could cross-question the goblin, a soft voice to his left spoke.
"I believe that is a lie, Prince Ruben." Levy rose with the inherent grace and beauty of her people, as she turned to Natsu. "Your majesty, please pardon the interruption, but may I speak on behalf of the people with whom the Goblin race has their trade agreement with? They are not represented here today, so I take this responsibility upon myself." Natsu solemnly nodded his assent, and with a wave of his hand, encouraged her to speak.
Levy turned to the goblin Prince, her brown eyes flashing with her barely contained anger.
"Prince Ruben. What were the exact terms of your trade agreement?"
The goblin prince scoffed. "None of your business, little fairy."
At his words, the hulking, pierced, intimidating Drake of the Ore Dragons, rose from his place with a menacing growl. "Careful how you address her, Prince. She is under my protection… and I do not tolerate fools who belittle those I love."
The goblin prince gulped at that. With an involuntary shudder, he answered more fully.
"As per a part of our agreement, I am not at liberty to discuss exact terms outside a place where both parties are present or in agreement."
Levy narrowed her eyes. "Yet you have already disclosed many details of the agreement to the assembly here today."
"General details don't come under that banner."
"Surely the name of the resource comes under general details as well, then?"
The goblin grit his teeth. "My memory fails me, fairy queen."
"Understandable. Allow me." Levy let her gaze sweep across the assembly, her head held high, her soft blue curls bouncing slightly with the movement. "The goblin prince entered into an agreement with the fairies of Isalgorf bay for monthly shipments of lumenoire."
A collective gasp was heard around the assembly. "But that is impossible… lumenoire was mined out of existence centuries ago!" Mirajane the queen of the Northern Elves exclaimed, her soft blue eyes growing large.
Natsu nodded at Mirajane thoughtfully before turning back to Levy. "What would it be useful for? I confess I do not know much about it, except that it is very valuable, rare and has much magical potential."
"The applications are various. In ancient times, when it was more available, it was used as a magical power source - boosting the power of magical creatures and lending new power to those who do not possess magic potential themselves. It is similar to a lacrima but much, much more powerful. A handful of lumenoire would be enough to power an entire magical city for a decade." Levy paused her big brown eyes turning thoughtful "But perhaps the most amazing quality of all is the fact that it can only hold magic of the light-end of the spectrum. And it can never be corrupted otherwise. It was the preferred instrument of the High fairies when they were in existence - and by extension, the human celestial mages."
The murmur that had started at Levy's interjection grew to an uproar. Natsu raised his hand his stern gaze falling over the assembly, and the noise died down immediately. He once again turned his attention to the goblin prince, flames edged with black licking his feet as his magic oozed out of him in his anger.
"Now tell me, oh prince of the goblins. How much did you agree to barter per month?"
"I-I still can't disclose t-that, your majesty"
"This is no longer just about a silly trade agreement. This is a matter of security for the magical alliance. How much?"
"I...I-I don't r-remember"
"HOW MUCH?!"
"It was not a set amount! W-we told the fairies to give us everything they mined every month, and assured them they had an endless supply! We had ascertained they had at least enough for two years, so we knew they could keep our bargain with us, which confirmed the fact that they were probably bartering lumenoire to another party on the side!"
Levy glanced at Gajeel and then back to Natsu, concern writ on her face. "The fairies of Isalgorf are an innocent, child-like and secluded race. They did not recognize the importance of lumenoire and trusted the goblins when they said the supply was endless. They did not fully understand all the terms of their own agreement, but they kept its spirit as best as they could. They were already a dying race - and forced to mine so much lumenoire in order to supply the goblin representatives twice a month…"
"Twice?" The goblin prince frowned, a confused tone entering his voice. "We only sent representatives once a month."
Levy frowned at this. "But the fairies I spoke to described two shipments. The first on the 15th of the month to a goblin gentleman named Krackel, and the second on the 25th to a giant goblin in a black cloak who went by the name of Marcus."
The goblin prince paled at the second name. "I see…" he said softly, scratching his chin. His discreet glance to his minister did not escape the notice of the assembled dragons, and they narrowed their eyes in suspicion. The goblin prince straightened up as he turned to Levy. "I apologize to this assembly and the fairies in question. This has all been a misunderstanding on our part, and we take full responsibility for this situation."
Levy looked taken aback at his sudden about-turn. She turned wide-eyed to Gajeel, who pressed his lips into a thin line, gently guiding her back to her seat next to him. He knew as well as she did that there was something strange about the situation, but it would do no good to put the goblin prince on the spot. They had already gotten very valuable information out of the normally tight-lipped goblins, and he knew it would not be wise to push their luck. Natsu seemed to think the same, for he also let the goblin prince sit down with no further comment. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he instead turned to his right where his mother, sister and remaining dragon council members sat.
"I believe we can begin the next item of business."