New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

After a few more broached subjects, and Amara's inauguration speech, the meeting was declared over.

As Amara left the villa, she climbed aboard her Maserati, on the passenger side, and Maria on the driver's side, and they drove off.

The car bolted out of the driveway, hitting the paved road to the estate in seconds, and disappeared into the distance.

While they drove away, Amara's smile only grew wider.

"Maria. Reach out to our people in Canada. I want to move to Montreal as soon as possible. And try to get a hold of this man. I want to thank him."

She sent an image onto the onboard screen of the car, showing a young man getting off a black sedan with a militaristic uniform on.

"Yes, Ma'am," Maria replied, nodding her head.

"I don't know how you cleared out that mansion in a single day, but you can't be normal. You have to be like us…" Amara mumbled as she stared intensely at the image.

***

Back in Montreal, Alexander sneezed out of the blue and brushed his nose with his finger.

'Dust? Nah, it can't be. This place is spotless. Eh. Whatever,' he thought, shrugging.

He went about his things as the sun was setting. It was almost time to log back into New Eden.

Kary had given him an earful upon arrival, seeing as he wasn't wearing his clothes anymore. She could already guess why that was and was far from proud of him.

When Alex had tried calming her with the fact he was unharmed, she had gut-punched him, saying it wasn't funny.

But amidst Alex's laughter, she eventually calmed down.

Now, the day was almost over, and they had a kingdom to run, and a woman to convince of joining their ranks.

The next days passed on quickly, with Alex and Kary being so busy in both New Eden and in their everyday tasks, that they barely saw it go by.

The only eventful thing that had happened was when Khalor had suddenly teleported into the city's main plaza, with his drake still summoned. This sent the city guard into a frenzy until orders from Declan resolved the situation.

Khalor cursed at the security guards, saying they should recognize him by now. This was the second time they stopped him inside the city, and he was getting annoyed.

But it was partly his fault for never showing up in the city, and showing up with his monstrosity of a drake summoned every time he did. Even though he and Declan shared the same rank, that didn't stop the older undead from scolding Khalor.

But he had only come by to talk to Astaroth and was gone a few hours later.

At the end of the three-day trial run for the commander post, Astaroth, Phoenix, Dilya, and Singing Grove met up once more.

During the trial run, Astaroth had brought the prospect commander, along with the newly recruited mages for the regiment, to a low-level dungeon, which stood just at the limit of their territory.

In there, he tested her ability to lead troops, as well as her combat awareness, and her performance under pressure. He also occasionally spared with her, as did Phoenix, to gauge her prowess as a mage.

And well to her merit, she handled herself very well, given her inexperience in most of the tasks she would have to perform.

They even sent her to take a crash course in report filling, from Brienne, their bookkeeper.

Even with all the added stress of wanting to prove her worth, regardless of how sure she was about taking up the commander's mantle, Dilya performed way beyond what Astaroth and Phoenix thought she would. And this brought a smile to their faces.

When the meeting time was decided, Singing Grove made it at the appointed time, with the three others already present. The moment the Fey entered the room, her face changed to a look of defeat.

The happiness present on Dilya's face was more than enough to tell her what decision she would take. Now, she could only make sure the transition went without a hitch.

Singing Grove helped her ex-protégé to negotiate good terms, since she could no longer hold her back. She would make sure to get the best conditions from the monarchs for such a talent.

At the end of the meeting, the Fey woman insisted on meeting with the monarchs alone for a moment, and Phoenix granted her the audience.

Astaroth wasn't going to interfere, since he was curious about what she wanted in the first place.

Once they were left alone, Singing Grove's face turned to an angry stare. Which she was directing at Astaroth.

"King Astaroth. I know you went through 'fair' procedures to steal this talent from me. But I am very unhappy with the results. I wish for a favour, in return for losing such an asset as Dilya Naemenor."

Astaroth frowned.

Her tone was less than friendly, and even Phoenix had never heard her sound so angry.

The Fey was usually so calm and disconnected. This wasn't like her.

"What is it you want to ask for, Councilwoman Grove?" Astaroth responded, making sure to remain professional.

"First, before asking this of you, I want your guarantee that whatever happens, you won't resent me, or take any action against the adventurers' guild because of the favour."

Astaroth's frown deepened.

'Is she going to attack me?' he wondered.

"How bad of a favour are you going to ask, to ask such a guarantee from us?" Phoenix asked, her face turning serious.

Her business instincts told her that asking for such a thing meant what she would ask was not something very good, or even acceptable, in normal circumstances.

"Swear it to me."

Phoenix was about to refute her, but Astaroth took her short.

"Sure. I promise this will not affect your position, or the guild's position, or standing with us, or the kingdom in any way. Now ask your favour, Lady Grove."

Singing Grove's face turned to an enormous grin, something Phoenix had never seen her do.

"I want you to prove her talent won't be wasted. I want you both to fight me. Regardless of the result, nothing changes for the girl, or me and the guild. Can you do that?"

Phoenix's eyes widened at the request.

But, Astaroth's face, instead, turned into a combative smirk.

And before Phoenix could ask him to think about this, he responded to her.

"Deal. Training floor. Right now."