Only the truth
[WP] You are a high-ranking spy on a vital mission. Alas, you have also just pissed off the fae and they cursed you to be unable to tell a lie. There's no time to send in a replacement agent, or find a way to lift it. It's time to infiltrate the enemy and take them down- all with perfect honesty.
*****
“You want still want me to proceed?!” The hiss into the ComCrystal was barely contained, the distress evident to any who might have heard.
“That’s correct, Agent. You’re our only hope.”
“But, Captain, you know how my last mission went.”
“We understand, Agent, but you’re the only one in rotation who speaks Elemental, Djinn, and Fae—” There was a pause after the last, before the voice continued. “You do still speak it, right?”
“Of course, but I can’t undo the curse!” The lasting hatred of a Fae Queen couldn’t be exorcised so easily…
“You’re the best we’ve got, Agent. Get in there.”
A long, heavy sigh. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re the new guy, right?” A rumbling voice spoke in guttural tones, the grating sound of Terragave, the Elemental tongue of Earth.
“First day.” The response was short and broken, a voice making himself understood in a language he wasn’t fluent in.
“We can speak common.”
“Much obliged, thank you.”
“So…” The voice continued in a deep rumble, no less imposing for being easily understood. “You were sent by the Queen of Frost and Blackness?”
“Her magic lingers on me still.” A wry smile and a slight tilt of the head to indicate the jest.
“I can smell it.” The voice had a flatness that mirrored the joke’s landing. “What’s her sudden interest in us, anyway?”
“I am very certain I have no idea what Her Majesty is thinking at any moment.” Another charming smile. “I was sent to be of service to you in whatever fashion you would have me.”
“Hmph.” A scowl. “Well, what can you do? Your skills, I mean?”
“I speak several languages, both of the Thinking Peoples and of the Shah’Dashal.” An outpouring of fast words, strained as though they were trying to be held back. “I am proficient in combat both armed and unarmed, along with being a spellcaster of little renown but some skill. I am proficient in combat search and rescue, battlefield medicine, diplomatic protocols, espi—”
“Gods, boy, stop making stuff up.” A snort of derision and a waved hand cut the list off prematurely. “Be serious now, what use can you be to me.”
“Ah, yes sir.” A smile that was more relieved than anything. “I was sent to serve as a diplomatic envoy, to help you incorporate your new territories.”
“You mean the new slaves.” A chuckle. “I suppose I’ve got a use for you then, what with your ‘speaking several languages’ and all.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Tell him that if his people agree to work, we agree to feed them.”
“If you agree to his demands, you will be fed.”
“Who are you, to speak for this murderer?”
“I’m a spy sent by the Lady of Light and Life to infiltrate this man’s army, learn his plans, and dispatch him and his underlings.”
“???”
“He doesn’t know what to say.”
“I’ll give him a minute to think it over. While we wait for the addled old mind to crank through its gears, you can tell me about the Queen.”
“I should very much like not to, sir.”
“That fear I smell on you, boy?” The flat, wide snout took a deep inhalation. “It is. You’re scared of her in your bones, eh, boy?”
“Very much so.” A barely repressed shudder.
“She’d make a fine Queen, I think.” A vicious smile beneath lusty eyes. “Maybe I’ll send you back with an offer.”
“Hey, what did you mean, that you’re a spy?”
“Excuse me, sir. It appears he is ready to talk.”
“I mean I am undercover. Please stop asking questions or I may be discovered.”
“Ca—Can you help us?”
“Perhaps. If you agree to his terms, I will attempt to help you.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
A long pause.
“I…” The words were wrestled from him. “I don’t have a choice.”
“But the Lady of Light and Life sent you?”
“She did.”
“I will trust her.” A pair of hands flashed a brief gesture across his chest. “Let it be.”
“What was that? The hand thing?”
“He agrees to your terms.”
“Of course he does.” A derisive laugh. “He has three days to supply a tithe of workers. Give him the message.”
“So?”
“As you suspected, sire. He’s a spy.”
“Ha, that Ice Bitch underestimates me.”
“Yes, Sire. He is apparently convincing the slaves he works for the Lady of Light and Life.”
“Really? That’s his angle?”
“Yes, Sire. He claimed to be a spy for her.”
“Haha!” The laughter was genuine now, the mirth evident. “Those poor fools.”
“Yes, Sire. If you hadn’t scented the Ice Queen’s personal touch, even we might have been deceived by him.” Obviously they spoke the language of their former neighbors, now slaves. Could the Ice Queen have been that foolish? “We might have attacked the Lady of Light and Life and thus weakened ourselves.”
“My nose can’t be fooled and her magic is distinctive. He's been in the presence of the Ice Queen.” He smiled viciously. “So, she sends him to me as an ambassador and to these naïve fools as a savior in the mask of her cousin.” A long pause. “Ahh.”
“You have a plan, Sire?”
“Of course. She’s trying to repeat her success against the knolls. Establish a powerbase and form a coup.” An evil laugh. “This will be sporting fun! Keep an eye on the ‘Ambassador’. Make sure you don’t let him catch on to you. Oh, and send a diplomatic envoy to the Golden Lady with our friendship and gifts. Something outrageous. Something to send a message even that icy bitch can understand.”
“Of course, Sire.”
“He did what?!” A screech of anger filled the vast hall, cracking one or two of the pillars in its piercing wail.
“Lord Abraxus sent a diplomatic envoy to the Lady of Light and Life, along with his messages of friendship, Your Majesty.”
“That bitch!” A goblet of dark liquid smashed an icy wall and sent splinters across the floor. “So, he thinks that by allying with my goody-two-shoes cousin that he can finally force me out?”
“That is unknown, Your Majesty. We don’t have a presence in the Earthlord’s camp. Shall I dispatch an ambassador?”
“There’s no point. He’s made his position clear. Fortify the border regions.”
“So, she’s preparing for war…” The deep rumbling continued. “So, Ambassador, how should I take his movement from your Queen?”
“I believe she considers your messages of peace and friendship to the Lady of Light and Life to be the prelude for war.”
“Does she now?” A hearty chuckle. “And how does she feel about slave rebellions?”
“She hates them when they are her slaves.” A chuckle and flash of remembrance.
“As do we all. Tell me, Ambassador, do you consider fomenting rebellion to be an act of war?”
“I suppose so. It is a premeditated action, after all.”
“That’s right. And who benefits if I am dealing with rebellion and war on my borders?”
A nervous swallow and sweat constrained only be years of training and service in the field. “I suppose the Lady of Light and Life would be the greatest beneficiary.”
“Yes…” The glint in the dark eyes was terrible. “Your warning sounds very wise.”
“Yet again, she tries to goad me to war with the Golden Lady…”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Prepare for war! We’ll teach that icy bitch to try and manipulate me!”
*****
THE END
