Chp.34: Second negotiation (part 2)

Haku kept his word: within exactly fifteen minutes he returned to the tower together with two women. When he arrived, Black Vulture had already brought Rhaegal there, still tied up. When he saw it, Haku couldn't suppress a surge of euphoria. "Hi, brother"

"Hi, brother" Rhaegal replied with a smile. "It took you a long time. You are really late this time"

"I did as soon as possible" Haku replied catching the joke, then turned serious again. His eyes quickly ran to inspect his brother's body, which fortunately didn't appear to have any injuries or wounds. "They treated you well, I see"

"Yes, they have been very hospitable. But still they have room for improvement" Rhaegal said. "Yes, in short, sleeping all the time was nice, but the restaurant service and the room where I stayed leave something to be desired. And furthermore it wasn't allowed to make too much noise... let's just say I couldn't move. Despite the welcoming hospitality, therefore I'm glad you finally picked me up"

Marcus ignored the exchange between the two brothers, and instead focused on Rhaegal. He hadn't seen any defiance in her eyes, so either he was very good at hiding or he really didn't remember anything. Even though he knew that the Lethe's water left no trace, a small doubt remained in his mind. But there didn't seem to be anything unexpected.

Hara took a small step forward, looking at the two women behind Haku. "I know you" she said acidly.

Maldor took a half bow. She didn't know why but she felt nervous. "It's good to see you again, principal"

Hara wrinkled her nose. "Now I understand why you knew the runes so well. Did they tell you, hmm?" she said looking at the two dragons.

Maldor bit her lip. "I admit it. But I assure you that..."

"Okay, that's enough" Marcus intervened, not wanting to warm things up. "I'd say we wasted enough time. Haku, shall we make this trade?"

The dragon looked at him with a strange mix of anger and calm, then he nodded and said: "I promise that what I'm about to say is absolutely true". Having sworn the oath, his tone became strangely determined. "Now I will tell you the name of the one who rules 'The spider', and who has always ruled it since I started learning about the organization"

Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. He'd hoped to know more people's names, but even just the head of the organization was fine. He hoped it was someone who possessed weaknesses, and therefore could be easy to control. In fact, Marcus' purpose wasn't to immediately kill that boss: doing so would have meant causing the organization to fall into chaos, with a consequent increase in crime throughout the kingdom and possible massacres and massacres. His intent was to be able to find a way to put that boss under his control, so as to be able to keep the organization stable, obtain all the necessary information and dismantle it from the inside.

Haku paused for an istant, then he said: "Sisna Drachia. That's her name. She lives in the capital. I'm sure your spy, Gerard, will find her easily". He closed his eyes and shook his head. "She's been useful to me so far, but now that I'm about to leave these lands, I no longer need her. She's all yours. As for how to capture her, or control her, or anything you plan to do with her, I don't want to hear about it. It's your problem"

Obviously the second part of his speech was a lie: Haku considered Sisna extremely important, both as a sister and because through 'The spider' she could provide them with food and resources in case of lean periods. But he had sworn that only 'what he was about to say' would be true. He hadn't set a time limit, which meant he could choose it arbitrarily. So he had decided that 'what he was about to say' was limited exclusively to revealing Sisna's name, while otherwise he could lie. After all, dragons were champions at finding loopholes in their own oaths.

Marcus reflected. That speech seemed a bit set to him, but it was probable that Haku had studied it before coming there. If there was one thing she had learned about him, it was that he never said or did anything without first carefully calculating it. It was probable that there were many things that Haku knew about that person that he wasn't saying, or that he was willingly modifying in some way to make them true even if they weren't and thus keep his oath. But at least, the king had the name of the boss of 'The spider'. That was enough to consider it a victory, though he wasn't sure of the relationship between the dragon and this woman. This sparked a doubt inside him, but he decided to keep it to himself for now, since saying it out loud would reveal things to Haku that he was better off not knowing.

Taking his silence as a sign that he could continue, Haku pointed to the two women beside him. "Now I will fulfill my second condition" he declared. "This one that you see is Maldor Hakister, and she is the person who discovered the formula. The other is Kotaru, her servant. As you could see your mage remembers them, and I assume not in a very good way"

Hara rolled her eyes in annoyance. She wasn't someone to hold grudges, but she wouldn't forget easily those who had betrayed her trust and endangered her academy. While there was no real evidence of this, it was quite obvious that those who stole the portable gate at the time of the attack were the very ones who later turned out to be missing. Therefore, she couldn't help but feel some anger towards Maldor, even though she had made sure to get the students to safety before the attack.

Haku made a sign to Maldor. "Now we will prove that what I say is true. Give them the formula"

Maldor approached Hara and handed her a piece of paper. The woman read it quickly and then her eyes widened slightly. Without even asking permission or warning anyone, she raised her staff and began performing all kinds of spells, and from the concentration in her eyes it was obvious that in her mind at the moment she was performing the mathematical calculations she had seen on the paper. Spell after spell, magic after magic, and in the end her face had turned pale and with a slight sign of excitement on it. "This… this formula works. It's right" she whispered, looking at the paper as if she were holding a chick in her hands. "Your Majesty, this could..."

"Give us international prestige, revolutionize magic, etc... I know, we've already had this speech" the king stopped her immediately. Even though he wasn't a mage he could understand his excitement, but he didn't want to listen to another ten minute explanation of how much that formula could greatly enhance the Jurao Kingdom. "If you say it works, then I believe you. And I admit I'm impressed"

Haku smiled satisfied, then he put a hand on Maldor's shoulder. "You have been helpful so far, and I thank you. But this is the time to part"

Of course it was all an act. Unlike Sisna, for whom he could feign indifference, Maldor had shown that she worked for him before and she was even willing to endanger an entire city for him; Haku certainly couldn't pretend that there was nothing serious between them. Therefore he had decided to play the part of the grieving friend, as if he and Maldor had known long ago and formed some sort of bond.

Rhaegal noticed this and, even if there was no time to warn him, he immediately understood everything and played along: "Really, girls? Are you leaving?" he asked pretending to be sad.

"It was our decision" Maldor answered. "You two have helped us so much, and we are grateful. But both Kotaru and I need a normal life. And if I can both get it and help you, that's fine with me"

Rhaegal snorted. "You're really kind. So, this is goodbye. I wish you the best of luck, wherever you go"

Maldor and Kotaru nodded, then went towards the king and his companions to surrender, but Hara suddenly stopped them. "Wait. How exactly did you come up with this formula?"

That request obviously served to verify that it was Maldor who had discovered her; even though Haku had promised not to lie, no one in there was foolish enough to blindly trust a dragon, and so it was only natural that the mage would try to put Maldor under pressure. If it hadn't really been Maldor who discovered the formula, she probably wouldn't have known what to answer; but of course, Maldor was more than prepared. "So, earlier I considered combining magic and math, and I originally thought about doing it using..."

She went on for ten minutes carefully listing every single step of her experiments, revealing details that only the true discoverer of the formula could know. She would go on even for more time, but Hara stopped her. "Okay, you convinced me. You really are the one who discovered it"

Hearing this, and trusting the judgment of his best mage, Marcus nodded to Thornag and he ushered the two women out of the tower. He returned after a few moments, stating that he had entrusted them to the care of some knights and that he had placed them in a tent surrounded by all kinds of security measures. "All right, let's wrap this up" the king said. "Tell me Carrion's secret, so we can conclude this"

But Haku shook his head. "First you have to free my brother"

The king clenched his fists. "Why?"

Haku snorted, then he said: "I promise that after you free my brother, I will reveal Carrion's secret immediately. Well, now you have the guarantee that I will keep my part of the bargain. But I have none. So free my brother, then I will fulfill the third condition"

Marcus sighed. He wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but he decided to play along with the dragon, so he nodded to Black Vulture. The woman, albeit with some reluctance, deactivated the magical device that created the golden threads that imprisoned Rhaegal. The dragon stood up on his huge paws and looked at Black Vulture with a look of victory, then walked over to Haku and stood behind him.

"Very good. So here is Carrion's secret" Haku said. "He's a beastman"

Marcus was momentarily taken aback, and so were Hara and Thornag. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. He's a hybrid between a lizardman and a snakeman. To disguise himself, he used a similar method to mine, with the difference that he fed it and made it more efficient thanks to his divine power" Haku explained. "But he couldn't fool my nose. When I unmasked him, he dropped his disguise and showed himself to me for what he really was. He told me his story. It was very interesting… you should let him tell you too when you see him again. Believe me, at least in my case listening it was very therapeutic"

Marcus was still recovering from the shock. Everything would have thought, except that Carrion was a beastman, and that he had been able to hide it so well all along. It was quite shocking.

Haku turned to the door. "Well, we're done here. Let's go, brother" he said to Rhaegal, who followed him to the exit. But before crossing it, Haku stopped for a moment and added: "Try to kidnap one of us one more time and you will die before you even begin. I warned you". And having said this, he went out and ran away with his brother in the dark of night.

When they were gone, Marcus looked at Thornag and Hara. "You two, make sure that the two women the dragon brought don't abandon their tent. And from tomorrow, find out as much as possible about them. Become their best friends if necessary, and inform me of every of their moves"

"Do you suspect anything, Your Majesty?" Thornag asked him.

The king nodded. "It's just a feeling, but I think those two women might be dragons too. Since we know Haku's family has many, it's possible that those are his sisters. And maybe Sisna Drachia is too". He looked at Black Vulture: "You, go immediately to Gerard and inform him of what you know, and then tell him to gather information on this woman. I need to know if she is too a dragon in disguise"

The three nodded and then headed out of the tower. Marcus was left alone with his thoughts, trying to devise a way to find out if those three women, or perhaps even more if Sisna Drachia had close associates, were dragons themselves.