“The name Verhen already holds great weight in the Kingdom and some say it’s too much.”
Those words aroused disgusted looks from the members of the AwakenedCouncil, made the representatives of the army and the Association lower their heads, and made Milea smirk with an “I told you so” look in her eyes as she stared at Lith.
He could almost hear her pitch about switching sides and moving to the Empire.
‘Too bad that even without noble and ancient households, I bet that politics would still try to screw me over. The only difference would be the source of my problems.’ Lith thought.
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Your Majesty.” He said after pondering the issue for a while. “I’ll be happy to help with the Wayfinder and ensure that nothing goes wrong with the expedition.
“I just ask you to make sure that building the Warp Gate is a priority so that I can go back home quickly and that even if something goes wrong, my presence will be unnecessary thanks to the availability of spare parts and reinforcements.”
“First the safety of the perimeter, the Gate second. You have my word.” Sylpha nodded. “A final note. As you know, Jiera is plagued by the lost cities that have managed to escape their respective confinements.
“The population of Jiera, its Awakened Council, and even the Guardians are helpless against them. In the past, you have destroyed three lost cities on your own and it would make wonders for our public relationships on Jiera if you could bring that number up to four.”
Lith was about to say that those were special circumstances where he had unexpected help but the Queen raised her hand, gesturing for him to let her finish.
“No one expects miracles from you, Magus Verhen. I’m just asking you to put your talents to use and see if there’s something you can do. If you succeed, it would make the colonization process safer and smooth the tensions with the locals.
“If you fail, things will stay as they are and no one is going to blame you for it.”
“That’s honestly hard to believe.” Lith replied while crossing his arms. “The Royal Court seems to have a penchant for demanding the impossible from others and then screaming bloody murder at the first hitch.”
“That’s why my request is off the records.” Sylpha replied. “There will be no trace of it in the official documents regarding the objectives of the expedition. Only the people in this room know about it so if rumors start to spread, you know who to blame.”
She glared at the members of the Council and the Empress. They were the only ones who would benefit from driving a wedge between Lith and the Kingdom, especially the latter.
“For what is worth, this is also what the Guardians of Jiera want.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Lith gave her a small bow, nodding.
“Excellent.” Meron clapped his hands, to signal that the meeting was dismissed. “We’ll contact you as soon as we have a date for the departure. Feel free to spend this time as you see best.”
“I thought that the Wayfinder was already complete.” Kamila said in confusion. “Is there some problem we are not aware of?”
“No, just that you can’t put security on a timeline.” The King snapped his fingers, making the hologram show the interior of the train and its crew. “We need to load everything you are going to need on Jiera, check the personnel for blood cores, and then perform the final checks on the control systems.
“Depending on what we find and sabotage, it can take from a few days to a few weeks.”
Kamila widened her eyes in surprise but said no more, giving the Royals a deep bow before taking her leave.
Upon their return home, they shared the news with the rest of the family. Contrary to Lith’s expectation, it caused a small uproar.
“Why did you include Solus in the trip but not me?” Tista asked. “I was part of the original expedition to Jiera. I want to see how the merfolk of Zhen are doing after we destroyed Kolga.
“I want to visit Khalia’s parents. I want to return to the places we visited with Phloria and remember the good moments we spent together.” Small tears streamed down her cheeks at the memory of their lost friend and of the merfolk who had sacrificed her life to allow Lith’s group to infiltrate Kolga.
Khalia had allowed herself to be captured, yet it wasn’t that to have caused her death. The people of the lost city had magically lobotomized her to keep Khaia tame while she was forced to give birth to their children.
Unfortunately, the process was irreversible, causing a fracture in the life force and mana core of its victims. The only way to relieve Khalia from her misery was death. Tista had killed the merfolk and the rest of the prisoners in cold blood to spare them from a much worse fate after the fall of the city.
“I’m sorry, but the Kingdom already knows about your powers. If they didn’t summon you is because they can’t afford the weight of another Divine Beast. No offense but unlike me, you count for one.” Lith replied.
“Much taken.” Tista grunted. “How many occasions do you think I’ll have to go to Jiera with you? I could have used this opportunity to meet Bodya’s family.”
Her words made Raaz and Elina exchange expectant looks, but they kept silent to avoid pressure from changing her mind. Rena limited herself to nudging her younger sister, making her blush.
“With the tower Warp? Any time.” Lith replied. “Why didn’t you go earlier if that was your intention?”
“First, Bodya doesn’t know about the tower. Going there by myself would be pointless. Second, I don’t want to just be the two of us. It sounds way too official for my taste.
“One thing is going on a mission with you. Another is going there just to meet his parents.”
“Point taken.” Lith scratched his chin. “Just because you can’t board the Wayfinder doesn’t mean you can’t come. You and Bodya can fly and reach Jiera on your own.”
He conjured a hologram of the map that the King had shown him earlier and that Solus had memorized.
“Excellent idea.” Tista nodded. “In theory, we can get there much faster than the Wayfinder. In practice, however, I’ve never flown for so long. Even at my top speed, it would take me over one day to cross the ocean, and that assuming nothing goes wrong.”
“Please, I doubt that anything will be so stupid that they will bother a Divine Beast and a Lesser Leviathan flying together.” Lith said with a scoff.
“I know. I meant storms, high winds, and any weather phenomenon that can sap my strength. Remember that Demons and cold don’t get along well.” Tista replied. “If I follow your same route, I can use the islands for shelter.”
Tista took a map of Mogar from her dimensional amulet and started to take notes from the hologram.
“What about us, dear?” Elina asked.
