069 – Caspian Goes To A Meeting

The next morning, after cleaning up Caspian dressed in the disliked costume: short pantaloons with long stockings, a long sleeve shirt, and a long linen robe that split for his legs and hung to his ankles, with a second robe that hung to his knees. The long and short robes billowed in the air as he walked. Caspian had deliberately not been shaving, so his beard looked scruffy. Also he did not bother to clean the road grime from his boots. Taking his staff, he left when the same young female elf arrived with a carriage, not bothering to see the Caplan’s before leaving.

Caspian was escorted into Clan Nidaer's building and into their Council Chamber, and stood to center before a curved table. The room was well lit, but still had the feel of having a dark perimeter with those at the table in shadows and the person in the center in a spotlight.

The clerk at the side spoke for the group. “Report, wizard.”

As usual, Caspian the Mage bristled at ‘wizard.’

Caspian made no effort to hide his contempt and frustration at this group as he spoke, starting without salutation. “I did as bidden and equipped. Steven and Roxanne Caplan are now in my company. Per your instruction, I allowed their children to be taken; they are among the caravan headed to Krogg, and apparently healthy. We would be much closer to intercepting them, had you not required our coming here, or had you assisted us in doing so.”

The Clan Leader at the center of the table spoke. “You were supposed to bring our daughter directly to us. . .”

Months ago, Caspian would have politely waited for the elf to finish. That was before. Now he interrupted the Clan Leader.

“Things happened. Because I followed your instructions, I had to take Steven and go find Roxanne in the kingdom of Dorston, and buy her back out of slavery.”

The Clan Matriarch, sitting to the Leaders right replied. “It was expected you would be good enough to prevent such diversions.”

“If you had given me a free hand, I expect that such diversions probably would not have happened,” Caspian shot back. “I expect that since you have little experience with bringing people who have never been in a magic environment into one, or had the experience of having done so of yourself, you do not know the reality of the shock to the system of the individual it is. I decided it was advisable to acclimate the Caplan’s to this environment before they had to do anything else drastic. While that condition in them obtained, I traveled with Steven Caplan to retrieve Roxanne. Frankly, I am now ready to storm out of here on my own and continue after the kids. But I have a better idea.”

Caspian paused, seeing that he had knocked the elves back slightly, whether by offense of propriety or ego he did not know or care. Before dropping a load on them, he was going to weight it down first.

“I did some checking after I left here, last time. You approached five other members of the School of the Orders, before approaching me. You want to know what I learned? First I learned what you needed.

“You had the time limit of the Krogg caravan beating you to the punch. You were kind enough to give me a cursory warning about that, but had to learn the details on my own.

“You did not want to send one of your own, because Terra is a low-magic world and a Scale Zero tech-world. So you could not pass comfortably unnoticed. That left hiring someone. So you contacted the School. You learned that there were four thousand or so of us who spent time on Terra.

“You needed one who was unattached, therefore expendable. That narrows it to about three hundred of us.

“You needed one who was at least a Journeyman skill level. That is about two hundred fifty of us.

“You needed one you could pay to go. That makes about one hundred fifty.

“You needed someone who you did not already owe any favors to. That cut off about thirty more.

“Then the most fun thing I learned: the first five you approached turned you down, refusing to agree to bring the family to meet you. After all if the parents end up outside your thrall, so would the kids. Had I known you better, or these facts, before I came the first time, I would have turned you down.”

The Clan Leader had recollected his ego and replied. “The facts you report of our inquiry are accurate, but not relevant. Our reasons for wanting to bring our lost daughters here are not your concern.”

Caspian interrupted again, quite enjoying venting his tantrum at this sanctimonious bunch. “ON the contrary they very much are. I will not be part of any activity that leads to the captivity of free people. As such I will not stand for the Caplan’s being kept here against their will.”

“WE have no intention of keeping them here against their will,” the elf replied.

“No, of course not. In your ‘enlightened sense of responsibility toward these descendants of one of your own, however wayward she may have been’ you just won’t let the kids leave with the parents, until you have had the chance to properly train them for their prophesied rolls.”

Caspian looked around, magically and otherwise, and saw that he had nailed their intention to the floor in one blow. He continued.

“Well, guess what I have done? I have told Steven and Roxanne all this. Now they have a bit to decide. As for you, I suppose you think that once I am paid off, I will just go on my way. Or even if you don’t pay me. But that is not what I am going to do.

“I am going to see to it that Steven and Roxanne Caplan are reunited with their two children, and returned to their home, on Terra. And if you don’t pay me, so much the better, then you will still owe me for my services rendered.”

This got to some of them. Caspian had seen the last time he was here that there was some disunity among the elves convened around him. Now in his declaration Caspian hoped he had knocked it a little wider, at least on this issue.

“Human, you have no right. . .” the Clan Leader started.

Caspian interrupted him a third blustering time. “I have every right, you pompous windbag.

“I have not learned much of Roxanne’s progenitor. But from what I have learned it was to get away from you that she left.

“Our contract was for me to get them here as a family. I was on my way to do so, when you interrupted. As I recall there is nothing about my not helping them further on my own. Also that I get full payment and then some if you release me early. And after release anything I do after that is my own business.

“The Caplan’s are not your slaves. I will not countenance your keeping them here if they do not wish it, of their own free will and choice.”

One of the Family Heads sitting to Caspian’s left spoke before any others could respond. He looked older and like he might be in a religious order.

“What we do is to prepare for the Chaos Bringer.”

Caspian was ready to deflect this. “Which is not even born yet. Do you expect two kids to fight? Or the adults they will mature into?”

“If they stay here, we can train them”

This was what Caspian was waiting to hear, and had a rejoinder ready for. “You can train them after they have grown to maturity sufficient in their home culture to choose for themselves.”

“Much time will be lost”

“And so will that time in fighting with parents who do not want to be here. They have every right to choose for themselves. Or are they merely half-breed slaves?”

Caspian smacked the end of his staff on the marble floor to emphasize his last word, and waited. The elves said nothing, some slapped by his words. Some by the implication of his opponents.

Caspian waited a long pause then spoke again.

“Here is what you will do. For the duration of our time here, equal to the time we would have spent traveling south, you will train Roxanne to better utilize her innate magical abilities. You will outfit her as suits HER. Also you will outfit Steven as suits him.

“I cite to your attention the prophecies from Krogg, about the Monarchs there that probably started this whole mess. These were pointed to my attention by a friend. It took some time to get a copy and it is only a fragment. But the pertinent point is that the parents of the kids need to be able to fight on the local ability levels. Help me teach them to do this, or I will pack Steven and Roxanne up and take them out of here.”

The elves looked around at themselves quietly. Caspian quickly grasped that this was a debate they did not want to have in front of him. At the same time he could see who was probably on which side of this issue.

“I will be in my quarters, about the city, or with Steven and Roxanne. If they do not receive messengers by this days end, we will leave by lunch tomorrow.”

Striking his staff on the marble for punctuation, Caspian turned and walked out. The doormen opened and then closed the doors without him breaking stride.

Caspian did not expect that their stay with these Elves would be totally pleasant, and had warned the Caplan’s about this. With their superior-than-mortals attitude, most of the elves Caspian had encountered were either amusedly condescending, or arrogantly scornful. And some times they were both at the same time. Thus far their treatment of Roxanne and Steven was about what he had expected: the general population ignored them, unless directly confronted. So far The Clan was a bit more tolerant, but still treated them as guests who have over stayed their welcome. Caspian thought part of it was that Roxanne’s great grandmother had the bad grace to spend her life with a human, take on human form, and then not tell her children about their superior heritage.

Caspian fumed about these things as he walked back to the hotel and his rooms. He needed to talk with the Caplan’s and tell them what had happened, but first he wanted to get out of the disliked costume.

Caspian found them across the street in the café, browsing through a sandwich fixings platter. Sitting at an elf-scale table they looked like young teens sitting on stools almost as tall as they were, taking two of the seats at an eight position table. Caspian pulled up a stool a little around from the Caplan’s so that he could look at them in the eye across the table, rather than sideways, and fixed himself a sandwich. Cyrril fluttered to a landing on the table, snagged a slice of meat from the platter and hopped to a nearby planter to eat.

Both Caplan’s could read his agitation and let him eat a bit before asking him how things went. Steven finally started as Caspian set his partial sandwich down.

“That bad, humm?”

“No,” Caspian answered as he took a drink. He put his cup back down.

“It was about as I expected. If they don’t come to offer any help, we pack up and leave tomorrow. If they do offer, then you should be circumspect in just what is actually offered. I read two main factions: one is authoritarian, and simply wants to order you around. The other is probably friendlier, and probably willing to acknowledge your maturity and let you chose your own path and provide help.” Caspian picked up his sandwich and started into it again.