Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 24

So much so, that a covert and secret mission will be going off in the next few days. You, gentlemen, are going on this mission. All information you received is considered the secrets of the Empire and are not to be discussed outside of these walls. Eldar you know the most about this, you take over."

Eldar nodded, "Jarron has cleared me to talk with them about the other Knights. Given the second in command, it will become relevant. Silver Moon and my troops are already briefed and on-board.

Gentlemen, you are being called into the service of another organization that has supported the Elven Kingdom and our allies." He proceeds to brief them on the Knights and the mission.

He smiled, "Before you ask, we have this information because we have control of the spies' minds. All 4 high-level blade holders are on this mission as are the troops I have brought into town with me. I spoke with them. They will bring 2 dwarven sappers at my request to help close tunnels to stop reinforcements."

They both stared at him like he had lost his mind. They looked at the Queen who smiled at them. Moon Bow finally spoke, "Why are we doing this?"

Eldar sighed, "The purpose of the Knights who have the support of our allies is to make big conflicts smaller ones. If the fact that a Dragon was behind this uprising became known, it would spread, and it would open up another Dragon War.

Our race would not survive that. The years of encroachment and decreased population are all factors that I have been addressing. We have to shut this down and we have to keep this secret.

I do not know the size of the force that is coming, but it will be substantial. We have the information we need, the assault team will confirm everything and set the plan in motion. I am in charge of the support team."

Moon Blade sighed, "I was aware of the Knights, but I am not a member. I have provided some material support in the past. This is the first time I have been called onto the front line for them."

Eldar shook his head, "It is not just for them. It is for the safety of the Elven people to defend them. I brought my entire detail into the Knights including Dame Silver Moon. You are both Knight assets now, though how you will be used will vary as your skills are in other areas.

I will let Jarron talk with the other blade holders about their future with the Knights after this. I suspect you all being Knights of the court puts an additional obligation on you. I will tell you my mercenary company is also a training ground for potential Knights.

Instructor, you see any promising students who wish to protect all of the Elven people send them my way. That is one of the biggest ways you can help us in the future, to find those with the right mindset. I have two lines of service available that are more interesting than our military."

The Queen chuckled at that. Eldar nodded to the Queen, "I spoke with your nephew about joining us, at least for a while. He gets some more front-line experience, he will be a much better military commander, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "I had a long talk with him about you. Some amazing stunt you did off of the back of your horse. To take down that Ogre Magi. He is quite taken with that possibility. I just fear for his safety."

Eldar nodded, "I would make him a Lieutenant under one of my best Captains who would give his life for him while he is with us. If he chooses that route, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "You have been very diligent about protecting him and then some, not all but some front-line experience might make him a Grand Master faster."

Eldar nodded, "I agree it will because I will continue his education. I passed along a lot in just a few days."

She laughed, "I gathered that."

He smirked at her, "Any other Royal Family members wish to join I am sure we can find a place for them, Your Majesty?"

She shook her head, "Most are already in the military or doing other work. A few have gone their own way. I respect a free spirit, but I respect a commitment to the Elven people more."

Eldar nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty." He looked at the men. "Any other questions Knights of the Court?" They both sighed, looked at each other, and shook their heads. Eldar smiled, "Be back here by midday tomorrow ready for battle. Your Majesty, I would love it if we could have one of your conference rooms.

About twice the size or larger than the dining room we shared with the clerics. I would need a war table and lots of chairs of course."

She smiled, "We have a few rooms that could be used that meet that description. We will have one ready for you at midday tomorrow including food and drink." Eldar bowed to the Queen, "Anything else?"

She shook her head, "You bring enough entertainment that I do not need to ask for anything else."

That got everyone laughing. Eldar nodded and bowed to the Queen as they left. He got them to the entrance, "Tomorrow then?"

They both grimaced and nodded. Moon Bow looks at Eldar, "This is what we get for being Knighted?"

Eldar smiled and nodded, "A promise to the people not unlike the sword you carry."

He nodded back and the 2 of them left together as his wives walked in laughing. Charlemagne walked up and smacked his ass, "You are being bad. Annette came up and kissed him and smiled, "That is when he is usually at his best!"

Charlemagne laughed and nodded in agreement. The nobles in the room just kind of looked at the 3 of them strangely. He sighed, "We have work to do."

They nodded, "It is already started, the location of the caches has been given to the men. There are a couple of those sites you want to go to personally. Why don't you ride along with us in the wagon?"

Eldar shook his head, "If these are the locations I am thinking of, I will want my horse afterward."

They both nodded. He went around to the stable and there were two freshly fucked mares sitting there and he pulled T'suras by the reins over, "We will need to think about picking a few more mares while we are back. Maybe a blonde and redhead for you."

Eldar chuckled and got up into the saddle after closing the gate. "Let's get going Stud, my ladies are waiting. Biana T'suras."

They met out front and they gave him the address, "Royal Guards are supposed to be onsite and waiting."

They headed out and made their way through the city. They pulled up to an unassuming house and the ladies opened the door and walked inside. Little more than a hovel, one room for everything. They walked over and grabbed the table and lifted it to show a set of stairs going down.

They had a much larger room a good 50 feet underground. There were 6 vault doors and the ladies walked over and unlocked all 6. Some held coins, other gems, another was magical research material, and one an alchemy lab with bottles everywhere. The last was a trophy room. The items that they kept from their kills, the big prizes they were proud of. The room was a good 100 foot squared with chests, armor, weapons, and rings.

They walked through the trove. It looked like the lady took to weaving the Blade Singer rings together to make some erotic underwear. There was a bottom piece that left nothing to the imagination; in fact, the entire section covering the cunt and nether-hole were exposed. The second piece looked to be designed to cover the female breasts. He sighed, "The 81 rings."

They nodded and Annette sighed, "Our men will be here in a few minutes to start pulling together some gear."

The ladies stopped and picked up a few select items. Once they looked at the list they both stopped and pointed to the same object listed. Annette, "He might go longer in bed with this necklace. Quicker bounce back time."

Charlemagne smiled and nodded, "Good idea, as that was what I was thinking."

Charlemagne went and picked up the beautiful necklace and handed it to Annette with a mischievous smile. They went into the alchemy lab and backed out.

Annette walks up to Eldar, "We need an Alchemist to pack that lab. Just check this item out first."

He held the item up and identified it. The item was an amulet in platinum with heart-shaped ruby coiled by a dragon with blue sapphire eyes.

He looked at her, "Amulet of health, a major version. Beautiful craftsmanship."

Annette nodded, "Now put it on, your other amulet is not magical so you can wear them both. Charlemagne liked this one for you as well as we both agree."

Eldar nodded and draped the amulet around his neck. That high-pitched sound they heard before at the bar the night of the first visions was back. He looked down and the new amulet was gone.

---

Corellon groaned, "Maybe letting chance choose the Amulet, in this case, was a bad idea."

The Lady of Dream looked over the effect and she sighed, "Millions of ripples from just one amulet?!"

Bahamut showed up and looked at the 2 of them because Corellon sent for him. Corellon asked, "That was a draconic relic, not a Greater Relic. Was it not?"

Bahamut nodded and chuckled, "It almost doubled his constitution as to what was amplified by attaching. Strength and dexterity got boosted as well. It was designed for a Dragon Champion by Sartior and never used. It was more than health, but that is all they could detect about it, or you.

It is not my relic but I can see the impact this will have. It will build up over time as he is not getting it all at once. How it ended up in the vault, that occurred after withdrawing most of his follower's population from the world at the end of the 5th Age.

After going too far in aiding the Chromatic Dragons. As it was not a greater relic it was put into a vault because it cannot move worlds until this one is destroyed or our people are all gone. It had a Divine-Draconic non-detection to hide its relic status and most of its abilities.

At least that is what he stated, now if it had other things designed into it, I cannot say as he would not tell me. He is barred from communicating directly, as you know. Only to non-Gemstone heroes only. He is allowed one at a time and he does not have the population to increase it. I believe the Amethyst Queen is his current one, but I could be mistaken.

Sartior was not happy it was stolen by the Chromatic Dragons. I laughed at him because he aided them and was genuinely surprised to see it get stolen by them. Given the mind of Eldar, he is hopeful that the perfect mind many of them have searched for might appear someday from this Elven line in a psion.

That would be something he would like to see, but he cannot demand it because of the restrictions placed upon him. This has happened before, where another gods relic has ended up being used by a champion of another race. It will happen again most likely.

By chance, or on purpose. The effects are often chaotic if they do not align. In this case, he cannot claim the relic because of the penalty and Eldar had enough Dragon Blood in him to activate it, even though he is not a sorcerer or a psion. He will have many children and many of them will be talented gestalts now because of this.

Because of his royal Dragon bloodlines including all 5 Royal Gemstone Dragon Bloodlines in his family tree; it had no issue bonding to him. Let alone the 7 Royal Metallic Dragon Bloodlines you worked into this family during the 5th Age. He will need more wives soon. His aggressions will increase otherwise, and it is very likely to carry forward in every offspring he has going forward. Especially for future champions."

The Lady of Dream bounced her head on the desk, "We will simply tell it was a Mythic Draconic version of the amulet of health, or one of his heirs when the time comes. It won't boost the constitution forever will it?"

Bahamut shrugged, "We all know relics can have a mind of their own. How it changes him and his children is unknown. But it will change him. He can never know the why of it, being a relic."

Corellon nodded, "Well, it will aid in our population growth, at least."

The Lady of Dreams groaned.

Bahamut chuckled before he left.

---

The blue sapphire crescent moon necklace he picked up now pulsed as if it had a heartbeat. It emits a dim moonlight glow and it had adhered to his chest. The cord and claws were gone. He detected magic and the amulet that was not magical was now magical. He looked at the ladies, "The amulet you gave me is gone and this one is now magical and pulsing. It is now an amulet of health, major with a regenerative property."

Eldar looked at them, "I have never heard of an item like this. I might ask our guests about items that absorb other items. Being attached like that is usually the result of a curse but I did not detect any curse." He pulled his shirt and armor down and continued up the stairs.

He looked at the Royal Guards, "You will be taking the coins and gems to the palace?"

The man shook his head, "No, a member of the Goldbar family is coming to effect the transfer to the royal treasury."

Eldar smiled for a second as he looked at Goldbar ride around the corner and he looked slack-jawed at Eldar. He waited for him to come to a stop. "What are your orders?"

He addressed Eldar, "I am here to pick up some treasure."

Eldar nodded, "You will be hitting several caches across town. Coins and gems only while the rest of the gear goes to my men. I told the Queen and King they could have the coins and such as it will be needed in the upcoming war."

He nodded, "How are you involved in this?"

Eldar reached into his bag and showed him the silver cylinder. He looked shocked.

Eldar nodded, "Yes, I am a Knighted Protector of the Elven Kingdom. My wives are dames as well. We caught 3 assassins in 2 days. 2 of them collected this treasure. The numbers we were given by the prisoner is around 77 billion in coins and jewels."

He looked at Eldar, "You are joking?"

Eldar sighed, "You alone, follow me."

He took him below to the vaults and pointed, "Those two vaults only. They were nice and organized right down to a ledger of every assassination they committed in the last 142 years."

He looked at Eldar, "Ledger, what does the ledger show?"

Eldar shook his head, "That information is classified by the crown, not that I would know as it was coded. But I have two family members in the royal dungeon from that book. Also disowned 60% of the Silvertree family. A previous assassin was hired by the Silvebar family. They exist now as a single branch."

He nodded, "I handled the funds for that, they normally go to the victim."

Eldar nodded, "There are things I value more than gold and holdings. Friend, trusted allies, a community of tolerance to name a few. Gold leads to greed, to me it is a means to an end only. To outfitting my troops, build a town, to have a school of Magic built. These are but a few of my favorite things. Things that protect those who protect the masses and a place for the masses to learn their craft."

His men started coming down the stairs. They turn to see him. Eldar looked at them, "These two vaults. Goldbar here is going to have men come in to carry stuff out. Please push those doors almost closed. Those have valuables. One room has an alchemy lab.

I need one to ride to the nearest alchemy lab and get someone who can set it for safe transport. I will pay for their time but we have an alchemist in our unit and that gear could go a long way in supporting us in the field." Lieutenant Silver Bow yelled up for hands. "Next thing is once they are done with the vault there, we have to clear the other vaults.

Send four men to the market, have them get the larger wagons they have 24-foot and under, with teams. Tell the owner I will be by to settle the account and confirm the merchandise; I have been doing a lot of business with him. Pick good horses. I need two of your horses so we can go to another location and the market. We will leave the wagon out there for you to get started.

Alchemy equipment first, packed for transport. If they have any issues have them contact my father at House Silvertree."

She nodded, "We will wait until the coins and gems are gone except for the alchemy stuff, get it packed right and on the wagon out front."

Eldar nodded, "Right down to the potions already made. Then we pack up the rest of it."

Charlemagne had come back down, "There is a journal with what each item is and there are tags identifying lot numbers. Each room has one under the first table. Each vault should be packed up separately. You can use the extra space in the first wagon to start loading armor and weapons, continue that until all of it is out.

Take it all to House Silvertree. Ensure it is all stored in different rooms except for the alchemy stuff. Leave that on the wagon. Less movement with that stuff the better."

Eldar nodded, "You heard the Commander."

Lieutenant Silver Bow smiled as Eldar headed back upstairs, the ladies grabbed two mounts and they found the entire unit was out front.

He looked at one of the privates, "Private Farmer, you ride with me when we get back to the palace you will need to take these horses back to the group. We will travel to the market, back to the palace to switch out horses, and then he can follow us to the second location and wait with the Royal Guards posted outside." He nodded and his Sergeant saw Eldar and nodded.

He got mounted and they headed to the market, they had 4 new 24-foot wagons. He looked at Charlemagne, "You check wagons, I will check horses." He rode around the pen, "alright, need 24 good workhorses for pulling wagons to downed trees through the forest. I know you do not normally do them but if you do, I will reward you.

We can go over and you find 7 more War Horse mares to take back with us. T'suras walked over and had 24 workhorses and 7 mares waiting, "You are such a stud, T'Suras."

He went inside. The owner shook his head, "You had some men say to expect you."

Eldar nodded, "I want all 4 24-foot wagons, the 24 workhorses, and 7 mares lined up and waiting for you at the back.

I need tack for all of the workhorses as those need to get rolling now. The seven War Horse mares I will pick up on our way out along with 7 sets of reins without bits. How are your saddles?"

Greentree laughed, "We have a 3-week wait for those, we have another 50 on order."

Eldar asked him, "Have you sold them yet?"

He shook his head, "Not yet."

Eldar nodded, "Consider them bought, soft blankets, and bit-less bridles to go with them. I will have people returning to claim them. Captain New Moon or Captain Dusk Moon can pick them up. Figure it up, give a total to my men before they leave, and charge it all to my account. If I have an issue I know where to find you."

The man shook his head, "I will get an order placed for another 50 saddles."

Eldar shook his head, "Make it another 100 and I will buy half of that shipment."

He nodded, "Alright, add it to the Bill?"

Eldar shook his head, "Not until we come to pick them up. Unless you plan to deliver them?"

He thought about that, "I will do that, I will bring those 50 to you. I would like to see what you are doing in this new town."

Eldar nodded, "Then make it a 100, and whatever you need for your shop to have stock." He laughed, "Alright then, adding them to the bill now, with the second half delivered."

Eldar nodded, "Thank you, let me know about those goat hair blankets when you can get information back on them."

He walked out and got up on his horse and started riding, toward the palace.

Annette, "I need to tell you something; you are not going to like it."

Eldar, "What is it, Annette?"

Charlemagne, "We had her show us all the Blade Singer deaths in the log. Barimus ordered the attacks on all but 21. Those all came in the last 80 years from one-man Grand Master Golden Weave."

Eldar, "The Youngest two-time champion, are you sure?"