Dungeon Robotics 10-10

Good Morning folks! I hope the weekend treated everyone well. 

Chapter 10

Louella

I found it ironic that the weather was some of the best for the year, and we were heading for battle. I decided to take it as a good omen for now. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the soldiers needed good omens. Even if there were far less casualties than a war like this would normally see, there had still been a few.

Sighing, I turned from the port window back to the tablet on my desk. Even while traveling there was still plenty of paperwork to do. It looked like paperwork was the one thing that was going to follow me wherever I went. I still did my best to make sure it was done properly.

There was a surge of mana, and I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Why do people think they can just teleport wherever I am without warning? I took a breath and looked up to see who would be joining me this time. I was delightfully surprised when the sun spirits appeared in front of me.

“Girls!” I cried maybe with a bit too much of a happy tone. They swarmed around me, landing on my shoulders and out strectched hands. The thrilling of their voices like music in the air. “What brings you all here?”

A few images flashed through my head of something powerful attacking Regan’s dungeon. He sent them over to me for their protection in case their energy lured the enemy to them. To be fair, for such small creatures, they gave off a lot of energy. Packaged with their cuteness, it was almost unfair.

I spent the rest of the evening enjoying the girl’s company while doing my work. They made everything better just from their presence. It was too bad that other people in the world might try to use them for fowl purposes. If everyone could look at them with pure hearts, there might not be any more war in the world.

“I suppose its not that easy, is it?” I said high fiving the spirit sitting on my shoulder.

It wasn’t long before Melhagen came into view of the fleet. Being the southernmost city in Thonaca Kingdom, it was the last place before you hit the ocean. It was often said that its beauty rivaled that of the capitals. Wonderful blue and white stone made up most of the buildings. A reflective blue stone made up the streets with Thonacan and Melhagen flags flying.

Looking it over, I couldn’t tell if Regan’s tower made the scene more or less beautiful. He had gone with a different approach with this tower, the bottom looking more along the lines of shatter pottery. A few hundred meters up, it grew solid, but it tapered to a sharp point, almost like that of a sword. I just shook my head, figuring the future generations would have to decide.

Looking back to the city itself, it spread along the coast for a ways. Even with the current state of the world, there were ships out in the surf fishing. They were limited by the maelstrom, but they still had several hundred kilometers to fish. It was an amazing sight even if they were still our enemies. Bright white flags flew over the spires of several of the buildings. Two of our scout ships were parked over the castle that the lord of the city lived in.

“It looks like we won’t have to fight,” I said with some relief as I took in the sight. I hadn’t been sure until I saw the tower whether Regan had included this city in his claims. We hadn’t technically claimed it.

“When you hear that your capital fell with barely a fight, that tends to take the wind from your sails. No pun intended,” Wrakras commented.

“Its for the best. I’d rather avoid fighting if we can,” I replied.

“Would you like to take in the sights?” Wrakras asked handing me a drink. “I’m sure we can afford a few hours to make sure that everything is in order before we head for the border.”

“I’d like to meet the lord as well. A stop sounds good,” I added. I caught the real desire behind his cocky grin, but even if he wanted to have a day date. It would be best if there were some sort of official business to handle while on the ground. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to the soldiers that would have to accompany us, or the soldiers that would have to stay on the ship.

“As you wish,” Wrakras said with only a little bit of disappointment in his voice.

I gave him a pat of the arm and a quick kiss. “Now, now.”

The fleet pulled around the city and most parked just outside over the water. A small ship carrying me, Wrakras, and our guards landed in the courtyard of the lord. When I exited the vessel, I had to keep from gasping. The manor the lord lived in was as if someone had taken the entire city and squeezed it into one place. It was just that wonderful to take in.

The manor still consisted of the white and blue marble, but it must have been the highest quality they could find. In the midday light, it almost appeared to glow. I ran my hand over the rail of the stairs leading to the entrance and the material almost felt soft. I couldn’t help finding it fascinating.

“Queen Coates, we have been expecting you,” a guard dressed in the colors of Melhagen said with a slight bow. Other than a small level of worry that I could feel, he looked calm and collected.

“Please, call me Louella. My family name is tainted, and I’d rather not use it,” I replied with a small smile. “If you would, please inform Lord Jerika that we are here. I don’t mind waiting.”

“As you wish.” He bowed again and rushed back into the manor. They had surrendered without a fight, thus I planned on letting them keep most of their governing ability if the lord seemed like a halfway decent person. Of course, I would need to take a closer look at the actual people before I decide, but I’ve found that lords had a hard time hiding their true colors in front of me. I could be irritating like that.

Not less than two minutes later the guard returned and asked for us to head inside. The inside of the manor was no less beautiful than the outside. There were plenty of priceless items and weapons that would be worth a fortune. Seeing the wealth on display made me worried about the lord. It was hard to come by such wealth legitimately.

We were soon showed into a quant sitting room. An older gentlemen rose from his seat and without hesitation bowed to me. “Queen Louella. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Lord Jerika, I presume?”

“Yes, my lady. At your service,” he replied with a nod. His tone was even to the point where I wasn’t sure I was talking to a real person. Age and experience was one thing, but this was quite another. It took me a second but I realized that he reminded me of Lord Sky, the crafty elf that had basically moved to the valley given the changes that were happening in the world.

I looked him over again. An elderly man, but still strongly built. He didn’t just sit at the desk all day. White hair, and human as far as I could tell. He must have been tall in his prime, but age had stripped some of his height with a small bow in his back.

Clearing my throat, “I have to admit. I’m a bit surprised that you surrendered so easily.”

He laughed then gestured to a chair. “Please excuse me, my lady. My back isn’t what it used to be.” I shook my head and joined him as he sat down. “As for your statement. Why should my people die for something more meaningless than the manure on the road? Pardon my language.”

I folded my hands in my lap. It was a good point, but there was a thing called loyalty. “I suppose that is a good point, but many people might question your integrity.”

“Who?” He asked with a snort. “The king? He’s dead by all accounts. The prince and princess are well in your grasp. And I would question your sanity if you trusted me no matter what actions I make. Thus leading to my conclusion. Surrender, let my people keep their lives and livelihood and we all get along with our lives.”

“You certainly don’t sugar coat anything,” I replied with a chuckle.

He sighed then reached into his desk pulling out a pipe. With a spark from his hand, he lit it without a second thought. “I’m sorry, my lady. We are all fishermen in this town. The sea is not a loving mistress. If you’re not honest with her, she’ll chew you up and swallow you to her depths without a second thought. We don’t have time to waste on pussyfooting around each other.”

I couldn’t help laughing at the man’s rough words. “Your honesty is quite a nice change. Very well. I’ll take your message at face value and not imped on your lives more than necessary. Not that I have to worry. I’m sure you’ve noticed the lovely tower that has taken up residence over your city. The person controlling that is much like you. Doesn’t spend a lot of time on pleasantries.”

Lord Jerika gave me a wide grin. “Then I can’t wait to meet the lad.” I reached forward, offering my hand to shake. Lord Jerika took it with a strong grip.

After that, we handled the more nitty-gritty details that came along with conquering a city. I allowed Lord Jerika to stay in power for the time being. Though, I made sure to warn him that could change at a moment’s notice if I found anything damning him. I made my hatred for nobles mistreating their people quite clear during our conversation, but he didn’t get flustered or worried once.

The sun was starting to set when we finally left the lord’s manor. I stretched before grabbing Wrakras’s arm. I looked back to the guards with a grin. “Let’s go celebrate.” Being my main guards, they already knew about Wrakras and I. Though, I was sure all the soldiers knew about it. No thanks to Wrakras.

Making our way down the street, I took in all the sights that I could. Being late summer, the setting sun lasted for a long time and made the already beautiful city even more so. Even with a fleet of heavily armed airships parked just outside their city, the people appeared almost happy. They looked as if the war wasn’t any of their bother.

My band came to a nice looking restaurant. I waved for everyone to enter and we took one of the group settings that were meant for large adventuring parties. “There is a dungeon near this city, right?” I asked Wrakras as the waitress took our order. The restaurant served mostly fish dishes, which being in the middle of the mountains, was almost impossible to get.

“Yes. The Sea’s Calling, I believe its named. Has an entrance on the coast a bit outside the city. A lot of water floors,” he replied.

“Interesting.” I enjoyed the grilled fish that was delivered soon after. This restaurant was popular from the looks of it. People continued to pour in over the next hour. A party of adventurers sat at the table next to ours. All their gear looked high-quality. “Excuse me,” I called to one of the girls in the party.

“Yes?” she asked looking surprised that I had called out to her and not one of the men.

I chuckled and continued. “I wanted to ask about this city. Everyone appears almost unperturbed even though there is a war going on.”

“Ah. Yeah, they’re like that most of the time. It can be strange to outsiders at first. The lord made it a point to tell everyone not to fight as there was little point to it. Apparently, the person calling herself the new queen has the ability to wipe out a city with a pillar of light from the heavens. Hard to fight something like that. Not to mention her fleet of airships,” she explained then dropped to a whisper. “From what I’ve heard, the airships are able to take down a city with just one of the things. What sort of fire power does one need to take a city with a single ship?!”

“I see. I can’t imagine. Another question, is the lord well liked here?” I asked.

She tapped her chin and considered for a moment. “Probably. We’re outsiders for the most part even if we’ve lived here for the last year. From what I could see, everyone likes the guy. I mean he’s been around for almost half a century. They might just be used to him. I do want to say that he’s probably the best lord we’ve dealt with. We often see him among the people, hell, I’ve seen him fishing off the pier before.”

“Thanks. Here,” I handed her a few platinum coins then leaned back to my table.

“Who are you, lady?” the woman asked with an even quieter whisper.

I put a finger to my lips and grinned. “Secret.”