>>5680820Eka seems interested to hear more of that city as well—the oasis of Crystal and Silk, which you spun so many (lightly embellished) tales of, most especially its colourful cast of roguish noble-elves. Jazkarmel frowns and runs her fingers through her dark hair, closing her eyes a moment.
“Ugh.”
“It is that bad?” you ask, worried now.
“No, no,” the Drow is quick to reassure you. “It is not BAD, just… Not a smooth transition. Or not as smooth as it could be. Minothel and Corandiirn are still displeased with their loss, and though more noble houses and nearly all the low-born supported him thanks to you, they are less… Enthusiastic than before. It makes it easy for the princes to undermine him.”
“Why is this?” you ask, unhappy to think of the Aesthete Prince and Assassin Prince conspiring against the candidate who you worked so hard to install.
“Well, the promise of Solinsyr as king was that we would be opening up, expanding… Joining the, what did you call it? Dark Alliance? This was supposed to mean more food, more room to expand, more safety and more wealth. So far, it’s meant participation in the war against the Kobodl necromancer and the dwarves—”
“All things YOU approved, and for YOUR race’s benefit as well,” you quickly add.
Jazkarmel holds up a hand placatingly, and nods agreement.
“Still,” she says, “so far the impression which Solinsyr is creating as king… And which his rivals are spreading and propagating to anyone who will listen… Is that we are trading sovereignty to lizardmen, our souls to foreign ‘gods of evil’, and getting… Well, little back in return.”
Your tail lashes in annoyance at this, the hard spade-tip hitting the stone with a crack that startles Eka. You look at her and pat her hand apologetically.
“It has been less than a year,” you note. “It will take time…”
“And elves are long-lived, and used to things taking time,” Jazkarmel says. “It is just post-election instability and power-jockeying.”
There is a pregnant pause.
“But…?” you prompt her.
“But,” she agrees, “there is a ‘but’, yes. If there was good news from Bloodrise… Something tangible, a notable announcement and some war-prizes shipped back to Wevenore, or if our settlements there were ready to receive civilians and to engage in trade and diplomacy… That would be a tangible thing to flaunt in the face of the other princes.”
“Or King Solinsyr could simply deal with HIS dissenters as I dealt with the Necromancer you mentioned,” you point out.
(Or like how you dealt with the Appointed Successor, you privately reflect, fondling the hilt of the khopesh which the deceased usurper once held.)