All the nobles looked at the young dragoness with disdain. From her clothes, it was evident that she didn't even belong to the dragon's servants but was just a common slave. Of course, no one present wanted someone like her to occupy this position.
"After so much contemplation, you propose this girl for your post?" However, there was no hostility in the voice of the young king when he spoke about the young slave. He glanced at his father, but the latter merely shrugged. This controversial matter was the first test for the newly crowned king. "And are you certain she is more suitable than others?"
"I..." The old man was interrupted by the red dragon stepping forward.
"Forgive me for interrupting, Your Majesty, may I make a counteroffer?" It was Valraz; he immediately positioned himself next to Sheraza, tightly gripping her shoulder.
"If you have something to add, Head Valraz, feel free to speak," a foreboding sensation arose in the king's chest when he noticed how the young girl flinched at the touch of the lord.
"This slave is too young for selling, so she is hardly suitable for such an important position. If you insist, upon my return, I will personally select the best candidates for you."
"But even at such a young age, she is suitable for our librarian. Why not give her a chance?" The young king had never liked how the red dragons treated their own kin, the slaves.
"But I believe a low-born slave like her is not worthy of serving in the palace."
"No-no, I find her perfectly suitable. Cough-cough," the old man's cough sounded too fake to be believed. "Besides, I am so old that I might not live long enough to wait for you to send someone more suitable."
Valraz was displeased, and he tightened his grip even more, clearly causing pain to little Sheraza.
"I think this girl will do for us. Of course, I will also assess her, but I don't think we should reject her based on her origins," the king's words made the dragon's face twitch nervously, but he stepped back nonetheless.
"As you wish, but I warned you," the leader of the dragons hid his displeasure and returned to the others, while the old librarian stepped aside, leaving the young girl alone with the king.
"Young lady, may I know your name?"
The nobles fell silent, attentively listening to the conversation that could decide the fate of the kingdom.
"Sheraza, and forgive me, Your Majesty, but by human standards, I am no longer so young. I am fifty years old," Sheraza spoke with confidence, bowing her head before the ruler. As soon as Valraz left, her trembling subsided, and nothing hindered their conversation.
"I understand, but by dragon standards, you have not even lived half of your childhood, isn't that so?" the king asked.
"You are right," Sheraza responded confidently, still maintaining her composure, as befitting a true lady.
"You are applying for quite an important position, overseeing one of the largest repositories of wisdom in the world, a very significant role. Besides, I may occasionally seek your advice in situations that require deeper knowledge," the king downplayed the significance of the position. In history, there were instances when the king mainly focused on managing the economy and personal amusements, while his advisors handled all external politics, making the royal librarian one of the most important individuals in the country.
"I understand the weight of the responsibility that will be entrusted to me. Although I never dreamed of such an honor," the young dragoness displayed appropriate manners. She restrained her emotions and behaved modestly, just as a true lady should.
"Oh, I just happened to encounter a couple of unpleasant incidents during the reception, and I may need advice," naturally, the king wanted to test the girl's knowledge in the most crucial area for an advisor: relations between noble families.
"I would be happy to help if it's within my capabilities."
"Good, I have an urgent matter at hand," the young king smiled cunningly. "A guest from distant lands will soon arrive at the reception. Ulrich and I already met once in an unofficial setting, and that meeting didn't go well. He greeted me very rudely, spat on the ground in front of me, and then struck my shoulder quite hard. I fear my improper behavior may lead to war with his clan."
"I think when you meet him, you should nudge his shoulder and shake his hand. If he responds, there will never be enmity between you, but if you greet him differently, there will be no friendship between you either."
"An interesting suggestion, I was planning to greet him with a simple bow following our customs. Why do you advise this particular approach?"
"Such a greeting is entirely natural for the Nords when they encounter an unfamiliar warrior on the battlefield and acknowledge his strength. It means 'eternal wealth to your house' and 'may your strength never diminish.' I understand you have not met under such circumstances before, so on the second occasion, you should greet him following his customs. After that, I believe he will prefer to greet you according to your customs, as spitting in the palace would not look pretty."
The question wasn't difficult; the name was entirely Nordic, and it was possible that the king invented it to test the girl's familiarity with the traditions of other peoples. Moreover, the king himself knew the answer to this question.
"Thank you for the clarification. However, there was another unpleasant incident during the reception recently," the king pointed to two groups of nobles standing at opposite ends of the hall, occasionally exchanging glances. "Of course, I invited all the influential people of Leran to today's reception, but I made a mistake by not considering the enmity between some clans. These two families have been feuding for some time, and today their dispute almost turned into a fight, which is unacceptable at such a significant event. What do you think I should do in such a situation?"
The young girl studied the coats of arms of both families.
"Eastern lords, Veres, and Degenar. Their feud has been going on for more than a decade," recognizing the families was not difficult for the girl, but to resolve their conflicts, she needed up-to-date information, something she had been deprived of while being locked up in the estate of the Red House.
"These are respected families in Eastern Leran, and I've heard of their long-standing enmity over disputed territories, which arose after the last feudal war."
"Yes, I've also heard about this feud. The territory that belonged to one of the clans was given to the other after the war, and the former owners were certainly not pleased."
"Yes, but I heard that not long ago, they wanted to settle the matter amicably, but the deal fell through."
"We were planning to compensate them for the land, thus resolving all the issues, but our caravan disappeared on the way to the meeting," a young man from one of the groups stepped forward, unable to contain his emotions.
"But it was Veres' family fault, as our envoys also didn't return from the meeting."
The two families erupted into heated arguments, and the king had to intervene.
"Silence, all of you!" the king turned again to the young dragoness. "As you see, as soon as the feud is mentioned, they flare up with renewed vigor. It's quite possible that someone from these families sabotaged the negotiations because they didn't want peace, but identifying the culprit is very difficult."
"Certainly," Sheraza looked at the feuding families. "I only need to know what exactly was offered as a ransom. It couldn't have been just a bag of gold, right?"
"The betrothal necklace," the head of the Veres family sighed heavily and continued, "and my youngest daughter."
"She was supposed to marry my younger son, and the disputed lands would have passed to their children. That's how we planned to resolve this dispute."
Whispers spread throughout the hall. Dynastic marriages for the formation of a new clan were not so common, especially between warring families.
"Then may I speak with you in private?"
The heads of the houses approached the king with the girl, and for some time, they argued about something important.
"Sheraza, forgive me for not showing the details of the conversation, but I truly don't know how you reconciled them," the rector addressed the red queen, who smirked.
"If all the guests had heard our conversation, it would have been meaningless, as the culprit was among those gathered," the queen approached the young man standing next to the Veres family. He was clearly nervous and occasionally exchanged glances with a portly merchant in expensive attire standing to the side. "It's all this young man's fault."
The queen led us to the secretive heads of the houses and began to reveal their secrets.
"First, I asked how the family felt about the girl they were planning to marry off. Naturally, everyone loved her; she was kind, caring, and, of course, very beautiful. It turned out that the son of the Degenar house had already been to the Venres' house and secretly met with the future bride. It was they who proposed such a solution to the heads of the families to end the feud, but no one else knew about this detail. Most members of the Venres' family considered it an unfavorable alliance, sacrificing the chief's lovely daughter for a business deal. However, no one dared to interfere with the meeting. Firstly, because this union would bring significant benefits in the future, and secondly, no one wanted to harm the chief's daughter."
"But the young man wasn't exempt from this? He was in love with the chief's daughter, right?"
"You are right, Krito. He wanted to ask for her hand himself, but he didn't know that she was already in love with the son of the Degenar house. So, he went to a third party that could help him," the queen pointed at the very merchant. "Both families heavily relied on trade between them, but the feud prevented them from concluding long-term contracts. That's where he comes in. By buying goods from one house, he supplied them to the other, and thus he enriched himself. The feud only played into his hands, and he planned to disrupt these negotiations. Of course, he used the young man to attack the caravans, but he wasn't aware of all the details of the deal, so when he found the girl instead of gold, he was puzzled. He couldn't get rid of her, but he didn't know what to do next. So, he hoped to trigger a large-scale wave of killings between the clans, blaming each other. Then he could seize their lands, and the girl would no longer be of any use to him."
"And what evidence could you provide?"
"None. We couldn't search the house of a prominent merchant without proper grounds, so we could only rely on discreet assistance," Sheraza touched the curtains behind the throne, and they dispersed, revealing two figures in gray and black cloaks. "Only the guilds of thieves and assassins could secretly trail the merchant and his houses. That's why I suggested seeking their help and not telling anyone in the family about it."
The clan leaders nodded in agreement and headed towards the exit, their family members following suit.