Chương 183: Book 3 Chapter 41: A Bargain Struck

++They are at my gates. My weapons are exhausted, my armies at the brink. I must go to face them. I will not cower and hide like a rat, and I know they do not yet understand how to destroy me. This is not the end. ++ - Fragment of Lord Dread's archives, date indeterminate. I had already crafted a set of enchanted gear for Qaigor, and it was now my own turn to be equipped. After all, few would be suspicious to find I had prioritized my own personal protection and armament.

The good thing about Isabel Vornholt's weakness, at least, was that it meant Lord Dread could very quickly create enchanted items as powerful as the ones she might manage after long years of effort. Interesting that I was referring to my two bodies as if they were different people, hm… I supposed it was arguable that they were. A 'person' was an abstract concept, a blend of intelligence and sensory input and mental influences. Lord Dread was cold and old and more cunning than anything else.

Vornholt was a new, fledgeling existence, modified by the tugs of emotion and physical sensation. The former, I was accustomed to. Comfortable with. And I had once clung to that familiarity and declared everything at odds with it a threat or a weakness. Now I was wiser than that, because even an ancient lich could learn. Vornholt was not, I thought, a weakness. In fact, if I could use my new emotions to better understand those of the living, then it was in fact a great strength.

But I still felt that disparity in my own thoughts. It was growing larger and more impossible to ignore by the day. I did not think there would ever come a time when I was truly two people in one body, but I wondered where else this might lead. I considered that, and a great many other things, as I worked. And since I worked as Lord Dread, I considered it all with a mental clarity that left my efforts unimpeded and surgically precise.

The magic was going just where I wanted it to and being bound slowly and surely, regardless of my inner turmoil. Perhaps if the work had been more difficult, more engrossing, my focus would have blinded me to my surroundings, but enchantments of this level were not enough to distract me from what went on around. And I felt the imprint of strange magic on the air long before it built into something substantial.

By the time the tear opened in reality and the fae entered in through it, I was already prepared for an attack. None came. I saw the fae was one of the middling ones, certainly more powerful than most magicians but still holding only a modest position in its respective Court. If it could feel fear in the way a human did, I knew it would be trembling before the strength gap between us.

"The Grey Queen requests your presence in her court," it told me.

"She offers you safe passage in and out, but adds the condition that you will appear as Isabel Vornholt, and not your… offensive, true form."" NO," I told it, then waved my hand before it could respond. All the magic holding it in the physical world, turning aside natural law to allow the magic-form to remain physical and substantial, was torn apart, and the fae was whipped back to its own realm. Harmless, for I did not wish to cultivate new enemies, but gone all the same.

I got back to work, and continued for some hours before another surge of magic lit the leyline cavern around me, and a new fae emerged. This one was old and powerful, perhaps one of the more potent Ladies of the Grey Court. The air became slick with frost just at its very presence.

"The Grey Queen requests your presence in her court," it told me.

"She offers you safe passage in and out, to… negotiate." I did actually look at this one, and enjoyed the sight of it flinching back. A lich's gaze will leave most beings trembling." NO," I told it, then once more waved a hand to banish it. This fae was strong enough, but its hold on this world was tenuous. I felt no more resistance as it was sent away than might an adult upon shoving a child. I got back to work.

This time it took six more hours before the magic returned, and I looked up to find the first fae standing before me again.

"The Grey Queen requests that you… open a rift large enough to accommodate her in your realm, for negotiations." Good. The mana of this depleted leyline was great enough to permit even powerful fae passage into the physical world, though clearly it had its limits. The link was imperfect for the stronger ones, and apparently something as powerful as the Grey Queen could not even manifest at all. Fortunately, it is far easier to create a gateway from the physical world than it is to create one into it.

I spared only a few minutes of effort to do just that. The Grey Queen emerged like a cold sun, the very world around her chilling to below zero with her presence. She set foot upon a carpet of thick ice that formed beneath her in the moments it took for her first step to come. When she was fully formed in the cavern, she looked around it. I could not make out her expression, because, like me, she did not really have a face, but she seemed disapproving.

"You have made your lair in a weak, petty site like this?" she asked. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author." IT IS OF LITTLE INTEREST TO THE GODS OF GARAMON,"I explained." AND AT THE MOMENT, AVOIDING INTEREST IS WISE." I got the distinct impression that she wished to contradict that, but of course she could not. The fae had been avoiding attention for even longer than I had. They knew full well the dangers that came with agitating the Gods.

"I have come to treat with you," she said." WITH ME, AND NOT WITH SAKHENT?" The fae had seemed fond of him. Or rather, less inherently contemptuous than they seemed to be of other liches.

"He is receiving our offer too," the Queen replied.

"I have come to personally give you the terms we are willing to offer you." Implying that those terms differed from Sakhent? It was likely deliberate that she had allowed such a tidbit to slip, the fae were…tricky.

"SPEAK," I told her.

"AND I SHALL LISTEN, AND CONSIDER, AND POSSIBLY AGREE." The Queen did speak.

"You will swear eternal servitude to the Grey Court, by way of apology for your dark and unnatural existence. You will do as we command and serve as our front-line general in the war against these upstart Gods, and then you shall help us reclaim command of humanity once they are dealt with, and bring about a new age of faerie."

"THAT IS RIDICULOUS. YOU ARE AN IDIOT FOR THINKING IT, AN EVEN BIGGER IDIOT DEMANDING IT, AND THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF ALL IF YOU SERIOUSLY EXPECT ME TO ACCEPT. I WILL NOW PRESENT YOU WITH MY GLORIOUS COUNTER-OFFER, HOPEFULLY YOUR TINY, SHRIVELLED RAISIN OF A NON-EXISTENT BRAIN CAN FATHOM ITS MAJESTY. YOU WILL SWEAR ETERNAL SERVITUDE TO LORD DREAD, BY WAY OF APOLOGY FOR YOUR ANNOYING AND BOTHERSOME EXISTENCE.

YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND AND SERVE AS MY GENERAL IN THE WAR AGAINST THESE UPSTART GODS, THEN YOU SHALL HELP ME RECLAIM COMMAND OF HUMANITY ONCE THEY ARE DEALT WITH, AND BRING ABOUT A NEW AGE OF ACTUALLY KNOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORLD INSTEAD OF SUPERSTITIOUSLY WORSHIPPING IDIOTS AND LIVING IN OPEN SEWAGE." The fae dared to seem affronted by my offer.

"You insult me by asking such a thing," she replied. As with her face, her voice did not depict much in the way of emotion.

"THEN MAKE A LESS INSULTING ONE YOURSELF." It took quite some time before the Grey Queen spoke again, like she was finding it terribly hard to formulate another suggestion.

"We will…attack your enemies, provided you aid us in turn when necessary." I was almost impressed. The fae were as mentally inflexible as the Gods, perhaps moreso. That one of them was able to compromise was akin to seeing a human choose to grow an additional lobe of their brain on demand. But the suggestion itself was still lacking." I AM NOT WAGING AN OPEN WAR CURRENTLY." The Queen seemed to grow irritated.

"Why?!"

"BECAUSE IT IS NOT TIME. I HAVE ONLY RECENTLY REGAINED MY FULL POWER, AND MUST STILL REBUILD MY RESOURCES." Several years to enchant my new set of personal equipment, plus however long it took me to rebuild and hide my armies, plus build my influence within Garamon itself to destabilise it when I finally made my move. It would likely be human generations before I began this. Assuming the Gods did not catch wind of my return. I had to remain vigilant about that, too.

There was every chance this rematch of mine would begin before I could fully prepare for it.

"Then what use do you have of our alliance?" the Queen asked me.

"WHY DO YOU NOT TELL ME? YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN OFFER MORE THAN I DO. CURRENTLY I AM ATTEMPTING TO FIGHT OFF GARAMON'S GREATEST MAGICIAN FAMILY WITHOUT EXPOSING MYSELF TO THE GODS AS AN ENEMY, HOW CAN YOU HELP WITH THAT?"

"Fifty great warriors. I can grant you the aid of fifty great warriors."

"I CANNOT USE YOUR FAE IN THIS, THEY WOULD BE OBVIOUS PROOF OF MY TIES TO THE FAE. IF IT WAS NOT ASSUMED THAT I SUMMONED THEM ALL MYSELF, WHICH WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU ARE PROVIDING ENOUGH TO MAKE A SERIOUS DIFFERENCE, THEN IT WOULD ONLY EXPOSE ME."

"I am not offering fae. We have other warriors. Humans dwelling in our realm, by choice or by force, who can be motivated to fight for you." I considered that. There were a great many stories of those trapped in the lands of the fae, held there as time slipped by far faster without than within. I could not expect many firearms or cannons from the warriors of such a place, but I knew that Garamon had been employing those with supernaturally great physical abilities for many centuries.

"HOW STRONG ARE THEY?" I asked after a moment.

"Most are as strong as the boy you have armoured and ready to fight in your name. We are rarely interested in any but the more accomplished of humanity's fighters." That was promising. Qaigor was still growing, but he was already stronger than most. Men of his physical abilities could enter combat unarmoured and wielding swords, and I would still expect each one to be the equal of a dozen shooters. But that begged the question of my end in this deal." WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT FROM ME?"

"A favour."

"WHAT FAVOUR?"

"We do not know yet. It will be no greater than the one we are doing for you, and will be called in the future when required." I did not like uncertainties like this, but I liked the thought of ending up in debt and fully reliant on my crumbling family even less.

"NO. GIVE ME A TANGIBLE, REAL PRICE." The fae Queen did not have a face, but I got the strong impression she was smiling.

"Very well. Your first-born child."

"OH. THAT IS FINE, I AGREE." And here I was worried it would be some terrible burden they asked of me, a single child that did not even exist yet was nothing. The Queen seemed hesitant for a moment, as if surprised by my answer.

"You are a cold being," she said after a moment.

"THANK YOU."

"Not as cold as you think," she added.

"But our deal has been struck. You will have our assistance, Dread. I will see you again." She faded from the world, and I was left once more alone.