A Dragon's Curiosity

Blazing a trail straight into the middle of the chamber, Nisha had Alestar stumble after her with a swift pace. Situated in a circle around the room, several stone thrones rose straight from the ground without any seams. Due to the broken rubble in between several of them, there must have been more of them originally, however there only remained seven now. Five of them had figures occupying them, although the regular thief had no chance to identify them. Thanks to a strong enchantment carved into the base of each seat, the appearance of all leaders only resulted in blurred air and a warped voice, which made it impossible to match the five present bigshots in the [Thieves Guild] with their public identity.

Similar to the old crook, who slightly gawked and felt overawed due to meeting the Seats for the first time, Nisha held a decisive advantage. Her [Spirit Eyes] did not fall short of a simple enchantment and allowed her to slightly make out the features of the figures occupying the thrones. Combined with the unique signature their mana or aura exuded, the dragon felt fairly confident she would recognise these five thieves when she met them again elsewhere.

As if the two intruders were invisible, one of the Seats continued to report about an affair under his authority, paying the man and elf no mind.

“The guards have taken in another group, resulting in the loss of the third carriage this week. While it does not impact the production significantly, the Alchemist complained and billed the extra costs to me. I say, somewhere there is an information leak.”

With barely disguised anger in his voice, he continued to plead his case.

“I am already taking measures to investigate, however, there needs to be an effort from all of you to ensure we make an example out of it. If only to show what happens when you betray the guild.”

Situated in the middle of the room, Nisha patiently waited for them to finish up their discussion. As a previous ruler of a domain, she understood that some topics had precedence. At least the dragon repeated that sentence in her head while the discussion around her continued, delegating her as part of the background decoration.

“You want to let all my girls keep their ears open and question patrons for a single leak instead of gathering actual information? Do you know how much time that would waste and how many real secrets they could get their hands on instead?”

One of the female voices in the council spoke bemused, the sarcasm in her voice not even barely disguised.

“I did not say it was an either or decision! With a few extra questions, your wenches can do their regular job just as well, what is your problem?”

Instead of calmly arguing back, the man who first raised the issue almost screamed back, his anger almost reaching the boiling point.

Naturally, Nisha did not care at all about their discussion.

She did, however, feel an increasing amount of displeasure due to being ignored. As a dragon first, then as an elf, there has never been a situation where she has not been the centre of attention. Even in events where the young girl played a minor role, such as attending court or perusing the facilities offered by the [Adventurer’s Guild]; a part of the public gaze always rested on her, no one ever ignored her to this extent. From an intellectual point of view, the elf recognised the vanity and petty mindedness to crave attention and not being able to stand it if she is not the main spot light.

From an emotional standpoint, though, she slowly gained the craving to rip off the Seat’s heads for first summoning her and then treating her as a simple and unimportant minor figure.

“Excuse me.”

“And I’m saying; we need to smoke out … what?”

With the argument showing no signs of concluding anytime soon, Nisha asserted her position in front of the Seven Seats, interrupting the rant of the angry first male that spoke about catching the thief who leaked information.

Cutting off one of the council members appeared to be extremely rare, as the surrounding Seats grew quiet and focused on the girl standing in the middle of the chamber.

Even Alestar began to fidget to the side. While he did not do anything directly, he still did come with the big shots elf; who blandly accepted the blazing spotlight without shrinking back or showing any signs discomfort as everyone stared at her.

“If you are too preoccupied I can always schedule another appointment. It is not exactly the meeting I had envisioned when you did me the favour of inviting me.

Frankly speaking, standing around and listening to your argument does not fulfil my expectations. Can you either tell me when you are free to discuss my proposal or postpone the current debate to a more fitting date?”

Keeping her voice as neutral as possible, the dragon voiced her concerns and did not turn around like the old crook behind her started stammering something, trying to get her to step back. Nisha was fed up with being delegated as a background prop and did not mind offending the Seven Seats if they showed no intent to have a cordial discussion with her.

“Who do you think you are? We summoned you, showing you explore, and you cannot appreciate or understand how large of a favour this is?

And which idiot agreed to let a child stand in for the discussion? This is a grave offence!”

The incensed male blur, who had been speaking before this and been interrupted by the elf, talked himself into a rage, getting louder as his words got along. Throwing his goblet after taking another swig; the crystal glass shattered on the far left wall of the chamber, dripping red wine on the ground as silence settled in again.

As the raging man cooled down slightly from venting his frustrations, none of the other obscured figures made a move or explained. Aside from keeping the silence, their attention gathered back on Nisha’s petite figure, expectation gathering to see how she would handle the incident.

Left with no choice but to deal with it herself, the dragon turned to face the first speaker; contempt in her eyes as she removed the mask to reveal her features and disable the obscuring effect on her figure. In this manner the elf asserted the difference between the Seven Seats and herself, showing them that she did not need the anonymity and secrecy the [Thieves Guild] depended on to sustain their operations.

“You might know already since I have received an invitation to this gathering, but my name is Nisha Dharnas. After offering a development plan for the current slums, I came to negotiate the details. Might I assume the investment of several thousand golds in an area you control with additional payments and connections to the [Thieves Guild] takes precedence over a minor incident, at least as long as a guest you summoned is present?”

Reminding them of her status as a guest and outlining the benefits the dragon offered to the guild, she removed the wooden bracelet she carried on her wrist and dropped it on the ground; a solid plate of stone.

The ring of wood writhed and soaked in the dragon’s energy, rapidly draining her mana and aura - mainly of the darkness attribute - and broke through the surface, extending roots and gathering naturally occurring power as well. Fueling its growth, the [Thorns of the Night] expanded in the blink of an eye and constructed a deformed, and vicious looking seat made out of thorns and black wood. Thankfully Nisha did not fear the jagged growth and took a seat right in the middle of the hall, unperturbed by the strained silence.

Crossing her legs above each other, the dragon ran her gaze across the Seats, especially the man who liked to provoke her. His energy rampaged within his body, betraying his agitated emotions.

“Insolence! Before the council, no one is allowed to sit or make demands! We ordered you to come here, and you will wait for us to address you instead of making demands! This is an outrage!”

Without anything left to hurl across the room, Nisha liked to imagine he clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood with his nail at the moment. Relaxing in the surprisingly comfortable grasp made by the [Thorns of the Night], she held up her hand and motioned the incensed man to calm down.

“I’d like to remind you of several things.

First, I am not part of the guild, therefore not bound by your rules.

Second, you accepted the offer I sent and asked me to come for negotiations; I have not been ‘ordered’ to get here. If you can’t abide by the minimum of courtesy, I can always withdraw.

Third, it is because of Alestar that I reached out to the [Thieves Guild] foremost. Do not assume I have no other avenues to implement my plan.

You know my full name, believe me when I say there is a whole army of people waiting to do me a favour and raise their social standing.

Maybe I could expound more reasons, but I will stop here for the moment. Now decide if you want me to stay or see if I can thrill your competitors with my offer.”

Nisha never worried whether or not the guild might resort to violence in the case negotiations failed. While the strength of one or two Seats exceeded her own, the dragon-elf had confidence in her survivability and ability having a chance to escape. As long as they treated her as an elf, her skin - which boasted the same hardness as her dragon scales - was enough to block common weapons now. If or when they realised her extraordinariness, she would be long gone. There was another reason for Nisha to offend one of the [Thieves Guild’s] leaders if they attacked a party coming for discussion and the rumour of that incident spread, their credibility and future opportunities would go right down the drain.

As a matter of fact, the thought of going against the leading personages gave her a thrill., Fire pumping through her veins, as she imagined the coming clash and measuring her power against that of a whole criminal organisation. If she did not need their services for the foreseeable future, the dragon might have been interested in seeing whether she could uproot them as a whole.

Burying the desire to run wild deep in her heart, Nisha calmly awaited the [Thieves Guild’s] response.

“You…!”

Before he had a chance to explode, the angry rebuke from the first speaker was stopped by the raised hand of a female seat, her arm’s form barely visible after she held it up.

“Stop it. Her words are not without reason. You can rampage around with your own subordinates, this is not the proper place for that sort of behaviour. Personally, I am interested in the proposal and want to go ahead with the discussion.”

Even in a tense situation, the mysterious woman’s words carried a silky feeling, causing a warm and intoxicating sensation to rise in all the male hearts who listened to her. The angry man, on the other hand, paused because he knew her power and identity. Even if he insisted on chastising the elf and admonish her for breaking tradition before the Seven Seats, the dispute ensuing with that woman was not worth it.

“It still is not proper! Before the council, no one has the right to sit. No matter how thick the skin on her face is, that girl is still here to make an offer to us.”

Sitting back on his throne and bottling up the rage in his body, the disgruntled man could not help himself but complain.

As the head of his faction, it was one of the rare occasions where things did not go according to his will. Still, forcing his way against the captivating woman was not worth it.

“You heard her earlier. This is a discussion and not an audience. Why does it matter if she sits down?. The girl even brought her own chair, let her do what she wants.”

With a bit of humour, oddly enough still plenty seductive, the woman continued to argue and then concentrated her attention on Nisha. The display of creating a throne made of thorns from nothing gained a bit of consideration from her at least; she was willing to hear the elf out. And the proposal she received aligned well with her faction and field of work, giving in a little meant nothing in the face of benefits.

“I take that as an agreement from the guild to finally discuss my plan. Many thanks for that.”

Nisha recognised the help she gained from the woman as well and made a mental note about it, she had to look into that later.

“Are there any among you who have not yet learned about the details of the proposal? I can fill you in before we start the negotiations.”