7 - Negotiations

Posted on Sun Apr 21st, 2024 @ 6:21pm by Dungeon Master Sue Donym

1,180 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Chapter 3 - Unusual Business
Timeline: 2090

A few days later, Elena and Aurelia were both walking into the upscale restaurant set aside for the meeting, both dressed in their amazingly fancy red dresses that they had picked out the other day. Aurelia's, however, had a bit of an extra enchantment on it. One that she had not told her escort and newfound friend about. It was similar to the protective spells she had on all of her robes and raiments in her past life but here, she wasn't even sure if she needed it. Still, she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

As they were greeted by security and the concierge, the sorceress caught a glimpse of her benefactor as he entered from the far entrance and her face went so pale even the Scarlet Lady could tell something was wrong. "Please tell me you're not getting cold feet right now. We have way too much hanging on this meeting."

"Oh yeah, no. Everything is fine. Entirely and completely normal. There's just one small thing that I wasn't expecting." Miss Luna leaned in closer and whispered into Ellen's ear softly. "You remember that I told you that I was murdered in my last life by one of my apprentices by order of some noble to maintain peace or something?" Getting a swift nod back in reply, she continued. "The man over there, I assume he's the guy we're here to meet and the leader of the Crimson Cartel... He has the same face as the son of the last king I served. Prince Lucious Rinaldi the Third, Fire Lord of the West Empires. He was one of the most accomplished warriors of the last war."

The look on Ellen's face was one of utter disbelief. "Are you pulling my tail, gato? That's the Crimson King, Lucius Rinaldi, leader of the Crimson Cartel. You have got to be making this up."

Aurelia shook her head, dead serious. “I wish I could. I guess parallel worlds have parallel people.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before muttering something about doing research.

“Now is not the time for that, gato. We’re here for a reason, remember?” Elena hissed at her as she waved her towards the meeting point.

“Right, right, yes. Of course.” Putting on her brightest smile, Aurelia gathered herself with a deep breath and headed back towards the table with the Crimson King who seemed perfectly happy waiting for them with his glass of wine.

As they neared the table, Lucious stood and extended a hand in greeting. “Ah, excellent! You must be Miss Aurelia Luna, Sorceress Supreme and answer to several of my problems. It’s a pleasure making your acquaintance.”

“The pleasure is mutual. After being reincarnated into this world, I realized I would need powerful allies and…” For a moment, she got lost in his eyes, just like she had done so many times before with the Lucious she had known in her own world and for a moment, she was back in her own world.

“And…”The Crimson King prompted, leaning in a bit as he waited for Aurelia to continue.

Snapped back to reality, she could feel heat rising on her cheeks and hoped she could hide it. “My apologies. You remind me very much of someone I used to know.”

“They must have meant something to you,” Lucious looked concerned as he pulled out Aurelia’s chair and helped her sit down before sitting down himself. “I’ve seen that look before, though I admit never directed at me.”

“Ah… I’m not fond of admitting it, but I may have had… Dalliances… with this certain someone. He was a great leader and a strong warrior. And those eyes of his…” She wasn’t exactly sure why she was admitting this. As the server poured wine for her, she nodded and smiled her thanks before taking a sip of it.

“He sounds like an amazing person.” Lucious leaned back and sipped at his own wine a moment in silence before continuing. “It must be hard. You remember your old life and you’re trying to figure out a strange new world. And I have to admit, our world is not in a great place right now. Humanity is still trying to sort itself out after World War 3 and the exodus from what’s left of Mother Earth.”

“Yeah, the closest I’ve found in your stories is literal fantasy literature. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have stories about King Arthur Pendragon.” As she saw Lucious nodding with a sheepish grin, she could only look crestfallen. “His mages were my apprentices in my world.”

Elena, who had taken up a position behind her, cleared her throat. “My apologies for the interruption, but the topic of negotiations for…”

Lucious just waved her off and interrupted her. “You can have whatever you want. I’ve already arranged for a new place in one of our safe houses in one of the newer parts of the city. If it doesn’t have enough room, let me know and I’ll give you another floor. I just ask that you use your skills for us. Not solely for us, but to at least try to give our jobs priority. No other strings attached. I hope that’s acceptable?”

Aurelia glanced over at a now stunned looking Elena who nodded to her hesitantly. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s perfectly fine.”

“Great! Then let’s eat. This place has the closest thing to authentic Earth cuisine and I want to treat you to the best I reasonably can while getting to know you better.” As he spoke, he motioned to the servers who began bringing out plates of steaming food smothered in red, green, and yellow sauces that she couldn’t even begin to identify. Seeing the lost and overwhelmed look on her face, he grinned and tried to explain. “It’s open serving, so take what you like from any dish. I recommend you try this cheese and pasta risotto first though. It is out of this world.”

Taking in the smells and the sights alone bright a tear to her eyes as she reached for her silverware. “After having to use magic to make what I thought passed as food edible, this far surpasses anything we had in my old world. I thought this world was hell, but I see now that it can also be heaven. Thank you for this feast.”

“I am happy to provide this heavenly feast, my lady. As we eat, do you mind if I inquire about your old world? Perhaps past adventures? I’m always looking for new stories to ease the boredom, you see.”

Her fork already in the dish he’d pointed out, she grinned brightly. “I think I have just the story to start with. Around the start of the last war, I was traveling with an entourage of about two dozen knights to a neighboring kingdom when one of the holy knights from that kingdom came flying in on a dragon…”

 

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