Chương 30: Envoy

"Lord Hesties, there is an envoy entering the city from the Versale kingdom." The bowing messenger brings the dinning hall to a standstill.

"We haven't had an envoy from them in ages. What could possibly bring them so far in a time when they are being almost openly hostile on the boarder?" Lord Hesties responds after whipping this mouth with a handkerchief. Standing up the messenger clarifies "Sir they seem to be seeking clarity on the mission at the Zipan river."

"Alright send them into the council chambers when they get here, I'll go prepare." The lord then finishes his plate and exits the dining room to don his best uniform. Being a military man in his younger years instilled a pride in proper wear of the uniform. Presenting himself as a strong and active military leader would do him well in a meeting with a potentially hostile foreign envoy. Two hours later the Crater kingdoms strongest cultivator arrives to stand beside the lord as bodyguard.

Having applied a second layer to his solid core placed the nearly 60 year old man above soldiers half his age in terms of ability. If these foreigners tried anything they would find themselves flying through the castles third story, stained glass window.

Nervous was an understatement. Julie was absolutely freaking out. Being a sacrifice was not her idea of honoring her family. The lord of the Versale kingdom had spent nearly a decade reminding the people of the dangers inside this foreign kingdom. Different ways of life and ideals would only spell the downfall of their kingdom. He ruthlessly cut out any talk of opening trade routes and expressed distrust in the Crater kingdoms motives. Her lord was confused.

At the moment he knew would come, the hostile army turned and never even crossed the river. He had stacked forces in preparation for a retaliation attack into Crater territory. And when the army turned and set up in a relatively random spot on Craters side of the river without establishing any further advance her lord sent an envoy. The mission was simple. Find out what the goal was so Versale could either move in or go home.

Julie understood that if the Crater lord wanted to be petty she would likely die in this very building. Her country had asked for someone educated enough to not make a fool of her home, but also someone low enough on the social ladder that they could write off the loss without much pain. She was a pawn. Surprised by the hospitality she received, Julie finished brushing her long nearly black hair and spun it into a bun before securing it.

"Did the we get a timeline yet? I'm honestly grateful we were given a place to change from our travel clothing into a more formal dress, but I don't want to come off as vain by taking too long."

"No ma'am we were told we should step out when we are prepared and they would escort us to the lord." Her aide, the older veteran responded in a friendly tone. They had grown to trust each other during the trip here. He was a guard and she was a pawn. She couldn't get the fear out of her mind. Following the well polished armor in front of her she held her hands behind her back to hide the tremble in them.

When the soldier opened the double door and motioned her to enter, she applied her best smile and tried to look confident. The sight was way more casual than her own lords throne room. At the head of a very large table sat a tall fit man in a tight military uniform. His brown hair tied back and slicked down gave the appearance that he cared as much as her about presenting his best. The military uniform signaled his understanding that this conversation wasn't just friendly banter or trade.

The clearly old guard at his side was very obviously someone of great importance unlike herself. She was outclassed in every possible way, and still expected to come out with positives for her kingdom. A pawn.

"Welcome to our home, I take it your the delegation from Versale?" Julie was surprised to be spoken to before any formal introduction, but she straightened at the clear invitation to get to the point.

"Yes sir, I am Julie from house Caldor. I represent the Versale kingdoms interests. I have a very simple if not confusing mission. If I may?" She responds with a formal bow at the waist before making eye contact and returning to her standing position.

"I am very curious, you may." The lord waves his hand in a clear indication of interest.

"A question comes from my lord directly. What is the intention in the mission out by the Zipan river? I mean no offense but our military immediately assumed hostilities and prepared for the arrival of your soldiers. And then they turned south and set up camp in the least likely place for a hostile forward base." This was the scary part. Would he take it as an insult and lash out or would he actually answer? Julie held her trembling hands tight. Did you know this story is from Royal Road?

Read the official version for free and support the author. Sitting up with eyebrows raised lord Hesties understood immediately the issue.

"Oh you thought the mission was an invasion force.. dammit five companies was too much. I did not see the misunderstanding before taking action and for that we have both lost soldiers. For that I apologize. To both you for the necessity of your mission and to your kingdom for the fear I likely caused. I assume you had forces placed after ours left the capital and you reacted in defense of your kingdom, not a preemptive force?" Julie relaxed slightly at the casual and clear acceptance of the situation.

Releasing a breath she forgot she had been holding.

"Yes sir, our kingdoms actions were purely defensive. And do not mistake this envoy as a proclamation of weakness. Should I not return it will be assumed the base is intended for war." Hesties stood slowly and waved to the young woman.

"Come with me miss, I shall explain our situation. Maybe our kingdoms both stand to benefit." With that he turned and walked through the doors behind her and waved again for her to follow. Walking through the halls he continued, "nearly six months ago we found something in the forest. We sent a small mission out to find any new sources for mining or anything of the sort. This very small force found something nobody planned. They came back with a creature. An intelligent one."

She cut in without thinking, curiosity getting the better of her, "the grey beast?!" Turning to face her with an eyebrow raised the lord clearly hadn't heard of this. She continued "We heard a rumor from the line of a grey beast that walked upright like a man, it apparently was found scouring our base camp and reacted with brutal force when cornered. The men who saw it claimed it a demon from the stories." Hesties turned to continue walking with a chuckle.

"Yes that would be Blick. He is very intelligent, maybe at the same level as a teenager. While he is not hostile, he is beyond vicious when he feels threatened. Cultural differences I believe. He came from another world." With that declaration she froze. Pausing and looking at the lord who didn't immediately notice she had stopped, she clarified, "Excuse me sir.. world?" He chuckled again and waved her to follow as he turned another corner and entered the next double door.

The guards in full armor saluted their lord as he pasted with the envoy. Hesties lead them into clearly a mission planning room with tables and maps displaying troop locations. The fact that she was allowed in here showed a level of trust she would never have expected. With this information her country could initiate a real war front. Her eyes grew wider as she started to put the pieces together.

"Sir, are you saying your mission is trying to locate the grey beasts home world?"

"Indeed, he claimed to have come through a gate. And his explanation of his home could not have been this planet. We would have found his kind before, and the animals he explained are not known to anyone in our academy. The idea that a gate alone could be placed between worlds was the hardest part to believe. Some scholars still argue about it." Shaking her head at the implications she looked to her own guard. The veteran had seen much, and his outlook was vital to her mission.

"Off the record, Do we have knowledge of any gate that powerful? Would the military know and keep that hidden from the nobles?"

"No ma'am, even if we did, the amount of power we would need to create such a thing isn't possible. That information would have leaked at some point if we had it." With a nod she turned back to the Crater lord with a renewed focus.

"So you're going to secure and potentially explore this gate?"

"That is the goal. From the creature named Blick we learned that land is much more hostile so we sent the army instead of exploring with scholars. Once we establish a strong foothold on both sides of the gate we will consider sending in our strongest minds." The lord moved over to a map in the back of the room. He raised his hand and, with a finger, traced a line down the river to a random spot inside the wood line. With a circular motion he pointed and continued explaining.

"We traced his travels back to this area. He claimed it was runework in a tree of all things. Our best minds cannot fathom why anyone would take the time to create such a work out away from any civilization." Looking back at her he raised an eyebrow before asking, "Any ideas?" Scrunching her brow and placing a finger on her chin she took a minute.

"You said it's how far from your kingdom? Where is our capital based on this map George?" She turned to her guard hoping he would know.

"May I sir?" The old veteran asked before receiving a nod and walking to the wall and tracing a finger to the left before stopping.

"I would estimate about here." She saw it immediately…

"Lord, that's the farthest you could get away from both our capital and yours. And also keeping it well away from the south coast line… assuming whomever made it had a goal… I would guess it was meant to be hard to find. That said… why only one?" Hesties froze…

"What do you mean one?"

"Lord, our planet is massive. We know of at least one other continent. Why would someone with this ability place just one? If the goal is to connect entire worlds and the person responsible places the gate as far away from civilization as they could. I don't see why they would choose just this side of the planet. Wouldn't they have just as much reason to place one as far from the other civilization also?

Multiple gates means exploration would pay off, but hidden away from kings and lords means it would be difficult to stage an invasion through a gate. I'm of course making the assumption of benevolence. Anything powerful enough to make a gate like that could just kill us all if they wanted." As she finished her small rambling idea she noticed the lord had been staring at her with his mouth open and eyes wide open.

"Sir?"

"Shit, that's a game changer! Captain!" He turned to one guard, "Send me our best map and governance scholars. We need to locate the other kingdoms. Turning back to Julie with a wide smile, the lord of the Crater kingdom asked the most surprising question yet.

"Would you like to join us in exploring the worlds?" Julie nearly fainted with the implication. Her position in this conversation just changed. No longer a pawn, she would be an influential piece in shaping the discovery of other worlds.