Capítulo 226: Old friend (1)
We left the horses in the stable outside the perimeter and headed towards the palace. The townspeople didn't seem particularly surprised by the arrival of a small armed group of mercenaries.
"Lady Hilda," a group of armed maidens in dresses with metal plates greeted us at the gates of the second courtyard. Obviously, they were the very Valkyries. "Your father is already waiting for you."
The maidens let the princess through but crossed their spears to stop us.
"These are my companions, you can trust them," Hilda unlocked the Valkyries' blockade and led us inside. "You'll have to excuse them, but only native city dwellers with petitions to the Jarl or foreign envoys are allowed into the ruler's chambers. Even if my father wants to meet with merchants from other cities, he chooses a meeting place on neutral ground within the city."
"Your rules are quite strict," Katrina observed with interest as she examined the architecture of the local buildings.
"Well, it's still better than in Varengard, where they wouldn't even let us into the inner city," I reminded the princess of our encounter while searching for treasure.
"Oh... Will your parents be okay with our arrival?" Katrina asked.
"My uncle probably informed them of our arrival, so they'll be expecting you. I'm sure they are curious about the people I'm now fighting alongside. And, Katrina, it's best if you keep your blades at the ready."
This last statement didn't fill me with optimism.
At the entrance of the castle, a tall man in his fifties, dressed in magnificent armor with a large sword at his waist, greeted us. White hair peeked out from under his reddish horned helmet, and a bushy beard framed his face.
"Hello, Hilda, glad you could come," the warrior, like the border guards, pounded his chest with his fist and slightly bowed.
"Hello, Uncle Holdr. How are my parents?"
"Hm, it's better if you talk to them yourself. Siegfried hoped for your help, although Lady Freya refused to send for you until it affected the capital."
"Oh, hearing my mother's name, Hilda slumped her shoulders.
"And I assume this is the guild you joined at the Academy?" The warrior glanced over his shoulder, accompanying us to the main hall.
"Yes, I forgot to introduce you," Hilda pointed at the interlocutor, turning to us. "This is Holdr, the senior tan, my father's right hand and the commander of Nartandar's army. Not to mention, one of the finest warriors of Nordrune."
"Pleased to meet you," Katrina made a slight bow. "And we are..."
"No need to introduce yourselves. I am responsible for the safety of the Jarl's family and, of course, know everyone she spends time with. If what was told to me about you is true, you can be of great help in resolving our little problem. That is if you can convince the queen of it."
We approached the enormous carved doors, almost five meters tall. Holdr pushed the door and stepped aside. There was no guard in the spacious hall; only two people sat at the head of the room. As soon as we entered, the tan closed the door behind us, leaving us alone with the royal couple.
The great Jarl Siegfried silently watched us, occasionally glancing at his wife's reaction.
On the left of him sat a beautiful woman who looked very young for her thirty-five years. She had blue eyes and silver hair braided into a long braid. She wore a white dress with metallic accents, somewhat similar to Hilda's attire, combining the elegance of a gown with the protection of chainmail armor. Both the king and the queen had their weapons resting next to the throne. The Jarl's hefty adamantium battle-axe and the senior Valkyrie's large straight scabbard with a two-handed sword. It was evident that they didn't need any protection.
The queen smoothly shifted her gaze from one guild member to another, assessing our abilities.
"I see you didn't come alone," Freya said, continuing to evaluate us and addressing her daughter.
"They volunteered to help because they were worried about me," Hilda replied.
"Don't bother yourself, my dear. They are just mercenaries like all the others. If they possess decent skills, I see no problem in hiring them. But first, I'd like to make sure," the queen stopped her gaze on me for a moment and grasped the hilt of her blade.
In an instant, she drew her sword and lunged forward. I managed to draw my blades and crossed them before her sharp edge.
The strike was so powerful that I fell to one knee, but I refused to give in. Freya grinned rather wickedly, applying more force to her blade. Ice began to form, slowly creeping down the black blades to my hands. Gathering mana of fire, I enveloped the swords in flames and pushed the queen away.
I was ready to continue, but Freya nodded dismissively and went back to her throne.
"So, it's you who defeated my unruly daughter," the Valkyrie sheathed her blade and took her seat. "Hmmm, not bad."
"Mom! Is that how you welcome guests?" Hilda was clearly tense when the queen lunged at me with her sword.
"I just wanted to make sure you didn't lose on purpose. And he's not that bad, I hope the others are just as skilled," the queen leaned back thoughtfully.
"Well then," Siegfried clapped his hands. "You've seen for yourself, now let's get to the business."
"Is this somehow related to the breach in the fortress wall?" I inquired.
"Yes, it remains from the last attack," the Jarl folded his hands before him and began his narration. "About two weeks ago, shortly after my return from the Academy, we received news that someone had destroyed a village on the slope of the northern mountains. It was a small village of hunters who had good relations with the White Tribe, but they were all wiped out. Holdr and his men went there, but they found nothing but frozen bodies of a few people. There were clearly fewer bodies than there were villagers, but they found no traces of the missing ones. All the houses were destroyed, and they were already covered in a decent layer of snow, even if anyone survived, they would hardly have been able to reach another city in such weather. They searched the surroundings and tried to seek advice from the dragon living on the nearest mountain, but it was in hibernation, and they couldn't reach it."
"And the dragon itself couldn't have done this?" I was curious about such an obvious possibility.
"Unlikely, it has been in hibernation for fifty years and had no intention of waking up anytime soon. Although, from the signs of the battle, I too thought it might have been a dragon. The answer came when, a couple of days after the patrol's return, a white dragon flew to the capital. People went out to greet it, but without warning, it swept them away with its icy breath. Dozens of people died on the spot, but the guards managed to drive it away from the city, though at the cost of great losses. By the time the guard reached the outer wall, the dragon had already vanished, taking a few victims with it."
"But why would it want people? Was it preparing supplies for winter?" I asked.
"I don't know. White dragons have always been in good relations with us. And it could only attack if people had raided its nest or killed its offspring. But then why would it take the bodies of the slain with it?"
"And what are your relations with the White Tribe?"
"Since the time of the peace treaty between humans and dragons after the first war, we have been building relations with the white dragons. While people in other countries sought revenge for years of oppression, we, on the contrary, wanted to coexist with them. Therefore, in our country, people have long been accustomed to occasionally meet unusual beings in white clothes with horns on their foreheads. Our laws also prohibit causing any harm. I personally stripped the last tan who tried to forcefully claim a white dragoness of all titles and banished him from the country, though he managed to find refuge in the wastelands. No Nord would dare lay a hand on a white dragon hatchling unless poachers attacked them. So I hoped to negotiate with the dragon personally. The negotiations were unsuccessful. As soon as it saw me, it attacked."
"Father, did you recognize the dragon?" Hilda's voice carried pain.
"Yes, that's why I called you. It was Lady Askareza, and I know she used to be in good terms with you. I hoped you could reach her."
The Jarl's words deeply affected Hilda.
"Why would she do this... She used to be a friend to all the villagers around, no one would dare to attack her."
Siegfried sighed and decided to reveal something the princess didn't know yet.
"You haven't seen her in a long time, but I was informed that a couple of years ago, she entered into a union with one of the ancient dragons. It's quite possible that she's expecting offspring now. If so, she might have perceived any intrusion on her territory as an attack. I wanted to know the reason behind her aggression because if we kill her without cause, we might incur the wrath of her kin. I hoped you could reason with her."
"I don't know..." Hilda lowered her head. "Askareza would never attack humans. Father, are you sure it was her?"
"Yes. In the last clash, I fought her personally," Siegfried pulled back the edge of his mantle, revealing tooth marks on his shoulder. Two fist-sized wounds pierced through his armor and deeply into the warrior's shoulder. Only his massive muscles saved him from a fatal injury. "I recognized her lineage marks and wanted to talk to her face-to-face. At first, it seemed like she recognized me, but when I got close, she bit me and threw me off the wall. We managed to drive her away, inflicting severe damage, but I believe she'll be back soon."
"And you want me to talk to her?"
"That's why I called you."
"Excuse me, but what if she doesn't respond?" I interjected. "Hilda could die if the dragoness decides to snack on her instead of having a conversation. Are you willing to risk your daughter's life?"
Silence filled the room. The queen was the first to break it.
"She is a Valkyrie, a northern warrior! Her duty is to defend her country and die for it if necessary. That's how the rulers of the North have always been, unlike the Veranian riffraff sitting behind fortress walls, sending their soldiers to death."
Katrina clenched her fists, but she had nothing to say in response. Kings from her lineage were powerful mages, but few of them had ever personally fought in battles. She herself was more of an exception to the rule.
"If you wish, then I will talk to Askareza," Hilda bowed to her parents and was about to leave, but I stopped her.
"Well, well, how brave and foolish," I cast a doubtful glance at Katrina. "Look, they want to deprive us of a decent weapon bearer."
Katrina smirked and turned to the king.
"It does seem unfair. Hilda is currently under my command, not to mention she must follow Krito's orders."
Freya glared at us disapprovingly, her fingers tracing along the hilt of her sword, but Siegfried only smiled.
"Heh, are you hinting that we might have to hire all of you for this mission?" the Jarl raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I wonder why we would need that."
Katrina was clearly seeking my support.
"Firstly, how were you planning to capture the dragoness? It would have made negotiations much easier," I asked.
"Hmm, we didn't intend to capture her. It's too dangerous. That's why I went alone to negotiate with her," Siegfried replied.
"But you're subjecting Hilda to an unjustified risk."
"We have no other choice. We could kill her, but during a capture, many good people might die, and I can't risk them."
"So, how were you planning to kill her?"
"It's simple; we have heavy ballistae with adamantine tips that can penetrate dragon scales. If we can't persuade her to stop, or if someone is in mortal danger, then we'll kill her using those."
"I think that's all I need to know."
"And how do you plan to convince me?" Siegfried scratched his chin skeptically.
"Very simple. I propose that we capture the dragoness. We'll do it without your help, but if you provide me with one ballista, we'll ensure Hilda can talk to her. If we can't persuade her, or if someone is in danger, we'll take care of her ourselves."
"Hmm, in other words, you just want to protect my daughter. Admirable, but are your services worth it?"
"Of course, if you want to personally kill Askareza and invite the wrath of her kin upon your city, then be my guest. Otherwise, you could blame everything on the outsiders who recently came to your country."
"That's nonsense; the blame will still fall on us since we hired you," Freya slammed her fist angrily on the armrest of the throne.
"No, you hire us only to resolve the issue with the dragon peacefully. The decision to kill her or not remains with us. But of course, we'll try to avoid casualties."
The Jarl exchanged a few glances with his wife.
"Hmm, fine then. If you're so eager to die, I suppose we can allow a group of mercenaries to risk their lives instead of my soldiers."
"Zig?!" The queen frowned in displeasure.
"It's fine, or are you satisfied that he stopped your strike? I'd like to see them in action," Siegfried said, nonchalantly leaning back on his throne.
"Do as you wish!" Freya indifferently reclined on the throne.
"So, it's settled. How much do you charge for such a job? Ten? Twenty thousand?" The Jarl spoke of those sums as if they were pocket change, although it would sustain us for a year.
"Twenty would be nice," Vina gleamed, rubbing her hands together.
"Actually, we don't use coins in our dealings..." Siegfried scratched his beard, "...but we can find uses for your metals. Follow me."
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