Chapter 93 National Treasure

  “There was quite the commotion last night.” Queen Eris commented just as breakfast had started and their morning pleasantries were over. The morning had arrived far too quickly for Isaac who had passed out as soon as he was in bed with Lenna the night before. The old cleric, Irah, had been left to sleep until he had woken up on his own at dawn and left. The old man knew that Isaac had wanted him around for some reason but wasn’t exactly sure why. He definitely knew that it had something to do with Lenna potentially needing a cleric on standby but there were only so many reasons why a husband would require a healer to be on standby with his wife while he was away.

  “Yes.” Isaac agreed. “One of your guardsmen nearly joined me in the bath.” Isaac had barely gotten the sentence off before Lenna stomped her sandal down on his toes. She was not nearly as subtle about it as she would have liked and, even though The King did an admirable job, The Queen could not hide her smirk at Lenna’s physical reply to Isaac’s statement.

  “I would prefer it if you did not take on a concubine who is both married and is one of our Royal Guards.” Queen Eris rolled with Isaac’s joke which got a side-eye from her husband who obviously cared much more about the minutia of the perception of station. Isaac, for one, was more than happy to be business casual with everyone he met who wasn’t an asshole. He had few friends, a moderate amount of enemies, and plenty of people who knew him.

  “As would my wife, it seems, a shame, truly.” Isaac joked which got a scowl from Lenna and a chuckle from Queen Eris.

  “Now, enough of jokes,” Queen Eris brought them onto a different topic. “I noticed that my pen was missing this morning.”

  Isaac pulled a pure diamond Neverending Pen out of the shadow of his own cupped hand and gently sat it on the table. It was incredibly thin, not even a quarter as thick as a glass version of the same pen, and had to cost at least a few hundred thousand gold. It was also, without a doubt, one of a kind as it had her name engraved into the diamond. “It is truly a work of art.” Isaac commented. “Though I am not sure how it managed to end up in my shadow.” Isaac feigned a realization. “Maybe the reason I keep finding random things in there is because so many people lose things under their dressers, desks, and wardrobes never to be found again. Well, except by me when I am looking for my own lost things.” He pushed the pen towards the Queen. “Perhaps you should have a case for it that prevents it from rolling off of the desk in the middle of the night?”

  “Perhaps.” Queen Eris agreed and rested her hand on the pen without actually making a move to take it. “I would love to give you something, as a token of appreciation for returning this to me, though I do not know what the Lord of Darkness could possibly want.”

  “I want a lot of things, Your Majesty, the decision paralysis alone may keep me from ever taking you up on your offer.” Isaac skillfully got her to give him plenty of time to think about what he wanted from the royals.

  “Do you still wish for us to pull our people out of Outpost Charles? Something about Ben’s End as well?” Queen Eris offered him.

  Isaac shook his head. “As much as I would prefer that they are moved back towards or into Safeharbor, if they stay out and about then I will have more time to look for a specific group of raiders.” He shot her down.

  “What about land?” The Queen asked him.

  “I have enough. I have never been one to be a very hands-on lord.” Isaac explained.

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  “Servants?” The Queen continued.

  “We have enough and I can walk out into the street at night and adopt another criminal at random if I really need someone for something. None of them are stupid or brave enough to say no to me.” Isaac countered.

  “Information?” The Queen went on.

  “I could ask Izen, Arthur, Karthen, Fable, or a demigod if I was in need of anything.” Isaac stated casually between bites of the delicious duck egg breakfast. “I am, for the record, but it is something that not even they have been able to find yet, so the foes in question remain at large.”

  “Magic items, noble status?” The Queen continued. She was running out of options. Those two things were things that no royals would ever want to give someone like Isaac. He was already dangerous enough without bringing him into their politics and outfitting him with mythical gear.

  “Noble status would be nice, though actually dealing with any of the responsibilities would be annoying to say the least. Also, I of all people, The Lord of All that is Dark, is not one who would be beholden to another, not truly.” Isaac explained. “I have respect for the two of you, as rulers of the nation of which I am currently residing in, but that is like paying to stay at an inn.”

  “So the title of Count is out of the picture?” The Queen requested clarification.

  “We did not speak of this.” The King warned his queen.

  “No.” Isaac replied. “For two reasons.” Isaac countered before The King could get his panties in a bunch. “The first is simply that I would want a noble title that could be passed down to my future children.” Isaac gave a reply that many parents could empathize with. “The second is that the position of Count comes with court expectations, doesn’t it?”

  The Queen nodded. “Many in fact.” She conceded. “Though you might enjoy some of them, there are others that I am sure you would find utterly boring.”

  “As well as Countess Lenna V’Nova sounds, Count Isaac Wexler would do the rest of my titles an injustice.” Isaac nailed shut the nobility plan, mostly.

  “That could be arranged.” The Queen agreed. “Though why do you wish for a noble title in the first place?”

  “I used to want it for the protection it offered and the respect it commanded, though now just my name is enough for that.” Isaac explained. “Now, I merely want to be able to pass on that kind of protection, though, as long as I am around then they wouldn’t need it.”

  “Some might take offense to the discounting of the Count title.” The King finally joined the conversation only to be a stick in the mud.

  “The title of Count is given by the crown to someone who has done a great service to it. A hero of the people or a war hero would be the most common ones to receive such a blessing.” Isaac recounted what he knew about the title he was discounting. “But in comparison to my other titles: Patriarch Slayer, Legend Slayer, Fate Broken, demigod and especially The Lord of Darkness,” The brightly lit breakfast room suddenly dimmed as if a cloud had moved between them and the sun. “it just lacks weight.”

  The guards in the room with them stiffened momentarily but then looked like they were ready to launch into action after Isaac’s display. Thankfully they realized that it both was not necessary and would have been a mistake. Probably not one that would have cost them their lives, but definitely one that would have cost them their jobs.

  “So then, what do you want?” Queen Eris asked him with a raised eyebrow. “We have yet to find anything.”

  “Not quite.” Isaac countered. “You mentioned magic items, well, there is one that I would like.”

  “Oh?” The Queen questioned and prepared herself for Isaac to say something entirely unreasonable.

  Something he immediately did: “I want an amulet that prevents someone from dying.” He casually asked for one of the most valuable enchantments in the known world. “Mine keeps getting wasted on Words of Power, but Lenna does not have one yet. That is something that I would like to remedy post haste.” Isaac explained.

  “Asking us to pull out of Ben’s End would have been more tolerable than to give up a national treasure without any preparation.” The King cut in.

  “That is because it is only a matter of time before you pull out of both Outpost Charles and Ben’s End simply from excessive raiding and mounting casualties.” Isaac countered. “I want something that keeps me from worrying when Lenna gets into a swordfight with someone using a Blade of Oblivion or something equally as deadly, and that is just the thing.” He pressed.

  “It is also a national treasure.” The King warned his queen.

  The queen hummed in thought. “Maybe it would be best for you to hang onto this favor owed.” She finally told Isaac after a long moment of thought. “Perhaps another such favor would enable such a gift, but at present, that alone is not justification worthy of granting such a boon.”

  “It is my birthday in three days.” Isaac offered her. “Would that suffice?” Isaac was nothing if not tenacious and he really, really wanted a death defying item for Lenna. Hearing and feeling King Millen implode her heart was not something that Isaac wanted to feel again. He just had to be careful not to overplay his hand. He could only pressure the royals so much before it would just be insulting to the crowns they wore.

  Amaranth Serentia V'Nova Wexler