Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.77 (109) (Patreon)

Arch-mage Jennings watched the pancakes being set out. Although he was surprised at how quickly they had arrived, he knew he shouldn’t have been. The keep’s kitchens had the finest cooks in Dorchester, and even a backwater had people skilled enough to make pancakes.

Standing next to the city-lord’s table, he listened to her discussion with the general. As they weren’t sitting next to each other, they weren’t exactly being quiet.

“Admitting culpability is the worst thing you could do. Any perceived weakness will just be a target for him to attack. We need to frame the issue in a way where the perpetrators have been punished, and we were responsible for catching them,” he said with fervor.

Tapping a finger on the table in thought, she replied, “But we haven’t punished them. We’ve detained several persons of interest, but we can’t formally charge them without involving the Tower of Law. They’ve already opened an investigation into the event, and we can only hold off on that for so long. As soon as they complete their preliminary investigation, they’ll start arresting people. Once that happens, I’m implicated as the head of House Cosgrave. If Lord Walker files official charges, we are ALL screwed.”

Cheerfully, Lord York interjected, “House York will be fine. This entire affair will only affect House Cosgrave, so I’m perfectly happy letting the Tower of Law do its job.”

Lords Voltan and Newling both chimed in at the same time with, “Me too.” They shared a pleased look with each other, and exchanged nods of camaraderie.

General Branson angrily shouted, “Don’t you morons realize what’s at stake here? If we have to have a war for the city-seat right now, I’ll have to pull my army out of the wilds. Not to mention that we’ll have to stop the efforts to reopen the mountain. With no one clearing the spawn points, things outside the walls are going to get bad, faster than any of you seem to realize.”

Arch-mage Jennings folded his arms and adopted an air of power. He rarely used his ‘arch-mage voice’ but this was getting out of hand. Solemnly he said, “If you cannot convince the young lord to abandon his thoughts of revenge, then the wilds shall grow unimpeded. Within weeks, Dorchester will be encircled by nature at its worst. You don’t have the essence crystals to evacuate the city through the teleporters, and you’ll have to organize a mass caravan. The war for the city-seat will be pointless, as there won’t be a city-seat.”

The room was silenced by his menacing tone. Glaring at the nobles, he continued, “If you treat this as a negotiation, so will he. If you think only of what you can gain, he will take everything he can. The general is right to say that this will come down to how you frame the question. Are you willing to offer fair concessions, or are you going to try and dither. This is a delicate situation that doesn’t just affect the city-lord. It affects all of you.”

Silence pervaded the room, as everyone considered his words. Jennings looked over at the door, he sensed that Nero was currently on his way back.

As he waited to see Nero come in, he heard the city-lord say, “This will be our most important negotiation in recent memory, so let’s all try to live up to our titles.”

Cringing at the timing, he saw the doors fly open and in walked Nero like he owned the place. The little shit called out, “OK, two things. Where is my seat, and where are my pancakes?”

The heavy atmosphere that Jennings had so carefully cultivated evaporated, and the silence changed its tenor from severity to confusion.

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Plopping into a chair at an empty table Nero assumed had been set aside for him. He looked over the platters of pancakes and assorted syrups and nodded in anticipation of the first good meal he’d had in days.

While piling pancakes on his plate, he looked around the room at the judgmental faces. Annoyed, he said, “Let’s see how hungry you are when you’ve spent the last week in the wilds facing monsters, beasts, and assassins. But go ahead, judge away. I don’t even know who most of you are.”

Arch-mage Jennings was the only one standing, and walked into the center of the room to stand in front of Nero’s table. He said, “Nero, my boy, this is the council of leadership for Dorchester. As this matter is of the utmost importance, it merits the attention of the highest authority.” He grandly held up his arm, gesturing to each of them in turn. “This is Lord York, of House York. Lord Newling, of House Newling. Lord Voltan, of House Voltan. Lord Peyton, of House Peyton. General Branson, Commander of the Forces of Dorchester. Lord Bennings, of House Bennings. And you know City-Lord Cosgrave, of House Cosgrave.”

Nero poured himself some coffee from a pitcher. While he appreciated Jennings’ performance, he thought the man looked way to young to pull of the whole ‘aged wizard’ thing. Narrowing his eyes, he replied, “So, other than that guy,” he gestured at the general, “they’re all the heads of their houses. Why didn’t you just say that?”

One of the general’s aides bit back a chuckle, and Nero glanced over at the man with a smile. It was nice to have his humor appreciated for once.

As he dug into his food, Nero wondered if the room’s essence was so still due to how many high level people were in the room. It felt like the entire room was a sea of calm. While everyone watched him tear into his pancakes, he debated whether or not an ability was to blame. He glanced at Jennings, but decided it was better to let the silence linger.

Arch-mage Jennings waited for Nero to start the conversation, but the young man seemed perfectly content to sit in silence and eat his pancakes.

Lord Cosgrave started to speak up, but was interrupted by General Branson. He glared at the city-lord, but spoke to Nero from across the room, “We brought you here to discuss the situation you dealt with in the wilds.” He kept his stare locked on the city-lord, threatening her to stay quiet.

Nero repressed a smile. So, they’re trying to stop her from saying anything. The scene reminded him of a lawyer warning their client to shut up, while only using their eyes.

Doing his best to seem at ease, Nero asked the room, “Is it legal to teleport someone against their will while they were using the bathroom at a private residence? I’m no lawbringer, but that seems shady.”

Lord Bennings joined the conversation. “It is illegal to forcibly teleport anyone without their consent. Even in cases where the person in question is suspected of a crime, they must be physically collected. If you’d like to file charges, I’d be -”

Coughing loudly, Arch-mage Jennings interrupted, “Yes, well, circumstances required your presence. And since you weren’t answering your link, this was the next best thing.”

Nero chewed his pancakes, staring hard at the arch-mage. He said, “I suppose you waited until I was alone because you didn’t want to panic anyone.”

Smiling, Jennings said, “Yes! That’s right. There’s no reason to let this situation get any more out of hand. As long as we all stay reasonable, this situation doesn’t need to escalate.”

Nodding, Nero replied, “Escalate, huh? Are you threatening to make me disappear so that I can’t report the assassination attempt?”

Confused, and appalled, Jennings immediately replied, “What? Of course not. That’s not what I meant at all.”

Nero shrugged, while adding more pancakes to his plate. Without looking up, he said, “You only kidnapped a noble, while making sure no one was around, delivering him into the hands of the very people who had assured him of his safety. One of whom has already tried to have him killed once before. Then you warned the noble not to be unreasonable or the situation might escalate. That sounds like a threat. Doesn’t it Lord Bennings?” Nero looked up at Lord Bennings, daring her to deny it.

Conflicted, Lord Bennings stammered, “Well, technically, you could interpret it that way. However, I think the arch-mage was just trying to alleviate you concerns.”

Nero was very good at what he called ‘creative listening’. It was a skill that enabled one to hear whatever they wanted, regardless of what the other person actually said. He learned it from his mother, who could find an insult hidden within any declarative statement. “They have good pie here” becomes, “You think my pie is bad?” “I didn’t do it” means, “You’re saying I did it?” “You look great today” begs the question, “I don’t normally look good?”

Snorting, Nero replied, “Until I was brought here against my will, I didn’t have any concerns. In fact, I was looking forward to having a shower. Now, I’ve been forcibly teleported in front of the most powerful people in Dorchester, and warned not to cause a scene. I’m starting to feel like my life is still in danger. Is there no one here that fears what kind of precedent this sets?”

Lord Bennings looked shocked, while Jennings just looked annoyed. Apparently, he could tell what Nero was doing, and he didn’t like it.

Lord York took the bait, and offered, “I assure you Lord Walker, you’re not in any danger. We’re only here to do what’s best for Dorchester.”

Nero held back a smile, as he saw Jennings visibly WINCE at Lord York’s declaration.

Leaning back in his chair in shock, Nero pretended to look afraid, and asked, “And you think killing me and hiding my body in the wilds is in the best interest of Dorchester? How dare you! You should know that I’ve already taken steps to ensure that a royal interception is called if anything happens to me.”

City-Lord Cosgrave said tiredly, “Royal INTERCESSION, not interception.”

Snapping his fingers, he pointed at the city-lord, abandoning his act. “Yeah, that!” he said happily.

Arch-mage Jennings sighed, and loudly said, “Enough! No one is threatening you. We just brought you here to figure out how to get out of this mess with the least amount of disruption to the city. What will it take for you to agree to arbitration?”

The general chimed in, “Keep in mind that the parties responsible have already been apprehended. Therefore, there is no reason to make a spectacle. You just need to fill out some forms, and we can all return to dealing with the density shift.”

Nero raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was unaware that they had already investigated what had happened. Did they already know who was responsible? How long have they known? Are they going to scapegoat someone? Every question he thought of made him angrier.

His shoulders tensed, and his jaw clenched. Nero’s glare pierced the room, and if his eyes were daggers, the general would be bleeding.

His voice tight with repressed fury, he asked, “How long have you been aware of this plot?”

The general met Nero’s stare, not intimidated in the least. “I only found out after the attempt was made. However, you should have already been aware of the plot. After all, one of my men passed on a warning to you in your mission packet.” The general finished with an easy smile, as though he had just invalidated Nero’s position as a victim.

Nero tapped his fingers on the table, staring hard at the general. ‘If that’s true, then Nick is never going to let me live this down,’ he thought.

Doing his best not to show his distress, Nero’s mind raced through the implications. Forcibly stopping himself from thinking about how stupid this made him look, he tried to focus on reframing the argument. How could he have let the general take control of the conversation?

The room was silent for almost a whole minute while Nero exchanged glares with the general. The city-lord was didn’t see why it mattered, either way she was still implicated. But Jennings applauded the general’s play. By implying that Nero should have known what was happening, then Nero wasn’t without blame. Granted it was only a mind game, but perceptions do matter.

But Jennings’ smile withered when he saw Nero smirk.

Matching the general’s light tone, Nero said, “You mean to tell me that one of your men passed me a secret note? I didn’t have a chance to see it. But I’m more interested in what that says about the army. Why didn’t he report the plot? Did he not trust you to handle it? After all, you seemed to find the culprit rather quickly. I only just returned to Dorchester today. How did you know who was responsible? If your man didn’t tell you, then how did you find out? How many people were involved? Was the army behind this?”

The general’s smile faltered. It went from an easy smile, to a plastic one. Even from across the room, Nero could see the man trying to choose his words carefully.

Wary of the general’s response, Nero asked, “Were you aware of a plot to have me assassinated in the wilds? Yes or No?”

What was left of the general’s smile faded away, and he shifted in his seat. Trying to sound in control, he said, “It’s not that simple young man. At any given time, there are many -”

Nero slammed his palm on the table, shaking the silverware. Loudly, he said, “Perhaps that is why your man didn’t tell you. You had knowledge that someone was plotting the attempt, and yet you did nothing.” He turned his glare on the city-lord, and said, “It looks like events are repeating themselves. Someone tries to have me killed, while the people in power stand aside and let it happen. Then when the plot fails, they claim innocence and friendship for House Walker.” Turning his glare on Jennings, he added, “After all, what kind of person stands by and lets people try and kill their friend?”

Jennings grimaced at Nero’s rebuke. He thought to himself, ‘How in the hells did the little shit time it so perfectly?’

Just then, the doors to the room opened up, and Vera strode in with her chin held high. She was flanked by Nick and Cathleen, while two stern-faced people followed in her wake.

Her voice rang out strong and clear, “I demand to know why Lord Walker has been abducted from my estate?” Her eyes sought out Lord Bennings, and she added, “This flagrant disregard of the law, while the director of the Tower of Law is in attendance no less, demands formalized sanctions. Rest assured lords of Dorchester, you will NOT get away with this.”

While all eyes were locked on the imperious woman, Nero’s chuckle carried across the room, and they heard him say, “I told you she’d be pissed.”