История Королевы Эльфов / The story of the Elf Queen: 19. Дипломатия королевы эльфов

The diplomacy of the Elf Queen.

Camrad_RIP 30.03.24 в 18:26

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Camrad_RIP 30.03.24 в 18:26

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Camrad_RIP 30.03.24 в 18:26

The slow tapping of his index finger on the edge of his desk was the only detail that gave away the mood of the King of the Isles, outwardly completely unperturbed. A very lousy mood after a sleepless night. Sitting in his luxurious chair in the work area of his captain's quarters on the Conquerors of the Seas, Alekhar stared intently at the man standing before him. Dark curly shoulder-length hair barely touched with gray, distinctive facial features, and luxurious robes of red and blue, heavily adorned with gold. One did not need to be a very observant person to notice their family resemblance and guess that the king was facing his close relative. That was the reason why the King of the Isles, who was not known for his mild temper, did not reveal his rage in the least. Almost.

Camrad_RIP 30.03.24 в 18:38

"Tell me, Darleh, what do you do? What the devil is going on in the capital?" The monarch said slowly, staring intently into his interlocutor's eyes.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:42

His relative, who was his paternal uncle and thirty years older than him, had not changed his face. Only the dark eyes were darker. When he spoke, his voice was polite, but his speech was straightforward to the point of rudeness.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:43

"Alekhar. Do you want to vent your lousy mood on me? If so, go ahead and make you feel better, and I'll put up with it. Or do you want to know what my men have found out and what's going on in Kuordemar?"

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:44

The Conqueror of the Seas' captain's eyes flashed for a brief moment, but he pulled himself together almost immediately. With a short nod, the king spoke and pointed to the guest chair in front of the table:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:44

"I'm listening to you."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:45

Seated in the chair opposite, Darlekh placed a pair of scrolls and a small amulet with a bright, glittering crystal in front of the king. And a small box of dark polished wood. It contained three metal throwing needles, as well as three small amulets. The commander of the Invisible Guard, as the special services of the Islands were called, began his report by unrolling the scrolls:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:48

"Let me begin with the tragedy of the day you returned. K(c)iara de Vermeille, our prime suspect, could not have done such a thing. My men in the adventurer's guild have her file, as well as a description of the last few contracts she has completed. She is an experienced and quite strong spellcaster, with an emphasis on fire mastery, and the commander of the silver team. But she, even with her apprentices, could not accomplish such a thing. Not the right specialization. Not at all. At best, she could burn the entire ship, crew, and the gawkers on the dock. If she was at full strength, prepared, and with apprentices. But there's no way she could have organized the horror that happened there. On top of that, there was no pure magic, which every gifted person has its peculiarities and therefore can be recognized. There were some pretty high-quality amulets used. Very powerful amulets. This could be done by experienced Hunters of Dark or equally experienced Shadows of Light elves. Perhaps the Caliph's Silent Ones could do it. Several small and close-knit teams of diamond-ranked adventurers could pull this off. But for obvious reasons, they are under increased scrutiny and are being kept under the radar. As far as my men have been able to find out, they have been kept to themselves by their regular employers lately.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:53

Frowning his eyebrows, Alekhar said in a grim voice:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:53

"Sabotage?"

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:56

His uncle nodded with an equally grim expression:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:57

It's certain. Ciara and the other fugitives had accomplices. Very well-equipped and experienced accomplices. Who made elaborate preparations for their escape. How they infiltrated the ships, I do not yet know. Perhaps, just perhaps, they had accomplices among the crew. If so, they probably got rid of them during their escape. My bloodhounds were able to trace their path through the rooftops. On the outskirts of the capital, the fugitives had several horses prepared in advance. And quite cleverly at that. On the eve of the fleet's return, one of the horse breeders received a messenger from a wealthy merchant from the Imperial City. He said his master wanted to buy himself a horse, and urgently. He had no time to go to the breeder himself, so he asked him to bring some horses to an inn on the outskirts of the city. The messenger left a generous deposit and agreed with the breeder on a specific time and place of the meeting. There the merchant had to choose a horse he liked and pay the rest. Of course, no one was there. And the merchant, whose alleged representative had arranged it all, knew nothing about it at all, as well as his assistants. All of them were checked in the main temple, on the altars of the Lady of the Seas.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 09:27

After getting the horses, the fugitives headed towards the hills. There they let the horses go, leaving amulets with their blood on them. Not ordinary ones, but ones that soon self-destructed so they could not be traced. This confused the chase for several hours. The fugitives themselves escaped during that time. My guess is they left through one of the secret passageways into the Underworld. There's nowhere else to go. And as I said, a well-coordinated and skillful squad of Dungeon Hunters could have pulled this off.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:58

"You think the dark elves did this?"

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:58

"That's what it looks like. And the kidnapping of the boy tonight is an indirect confirmation of that."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:59

The head of the Invisible Guardian pointed at the contents of the box:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 19:14

"The throwing needles that dark elves love so much. Quality metal, no traces of enchantments, but covered with a very good poison, damaging also the subtle body. Our Death Masters had to work hard to extract at least the last two minutes of life from the dead. The images are in the amulet, but they're useless. None of them had seen or heard anything unless you counted the black cat in the bushes that drew their attention. It was almost certainly a trick illusion. The amulets were also the work of dark elves. An excellent set, designed to conceal a small area of terrain. It prevented the guards' deaths from being detected at once. Though their amulets embedded in the armor had worked at once."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 19:16

"I see... I heard you, Darlekh. You may go."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 19:17

After saying goodbye to his uncle, Alekhar waited for him to leave before touching the communication amulet set on the table:

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:24

"I listen, Your Majesty!"

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:25

"Have Lady Melisara come aboard my ship. Tell her I'd be glad to see her as soon as possible."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:26

"At once, Your Majesty."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:26

The king took his hand away from the amulet as it gave a melodious trill of its own. Alekhar reactivated it and waited until the reflection of the caller appeared on the artifact mirror before he spoke in a polite voice:

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:26

"Good morning to you, my dear Amalia....."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:28

"Your... Alekhar, we have an incident!" Alekhar was interrupted by a highly agitated High Priestess of Gaia, causing the king to tense.

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:28

"What happened?! Are you okay?!"

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:48

"I'm fine! Elenora is missing... I mean, that elf slave girl! She disappeared tonight!"

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:49

"How did this happen? Is anyone else missing? Or anything?"

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:49

"No... I don't think so... All of my followers are fine. Elenora spent the night in the cell with Nayrina, my assistant, she took her into her care. Last night they went to bed together, and today..."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:50

"I'll send my men from the Invisible Guard to you immediately, Amalia! They'll take a look around. And more guards. I'll also reiterate my offer. I realize you don't want to leave your charges behind, but given what's happened, you'll be safer on my ship. At least at night."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:50

"I... okay. I'll accept your invitation if you think it's best."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:50

"Thank you, Amalia, it makes me feel much better about you. By the way, what do you think of the cuisine of the Islands?"

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:51

"Оh! Please forgive me, I completely forgot to thank you for such great treats! They are marvelous, we all enjoyed them very much! I... if I may, I would like to thank those of your subjects who grew these wonderful fruits."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:52

"I will, but later, when we've sorted everything out. They'll certainly be very happy about that. If you need anything else, let me or my assistants know immediately."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:52

"Thank you, Alekhar."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:52

"See you tonight, Amalia."

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 09:53

When he finished the call, the king leaned back in his chair. A faint smile appeared on the monarch's face, and his mood lightened a little. What a lovely creature! And what a lovely blush she has when she's embarrassed! She's just adorable! Maybe he should pardon Aldamar for such an expensive, but extremely nice gift? Hmm... Later. To celebrate the birth of their daughter. With such a beauty, one could conceive a son and heir, if the heredity is good. But then mother would have a stroke. And so half the night lectured on how many good girls crave his attention, and he found a strange person in the sea! Pfft! What are sea wives for, anyway? Not to mention the fact that Amalia is a pleasure to court. She's so sweetly embarrassed. No, if he decided to have an heir with her, Faona and her mother would be devastated. Not to mention the possible displeasure of the Lady of the Seas. Women, they're a lot of trouble. But there's plenty of joy, too.

Camrad_RIP 01.04.24 в 10:00

Touching the communication amulet again, the monarch waited for a response and spoke:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:41

"Darlekh! Send your men to the temple of Gaia. And another detachment of the King's guards. The elven slave I told you about disappeared from there tonight. Yes. Well, keep me informed."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:40

Finishing the call, Alekhar immediately started a new one. After a few moments, the king's chief intendant answered:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:40

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:32

"This afternoon, bring me aboard ten bottom pinchers and four portions of mussels. And three red-fleshed sea bass. And two baskets of fruit..."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:31

Alekhar had barely finished dictating his dinner list before he extinguished the amulet when there was a knock at the outer door of his captain's quarters. Focusing, he saw the guests waiting at the entrance, wrapped in dark gray cloaks, accompanied by an officer and sailors of the Conqueror of the Seas. Grinning, the king opened the doors with an effort of will. A female figure wrapped in a dark gray cloak stepped inside, the others remaining outside. She'd gotten there fast, hadn't she? Nothing surprising, though. She must have expected his audience the day before, but the tragedy had delayed it. Having removed everything unnecessary from his table, leaving only a box with needles and amulets, the king waited, listening to the approaching clatter of high heels. When the guest, who had taken off her cloak of weightless enchanted cloth that wrapped around her right forearm in a thin bandage, knocked on the door of his study, he opened it for her by an effort of will.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 18:31

On the threshold stood a tall dark elf, with dark gray perfectly smooth skin, long light gray hair to the tailbone, gathered in a luxurious ponytail, and bright red eyes. Long slender legs, a slim waist, and very large breasts, almost a D-size, which involuntarily attracted the gaze. Largely because the guest's clothes, if they could be called such, hid almost nothing. A pair of high-heeled sandals made of black patent leather with silver buckles. A wide belt of the same black leather with a large silver buckle in the shape of a coiled snake. It was attached at the front and back with not-so-wide strips of dark purple silky fabric that barely covered her crotch. It was not difficult to see the guest's black underwear as she moved. As well as to fully appreciate the beauty of her slender legs. The huge breasts of the dark elf barely covered only a narrow strip of the same dark purple silky fabric, going cross to cross from the neck and tied between the shoulder blades. So the flat stomach and the entire back of the guest remained completely exposed. And the nipple tubercles were also easily visible. On her wrists and ankles, she wore wide bracelets of silver, decorated with precious stones, mostly rubies. Also on her index fingers were rings, one with a ruby, the other with a large black pearl. Around his neck hung a silver pendant on a chain, in the shape of the same ringed snake. On her head was a thin silver hoop with a large dark purple stone exactly in the center of her forehead. There was no jewelry in her ears.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 09:32

Somewhere outside the harem or the marital bedroom, a woman dressed like this would be considered, at best, a very expensive courtesan. And they'd probably be right. But not when it came to the pointy-eared women of the Underworld. Among them, it was the norm to dress more openly and frankly, the more power and strength a dark elf possessed. As Alekhar had been told by his mentors as a child, it was a declaration of sorts for them. Look at me! Admire and marvel at my beauty! Fall at my feet, hoping to graze your lips on the ground I have walked on! Or, if you are brave or foolish enough, venture to try to encroach upon this beauty. Regularly, such daredevils and/or fools were found. As a rule, their lives were cut short, often not quickly and very painfully. But not always. The same Serene Caliph has in his harem representatives of literally all races that live on earth and under the earth. Including those whose beauty is beyond the power of time.

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 08:51

Alekhar himself had no plans to get a lover or a slave from among the ever-younger inhabitants of the Underworld. Though, if he wanted to, he could afford it. The good thing was that many of the dark-elven slaves had been put in chains by their kin, not by the Slavers. But Alekhar approved of their fashion and did not hide it, openly admiring the beauty of the dark elf standing before him. He gestured to the guest chair, nodded, and said politely:

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 08:53

"It's good to see you on Conquerors of the Seas, charming Melisara! You are as beautiful as you were when we last met."

Camrad_RIP 31.03.24 в 08:53