Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 35

Eldar nodded, "I will go and get my Aunt to help fix you up."

She smiled. He ran down the stairs and saddled up T'suras quickly. "Sorry boy but you might be wearing this all night."

He rode off and located his Aunt's camped at the new church site with Hunter, He yelled to her tent, "Charlemagne is hurt. I need you; Doc is working on her but she will need more."

She was up and dressed and she stepped out of her tent, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the saddle.

"Hold on tight."

They rode like the wind back to his home. He pulled right in front and lowered his Aunt down who looked at Eldar, "I have never been that fast on a horse."

He chuckled at her comment, "You should try an acrobatic maneuver to get off the horse at that speed. I have done that a few times. Usually to kill something."

She glared at him as they moved up the steps and she went to work.

He waved Doc out. "Dorothy said Rachel is carrying two sets of twins. What is with that?"

He nodded. "Two distinct sets of twins, two boys, and two girls. You asked me not to divine anything further so I did not.

Eldar nodded, "So two sets of identical twins?"

He sighed, "I would assume so."

Eldar looked at him, "I want you to divine what type of half-elf each of the children is Moon or Wood."

He sighed and shook his head, "This is at least not as evasive as trying to determine destinies."

He went downstairs and pulled Rachel outside to do his thing so if anything, more came up. Eldar did not see it.

They came back a few minutes later, "Wood-elf males and moon-elf females. They are both identical."

Eldar nodded and smiled, "That will score me points with my Grandmother at least."

He laughed at that statement but knew there was a layer of truth to it.

He waved Rachel up and patted Doc on the back to let him know he should go. He called down, "Annette I want you up here with Dorothy. The four of us are going to talk with Charlemagne." They walked into the room.

He looked at his Aunt, "Just so you know you have another high-risk pregnancy. Rachel is carrying two sets of twins of different types. Two wood-elf-blooded males and two moon-elf-blooded females.

That pregnancy is a higher risk. I need to know how long she will be able to continue riding before it is best to pull her from her horse."

She looked up at him, "Elves go two years, humans nine months that that comes out to around eighteen months for a single child. Multiple births are almost always earlier. Safely she would deliver around sixteen to seventeen months, I would pull from horseback riding after nine months.

If you are talking potential combat then I would say six months to be safe."

He looked at Rachel, "When you start patrolling, I want a healer traveling with you. After 6 months you will be restricted, no horseback. You will have to move to a wagon. After 9 months, you will be working at the training center and going over your lieutenant's reports for any problems and talking with your troops directly when they are in town.

Charlemagne can hook you up with a wagon and show you the basics. Start getting tons of communication crystals for our use Charlemagne. My apprentices know how to do the wagons and will help if they are around. When it comes to your safety and that of the unborn, I like fewer risks. I am doing the same for Keyno. Right Charlemagne?"

She scowled at him, "I got the message, practice flying outside of a combat situation. You gave us a ring to feather fall."

He nodded. "Also, away from where you might fly into a tree, building, or horse. You get the idea."

Annette laughed and Eldar looked at her, "Who do you think she will be flying with? You need the practice too."

Annette looked at him, "What about you?"

He smiled, "Blade Singer. Have the spell. Have used it. Have feather fall as a spell as well. Charlemagne you might want to loan Rachael that ring of spell storing. She will be more front line that you will be for the next 6 months while you work all of these training and logistics issues to get us set up."

She nodded, "True and she will likely give birth before me too."

His Aunt looked at Eldar, "She did not fall very far. The guy under her helped to protect the babies from any injury. Her leg got broke because it was wrapped around behind his back. Charlemagne told me it broke her leg, but it broke his back and neck. He is not getting back up."

Charlemagne looked at him, "Two are dead, one tried to fight. One surrendered while two ran away. The one who fought fired one magic missile and got a dozen arrows in return. That was when his friend surrendered."

The two that fled had fly going the Centaurs fired arrows at them that had a sleep poison on them. One had a feather fall item, one fell in the lake, and then there is the guy I tried to 'save'.

They had an elaborate smoker for the meat. It masked the smell and fire but gave them warmth. At least two were not Silvertree. They were human. They both died. Another was gold-elf. The last was from Silverbar according to the cloak he wore.

The camp looked like a killing field. The wood elves were still trying to get a count of the skins. They had bags of hold they were using to hold meat they had not smoked yet. They gave me a stack of journals to pass along to you."

Eldar grabbed the leather-bound journals. He learned they had been at this since before he took over the area. Which complicated matters. The Silvertree in question was not one he disowned but one his father had disowned. He had used the money he embezzled to set up the smoker. He was selling meat to 17 restaurants and inns in the city.

The value was below half of the market value. All the businesses were owned by the Goldbar family. There were indirect references in the Silvertree journal to the embezzlement and an inside person involved in the efforts. As the banks were owned by Goldbar this was all damning evidence that could bring down the elven banks if released.

He read through all of the journals and he looked at Charlemagne. "I have to go to the city. Taking the prisoners with me. I will need to see the Queen on this immediately."

She looked at him, "Why?"

He looked at her, "It threatens the banking systems in all 3 Kingdoms."

She made a growling sound and nodded. He walked downstairs and looked at Annette, "Get saddled up and meet me at the crossroads. I am taking my Aunt back and we are heading to the Palace. The rest of the ladies will have to keep themselves entertained tonight. We will be gone most if not the entire night."

He headed outside to get T'suras and rode back to the crossroads taking his Aunt back. She gave him a squeezing hug, "This is not something that can wait?"

Eldar shook his head, "Too much at stake."

They got to the Crossroads and the Centaurs dragged and pulled the prisoners into town.

Eldar looked at the wood elves, "I want all of the skins taken to the Master Leathersmith in the village I live in."

The Centaurs Captain looked at Eldar, "We should keep those."

Eldar nodded, "We are keeping those. We want leather barding for the horses, custom leather armor for our centaur troops, and leather armor issued out to all of the elven protection forces.

Any excess leather will be used to build saddles, packs, weapon sheath, or any other miscellaneous leather items. Items we need to support the Centaurs, two villages, and the town. The men robbed from these forests. That affects all, for generations. I want half of the meat split into six parts. One for the mass wedding celebration. We will not hunt for it.

A part to the Centaurs, to each of the two villages, to Gray Blades, and to the workers of the town. Any Centaurs who wish to get married at the mass wedding can do so by The Lady of Dreams. I want you Captain to bring a Squad of your best to provide a visible presence and representation for your people. I am asking the same of the Two elven villages. I want these to be your best, clean, and ready for inspection.

This will be a large gathering of the community as a whole and I want our best foot forward as everyone gets an idea of everyone who is protecting them now. Carry that message back for your elders. The protection force captured this with a Gray Blade commander involved. As such it goes to the Duchy to distribute to all of us. Right now, that includes a couple of thousand workers in the new town.

They are eating dry rations in respect for not hunting the forests. Giving them some meat for a cooked meal is not a big request. Do you understand my view on this Captain?"

He looked at Eldar, "You are right and my men will appreciate the armor but paying for it could take time."

Eldar shook his head, "It will be paid for. Not by your men but by the Duchy. We get an enchanter in here soon we work to get enchantments on it.

Like my saddle which protects against normal missiles. I did that for T'suras. Armor that provides better camouflage, silences your movement, and general protection. I am just as invested in the Centaurs as the others. Because the Centaurs are more reclusive, I have no contact with your Elders or leader. I would like to meet them at some point and the wedding would be an ideal time to bring everyone together."

He nodded, "I will send your request. What of the prisoners?"

Eldar looked at him, "By law, they would be doing hard labor for the rest of their lives. I have to take them to the royal palace because of the information we gathered. The punishment will fit the crime and I hope to return them here to do that labor. I have to see what the Queen has to say in this matter because of the journals. They paint a damning picture of their activities."

The Captain nodded, "You have done well for us this far. Given us opportunities while maintaining our independence. We will wait to hear what becomes of these 4."

Eldar nodded and dismissed them, "Captain Tranosa, please ensure all of them are shackled and you are coming with Annette and me to the Palace tonight."

Tranosa looked at him, "Tonight! The Queen will be in bed by now."

Eldar nodded, "Yes she will. But she will want to be woken up for what is in these journals."

He nodded and pulled all of the prisoners together and put them into magical shackles. He pulled out a scroll for the teleportation circle and took them to the front of the palace. He walked into the palace and saw the Guard Captain. Eldar looked at him, "These three need to be taken to the dungeon for now. I need to see the Queen."

The Captain looked at his guards and took the prisoners down except for the one.

He then looked at Eldar, "The Queen left orders not to be disturbed."

Eldar nodded to him and pulled out his Crystal, "Yes Eldar, I am in the middle of something. Oh, gods keep doing that. Fuck me harder!"

Eldar smiled, "Your Majesty, I am down with Guard Captain I have a matter of dire consequences to the Kingdom that needs immediate attention."

She screamed, "Oh Gods just like that. I am coming! Fika release! I will be down in a few minutes have the guard take you to my Audience chamber. I REALLY hope this is that important."

Eldar replied back, "To potentially all of our allied Kingdoms as well."

The crystal went dark and Annette and Eldar giggled a bit as they walked. Tranosa led the other prisoner into the Queen's Audience chamber. He spotted the Queen as she came in.

He removed his cloak and walked toward her and whispered, "Your robe is fairly see-through so you might want to drape my cloak around you, Your Majesty."

She looked down and nodded and donned his cloak. "Always the gentleman."

She sat at her desk and looked at Eldar, "What is so important."

He looked at her, "First of lesser importance, but a direct implication into the other issue. We attempted to capture a group of 6 poachers. Two died while fleeing. Charlemagne broke a leg in the attack the healers have tended to her.

They have operated in the woods for 187 years and killed over 23,000 animals. I am requesting compensation of 1,000 gold pieces on each animal to go to the duchy. I also request a fine in the same amount be given to the crown."

She looked at the man, "I will grant your request provided the evidence of this action, but the man behind you does not look capable of providing that."

Eldar nodded, "He was not working alone and those he worked for have very deep pockets. This man has a contact in the city with incriminating evidence against his partner in case he is captured. This person would make the information public. I am requesting the prisoner surrender the person holding this incriminating evidence. The Royal guards can capture and bring this evidence to you to be examined."

The prisoner replied, "Not bloody likely."

Eldar continued, "If the prisoner refuses to cooperate then I request permission for our human Psionics in the Gray Blades be brought to bear to extract it from him."

He looked at Eldar and laughed.

The Queen looked at Eldar, "I am still wondering how important this issue is?"

He pulled out the journals, "I have read them all so they are in my memory but I am the only one who has read them. I marked several pages referencing a specific partner and businesses that this meat was distributed to."

She looked at the entries, "I marked with the first one being embezzlement effort being conducted. By people in-house Goldbar specifically. All of the current elders and the patron to the house."

She looked at Eldar, "You mentioned other Kingdoms."

Eldar nodded, "My apprentice told me when I recruited him that his father traveled a lot. As he is dealing with banking it would be a safe assumption that if he were embezzling funds they would not remain in the elven bank. This could bring down the Banking system. In all 3 Kingdoms if there are like actions occurring in the other 2 Kingdoms."

She looked at Eldar, "Bring in your psionic members. I do not care if they turn his brain into mud! I want that contact!"

The prisoner was now alarmed, "Wait I will give you the names. There are three of them. Give me a piece of paper and I will write them down!"

Eldar gave him a quill and parchment.

He wrote down names, locations, and what information each had. He passed the note to the Queen. He glanced at the prisoner, "This is everything and the information is truthful?"

He looked at Eldar, "Yes."

Annette who was behind him nodded and smiled. He looked to the Queen, "You and I are the only ones who have seen this. I would recommend you only send your most trusted guards. Split the list and have them all sworn to secrecy."

She looked at the list and her eyes went wide, "This is dire! I will issue an arrest warrant for the..."

He held up his hand, "Send guards to gather them for a royal request for a full review of the Kingdom's finances. They are to come immediately while providing full access to all banking records. You can arrest them but you can establish a cover for why. They are all at the palace for at least a month to review all of the financial records. To avoid panic on the bank, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "I would like to string the fuckers up by their cocks for a month! You are right! I am being a bit emotional and that would be a more logical approach to the action."

Eldar smiled, "It also provides a means of returning missing funds to the accounts to the proper houses."

She laughed, "That is clever. I will have to make that same recommendation to the Dwarven King and the Princess's Economic adviser as well."

He looked at the Queen, "I request that use of our discretionary account be extended to improvements and improving the equipment used by our protection forces. They are not Gray Blades."

She nodded, "Approved."

He looked at her, "I would also request that any monetary funds from this be split to House Silvertree and the Discretionary funds. I have been financing the improvements to the Gray Blades. It was a combined effort to uncover this. I have financed some of the Protection forces efforts as well but that was before this change in how the discretionary funds will be distributed, Your Majesty."

She nodded, "We will see how bad this is. We cannot get rid of the house without a panic. But we can force it to replace all of those involved. They will mysteriously disappear if they are uncooperative."

Eldar nodded, "Please let the human economic adviser know we are wanting to purchase 40,000 cows and sheep, we are requesting grazing rights outside of the Gray Blade area. We would like cattle farmers to move into the area on the south end of town."

The Queen looked at Eldar, "Forty thousand, of each? Why so many?"

Eldar smiled "To make up for the 23,000 animals lost in the forest. To supplement the food stores for the villages because of this. Because hunting will have to be curtailed for the animal population to recover. Also, for feeding the workers and troops. They have been on dry rations most of the time and getting a source of meat will increase productivity and morale."

She nodded, "Some are to be used for breeding like your horses."

He smiled, "Yes, Your Majesty"

She smiled with an effort, "I will forward the request. You're taking the Duchy business very seriously. I am glad to see you doing that."

He smiled, "You have me figured out better already, Your Majesty. I will leave the four prisoners here for now until you can release them back to me for their prison terms. Life of hard labor."

She looked at Eldar, "This is what you wanted the fine money to feed your people for the damage done by these poachers."

Eldar nodded, "As promised to the Duchy residence when I requested the land for the town. A year for every animal. They will not live that long."

She nodded, "Very well once this is resolved we will let you know when you can have them back."

He looked at her, "They are all casters and are wearing manacles to suppress casting. I recommend they be left on as we do not know what spells they retain in memory. I would also request rooms for us so I can regain all the spells I need. I used a scroll to get us here, my last one. It also ensures we are here in the morning if you need us."

She nodded, "I will put you in adjacent rooms. You know the way Knight Champion. I will send my handmaiden with your cloak in the morning, My Grand Master."

He nodded and they left the room and Tranosa asked, "Why did she refer to you as her Grand Master?"

He smiled, "I am a Knight protector of the elven people and a Grand Master Blade singer so it is a sort of pet name she likes to use on occasion to reflect that."

Annette smiled at him for my quick deflection of that. "She first started using that after she made me a Knight Protector. As I am in her service in that role it is technically true, just abbreviated."

Tranosa nodded, "That makes sense."

They got to their room and he looked at Annette. It was late. Yet it was a rare opportunity to be alone. "You up for howling at the moon?"

She smiled and they got out of our armor and he kissed and rubbed his hands all over her as he picked her up and impaled her on him."

She looked at him, "We are not in the right position, you should be laying down."

He smiled. They stepped out on the balcony.

He looked at her and grabbed her arms so she leaned away from him. "Try your slow ride while I am standing. You got your legs around me so you still use them just differently."

She smiled, "Always looking to please me."

He smiled, "I look for new ways to please all of you."

She went quiet as she worked on her slow ride which was made all the more difficult by the new position and the breeze running across her nipples. She took almost twice as long before she started riding in earnest. She wailed out running through every octave as He started pounding her, she began to shake and he pulled her toward him. He shot his seed into her. She screams, "OH GODS!"