Disclaimer:
Mr. Paolini, it is still your world, but I let the puppets move my way. Mrs. J.K. is already used to this… or she never even visited this site. Anyway, I do this for free.
Previous:
I asked Orrin: "Orrin, you are not married, how do you feel about Nasuada?
11. Game of thrones, everyone wants to sit on it.
Orrin frowned at my question, carefully he formed a response: "I met Nasuada a few times, she is pretty and highly intelligent, there is an age difference of ten years, but to be honest, I think she does not like me."
I shrugged at that answer, I am starting to think that he is gay. Usually, when I do legilimence on someone I avoid the romantic stuff. They know what memories I search through and will have grudges when I use it as a peepshow.
Coming to a decision I said: "Seven days from now there will be a new king elected in Illirea. Tomorrow one of my wives will deliver the invitation to attend the election or be included as a candidate. You can bring four guests with you. That invitation will activate five days from now and will transport you to the throne room in Illirea. If you don't want to be a candidate to be the king, you can always nominate one and, or bring him or her along.
Girls we are leaving, give Ajihad a portkey to Farthen Dur he can prepare the Varden to move for Alagaesia."
Xxxxx
We left in a foul mood. The betrayal of Brom struck deep, he is a grumpy old man, but my wives kind of liked him. Our portkey brought us back to the throne room, I called Dathedr and his elders, I even called Aria, Murtagh, and Nasuada to be present in the meeting.
When everyone was present I started: "Today we experienced our first betrayal in this world. At Aberon, we gave Ajihad and Brom five hours to convince King Orrin to give up peacefully. Brom and Ajihad used those five hours to convince Orrin to resist and do a surprise attack. Their plan was for Orrin to fight and lose his position so the Varden could claim Surda.
In theory that is a good plan, but Brom encouraged people to ATTACK MY WIVES! If not for an eager soldier we would have flown into a trap and could have been wounded or killed!
Now I ask you, we made his son a dragon rider, killed the mad king, and even healed his masters. Is this how he thanks us? What would have happened when one or more of my girls were killed?
Let me tell you, we are as bonded as a dragon rider with his dragon. Brom would have created another mad King, with a lot of mad Queens."
Dathedr asked: "Are you certain Brom and Ajihad betrayed you? How did you find out?"
Fleur answered: "We have a spell that let us search through your memories, we witnessed the betrayal firsthand in Orrin's memory. If Orrin resisted on his own, he would have lost his kingdom, even if he could kill one of us that would have been acceptable, for us being the invaders, he has a right to fight back. I liked Brom, I really did, but he crossed a line. Our husband sent him back to Ceunon at the border of Du Weldenvarden and told him to move to Ellesmera and report to his masters, Ajihad is sent back to Farthen Dur."
Padma added: "Seven days from now you can select a new king here, after that we return to Ellesmera to search for the portal home. Once we find it we leave for the lands in the east to claim them and whatever happens in Alagaesia will be your problem."
Daphne: "We will travel to the major cities and give invitations to the nobles a delegation of dwarves will be invited too. Every candidate will have his mind searched for criminal behavior, once cleared you can select your king."
Aria was troubled, Brom's betrayal truck deep, she noticed that some bridges were burned because of it. Trying to mend the relationship between us she said: "Brom's masters will set him straight, I suspect he is still affected by the loss of his dragon, he was driven by it, because of it he successfully killed several oath-breakers and their dragons.
On behave of the dragon riders, I offer our sincerest apologies to you and your wives, I will see to it that Brom will receive a punishment."
Nasuada asked: "What will happen to my father?"
I shrugged: "He will never sit on that throne, he may lead the Varden for all I care but never rule this country. He should be glad he's still alive."
Luna said: "You have a chance for the throne too, any merit Ajihad did for the Varden falls on you now. Go for it alone or strike a deal with some other, it is all up to you. It goes for you too Jormundur, we noticed you took no part in their schemes."
I nodded: "I will nominate two nobles myself and one merchant. Lady Lorana from Feinster and Lord Halstead from Aroughs. Also Jeod Longshanks from Teirm. We know their people love them so we endorse them. Jeod is a good man too, we like him."
In the books, both nobles were defended from the Varden by the commoners, so good people deserve a chance. Roran is disqualified because he can't read or write, he may be honorable but without reading skills he would be a puppet. Anyway, not our problem anymore.
Xxxxx
That night we just cuddled, Murtagh and Tornac were camping next to Aria in the woods with the company of the unicorns, they talked for hours, discussing the future of the dragon riders. Aria explained to Murtagh what he will have to learn in Ellesmera, and taught him the customs and language of the elves.
I woke up when two mouths were giving me a steamy BJ, Flora, and Fauna are double teaming little Harry and doing a great job. Their antics woke the rest of the girls, most enjoyed the show, my elves, and dragon elves joined in the fun, creating one big mating pile.
At last, everyone got pulled into my mindscape and played with the shadow clones I created. An hour later we left my mindscape in a better mood. We needed the distraction from yesterday's setback.
Xxxxx
After breakfast, the girls delivered the invitations for the elections to the nobles, while I interrogated the army generals and magicians. Interrogating is a crude description, it was mostly me scanning their memories, there were not a lot of bad apples, most just adapted to the circumstances and did their best to survive the mad king's antics.
With Galbatorix's death, the loyalty oaths ended causing the bad magicians to make a run for it. As I said, not my problem anymore.
Aria and Murtagh were meeting with Lord Dathedr and the elders, discussing the problems Alegeasia will face now that the girls and I will leave after the election. The first will be instant traveling with portkeys. Going to every city in a few minutes is a big strategic advantage, with us gone, they have to travel for weeks to reach each city.
Rebellions will occur with nobles that have an army when they find out the Dragon Lord has gone away.
That is right, I have a new title, THE DRAGON LORD! I kind of like it, it sure sounds impressive enough. Bow if you want, it is not obligated, but I will like you more if you do.
Another problem they will face is the Urgals, their habitat can't sustain more people, so they have to expand the territory or starve. Their mating habits dictate that the males are looking for fights to impress the women which flame the hate between the races. So two major problems for the new king to deal with.
Should I tell them of the solution from the books? That is not possible anymore, they fought together and created trust through mutual suffering and battle. So them now being lovey-dovy is too much to ask for.
Xxxxx
We mentally conversed with Umaroth and agreed to fetch the Eldunari and Eggs from Vroengard when all three dragons could carry their riders. That would take approximately six months.
Although I suspect I'll be back on Earth by then, to be with the birth of my children. We are not certain whether to move permanently here or reserve it as a place to stretch our wings. There is also the fact that the first people that arrived in Alagaesia were running away from someone or something, there are nasties in the west not yet identified.
In the books, Eragon and Saphira flew to Vroengard and encountered a very big evil sea creature on the way, so the oceans are not safe to travel by ship.
That would explain why the dragons were only to be found in this region… that makes me wonder what lies in the east. Moments like these made me want to have some satellites orbiting this planet. Alagaesia is about the size of Europe, going on the maps in Mr. Paolini's books, so there is a whole unknown world for exploring.
With our Spitfires, we would have needed about forty hours to fly around the Earth at top speed. Going on the gravity of this world, the size is about the same, unless the core of this planet has less iron in it.
You can forget the Wuxia worlds with millions of miles between cities, the gravity would crush them before they could cultivate their dantians. Those Chinese writers tend to exaggerate with three zeros, so a thousand miles would be one mile, and so on. That way their stories would make a lot more sense to me. Maybe they are compensating for some physical imperfections...
Where was I? Ah exploring, well, the smart thing to do is to explore the planet before we settle here. Although bringing wizards here in this world could create a lot of trouble on its own. It could be a solution for them, because it is going to be harder to hide on Earth, and here they can do magic freely… Until the people here get scared of magic and start another witch hunt. It is a vicious circle, as they say, history is bound to repeat itself.
Xxxxx
Alagaesia was in turmoil, news of the mad king's death and the revival of the dragons started celebrations all over the country. Some nobles read the signs and made a run for it with whatever gold and jewelry they could carry.
Other nobles were too slow and got besieged by the servants and commoners, a lot of them did not survive it, venting a hundred years of suppression caused many deaths.
Angela and Solembum arrived in Illirea and somehow got unnoticed into the throne room, with an exaggerated bow she said: "Hail Dragon Lord! Congratulations on doing the impossible and single-handed killing the mad king and his dragon. You have earned our respect."
I answered: "Coming from you that is high praise miss Angela, but I was not alone, Pansy and Milli did equal or even more damage than me. For the record, any of my wives are capable of doing the same. Now, what brings you here? I thought you were heading to the Beor mountains?"
Angela grinned: "A little divination told me that the future will be written in Illirea, so we hurried here and were still too late to witness history being made. How does it feel to gain a kingdom without a war? I heard the death toll is under one thousand, and most are from Dras Leonas, getting rid of those zealots is the best thing that can happen to that city.
What are your plans now great conqueror? Are you going to be the next king?"
I shrugged: "Nope, that is too much work. We are summoning several candidates from all over the country and have them elect one themselves in five days, under the supervision of the elves and dwarves. After that, we move to Ellesmera to find a gate home. Then we move to the lands in the east. Maybe we settle there or just visit on vacation."
Angela asked: "Home? Where is your home? We never witnessed your kind of magic before and we are traveling in Alagaesia for centuries now."
I raised my eyebrow: "Centuries? Well, you've been preserved well enough. Our home is in another world, we came here by a one-way portal. The portal to return is located in Ellesmera, hidden by a spell.
Solembum, there will always be a spot for a werecat next to the throne, the only thing I ask is that the werecat sometimes give advice to the fool on the throne. Now that I think about it… Nah, they do not have to advise the king at all." Solembum just licked his paws and nodded.
Xxxxx
The guest quarters were ready to receive the nobles, Dobby and Winky cleaned the whole castle, and were having the best of times doing it. Both have a knack for finding hidden rooms and traps, the sword of the dragon riders are stored in our mansion, Murtagh and Aria already claimed one for their own and were sparring to keep in shape.
On the question of Murtagh why we don't want to fight with swords, I guided them to our basement's target range. We supplied them with earplugs, a minute later Ginny, flora, and Fauna were firing their machine guns, totally destroying the targets.
I tapped Murtagh on his shoulder and said: "We stopped using swords for war a couple of centuries ago. Now they just look pretty in a showcase or on a wall."
Aria, Faolin, and Dathedr were horrified at our display of power, the balance they thought was in their favor tipped all the way to us now. Nasuada shook on her legs, she finally understood how we disposed of Galbatorix with such ease.
With a sad feeling I explained: "In our world, we are so advanced that the major countries are able to destroy each other three times over. One explosion of a bomb destroyed a city with more than two hundred thousand inhabitants killing most of them and poisoning the lands for thousands of years.
That was fifty years ago, now those bombs are multiple times stronger. The reason we don't use those bombs is that if we do, we ourselves will be destroyed in retaliation."
Murtagh asked: "Two hundred thousand people in a city? Was it the capital of a big country?"
Katie answered: "Our world is inhabited by approximately six to seven billion people. The biggest city in the world counts about 38 million people. The reason this world appeals to us is the open space to openly do magic and fly around."
Aria was speechless with those numbers, combined with our weapons, she realized we could become a serious threat if we were to be enemies. Brom's stunt in Surda took a whole new meaning that way.
Nasuada understood too, the Varden lost a very big ally that day, she started to think of ways to reduce the damage, we are too essential to alienate.
Xxxxx
A day before the nobles will arrive, the delegation of the dwarves portkey'd in led by Orik and some clan leaders. After introducing everyone, Orik and his delegation got a meeting with the elves to discuss the situation, the position of the Varden was analyzed and judged.
At dinner, we celebrated our new friendship and the demise of the mad king. Being prepared for dwarves, we stocked up on all kinds of strong ales and liqueurs from our world. We got the dwarves hooked on whiskey and vodka, it got them pisdrunk.
By now I learned my lesson and from time to time changed into my dragon animagus to dispel the alcohol, all the girls looked disappointed at that. Supposedly a drunk harry is a horny one, well, I think I avoided wife nr thirty that night.
The dwarves bunked in our manor, the elder elves already claimed the magic forest, the unicorns had a special appeal to them, they enjoyed their presence very much, I suspect some are planning to smuggle a few with them when they leave. Angela enjoyed our mansion's library the most, new knowledge will keep her happy for a while. We silenced our room though.
Xxxxx
The next day the nobles arrived, to suppress the stupid ideas some nobles could have, Ginny, Milli, and Pansy lie in dragon form next to the throne.
The first ones arrived, the sight of three dragons next to the throne made them swallow, after introducing themselves they stood apart. Soon the room was filled with nobles and their candidates when the last portkey came in.
Daphne raised her voice: "Welcome everyone, we all know why we are here, so let me first explain the rules we are going by. First, there is going to be a set of basic laws, laws that no king is going to be able to change.
If the king or a noble is breaking one of these laws, he will lose his position and, or be put in prison. The time that a king can do whatever he feels like is gone for good. If you can't agree with that, will expire your candidacy.
Second, the elected king will sign a magic contract, which will force him to rule just and honestly for all his people, not only his region or family.
Third, a new king will be elected when the current king is fifty-five years old, at age sixty, the old king will retire. Those five years are used to train the new king.
The dwarves elect their kings when the old one retires or died. The elves have kings and queens that are not hereditary. Being the son of a king does not guarantee that he is good at ruling, it just gives him a spot as a candidate.
Use these two days to read the core laws we wrote out with the Elves and the magic contract. Again, if you don't agree, you will not be king.
Finally, every candidate will have his mind searched. That way it will prevent criminals or maniacs to rule this country. Actions under an order of Galbatorix will be judged on the intent those orders were followed."
Man, Daphne must have practiced that speech, it helped that three dragons were behind her glaring at the nobles, and putting weight to her words. Every noble received a stack of papers to read through. Soon they formed groups to discuss those laws and contracts.
Xxxxx
The discussions were resumed the next day, the presence of dragons prevented shouting matches and duels. It was funny to see the surprised faces when the colors of the dragons kept changing.
At the end of the day, we still had twenty candidates who wanted to sit on the iron… nope different world, who wanted to sit on the throne. Tomorrow one can sit on it.