Chapter 155 Hermes

As John and the girls were becoming one, the elder ladies were waiting for the arrival of their guest.

"What do you think Penelo Petvalur has to tell you regarding John and Pride Rock?" Chirax asked curiously.

"Regarding John I suspect it is something to do with her son Aiduin wanting to get rid of him, as for Pride Rock I have no idea since that is on the Eastern Continent and in the human domain." Tanelia replied before looking at Alexia and asking.

"Any idea?"

Alexia shook her head before replying.

"None, generally no one pays attention to dungeons or raids outside their continent, especially resource raids since it would be too much hassle to operate them and transport back any goods or fees they collect."

"Why would Penelo warn you about something her own son is doing?" Sakoto asked.

"Because like a certain human empress Penelo has no love for her son." Tanelia replied before explaining.

"Penelo was forced to marry Elashor Petvalur by her family so that they could gain more power in elf society."

"Elashor has never shown any love towards Penelo as far as our information gathering goes and in fact he is known to sleep around with other women, not hiding this fact from his wife."

"As for Aiduin, he has never shown any respect or love for his mother." 

"When he was younger apparently he found his mother in bed with another man, even though she begged him not to tell Elashor he still did."

"After that we are not sure what happened but Penelo was not seen in elf society for several years and the man she slept with disappeared."

"Aiduin became much like his father."

"If I had to guess I would say that the betrayal and lack of love her son has shown Penelo removed the last bit of motherly love she has for her son."

There was silence for a moment before Chirax hissed.

"Bastards, the bastard husband would not give his wife what she required forcing her to find comfort in another man, however after finding out he probably punished her even though he regularly sleeps around."

"It is apparent neither father nor son see women as anything more than objects to be used." Thasinia spat.

The other woman nodded and just before another word could be spoken a knock came from the door.

"Enter." Tanelia said.

"Your guest, Lady Penelo, has arrived, my queen." Saida said as she entered the room.

"Very good Saida, please show her in." Tanelia replied before rising to her feet.

Saida motioned at the door and Penelo Petvalur entered the room wearing a long dark cloak over her body.

"My queen." Penlo said before bowing deeply in front of Tanelia.

Tanelia, Thasinia and Saida all showed surprised looks at this as Penlo had never bowed so deeply towards Tanelia before.

"Please raise your head Lady Penelo and take a seat, Saida a drink for our guest as she looks rather worn out."

"Thank you, my queen." Penelo said as she took off her cloak which Saida took and then took a seat among the other women.

"Allow me to introduce you, I'm sure you saw them last night at the banquet as well as other times in the past but I am unsure if you have spoken with any of them." Tanelia said before performing introductions.

"This is Empress Alexia Bristle."

"Empress Sakoto."

"Dowager Empress Chirax Noxmeila."

"And of course my sister Thasinia."

"Ladies, this is Lady Penelo Petvalur."

Penelo rose again before giving a small bow to each of them including Thasinia, all who returned her greeting.

"Now Lady Penelo, you said this meeting was urgent and that you have some information for me?" Tanelia asked.

"I do my queen, my bastard husband and stupid son had a meeting with a group of human's earlier tonight."

"Oh, can you tell us who these humans were?" Alexia asked.

"The father and son of the Sanders and Marks families." Penelo replied.

Alexia frowned hearing those names before saying.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"You mentioned on your call something regarding John Michaels and Pride Rock, how are you aware of this Lady Penelo?" Tanelia asked.

"Because I have a recording of their conversation." Penelo replied.

The ladies showed looks containing a mixture of being surprised and impressed.

"How did you obtain such a recording?" Thasinia asked before adding.

"It's common knowledge that it is impossible to hack access band's since it is Tia who monitors and regulates them all."

"From a third party who was in the room." Penelo replied.

"Why would they be stupid enough to have a third party in the room when holding secretive talks?" Sakoto asked intrigued.

"It would appear that like my husband and son, those humans do not view women as anything more than objects to be used and played with." Penlo answered before continuing.

"My despicable son has a close relationship with one Lixiss Herzorwyn."

"Lixiss Herzorwyn, as in the brothel owner and operator in the city?" Tanelia asked.

"You know of this woman Tanelia?" Thasinia asked.

"Saida if you would briefly explain." Tanelia instructed.

"Yes my queen, Lixiss Herzorwyn is very influential in the Asyath Serin underground, she uses who brothel as a front while conducting shady business deals behind the scene, while we are aware of this we have never been able to gather enough evidence to put a stop to it since she uses the women under her to build support with many of the elf ministers including Elashor Petvalur, however we were unaware she had any relationship with Aiduin Petvalur."

"They are apparently in a romantic relationship." Penlo said before adding.

"Though from what I know of my son and heard of this Lixiss, they are most likely just using each other."

"Sorry but that still does not explain how you got a recording of their conversation." Sakoto said.

"It would seem my son hired several of Lixiss girls to, shall we say keep the human men company tonight." Penlo said before continuing.

"What Lixiss and my stupid son don't know is that one of the women under Lixiss actually works for Hermes."

"WHAT!" All the other women present cried out in surprise.

"Hermes as in the secretive international information gathering organization?" Chirax asked.

"That is correct." Penelo replied.

"Bullshit." Sakoto claimed, causing all the women to look at her surprised at the curse word she just threw out.

"I'm sorry but I'm calling bullshit for the simple reason that members of Hermes never meet in person and always communicate via secure sites on the web and use dead drops if anything physical needs to be transferred."

"I myself have used them several times and they have never once agreed to a face to face meeting even when I requested it."

"She has a point, I have also used them and been treated in the same manner." Alexia answered.

There was silence for a moment before Tanelia sighed and said.

"It would seem Lady Penelo that unless you can give us a clear answer to this we may have to end our conversation here."

Penlo looked at each of the women for a second before turning to Tanelia and saying.

"This is why I would have preferred to meet in private if the information I have was not so vital."

"I have read the file on each of you here and understand your personalities but let me ask you this my queen, can they be trusted.?" 

The women all raised an eyebrow before Alexia asked with a frown.

"What file?" 

Penelo just ignored her however and continued to look into Tanelia's eyes waiting for her answer.

"Yes they can be, I have known each of them for years, and while their first priority will always be their race, we are all still close friends, so much so that our daughters grew up together and consider each other sisters."

 Penelo nodded before saying.

"I am aware of this but I wanted to know your answer in person as I looked for the truth in your eyes, since you did not lie to me then I will not lie to you, however I request that you tell no one about what I am about to reveal, not even your daughters."

"Very well we can agree to that, as long as it does not harm our people."

"Very well." Penelo said before taking a deep breath and explaining.

"You are correct that under normal circumstances Hermes would never meet with a client in person, however there are exceptions to the rule."

"Why have I never heard this?" Sakoto asked with a frown.

"Because your clearance is not high enough in our organization." Penlo replied.

"Our organization?" Tanelia replied.

"Correct, I am a member of Hermes and a rather high ranking one at that,." Penelo revealed before she continued.

"Under normal circumstances an individual after using Hermes enough and going through strict security and background checks will be granted the VIP rank."

"Before you say anything about there not being a VIP rank let me inform you that only VIP members know of the VIP rank." Penlo interrupted Chirax who was about to speak.