Mageslayer Ch. 05

Lori was enjoying the sight of Lord Zahle forced to pretend not to despise her existence, it was a fun game she could play with him, and now she wore a genuine, if not polite smile behind her mask. She didn't bother to nod her head, they were nobility, but they were on her estate, besides Eter and perhaps the Magus, she had the most authority here. If he wanted to tell her about rumors, she'd be happy to dispel and confirm his suspicions. "Lori is a unique mistress, that is true. She is better at magic, smarter, and a better fuck than any other mistress. Lord Eter picks well. Please allow her to entertain Eter's guests, she welcomes them into the manor." She spoke with an even tone, once more smiling to herself at the reaction of shock from the nobles as she spoke explicitly. She noted the man didn't have his eyes wander, despite her as typical fairly revealing outfit and fairly attractive appearance. He either was highly disciplined, uninterested in females, or genuinely despised half fae so much he didn't see them any different than animals. Of course no option was mutually exclusive.

Before waiting for a reply the Neko turned and opened the door to the manor, gesturing for them to follow her. She heard the footsteps of them, a few hurried whispers, and knew who or whatever constituted their entourage were close behind. "It seems unbecoming to share such details, Mistress Erenvloth." The stout lord coughed out, recovering any degree she had left him flustered, her ears partly swiveling to hear him better. His lady so far had said nothing, she didn't seem nearly as displeased by Lori as her husband as well, that much hadn't changed. Lori wasn't sure of her name, but still recognized the face from various portraits. She wore a fashionable dark blue dress, modest but not stuffy, it still gently hugged her curves and cut off above her ankles, but only the most conservative of the magocracy would ever find it objectionable. Lori took several turns, her tail swaying slightly above the ground as she eventually reached a small dining area, larger than the private dining rooms connected to some of the larger bedrooms, but smaller than the banquet hall near the center of the manor.

There were a handful of bookshelves and other amenities throughout the room as well, and was well connected to the many servant passages of the manor, meant to entertain guests or house modest dinner parties. Lori had most of the estate mapped out by now, she had spent much of the past few days exploring. Lori took a seat at the head of the table and watched as the two nobles made their way in, taking seats next to each other around the circular table, the lord opposite Lori. A few seconds later she saw the still cloaked spymaster Leric make his way in, sitting away from the neko but off to the side. She wondered what favor he called to come here, it's not like he was a friend of Zahle. Following the slim man came the orc she saw earlier, easily a head taller than even Ale, he was as typical of an orc built large and muscular. He had thick pale grey skin, mostly wrapped up by red cloth, his face only barely visible through a standard orcish turban. While they weren't needed outside the deserts of the sultanate, most orcs still wore them for religious or cultural reasons. Finally Elz made her way in, gently bowing to Lori. "Well guests of Eter, Lori welcomes all of them to the estate. She already knows Leric and Lord Zahle of course, but does not know how to call the other two. Elz can have staff bring in food, guests must be hungry." She spoke eloquently, discounting her exotic speech patterns.

Elz quickly nodded her head, disappearing back out the door to communicate with the staff. Zahle was momentarily confused, he hadn't expected her to recognize Leric, let alone know him in any meaningful way. That was good. Leric's expression was hidden, even with Lori's abilities to bypass illusions and ability to see clearly through darkness, his magicked hood kept his face obscured by shadowy mist not even she could pierce. The woman finally spoke, a voice that was high and whispery, reflecting her elven ancestry. "My name is Lady Neri'varuth'calza of house Azari, though Lady Azari or Lady Neri will do fine. I take it your name would be Lori then?" Unlike her husband, Lori had trouble reading her aura, it didn't flare up, and without her scent to analyze it, she found it difficult to tell her true emotions. Reading her expression was even harder. Before Lori could reply though, the orc spoke.

"I am known as Zetomar, son of Liazer, wife of Derkul. I could go on, but I believe that is enough for what you want." He spoke in a deep, gravely grumble of a voice, but amusement was obvious in his final statement. Lori recognized the name, he was an influential merchant prince, selling ore and hide to the magocracy, and then was a major distributor of magicked items produced within it. Meanwhile he bought grain and sold it within the sultanate. Of course he was beyond personally doing any of that, but he still controlled much of the trade. Of course house Azari would know him, but it was curious that they brought him here. For the benefit of the orc they were speaking low arcano. The orc was scrutinizing her and not hiding it, he was curious how she would act, what she would do. Unlike those in the magocracy, most orcs had few issues with druidic magic or half fae, they didn't practice arcane magic, but due to their close trade alliance, the sultanate still kept half fae as slaves and pets, one would not find refuge from the council within the deserts.

"Well then Zetomar, Neri, it is Lori's pleasure to make acquaintances. Food should be arriving shortly, in the meantime do they wish to tell Lori nature of visit?" she didn't antagonize the orc by shortening his first name. The first syllable of an orcish name was given, the second was earned, and the third was fought for. Most orcs died with a two syllable name, only the powerful, successful, or determined had three syllables, and any more than three is legendary. They were proud, maybe as proud as Lori was, and to not acknowledge the merchant's status would be an insult, paramount to challenging him to shorten his name. Lori could probably win a fight with the orc, but had no interest in taking that risk, and more importantly from what orcish she could remember, to meant prosperity, mar meant merchant, and she knew she couldn't out thrift the orc. Zetomar noticed this sign of respect and knowledge of culture, he grunted lightly in appreciation.

Zahle spoke fiddling with one of his sleeves. "We have come to discuss business with your master, but while he is occupied I would find it quite silly to talk about such matters, it's not like he would want a neko to make any kind of impulsive decision about his own property." He spoke dismissively, barely looking up. Lori knew what Eter wanted from her, he wanted to see how she dealt with this, ultimately he would be the final decider, but she had a good feeling he wanted her to act with some authority.

"Actually, Lord Eter has given Lori permission to negotiate and manage affairs, of course he has final say on anything she decides, but as Lori is sure the orc would point out, it is improper to discuss business after leisure time, it should be taken care of first." Lori replied with a polite but obviously defiant tone, not exactly telling the truth, but she was still being mostly honest, reciting a tidbit of orcish culture she had learned some time ago, she was not an expert, but was at least somewhat studied, even if she struggled with the language. Leric so far had remained silent, not drawing any attention to himself, it was almost easy to forget he was there. Almost.

"She speaks the truth Zahle, I would prefer to handle business before any meal, anything else would be disrespectful and uncomfortable. So I will be direct, Zahle suggested I accompany him to help negotiate potential land sale, but also because he claimed it may be in my best interest to renegotiate an existing trade agreement I have with the estate. It has been underproducing grain, to the extent that it is not profitable to buy what very little it may have in excess. I have no choice but to end the agreement or at least renegotiate it." The orc spoke in his gruff voice, but kept an even, diplomatic tone. Lori couldn't help but grin as she saw the mild smirk of Zahle and the more subtle curl of his wife's lips. He was annoyed this was being discussed with her, at least at first, then he realized he may be able to screw her over even more than he could screw Eter. After the orc finished, he spoke up.

"Considering this, I felt that the estate has in part crumbled under Eter's rule, and would gladly do him a service by buying his title for four hundred crowns. I do not want to see the farmers starve and land within a day's travel of the capital wasted." Lori almost snarled at this, but settled for a more mild rumbling growl. Four hundred crowns was an obscene amount of money to the average person, sure, but just the horses within the estate's stables were worth at least double. It was maybe a tenth of a reasonable offer, and that wasn't counting the massive iron oak Elz. The lord seemed a bit surprised and taken aback by the sudden growl, leaning back in his chair somewhat.

"Lori is not dumb and neither is Eter. Erenvloth estate will stay with Erenvloth house. Lori is glad to hear the orc wants to renegotiate, because she needed to do that soon anyway. Elz!" Lori didn't bother with feigned politeness, but still had no reason to be angered by the orc. She raised her voice to call for her dryad who came gracefully through the door several moments later with a quick nod of her head. It was only now the guests paid any real attention to the fae, and it was only the woman who grasped the fact that she was wearing a delicate looking collar.

"A fae handmaiden for a neko Mistress? Truly remarkably absurd. I doubt her full name is Elz then? Regardless, call me morbidly curious." She spoke with a hint of amusement, though did silence herself following a withering look from Zahle. She seemed genuinely surprised, as did Zahle and to a lesser extent Zetomar, Leric as normal without her smell was quite hard to read, but he seemed only mildly taken off guard. Perhaps he had already suspected something. Lori was curious about the true relationship between the lord and lady of house Azari, she had assumed they had similar ideologies, but elves were typically more allowing of neko especially, and perhaps that had rubbed off on her from her elvish side. Regardless it was clear they weren't exactly the closest. A weakness to exploit.

Before Zahle got a word in Lori elaborated, pushing her advantage of their initial surprise from his wife's revelation. "Elz is fae yes, she is dryad or tree fae. Full name long and annoying, name of big iron oak Lori knows Azari house wants. Can't have cause belongs to Lori now though, because Elz bound to serve Lori. She was cursing land, but stopped because she serves Lori now. Instead she can enhance land, make it grow good and even unnatural crops. Magic grain, things that shouldn't grow here, all kinds of things. Anything short of arcane curse won't blight crops, and they'll grow even in drought." Lori flashed a toothy grin even behind her mask, enjoying the look of growing annoyance and outrage on Zahle's face as he realized bringing the orc would end up backfiring. Of course Zetomar seemed intrigued to see the least. He saw an opportunity for massive profit, and thought for several moments before speaking, allowing Zahle to get a word in.

"This seems quite ridiculous. Druidic magic can't be used to enchant an estate, it would be totally illegal. The council would never approve of a notoriously disobedient fae like a dryad performing such magic." He spoke with a hurried, annoyed tone, and almost raised his voice, but calmed slightly as his wife placed a hand on his shoulder. She seemed the more diplomatic of the two, and Lori stayed in polite silence, Elz walking behind her, briefly attending to her hair, making sure it remained braided.

"Actually, it is not circle magic, it is sylvan magic, which is legal as long as fae practicing it is properly registered and controlled. She has an oath sworn to me, and as the lord can see, she wears a collar. She is my legal and official servant and as such I can make full use of her talents within reason. Enchantments on estates are of course legal and common as the lord surely knows, just because mages tend to not find fae willing to serve them doesn't mean it's illegal. If he really has issue he can surely bring the issue up with the council, but Lori doesn't think they'll find a massive increase in the productivity of land objectionable." She gave a more lengthy, measured response, shutting down his objection with a condescending level of politeness. Leric was still watching, waiting, observing. He was here for information, he wanted to know how she was performing, what she was doing. He hadn't antagonized her yet. Zahle's face reddened at being talked down to by a half-fae, a non person, and before he responded in what likely would have been a shout, his wife whispered high arcano in his ear, gently stroking his arm still. Her words were lightly coated with illusion, to make it impossible to overhear even with a neko's keen senses. Normally anyway.

With Lori's skill at bypassing various magic, she still made out what Neri said. " Please dear, don't let her work you up. She wants to watch you make a fool of yourself, to make you lose your temper. Don't let yourself lose face." She was right of course, Lori would have loved to see the prim and proper lord start screaming at the mistress of a noble house he was a gust at. It would be easy to scandalize, but his wife was smarter, or at least had a cooler head. Either way, he listened to her, at least for now, and bit his tongue, allowing instead the orc to finally speak.

"Your offer is interesting. If the estate would sell its produce to exclusively me I would be willing to pay at a high, but fixed rate. Half a crown per bushel of grain, up from a quarter crown and three mints per. Of course, should I desire specific other plants that can also be negotiated." The orc spoke slowly and deliberately, Lori's ears perked at the deal. It took her a moment to understand, due to the massive trade codependency the Sultanate and Magocracy had, they shared a common currency, minted and controlled by the magocracy. Even in the deep deserts of Firhi, the capital of the orcs, a bushel only sold for perhaps a half crown and a handful of brass. Even accounting for the slightly higher quality of dryad blessed crops, he would probably only make a profit of a few mints per bushel. But then she realized that he wasn't betting his deal on normal conditions. He was betting on a famine to make his true profit. If they only sold to him at a fixed rate, during famine of non blessed grain he could probably sell for a full crown, perhaps more. It was clever, a bit ruthless, but clever.

"Lori finds that deal agreeable, but of course Eter will have the final say." She restrained a purr as she heard the shuffle of feet, and a small flood of servants began to flow through the room, placing various trays and dishes around the table, pouring wine and juice, and performing everything else that could be expected, Gabriel directing them. Before they finished though, Leric finally broke his silence in his husky, slightly whispery voice.

"I see you have taken to your new role well Lori." He didn't speak in any language exactly, Lori knew he had a small metal bead on his person that let him understand and speak any language. It was how he could speak high arcano despite not having noble blood. Lori heard his words in a tongue she recognized but could not name. It was the language her dreams were in, and the first language she spoke. She had decided to call it cat tongue, since it had purrs and growls, meows and other feline sounds, and she swore cats could understand it. It was instinctual, she never learned it, she simply knew it. Hearing the sounds coming from Leric had always slightly unsettled her. When he wanted everyone to hear him, everyone heard him in their native language, which actually caused Elz to be surprised for a few moments, no doubt healing him in Faetongue.

Lori looked at him, he was facing her, she thought, it was impossible to tell where his eyes gazed but she felt the distinct feeling of his gaze boring into her own. She was long past any stage of fear towards him, he had regularly beat her, whipped her, punished her, starved her. He was a brutal trainer. He also wasn't why she was as skilled as she was, she'd sooner eat her tail than credit her accomplishments to him. Brutality served no purpose, the scars that covered Lori's body inflicted on her by him were pointless. She growled in her throat as she remembered how much of her early life was pointless. He educated her, and gave her the legal protections she needed to learn, but her skills were her own. Her style of fighting was unique from his own, her methods were her own. So many hours spent training skills useless, so many hours spent being punished for faults that only sometimes existed. After all of that, she was the Mageslayer, the council's favored weapon, the nightmare of any mage acting against the interests of the magocracy. She was a noble, the last member of a house that was almost expunged, she was the first noble to survive their house being expunged, as long as she lived, so did house Rose. She was the lover of a warmage noble with circle blood on his hands, she was the mistress and owner of a pure blooded dryad, she was Lori. Despite that Leric wouldn't even give her a title. The nobles sitting across from her still saw her as a novelty and non person to be eliminated or enslaved. Only the orc showed her any respect, even the guards of the estate spoke rumors of her, encouraged by their captain.

Lori felt her thin, practically invisible, fur bristile. The pink hairs normally unseen by the human eye straightened and stiffened, catching light as her aura flared with her anger. She was getting angry for no good reason. She knew that. But it was too much, she had done so much, but still wasn't respected. The idiot humans, even the druids, saw her at best as a tool. With her fur bristiled, it became visible, somewhat, it was an almost transparent pink haze around her skin, quite similar to her aura actually which she could see. She felt the floodgates of her aura opening, urging her to release her magic, to do something. She could kill Zahle here, he had no idea that she was practiced in magic, and combat magic especially. She wouldn't need a complex plot, and she could handle the wife and probably the orc. Leric was a bit of a concern, but she was still confident she could take him out. That's when a voice that was and wasn't her own spoke in her head. It did not come from an outside source, her warding was up, but it rang clear and distinct in the growing storm of thoughts, it rang of concern, empathy, and patience. They see you as an animal, do not prove them right, not yet, you are cunning, not stupid.

The feelings of Eter, their empathic bond linking them still, he felt her rage, her surge of magic, and knew what was about to happen, and he had one genuine, constant thought that spoke through to her. She couldn't stop the spell already on her tongue, or surging magic already passing through her aura, and even the humans saw the crystalized spike of pink magic form and shoot out in front of her. Before anyone, even Lori, could react, it had shot through the air, but it did not hit Zahle's eye as she first intended. There was a squelching thud as it hit the wall opposite her, where her gaze was fixed on a medium sized spider, pierced through the abdomen and pinned to the wall. Silence filled the room for a few moments, even the servants stared nervously, as Lori's fur and posture relaxed. "Servants should do better job clearing pests, Lori didn't want meal ruined by spider bite." She spoke in a calm, almost naive voice. The glares and shocked silence was broken by an amused chuckle from Zetomar, his deep voice filling the room with a surprisingly hearty laugh. Several of the younger servants followed suit, nervously laughing, and much of the tension soon dissipated as the absurdity of what just happened took root in the mind of those present. Even Neri seemed to find the entire thing a bit funny.