<~> Chapter 115

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as our group approached the door that was flanked by soldiers. I had no idea what to expect from this meeting with the dragon nobles. We hadn't seen Celeste again since the second day she brought us here, and the last time we had seen her, she said she would keep us away from the court... The exact opposite of what was happening now.

Luna reached over and squeezed my hand. ("Nervous?")

("Yeah... are you?") I asked.

She sighed. ("Yes. When I was younger, my home was visited by many important guests, but no one as important as the dragon royalty. Even I'm out of my depth here, and I'm probably the most prepared out of all of us.")

I glanced at the others. Maxwell and Piper also looked nervous, which was saying something because the two of them rarely looked bothered by things. Poor Iris looked like she was going to fall over at any moment with worry. Aria was the only one here who seemed composed, but it looked more like a façade put on out of stress rather than comfort.

("It's too bad we can't rely on you to do all of the talking for us,") I said.

("Well, even if I could speak, I'm not even sure what I would say. Did those ears pick up any rumors about what might be happening?") Luna asked.

("No, nothing like that. I've heard some people gossiping about us occasionally, but no one seems to know who we are. At least among the ones who are talking about us.")

We finally reached the doors, and the soldiers in the lead pulled them open for us. We looked like a rather odd party in this situation. Maxwell was the only one of us wearing pants, and the rest of us were wearing dresses to meet the rulers of the city. I had thought about how lopsided of a party we were before, gender-wise, but this scenario was really slapping it in our faces. I noticed they had positioned Maxwell on the other side of Piper to the far side of us. I don't know if that was intentional, but if it was, it suggested that they didn't want anyone to jump to any conclusions.

Five people were standing on elevated seats overlooking the room we were entering. Each one of them had very noticeable draconic features, but otherwise looked completely different from each other. Three men, two women, and an empty chair that implied a missing sixth member of this council. It felt like we were being judged at some kind of tribunal, but to my knowledge, we hadn't done anything wrong. We were just being held here while Luna's mom sorted everything out.

Speaking of, Celeste was standing off to our right side. She didn't kneel like everyone else on this side of the room and would have matched the five partially draconic people up on the platform. Did that empty sixth seat normally belong to her? She did imply that they weren't happy with her, was this some kind of punishment happening right now? I felt a bit uneasy, but so far I felt more confused than threatened.

I almost bumped into the soldier in front of me when he stopped and began taking a knee. Luna quickly pulled me down and I kneeled next to everyone else, hopefully without making too much of a scene. Subtly, I glanced around and saw that everyone was still looking up at the five people on the raised platform.

I relaxed a bit and took in their features more closely. It was a bit fuzzy since I didn't have my lantern to clarify my view, but all of them had enough mana that I could see all of them fairly well, and the light of the sun that reflected into the room helped me see their colors.

On the far left was a tall and gaunt mostly human looking man. He had long thin horns on his head and sharper than normal features, like his skin had been stretched over a skull that wasn't entirely shaped normally. It gave the man a bit of an eerie look, and it wasn't helped by his fancy clothes that reminded me of a vampire or something. Bluish-black scales covered his hands and probably ran further up into his coat, but there weren't any more visible on him. He looked irritated, maybe even angry, but all of it was directed at Celeste and not at us.

Next to him was a female drakken woman. Her scales were a bright silvery white that glittered with small rainbows. She was as short as the typical drakken, but large wings almost as wide as her height were spread out on either side of her. She looked young, but her difference in race made it difficult for me to guess her age. She was looking over our group curiously and smiled when her eyes met mine. The moment quickly passed though, as she continued looking across my friends gathered here.

In the middle of the group was a lanky draco woman with orange-bronze scales. She looked bored and annoyed to be here. She was mostly watching the gaunt guy seethe at Celeste for whatever reason, but she didn't seem to be all that interested in what was happening. She occasionally scanned over our group, but her eyes didn't seem to fall on anyone in particular. She only lingered on Celeste before she returned her gaze to the gaunt man.

The fourth person looked mostly human as well, but he had a long draconic tail covered in richly colored blue scales that curled around his stool and small matching horns atop his head. He looked like the youngest of the group, he was in his early twenties at the latest based on his looks. He was fairly attractive and had an androgynous air to him that made him interesting to look at. I wasn't into men, not even slender feminine guys like him, but I couldn't help but find him attractive regardless. His scales and blond hair made him look like Celeste's brother, though he did not have the fox ears that she did.

The last man on the right looked like he was the highest status of the group. Like Celeste, he had scales partially running up his face, though his were a light blue color. On top of his head was a spiraling pair of matching blue horns that curled down and framed his face like a crown. He wore some kind of suit, similar to Maxwell's, and a large purple and white mantle over his shoulders. His eyes were a bright piercing blue that reminded me of Luna's, and he had similarly colored blond hair that grew down to his shoulders. Now that I noticed the detail, all of them had similar striking blue eyes.

"This is the group of delvers you brought?" the man wearing the purple mantle asked.

"It is Your Highness, King Rigel Titannus," Celeste answered.

The man pursed his lips and a flicker of annoyance showed on his otherwise stoic expression. He hadn't taken something about what she said, or how she said it, well.

"A blind one and a mute one? Are you going to bring in a deaf one next?" The gaunt man asked derisively.

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Despite the man's tone, Celeste found his reply amusing and her her mouth quirked up into a smile. "Brother, or rather, Saiph Titannus, you should know well that hunters often find artifacts and treasures in the dungeons that give them unique gifts. Even if Miss Helena was blind, she more than makes up for it with her other gifts. According to the report I read from the Hunter's Association, she's credited with wiping out an entire goblin cave on her own, as well as fighting three umber hounds on a separate occasion, as witnessed by a different hunter team on the same escort mission on their way from Fallow."

Saiph was about to reply but was quickly cut off by the draco woman with the orange-bronze scales. "There were additional reports of monsters appearing near Fallow? How recent was this?" The woman who had looked bored before suddenly perked up and her expression had turned serious.

Celeste nodded. "The report was filed a few days ago after I had already gathered them here. I had reason to believe this group of hunters would do well for our purposes, so I brought them to the castle as soon as I tracked them down in the Ironcastle dungeon, Bellatrix Titannus."

"It sounds so weird to hear big sister say our full names like this, was it truly prudent to strip her of her status, father?" The rainbow-scaled drakken woman asked.

"Yes, Ganymede. I will reinstate her status as a dragon princess if she agrees to replace the children she lost, as I have asked. Until then, she will remain stripped of her status," The king answered with a sneer.

"Father, her children were all murdered in that barbarian's castle. Can't you let her grieve before you send her back to be bred like a horse by our neighbors?" the androgynous man with silver scales asked angrily.

"Callisto, if it was a matter of timing I would wait, but she refuses to even consider renewing our bargains with them. She is putting the entirety of Ironcastle at stake for her pride," he spat.

"It is not pride to refuse to spread her legs for worthless promises, you haven't asked Ganymede to do the same," Callisto replied.

"Enough," Rigel said coldly. "Do not air your grievances here in front of our soldiers and mercenaries. We will discuss this later."

Callisto looked over at Celeste with a frown. "Doubtful," he said quietly to himself.

If King Rigel Titannus was Celeste's father, that would make him Luna's grandfather. The way he was acting didn't inspire any confidence that he would make for a good one, though. Despite the conflict among the dragon royalty, Celeste seemed perfectly happy and maybe even amused by their arguing.

Ganymede leaned forward against the railing and looked right at Luna. "The foxkin has royal blue eyes like us, Sister. Has anyone looked into her family history? I swear she could be one of our grandchildren. She looks just like you, Celeste. She also has your hair, Father."

"I've searched and I haven't found any records of her being related to us. Her father was a human, so she could have inherited them from her human side," Celeste answered without hesitation.

Saiph scoffed. "That's a shame. If she shared our blood, she could have been used to replace Celeste and taught how to properly do her duty as a princess," Saiph said while looking at Celeste angrily.

"Why don't you go spread your legs for them instead, brother? The neighboring countries are your responsibility, not hers," Callisto said mockingly.

"ENOUGH!" Rigel snarled. "We will discuss this no longer. Celeste, why have you requested this audience? I already wish to be done with this meeting."

Celeste nodded her head and smiled. "I wish to request a stipend and take these delvers to a new dungeon discovered in our territory. If we are able to explore it and catalog its resources, we may be able to leverage it in a way that will strengthen our bonds with our neighbors without any future promises of... alternate forms of alliance."

Rigel's eyebrows rose in surprise. "A new dungeon has been discovered in our territory? Why have I not heard of this yet?" he asked.

"The hunters that originally found the dungeon sold the information to Clyclostro royalty. It was information I found during the... debacle there. The prince I was to marry tried to give the information to me as a gift to look the other way as he attempted to court my children. I refused to take the bribe but later found the information after the events there transpired," Celeste answered.

Rigel's frown deepened. "You held back this information to protect yourself, didn't you? You gathered this team of delvers here while you set things up for yourself to reclaim your place as royalty... Where is it located?"

"A week north-west of here somewhere between Ironcastle and Saebryn. I confirmed its location myself after leaving Clyclostro. I entered the dungeon and briefly explored its first floor before returning to Ironcastle and looking for delvers who would be skilled at exploring unknown dungeons," Celeste said while gesturing to our group. I don't know if we would agree with the implication she was suggesting, but it would be a good cover for why we were involved with the royal family and give Celeste a good reason to keep us close to her.

Saiph suddenly looked flatfooted, all the anger from earlier was gone. "Father! You—"

Rigel raised his hand and cut him off. Saiph immediately shut up at the gesture. Rigel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Fine. You may have a stipend to map out the dungeon as deep as you are reasonably able to. Return sooner if you find anything worth enough to exploit, and I will have a regiment deployed to defend it. If anyone in this room breathes a word of this to anyone and the information gets out, I will have you flayed alive. You will need to gather more people for this endeavor, Celeste, but we must control the dungeon before the Hunter's Association hears of it. Do not move conspicuously, be judicious in your selection of hunters and support staff. Find me something worth exploiting enough to satisfy Saebryn and Torstallis and I will restore your status as royalty without any agreements involving further children."

Celeste bowed. "Yes, fath- your Highness, King Rigel Titannus."

He turned to look over our group. "You have been brought here on a mission for the protection of Ironcastle as mercenaries. You will not be required to participate, but I will reiterate that you will be executed if you share this information with anyone outside this room. If you choose to help us, however, you will be well rewarded for your participation. I am leaving the details of this matter in Celeste's hands so you may negotiate with her on your compensation as well as any effort she needs to take to secure secrecy if you choose to refuse the task. You may direct any questions to her."

Rigel turned back to Celeste. "You are dismissed. Good luck, Lady Celeste."

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