Mike remembered the Alchemist token in his possession. He pulled it out and set it on his desk. "I should probably give this back to you now. I have my own power and don't need to borrow it any longer."
"The Token's power? Or mine?" Prince Troeg seemed annoyed.
"Is it wrong to say both?" Mike wasn't feeling the mood.
"Can't you give me some face? I did give you quite the advantage." He tried to argue back into Mike's favor but it didn't seem to work.
"You've come a long way, spit it out." Mike cut the cordial nature of their meeting short and tapped his finger.
"Now that you're no longer in danger, you have a lot of confidence but that danger from Poocha could soon take Poocha. If the Poocha Kingdom falls, the Ornians won't hesitate to expand outward and it would only be a matter of time before they found themselves here, surrounding you on all sides." Prince Troeg started hard, he hesitated for a moment.
The hesitation gave Mike a chance to stand up. "Did you come here to threaten me?"
"You and I have an understanding, or so I thought. I don't intend to force you. You can sit down if that is what you believed my meet to be about. No, I came here to beg you to help the Poocha Kingdom." Prince Troeg got down on the floor.
Mike walked over and stood over him. "This is not cool. You're a Prince, grow a spine and stand up, what happened to you? You used to be so vibrant and now.. I don't even recognize you. Get up, now."
He was forced into taking a position anyway, it really pissed him off and he wanted to hit the prince in the jaw for the trouble. Mike went back to his chair, "Sit down. Then, explain to me what the hell is going on." It was true that what the prince said was cause for concern, no one wanted to be surrounded by people who already hate them. It was also true that he had plenty of resources but all of those resources were for the City.
"I cannot explain everything, but they have put us under siege. All of our merchants have either vanished or turned up missing. I can't tell if people are being kidnapped or if they are simply being killed but more than seventy merchants have gone missing. All of them went missing after we started to make healing pills. The Ornians were well known for taking steps that were vicious, business was business in their eyes and nothing stood in the way."
"So you're saying that the Ornians are responsible for all of this?"
"No, I'm saying that the Ornians gave us a warning not to start selling the healing pills. They told us that it was interfering with their business practices at first but then they changed tactics and started to spread rumors that our pills were causing people to die."
The whole situation felt a bit too familiar, Mike felt like he was going to throw up.
"Demonizing something to gain control over something, and then, finding that it was all a measure to take control of said thing. Its historically redundant. These scum, they don't deserve mercy. They lie to future generations for personal gain, on my Homeworld, they call this a Capital Crime, especially when people die because of it." Mike seemed like he was thinking something over while he spoke.
He took a couple more steps and began to pace faster. "I can't go to war for you. The Answer is no. However, I can tell you that I will take action when I have the personal strength to leave this place in safety. You'll have to find another soldier for your armies if that was your intent."
"You're so unkind in your words. Though I did hope you were willing. I seem to have overstayed my welcome." He looked like someone had just killed his pet in front of him, his face paled and he grit his teeth. Prince Troeg stood up slowly.
"Sit down." Mike kicked the desk a little. "What the hell happened to make you so.. subservient. I use to respect you, this is not like you at all. Spill it or I'll have Vella interrogate you. What's the worst that can happen? I finally get motivated to help you? Tell me already or this so called friendship you think we've built, vanishes."
"I'm a Prince, you wouldn't dare." Troeg shrugged the threat off and started to explain. "The Queen died, they used the opportunity to claim the medicine was ineffective. They had their alchemist claim that toxins built up in her system and have been killing our Medicine dealers."
"So.. it really is like that here already, they work quickly. Let me say this first, Cannabis can't kill people. IF, and I mean if she died from toxins, she was poisoned directly, the cannabis isn't the cause." Mike was fuming. Troeg skipped the sensitive subject, it made him re-evaluate the prince again, pissing him off further.
He slammed his fist on the desk, cracking it.
"They aren't just sticking to the medicine couriers, they go after anyone with the medicines, their families aren't even spared. Homes are burned down. Our security forces are just unable to keep up, If Poocha falls.. they will come here, eventually. Even our other traders are gone, they disappear after having visited our Kingdom. Our supplies are only going to last for a while, after they run out we'll be at their mercy and forced to buy from them. When that day comes, our people become slaves." Troeg seemed to understand the crux of the matter, they were being driven into a corner.
"So they invade your territory and enforce their decisions on you? Isn't that an act of war? Why don't you just cut off ties? This doesn't make much sense to me." Mike felt confused, he needed more information.
"Cut ties? We're surrounded by them on all sides except this one. They would destroy us in a War, we don't have that sort of manpower or fighting capability. We're a peaceful nation." Prince Troeg shook his head. "I'm really at a loss about what to do, and had I had other options, I would have already sought them out. If things progress like this, we will be put under Ornian law or be killed by a thousand cuts."
Had there been any other choice, he would have chosen to not involve him. Mike could see it in his eyes. "You certainly seem sincere. The Suns haven't set. Lets go take a walk, I'll show you my progress." Mike led him out to the Grow and gave him a tour.
On the way out, the suns were setting but there was still time to show him around. Prince Troeg looked around, everything was orderly. It was far more advanced a setup than his replacements had come up with. He was jealous but it was just envy. When they came to the back, the hydroponics setup completely destroyed the prince's understanding of how plants grow. He sighed and looked at the second sunset, it was going to be dark soon.
Mike decided not to take all the credit, the Girls had taken care of his plants while he was stuck in Titan's transformation. "It wasn't easy but a lot of it is thanks to the Girls and their dedication, once they were taught how to read and given access to knowledge, they were much better off." He didn't feel like shaming the prince for too long, there was no need to create enemies.
"Hey, so, the dragoons are reproducing. There were twins born just a few days ago. They're up north right now but they hunt in this whole region." Mike sounded proud, after delivering those two he had a deeper sense of commitment to his new life. Everyday there was something new. "I'd take you to see them but its a bit late."
The Prince nodded, music could be heard clear across the hillside from the Casino. March was singing again and it was echoing at that distance. "Whatever they're doing inside sounds fun, lets head back."
Mike agreed. They drank until the staff was tired and then Mike had Prince Troeg's guards take him to the Castle to rest. Things were peaceful inside the Casino while they closed the doors, once everyone had left the Girls didn't even wait for a signal, all of them went to clean themselves up.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Prince Troeg woke up with a serious hangover, he stumbled across the marbled floors of the City's Castle.
"My Prince, are you alright?" One of the guards caught him and helped him steady.
His throat was dry but he answered, "I just drank too much last night."
"We can't stay, let us say our goodbyes and head back to the Kingdom. Your subjects are waiting." The Guard was insistent, he had served the Royal family for his entire life, to him there was nothing more important than the Kingdom.
Ships were moving in and out of port, sails clogged the horizon.
It was early, Mike had long since woken up. The Harem had collapsed in exhaustion, their bodies were overexerted from the constant work of the previous day. While visiting one of the ships, he saw a man eyeing a gemstone.
"You there. Hey, Can I ask you a few questions?" Mike's approach was something the man didn't expect.
The man knew who mike was, anyone who had spent time in the Casino knew his face and figure. "What can I help you with?" He put the gem in his storage and the looking glass into his right coat pocket.
"Actually, I wanted to know if you're a gemologist and where you got that Jewelers loop from. I've been searching for one for a few years now." Mike tried to strike up a conversation during the questions.
He sort of understood what was going on by Mike's question. "Ah, Yes. I sell gemstones or trade them, depending on what I can find. This looking glass is one of many, if you like it, you can have it." The Merchant took it out and handed it over to Mike.
"This is great, I wonder, how can I repay you?" Mike thought it over, the merchant wanted to decline but Mike never liked taking, even gifts were difficult for him. He fumbled through his storage ring and when Mike finally found something that would be useful he pulled it out. "I pulled from a Sea Beast. We called them Pearls but they can be considered gemstones to many."
Passing it over, the Merchant dropped the gem he was holding. He grabbed it with both hands, afraid to let Mike change his mind and he tugged it free from Mike's grip. "Exquisite." he felt around his jacket and then remembered he had just give it away. The merchant rubbed his ring, fumbling through it for another loop. "I can't find any flaws and its so large. You really are a kind leader, thank you great sage."
"What did you call me?" Mike felt awkward, he had never been called that.
"Sage? Is that the wrong title? I heard you were a medicine man and avid alchemist. With a City like this and all these healthy people, how can you not be considered a Sage?" The Merchant didn't know what else to say.
'This guy sure likes to flatter people.' Mikes sense of self-pride was inflated but he kept prospective. "I never thought about it like that, sage doesn't sound too bad but Sage Mike doesn't really sound very appealing"
"Then pick a different one." The Merchant had a smile on his face, his words cut deep.
"A different one, its easier said than done. Names have power and influence, histories even. But you're right. Lately I've been going by another Title, Titan. Maybe I could call myself the Titan Sage." Mike thought it over and passed on the idea, only complete idiots name themselves.
"You're right, Titan Mike doesn't sound right either." The Merchant laughed slightly at the end, he was being polite.
"Well, its something to think about. I think I should get going, there are guests at the Castle and they could leave at any moment." Mike was getting ready to fly back to the Castle but Prince Troeg showed up at the Harbor, he was eyeballing everything in view. "Speak of the Devil and he shall appear!" He slapped the top of Prince Troeg's shoulder.
"What's that suppose to mean?" The Prince was still hungover, his attitude wasn't all that great.
"Its just a saying from my homeland, you should drink some water." Mike saw the Prince's complexion and passed him a filled gourd. "Just finish the whole thing, no sense in being dehydrated."