Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 08

Charlus looked at him, "The Queen gave them directions not to fuck with me. One put his hands on me and he is out cold and I thought I would bring these three to you before I dropped them from 10,000 feet. They backed up enough and he teleported back to his horse. The one guy was working to get up and Charlus pushed him over. "Your three friends are at the Keep getting dressed down by Strong Oak. You should join them."

Charlus mounted up and rode off as he was fuming mad. Charlus got to the edge, "Base One open up."

He heard back, "Free to enter, Commander."

Charlus teleported inside. "I want all workstations shut down and stack two then two across and then two back across. I want them all up to take them all out as one."

He went to the shelter and went to his room and locked it down and pulled all of the stuff from hidden compartments. He went outside and helped them to get the last of them in positions. He took down the crystals.

He looked over, "Shelters empty?"

They nodded, "Just 6 today." He pulled out a crystal, "Overwatch, need city and palace teleporters turned off. Have authorization from the Queen. This is Enigma."

Charlus heard back, "Enigma, teleporter access is open."

Charlus sent the 2 with the tables. Charlus took the other 4 with him. Charlus looked at the crystal, "Close it. Charlus walked them away from his horse. He looked at the group with the tables and teleported them, followed by the rest of them.

One shouted out, "Where in the fuck are we at?"

He lit up his sword and walked down. He cast up a shelter and god locked it. He walked over and did it again. He looked at the dragons, "Secure god lock on them both. This is in the Elven Kingdom, miles below it really. They nodded and looked around inside.

He walked inside, "Set security access to those here. Three in each shelter." Charlus repeated it in each. "The shelters have air. Not much of it out there."

Charlus set a teleport blocker with a relay. Charlus looked at them, "I turned on the scrying and blackout protection."

He walked over, "Seal portal."

He walked into the other, "Half of the workstations this is Left Eye. The other shelter is the Right Eye. We are shut down until they finish upgrading at the Dragon Palace. It should have been done today. The 6 of you are on lockdown here. Someone calls out for Base One, tell them to see me at House Silvertree or the palace.

That crystal controls outside communications. It will use the repeater. You can use it for one thing at a time. In this case to talk to whoever calls back. The one thing you will note is there will be a teleport blocker. I have the crystal to it so you are locked in until I set all of the repeaters in place. Once we have been cleared then we can power back up. Hopefully just tonight."

They nodded and he looked in "Walls up security up."

They watched three sets of walls and spikes come into place. Charlus teleported up and pulled the crystal, "Activate."

He grabbed the crystal, "Majisa?"

She responded, "Yes?"

Charlus sighed, "Bases are deactivated and relocated we cannot turn on until you have it upgraded. Contact me. I will check back after becoming Duke over my house tomorrow."

Charlus heard her sigh, "What happened?"

Charlus chuckled, "Becoming a father to three, the fourth dying in childbirth, wife alive but no longer fertile, the brother that was murdered, the uncle I had to kill, the agent I lost in the far-east, the six half-dragons I killed, or the 20,000 humans I had rescued on Queens island disappearing? That has been my last twenty-four hours. A fucking shit day!"

Charlus heard her sigh, "Alright, I will not push for more information. I will contact you."

Charlus yelled, "Wait! I want your two enchanters at Silvertree estates after the mid-day meal. With their books."

---

Charlus rode home and spent several hours with his wife and children. Not talking about what had happened. The next morning, he went to the palace with 15 family members, and 8 new houses were formed, all shadow account holders and a couple of others.

The one remaining sister signed the paperwork for abdicating leaving him to be made Duke of House Silvertree. The death and destruction of house Goldsmith in its entirety came as a shock. As did the announced death of the Queen's husband, and 7 other prominent members of elven society. The death of his uncle being one of them.

The announcing that patron-on-patron attacks would be dealt with swiftly and when warranted in totality. That corruption would be dealt with equally as harshly as she explained that her husband, his uncle, and the other 6 were all a part of a corruption scheme that she had put down through the night.

She set every house on notice she had it with corruption and barred the bank from hosting any shadow accounts in the future. That people had 7 days to have them cleared or the funds would be seized by the crown. All account holders and houses would be published.

Charlus asked her to have 12 enchanters meet at Silvertree estates after the mid-day meal. He went to the bank and changed his account settings. He transferred the Duke's account into his main account to keep it at or below twenty million. The shadow account was thrown into the family trust. He spent two hours with enchanters going over designs and modifications to the weapon platform he wanted to be built.

The dragons missed a couple of key spells in their personal books. He wrote them out for them and set it down. They both looked at him and nodded. They were headed to another secure shelter on the Palace front lawn in order to begin the enchanting efforts. He got word the upgrades were in place and that they killed off all but one dragon that got into the base to see it empty.

He set up the last of the repeater crystals and gave them crystals for one eye to talk with the other. They came back online and their coverage had improved with the new crystals. He had one man who wore the glasses go around and bring in all of the crew to the palace district. He got them assigned to the appropriate shelters and set up new schedules.

Charlus spent the evening talking with his wife going over the losses in the Far East he had dealt with and having to shut down and relocate all base materials to a new secure location. It did not take long for the chromatics to reveal the location of their workstations.

They had not realized they were being tracked by a newer system. All stations, efforts in progress, spell books, and enchanters were destroyed. Charlus brought Black Eagle by to meet his wife and to his surprise, they both barely tolerated each other. That ended that idea. They were getting stronger and their training continued.

He had stations coordinating with the Dragon's Overwatch system to monitor the progress of the others. The shelter he had built out over the ocean was in place when the ships arrived. He put the repeater function into the diamond. That made communication easier.

They had had it set higher than any they had built before, 80,000 feet. Charlus captured their armada. They threw thousands of half-dragons at the shelter and failed to breach it. The weapons were worked on together and were a series of three cones in the final design with an outer shield. They took both out to the fleet for testing. Like a pair of eyes, they glared into the ships and killed them by the thousands.

They pulled one back and put one in service in the far-east over the 3 provinces. Metallic dragons did raids with Dragon Riders to destroy all chromatic dragons over the region. With no market and fewer ships slave trade had been all but been eliminated. A new dome over each province was created and the weapon moved up to take on the next province.

As predicted by Corellon they all but destroyed the one weapon. Metallic dragons thinned them down but not before they did irreparable damage. In the next 8 years, humans had a King again. Half of the population remained in elven lands.

That was more than made up for by the influx of those looking for protection and a stable government. The new shields went up and the second weapon was deployed to the human kingdom to clear out the dozens who infiltrated the city, unaware there were two of the weapons.

Butterfly found love in the academy and Charlus was happy for her. The day Charlus gave her a holy symbol and an amulet shocked her. Charlus explained his family history with champions and how she showed the signs of one.

What she needed to know, to be aware of, and to never reveal it except to her husband. Also, if she got assigned to a specific dragon, they were to be sworn to secrecy but informed for their own safety.

Majisa knew of course, as Charlus made her aware. To let her know the special asset she had in hand. Charlus did not want to surprise her when a dragon champion identified her. Trilia became exasperated with him because he put off adding any more wives and it has been over a decade since their children were born.

The Gods had stopped talking to him, even if he tried to ask them something. He took it for what it was worth. He continued to make runs into the Far East to monitor activity and see how things progressed as well as add agents.

Millions of leaflets were dropped over the 3 provinces to let the people know what happened and why. He grew his library by almost double during this time bringing back books in portable holes two and three at a time.

He moved Left Eye out to the new site when it was completed the multiple two-dimensional displays went online when he had 12 ten-man teams throughout the world. His first 9 humans from the Far East turned into 6 and one was on each shift. Some married. Black Eagle went to the field and died around the time the first weapon was destroyed.

They found 12 tunnels during this time by the drow working toward the surface. They destroyed them with dwarven explosives and teleportation keeping any new tunnels from being formed near the Elven kingdom or the other members of the Alliance.

The dragons kept an eye on the Underdark. Charlus had his blacked-out regalia set to switch to house colors and symbols for court. Unlike past conflicts, they did not rest easy. Their humans needed help over this first decade on multiple occasions. Mostly against other humans attempting to bring down the stable government.

---

Mia 9th 8548

Charlus awoke next to Trilia who stared at him. He sighed, "Hello beautiful."

She smiled but still looked at him seriously. Finally, she spoke, "I know what you do to work through your aggression and rage."

He looked at her knowing she figured it out months ago. She looked at him, "I found the portal to your special training area. You must have a thousand training dummies in there. Do you destroy them all?"

Charlus looked at her, "1,083 and usually twice each. By the time I finish the first pass, the others have repaired."

She shook her head, "You are long overdue for a second wife."

He smiled, "I told you that you find one you like and she is infertile I will consider it."

She sighed, "Our children will be going off to train soon."

He looked at her, "You've been getting some insight into this that I have not? I only know one has psionic skills. That was the end of the divination. None allowed any and the Gods stopped speaking with me. I have done everything except getting married. Getting married means seeing the Lady of Dreams.

If she is not ready to talk to me then I am not going to push an encounter. Last time I lost a daughter and you lost your fertility. All over the choice. You getting punished for my decisions or supporting our agreements with each other. Then I had the day of turmoil and that was the last time Corellon Larethian spoke with me. Are they speaking with you?"

She sighed, "No."

He got up and went into the shower and she joined him. He just got her turned around when the crystal went off, "Duke Silvertree the Queen wants you at the palace as soon as possible."

He walked out, "Let her know I am drying off now and will be there as soon as I am dressed."

He replied, "She said to bring your wife as well."

He dried off and she hurried to get ready. He put his clothes on and got his armor on geared for a palace visit. He went down and got the horses ready. He saw Gia and looked at her, "How is she?"

She looked at Charlus, "Probably not long for this world. Losing 2 husbands and 6 of her children has not helped her much. Two of her daughters are watching her right now."

Charlus looked at her, "I still feel responsible for my uncle and her eldest to an extent."

She shook her head, "Kora did not kill the messenger. Be it her daughter Ginnar, her son, or our shit of a second husband. Any word from the Gods?"

Charlus shook his head, "They communicated with Zirra more recently than me."

She sighed, "Get another wife."

He smiled, "Take that up with my wife. She said the same thing but has not come back with a single woman she likes for the role."

Trilia called down, "Not true you just want them infertile."

Charlus nodded, "Less chance of getting hurt that way after the crap that was done to you."

He walked forward, "The Queen is waiting for us and we will have to teleport there to make it in a reasonable amount of time now. She stuck her tongue out at him. He sighed, "I know you're horny to try a woman but would you put that away."

She smacked his ass as Gia laughed at them. He got outside and nodded to the guard, He brought it down. He teleported out and pulled two crystals, "How are my eyes doing today. He heard, "Nothing to report General." The other replied, "We noticed movements in the southwest. Dragon Overwatch is confirming. We contacted them a couple of hours ago."

He knew that was Left Eye. He sighed, "Heading into court."

He shut them both off. He teleported them into the cavern and then to the front of the palace and dismounted. The Guard Captain pointed, "She is in the Royal Garden and is awaiting your arrival."

He walked down the corridor and they went into the area. She was alone. No guards. He looked at her, "Your Majesty, you sent for me?"

She turned and nodded. "I was visited by the Lady of Dreams last night."

He waited for her to continue. "She wanted to have me mediate a discussion with you."

Charlus nodded, "Did she say what this was in regards to that it required mediation, your Majesty?"

She sighed, "Like you do not know."

Charlus looked down and she finally groaned, "Why can you not simply find a woman to love fertility be damned?"

Charlus looked at the Queen, "Your Majesty, how goes your husband search?"

She groaned, "I should have guessed you would go there. It goes nowhere. Something about not just executing your husband. Doing it yourself by cutting off his balls has limited the field. Not like I can tell them why."

He nodded, "You could say corruption and infidelity. Do not have to say who, your Majesty."

She nodded, "Half of the gold-elf houses have fallen to some form of corruption or another over the last decade. This is not about me. This is about you."

He shook his head, "This is about the Lady of Dreams. She has not talked to me for over a decade. Those I had put out some hope in my wife shot down or the other found love. I will talk to her when she decides to start talking again. I will not guarantee a change of heart."

He heard a voice from behind him, "Please sit with me. No kneeling."

He turned and she looked upset and Charlus sat across from her. She looked at him, "Still holding onto a grudge I see."

Charlus sighed, "It would help if you told me what is on your mind. Instead of telling me what is on my mind. I cannot read your mind. I do not know what troubles you. Why this is so important to you, or what your solution to the impasse might be."

She looked at Charlus, "Always looking for answers."

Charlus smiled, "Always avoiding the answers."

She looked at Charlus, "I do not want to talk about the past."

Charlus nodded, "Your husband told me once that you were trying to figure out how to repair the rift between us. Do you even know what caused the rift?"

She looked at Charlus, "I said I do not want to talk about the past."

Charlus looked at Queen Goldeagle, "The first impasse. I cannot talk about the future with her until we clear up the issues which lead to the rift."

The Queen looked over, "Would you allow him so many questions to put the issues of the past behind him?"

She looked at the Queen, "One yes or no answer question."

Charlus looked at the Queen, "20 but it has to be complete answers, not yes or no."

The Lady of Dreams looked at me, "Two yes or no questions."

Charlus looked at the Queen, "If I am stuck with yes or no then the answer is 1,000 questions."

The Queen looked over at the Lady of Dreams and she sighed, "Seven questions with complete answers."

Charlus nodded, "With two yes or no questions."

She nodded, "Very well."

Charlus looked at her, "Did you interfere in Trilia's and my relationship by ensuring she had four children, knowing she would be made infertile or die from this fact, knowing that all of the children would not survive, as a means at getting back at me in whole or in part for my stubbornness in defining my relationship as I was allowed to do?"

She looked at Charlus, "That is six questions."

Charlus shook his head, "That is one question. I just defined what needs to be covered to be complete."

She looked at the Queen who nodded, "He defined the criteria but it sounds like two questions. The 'getting back at you in whole or in part for your stubbornness' would sound like a second question."

Charlus looked at The Queen, "If that part is a second question, she can answer that as yes or no."

The Lady of Dreams looked at Charlus, "I did interfere in your relationship by ensuring she would have multiple children over two, but I did not know it would be four. I knew there was a very good chance she would become infertile by it and watched over her to ensure she would not die from it. The fact that all of them would not survive was not known to me until I knew it was four. As to your second question.

While I am allowed to shorten it to yes or no, I will answer with more detail as yes or no would not work well. I did not see it as a means of getting back at you but a means of motivating you to take more wives. This, of course, was because of your stubbornness."

He looked at her, "If I had relented how many pregnancies would Trilia have had over the first 50 years alone without being that close to death for the effort?"

She sighed loudly, "I cannot speak to ever being that close to death but 12-16."

Charlus could feel Trilia's handshaking at that revelation. He looked at her, "Did you continue to interfere with my relationships by driving Black-Eagle away and Butterfly into another's heart? You can answer that as the second yes or no question."

She held her head down, "Yes."

Charlus asked Trilia, "Knowing this would you have wanted more children?"

She nodded rapidly. He looked over, "Would you do the right thing by fixing her fertility and allowing her to have at least five sets of twins and no more than eight sets before becoming infertile again, one set at a time without risk to her health or the children as a part of an agreement to add another wife?

She looked over at Trilia, "Are those the numbers you want?"

Trilia looked at her, "Eight to ten without risk to my health or the children."

The Lady of Dreams looked over, "Yes, as a part of an agreement to add 2 more wives."

He looked over to Trilia, "If we are doing 2 more, then 14 sets of twins without risk to her health or those of the children. You said 12-16, that puts it in the middle."

Trilia smiled and nodded. Charlus looked at her, "This next one is a personal question. Has Corellon Larethian been as distant with you as he has been with me for the last ten years? Because the two of us are at odds? You are here now as you are under pressure from him to resolve our issues?"