A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing-Chapter 817 - Disappointment

"Wait, what?!" Elora cried out and looked at Erik indignantly. "You can’t be serious!" she complained, apparently deciding to lay their deception on a little thicker.

"I’m very serious," Erik grumbled without looking away from Zahra, ensuring he relayed his sincerity. Then, he glanced at Elora with a stern frown. "And you’re going to settle down. You’re my Empress and my beloved, but I’m still the one making these decisions."

Elora glared at him for a moment longer, but then crossed her arms and pouted with a sigh. "Yes, Erik... You know all I do, I do for you."

Her voice dripped with love, obsession, and devotion. These feelings were real, but even then, this whole interaction was just another part of their play. It served to show the Maghreb trio exactly what the relationship between their now-highest rulers was, what they might expect from them in the future, and how they should act with them when alone.

They should now believe that Elora was a cruel pragmatist they should try to avoid, or at least avoid angering, and Erik was a much more reasonable, even kind, form of pragmatist. At the same time, they should know Erik was truly the one in charge, and Elora did not sound like she’d ever betray him, meaning they could trust any orders from her that were approved by him.

The truth was a little more nuanced than this, of course. Erik was more callous than it seemed here, and Elora was actually less so. Elora also wasn’t actually this deferential to him, and Erik was far more concerned with her opinion.

But deception was Elora’s second nature, and she believed in the value of showing the world a curated image, rather than the truth... and it worked for them.

As expected, Zahra looked at Erik with gratitude. Despite the fact she wasn’t promised anything, his words were such a contrast to those uttered by Elora that she now believed herself to be lucky, and Erik to be stern but fair.

Perhaps if her emotions weren’t currently in turmoil, she’d have been a little more suspicious... but now, this newly gained perception settled in her mind. The same went for Zohran, who looked at Erik with respect.

Only Nasir seemed a little more suspicious. He said nothing, but frowned as he glanced between Erik and the members of his family. Unlike his companions, he’d realised this whole conversation ended with Zahra feeling indebted and grateful without Erik actually promising anything.

At the same time, he realised neither Emma nor Astrid showed any kind of surprise or interest in any of this, with the latter even looking bored. Were interactions like these between Erik and Elora that common and unconcerning? Or was there something more going on...?

His suspicions would go unheard for now, however.

***

A few moments later, the group was finally on the move again. Kara had opened a pathway that hadn’t been there before, and the group now followed her.

Zahra walked at the back, frowning and deep in thought. Her conversation with Erik, Elora, and Eira had given her a lot to think about. Occasionally, she’d glance discreetly at Kara or get some worried glances from her fellow warlords.

Speaking of Eira, this ancient treasure had made its way back into her sigil core.

They moved through a long hallway with nothing else in it until they finally entered a large hall to witness the reason for their coming here, and the main treasure uncovered by Zahra when she inherited control over the city.

"Here we are," Kara smiled, turning around. She’d been entirely unaffected by the long conversation about her just before.

Erik raised both his eyebrows and looked around; Astrid whistled in an impressed tone, and Emma appeared curious. Zahra was still lost in thought, while Zohran and Nasir looked wry, knowing they were essentially handing all this over to Erik now.

Finally, Elora had lifted herself from Erik’s shoulder to fly around the hall with a frustrated frown. While everyone else was still slowly looking around, she’d already returned to them.

With slumped shoulders and frustrated disappointment, her wings drooping down, she turned around to look at the hall again. "Seriously...? This is all there is?" she complained, listlessly pointing forward at what she was looking at.

In front of her lay row after row of weapons. It was like all the arms that’d been missing from the facility under Enkare Nkai were instead gathered here as the things were stacked high and gathered everywhere. Pedestals, chests, and displays were everywhere. In fact, weapons were all this hall had.

"What are you talking about?!" Zohran cried out gruffly, eyes wide. He spread his arms. "Look at all that! It’s enough to provide weapons to a small army!"

Nasir frowned next to him. "Are these weapons that common? Did you find a similar stash in Enkare Nkai?"

Elora didn’t answer; the disappointment she felt practically pulsated off her.

Watching this, Erik chuckled a little. "Hehe, no they’re not, and no we didn’t. Don’t mind Elora, she just prefers... a different kind of treasure."

Just as he said that, Elora snapped around to narrow her eyes at Kara. "Is this all? Are there no records? Books? Data slabs? A library?!"

The sigil construct blinked at Elora’s outburst for a moment. Then, with something almost akin to glee, she shook her head and smiled. "No," she said, not offering much in terms of explanation.

Elora groaned with disappointment and didn’t seem to notice Kara’s apparent glee, or simply wrote it off as normal behaviour. Erik, however, looked at it a little more curiously.

He didn’t think long about it, however, and instead turned to look at Zohran and Nasir. "So... I’m guessing the reason you didn’t actually fashion a small army with these is that second-rankers actually aren’t able to wield these properly?"

Eyebrows shot up as both of them appeared surprised at his assessment. "That’s... correct," Nasir nodded, clearly curious at Erik’s ability to judge something like that.

Erik nodded, turning back to look at the massive armoury with a smirk. "Honestly, it’s a wonder these things haven’t degraded even further after all this time..."

That shocked the two warlords even more.