Larry Dew walked to where all three of them were sitting and bowed slightly. "It is nice to finally meet the Sultens of Cosant and Lyokis. Lady Nadia, your beauty is just as exquisite as I have heard," he said, flashing his fangs.
Everyone stared at him with a mixture of fear and shock. They were barely able to contain themselves under the oppressive aura he exuded.
"My name is Larry Dew. I work with your King, Jai. I apologize for the display earlier. I am amongst enemies, after all, so I must keep my guard up at all times. That can change, though, if you assure me your allegiance is to King Jai and not anyone else."
Sulten Nadia and the two other Sultens looked at Larry. He was the one who had approached the Sulten of Fadis, Sulten Hafe, acting under Jai's orders. At first, it had been a dull mission for Larry, but Jai had eventually permitted him to go wild and hunt—albeit discreetly—while in Fadis, so the Sulten would not suspect his citizens were being targeted.
Since meeting Abaddon and Jai, Larry had learned to control his gluttony curse and resist succumbing to it. Though he was gaining better control over his hunger for flesh, he still needed to feed occasionally. Larry shifted his gaze across the room. He would have loved to take a bite out of some of them, especially Lady Nadia, but they were not on the menu. Instead, he smiled and spoke again.
"Since Lord Hafe has explained everything to you, I believe you all understand that your King, Jai, is not interested in burning cities to the ground. That is why he has always employed a more measured approach. The twelve provinces are part of Wize, and he would like to preserve most of them as much as possible."
"Is that so?" Sulten Lee asked, his voice laced with skepticism. "Then what happened in Bintan? I heard only a few survived after your King ordered his men to fire upon the city."
"Ah, yes, you are correct," Larry replied. "The reason he did that was to make a necessary change."
"And what change is that?" Sulten Lee pressed.
"Well," Larry began, "Bintan has always been a problem, even under the previous Kings. They have always acted like an independent state, causing more issues than they should. By destroying the city, the King has ensured it can evolve into what it should have been all along."
"And what is that?" Sulten Nadia asked.
"A mine," Larry answered. "The city will now serve as a mining area rather than a population center. Its sole purpose will be to extract crystals for the nation. No city is required for such a task. That is why Bintan was destroyed."
He paused briefly, then continued. "His Majesty does not wish to take the same course of action with other cities, not even Hadia, despite its rebellion. He is committed to preserving the cities as much as possible. But, don't think he is so weak-minded that he won't go ahead and wipe you out if you choose not to surrender"
The three Sultens stared at Larry, considering his words. They had noted Jai's actions throughout the war and, as Larry said, he had refrained from outright destroying cities. Jai seemed intent on negotiation and even scheming rather than brute force.
Now, even at this moment, they were here, still negotiating and probably, still scheming.
It seemed the "god Sword" was indeed trying to preserve Wize. However, Sulten Nadia was not entirely convinced. Jai was not the type to overlook those who had risen against him. Either he was confident they could not stop him, or he had no intention of letting them live after the conflict ended. Either scenario spelled trouble for them.
She looked at Larry Dew and asked, "Lord Hafe mentioned your men capturing members of Sum earlier. Have you been able to subdue the organization? Have you found all of them?"
Larry turned to the beautiful Sulten and smiled. "We have not captured all of them, but we did manage to extract some information from one of them before he died."
Sulten Nadia frowned. "Who might that be?" She knew most members of the organization would rather die than divulge anything. Something felt off, and it all pointed back to Jai.
She looked at Larry again. "They say your Lord was possessed by a demon?"
"Oh, that," Larry said, chuckling. "Yes, his Majesty has indeed made a contract with a demon."
"So, it is a curse," Nadia said.
"You could call it that," Larry replied. "But it has nothing to do with whether you choose to join us or not."
"What do you mean? Of course, it does!" Nadia exclaimed.
"No, it doesn't," Larry said, his voice cold and heavy. "Your choices are simple: join us or die here."
The three Sultens were stunned. They wanted to speak, but Larry cut them off.
"Whatever you want to say is irrelevant. If you are not with us, you are against us. And if you are against us, you die. I am not here to destroy your city, but I will kill you—here and now. You can call your guards if you wish; they can die with you."
The confidence in his tone was unnerving, and they doubted he was bluffing.
Before anyone could respond, Sulten Hafe spoke. "Fadis is with you."
Sulten Lee followed quickly. "Cosant will choose King Jai."
Sulten Nadia was the last to speak. She bit her lip, realizing they lacked crucial information about Jai's strength and that of his allies. It was a mistake they could not afford. After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"Lyokis is with the King."
"Wise choice," Larry said with a chuckle. "Now, you can all sit back and relax. Hadia falls in the morning." With that, he left the room.
Once he was gone, Sulten Nadia sat alone. She pulled out her book and began reading her most recent entries:
One read: The prince has been spotted in Dura. It seems General Farouk is returning to Jubai with him.
Another read: I'm very close to the culprit.
She quickly made a new entry:
It's a trap. Run.
Just as she was about to close the book, a reply came:
Ah, yes. I do indeed, Sum. The boy. I'll finally meet him soon—in Jubai. As for you, whoever you are, I'll be sure to find you.
Sulten Nadia froze.
Back in the room, Sulten Hafe was alone with Larry Dew. Both of them discussing.
"Now that we have become allies of the King, what does he require of us?" Sulten Hafe asked. He was desperately trying to prove his loyalty to Jai. Sulten Hafe couldn't deny that he feared Jai more than anything else, and if Burka had not forced him to go against Jai from the start, he would have surrendered right after the rebellion. Now, he had his chance to pacify Jai and maybe stop him from killing him.
Larry Dew stared at the eager Sulten, He couldn't read his mind, but Larry could sense his fear. He smiled at the Sulten.
"Indeed there's something his highness wants you to do".
"In fact, it is something he is counting on you to help him do", Larry said.
"What is that?" Sulten Hafe asked.
"He said, he needed your help in taking down Hadia. Are you willing to offer it?" Larry asked.
"Tell me what you need me to do". Sulten Hafe said