he looked out of place in a green velvet tunic. The fabric screamed to be relieved of their burden of containing his muscles. Alistair noted he was not a bureaucratic through and through.
"We cannot do this, Lord Green," Pope Marie, with relaxed refinement, answered. "We cannot leave the lands undefended. If you remember, you had advocated for the army to take all duties related to defending the state and church. And we had approved of this policy some four years ago."
Pope Marie was not as young as the General, but she was not old. At thirty-five years old, she was like fine wine. She had aged wonderfully. Even Alistair had to admit he found her rather attractive. She had neither a bountiful chest nor an exceptionally seductive body. She had an above-average appearance overall, but the way she wore it was enough to make Alistair notice.
She was a kind woman. Smart and honest, she practiced what she preached and never broken a promise that she could keep. She was the ideal woman, and sadly, already married. But that hadn't been the deciding force for promoting her to his Pope. It had been her loyalty to the church and her beliefs that made her a great pick. It also helped that he didn't have to look at an old man counting the coins in front of him.
"Lady Marie, the demons are invading again," General Caelian said respectfully. "We must do something before the demons get to Angel's Respite. Lone demons have already managed to slither into our lands from somewhere. Lahabiel is also rising havoc to the east. Not to mention Akyryss is now declaring war on us by burning our most important port."
"I do believe that may have something more to do with our lovely deity here," Pope Marie turned to Alistair. Eyes full of reproach.
"I did nothing wrong," Alistair gave her a small smile and leaned back into his chair.
No one in the room was in the dark about what Alistair had done. They knew what he had done, and so did the Great White Dragon.
"That..." General Caelin looked conflicted for a moment. "Still. She could have spoken with us about it before burning out countrymen."
"She had," The third person spoke up. Minister of Foreign affairs. "She had sent plenty of protests. Five in the last month. Close to two hundred in the last year. She is quite the vocal one."
"Just when I was taking she was becoming a pacifist," Alistair jested as he stared down over the ornate dragon head on the island beside their country. "It's easy to forget that a dragon is still an apex predator when they're laying low."
"Do you think she did it in liege with the demons?" The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked as he looked to his god. "Her attack happened just as you left for the valley."
"Maybe," Alistair. "Or maybe she finally decided to no longer tolerate us."
"Did we lose just the port?" The Minister asked solemnly. "Piers can be repaired but--"
"The entire city had been burned," Alistair gave him a demeaning look for the idiotic question. "They also burned the surrounding lands and hamlets. No living being exists within twenty miles of the city."
There was a rap at the door, and Alistair opened it with a quick magical wave of his wrist. In came a woman, her face hidden behind a white fox mask. Complimenting it, she wore tight black clothing with several swords on her back. Her steps were light as she walked behind Alistair, bowed, and slipped him an ornate wooden board. Parchment had been attached to it, nearly full of tightly packed neat handwriting.
Alistair threw an eye over his shoulder, examining the woman. She was slender, small, and had lovely legs that were displayed nicely by her tight pants. She was a ninja, modeled after the High Elven saboteurs before. She bowed at him, her expression hidden behind the magical mask. Before she could leave, Alistar weaved her forward. She moved forward and knelt beside him.
"What is this?" Alistair asked with a teasing smile.
"Another report from Bishop Luis from Port Gulley, within the Dragon Empire," A muffled sweet voice came from behind the mask. "Behind it, is a reported sighting of the Tarrasque within the southern desert."
Alistair had only meant to tease his little ninja. No one present was oblivious that their deity was quite fond of this little spy. Quite so that she never really had been sent on a mission in the last two years, and mainly acted as his secretary. Of course, it was a mutual feeling. However, Alistair's teasing had been derailed by what she said. He sighed, no longer feeling he wanted to deal with matters of state and the world.
"Come, sit." Alistair kicked his chair back enough to allow room on his lap for the girl.
"Alistair?" The girl murmured.
"Sit," The deity said. "It's going to be a long day, and I require your company. Otherwise, the next bad report that comes in, I'll throw them from the roof like the last pope."
The girl turned to look at the three sitting on the other side of the table. No one besides her had the luxury to address Alistair by name to his face. No one also had the luxury to even touch him, but her. In turn, no one besides Alistair had seen her face. At least, no one knew who was under the mask. Alistair had been careful to bring in lots of girls of her statue for the express purpose of hiding her amoung them should she wish to take it off.