We're watching Bavarthos reading our 'contract' with our proposed conditions for an alliance. He keeps a straight face the entire time he reads the document. Once done he visibly exhales and turns to us, unimpressed.
"Was this all? Here I thought you were going to make this alliance cumbersome for me. I agree to your terms, they are all agreeable, I'll even make this a blood oath contract if you'd like?" He seems almost bored with what he just read.
'Is this the same guy from earlier?'
"Prince Bavarthos, I.."
He holds up a hand, stopping me from speaking. "So it's Prince Bavarthos now? My what honeyed words you use to inflate my ego. Such a difference from our last conversation."
His sly smile and the way he holds my gaze has me shifting uncomfortably in the chair. Frowning, I'm staring at him in concentration because I had this overwhelming sense of Deja Vu.
John noticing my thoughts are preoccupied, continues talking with him.
"You realize it says you can't do any dark magic that would harm any human and Fae fighting against the Erlking, right?" Even John is scrutinizing Bavarthos with a skeptic furrowed brow, his fingers slightly tapping the table.
"Yes, John, I am quite capable of understanding what you both are asking of me." His gives a bland, half-hearted attempt at a smile, before gently shaking his head a fraction of an inch. He leans forward to the center of the table closing some of the distance between us.
"You know I think I still have an excellent bottle of something I think we'd all enjoy. Let's open it to celebrate our new ...friendship." He snaps a blue bottle to his hands and asks one of the shadows to do the honor of opening it.
A glass is poured and passed along to everyone and Bavarthos swirls it around still aware I am watching him intently.
'Why was his demeanor and that statement so familiar suddenly?'
"Cheers, to us, dear sister and brothers. May the Erlking regret every decision he's ever made."
We clink the glasses and knock them back. The powerful surge of power that comes just moments later has me blinking in surprise. I look to John and by the look on his face, he feels the same way.
"What was that?" I ask looking at the now empty bottle.
"Tsk, Tsk... Sin. You know WHAT that was, the question you need to ask is WHOM that was." His Cheshire cat grin had me looking down at the now empty glass and bottle, before questioning him with my eyes.
I grab the bottle and look it over and stop myself.
This is one of Temples bottles.
The bottle shakes as I set it down on the table.
"It's Graves." I whisper my mind and face becoming a blank slate before a wave of certainty washes over me as I look up at Bavarthos."It wasn't Prince Thietian that talked to me at Temples place... It was you." I'm barely audible but I see the flash of acknowledgement in his eyes.
A cheeky smile catches the corner of his mouth as he flicks his eyebrows up at me before clicking his tongue loudly against his teeth.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that? A good friend of mine gave me a few bottles of this one, and I must say, it got better being aged a few years." He swirls the dregs left in his glass before knocking the last drops back.
"Well, now that business has been concluded, I'll help you get back to your soldiers. I'll be in contact soon."
"What? Wait..." John starts up when suddenly we're back at our camp.
"What the ... What the fuck!" John shouts looking around us in our tent. The shadows were not there, it was just me and him and a copy of the contract on the desk before us.
The room seems to cool down as a shiver runs down my spine and the Shadows appear.
"Why did he do that?" I stand and turn to the Shadows, looking for an explanation.
"He had fulfilled his desire to make you an ally, there was no need to keep you from your soldiers when a fight is still continuing." Vsar raises a hand gesturing to the outside.
"Did he say anything after we left?" John asks hoping for something.
Sasine lets out her hiss like chuckle. "He said, 'I knew she would figure it out. Smart and attractive, dangerous combination.' I think he really likes you and likes trying to enrage your husband too apparently."
I turn to look at John who's hard stare and red face give his emotions away.
"Oh John, you have nothing to worry about." I go to place my arm on his shoulder but he quickly avoids it heading out the tent.
Saying over his shoulder, "I'm going to get a status report." He takes off, tension enveloping his aura.
I am at a loss for words as I watch his figure walk away. I look to the shadows and give them a slight bow.
"Thank you for your help in getting my husband back. Before you leave, if I may ask you a few questions?" I wonder if they could actually answer the questions I had.
Two nod to the others and I am not surprised that Vsar and Sasine are the ones who have chosen to stay and answer my questions.
I motion for them to sit down and get comfortable.
"What is it that you wished to ask?" Sasine gestures for me to ask away.
"What can you tell me about Bavarthos?"
I notice the slight tension in their bodies and take a mental note.
"Prince Bavarthos, the eldest of the royal family, was exiled for practicing dark magic, supposedly on the king, but it was more against the kings wishes. Before exile, the king punished him harshly and sent him away to die. He is now your ally." Vsar informs me of redundant information.
I sigh, "I'm sorry, I mean to ask about his character? How he treated his subjects, how he is now? If you know anything I should be aware? Did I just make a mistake making him our ally?"
I direct my questions and make it clear what I wanted to know from them.
Sasine cocks her head at me, but her mask of course reveals nothing of what she's thinking.
"From my memory, I do not recall anything wrong ever being said about Bavarthos before he was accused of using dark magic against the Erlking. You see how he is now, he is odd in his behavior but seems to be earnest in willing to help you as an ally. He helped make your strongholds, so there is good in him. When we went the first time, there was no evidence of wanting to harm anyone. If you're concerned about the rain, the rain is a form of deterrent and protection for him. He already explained the reason for taking your husband the way he did."
She makes a sighing hiss and continues, "As for have you made a mistake making him an ally, we don't think so considering the situation. Anything that floats well by itself can help keep you from drowning. You could say he could be your ... life boat at sea, if you make sure you do not put holes in it."
She leaned forward, emphasizing the metaphor she used to mean more than what she said.
"Thank you, both. I'm sorry if I held you from something else. Hopefully, I will not have to contact you again for business purposes, but for celebratory purposes." I stand up and give them a soft friendly smile and nod my head to them.
"We hope for that too. Now, go and do not let the princes comments make your marriage become strained. Men have egos that must be constantly stroked and fed when they feel threatened and damaged." She lets out a little chuckled hiss and waves me off as they slowly start to fade and disappear.
I take her advice and quickly head to the surveillance tent. Some of the troops are moving supplies closer to the front line and I notice that some are making room for new places to be set up farther down the hill in the back of our encampment.
Akiyama did well while we were gone from here. I look at the time and see we were gone longer than I realized. I run to the tent at this point and find Akiyama telling John everything that we missed.
"Good, Sin, you're here now too. John told me you just got back from retrieving him. You both were gone for two days and in that time, there have been some changes. Turk and his forces still hold the western line from the delta to the crossing past Yaviza on the Chico river. The military support that arrived just a few days ago has units spread along the river until our area, more are on the way too. Then we have the rest of the Panama military and the states troops from where our line ends until the Caribbean Sea. We have naval forces still in place too on both sides, along with out air support when needed."
She calmly explains who is where along the lines. However, you can feel the unease in the air at the moment. She takes a deep breath before anxiously showing us something on one of the screens.
"However, this morning this is what the heat signatures were showing, versus our last heat signature read, at thirteen hundred hours."
I looked at the before which were showing what we were used to seeing, more or less. Yet, the next image was shocking.
"Mother of all....!" My jaw dropped as I breathlessly exclaimed.
There was a solid red wave coming our way, only around one hundred miles away, but it was coming.
"Did you get a read on where they came from? This has been sent to HQ as well right?" John stands getting closer to the image.
"Yes sir, I've also called in for air support to be on standby and ready. Thietian would like you to snap back to HQ, briefly, so you can be updated on the other fronts. I think I can still handle everything here right now. I have men clearing a path for some of the American planes to land and bring in some ground troops. Canada is sending some to the east of us. They'll arrive here with in the next 12-24 hours. I've already sent Thietian a message letting him know you made it back and he's expecting you all asap."
"Okay, thank you, Akiyama. Carry on, we will be back as soon as possible." I turn to John who gets up and walks out and I follow.
"John.." I say gently as I reach for his arm, but he pulls it away.
"It's okay Mary. Just let me work through this on my own right now." He says rolling his shoulders trying to ease the tension built up.
"I love you, John." I reassure him.
"I know. Mary. I know."