A Royal Visit

Pre-chapter notice: I know I'm retconning a certain bit, details weren't ironed out at the time of the initial discussion of a topic that will come up in this chapter. Hooray for rough first drafts.

Dorin's knock on the ornate, gold-plated door hung in the air for a moment, and Ahsch tried to keep himself from trembling in... anticipation? Nervousness?"Who is it?" came the bitchy, feminine voice.

"Lord Ahsch Odestag, present for his meeting," the attendant called back.

"Come in." The voice sounded rather put-upon, though not quite to the point of being whiny.

Dorin opened the door and held it for his master. Ahsch nodded to the other boy, then entered the office, the door closing behind him and leaving him alone with...

"I thought you had said we should keep away from each other," Kirasiel Celes said, a hint of accusation in her voice. Slight dark circles highlighted her eyes from behind a pile of papers, papers which overflowed from the ostentatious desk she sat at and spilled onto the floor, a much messier replica of Michlas' office.

"I did, but... let's just say Phashak and her daughter aren't exactly patient."

Lady Celes' eyes narrowed. "Did that dragon visit you again? I haven't heard of any wild monsters in the vicinity of the Capitol."

"We were away from the Capitol," Ahsch explained. "She did find me, though thankfully she wasn't interested in 'testing' me again, just gave me a reminder - from herself and Phashak, apparently."

"Which was?"

"That Phashak gave me two... uh... 'gifts,' and that she expected me to make use of them."

Kirasiel's gaze sharpened, her expression dark. "If you expect me to..."

Ahsch held up his hands. "I don't!" he quickly interjected. "Which... look, I don't know what they want from me, aside from me growing more powerful in a general sense. They're leaving the 'how's and 'what's up to me, but Phashim did warn me off of being rash with Dominant's Tithe, so at least they don't expect me to go around seducing innocent maidens into a harem or anything."

"How noble of... wait, did you just say 'Phashim?'"

"Yeah, apparently the dragon we met? She's the Sixth Daughter of Phashak."

Kirasiel went pale. "You're telling me you not only attracted the attention of the Draconic Goddess of Magic... but also one of the Mystical Calamities?"

Ahsch glared at her. "You think I enjoy having that sort of attention on me? I was perfectly happy back in Sarvas before you..." He cut himself off with a snap of his teeth, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "Point is, I'm not thrilled about having two beings who could kill me as easy as they breathe paying that much attention to me. And I think, for once, that we agree - having one of the Mystical Calamities hanging around could be... bad. Especially if she's disappointed by what she sees."

Lady Celes thought for a moment. "Then what, exactly, are you suggesting?"

"Nothing." He shrugged at the doubtful look Kirasiel shot him. "Look, you're involved, whether you - or I - like it or not. Hells, Phashim mentioned you specifically! You deserve to know, and frankly, if I end up disappointing them, I'm not sure what'll happen, given that part of Phashak's 'gifts' was not killing you. I'm not saying anything _will _happen, but if she comes to regret that gift..." He left the sentence open, shrugging helplessly. "I'm just trying to keep you in the loop, and hoping you might have an idea."

Kirasiel sneered at him. "If you're looking for ideas, why don't you ask your new wife?" she spat.

Ahsch crossed his arms, frowning. "I did. She doesn't have any ideas. Though to be fair, she's not directly involved either." He thought for a moment. "Well, she did mention that I - we - shouldn't let them get bored. I'm inclined to agree."

"Spectacular," Lady Celes said with all the passion of a dried bone. "Truly, 'Lord' Odestag is a marvel of intellect."

Cunt, Mahat thought from across R'sath, where she waited out-of-sight back at the Odestag suites, keeping the rest of the group up-to-date through her mental bond with her Master. Though Avery isn't surprised by that.

Yeah, I'm aware of what most royals think of me, Avery supplied, slipping into Daydreamweave. Don't like it, but I also don't really care.

Ahsch met Kirasiel's eyes. "My wife doesn't appreciate those words you just spoke."

Lady Celes' eyes widened slightly. The hrafthi held her gaze for a moment, then sighed. "Look, I don't know what they're expecting, but Phashak and Phashim clearly want something from me, and clearly want that to involve you somehow. At the very least, I'd suggest we..." he paused, sighed again, then continued through gritted teeth, "spend some time working on this... together."

...If you really need to spend time around the cunt, I guess you should invite her to dinner, Avery said in a suspiciously bored tone. That is how we royals do things, after all.

Ahsch mentally squinted at his wife. You're up to something.

Oh, yes, of course. Always am. But don't worry about that. The older royal's tone suggested that he _very _much should worry about it, but the suggestion was a good one regardless of his wife's machinations.

"To that end... my wife and I would like to formally invite you to join us for dinner..." Ahsch slowly told Kirasiel. He paused as Avery added on, then finished, "...tomorrow evening."

The office was silent for a long moment. Lady Celes searched her guest's face for something, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How much does she know?"

"All of it."

A snarl formed on the girl's face. "All?" she insisted.

Ahsch set his jaw. "I've decided not to keep secrets from my wife."

The snarl quickly morphed into a smirk. "Do you honestly think she reciprocates that?"

"I'm willing to trust her."

"Hm," Kirasiel hummed, almost amused. "I'm sure her brother thought that too. Do you know how Miri died?"

"Michlas said that it was poison."

Ahsch, even if what she says is true, don't... Avery started.