Blank minutes passed Cter by as Sarbor explained the theory he had developed to replace his late mentor's miasma theory. She heard what he explained, but did not listen to it. About how there was life smaller than the eye could see, only visible through small telescopes looking closer to the very near rather than the far away.

There was a sense of pride in how he told about his various methods of confirming that each illness that could be explained and cure via the miasma theory he could do the same with his new one that had taken root with the medicinal world. Most of the cures were the same, but they were explained differently in how and why they worked. It was an exciting new field of study that had opened up a whole new world of science.

To boot, Sarbor's new theory also better explained why monsters did not get sick. With Dr. Sallus' theory, the explanation came down to a monster's body being an extension of their soul, a projection of magic that miasma could not interact with. Similarly, Sarbor's new theory agreed with the conclusion that it was due to how a monster's body was vastly different from a human's, but instead that it was the small, invisible life that did not interact with a monster's dust in meaningful ways like they did human bodies.

But while the small, invisible life could not live and reproduce inside a monster's body, it could on much else. In particular, something traded all the way to the farthest and remote villages of Xoff.

"You're not insinuating that Hjearta has been responsible for the plagues in Xoff?" the Royal Mage of Ice perked with eyes wide and a disbelieving smile suspended half-openly.

"I sincerely hope not that you are suggesting that the glacier transports knew about this small life your theory has discovered to unseat your late mentor's miasma theory? Not only knew, but maliciously chose to contaminate the ice transports to bring the plague further into Xoff?"

The icy mist around his sleeve became denser, flowing heavier down onto the round table from his sleeve crossing over his other arm over his chest. "Or are you insinuating that Monster Country had something to do with it as the glacier transports go through their borders?"

Sarbor shook his head calmly at the accusations. "I am not insinuating anything, Royal Mage of Ice. I am merely stating my findings." From underneath the table, the human doctor brought up a water skin which he placed on the table. "This is water taken from one of the glacier transports that reached Noitaidarr just before we set off towards Jarasevo Castle."

The water skin sank into a flat, deflated form as its liquid settled onto the wooden table. For such an unassuming object it seemed to be the most important one in the entire room, beckoning the Hjearta delegation to crane their necks forwards and curiously at it. A few of them hesitated slightly.

"Within this water I found small life connected to a host of diseases. However though, it has not caused an outbreak of said diseases at Noitaidarr from what we have heard." To show his confidence, Sarbor opened up the water skin and drank from it deeply.

The draft from the gasps from the Hjearta delegation Cter felt on her flush cheek. "How much of this small life is necessary for an outbreak to occur we do not know," the human doctor continued after wiping dry his mouth and mustache, "but with further research I believe it will be discernible."

After corking the water skin and putting it down on the table again, Sarbor nodded to Manny, who raised his sleeved hand at the half-empty water skin. "I would like to send a few doctors and apprentices to the glaciers of Hjearta, Royal Mage of Ice." It was lifted into the air with stasis magic, hovered over the table towards the Hjearta delegation.

"There they will follow with one of the glacier ice deliveries, taking tests of the water along the way to see when and where along the journey this small life begins to germinate within the water. Should you suspect that I am still insinuating in bad faith, Fenkeep Castle is more than welcome to send some of their own doctors to collaborate with those from Xoff. Samples taken twice by two parties will make the study more trustworthy, so I am going to encourage that you do send some of your own doctors."

The water skin settled with a deflated spread in front of Terri still sat with his arms crossed and his icy magic cascading down like thick smoke, curiously surrounding the half-drunk sack Manny had magically moved over to him. Without paying the stunt much attention, Terri leaned over to whisper something to Lerjung next to him on one side, then to another human on his other. Concerned furrows bounced between with a few glances over the round table towards Xoff.

And one or two glances towards Monster Country.

Glances that had Kry shifting slightly. He brought up his sleeved arm to seemingly adjust his glasses. "They are going to address us," he said quietly with his mouth hidden from outside view. "Most likely to gauge how we feel about Xoff essentially probing about them extending their influence outside their borders."

Cter had to make a conscious effort not to look over to Xoff and betray what Kry was trying to hide. With her sleeve hidden inside her cape she clenched her fist, refusing to believe that it was what Sarbor had meant for. She did not want to accept that he had denounced his mentor like he did, let alone that he'd use that denouncing to probe if the other countries were comfortable with Xoff extending their influence under the guise of preventing future plagues.

How far had he been coerced? Was this what he meant by having control over things finally?

"I will be leading the doctors personally, Royal Mage. I have not been to Hjearta before and will be honored to visit your capital to help teach before the expedition sets underway."

Sure sounded like it, and the way he said it too was devoid of any intent beyond that. yet, because Cter could not read his blocked aura, there was doubt in her mind and soul. He might've said it all himself out of his own heart and volition, but Rasliela must have coaxed him to it. She must have given him both the courage and the angle to see Dr. Sallus in another light.

Even if it was...true...he still did not have to say it how he did. He did not have to describe his late mentor like that. Like an afraid monster too scared to be in the wrong. Even if he was, Kurant's knee brace showed that the monster doctor was willing to learn and to forgive himself for the mistakes he did. That he could overcome his fear of being wrong given enough time.

Enough time…

The hand hidden within the Fourth Monster Mage's cape balled tighter.

"While I can not accept this proposition directly as heard, Dr. Fech, last apprentice of Dr. Sallus, I will not directly oppose it immediately." The mist from the Royal Mage of Ice's sleeve thinned.

"While Hjearta has less concentrated population than Xoff and is therefore not as susceptible to the same plagues that have swept through Xoff, there will come a point when those fears will be more relevant to the citizens of Hjearta. In that light I am willing to consider the proposal as it will ensure that when that time comes we are prepared to deal with the plagues swiftly and effectively, perhaps even prevent them altogether."

"That is the–" Sarbor was interrupted by the sweeping fog of Terri raising his sleeved hand, realizing that he spoke a bit to eagerly. "I apologize for interjecting."

"Apology accepted," nodded the Royal Mage while lowering his fog-covered arm back into the fold across his chest. A few, small flakes of snow dislodged from the tips of his frosted hair as he nodded. "However though, a caveat to your proposal is the question of whether you intend to extend this offer to Monster Country?"

He gave no look to the monsters, focused fully on the Xoff delegation with sparse blinks. "The Glacier River flows through all three countries present here at the council, so does Xoff intend to continue the studying of the small life through Monster Country too?"

"Damn," cursed Sir Gerson under his breath, startling the three Monster Mages. His hands behind his shell looked as if they were about to snap their wrists with how hard he clutched at them. He breathed in the long pause that hung over the round table as everyone seemed to realize what had been set up. A pensive look he gave the Monster Mages after a restrained turn over his shelled shoulder. "That's what they were fishing for."

The question was never intended for Hjearta!

"Well that depends on how Monster Country thinks about it, doesn't it?" raised the Royal Mage of Noitaidarr Castle from underneath her wide hat that tilted over to the monster delegation stood tensed and with a collective breath held. "While the small life can not cause disease within the monsters, they can still carry it and transmit it to humans, can't they, Dr. Fech?"

The human doctor was a bit taken aback by the question and how it was delivered through a rather-slick tone from inside the Royal Mage's wide hat. "That is true, yes," he still agreed. "The small life we keep finding in places abound, even on different types of monsters. Even in locations where only monsters have been still house this small life."

"This means that Jarasevo ought to agree to let the doctors and assistants from both Xoff and Hjearta to continue the monitoring of the glacier deliveries through the routes through Monster Country so that the expedition gets a complete view of where and when the small life begins to germinate on the deliveries?"

"That would be ideal," agreed Sarbor once more. "The route through Monster Country is almost as long as the route from the Xoff border to the villages and cities deep in the desert, so it will be necessary for our study." He looked to the Monster Mages as if it shouldn't really be an issue to agree to at all from his perspective. "I see it similarly to how Clinic Hill was allowed to operate within Xoff's borders as a joint territory between Monster Country and Xoff."

Rasliela's nod was excited in comparison to her earlier ones. "That is true," her voice shone. "You make an excellent point there, Dr. Fech."

Whether it was genuine surprise or faux Cter could not tell. "Xoff and Monster Country have a history of joint collaboration in regards to medicine and the future protection against diseases, so a joint collaboration that includes Hjearta as well sounds like something to strive for, doesn't it? It would be a boon for the king of Xoff to extend his father's decision to collaborate beyond our borders to find a cure for the plagues that have haunted Xoff since its inception. A boon to his legitimacy on the throne, and a boon to the friendship between him and the Monster King, if not the Hjearta king as well."

What was her angle?

What was Rasliela's reasoning for pushing this collaboration? Did she know something about the small life that Sarbor did not know? Did she know something about the glacier transports that the others did not know? Why was she pushing for more stability for the current ruler of Xoff if she was trying to dethrone him?

"But..." trickled out of Cter's stunned, flummoxed expression. Not loud enough to attract attention from outside her delegation, but loud enough to attract attention from inside it. Her two colleagues nodded in agreement to Cter's confusion, hiding it with clumsy itches on their foreheads. "I don't understand."

Her sentiment was shared with her colleagues, but not with the Leader of the Royal Guard stood with his wrists held tightly behind his shell still. "Quiet," he said as a direct order to the Monster Mages. "It's hard enough to hear over the blood in my ears." The fact that he used a human expression lent more weight to his order, silencing the confusion from the three Monster Mages. It was already heavy as an anvil, but the added human expression drained all potential strength magic from it too.

He sensed something neither Cter nor her colleagues could.

Something deep, and sinister. His aura was attentive, split half between the Xoff and Hjearta delegation to gauge all that he could. It was not enough for him though. He needed something more. Another piece to his game board. Just something!

Something that was given to him.

"If Monster Country is not comfortable with the prospect then we can route the glacier transport through the mountain pass between Xoff and Hjearta for the expedition?"

But from the wrong side of the table.

"An excellent idea," cooed Rasliela with a nod of her hat towards her Hjearta counterpart who had proposed the idea. "Will it be safe though? I would not want to send a glacier transport through a route that has been deemed unsafe for trade and commerce, even less an expedition carrying some of the smartest doctors Xoff and Hjearta can afford."

The Royal Mage of Ice titled down his head at an angle, drumming gently with his sleeved fingers onto the bend of his other arm. Snowy crystals danced from the icy percussion, creating small craters of thin snow. "Fenkeep Castle has only managed to survey so far from the Hjearta side of the border so I can not say with full confidence that the prospect might be feasible. However though, it is still an idea." His drumming stopped, and he titled his head back up. "From what I understand there has not been surveys done at the mountain pass from Noitaidarr Castle lately to assess if travel can now be possible?"

With a confident motion with her hat towards the Hero of Xoff, Rasliela handed over the speaking. "The Xoff king has not found it necessary due to the glacier trade through Monster Country having been efficient," he explained after a clear of his throat after the slight surprise of Rasliela handing him the speaking role.

Something seemed to dawn for him as he explained, and his brow lowered slightly for a second before returning up. "The Monster Royals have been very accommodating when it comes to them knowing that Xoff is reliant on the glacier routes through their borders without much hindrance." His brow sank again. "It is true that the mountain pass between Hjearta and Xoff might be closer to the villages and cities dependent on the glacier ice, and would also allow more efficient trade in the other direction too."

The pensive, divided aura of the Leader of the Royal Guard concentrated onto the Royal Mage of Noitaidarr. "So that is what you want," he said through a low growl. "That is your angle to it."

He had to speak up, right? He had to speak up against the glacier trades being shifted over to the mountain passes. The monsters needed it!

"If I may intersect," called the turtle monster with his palms and hunched-over weight firmly placed on the round table. "I was willing to let human matters be discussed by humans, but once you involve monsters and Monster Country it is time for me to introduce myself into the conversation." He turned his head over to the Royal Mage of Ice.

"Royal Mage, the glaciers are mined and harvested through magical means, in particular that of the Ice Wolves carving and carrying the ice blocks across the large ice fields. While that can be achieved through human means, let me remind you."

Sir Gerson suppressed a teal glow in his hand by choking it with a hard clench.

"Let me remind you," he repeated with less disdain in his aura, "that the transports were chosen through Monster Country so that the magic used to keep the ice from melting would have a steady supply of fresh monsters ready to join the trade routes should it be needed. Salting the ice for simpler transport was not an option before since the transports are for drinking and agricultural water, and neither is it an option now."

The green muzzle with the slightly thickened lip turned with a confident gentleness over to the Xoff delegation, looking underneath the tip of the small tuft of hair still remaining on his head. "Since the Xoffian people do not bring water in from the sea to drink I am assuming that they still are in the market for the freshwater brought in by the glacier ice."

There was a purposely obvious threat underneath his words. "While I am not opposed to new avenues of trade being opened between Xoff and Hjearta, I strongly feel that discussing how to further exclude Monster Country in matters is going against what this council was summoned for?"

As Sir Gerson swung his head back towards the Hjearta delegation he extended one hand, motioning over to the frost-covered parchment stood on its end in the middle of the table.

"We should find solutions that fit all the countries for now, as that will ensure that escalation is kept at a minimum if all three royal houses are on the same page and equal in said page's paragraphs. Monster Country is prepared to continue to act as the intermediary between the two human countries, but only if the human countries agree to let Monster Country be a part of the decisions, and not excluded from them."

Even though he used his hands, Sir Gerson was putting his foot down. He could sense the threat made towards the glacier ice routes that had helped Monster Country keep an important role between the two human countries. Magically keeping the ice from melting on its way into Xoff for the Xoffians to drink and magically keeping the desert sand secure when traveling back to Hjearta for the Hjeartans to use as building material for roads and the likes.

Important trade that furthered both human countries, with Monster Country providing a safe intermediary both politically and functionally. With the Cooperative Connection out of the bag it was even more important for Sir Gerson to argue against the development of a new trade route that went around Monster Country.

"If I may, in return," voiced Rasliela with a soft gesture of her wrinkled hand, "if you are arguing what is best for us humans then why shouldn't there be an exploration of a potentially prosperous trade route through the mountains?" She lowered her hand harsher, hiding it in her green cape once more. "Let me remind you, Sir Gerson, Leader of the Royal Guard at Jarasevo Castle, that this council would not have been held had it not been for the monsters putting themselves above humans when it came to human magic."

Cter's eye twitched and a surge of anger rushed through her aura.

"And here you are saying that we should keep the same trust in which was broken with the reveal of the truth of the Cooperative Connection? That we should have trust in the Cooperative Connection that is the glacier ice trading?" Rasliela paused to let her insinuation sink in with the rest of the table. "Something that has the potential to be fully taken advantage of by the humans yet with the monsters telling that it is best that it goes through them first?"

A flood of liquid crystal filled the inert lines on her sleeve.

"Do you not trust in the Xoff king being capable of holding good relations with the monsters without said relation being held essentially in ransom by the monsters? Is his friendship with King Asgore being held in doubt by the Jarasevo court? You speak of improving stability for the Xoff throne, yet argue against potentially new trade routes that would come to improve his reputation with his people?"

The liquid crystals solidified into a layer of pink crystals that shattered with a melodic crunch as the Fourth Monster Mage's hand slammed onto the round table. Small, iridescence pieces fluttered like dust, bringing a brilliant shimmer to the thin mist from the magically frozen parchment in the middle of the table. "So this is where the only one speaking in good terms about the monsters at the Noitaidarr court reveals her true colors," Cter accused with the full weight of her soul behind her words.

The crystal magic on her arm became sharper, more thorn-like, as she pulled it back with a jerk, leaving behind the hollow imprint of her hand inside a crystal crevice of her own making. "The colors not that of the Xoff throne." The shimmering dust she collected into her opened palm, swirling it together into a compact cube that she held between her thumb and index finger. With one eye closed she looked through it for a long couple of seconds before rolling it like a die into the middle of the table. "Colors that you've kept hidden ever since you arrived at Noitaidarr Castle for the first time."

The crystal cube shattered with a chime that pitched into Rasliela's voice, echoing as if inside a vast cavern filled with crystals. The feeling Cter saved from their tak in the Royal Garden, singing out loud and clear.

"I am the Princess of the Lineage," the magical echo spoke, dying down slower than the curtain-covered walls would have allowed it for. It was expected to be muted quicker than it was.

To Cter's anxious surprise, instead it was inverted.

The voices she expected to speak up stayed muted.

There was quiet after her echo, not during it.

She looked around, facing eyes that stared back at her…

Relieved?

But…

"Thank you, Monster Mage."

N-No…

"It is going to be easier to speak now."

Singe her soul…

"Now that you've said out loud what everyone already knew."