Sefthril is pressing his ears hard against the sides of his head, lest they show involuntary motion. In theory he approves of the recent changes. In practice he wishes somebody else were to suffer the consequences of giving the next generation a challenge by allowing them participation in delicate deals.

  Aloud he says ?Punctuality is a virtue. The agreed time for our departure is in five minutes. Are you prepared to handle the hellhounds?“ Zewrepa combines a low drone with a power chord in G, adding in spoken language ?Finally. I am looking forward to action.“. Sefthril is maintaing a carefully neutral facial expression. Melo is almost rushing through the door ?Am I too late? Mistress, I am coming.“. She turns into a breast plate.

  Sefthril’s left ear twitches in annoyance. He won’t be able to overhear their communication. The officer leading his escort casts him a questioning glance. He turns his head to the guard, saying ?They is no point in wasting time during such times.“, while his ear signals, now voluntarily, that they better secure hostagesand give the youngsters freedom of action.

  His guard officer’s eyes almost shout better you than me.

  Half an hour earlier

  Vinyal has studied the art of reading the unshrouded to better understand servants. He is no radical. Yes, the slaves are weaking them individually. But they do not have the numbers. Using the slaves to the full extent they can be used is necessary.

  Using this art on a being of power is unexpected. The foreign wizard has not brought up his shroud. Vinyal is getting weariness and a form of grim admiration from him. Is he faking it? No, Vinyal is not so full of himself that he he thinks that somebody who beat an Atlantean might not maintain a deception good enough to fool him. But going from an unshrouded state to a deception without introducing instability is different from maintaining a decption. He is preparing to use a negotation tactic of truth. Why? Presumably he has already spilled so big a secret that only absolute openness will allow productive negotiations.

  He better support him in this approach, so he says ?I am confident you understand that we needed to investigate an Atlantean base.“ The foreign wizard breaks into a lopsided sneer ?Sure, I figured that in. But your timing does not comply with my plan. In hindsight it was too complicated to ever work. I will take that as a lesson. You can call me Peregrinus by the way. I have rejected my original name.“

  A female Dark Elf reveals herself behind Hildegard. I must speak up ?You realize that you are in a position that allows you to do much harm, but you would not survive my retaliation.“. She takes a symbolic step back, moving in a deliberately exaggerated and slow manner.

  I am relieved. They want to deescalate. Hildegard almost stumbles. Her crossbow jerks up a bit, but stays down. She speaks slowly, in the manner you speak to foreigners ?I will stand my ground if I have to. Yet no blood has been shed. The bond between guest and host has not been violated. We can turn this to good.“

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  Lesyal wiggles her ears. This human has spirit. She sort of understands why the wizard wants to keep her happy. Her traing calls for putting the enemy at ease, establishing a kind of basic human bond in such cases. Then you either make a deal after putting yourself in an advantageous position or land a surprise strike. So she responds ?My name is Lesyal. I speak your language. But thank you for your concern. Yet, I must say that you are in a lair you captured.“ Anger flares up in the eyes of the human woman. The wizard chuckles and responds ?We did not come as guests. Rather the opposite in fact. Given that you’ve seen Melo and Leuma, who used to be Marental’s slaves, you are aware of that fact.“

  Vinyal decides to take over ?You do understand that we need to secure any advantage to our clan we can get in times like these. Add to that that Marental was a customer.“

  I take deep calming breaths. Can they detect me ramping up my wards? I must assume that they can. ?Very well. Of course you understand that the main prize in an Atlantean’s lair is information rather than loot. And I have been forced to divulge part of the prize I have gathered.“.

  Hildegard is looking with disapproval at me. Is that an aristocratic concern for not admitting weakness showing or am I making a serious mistake? I need to gain time to think this through. ?However, I am not alone in our victory. My companions deserve a say.“.

  Hildegard is disgusted. He refuses to decide. Very well, pedigree does shine through at the end. ?No blood has been shed. And we have an agreement. What is your clan’s word worth?“

  Vinyal’s ears droop. The woman has a point. Ethical considerations aside, these people may have sent any number of messages. People who get messages from people beating an Atlantean matter as customers.

  Advanced aura reading is indeed like reading. It is a skill you train and the interpretation is not intuitive. Her aura is entirely unshrouded, but it is dominated by indignation to the point of blotting everything else out. The wizard’s aura shows nervousness, protectiveness and indecision. He cannot tell how she meant that remark. Vinyal is going to play it safe. ?You were about to give up everything you left anyway.“. The wizard laughs and responds ?You are welcome to it. If you want to touch an Atlantean power source that is already shutting down after its safety features have been triggered, I’ll be happy to observe the experiment from a safe distance.“. His mirth is absolutely genuine.

  ---

  Are they nervous? ?Look, we can talk about an increased payment. Let’s get all in. I’ll double it. Consider your situation. We are trapped here. You are not going to look good, if we clash. What do you want?“ I ask them.

  The female elf says something in Elvish ?Cousin, he is stalling. Don’t let that impudent human cow you.“. The male elf’s ears turn inward towards one another. He responds ?Get your hot blood under control. He knows a part of the big secret. We could never trust him, if we screw him over.“. She snorts. He says ?Very well, wizard, I am taking you up on your offer. Please send your druid ally to my people. If they ask, the code word is Zarufa.“