Chapter Text
“Yes, Xornoth.” Fwhip ran a hand down his face as if he was annoyed. Knowing him, he probably was annoyed and that frustrated Xornoth greatly. What was it about this situation that would warrant annoyance toward him and not the problem itself? “I am aware of the troublemakers.”
“Why are you acting like they are no big deal if you truly know about them?” Xornoth questioned, biting back what he truly wanted to say. Fwhip was a fine emperor, sure, but he could be (and often was) so frustrating to converse with when he chose to. Aeor, no wonder Grimland allied with Mythland. They are both obnoxiously difficult.
“I am not. I know full well what they’ve been up to. I know what happens in my empire.” Fwhip walked to the other side of the room, now messing with another project or whatever the fuck he was doing. He could just be fidgeting and pretending to work on various things as a way to display his uninterested attitude. The idea angered Xornoth more than anything else. The disrespect was starting to claw at his skin but he kept himself collected. “I just have my own means to deal with them. Grimland doesn’t need Rivendell’s help.”
Xornoth had come to Grimland to speak to Fwhip but no one would fetch the count for him when he asked. According to those he talked to at the main castle, no one was allowed to bother Fwhip while he was in the forge unless it was important or there was an emergency. The Grimlanders did not take what he said as important enough to bother their count about, which only fanned the flame. Xornoth had no plans about turning around and flying home so, rules be damned, he stalked over here himself. He wasn’t a Grimlander so why should he follow silly rules such as that?
“I am not here to try and give you a handout or to put Grimland in any sort of debt to Rivendell.” It took everything in Xornoth to keep his wings from ruffling in annoyance. “I am here because this is a mutual problem and our empires can work together to stop it a lot faster than we can if we work separately.”
“They are just some kids fucking around.” Fwhip stopped what he was doing to glare at Xornoth. “If Rivendell can’t handle some kids themselves, then I worry for your empire’s prosperity and ability to handle nuisances.”
“They aren’t kids and you know that full well.” He couldn’t keep his wings from ruffling now. If anyone was being a nuisance, it would be the ginger standing in front of him. “They are skilled adults of elven heritage. Based on their accents, the troublemakers are a mixed group of Rivendellians and Grimlanders. Surely you have heard them shout at each other?”
“They could be Mezalean for all I care!” Fwhip tossed the tool he had in his hand down onto the hard surface, which sounded a loud clanking noise. “It doesn’t matter where they come from. Again, they are just some kids fucking around. Some petty criminals. We’ll get them eventually but there are people under me that should be able to handle them.”
“Yeah, and how well has that been going for them?” Xornoth asked the question but he didn’t expect an answer. Both of them knew what the answer was and it didn’t need to be stated out loud for the answer to linger in their minds. Fwhip just avoided Xornoth’s eyes and didn’t move. “We are not going to stop them by regular means. We need to be more proactive in stopping them or they are just going to get worse the more they get away with things.”
He kept his eyes trained on the shorter elfling, who still refused to respond. Superiority poked itself around inside Xornoth but he simply held his chin up high. “Who is to say they won’t get more bold? They might come for our siblings next. They might go for Gem.”
That got Fwhip’s attention. His head snapped up to meet Xornoth’s gaze. The way his eyes burned into Xornoth’s skin was the same, even though his eyes (one blue and one green) were different colors. “They would not be that foolish.”
“You have no way to know that.” He leaned into this route further. Maybe Fwhip would listen now that he had brought up someone he was close to. Xornoth was positive he would act similarly if Scott was brought up in a conversation he didn’t want to be in so it would surely work on Fwhip. “As I am sure you know, their little antics have been growing in severity for the past several months. It could easily get to the point where they start conducting targeted hits to get our attention. Who better than our siblings?”
“Gem can take care of herself. She is an extremely skilled wizard and she has dealt with far worse than what they have done so far.” Fwhip scoffed as if to fully dismiss Xornoth’s real worry about all of this. “And Scott will be fine. We already know he can do a lot of damage to someone.”
Xornoth refused to acknowledge the elfling’s jab at his brother. It would be deserved based on where he took this conversation. “Gem is skilled, yes, but what about on bad pain days? I have no doubt she would be and is a formidable opponent, even when at a disadvantage, but I doubt she could take on a whole group of people trying to cause her harm. Even if she could handle it, {are you sure you want to risk it?}”
“{That sounds like a threat.}” Fwhip scoffed as he pushed up his sleeves, making his way closer to Xornoth. He stood right in front of Xornoth, their chests almost touching. The two were standing so close that he could feel Fwhip’s breath on his face. “{It isn’t wise to make threats when you don’t have the security of your own empire around you. You are standing in my empire and you have no protections here.}”
He tilted his head down to look at Fwhip, unbothered by Fwhip’s words. Worse comes the worse, he doubted Fwhip would be able to cause any real damage before he was able to get away. Xornoth wasn’t a coward but he knew when battles were worth fighting and a petty squabble such as this was not one of those battles. “{I am only trying to get you to see the gravity of the situation. You don’t seem to-}”
“{May I remind you that I have been running an empire for four, maybe five years longer than you have been king.}” Fwhip snapped at him, his supposed question being told more like it was a statement. He stared silently at Xornoth for only a few moments before continuing to speak in elven, “{I do not need your help nor your insight to do so.}”
“{No one is questioning your ability to rule, Fwhip. It is for the best of our empires that we work together. We do not gain anything from working separately.}" It took everything in him to stay collected but Fwhip was not making it easy. He almost snorted at the thought. “Not making it easy” is always an understatement when dealing with Grimland’s Count. “{You should be able to get over yourself about something neither one of us did that happened almost a decade ago.}”
“{I have moved on. You are the one who hasn’t.}” He didn’t bother to suppress an eye roll. “{Have you ever thought that I simply do not like you?}”
“{You do not have to like me to acknowledge that working together or,}” a soft huff of air escaped his lips before he continued speaking, “{dare I say, a temporary allyship will be beneficial for both of our empires?}”
Fwhip openly scoffed as he turned heel to walk away from him. He twirled back around a few paces away, ending the movement leaning against one of the workbenches. “Fine, I accept. The sooner we get rid of this little problem, the better.”
Despite his best wishes not to show how pleased he was, his face lit up. Finally! “I am glad we are now seeing eye to eye.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Fwhip flicked his hand to dismiss him, “now get out of here before I make you.”
“I will send you a letter if I find anything,” Xornoth promised, stretching out his wings in preparation to fly back up the mountain to his home. “You will do the same, correct?”
“Yes, and I will fly up to see you if there is something super important to discuss.” He stared deadpan at Xornoth, his tone exasperated. “I know how this works. Now go.”
“Perfect. We’ll coordinate soon.” He let those words be the last shared between them, making sure not to stick around long. Xornoth did not want to give Fwhip a chance to back out of their temporary allyship nor did he want him to grow more miffed.
Rivendell was only the next empire over but it still took longer to get back than he would have liked. The two castles were located near the opposing borders from each other instead of near their shared border. To get from one castle to the other, one would have to span across two large empires before reaching their destination.
The traveling did give him a lot of time to brainstorm with himself. Grimland was now on Rivendell’s side, so that was an opportunity to corner the troublemakers and stop their disruptive actions once and for all. He had so many ideas bouncing around his head that he had written them down and even told some of those under him to get working on implementing them for him.
Xornoth had just gotten up to get dinner when there was a knock on his office door. He called for them to come in and so they did. He blinked at them, surprised to see them. “Elwyn? Is something wrong with Scott?”
Elwyn has been in charge of lots of jobs around the castle, including helping manage the twins’ activities as they grew up. Xornoth had different responsibilities and things to manage as king so he didn’t require their aid anymore. He had a council and other people to help manage his day-to-day life. Elwyn still kept up with Scott, however, because Xornoth asked them to. Scott never questioned it and Xornoth was grateful because it meant someone had an eye on his brother.
Keeping Elwyn assigned to him was not because he didn’t trust Scott to behave or because he thought that he was incapable. Scott was more than capable of handling himself and doing with his life as he would like. It was just the big brother in him (if only by an hour) that wanted to ensure Scott wouldn’t slump into isolation and prolonged depression again. It has happened twice in their lives so far (with the second lasting significantly longer than the first) and Xornoth didn’t care to see it happen a third time.
“No, Your Majesty. He is visiting with Royal Shrub right now.” Elwyn bowed respectfully as they entered the room. There was a letter in their hands that they quickly presented to him. “I have a letter for you from Queen Lizzie. One of the mail runners is out sick right now so I was asked to deliver it for them.”
“Thank you, Elwyn.” Xornoth took the letter from Elwyn and gave them a nod of acknowledgment. “Can you ask Scott if he wants to have dinner with me tonight if you see him before I do?”
Being king was a busy job and the castle was rather large so there would be days they didn’t see each other. They made a point to eat a meal together a few times a week, at least, but there were weeks they didn’t manage it. Xornoth would be busy here or off in another empire on business. Scott had tasks around the castle as well but he also knew he enjoyed visiting friends or reading to children at the library. He’s always liked reading (younger Xornoth lovingly teased him for it) so that part didn’t surprise him.
Once Elwyn promised they would ask him and left the room, Xornoth turned his attention to the letter. He grabbed a letter opener to break the axolotl seal. Based on the seal alone, he knew it was from the Ocean Empire’s queen. Elwyn didn’t even have to tell him it was from Lizzie for him to know this letter was from her.
There was a nagging at the back of his mind about war (had the Cold War with Mythland turned active?) but, much to his relief, the letter was simply an invitation to a multi-empire cultural masquerade. Xornoth considered it for a moment before deciding to accept the invitation. It should be a pleasant time and he would rather the invite than a call to war. Perhaps Scott would like to go with him?