Chp.40: The king and the dragon (part 2)

Marcus' face became much more serious, and his features became more marked. "What do you mean by payment?"

"Knowledge is power, that's my way of life. It would be stupid of me to give it to you for free, wouldn't it?" Haku answered without losing his smile. "Don't worry, I'm not a heartless trader. Since you were willing to spare my life, I'll be happy to offer you all my knowledge for a very low price"

Those words clearly didn't please the king, who frowned with obvious annoyance, but Haku could recognize an amused gleam in his eyes. It was clear that this was exactly what he expected from the dragon. As Haku had guessed, the king was seeing their conversation just like him: a daring game of chess, and now he was interested in the move he had just made.

The other members of the room did not like his words like the king. Hara uttered what was clearly a line of disdain, clearly disgusted by such shamelessness: what rude would dare to speak so blatantly to the ruler? The other man, on the other hand, reacted even worse: he advanced towards Haku and before the dragon could react he grabbed him by the neck. "How dare you, dragon, try to bargain with the king!?" he growled furiously.

"Thornag, let him go!" Marcus ordered. The man hesitated for a moment, then let go. Haku rubbed his aching neck: even if the human hadn't squeezed him too much, he had still hurt a lot. That man must have had high level strength, maybe he was even another legendary level. Apparently his name was Thornag. He would remember it.

Thornag glared at the dragon as he rubbed his neck, then he said: "If you value your life, you'll tell what the king wants to know without making a fuss. You're a prisoner here, don't forget that"

"Right, right" Haku said looking at him defiantly. "Forgive me, I hadn't considered the situation. You're right, refusing to say anything would be to force the king here to kill me. He certainly wouldn't break his word if he did". The smile returned to his face, this time even more arrogant. "Not to mention that he certainly has many other prisoners from whom he can get this information. Otherwise he couldn't afford to threaten me with death, right? Of course he can do it without me. You're right, I was really stupid. The king is certainly in a position of absolute power over me, I was foolish not to notice it sooner"

His tone was clearly teasing, and Thornag had no difficulty in noticing it. The man was tempted to throw a punch at the dragon, but stopped him with the knowledge that he was right. Haku had expressed his two aces up his sleeve, which he had managed to extrapolate from the brief conversation with the sovereign. First, the king promised to not kill him unless it was necessary; even if the newcomers weren't bound to their oaths like dragons, the promise of a king was still no small feat. Second, Marcus needed him to learn fairy magic, so he couldn't afford to kill him. Haku knew humans craved that knowledge, even Ethan had told him so, so he had no doubts he could use it as a bargaining chip.

Marcus was silent for a moment, then nodded to Thornag: "That's enough. Don't intervene again, Thornag" he ordered. Even though his tone was peevish, a small smile was painted on his face. It was clear that he enjoyed Haku's behavior. "Very well. So, what is the payment you want?"

Haku would have liked to smile more, but he didn't so as not to reveal his joy to his opponent. He knew he had done it: agreeing to discuss the proposal was the first step towards acceptance. If the king was willing to bargain, then Haku had a chance. "That's the deal" he answered. "I will give you all the knowledge I have. All of it. How those items work, the runes, the weapons… everything. And in exchange, you will set me free". He knew that wasn't enough, that he had to make the deal more palatable, so he added: "I realize however that as a king you cannot let what will become, quite literally, a monster, go free. So here's what I'm going to do: I will promise you that I won't come back never again in your kingdom. You know I will never break such an oath. I will go my way, away from here, and you will never see me again"

Haku believed that proposal was good. Basically, the king would receive great magical knowledge, and in return he would not have to give him anything. After all, according to the law of the kingdom Haku should have been killed, and to keep him alive would mean having to provide him with food, which was a big cost considering how much a dragon ate every day. In a way, freeing him would have been more convenient from the king's point of view. However, clearly Marcus couldn't have done it, since Haku once he became an adult would have become a danger to his entire kingdom; therefore Haku had immediately added that if he would never come back. Well, actually he had saved himself a little loophole: he had said that he would promise that he would never return to 'his kingdom', meaning the kingdom of Marcus, not the Jurao Kingdom. Which meant that once Marcus was no longer king he could freely return. Since humans lived very short lives, at least from a dragon's point of view, and Marcus must already be at least thirty years old, it wouldn't be long before he died of natural causes or was forced to abdicate due to old age. Not to mention that he was still a sovereign, and as such he wasn't free from many dangers, indeed he attracted them like honey attracted flies. As a result, if Haku wanted, he could have returned to the Jurao Kingdom in a relatively short period of time. Not that he really wanted to: he had no plans to return there in the future, but couldn't be completely sure. It was always better to keep a loophole.

Marcus rubbed his chin, pondering Haku's words. The dragon's proposal was quite satisfactory indeed. Marcus knew that Haku, as a dragon, would never break his oath. He had noticed his little trick, but a little haggling would have been enough to force Haku to remove it and agree to never come back. Under normal circumstances, he would almost certainly have accepted, indeed he would probably have been happy to have achieved so much for almost nothing.

However, there was one factor that Haku didn't know about, and that was the previous dialogue between the king and the prophetess. Marcus knew Haku was important and knew that, for some reason, he had to try to subdue him. Marcus wasn't a staunch believer in the God of Knowledge, having consecrated himself to another goddess, but everyone in the world knew that oracles couldn't be wrong, and that the best thing to do when given one was to obey. So he opened his mouth and he said: "I have an alternative proposal"

Haku's smile faltered. He didn't expect the king to have an alternative. He didn't like it: that could be problematic. "I listen to you"

Marcus sighed dramatically. "Believe me, I wish I could accept your proposal, but there are still too many risks. It's true, you couldn't return to my kingdom… but you could send someone else. Or you could cause a disaster in a neighboring nation that would have repercussions on my kingdom. Or something else. There are an infinite number of possibilities, and dragons are known for being good at finding loopholes in their oaths… and for holding grudges for a very long time". The smile on his face widened slightly. "However, there is a solution to this problem. A solution that other nations have implemented when they have come into contact with dragons"

Haku was somewhat confused. "What solution?" he asked. As far as he knew, the only thing that happened when newcomers came into contact with dragons was to fight to the death.

"I assume you were born from a wild dragon, huh? One with her own territory, far from inhabited lands" Marcus said. "Well, it's time to inform you of some details. Not all dragons are wild, at least not anymore. Many of them have preferred to compromise. Simply put, they made a deal with a particular nation to give them territory, and in return they gave that nation their strength"

Haku's eyes widened. He didn't know that possibility! His mother hadn't told him about it… well, maybe she didn't know. Ethan hadn't told him either… but he hadn't exactly asked him. "There are many of them?"

"Not really. For now, only a few nations have a dragon at their service, and even fewer have more than one. Thanks to that, these nations are very powerful, wealthy, and safe places" Marcus replied. "This is my proposal: swear loyalty"

Haku didn't like those words. "To you?"

"No, not to me. To the Jurao Kingdom. Promise you'll always protect it" Marcus explained. "Do so, and I won't just set you free, but I will give you a territory of your own, as well as all the food you need and all the gold you want. You no longer have to struggle to survive. Or you can go your own way, like you will wish. There will be no constraints. All you have to do is intervene if you hear that the Jurao Kingdom is in danger, nothing more. What do you think? I think it would be a great gain for you"

Haku didn't know what to think. That speech was completely beyond his expectations. "Um... why should I want gold?" he asked, not knowing what else to say.

Marcus looked somewhat confused. "Aren't you interested? Dragons are known to love gold and other precious metals and gems. They keep and guard them with great care"

Haku couldn't understand. "I never cared about gold, and neither did my mother. What are we supposed to do with it? We can't eat it"

"Um… well, every dragon is different after all. Most of the dragons that have made this deal with the nations of… how do you call us? Newcomers? Well, they love gold" Marcus replied. "Anyway, we can discuss what you want later. Rather, do you accept?"

If Haku had been any dragon, he probably would have accepted without thinking twice. Dragons were individualistic and opportunistic creatures: if the newcomers had offered them the opportunity to live peacefully and with plenty of food available, they would surely have considered the proposal, since it was much better than living toil trying to avoid attracting trouble every day. Helping out the newcomers from time to time wasn't a big deal… while there was always the risk that the other side was stronger, it was still less risky than wandering around aimlessly. Furthermore, he would have had the possibility of being warned if there was a danger... the advantages were many, in short.

However, Haku couldn't do it. He, too, had a factor Marcus didn't know about: his siblings. The king obviously assumed that Haku was a solitary dragon, for such were dragons. But Haku had a family that he had to go back to. He couldn't just settle there. And in the same way he couldn't swear to rush to the aid of the kingdom whenever it needed his help: he would end up periodically moving away from his family, perhaps even in a very critical moment for them, or worse still, he would risk having to fight against one of his brothers or sisters if they were considered enemies of the kingdom. Haku doubted that the king would be willing to give a territory to all of them… dragons weren't exactly small consumers. A nation like the Jurao Kingdom could afford to support one dragon, but certainly not seventeen.

Besides, Haku wouldn't have condemned his siblings to that life. Even though it was a secure and peaceful life, he felt there was something terribly wrong with it. He or anyone else who ever accepted that proposal would be bound forever in an invisible chain. It would have been slavery, only without chains or cages. There was no escaping that oath: since he would intervene whenever the Jurao Kingdom was in danger, he couldn't stop defending it until it was dead. He couldn't just wait for the Jurao Kingdom to cease to exist: he would have to eliminate any threat.

Finally, he made his decision. "If you want me to swear loyalty to you, I will" he said to Marcus. "But not to the kingdom. I can't do that. Such an oath would bind me for life"

Haku was willing to spend a few decades under the king's command, but he wasn't willing to spend his entire life serving the Jurao Kingdom. Marcus didn't seem happy about that. "Aren't you even willing to think about it?"

Haku shook his head. "No. I can't take such an oath. I'm sorry"

The king looked at him sideways, then sighed. 'After all, this was what the prophetess wanted… and what I wanted initially too' he mused to himself. "All right. If you're going to be difficult, then I'll go hard. I've been too kind to you; I'll have to teach you what it's like to be a prisoner" he said, then he nodded to Thornag. "Spread the word in the city, tomorrow this stubborn one will meet a lindworm. Everyone can admire the fight"

Haku was taken aback by the king's sudden change of attitude. He wanted to ask for explanations, but Marcus left the room immediately after those last words and the other humans followed close behind, closing the door behind them and leaving him alone.