The band struck up, music unfurling like silk in a spring gust. The party opened, and people surged like a tide to ask Medith to dance and drink. Laughter popped like firecrackers.
When the moment ripened, Medith and Sais changed into Green Sprite ensembles. They climbed the high platform and sang, a twin flame that drove the crowd to a blazing peak.
After the performance, Medith offered the final gift. “Your Majesty, I heard your nation hit a wall with Divine Stone tech. This is a small dossier our clan compiled. I hope it helps.”
As she spoke, the women slipped scrolls from their belts like leaves unrolling. In short order, five scrolls lay before Ogathas.
Ogathas took them, hands shaking; even his beard trembled like a silver reed in a breeze. Only then did Medith study him closely.
He looked past sixty. His features were chiseled. The long silver beard at his chin drew the eye, and a short silver crop framed a simple crown. His clothes were plain noblewear; without that crown, she would’ve pegged him a minor lord.
Ogathas skimmed at lightning speed, joy breaking across his face. “Excellent! Elyu! Offer the Sprites a token!”
Elyu flicked a glance at Paris. Paris sat on Ogathas’s left, smiling as he savored his wine. The brothers met each other’s eyes. Paris gave a small nod.
Heart steadied, Elyu clapped. Several men heaved up a heavy chest. “A modest gift for the Sprites,” he said. “Inside’s our thanks for your work in Sia City, and our salute to Queen Laxis. May the friendship between the Wind Sprites and Eunomia endure.”
“May the friendship between the Wind Sprites and Eunomia endure,” Medith and the others answered in unison.
“Boys and girls, music! Dance! No one goes home sober tonight—” Ogathas rose and knocked back his cup in one clean tilt.
In moments, the palace erupted in cheers. Song rolled out like a river of light, echoing far. Faint shouts answered from afar, as if the whole night were celebrating.
...
“Ahh... this is the spot,” Elyu said at the crown of the great hall. The rooftop terrace rose dozens of meters high. In the Eastern Nation, where buildings ran low, it stood like a lone crane above a flock, aloof and unmatched.
Paris and Elyu stood on the terrace, wine bright as starlight in their cups.
“Yeah. We haven’t talked like this in ages, have we?” Paris settled in the pavilion and poured Elyu a drink.
“Sure... but leaving the Sprites hanging like that—are we good?” Elyu drained his cup in one swallow, burn warm as a sunrise.
Paris laughed. “I doubt Commander Medith minds. She might be thrilled not to see the two of us.”
“Hahaha, true. With her temperament, that’s likely.” Elyu knew it in his bones.
Paris refilled Elyu’s cup, steady as a tide. “I heard... you closed the deal?” His tone didn’t ripple. His smile sat easy, like an old friend at a hearth.
Elyu licked the rim, then set the cup down. “I wouldn’t call it a negotiation. I used a few tricks and leaned on my status. Didn’t do much...”
“If she were that easy to bluff, she wouldn’t be the Blood Thorn.” Paris stared straight at Elyu and let the wine slide down slow.
“The goods are solid, right?” Paris asked. “Improvements to the Blackblood War Chariot. Principles of Wind Magic. Efficiency boosts. A handful of theories and wartime uses. We knew most of it, but her lens cut it new. That’s not the key. The key is the Collapse Point...”
“That thing really exists?” Paris’s voice stayed level, a placid lake. But hunger and greed flashed in his eyes like fish breaking the surface.
Elyu pulled out two reports. “Captain Haidra’s intel says she caused the tsunami. But Medith’s data says only magic has Collapse Points. A tsunami’s natural; it has none. Big brother, any leads?”
He tapped the reports and searched Paris’s face.
“Oh? Collapse Points exist only in magic? You’re saying the tsunami was magic? You’re joking, right?” Paris’s cup shook, and a few drops fell like startled rain.
Seeing him like that, Elyu eased a breath. “We’re not certain. Medith hasn’t nailed it either. But one thing’s firm: natural phenomena don’t have Collapse Points. Only things triggered by magic do.”
“Heavens... If that’s true, someone in our waters can raise a city-killing tsunami with magic. That’s no small thing. No—seal it tight! Who else knows?!”
“Relax, brother. Only Medith, Sais, me, and you. They know the weight of it, so they told no one, not even Captain Haidra. Seems we owe her another favor...”
“Good... I’ll handle it. You go enjoy your travels.”
“Actually... I want to stay longer this time. Maybe three months...”
“What?!” Paris blinked, then lit up. “Perfect! With you here, I won’t have to dance around a pack of two-faced old foxes!”
He set down his cup and hugged Elyu. They slapped each other’s backs like drumbeats, then spoke as one thought.
“With intel on Collapse Points, the Eastern Nation can craft a kind of barrier. And we can shape counters.”
“Yeah. Feels like we’re back on track. You’re back. Eunomia’s drawing breath again. Maybe in our lifetime, we’ll plant Eunomia’s banner across the continent.” Paris’s words carried a hidden current.
Elyu smiled, a breeze over grass. “Hahaha. Planning to wipe out the three great nations, big brother?”
“Hey, I never said that. You did.” Paris grinned, sly as a fox.
“Brother, you and your jokes...”
“Ah, you’ve been gone too long. Let me tell you—Father...”
...
November 1. “Mmm~ mmm~ haa—” Medith stretched wide, like a cat in a sunbeam. “I’m wiped!” Her shout startled the girls awake.
Last night the revelry ran till two. People kept coming to drink and chat. Thank the winds she had experience this time. She vented every drop of liquor with Wind Magic. Without that, she wouldn’t be vertical today.
A banquet is a transaction. Once the deal is sealed, the rest is ceremony, a lantern show after the harvest.
She checked the chest. It was full of real goods. Beyond the promised items were precious lists of war supplies, sea resources, and little curios. Aside from the blueprints, the chest was all manifests. When she sailed, she’d likely have two ships loaded to the rails.
