I want to thank rouge for his proofreading support. I know this chapter is a bit late; it is hard to use a computer when your power goes out for several days.

without further ado chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Negotiations

I stared at the elf with my draconic eyes while carefully wording my response, “There is nothing you could offer in exchange for Therin.”

“Surely there must be something, everyone has a price,” lord Ataryo said with a grin on his face.

“I enjoy Therin’s company,” I replied with a toothy grin. “There is nothing that you could offer in exchange. Now, we could come to an agreement to make it look like he’s not a servant to solve your succession issue.”

“Wait a minute!” Therin interjected, “Don’t I get a say in this?”

“Sure,” Lord Ataryo replied, “if that is ok with your master.”

I nodded my head.

“I don’t want to run the business” Therin stated, “Netticë would be the better choice.”

“Yes, she would be the better choice but she is unable to inherit as you well know,” lord Ataryo replied sharply.

“Calm down both of you!” I growled causing both of them to freeze. “You are both family, act like it.” They both stood glaring at each other, after a minute I said, “Now, if you both can act like adults, we might be able to work something out that is beneficial to all.”

“Yes, Fafnir.” Therin mockingly replied.

“At least there is one person in this room can speak reasonably,” lord Ataryo snidely remarked.

“Yes, Lord Ataryo, and I am the only one it seems.” I retorted looking up at the elves.

“This is getting nowhere fast,” Therin scoffed while leaning back in his chair.

I stared at Therin with displease evident on my scaly face. “Now then,” I said, “how about we resolve this in a way that does not involve me destroying a good portion of this house.”

“Fine,” Therin replied.

“Yes, let’s get back to business” lord Ataryo replied after taking a deep breath. “We were talking about an agreement where we make it look like he is not your servant.”

“Yes,” I replied settling back into the chair, “I can make it look like he has taken a liking to me instead of being enslaved. This would make it so that Therin could inherit in case of your untimely demise.”

“What do you want in exchange?” he inquired, intrigued at the suggestion.

“There are several things,” I replied, “first, you are to find a way to run this place where Therin is the figurehead but is run by others. I will also require your help with a few tasks that I need accomplished. The last thing that you provide staff to help maintain the deception.”

“What kind of staff?” Therin asked.

“The kind of staff that would be expected of an elf that was the heir to a wealthy family,” I replied.

“Just great, I went from bond servant to heir in less than half an hour,” Therin spat. “Most people would be happy. Why does it feel like I’ve been thrown to the wolves?”

“Think of the larger context,” I said to the elf, “not only are the heir of your family, you won’t have to do anything. Your sister will manage it from the background until either you have an heir to pass it on to or until you find a suck… I mean brother to take your place.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” lord Ataryo replied with a rather strained smile.

“It still sounds like too much work.” Therin replied.

“Think of the free time you will gain…” I said, “Think of all the adventures we could have…”

“I will need to think about it,” Therin huffed.

“I trust you will come to the right decision,” I replied with a toothy grin.

“Lord Ataryo. I have told you what I need,” I said, “you can handle most of the details and I will inform you of the resources I require within a few weeks after I take care of a few things. Any objections?”

“Couldn’t you be a bit more specific about your requirements?” he asked a bit vexed.

“No, I don’t want to give away too many surprises,” I replied with a smile.

“Not even a hint?” he probed.

“Construction.” I replied bluntly.

“Of what?” he asked.

“I will give details at a later time when I have determined the full extent of the project,” I chided.

“I understand, I guess you will fill me in on the requirements as the project unfolds,” he replied.

“As long as Therin agrees to be the heir, then yes,” I said.

“It seems that we have come to an agreement, would you care to stay for lunch to deepen our relationship?” He asked.

I thought for a moment wondering if I should accept. “Sure I will join you.” I replied before looking at Therin, “Do you wish to join us?” I asked the fuming elf.

“Unfortunately, I have other matters I need to attend to, so I must decline,” he replied venom evident in his voice.

“I will meet you at the house, later.” I replied.

Therin quickly stood up and left. I jumped off the chair and spread my wings a glided through the room towards the door.

“How about I get a servant to take you to the dining room?” lord Ataryo said watching how close my wing was to knocking something off the shelfs.

“It’s fine,” I assured him while pulling my wings in a bit to avoid hitting the door frame “I am really good at flying.”

We made our way down a rather well decorated hall. There were portraits of various elves which I could only assume were family members. We made traversed a few more hallways and arrived at a rather large room with a large table in the center.

I glided through the room and landed on one of the chairs. Lord Ataryo took a seat right across from me. I settled down on the wooden chair and waited for the food.

“Would you like some denarith?” He asked as a bottle was handed to him by a servant.

“What is denarith?” I asked intrigued.

“It is a traditional dark Elven drink; it is a favorite of mine.” He said as he poured himself a glass

I thought to myself a bit wondering if I should have some. “Sure I will try some,” I replied.

Lord Ataryo beckons a servant to bring a bowl. He poured some of the drink into the bowl and placed it before me. I sniffed the bowl and it smelled kind of good so I wrapped my tail around the bottom of the bowl and took a drink. It tasted sweet and smooth, and it tickled the back of my throat. I quickly finish the rest of the bowl. He looked at me for a second and poured some more of the drink in the bowl.

“See how delicious it is,” he confidently replied, “and this bottle is a very old vintage, it was distilled over 50 years ago and it has been aging ever since.”

As I finished the second bowl, I finally realized that what he meant when he said drink. “This has alcohol in it?” I asked fearing the answer.

“I don’t understand what you mean by alcohol,” he replied a bit confused, “unless you are referring to a fermented beverage, then yes it is.”

“Well crap,” I thought to myself feeling a little warm, “nothing I can do about it now.” After a few minutes passed several servants brought in two plates and placed one in front of each of us. It was delicious, and I quickly ate the main course. After I had eaten my fill, I curled up on the chair and before I realised it, I had fallen asleep.

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as always both me and rouge are mostly human let us know if we missed anything. and let me know what you think in the comments.