Bleist immediately entered the study, without any announcement. Othis did not even look towards the entrance but immediately summoned his friend with a gesture. The Ambassador was sitting at one of the smaller tables, which was completely covered with various documents.
-You've found out something.- Hugo stated before Darius could even open his mouth.-I hope it's something important.
-I found him.
-Where?- Othis straightened up and focused his gaze on his friend's face. He was slightly surprised at such a quick development.- Where did you hide him?- He asked looking around the room.
-Nowhere.- Bleist shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he saw the look on the face of the mage sitting in front of him. -He himself has learned to shape energy. He controls it as if he attended the Academy on Atlantis for about six months.
-What? -This time Othis was quite surprised.-But... but how?
-I don't know how, but he accomplished it on his own. He found it somewhere within himself.- Darius smiled broadly.- In my opinion, he has innate intuition and the ability to control his power.
Othis looked at his friend in silence for a while. He didn't quite know what he should do now, as it had happened so quickly that he didn't yet have a plan in place. He sat slightly stupefied, and a great race of thoughts and ideas went on in his head. Successive scenes were whirling in his mind. Plans appeared and disappeared, possibilities for the realisation of this operation, the next steps. Somewhere scenarios of conversations with nobles and high-ranking figures in the dragon world were churning. One thought chased away another.
He breathed deeply calming his breath and forcing his mind to quiet down. He focused on reality and the key points that needed his attention.
-So where is he?- He asked unconsciously fumbling with some document he had been holding in his hand the whole time.
-He's holed up in an abandoned orphanage. He seems to feel safe there and no one but this elven girl knows where he disappears to. It seems...
-Wait, wait... You're getting caught up again and not explaining everything. Which elven girl?
Bleist told Othis about his encounter with Madame Nasua. He then proceeded to tell how, out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted the elven girl entering the house where Draco lived and how he had followed her when she came out. He then recounted in detail what he had seen and heard in the abandoned building. He said everything very quickly, but did not leave out any important details.
-That is, from what you heard he wants to hide a bit more,- the Ambassador murmured, putting down the crumpled piece of paper and staring at a short list of names of those who owed him a favour and at a slightly longer one where he wrote down all those who influenced the decisions of the Dragon Council and whom he could obtain by promises, bribery or blackmail.-This gives us some time....
-But we need to act as soon as possible anyway, I don't want something to happen that wouldn't look too good. I've seen that he's in control of the power, but I don't want to test what happens when he loses self-control.
-You're right. Just where to start?- Othis shook his head and looked his friend in the eye. -If you are sure then we need to inform the Grand Master and the Crown Marshal about all this immediately. I think later today, so that they get the reports as soon as possible and give us full authority on the matter. And then...-He suspended his voice and tilted his head smiling mischievously.-You still have contact with Gizel, right?
-I...- Bleist got confused at the mention of one of his former co-workers, although it was more appropriate to say that she was simply a colleague. He blushed involuntarily recalling their tumultuous affair and spectacular break-up shrouded in clouds of gunpowder smoke. He shook his head.-We hadn't spoken to each other in a long time, he muttered uncertainly.
-But you still know how to contact her, don't you?- Hugo pressed on knowing what his friend was feeling.
-Yes, I know.- Darius muttered, looking at the Ambassador warily. He knew that Othis was now having fun watching his reactions.-You'd better say what you're getting at right away.
-I'd like your elven friend to do us a favour.-He couldn't stop himself from having a roguish glint in his eye or a wide grin, so he didn't even try.
-Okay, go ahead.- Burked Bleist already knowing that this was not a good idea.
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Jeviev sat in her room at a small desk under the window. The room was not large, but she had furnished it herself and so it was warmer and more comfortable for her than any other in the world. She had painted the walls with bright yellow paint and decorated them with small landscapes with powerful cities in the background. She imagined that this is what the great elven fortresses hidden deep in the wilderness must look like.
To the right of the entrance stood her bed, which was covered with an incredible amount of soft pillows that she loved to sink into. Opposite it stood a wardrobe and a tall bookcase piled with volumes of stories, fairy tales and all sorts of novels that she devoured in her spare time.
On the desk was a small, dusty box that she had pulled out from under the bed. In it were her greatest treasures, things that to others would have no meaning, but to her had no value that could be measured. She placed her hand on the lid and looked at the stars merrily twinkling in the ink-black sky. She smiled involuntarily and opened the box.
Inside were only a few items. At the very top lay a small locket covered in a delicate grid of glittering runes. It was her only memento of her father, who had died when she was only a few months old. She had always regretted not remembering him, but her mother had told her many stories about him.
She tightened her hand on the chain and opened the locket with her other hand. She saw a faded black and white engraving depicting a handsome elf in an officer's gala uniform. Once again, she realised that his smile was so very familiar, as if she were looking in a mirror. She stroked the picture with the tips of her fingers and closed the locket, then placed it on the desk top.
She then picked up several sheets of paper and looked at the drawings painted by her hand. The first one showed a green forest lit from above by the hot summer sun. Although she had made it when she was only a few years old, it brought back memories of that July afternoon when her mother had taken her to an elven town deep in the French wilderness. They were then visiting her grandmother Jeviev, who, like every woman in their family, bore the same name. The girl was delighted with the place and was eager to revisit this memory. She smiled even wider and put the drawing aside.
The second picture showed her and her mother walking in a crowd on the Royal Tract. They both looked magnificent and the figures around them seemed to be just dark outlines. It had been one of her childhood dreams - that her mother would be able to devote more time to her daughter, but she understood now that she could not count on it coming true because her mother worked to support them both.
She looked at the third drawing and sighed. There was only a barely outlined bench and two figures in the picture. Her and Draco. She remembered drawing it on the very day they first met. She closed her eyes and remembered how they had accidentally bumped into each other, not knowing at the time that this very moment would change their lives.
She put the drawing down on the other two and pulled a gold ribbon from the very bottom. Before her eyes stood that very December evening, it was her birthday. It was already dark and fresh snow was slowly falling from the sky. They were standing under a dragon bush in one of the parks while holding hands. Suddenly Draco reddened more than before and handed her a small box mumbling something strangely in an uncertain voice. When she opened it she saw a gold ribbon embroidered in beautiful patterns. She had once seen it on display at one of the fashion stores on the Royal Track. She didn't know what to say, so she just kissed him on the cheek and he turned quite red, but was smiling like never before. Then for the first time she saw happiness and warmth in his eyes.
She gently placed the ribbon next to her, and looked affectionately at her small collection of treasures and pulled a small figurine of a horse at a gallop out of her pocket. She took another look at it. It looked as if it had once really been a living animal, and yet she knew that Draco had shaped it by melting some metal parts and encasing them in a form created from that golden energy. As he gave it to her she saw once again in his eyes the same thing she had seen under the dragon bush a few years before.
She carefully put all her treasures into the casket and closed it. Later, she carefully slipped it under her bed and went to sleep with a smile on her face.
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Bleist cursed his own stupidity and the fact that he had agreed to Othis' plan. He shook his head as he looked at the small inn in the middle of literally nothing. He stood in the middle of the road, and was surrounded by golden fields of grain, the monotony of which was only interrupted by a river flowing a few dozen metres away.
He shook his head and moved, with mixed feelings, towards the entrance over which hung a sign from which all the paint had long since come off, leaving only a few dark spots. With a sour face, he stepped inside and looked around the rather large room. Behind the hammock stood a middle-aged man dressed in a white linen shirt, not very clean for Bleist, and wiping old tankards with an equally dirty cloth. In the chair in front of him sat another man, but he looked worse than his host. His clothes were torn and he was barefoot.
Bleist shifted his gaze to the group sitting at the table opposite the fireplace, on which a fire was buzzing merrily despite the high temperature, and a roast was turning on a spit. The men who sat there looked as if they had ended up here by pure chance. They wore travelling clothes and had sabres at their belts. Darius could bet that each had at least one loaded pistol. They looked alike, like brothers or cousins, although the mage concluded after a moment that this impression might be given by their sumptuous moustaches.
The magician approached the bar and fixed his gaze on the man standing in front of him.
-What would you wish, noble sir,- the host smiled, but that smile did not extend to his eyes. He seemed to be trying to guess what the stranger was doing here, whether he would cause trouble and how much money he would leave.
-A beautiful young woman came here recently.- Bleist looked into the innkeeper's eyes.-Knowing her, she was armed to the teeth and did not look like a regular in such places. She had rented a room.
The innkeeper turned pale and began wiping his dirty tankard more vigorously. Loud conversation and laughter came from the side of the fireplace. The man nodded and opened his mouth, took a deep breath and hesitated. He looked at the group of nobles.
-On the upper floor.-He choked out.-The second chamber on the right honourable sir....
Bleist threw a coin on the tabletop, turned and walked quickly upstairs. When he found himself in front of the door the innkeeper had spoken of he stopped and breathed deeply several times.
-You only die once,- he muttered under his breath as he grasped the handle.-As they say here.
He opened the door with a sweeping motion and stepped inside without thinking. The room was small. A bed stood in the corner with a tattered trunk at its feet. On the other side of the room was a table and a metal water bowl. A truly spartan décor.
The door behind him closed of its own accord. He turned on his heel, automatically reaching for his sword. He froze when he saw her at the door with a pistol in her hand and a sabre at her side.
Gizel looked beautiful, as always anyway, and he could see amusement in her emerald eyes. She was wearing a simple dress that accentuated her shapely body. With weapon in hand and a slightly cold smile, she looked the same as when they first met.
-Hello Darius -she said in her singing voice.-We haven't seen each other for a long time, have we?
The mage suddenly clouded over remembering their last meeting. He was running through the park and she was yelling something through the window watching her husband and some of his men trying to shoot her fleeing lover.
-Hello Gizel.- He brought a forced smile to his face.-When we saw each other for the last time, your husband tried to shoot me.- He said bitterly.-But I am not here to reminisce about old times. -The mage wanted to settle this as soon as possible and return to Dagos.
-I suspected you would want something.-She shook her head and lowered the pistol's cock slowly.-And yet I was hoping for some reminiscences.-She smiled flirtatiously at him and looked defiantly at the bed behind him.
-Stop, I don't have time.- He growled a little more insistently than he would have liked.- Eh... Never mind.- He waved his hand and sat down on the trunk.- We need your help.
-We? I mean you and who?- Gizel's face was now poker-faced, and her cold eyes surveyed Bleist.
-Me and Othis.- The mage looked all the while at the pistol she held in her hand. He didn't really want her to surprise him with something.
-The Atlantean Ambassador to Dagos wants help from me.- Gizel seemed surprised, but she might as well play along.
-Yes, from you,- he muttered, not very pleased.-We want you to do us a favour.
-This is interesting.- She walked over to the table and leaned against it with her back staring at the mage the whole time.-It must be something really important that you come to me with this. It probably also has something to do with the Dragon Council, because with any other problem you would have dealt with by yourselves much faster. It also follows that you don't have much time and you have to act almost immediately,- she pondered, still examining him with her eyes.- The question is, however, what will I get out of it, or would it not be more profitable for me to foil your plans and gain something from it myself?
-You're right, we're in a hurry and it has to do with the Dragon Council and I'll put out your enthusiasm right away. What we have in mind for you will not mean so much as to risk conflict with our army.-He said this in a rather indifferent tone, but he knew that if Gizel persisted she could nullify Othis's plan without considering the consequences.
-Let me judge for myself how much this will mean to me.- She stated with a wince.-If one thing can put someone in conflict with Atlantis it seems to me that something very valuable is at stake.
-Will you help us?- He asked not wanting to continue the verbal tussle.
-It depends on what is at stake and what I get in return.-She smiled sweetly, as she did years ago.-Say what are the stakes?
-High enough to risk.- He replied reluctantly. He himself was willing to tell her everything, but on condition that she promised to help them.-And as for your profit, we will be in your debt. And quite a large one I think.-He added bitterly.
-We both know perfectly well that I won't agree to anything blindly.- She looked at him more and more investigatively and suspiciously, but on the other hand her attitude betrayed a growing interest all the time.
-We both also know that I won't reveal the cards until I'm sure it's safe.-He was teasing her while watching her reaction.
-It's a stalemate.- She stated, clamping her lips tightly together so that they became just a thin line.- Neither of us is stepping down either. As always, anyway.
-So we'll have to break through somehow and make a preliminary compromise.-He croaked as he pronounced the last word, but the next sentence barely made it through his throat.-Promise that what you hear won't go outside this room, and I'll tell you everything about the case. We'll decide later what to do next.
-That I think I can agree to.- She replied trying to hide her displeasure.-What you say will not leave this room.
-Ech, well...- He sighed and shook his head once more thinking how he let himself be talked into all of this.-As you correctly guessed we have a problem that requires the involvement of the Dragon Council, it's just that the stakes are too high to risk a decision that will be other than the full approval of our actions and the relinquishment of all claims.- He nodded a few times as a sign that she had heard correctly.-We need to have a hundred per cent guarantee that everything will go our way and that we will have a big back in the Council even after the decision is made.-He looked at his feet waiting for her reaction.
-What you want is very difficult to achieve, even for me.- Gizel started fiddling with the pistol cock pulling it back and letting it drop.-But not impossible, especially if we work together. I understand why you came to me, but you still haven't said what the game is about.
-Not what, but who.- He said shifting his gaze from his boots to the elven lady.-You see, I was in Dagos on holiday.- He squirmed thinking what would be happening now if he hadn't been the one to come across this boy.-On the second day of my visit I bumped into someone, just by chance.- He shrugged his shoulders.-I had a strange feeling that it was someone important and I figured I could snoop around a bit.
I was a bit lucky as I found him quite quickly and followed him. However, after a few minutes of wandering around the busy streets of the harbour above Verde, I felt someone using magic spontaneously. I found him and was shocked to find that it was the same boy I had followed there, and even more so that it wasn't your average mage but an Atlantean.
-In that case, I don't see any problem, after all, by the Treaty of Mages, he is legally a citizen of your kingdom.- She scratched her chin.- Unless he has messed up and you want to get him out of trouble.
-No, he hasn't done anything.-He looked deeply into her eyes and said putting all his confidence into it.-The problem is that he is a dragon.
Gizel first looked at him with wide eyes and then burst into a pearly laughter.
-Very good, my dear, a really great joke.- She wiped a tear from under her eye trying not to smear her make-up, shaking from stifled laughter. She looked at Bleist.-You're joking, aren't you?'-She slowly stopped laughing.-Right?-This time she asked in disbelief, and when the mage denied it with a shake of his head she let the pistol out of her hand, which hit the floor with a deafening clatter, and Gizel leaned heavily on the table top. She was silent for a long time. - But this is impossible. It's against the basic rules of magic.- She whispered to herself again and again.
Darius stood up and walked over to her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder wanting to draw her attention to himself.
-If I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it either. But I saw him use magic spontaneously, and later when I found him again it turned out that he was also hellishly capable because he had mastered the power himself and could control it.
The elven woman would have toppled over if he hadn't caught her in time. He carefully helped her to approach the bed and sit down. He watched her closely for a moment and then picked up the pistol from the floor and put it down on the table.
-Will you help us?- He asked quietly without looking at her.
-Tell me if I have another option?- Gizel looked at him with somewhat absent eyes. It was apparent that the news she had heard had really made quite an impression on her.-How powerful can he be, anyway?
-When it comes to the first question there is always another option, you just have to ask if it's the right one. As for the second, I have no idea, but if I had to shoot I would class him as a fairly powerful mage with a huge natural talent.
Gizel shook her head and looked at Bleist leaning against the table. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.
-I will help you.