Worst case scenario, Jirni would take the fall for Kamila’s failure as a Constable and the other noble households would use it to undermine the Ernas’ authority.
“All in favor to accept the deal with Verhen?” The King said while raising his hand.
The motion was unanimously approved. A future where beasts lived next door was scary for most of the members of the Royal Court and so was the idea of allowing oath breakers to join one of the highest institutions of the country.
Yet a hypothetical scary future was nothing compared to their dreadful present. If the Mad Queen won the war, their fiefs would be reduced to the few meters their bodies would take after being buried.
If something remained of them, of course.
***
Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Palace, a few days later.
The deal had been approved in the space of a few hours, but writing down its terms so that neither side could find loopholes required a bit more time. Lith received a long parchment almost a week after his wedding and brought it to Salaark immediately.
He had plenty of law books in Soluspedia but he lacked the finesse and expertise to spot hidden traps. Life Vision was useless against the constant references to clauses and legal precedents while Solus’ eidetic memory didn’t help her decipher the convoluted jargon.
They stored the parchment in the tower’s Library so that Kamila and the Overlord could also instantly read the contents of the treaty.
“By the Great Mother, this does it!” Salaark literally flared up in anger, emitting a burst of white flames from her hands that would have turned her desk and the mountain of paperwork on it ablaze if not for the magical protections.
The Guardian of War was a creature of action and her temper had ruined hours of her hard work one time too many to use a regular desk.
“Gods, how can the Royals be so stupid?” Lith said with a snarl. “They should have known that I would ask for your help before agreeing to anything yet they dared to try and screw with me.”
“I’m sorry, babe. Maybe if we call Jirni-”
“That’s not the problem.” Salaark cut Kamila short. “Everything is in order. The treaty is a confused, messed up jungle of words but there’s everything they promised you. Nothing more and nothing less.
“Remember my words Featherling, the more corrupt a country is, the more numerous the laws. That’s why in the Desert you can list them all on a single piece of paper.”
“Then what pissed you off, Grandma?” Kamila asked.
She felt awkward calling like that a woman that looked like her younger sister, but the last time she had called the Guardian by one of her titles, Salaark had pretended to not hear one word she said.
“The Library did. I just went through almost one hundred pages in the blink of an eye. If I had something similar, I would need minutes to administer my country instead of hours.
“With that scream, I meant that I’ve finally made up my mind. I’m going to make myself a damn tower.” Then, her eyes fell on the pile of documents she still had to revise and the new ones that were being carried by her attendants by the second.
The simple justice system of the Desert worked thanks to Salaark reading the mind of the suspects to discover whether they were actually guilty or not. It saved the constables a lot of time and took a lot of her own.
“If and when I have the time.” Salaark added with a sigh.
“Don’t worry, Grandma. As long as we are here, you can use ours.” A snap of Solus’ fingers stored the mountain of paperwork in the Library, giving Salaark relief and Lith and Solus a massive headache.
“Thanks, pumpkin.” The Guardian patted Solus’ head while using chore water magic to write dozens of documents at the same time.
Lith signed the treaty and after giving the Overlord his thanks went to return the document to the Royal valet that was still waiting in front of the Warp Gate.
“One more thing.” Salaark stopped them right before they closed the door. “Lith, you can stay here until they summon you via the Council amulet, but Kamila is going back to work in two days.”
“No way.” Lith dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. “She’s not going anywhere until I return as well. I’m not trusting the Royals with my wife after the massive screw up with Morn-”
“Your wife is actually here and would like to make her own decision.” Kamila cut him off by putting her hand on his mouth. “Stop talking about me like I’m not in the room. I’m not a child and it’s demeaning.”
“But Kami, I’m only thinking about your safety. If the Royals get their hands on you, they might use you as a leash to keep me in line. I can’t risk losing you again. It’d kill me.” Lith said.
“Nothing is going to happen to me, my love.” She took his face between her hands, caressing it gently before giving him a short kiss. “If I thought my job might ruin our happiness, I would never-”
“Stop giving me diabetes and interrupting my work!” Salaark Warped them to their living quarters, where they could continue their discussion without distracting her.
She was no gossip lover but even watching paint dry was better than dealing with paperwork.
“Why am I still here?” Solus asked after noticing to having been left behind.
“I was about to ask you the same thing!” Another flick of Salaark’s hand and the door slammed shut, leaving Solus even more flabbergasted.
“Are you seriously thinking of going back to the Griffon Kingdom without me?” Lith asked, without bothering to hide how hurt and worried he was.
Now that they were alone, he could allow himself to be weak.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Because I love you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know that the Royals or someone in the Court might try something funny, but that’s all more the reason for me to play along. Once your whole family goes back to the Lutia, there’s no telling if with the excuse of protecting them the members of the Queen’s Corps don’t actually keep them hostages.” Kamila replied.
“On top of that, even if the Crown upholds its word, the citizens of the Kingdom might react badly to our presence. You are still considered an oath breaker and a monster who controls the dead.
“People will assume that your parents and siblings are the same. I still remember vividly how your fellow citizens of Lutia, people who owe you everything they have, reacted to your display of power.
“Imagine how those who only know you by name and rumors might react when Elina walks along the streets, when Rena works in her shop, or when Aran plays with the other kids.
“No matter how powerful you are, you can’t follow everyone at the same time. Your family is big and once your baby sister is born, it’s going to grow even bigger. This way, we are putting only one person in danger. Me.”
