Chapter 337 - Betrayal?
The leaders of the alliance spent the rest of the day coming up with an extreme wish-list of ridiculous terms for their counteroffer. By the time they finished, the day was growing late, so they adjourned.
The next day, they sent their representatives to meet with and present the counteroffer to General Rippotis. General Rippotis, predictably, balked at the offer and refused it outright. He apparently did not feel so much guilt as to hand over half of the Conclave’s Towers.
And so began the back and forth of diplomacy. General Rippotis went through the terms and gave counteroffers to the counteroffers, the representatives brought these to the leaders who would then discuss and offer a reply. General Rippotis wanted to reject most of the egregious terms out of hand, but the signatories of the Compact insisted on at least discussing every term in turn.
General Rippotis was starting to grow visibly annoyed as the process stretched on for several days, but Belissar had Chief Rohsuak continue meeting him in the meantime. Seeing as General Rippotis was also blessed by the God of Bees and sincere in his desire to bring peace, Belissar gave Chief Rohsuak permission to discuss him and his Tower, at least the aspects that wouldn’t compromise the negotiations or their defense. The general and the chief eventually began to discuss their mutual devotion to fire and warmed up to one another; Chief Rohsuak was thus able to reassure the general that this was how the Compact did negotiations and that Belissar had to suffer through much the same when he first met them.
And, as annoying to the general as the process may be, the negotiations were progressing. The alliance may have wanted to squeeze ever last concession out of the Conclave that they could…but they did stay mindful of the fact that they needed the peace General Rippotis offered. Belissar found himself smiling more and more, it seemed that in a few days all of his worries regarding the Conclave would be settled and he’d get paid a bunch of flowers for the trouble! Meanwhile, the wardmaster and pixie queen’s defenses in the Underway had managed to repel another group of spiderkin that came probing, so it seemed he wouldn’t have to fight them anytime soon either. If all went well, the only threat remaining to Belissar’s Tower and the bees within would be the Hunger, and it seemed more and more like the Tower could handle whatever shades were thrown at it.
Soon, his bees would be safe…or so he believed…
Another tunneling nomadic worker lay buried in the Underway, on the opposite side of the King’s realm from the spiderkin cavern. The tunnels in this direction weren’t as well-mapped by either the sigmaka or the karnuq, neither had any reason to continue on this path after finding suitable homes for themselves. The bees kept up an even greater vigil on the area as a result, nothing would approach from this direction without the hive of hives knowing about it. Whether it came from the big tunnel ahead, the smaller tunnels to the sides, the surface above, or even from below!
…below?
The tunneling nomadic worker noticed growing vibrations…and they were not coming from the tunnels above her, but from the ground below her. Perhaps moving in a diagonal direction as they were also coming from ahead…but getting closer. Her little burrow was starting to rattle, the vibrations echoing through her chitin…
In fact…if she weren’t mistaken…the vibrations were coming right towards her!
The tunneling nomadic worker stirred up her mana and tunneled up from her hiding spot, emerging into the Underway tunnel above. She didn’t bother tapping the scout web in her hiding spot, the approaching vibrations had already set it off and she could already feel her queen mother’s attention upon her. She spread her wings and took off, flying up to the ceiling of the Underway and then tunneled inside of it. She went just far enough to hide her body, then spun around and stuck the tip of her head out into the tunnel, just enough to expose her eyes and allow her to see. The vibrations weren’t a pattern she recognized and were far greater than anything the hive of hives had encountered yet, so she needed to see what they were dealing with directly.
The vibrations continued to grow and shake the Underway tunnel. Her previous burrow collapsed, she felt the hivelink grow as not only her queen mother but the entire hive of hives began to focus on her.
Soon, the floor of the tunnel began to break by where her burrow once hid. Huge claws broke through the dirt, followed by a big snout. Out emerged a creature like the salamander shades if made of flesh instead of Hunger, with four legs instead of many. It was covered in brown scales, like the ones on the wyvern the nice one rode, but lacked any wings.
The tunneling nomadic worker could see it and make out details…because there was a light shining behind it as it crawled out into the Underway tunnel. Following it closely…were King-things carrying lights! King things that looked like the Hive-Burners from before!
The tunneling nomadic worker could feel the entire hive of hives erupt into buzzing and it took all she had to remain quiet instead.
Belissar frowned. This…made no sense. The gods confirmed General Rippotis was here to make peace, on a mission from his own patron and approved by the God of Light herself, and the general had negotiated in good faith thus far. And yet…now there was an army of Tower Guards approaching from the Underway?
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In any case, everyone needed to know about this. General Rippotis was meeting with the representatives today, so Belissar sent word to Chief Rohsuak and told her to ask him what was going on. Meanwhile, he dropped his own work on his Tower and sent word to the Compact and the sigmaka to inform their leaders, then asked Velebee to check in with the God of Bees. With the messages sent, he focused back on Chief Rohsuak, waiting to see what General Rippotis had to say about this…
Chief Rohsuak was sitting at the table in the negotiation hall outside of Belissar’s Tower. She was surrounded by her fellow representatives from the Compact and sigmaka, while General Rippotis was seated across from her. Henilett was in the midst of a long explanation that taking diplomatic hostages was an entirely valid and reasonable method of insurance and that any allegations that the High Council’s firstborn children would be used as blood sacrifices or banquet entrees were unfounded and, frankly, quite rude. Halfway through the tirade, Chief Rohsuak suddenly frowned, narrowed her eyes, and then loudly cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, representative Henilett, but we have an urgent matter we must address now. General Rippotis, please explain why there is an army of Tower Guards approaching us from the Underway.”
The representatives all stood up at once. Fourth Queen Pezuya drew her blade.
“What?!”
Wardmaster Varilold and the black elf with the swords both began to approach General Rippotis. His own escorts reached for their swords but the general waved them down.
“That must be Lord Starami. He was on his way to this Tower when I left.”
General Rippotis frowned and rubbed his chin.
“He was supposed to have turned back. We are very far from the Conclave, though; I can still contact my Tower but barely. He was traveling underground and underneath the sea of Hunger between here and the Conclave, it’s possible he didn’t receive the order.”
The silver elf representative openly glared at him.
“Possible? General, you’ll need to do much better than possible when you have an army at our doorstep! If you have any reason we should not have executed for this treachery, then speak it now!”
General Rippotis stood firm.
“Let me speak with him, I’ll order him to stand down and return. The High Council and the God of Light all Tower Lords revere have both commanded this, he will not refuse.”
Fourth Queen Pezuya scoffed.
“So, you can rejoin your own army and lead it against us? Do you think us that stupid, General?”
General Rippotis shook his head.
“No. Because I swear in the name of my patron, the God of Fire, that I fully intend to bring peace between our peoples and that I will order Lord Starami to stand down and take his army home, then I will return to see these negotiations through and without violence. May the God of Fire strike me down should I break my word or use Lord Starami’s army against any of you or the people you represent.”
A flame appeared from the floor and wrapped around General Rippotis before dissipating, not leaving even a single scorch mark on the floor. The black elf with the swords made a bored expression and fell back, leaning against the wall. The other guards and representatives glanced at one another, while Chief Rohsuak stared General Rippotis in the eyes. She was the one to break the silence.
“So be it, we shall see what our leaders decide. May the God of Fire burn even your ashes if you have deceived us.”
The leaders of the alliance rushed to assemble. Between Belissar and the Circle’s dungeon messages and Wardmaster Varilold’s emergency communication wards, they were able to gather quickly. Belissar brought along Velebee, Oracle of Bees, while the Compact brought Almablom, Oracle of Flowers, so they were able to speak with the gods as well. The gods confirmed General Rippotis’s intentions had not changed and that the God of Fire would indeed hold him to his oath.
Reassured that General Rippotis would perish if he attempted to betray them, the leaders agreed to allow the general to speak with the incoming army. It was the only response they had with the potential to avert a conflict and salvage the negotiations…and it gave them time to prepare in the worst-case scenario. So, as the armies of bees, beastkin, and fair folk gathered, General Rippotis was guided down into the Underway by digging bees.
He made note of the monster bees having elemental variations that could operate in environments he would not expect bees to. It seemed an army of monster bees could not be stopped simply by placing a tunnel or a lake in their path.
But further musings on the potential of the monster bee army would have to wait. The bees stopped and danced before him.
“Other Hive-Burners that way. Will stop here.”
General Rippotis gave them a nod.
“Understood, we’ll take it from here.”
The bees flew off to wait in the shadows, as it would only raise suspicion if General Rippotis were to arrive in the company of monsters. The general and his own troops walked the rest of the path alone.
They soon found a group of Tower Guards scouting out the tunnels with light crystals. General Rippotis withdrew an enchanted brooch given to members of the High Council and held it up as he stepped into view.
“Halt! Present yourselves to General Rippotis of the High Council!”
The Tower Guards froze and stared at him for a good moment before one of them glanced at the brooch in his hand. He then stood up straight and saluted. The other Tower Guards snapped out of their haze and followed along a moment later.
General Rippotis marched forward and addressed the first guard to salute.
“Who is in command of your expedition?”
The man held his salute.
“Lord Starami, general!”
General Rippotis stopped before the man, standing tall.
“Send for him. I bring orders from the High Council.”
The man saluted once more then barked orders at the others. General Rippotis stepped back to his own troops and settled in to wait for Lord Starami.
A few minutes passed. General Rippotis raised an eyebrow, then whispered to his escorts.
“Stay on guard.”
The closest one blinked.
“General?”
General Rippotis used his eyes to point towards the walls.
“Lots of mana in play, moving around us.”
His escorts frowned and reached for their swords.
“Relax. They weren’t expecting to meet us here and they knew it was possible they would encounter the fey. They might just be taking precautions, good chance we’re fey trying to trick them. Don’t provoke them, but don’t be caught off guard if they panic.”
His escorts nodded and relaxed, though they kept their hands on their weapons and their eyes on the walls.
A few more tense minutes passed...and yet, Lord Starami did not appear. General Rippotis remained patient, not every Tower Lord liked to lead from the front as he did, so he couldn't be sure just how far away Lord Starami needed to travel.
At least, until he noticed the Starami Tower Guards fidgeting. The lead one then narrowed his eyes, drew his sword, and pointed it directly towards the general.
“Apprehend this imposter!”