A beam of light slipped into the room through the large window, illuminating the mess that was there, and fell on the sleeping girl's face, waking her up. Aivina opened her eyes, her body felt pleasantly sore, but there was no fatigue at all. The girl looked around the room, not fully remembering what yesterday had even been about.
"So, yesterday I invited Lord Bondrewd to my place, and then we fucked, and..." and then some very unpleasant facts popped into her head, actually interrogation, yes he didn't torture her, but it couldn't be called a heart-to-heart talk. Aivina looked round the room, the culprit of her good dream was sprawled in a chair, and with a stony face, clutching an empty bottle of wine in his arms. "It should be me in her place, stop, what am I even thinking."
The girl stood up quietly, and tried to dress silently as she was unceremoniously interrupted.
"Good morning to you, Lady Ivina." Bondred's voice was, dull and monotonous, the man rose from his chair, stretched and stared at the still unclothed Aivina.
"Um... could you..." the girl's face flushed, she had lost control of the situation yesterday and she just couldn't let it happen again.
"Does it make sense, what I didn't see there yesterday." Aivina was ready to swear that the jerk was smiling cheekily, but the helmet wouldn't let her determine that. The girl pouted her lips, and glared angrily in the direction of yesterday's lover.
"Okay, I get it." The Lord replied and turned 180 degrees, staring out the window. Aivina quickly threw on the dress, well, how quickly it was a good ten minutes, because as we all know to the dress must necessarily go light make-up and neat hair. Bondrewd did not express even the slightest reason for dissatisfaction, and waited patiently.
Yesterday he had dug into the affairs of the trade guild, and had learnt a lot of interesting things, a complete set if you like: smuggling, human and drug trafficking, and most interestingly, patronage over some of the bandit and robber groups she had so tearfully complained about yesterday. But what was most surprising to Lord of Dawn was that his squire Dick's name had popped up on those lists, and the assignment for his gang to find a strange ring with a black stone.
As soon as he had read it, he took the strange ring out of his cloak pocket, the resemblance was perfect, but the ring itself was the same, with a coldness and a strange sense of uneasiness, but his sense of danger was silent. Bondrewd did not dare to put it on. "I think we should look for test subjects among the local drunkards." And ask Dick if he knows anything.
"I'm ready." Aivina said loudly, rousing the Lord from a state of Hatotonic reverie.
"Well, if you're ready, I think we have something to discuss."
"You have my attention." Both of them sat down on the chairs, looking suspiciously at each other and at the closed door. Bondrewd was about to start, but....
"Wait, Aivina gently touched the ring on her finger, and a translucent sphere burst out of it, rapidly expanding it swallowed the whole room and disappeared without a trace." A spell of protection against eavesdropping, both ordinary and magical, the girl herself did not know why she explained it, perhaps she was afraid that the Lord would consider this action a violation of his honour or something worse.
"I see, in that case I will be brief, I came here for a purpose, and I humbly ask for your help in achieving it." Aivina made a surprised face, but immediately corrected herself, hiding her surprise with a predatory smile. "Humbly and you Lord are just some incompatible concepts." After thinking it over, she asked.
"What is your purpose?" She had expected anything, from a craving for adventure, to the suggestion of a power grab, the thought of a second round of their 'game' yesterday even popped into her head, but he had in no way expected what he heard.
"Save the world." Bondrewd said dryly. Swallowing her surprise, the girl hesitantly asked, "And how can I help you in that.
"Very simply, support me, at the moment Silia is a tangle of problems and conflicts, and the kingdom will not resist the threat that may be at our doorstep."
"You mean the madness warrior?" Aivina reported proudly.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
"It's just a foolish tale of commoners, the northern tribes are weak and scattered, and by the way, if you haven't forgotten, we have a buffer between us in the person of our northern neighbour, so I read this threat as purely hypothetical."
"Lady Aivina, why do you think the necromancers are attacking now?" There was silence in the room, the girl didn't know how to answer this question, but since it was impossible to keep silent, she blurted out.
"Because they're old, nasty, arrogant shits." Bondrewd had no idea how to react to this answer, whether to laugh or cry. But overcoming a strange urge to punch the fool, he continued.
"No, they are preparing an army and the attack on Celia was part of that preparation, they wanted to seize resources to recruit an army, or raise it from the dead if negotiations fail, to fight the invading barbarian army." Aivina pondered his words, from the looks of it everything was clear, necromancers from the "old capital" rarely showed themselves even in the Baharut Empire, and now abruptly, without a declaration of war went on a conquest campaign, according to her information in all directions. But to agree with the statement of the guest, prevented cold calculation and already professional distrust of the merchant to everything in general.
"How do you have such information, think over your answer carefully Lord Bondrewd, my favour will depend on your answer."
"From the necromancers, of course, during the battle one of their leaders came to me with a "Business Proposal", of course, I refused them, but the fact remains that they are preparing and we should." Aivina didn't know what to say, experience and professionalism vanished like the smoke of a bonfire, only pure fuckery remained, the girl was brought out of her thoughts by the question of her interlocutor.
"So what's your answer?" Lord of Dawn moved closer to the girl, patiently waiting for an answer. Aivina thought about how to refuse tactfully, she didn't like this idea at all, different thoughts came into her head: that Bondrewd was an odious psycho, a vile manipulator, and the most disgusting thing was that he might be in league with the necromancers, and his triumph over them two days ago was just their internal squabbles. Really, what did she know about him: he'd come out of nowhere with a pile of information, and now he was telling her nonsense. Ivy shuddered, seeing that the interlocutor was going to jump Bondrewd said.
"Well, to make it easier for you to think, I'll tell you about two things that I think are important for you: firstly, you can earn good money and raise your authority, while expanding the influence of your guild."
"And the second?" The girl asked with a gasp.
"I will keep your highly dubious contacts and business a secret." Aivina was shocked as he learnt, the realisation came quickly, the girl's head turned automatically in the direction of the table, then at the Lord, then again at the table and again at Bondrewd.
"You fuc-" screamed the girl who was already starting to panic. But Bondrewd didn't let her finish, with a quick jerk reducing the distance and delicately covering her mouth with his palm.
"Such a beautiful lady, it is not in the status to shout over such trifles, just understand I and you simply have no choice, without you my plans run the risk of being derailed, without me you will be mired in squabbles and squabbles." His intimidating mask was a couple of centimetres from her face, she felt sick to her stomach and her heart started beating like crazy. The pressure was just insane and thinking straight was simply impossible. But she tried, and in a hurry, weighing all the pros and cons, she said
"I agree!" said the girl with a frightened face, almost in a whisper.
"I am glad that we have come to an agreement, we still have a lot to discuss," he was about to pull away from the girl, but for a second he stopped and became even closer and whispered in her ear.
"If our cooperation will be constructive, I am sure that our "games" can continue." After these words the already red girl blushed to the colour of a ripe tomato.
"My plan is..."
...
Dick finally came home, he had to wait for Ozen until dawn, and he was already thoroughly drunk, he had to run twice for more, opened the gate, took Ozen into the kennel and knocked on the massive door.
"Who are you here to see?" The butler's voice came from behind the thick door.
"Bitch I'm staying here for the time being, in case you haven't noticed." Dick didn't care much for politeness as it was, and now he was tired and drunk. The lock rattled and the door opened, almost breaking Dick's mouth.
"What people we have in our humble abode" Ritor was already standing on the stairs leading to the first floor.
"Your nobility, we are so glad to see your sleepy, drunken face in our house." The announcer snickered, unable to hide his laughter.
"Great joke, old man, but I'm not laughing, did you lend your sense of humour too?"
"If I could, I would have done it a long time ago, but nobody takes it, but it doesn't matter," Ritor changed to a serious tone, - and in general I congratulate you, noble titles don't grow on trees and don't lie under feet, so the regiment of pompous fucking cocks has arrived. - The old man mumbled the last part of that sentence through a mad fit of laughter.
"Fuck you," Dick shouted angrily, and was about to leave when Ritor called out to him.
"I go, but only with you, early in the morning they brought the royal favour on two carts," the men went into the living room where the sacks were piled up with a mountain of sacks.
"Aah... why so many of them, I thought they said 5,000 gold coins?" Dick's face was full of incomprehension.
"Look for yourself," Ritor went to the nearest sack and untied it and took a handful of silver and copper coins. "I knew it would be like this, the royal family has never had so much gold on their hands at once." The flow of questions was interrupted by a butler who suddenly popped up and said.
"Gentlemen, there is a messenger from the king at our gate, and he demands the immediate presence of Lord Bondrewd and Squire Dick at the palace."
"Fuck..." came out of Dick's mouth.