Ajax was just as if not more interested than the nobles in obtaining the Skill equivalent to what the Collectors had just gained from the chimera boon, with his Divine Witness Trait he was even relatively sure he would be able to gain the Skill reliably. But it would take time, time he just didn’t have now. It was something for him to think about when he returned from the Wild Lands and the Collectors had had time to get used to their boon.
“I hope you’re ready for court.” the prince said as he led Ajax towards the bath so they could wash and get ready.
“It wasn’t that bad last time.” Ajax said with a shrug.
This is how Ajax ended up spending time with the younger nobles, his status as Duke however made him a magnet for every overly ambitious young noble who didn’t live in the capital and saw this as a chance to raise themselves up.
“Duke Hearthbound.” Ajax felt a small shiver go up his spine as he heard the words and turned to see the familiar face of Archduke Goldmancer. “If I could have a word.”
Ajax was glad that he had such a solid positive relationship with the Goldmancer family. He quickly excused himself and joined the Archduke as they strayed off to one side for a little privacy.
“Has word started to spread already?” It had been less than two days since Ajax had exited the rift but with the royal family putting out feelers in regards to the boon delve Ajax would be doing he wouldn’t have been surprised to find out Archduke Goldmancer had somehow positioned himself to wrangle a good portion of the slots.
“It’s still just a rumor that started to spread this morning. Some nobles are trying to keep it underwraps a bit longer since their own potential hopefuls will be arriving soon with my daughter and the rest of them.” the Archduke reassured him. “The reason I pulled you aside today is that I have been asked to set up an introduction between you and Brightstone’s ambassador.”
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“He asked you for that?” It seemed a little overkill to Ajax, with his status as an ambassador he could have simply approached Ajax directly.
“News of your future prospects as a Pinnacle arrived in the capital before you did.” Archduke Goldmancer explained. “With the way the Republic's ambassador refused to negotiate with you on the delves when you approached them a few years ago he is not looking to seem presumptuous. Especially now that you are a Duke.”
“They did?” Ajax raised a skeptical eyebrow for half a moment before he regained his poker face.
“The heads of families and important people know, the young people haven’t been brought in the loop.” The Archduke’s answer explained why Ajax had felt so outmatched when dealing with other heads of families the day before, they were all on high alert around him and pushing their Skills. It also explained why he hadn’t heard any comments from the younger nobles about his own power while they argued about the duels. “This here is Ambassador Copperbeard of Brightstone.”
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Duke Hearthbound.” The ambassador was quick to make Ajax feel welcome.
Ajax found his discussion with the ambassador much more pleasant than the squibbling of the younger nobles. It had turned out to be a rather enlightening conversation for Ajax. Since about a quarter of Brightstone’s entire kingdom was built inside the mountains Ajax gained a lot of insights from the dwarf in regards to how he wanted his quarry to progress while also opening up the opportunity of tunneling into the mountain looking for potential veins of rare metal.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Duke Hearthbound.” Ajax shook hands with the ambassador and was slightly surprised to feel a solid grip take a hold of his arm. It wasn’t often that a politician had strength that was within a hundred points of his own. “Please accept a small gift from me.”
With that the dwarf placed an odd sphere into Ajax’s hand. Ajax looked at the object questioningly, it wasn’t something he recognised. He could feel the slight Mana drain of the numerous enchantments but to him it looked like an arrowhead preserved in glass.
“This is a homefider.” the dwarf explained seeing Ajax didn’t recognise the item. “An item our people use when they explore deep into the mountains. It is able to store up to fifty chain locations, the arrow always pointing towards the direction of the latest marked location. Our explorers use it to find their way back from the unknown depths.”
“Thank you, ambassador.” Ajax did his best to cover his excitement at the gift he had just received, he was pretty sure his exposure to nobles during their visit to his duchy had helped him with his noble demeanor enough that he hadn’t let anything slip through. “I also have a gift for you.”
Ajax proceeded to pull out a small keg from his spacial ring. “This is honeymead.” Ajax was sure the dwarf could feel the concentration of Mana from the alcoholic drink. It wasn’t all that high but one of things his grandmother had been able to figure out was that all of the Mana was focused into the potency of the alcohol making it easier for higher leveled people to get drunk off the sweet drink. He had been initially worried about the Mana infusing the already sweet taste but thankfully that hadn’t been a problem.
Done with the gift exchange Ajax was quickly heading out of the open ballroom. He had spent sufficient time at court for one day and he was very excited about inspecting the homefider he had just received. The reason for Ajax’s excitement didn’t have so much to do with his quarry as it did with him wanting to take the item with him as he left for the Wild Lands.
“Duke Hearthbound.” The crown prince walked alongside him a few steps after he left the court. “Had a productive meeting with the ambassador?”
Ajax wasn’t surprised the crown prince was keeping track of him, especially when dealing with a foreign ambassador. “I did, I wasn’t aware of homefinders before our talk.” Ajax said as he took out the sphere.
“Yes, handy little contraptions.” the prince said with a nod. “Not all that useful for us as we rarely find ourselves needing them. Most of the ones available in Gryndor are rather faulty. I would assume that that one is a high quality one, however, it could be accurate to as far as three miles since the last mark.”
“Any news from Xavier?” Ajax asked as the pair headed towards the exit of the royal palace.
“Yes, that is why I was here. They will be arriving two days from now.” The prince stopped for a moment as he activated a privacy bubble. “There was an attempt on their group during their travels. Three person group of beastkin. We don’t have any evidence that it wasn’t an Empire strike group this time but considering the attempt on your life a few weeks ago I think someone is pushing for war.”
Ajax was honestly impressed with how carefree the crown prince sounded when discussing an attempt that had targeted his son. He knew that behind the social Skills the crown prince was very angry and so he thanked him for the information and took his leave. He made a mental note to check in on his friends about how they are handling the attempt on their life once they arrived.