Fleas - Songs of the Gnolls I

WHEN FLEAS BITE THE DOG 7.3

Dannke entered the throne room. The light from the crystal throne blinded him for a moment. Helibel was discussing something with the captain of the guard. When she saw him, she fell silent.

"Your Majesty, we need to talk."

"Go ahead, bastard knight, I hear you."

"No, we must speak privately. Please grant my wish."

Helibel narrowed her eyes. She would try to find in his features a hint of the topic he would bring up. Failing that, she stood.

"Stay here."

"But, Majesty, he..."

"Thank you, Captain. I'll be fine. Handle this yourself, I trust your judgment."

Helibel went through the side door and sat down at the head of a carved oak table in a small dark room. Dannke followed her and lit the candles before closing the door.

"You are too impertinent. I don't think Father has taught you your place as well as he should have. It shows in your treatment of your slave. Did you know that he ran away, leaving many wounded guards behind, before he freed the gnome and killed the librarian?"

"I made a mistake trusting him. Once wild, always wild," Dannke was truly sorry to use him as a scapegoat, but those were turbulent times, and there was no room in his heart for mercy.

"Tell me what you want."

Dannke went to a small cupboard and took out a bottle of stale liquor and two glasses. He poured them, took one to His Majesty first, then sat down across the table with his own.

"I know we are in an urgent situation, Heli. However, I would like to propose a toast."

Dannke raised his glass. Helibel sighed and returned the gesture. They both took a sip.

"Well, I have satisfied your wishes. Now satisfy mine and speak at once."

"I want to save your skin. You are about to open a war on two fronts, one of them on this side of the wall. I guess that's why the captain was talking to you. The slaves didn't just accept his death, did they? I can fix that. I already know how to control the internal threat and strengthen the defenses against the external one."

"My hero," she said sarcastically. "Explain how."

"First, what I was promised. I left to find you allies in exchange for a reward you have yet to provide."

Helibel slammed the table angrily.

"Do you have any idea what the other nobles will do if I fulfill your bidding?"

"Yes, they will not be killed by their slaves or by the beasts of the savannah."

Helibel sighed again, grabbed parchment, ink and quill, and began to draft the document.

"Getting what you want most may not be the Eden you think it is, Dannke. With this document comes not freedom, but a new form of subjugation. Once I seal it, you will be tied for life."

Dannke stood up, walked to her side and read it over her shoulder. Everything seemed correct. They both signed it. Helibel rolled it up, melted the purple wax over the seal and stamped the Imperial Seal with her ring. Finally!

"Take it. Congratulations, big brother. With this family name, you will forever be tied by the curse of nobility. You think they are the wings of freedom, but they are nothing but a new kind of cage."

"It is easy for you to utter such words. You have never walked in my boots, nor felt the sharp dagger of impure blood at your throat. But that is over now. We are now officially brothers."

Dannke headed for the exit, waving the document he had been searching for all his life.

"Wait, what about your plan?"

Dannke paused.

"I envied you. I never received father's affection, nor anyone's respect. I had to fight tooth and nail for everything I have. Yet I always loved you. I loved it when I saw how happy you were with Fanafer. I loved your coronation day. I loved your courage in refusing to marry again. But I would have loved even more if you had allowed me to sit next to you in those hard moments when you lost everything, so that you would have known that you could count on me. Perhaps what you did was the best, because no, you can't count on me. I wish you luck, Your Majesty."

Dannke left the room. Helibel did not know what to say.