Chapter 629: Simple (1/2)
Word of the Third Prince being incarcerated in his chamber spread throughout the Iron Kingdom's Capital quickly and in the meantime, another more scandalous rumour accompanied the news. The Third Prince had been enthralled by a witch that had used some dark tricks to pull the Iron King's soul from the abyss!
While some of the population did not believe in the rumours but there were many others who did. Those jealous and enemies of the Third Prince quickly used this rumour to their advantage which was actually what Lord Sincia was planning for and the reputation of the Third Prince plummeted in the minds of the citizens.
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Blake sat in his chair and silently appraised the young elf standing before him who was clearly uncomfortable in his presence from the way the elf was trying not to fret. The feminine looking elf was the adjutant of the Third Prince and in the past few days, he had been constantly coming over bearing messages from the Third Prince.
”Young Master Aeguil...” Blake finally broke the silence as he gestured to the opened letter on the table. ”Is Prince Herod not planning to uphold his side of the bargain?”
”Lord Captain,” The adjutant quickly replied, glad that the stiffing silence was broken. ”My Prince has instructed me to inform you that once he is freed, the materials and items you wanted will be delivered immediately to your ship.”
”So he wants to blackmail me?” Blake's eyes grew cold. ”I do not take kindly to such... ways...”
”Please, Lord Captain!” Aeguil who came from a noble family went down on one knee and bowed his head low. ”Please help us save the Prince!”
Blake's anger dissipated as the young elf on his knee begged him to save his prince. He no longer felt any anger but only discomfort at the situation. ”Alright! I will try to help him!”
”Thank you, Lord Captain! The heavens bless you!” The adjutant wiped away tears of joy from his face. ”His Highness will be saved!”
”But!” Blake interrupted the elf's self celebration. ”I will only do my best to help him and only if the materials I needed are delivered to me by tomorrow!”
”B-but but...” The adjutant stammered in surprise. ”The deal wa-”
”Accept my terms,” Blake cut in again. ”Or you can get out of my ship... right now!”
”I- I...” Aeguil calculated in his mind the amount of time needed to return to the Capital, sneak a message to his Prince and wait for his reply and back to here. He shook his head as the time needed would be too much and there was always the chance of the messages getting intercepted by the Crown Prince and his faction. Such a message would spell doom for the Third Prince and everyone involved.
”It is a deal!” Aeguil sucked in a deep breath and made his decision. To him, his Prince was more important than the strange arcane materials that were mostly useless to anyone without a large supply of magic crystal. ”But on one condition!”
”Oh?” Blake leaned back on his chair and gestured to the young elf who was trying to prove himself. ”Go on. State your condition.”
”I will deliver the goods... But I and some guards will be accompanying along!” Aeguil declared firmly.
”You don't trust me?” Blake shook his head.
”No! Until I see the Prince is well and freed!” Aeguil replied firmly. ”This is a deal!”
”Alright, fine,” Blake gave in. Securing the materials for the tracking spell was more important. If needed, his Marines were more then capable of defeating anyone brought along by the young master Aeguil. ”Tomorrow by the time the sun is overhead, I expect to see my goods here.”
Aeguil gave a stiff nod before he gave another bow and left the cabin. Blake sighed and shook his head at the back of the elf before he picked up the handset on his desk. ”Comms, tell Lieutenant Commander Trism to find me in my office.”
”Yes sir!” The operator over the line replied and not long later, there was a knock at the hatch and Trism entered. ”You called, Sir?”
”Send word to the Vengeance,” Blake said without looking up from his paperwork. ”Order them to set sail for combat. I want them to take up position at the mouth of the Border Straits.”
”Aye aye, Captain,” Trism replied. The Border Straits was the massive dividing inland saltwater river that ran between the lands of the Protectorate and the Iron Kingdom. ”Shall we order the Icarus and Daedalus to link up with the Vengeance?”
”No, leave those two airships where they are for now,” Blake said before he pushed the letter from the Prince to Trism. ”What do you think?”
”Prince Herod wants our help to rescue him?” Trism frowned. ”And he is holding the stuff we want as hostage...”
”I changed the deal,” Blake smiled. ”Our items will arrive tomorrow with a small group of... overseers... while we think of a way to get the Prince out in one piece.”
”Sir, I know the items are important for the spell,” Trism's frown deepened. ”But is it worth risking for the Prince?”
”The Protectorate will be invading soon and this... this could spark off a civil war with us right in the middle!” Trism warned. ”We only have one ship and a crew of just two hundred...”
”I know,” Blake replied. ”That is why I changed the deal. If they do not follow through, then, I have no obligation to remain here. The items we lack for the spell... We can get them in other places... Like the Cartel.”
”That would mean pushing back our schedule by weeks...” reminded Trism. ”And we would need to make a big detour to avoid the attacking Protectorate fleets...”