"Are you sure about this, Brother?"
"You dare question my word?"
"It's just that, he doesn't fit the bill."
"Maybe, maybe not. However, given how far we are with our plans, we cannot afford to linger much longer."
"And if you are wrong?"
"Then I will bear the responsibility. It is better to be wrong and have acted than to be right and have done nothing."
"Okay, I will back you, but if this goes south..."
"I know."
***
Barda was scribbling away on a piece of paper. In truth, the entire workshop was littered with pieces of scribbles all over the place. As the ground made their way through the workshop, they were shocked.
Having only landed conquered the city a few hours prior, they didn't understand how Barda had been able to collect all these materials. What they didn't know was that Barda had already had these materials collected before the invasion into the city.
Barda had only come here for inspection mostly, see what had been collected and what was not. To his shock, most of what he had asked for was there. He took the time to make one small thing, but it was more like assembling it since he had already made most of the components and had brought them along.
"Ahem!" Commander Greer cleared his voice to let Barda know of their presence. Barda had known for a while but had to finish up what he was writing. Of course, he assumed the Queen would not come, and even if she did, she wouldn't come with quite the entourage, so he raised his hand.
When he was done, he turned to see who it was only to find Lady Maara staring bloody murder at him, thinking this was a power move. First, he had summoned her, no he was making her wait. Barda quickly stood and bowed, before saying:
"Your Majesty,"
***
Barda hadn't invited the Queen. After they got down from the ships and the Queen got to the palace, the army had disbanded, many happy to be back home. Soldiers were finally reunited with their loved ones. It was a moment like no other.
With the Queen on the throne, Barda had excused himself and gone off to find the workshop. Part of the reason was that he didn't want to steal the limelight, but mostly because he had something he needed to tend to. However, as he did, Commander Greer had stopped him.
"Where are you headed to?"
"To find a workshop. Need to make something."
"What if the Queen asks?"
"Tell her that if she has time, she should come to find me," Barda's reply had been cheeky, not at all haughty. However, that was lost on the Commander who revered him. It hadn't occurred to Barda that the Queen might want to honor him since he was not a Tristanite anyway.
That had been lost in translation, and now here she was, angry at him. Or had it been?
***
"You said you had something to show us?" The Queen shouted, livid. Looking at Commander Greer, he saw a hint of mischief in his eyes. Had he done this intentionally?
"Well, this is awkward," Barda said and made a bid to twiddle his fingers, "This wasn't meant for all of you."
"My Queen," General Morio said as he read between the lines, leading the entourage away. The commander winked at Barda as he went away, kind of like a father-figure encouraging a son.
The Queen had thought that whatever Barda had to show her had to do with the military. Despite her chagrin at being summoned, she had to admit she was curious about what crazy thing he had cooked up this time. He kept bringing one surprise after another.
With that in mind, she had gathered her generals and gone off to where Barda was. Now she was blushing so hard as she watched her men leave her with this ... jackal.
"Way to clear a room," she began.
"Wow, I finally get a private audience. Would your Majesty honor me with by seating down."
"Cut the crap!" She said, although she still sat down.
Barda reached out for some wooden structure. It resembled something similar to the guns he had made in that it had a body with a weird shape and an extension. It had metallic strings on top, and hole on the sides of the body.
Looking at it, she admired the beauty of the wood carvings. Barda sat on the desk he had been scribbling on and placed the wooden box on his lap. Then he started plucking strings, and surprisingly, music came out.
Barda was no expert in playing guitar, and that was an understatement. Matter of fact, he knew nothing at all. Fortunately for him, in the patent containing the guitar designs, he had been able to learn a few chords, and that was what he used to create a romantic ambiance.
Watching him strum away, the Queen was breathless. While Barda didn't know how to play, he had one advantage over most humans, rather, 2 advantages. One was his pattern recognition. Music was a series of notes arranged in a pattern, and to learn the music you just needed to learn the pattern.
The other small advantage was that he didn't have to endure the pain of learning how to play. With his finger-tips being as hardy as steel, he had to take care not to tear the string. He played a simple upbeat series of chords but made it as beautiful as possible.
"So, do you like it, my lady?" Barda asked once he was done.
"Not bad," the Queen maintained a stoic expression as she answered him, although she had a small smile to hint at him that she was joking.
"You know, I won the bet," Barda changed the subject, but started playing the music.
"I know that. Although as I recall, you didn't ask for anything."
"And why do you think that is?"
"I don't know, you tell me."
Barda stopped playing the music and turned serious, "Because you are the one thing that I want more than anything, but I wouldn't have you as a trophy!"
"How would you have me?" she asked, also turning serious.
"As a man would have the woman he loves," Barda put down the guitar and reached for her hand. The 2 locked each other in a beautiful embrace followed by an intense make-out session.
"We have to go back, otherwise people will be suspicious," The Queen said.
"Let them be," Barda answered as he reached out for her back to his arms.
***
Barda had put a lot of thought into this matter. For the amount of work he wanted to do, he needed a steady supply of resources and manpower. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have an army to call upon.
Moreover, having experienced the boons of just the patent office, Barda could not wait to have steady and unlimited internet access. But to get that, Barda needed a ton of resources that only a city could provide for him.
If you think about it, how often to you get a choice of acquiring everything you ever had just by winning a Queen whom you've already impressed? Barda was not one to lick a gift horse in the mouth.
He briefly wondered what that made him out to be. However, his justification was simple. Tristan and Lady Maara would more than benefit from having him around. It was a win-win situation any way you look at it.
"Tonight, In the official banquet to celebrate the victory, I shall knight you as Lord Barda so don't dare miss. After that, I shall make you the Lord Commander over the armies of Tristan, effectively making you a Tristanite.
Afterward, should you choose, you may take on a wife as all Tristanites have the right to, even if she is the Queen. Until then, keep your lips to yourself!" She pushed his face away and walked off with a smile on her face.
As he watched her go, he admired the lovely body and smooth curves. Now that's a Queen.