Mage And Wolf
Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Chapter 217

The ringing of a bell interrupts my attempt to answer and the King rises to his feet. "The Trial period is done. Any further attempts on the Crown Prince will be treated as treason."

Well, darn. I was looking forward to that game.

The King dismisses those here to hold court for the day, and escorts us, plus his group of advisors towards a door at the back of the room. It appears to be the study mentioned earlier, the walls are covered in ancient books and there are a group of comfortable looking chairs arranged in a circle. The smell is mostly of books, but I can smell something sweet too, it reminds me of a human church. I think it’s holy water.

Moving towards the chairs, I’m certain it is, and it’s been poured on a number of the chairs, though not the ones nearest the King’s seat. These Demons really love trying to kill each other, no wonder they get along with the Goddess so well.

I subtly guide Ivan to a safe seat and take one of the Holy Water imbued seats for myself, following the lead of the King, who went straight to his chair and sat down. No reaction, it’s not even making my Robes wet. I can feel the slight dampness under my hands though, but it isn’t burning me or anything.

"Shall we skip the formalities and get to business, High Priestess? We have obtained a relic fragment you are looking for, and we have heard the Divine Council is willing to pay handsomely for it." One of the advisors begins.

"If it’s the relic shard we need I have indeed been authorized to offer you a trinket from the Divine Realm in exchange." I agree.

"You have such a thing with you?" One of the Elders asks in a sly tone.

"Of course. In a lockbox blessed by the Goddess herself." The Moon Goddess, since I got the box from Steve, but they don’t need to know that. The thought of what the blessing might do to them has dampened their enthusiasm for stealing from me though, which was the point of telling them.

"Jervis, bring in the relic fragment." the King calls without looking at whoever he’s speaking to. The sound of shuffling feet follows and a humanish looking Demon in a butler’s outfit enters carrying a black shard on a velvet cushion. It looks very much like the piece I need, but I’m not feeling any pull towards it from the other shards, though it still feels like the remaining fragment is in the area.

"Yes, that’s what it looks like. Now, if you could bring out the actual fragment, I would be happy to complete our deal." I inform them in a pleased voice and I see one of the advisor’s faces turn to absolute rage.

"What do you mean this isn’t it?" The King asks with a frown.

"This is a copy. The real piece is still in the immediate area somewhere though, I can sense it."

The advisors look skeptical of my abilities, but I’m more than willing to prove them wrong. "The actual fragment should be drawn towards a black Priestess, and Her towards it. If your Majesty would care to accompany me, we can go on a short treasure hunt until we find the missing relic. Even inside a storage ring its presence will still be easily detectable."

When we got close to the other piece they were physically pulled together. Just walking around the room would likely be enough to find whoever has the original, but my money is on the guy who looks more and more furious. What reason could he have to be mad at my not accepting the fake if he didn’t arrange for it?

Hopefully he’s not dumb enough to have kept it on him though. I’d bet that a lower ranked servant is set up to take the fall.

"Whatever will you do if the piece can’t be recovered?" One of the advisors asks in mock sympathy. Oh, that’s how it’s going to be?

"I’m sure they’ll be disappointed in me, but the Black Avatar on the Divine Council would likely just send a full search party to succeed where I failed." I shrug, knowing that’s the very last thing they’d want to happen.

The Divine Council have a well deserved reputation for being uptight and insufferable at the best of times. But to residents of anything less than a Divine Plane? Insufferable doesn’t even begin to describe their attitude. Most of the Divine Planes don’t consider mortals to be anything more than animals, the Council sees them more like a persistent roach infestation. Mostly because they see residents of the Immortal Planes as lesser beings, so mortals needed a new, lower status.

I’m actually rather glad I didn’t need to deal with their summons in person, though the Black Dragon’s Avatar might at least have been civil to me.

I focus on the pull and try to open my senses to their maximum, looking for a fluctuation that might mean the missing piece. It doesn’t take long to determine what they’re trying to pull, the piece is hidden in the bottom of a bookshelf, in a drawer that smells like wolfsbane.

Very subtle.

"Do you have any clues where it might be within the castle? That’s a lot of ground to cover." Prince Ivan says with worry in his voice.

"I don’t think we’ll have to go far, the cabinet under the bookshelf that reeks of wolfsbane is a pretty good place to start. Not exactly stealthy, though they were probably in a hurry." I point to the shelf I mean and angry face advisor moves to block the Prince from accessing it.

"My Prince, the Divine Council is treacherous, don’t let this fake Demon mislead you. She’s been sitting in a chair laced with Holy water all this time and hasn’t taken any damage. She’s not one of us." The man pleads.

"Enough with the nonsense. If you don’t want a Dragon Army on our doorstep, give the Priestess the relic and accept her trade so we can be done with this." The King shouts, finally exerting his authority. Which seems rather limited in practice, as the advisors still talk it over amongst themselves before agreeing. This might be even more dysfunctional than Earth’s politics.

"What do you have to trade us High Priestess?" One of the friendlier looking advisors asks.

That’s a good question, what’s in this box. Kids toys, some books, oh, a bracelet that enhances the cultivating of Unholy Energy. It’s pretty gaudy, like kids play jewelry, but it’s made of solid gold, and it’s a low level Divine artifact.

"How about this Divine Relic? It was prepared specifically for a Demon that might render the Council worthy aid." I say, taking it out. Everyone’s eyes go wide like they’re going to make a grab for it, so I hand it to Prince Ivan. He can deal with the self important geezers.

The butler known as Jeeves goes to the cabinet and collects the relic piece, sneezing at the ground wolfsbane and silver powder in the drawer, while the King glares at his advisors.

"With this our contract is complete." He says, handing it to Price Ivan to pass to me. The pieces merge the moment I put it into my storage, sending a surge of power into me. It feels like a file, as if I need to open it to see the contents, but this is a really bad spot for that.

"As always, it was a pleasure coming to an agreement. I should really retire for the evening, my day has been a long one." I put on my best diplomatic smile and try to find an excuse to leave.

"It’s still morning here, rest a while and there will be a feast in honor of your visit tonight." The King declares. Guess I’m not escaping that easily.