章 8: Terms for the Hunt
With Farth, the poor royal jester, dragged away from his master's place, the time had come for Rothgarr and Aelthred to confirm their deal regarding Glen-gohr's fate. Aelthred stepped closer to the Governor's throne. Rothgarr, then, was the first to begin their talk anew.
"First of all, hereby I want to confirm the very terms we previously agreed upon for our contract. Among these lies the matter on how much I shall pay you should the hunt goes well as expected. So long as we both remember, you, the leader of hunters, shall first be given one third of my entire fortune. As for your lieutenant, she shall be given another one third out of my remaining gold and treasures. The rest of your men shall have all the rights on the spoils of their hunt, for it is certainly believed that the monster, Glen-gohr, has its lair plenty of earthly treasures and ancient techs. Those shall be your servants' share."
Faces of men and women behind Aelthred shone with anticipation, immediately after they heard about their expected share of wealth. Their hearts started to pound greatly, but they were yet refraining from such excitements. Gael, too, seemed to be delighted at the treasures promised upon her; however, there was surely more than just a pile of gold she had been anticipating so far, as it was obvious by the looks of her ambitious eyes.
"I assure you, we shall keep our promise in the names of the ancestors, as it has long been the honorable tradition of this land. The amount of very wealth I shall give you would never change, should you hold your ends no matter what. Now, Prince Aelthred, I require your words of confirmation on the terms. The sooner we make our agreement solid, the faster shall the monster fall before us." Rothgarr urged the Prince.
Aelthred and Gael exchanged glances for a moment. This was the very moment where she would be getting what she had desired for. Shortly afterwards, Aelthred answered his employer as the following. "Rothgarr, the gracious and yet wise Governor of the land, I thank you for showing us the will to keep your ends of the bargain. I shall gladly accept every terms of our initial contract, except for a single item regarding the share that is due to my lieutenant. Yes, I dare suggest we should modify one of the terms we have been discussing so far."
The Governor, at first, was quite bewildered at Aelthred's such unexpected proposal. He was generously, and literally offering them more than half of his entire fortune just for a single hunt; he couldn't understand the reason for his reconsideration.
"A change in the conditions? 'Tis what you said, Prince Aelthred?" Rothgarr, while being confused, asked him back.
"Aye, Governor. I demand a single change on our contract."
Rothgarr's temper was slowly but surely changing into that of anger, upon hearing Aelthred's bold words. Was this young fellow, so did Rothgarr think, making fun of him? In what intention did the barbarian arrogantly request for renegotiation; this he did not know at the time.
His facial expressions, too, were changing as if he himself became a fruit ripening under the gentle sun. He would have cut his guest down right at where he was standing, should he have been nothing but somebody meager like Farth. However, he was having an official meeting with the Prince of Geats, not with his jester. Furthermore, it wouldn't harm him just to hear out what that insolent son of a barbarian had to say. Rothgarr calmed himself down a little, and then kept on listening to Aelthred's offer.
"Apparently, my trusty lieutenant, a good sister-in-arms with whom I have roamed numerous battlefields side by side, was the one that asked for such amendment in the first place. She would, with pleasure, give up her rights on a fair amount of gold that is due to her, only if a single term shall be arranged anew."
Rothgarr was relieved at the news, albeit momentarily, as he would now be paying less gold to those savages. Then, he started to gravely wonder what, in the names of 3-Divines, that tech-maiden would ever require from him.
"She wants your eldest son to be one among her prizes in return of the gold she shall be renouncing."
Another moment of awkward silence arrived. No one could ever dare to open his or her mouth, out of huge shock. Twenty to thirty seconds later, tension began to build up on the side of Rothgarr's people. Now they came to think of it, as far as what they had saw remained to be true, the female warrior who stood next to the Prince had been staring at one of the Rothgarr's young tech-knights with her vulgar glares, indeed. On a perspective of Aelthred, Being her friend for so long, he already knew she had strong desires on such earthly matters since her youth, which all included gold, honor, techs, and even pretty men to indulge in. He had no other options but to heed his tech-maiden's request at any cost; in fact, she had been one of the greatest, powerful allies to the Prince for all his life, and also one among the best friends he ever had since from his childhood. She even had once saved his own life in a fierce battle of the past. He had been in her debt a great deal, and this was one of the ways to repay her.
"My son as your underling's share, thou said?" He asked Aelthred again.
"Yes. I meant your son of beauty, without a doubt." So the Prince answered.
Now this served the same as poking at a beehive full of its inhabitants; all the Governor's vassals and knights were rising either from their seats or even from where they were standing. The Governor's son, now at the center of the whole matter, managed to remain still. His facial expressions were at least partly hidden from the sight of others, thanks to his helm. Yet he couldn't help himself but shiver to his spine with fear.
"Hang that insolent son of a savage!" One of the vassals shouted. "Nay, we shall put him on a firing line!" Another man on Rothgarr's side insisted. "Burn them all!"
Upon acknowledging his own son's life and soul were both in peril, Rothgarr too arose from his throne. He looked into Aelthred's eyes in great despise, barely managing to retain himself from cleaving the savage's head in two. He walked down onto the floor where the barbarians were standing. Then he silenced his people who were shouting aloud. With all the merciful heart he could possibly muster, he gave one last chance of survival to the Prince.
"I am a stern man, and yet at the same time, I take pride of myself being merciful, when it is direly needed. Therefore, I shall give thee another chance to save thy and thy servants' lives; will thou, an arrogant and insolent son of a whore, revoke thy own words? I ask you again. Will thou take your words back?"
Some of Aelthred's honor guards laughed heartily at it, upon hearing Rothgarr's warnings. However, their eyes soon went ice-cold now that the beloved Prince was being mocked by some old man who looked nothing more than a weakling beneath them. Other barbarians, too, were the same.
"Thou try him, and pay the price with thy blood." One of the bulky honor guards threatened the Governor.
Aelthred, a man of noble soul, smacked the guard's face with his knuckle, making every other men and women behind him quiet. The prince then made a mild, amicable smile just like he did to the jester. He had no intention to intimidate the Governor at all, but rather wanted to be a messenger of peace. He, o' the honorable and yet humble Prince, truly wished to come up with a friendly consensus with his other party regardless of the current circumstances.
"Merciful Governor, pray you calm yourself, for I did not try to insult you nor say blasphemy unto 3-Divines in any other ways possible. I assure you that such claim of mine for amendment is well-grounded without a nonsense. From hence, I shall give you 3 specific reasons for my own words."
"First is about the woman, that is, my senior officer who now stands right beside me. By proving her competence and capabilities in countless battles, she achieved a glory of becoming one among my foremost, elite officers that I have handpicked myself. She once even saved my life from an ambush, which would have been a certain death of mine without her help. Thus I ask you, Governor; isn't it righteous to reward your men and women in accordance with their abilities and services for you? Aye, my answer shall be yes, for she have been serving me with all her might and loyalty she could ever give unto me, and I firmly believe by doing so she already earned a right for her reward."
"Second shall concern the matters on your son. Even in the lands of Geats we have heard the fame and tales of a young tech-knight that is the eldest son of yours. With his prowess and his beauty both renowned all across the Empire, he has proven himself so far to be one among the most prestigious, noble men and women in his land; blessings to those who brought such good son upon the universe! I dare ask you once more; isn't it just for him to marry the one who is of equal value with his glorious name? I shall say yea, for Gael, my lieutenant, also possesses a brilliant reputation, honor, and strength that well match with those of your son."
After pausing for a moment. Aelthred went on his talking, with some seriousness in his attitude this time.
"The third and the last reason shall be your own incompetence. Pray you think hard about it, Governor Rothgarr, for I have sensed a good deal of desperateness in your eyes ever since the name of the beast was first called out amidst this room. I have also sensed your strength and soul both withered, since such have been the vile fruits of an orchard named aging."
"Now with your vigor and spirit of the youth long gone afar from you, you can no longer call yourself a tech-knight. Yet, you desperately wish to see Glen-gohr's blood spilled on the ground. I venture to ask you a final question; could you possibly kill it on your own, with your might? Be wise in making an answer, and be truthful to yourself, for it shall mean your certain demise should you ever try to trick yourself in the face of the monster."
Rothgarr went silent. He could not give any of his answer to the question.
"Governor, you need us; don't dare deny it. More than we seek your gold and techs, you need our presence in this land of yours should you ever want to be free of the beast's tyranny. You may burn us alive with all the plasma-cannons available, but if that is the case, you and your people's damnation shall be eternal."
The Governor, on whom hundreds and thousands of innocent lives were depending, could not easily refute such claims of Aelthred. He remained silent for the next couple of minutes. Rothgarr's people, too, ceased to cause any more of the uproar here after. Rothgarr desperately wanted the monster's death. He did not wish to admit it at first, but eventually, he came to accept that he needed the barbarians' help. He was willing to sacrifice anything, even his own honor, only to eradicate Glen-gohr from this planet and the whole universe. Still, one thing was yet to be revealed even at this point; what for?
"Very well, barbarian. I shall, by grace, accept your offer and change the term accordingly, only if you manage to kill Glen-gohr and then spill its marrow on the ground once and for all."
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