Chapter 21

The empress watched the little prince walk away from the imperial flats. He may have crashed in front of her in a manner befitting his rank and the relationship between their two planets, but she sensed a power within him that was perfectly camouflaged. It was only thanks to the sensory skills she had worked on for years to hone a little more than a normal person is capable of perceiving that Seiran's mother had been able to sense it. It was minute, but the anomaly intrigued her.

-Hiolmyr," she called.

Yes your Majesty," a blue-skinned creature with two holes for a nose and pointed ears appeared at the Queen's side as if by magic.

-Watch this angel. Report any suspicious behaviour to me," the demoness ordered.

-Yes, Your Majesty," replied the strange creature, who disappeared in the same manner as she had appeared as soon as the order was given.

The empress stood there for a moment, pensive. This interview had not given her the answers she had hoped for. The angel was an excellent diplomat, she had not managed to extract any information from him. However, her suspicions were not allayed. Her sixth sense told her that there was something wrong with this angel. Something dangerous that she couldn't quite grasp.

She frowned. The message her son wanted to convey through the outfit his guest was wearing had not escaped her either. It was a way of telling him that this angel belonged to him and that he would not let anyone touch his possession. A method much used by slavers to indicate the ownership of their slaves.

Why, of all the angels in the intergalaxy, had he had to choose this one? The empress bit her cheek. Her son, whom she thought was docile and perfectly obedient, was rebelling for the first time in his life? And of all the moments in his life, he had chosen the most crucial of all? She had not had the power in her hands since Seiran's twenty-first birthday a few days earlier. She had never imagined her son opposing her, but today, as she watched this little angel go back to his chambers, a dull anxiety had taken hold of her. An anxiety she couldn't fight, with one question nagging at the back of her mind: what if she lost control of her son?

-Meolhe!" A voice behind her startled her.

She turned to see the chamberlain waiting for her, arms folded.

-Forgive my familiarity your Majesty, but you were lost in thought," he bowed respectfully.

-It's nothing, Hinujo. You did the right thing, I was thinking of completely useless things," she said, pulling herself together.

The man who stood straight and stern in his dark suit bowed again to thank her for her mercy.

-Any news of the Peacekeeper?" she asked then, pushing her dark thoughts from her mind.

-We heard back from the office. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be very receptive to our request to delay sending the Peacekeeper, as we wanted to try to resolve the situation internally, without their intervention. They have indicated that they initiated the procedure at the time of referral and that they will respect the process without intervening under penalty of nullity.

-In other words, the case is in their hands, we can no longer intervene in any way, and they guarantee the neutrality of the investigation," the empress continued, walking briskly towards her office.

Hearing the news from the chamberlain had made her forget her anxiety. All her attention was now focused on the new problem she had to deal with: the arrival of the peacemaker and the resolution of the conflict between Amadeus and Meripaeus.

The matter should not harm the demons, whatever the outcome, but she was still worried about the idea of a peacemaker on Yerpena soil, even for a few hours. It was a good thing all the slaves had been moved for the ceremony! She would have no trouble hiding this young slave she had kept with her.

-Let's go. Our role as mediator is important in this matter, we must not take the office lightly.

-Your Majesty, there is something else..." the chamberlain began, his brow furrowed.

The demoness stopped and turned to the chamberlain, puzzled.

-I think this angel took a mark from a document in my office," he explained.

-A mark?" the regent raised her eyebrows.

-Yes, I don't know what document it is yet, but I felt dematerialization waves in the room when I entered. It was minute, but a perceiver like me is capable of sensing such things."

Seiran's mother looked at her chamberlain for a moment, her brow furrowed in turn.

-You mean he lied and deliberately broke into your office to get a paper?"

The chamberlain did not answer. He bowed his head and continued.

-I have no proof of this, so you can't hold anything against him unless you search his chip, which would cause quite a ruckus, even if it were you, Your Majesty, who did it... I advise keeping an eye on this angel until we know what he's after."

The regent remained pensive for a moment. What could a little Lord like Jangta Okram be looking for in the office of his chamberlain? The room contained nothing but archives and accounting documents. Meripee was too dependent on Ornikarn to mess with them anyway. He wouldn't have been able to retrieve a very important document for sure, this place is always messy and only filled with organisation related papers. Nothing very concerning.

-I've already told Hiolmyr to keep an eye on him, she'll tell us if he's behaving suspiciously," she said, turning away.

This little angel could not cause them much harm. He had too little power to be a threat. All the demoness cared about, as a mother, was the relationship he had with her son. But that was all. She did not expect a second-rate angel to challenge the strategic game of the great powers.

Understanding that the regent had no further interest in the subject, the chamberlain bowed as she passed him and followed her in silence.

---

Niris opened the door of his suite with an ill-contained excitement and then threw himself into his room, calling for his friend who had been waiting for him there since the day before.

-Azure! Azure!"

The pegasus jumped up from the bed where he had been curled up in a ball, his nose hidden under one of his wings.

-You're coming home at this hour?" he lectured him, blowing his nostrils in annoyance.

-I have a document! I have proof! Azur I finally have proof!" the angel ignored his remark completely and hopped around the pegasus.

Seeing the prince's excitement, Azure frowned and set up a protective sound bubble in the room by pressing his identity chip.

-What do you mean you have proof?" he then asked her suspiciously. "You mean... you have something on the slaves?"

Feverishly, the angel activated his chip and viewed a dematerialized version of the document he had scanned in the chamberlain's office. The pegasus opened puzzled eyes when he saw the paper.

-She's a palace slave, I saw her in the regent's flat!" said the angel who didn't give his friend time to fully realize what he was looking at. "Luckily I made a visual record of my encounter with the regent with my dematerialized lenses! I have proof of her physical existence!"

Still speechless, the pegasus watched the video play before his eyes. He could see the little angel at the regent's side, but he couldn't believe it. Of all the people who had opposed this mission, Azure had been the most fervent. He was sure that this mission would fail and that the demons would not be so stupid as to leave slaves and documents proving their profuse activity in the angel trade lying around the palace during the ceremony.

But apparently, he had overestimated the demons. Far too confident and arrogant, they would not even hide from an angel they despised. He never thought that these sworn enemies of angels would ever sin so much out of overconfidence.

-What do you think? What do you think, huh? Does it give you a hard time?"

Before him, the angel wriggled like a fish thrown into boiling oil. His eyes shone with a brilliance he only knew when he was giving it his all in a fight.

-I must say... I'm impressed," the pegasus admitted. "Not for a second did I think we'd be able to get our hands on a document like this."

-I've sent everything to the administration. Now, all we have to do is wait for the signal to start legal proceedings and sue Ornikarn and have me sent back to Egea!" Niris said with a look that went from ear to ear.

Azure wagged his ears. He understood his friend's excitement, but he had to bring him down to earth. Not everything was done.

-Nothing would be done as long as Inja was held captive by the demons. As long as she's in their hands, your father will never risk launching anything," the pegasus remarked.

-The Peacekeeper should be arriving today, he'll give his verdict by noon tomorrow at the latest. We go in through the teleportation portal I have in my kit, and that's it! The demons won't even have time to see it coming!" the angel dismissed his friend's fears with a wave of his hand.

-I think you're pretty confident for an agent on a highly dangerous mission," Azure scolded him with a frown. "There are still many uncertainties, Niris. Even if we have almost a 95% chance of winning the Peacekeeper's opinion because Inja launched her attack before Mischien intervened, we mustn't be too quick to claim victory! You'll have to defend your case in front of him to convince him, and Yousmaïl will do everything he can to make you lose, so don't let your guard down!

The angel looked at him angrily. For once he was satisfied with the progress of his mission, he didn't understand why the pegasus was so negative. They had all the keys in hand, the mission was a success!

-I've already prepared the case and put together an argument that is impossible to attack. Yousmaïl has no chance! Tomorrow Inja will be out and we can go home. I don't see what the problem is, Azur, and why are you being so alarmist about a situation where we have all the keys in hand!"

-Because there are many more forces at play than you want to believe! Do I have to remind you that you involved the emperor of Mesanchia? And that everyone's eyes are on you since Inja fought Sao and that rumours about you and Seiran are flying around?" the pegasus exploded, unable to contain himself any longer.

He couldn't believe that Niris was behaving like this. He was usually so professional and never considered a mission completed until he returned to the site with his objective clearly fulfilled. He understood that this mission meant so much more to the angel but he was disappointed by his sudden lack of self-control and childishness.

-And I remind you that if you leave this place, you'll have to leave Seiran here, alone. Have you thought about that? How are you going to handle this situation, sir I'm going to complete my mission and handle my love affair at the same time without it interfering with my role as a diplomat?"

Niris then lost his smile. All of a sudden. He felt like an idiot. The pegasus was right. He had been fired up by his unexpected success in a mission he despaired of ever completing. He lowered his head. For a moment, he had been obsessed with his short-term goal and had completely forgotten about Seiran. What a jerk he was! Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he realised how immature his behaviour was. He was angry with himself.

-You're right, excuse me," he said in a low voice.

The pegasus sighed as he saw his friend's disappointed expression.

-I understand that you got carried away, this mission means a lot to you... As long as you pull yourself together and don't let it get to you, it's not a problem," he said more gently.

The angel nodded, then sat down on the bed. Pegasus watched him do so and jumped up onto the covers, sitting down next to his friend.

-I'm surrounded by enemies and the situation could explode at any moment," the angel analyzed with newfound gravity. "We're in a powder keg that could go up at any moment. Inja is being held prisoner and we have to keep our cover. Objectively this situation is more to our disadvantage than anything else. I have to stay on guard."

He rubbed his chin, thinking.

-Extra support wouldn't go amiss. But in our situation, I don't know where to turn..."

The pegasus watched him blankly, satisfied that the Niris he knew had returned. It was then that the angel opened his keychain and pulled out a small black box that the pegasus recognized immediately.

-Niris what are you doing?"

The angel did not answer immediately. He opened the box and stroked the dark purple stone that lay in a white velvet case with admiration.

-My father told me that this stone would be useful to me one day, that it would come to my rescue if I were in danger of death.

He looked at it for a moment without saying anything, then murmured, as if he were talking to himself.

-Has the day come to use you?"

Suddenly agitated, the pegasus reared up on his feet and stomped on the blankets nervously.

-Niris, what are you thinking? You shouldn't go out like that, it's dangerous!" he warned him.

Niris turned to him, looking surprised. For some reason, Azure was very uncomfortable whenever Niris opened the box. He knew nothing about this stone. All he knew was what his father had told him: to guard it carefully until the day it came to his aid, and that Pegasus knew something about it.

-It's only a stone," he reassured him. "And it's not even infused with natural energy. I'm not sure how much danger it can cause."

But the pegasus did not seem reassured at all. He couldn't take his eyes off the stone, an anxious eye riveted on it as if something might come out at any moment.

-Unless there's something inside that I can't feel?" the angel tried, hoping to get his friend to talk.

-Niris, don't play with this. You know very well I can't tell you anything about that stone!

the angel sighed.

-Yes, I know, you're bound by an oath that prevents you from revealing anything about that stone," he said dejectedly.

Try as he might, all his attempts had failed. The pegasus never let a single piece of information escape about this mysterious stone that had been bequeathed to him without giving him the instructions for use.

-Too bad, nothing can be done about it if I use it badly and it causes me problems, just because I didn't have the necessary information to use it properly..." he said, pretending to close the box, resigned.

With a glance, he checked the behaviour of the pegasus. It gave a little squeak that indicated its inner turmoil. Still stomping around on the mattress covered by the silk sheets.

-All right, there's one thing I can tell you about her without breaking the oath..." the pegasus began, avoiding the angel with his eyes as if he feared being caught revealing top-secret information to an enemy.

The angel's eyes began to glow. This was the first time the pegasus had agreed to talk about the stone. He fell silent and opened his ears wide to make sure he didn't miss a word his friend was about to say.

-This stone... is the reason I am with you today," he said.

-Huh?" Niris couldn't help but say, completely unprepared for what he had just heard.

The pegasus stopped fidgeting and looked into the emerald eyes of his protégé.

-This stone is what led me to you. Or rather, I came to you with this stone," he continued, trying to make things clearer for the angel.

But Niris still didn't understand. He remembered having Azure by his side since he was a child. To him, Azure was a Pegasus close to the angels who had settled in Egea and participated in what the angels called the "intergalactic dynamic", i.e. the mutual aid of the species to ensure the peace of the intergalaxy and the peaceful cohabitation between the species. He had never thought that Pegasus had come to him specifically with this mysterious stone.

Seeing the incomprehension in the angel's eyes, the pegasus decided to enlighten him as best he could. But with the weight of the oath, it was difficult for him to give complete information to his protégé.

-I didn't live in Egea before you were born, I came after. Because you were the one most likely to receive this stone. I am in a way the guardian of this stone, that is why I am bound to it by an oath, to protect it, even if it is the person who receives it."

Niris listened intently. This was the first time he had heard of this story. His father had told him to question Azure if he wanted information about her, but he didn't know that he was so intimately involved with her.

-You mean... if you're with me today, it's only because of this stone?" he asked in a white voice that broke the pegasus' heart.

He turned his ears, uncomfortable.

-At first yes, I came to you for that reason," he admitted. "But I did not stay with you because you are the possessor of the stone. I could have chosen to stay at a distance and watch you from afar. I am keeping you company today because I like you, Niris, and not for anything else. I'm sorry it started out this way, but believe me when I tell you that I consider you a friend!"

The angel looked at him for a moment, clearly undecided, then smiled.

-This is totally unexpected and caught me off guard, but I believe you. They say it's impossible to get a pegasus to follow someone against their will."

The pegasus sighed with relief. He knew this day had to come, and he had dreaded it, but he had always hoped that the bond between them would be stronger than the doubt of the circumstances of their meeting. And he was glad it was.

-Wait, if you're the guardian of this stone, you must be much older than I think? My father told me that this stone dates back to the Horatian era," Niris questioned him.

The pegasus avoided his gaze, but he knew he could not escape the question. He regretted starting to talk about the stone now. He found himself trapped by his own weakness towards the angel.

-What are you, three hundred years old? 

-One thousand three hundred and twenty-six," the Pegasus finally replied.

The angel's eyes widened. He doubted what he had heard. He knew pegasus could live to be old, but he didn't think they could live that long. They were the most direct lineage of dragons after all, so it was no surprise that they could live for several thousand years. But seven thousand years... Niris didn't know that was even possible.

-Once...let's say...the stone was entrusted to me, I went into artificial hibernation. I put my body into a rest that slowed my organism down to the point where I kept myself alive by the mere flow of natural energy around me and the oxygen that entered through my nasals, that's all. I remained in this state for six thousand three hundred years. Finally, I woke up when the era of the new carrier arrived, that is you. To prepare for the transition, I woke up five hundred years before you were born. Once everything was in place, I introduced myself to your father, and since then I have not left you."

Niris' eyes were locked in his friend's. For all these years, he didn't know what this strange stone was that his father had given him a few years earlier and told him to keep it safe and that it would come to his aid when he needed it, and no one would give him any information. Nowhere had he been able to find any mention of the existence of this mysterious rock, which was totally absent from books, no matter how old they were.

For the first time, he was hearing about something related to it, and he had a ton of questions about it. What was a carrier? Why did Azure keep this stone? Why had he inherited it? And most importantly, what was so special about this stone that one of the most powerful pegasus in his tribe would guard it for years?

Azure saw the questions racing through the angel's eyes, but he cut them off before he could even voice them.

-Don't even try to ask me anything, the oath prevents me from revealing anything to you that is directly related to the stone."

Niris opened his mouth to insist anyway when a dematerialized window appeared before his eyes. The angel quickly read what was written in the small light blue box.

"The Peacekeeper Iun Samaël has arrived in Yerpena."