Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 28

He looked directly at 'the elf in gold armor', "That is why I have done the things I have done. Keep conflicts small, and protect the Elven people."

He nodded at Eldar, "You have gone way beyond that. You have helped to recover stolen Dragon assets. Identify a rogue dragon gone undead. Captured his half-dragon son. The ancient's son has lost his council seat and is under arrest.

We have strong support to get him executed for his part in these crimes. You are shaking up this community like you have your own. We want you to be a general in the order, Like Jarron but very different. Your job includes nothing more than what you are already doing.

When it involves potential exposure of dragons that could lead to another war. Like you have been doing then we would expect you to advise us and search for a solution to our problem like you have countless others. We are discovering a global command structure is not working. Your ideas are fresh, enlightening, and have been of great importance to us. You would be the first in a set of regional Generals. You are already in the role.

Dealing with the same allies and the treaties you know so well. Even better than some of our scholars. Charlemagne would have the same role. She would be working the evaluation and division of assets out from your group. Assets going to the global arm of the Knights, to Jarron.

Annette would provide the same level of intelligence that she does now. Her work has been extraordinary and your work with her to hone her abilities is not unnoticed. We would get her a proper psionic trainer to help determine what her abilities are. What she knows and what she does not know but is capable of bringing to the table."

Eldar nodded, "That would be a benefit to our son."

He looks at Eldar, "Your son?"

Eldar nodded, "He will be a Moon-elf psionic. The next in a line of elven psionics. They are rare but they will not be as rare soon enough. My Question to you. Does the Queen know why we are here? What specifically you are asking me to do?"

He looks at Jarron and Jarron looks at him, "We approached her with this idea and she has embraced it. Especially after the string of success, you have pulled off. That was one of the reasons I came along. I wanted to see how you did what you did. The way you stayed in the fight, directed Annette, adapted to the changes on the field as more wards popped up than was expected.

The traps with the giant, the cutting off of communication, ensuring the information flowed, and still willing to face down a dragon's breath and attack to get that information in play. You flow over a battlefield. That was why I was all smiles. You brought your team back safe and even helped to save a young silver from death without even knowing it."

Eldar looked at him, "My popularity on the council is not unanimous, the blue and the black fear or wish me dead which is why the field. Also, the reason you restricted our movement."

He nodded, "It is not unanimous, and yes those are two of the biggest dissenters to this change."

The sponsor looked at Eldar, "You want to know what is in it for you?"

Eldar shook his head, "No I want to know how this helps to save lives with the troops I have in harm's way? I know you will not directly intervene so I am trying to figure out does this bring anything to the field to aid the elven people?"

He stopped and thought, "You have your role protecting your people this does not change that. What this does is give you direct command over the assets in your region. It gives you a direct way to communicate and see us when the need arises. It takes Jarron and the delays out of the loop which saves you the time you are so worried about."

Eldar shook his head, "Two other statements given conflict with that. You would be putting Annette under someone else and having Charlemagne divide out the troops based upon Knights needs and not needs of the southern border or the Elven people. Who works those conflicts? Who determines what roles those being sent to you will take? I send you a field officer. Which I am sending one lieutenant while ALSO losing one in that last battle.

Grunts are one thing provided the global arm is sending us some potential candidates. Ficka that we have not had ANY candidates sent to us yet for evaluation. Field officers are harder to come by. Finding talent and getting them to be field officers is another thing. I am saying it is hard to send you forged steel if you are not sending any iron. I gave suggestions on how to fix that."

He looks perplexed, "Which suggestion?"

Eldar looked at Jarron, "Taking an 8-man unit and dividing them into 4 mercenary company leaders. Let them recruit from the field.

They find raw talent that is ready for the next level then send them to us. We can train them and send them back. I have no problem sending assets so long as we have someone else coming to take their place. Right now, pulling 11 out of my 176 after losing 4 in the field is 9-10% reduction at a time when we are only at a quarter of our strength."

He looked at Jarron, "What were your thoughts on this idea?"

Jarron looks over, "In every 8-man unit there are 2 who are really leadership material and the others are very talented. The other 6 we would be hard pressed to do that with."

Eldar looked at him, "Then send me the 6 existing Knights and let me see if we can make leaders out of these talented individuals while the two leaders look for forming a larger group and keeping the cream of the crop."

Jarron nodded, "It is worth testing out. I will look to send you 6 low-level Knight to try and train to be officers in the Knights."

He nodded, "That is one problem down. Charlemagne can make determinations as to who the best candidates are. I, however, need to have a say over which assets are safe to pull until I have a replacement available to take over for them. I have control of the assets in my region. Times between wars this is less of an issue, building up for one it is an issue.

Assets that come in as Knight but are training are not the issue here. I will have them training with full knowledge that I will be replacing them soon. This is less of an issue now as Charlemagne and I are married. The next person you want to put in that role might not be my wife."

The new gentleman in the room thought for a moment, "Your concern is valid. Pulling assets going forward have to be coordinated through you. During times of relative peace?"

Eldar nodded, "I expect once the War is done, I will be sitting on about 60-70% percent of my remaining force. I am comfortable going as low as 55% percent. We will be recruiting in young talent to get specialized training.

Field experience with the occasional cross-border or bandit raid. Troops tied to protecting the Duchy are out of bounds unless they move over to become a Gray Blade first. The training is not as intense and the threats for what they are doing are not as severe."

The guy looked at Jarron, "That makes sense."

Eldar looked at them, "This would make Annette my asset as she is operating in my area. The information she obtains I can feedback or get Charlemagne to feedback depending on which of us is available."

Jarron sighed, "I might have a need for her on occasion."

Eldar nodded, "Interrogations, places where we, and I mean WE, can come in by teleportation are fine. Having her sit in an inn on the other side of the world, no. Things she can get done in a day or two, like getting Jarron's cock sucked by a prisoner."

Jarron turns red and the guy chuckled. Eldar looked at him, "He was actually under orders himself. Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks Jarron needs his brains fucked out every now and then. Have a life besides this work."

The Lady smiled, "Sounds like an interesting story. I have already seen this first-hand in that prisoner's memories."

Jarron now held his forehead.

Eldar smiled, "Also the reason why Jarron wants me having my own command is so I can stop giving him a hard time."

Jarron nodded, "That would be a benefit."

Eldar shook his head, "I would still send you the occasional gift from the adult shop unless you finally have a wife by then. In which case I will send you two."

His ladies laughed.

Jarron sighed, "Moving on! As to Annette, I can agree to those terms. You start picking up more than one asset. I expect you to share the wealth."

Eldar nodded, "If they are my family and I have recruited them then yes. If I have not recruited them then they are off limits."

Jarron smiled, "A loophole?"

Eldar shook his head, "If they are not providing intelligence to me or do not have those particular abilities then they are of little use to you. Until I know how best to explore their potential for fitting into the organization. Remember I brought Annette to you! I am the one who judged her potential. I am the one who twisted your arm in letting her prove her worth.

They are in general lousy frontline troops and not very stealthy. But if they can have a guy drop his pants and stand there and jack himself for 20 minutes then there is at least entertainment value in that."

The guy looked at Eldar, "Have you done that?"

Eldar shook his head, "We have wiped spells and innate abilities from memory, given up spellcasting for a short time, had your current prisoner strip naked during the battle, and be total servants to someone who needs to question them. The abilities have aided in bypassing geases. Have we reached an agreement on the recruitment of my family members? If I do not think they are right or ready they are off limits. These are my children and my children's children.

I am asking for two generations until the talent they have can be spread out and will exist into the future."

The guy nodded. Jarron nodded with a sigh.

He looked at the dragon with no name, "Annette's trainer will need to relocate to our town or have the ability to train from afar. She would be missed for any length of time."

The guy looked at Eldar, "Having a psionic dragon in your town would be hard to hide."

Eldar nodded, "Annette being gone for months at a time would be hard to hide. I would think this is not the first time one of your dragons has trained another psionic. Bring in that non-dragon to help train her locally. When my son gets old enough, I could send him to 'school' with your dragon trainers. Exactly like I will be doing for my daughter who is going to become a Grand Cleric.

It would be safer at that point to have them training out of the town when war hits. Except for one who will be training with me. Also, any training at the Arcane Academy that is being built. Any forces that try to take on a tower full of casters are dead before they hit the doorstep."

The guy thought, "There might be one or two out there. We would have to talk to them. I would like to have her alone for a week with our psionic trainer."

Eldar sighed, "You mean living in a room that is a cell that she cannot even move in?"

He shook his head, "No. She would not be here, she would be brought directly to an area that is full of psionic casters. Her being there would not be discussed with any of the council until she has already returned. They could evaluate what talents she can grow into and which ones are off the table."

He looked at Annette, "Being gone for a week would be tough on you and us. But of the three of us, you could get away with it if you so choose. It is an opportunity to find those things that I have not even thought to test you for."

She nodded, "After the briefing, it would be easy to slip away for one week so long as I am not caged and I am allowed to move around outside."

The guy looked over, "We can make that work for you."

Eldar looked at him, "What does a sponsor do and how many on the council know who is being sponsored? I still have safety concerns. When the whole council is informed of Annette's status while she is here."

He nodded, "The existing members of the council would know, they do know you are being approached. The fact of who her sponsor will be is known, When and where this evaluation would be made will not be given until after she is back with you."

He looked at Annette and she nodded, He looked at them, "I am trusting you with the 6 most precious things in my life. My wives and unborn children. What of the other 2 sponsors, what does that entail?"

He smiled, "We are your liaisons. We do not need to provide you with training, you are already doing the job."

He looked at him, "So you are the sponsors who are the leader?"

The guy smiled, "Officially, there is no leader. Unofficially, the head Silver Dragon on the council. That is why the Order does not exist outside of these lands. You would be on the same level as Jarron, your father, your wives and yourself and a few others around the world. Elves and Dwarfs are more long-lived."

Eldar nodded, "The order is mostly Silver dragons then, why the Council of Nine involvement?"

He sighed, "Draconic politics is complicated. Our group interacts with the outside world so the council has to be made aware. The vote on bringing the 3 of you into the fold of the order was a 5-3 split. Nothing is ever unanimous. With the red out of the picture and his seat vacant a 5-3 vote carries. That is why the security was so tight.

Normally for outside approval, it requires a 6-vote majority. The one neutral almost always votes for isolation. Only when a seat is open do we find the ability to add to our ranks. That is why the delay was a concern. The thing you will get is communication crystals. You can talk to us directly."

Eldar nodded and looked at Charlemagne, "I think this will work as long as you remember my code comes first. That becomes a problem then that is your problem, not mine. If I am ranked as a general, they are ranked equivalently?"

The guy smiled, "For their roles, yes, you would be a General level Field Commander, Charlemagne would be a General overseeing training and recruitment, Annette is a unique talent and she would have a pay grade of a general. She would hold no rank and have no assets under her. She will be invaluable in the years to come.

She can get to prisoners that we would have a hard time getting to. Because of treaties or the ability of locals to see us for what we truly are and being exposed. That is why we come to you at night and in very covert ways. Too much magical talent."

He nodded, "That means I could promote two others into commander positions eventually?"

He nodded, "You have someone in mind?

He nodded, "I do. Captain Goldeagle, I want to make him a commander of the forward base I wish to get built. His movement is restricted by the Queen. He is now a Knight and keeping him overlooking troops and feeding information of performance and good candidates for the Knights could prove useful in the future when it is in place."

He looked at Jarron, "Is the Dwarven King's First son on a deep roads mission or is that bullshit?"

Jarron looks to the lady and she smiled, "You are correct it is bullshit as you would put it. It is just where his body will be found once we have finished questioning him. The King was most agreeable to turning him over after being shown the journals documenting his trips and involvement.

We pulled that information from the second's office. We are trying to work something similar to a certain wizard. He is a dangerous asset to approach. Jarron is working an all human strike force of arcanes to aid in this. They are spread across the world and getting them together takes time as the knights are few in number."

Eldar nodded, "You could always do what we did. Use a psionic to bring him down and if he has magic to block and detect we have a human unarmed combat expert who took down that seventh-tier wizard in under thirty seconds."

She nodded and looked at Jarron, "How she was captured is different. We could borrow Tiger and a psionic dragon for the mission potentially. That would require council approval though to bring one in to work the strike. A tough sell."

Eldar nodded, "We might want to wait until his wedding is over."

Jarron looked at him, "Who is he marrying?"

Eldar smiled, "The lady who helped him and his sister escape his own homeland. Dame Silver Moon."

Jarron chuckled, "You figured this out?"

He nodded, "I caught that they had a conversation in a human tongue I was not familiar with. When I caught them in bed together that kind of sealed the deal and closed the question. She is expecting twins as well."

Jarron laughed, "Her family is going to disown her."

Eldar smiled, "No they will not. I had a lovely conversation with the Patron of the house in the presence of the Queen. As the deity to the Grand Cleric of their family made the request for the changes. We, House Silvertree and House Silver Moon, should be setting the example of what is expected to comply with the new laws."

Jarron laughed, "Stuck the patron in a box to protect your Captain."

Eldar smirked, "Covering my ASS'ETS ASS. You know all about that Jarron."

The Lady started giggling as did his wives.

Jarron looked at him, "As you are into self-deprecating humor it would be hard to get you back. I am just happy to be passing your troublesome ASS onto someone else."

Eldar shook his head, "I am only troublesome for you, do you not know that?"

He looked at the gentleman, "I do not mind having a dragon for a sponsor or for my wives, but could I get at least a nickname by which to call the three of you. It would make using those communication crystals you talk about easier. Besides saying we accept is there anything else we have to go through a ceremony, special pinky rings, or anything like that."

They chuckled and he answered, "No ceremonies or secret rings. As to names, why do you not give us names."

He smiled, "Very well, I have been referring to her as The Lady so Lady Silver Hair. She smiled at Charlemagne. I have just met but I can tell you are a gold, so I would go with Lord Regal. As to the third, what can you tell me of them?"

Lady Silver Hair looked over at Lord Regal. He smiled, "She is an Amethyst Dragon, very wise and a member of the council when the council is in session."

Eldar nodded, "Without knowing her I do not know if she can assume a humanoid form or not. I would just go with the human name of Lady Amy Tryst."

That got a chuckle from Lady Silver Hair. "I think she would like that and find it amusing."

Annette smiled at me, "I like it as it is easy to remember."

He nodded, "I think that leaves getting us communication crystals, any special instructions you might have on when we need to use them or how often?"

He smiled, "When we have something to say which is not very often or when you have something to report." He walks over places a red crystal in front of him. Lady Silver Hair places a clear one in front of Charlemagne. Then an Amethyst colored crystal in front of Annette.

He looked at Lady Silver Hair, "This does not mean I am happy about our privacy being invaded."

She nodded, "I will tell you the only one monitoring you was me."

He smiled, "Well, you are in the intelligence side of things. It is a good thing I only had one casting the first night or you would have missed one heck of a sex show."

She actually blushed and Regal cocked an eye at her. She smiled, "I will say that the amulet appears to be working as I expected much to your wives surprise."

He nodded, "Can we go back to the Palace now? I got a Queen to talk to about setting us up."

She nodded, "You would be safer and more private there."

He nodded, "Especially that last part, safe is a relative term. We will see you tomorrow for midday-meal as before?"

She nodded, "Here are your manacles, I have learned my lesson with anything you carry. Identify not legend lore, some of the stories those manacles know are downright inspiring. I will have to try some of them out with my mate."