Having defeated the Knights of Daleria, and done a great service for the Church, Patriarch Ulric agreed to give Baron Choon Yi a letter of introduction to the High Court.
This was unusual for one of such a lowly rank; Choon Yi was a minor noble, while His Grace Halinard, the High King of Westrun, usually only treated with Dukes and Kings, like Choon Yi's leige the King of Rath. A letter of introduction does little in such a case, but it grants face time and the opportunity for official acknowledgement which can never hurt. The other petty nobles of Rath are sure to be envious. The King of Rath might be nervous to have one of his bannerman directly in contact with his own leige.
The court of a king is often a boring affair, the court of the High King all the more so, but the day of his introduction at the high court was anything but. The newly walled city of Daymarch was missing its dragon.
The people of that fair place didn't petition their king to drive off the beast, so much as to find out where he'd been. They had been paying the monthly tribute for 60 years and it wasn't like him to not collect. For the last 3 months, the goods they piled outside of the city had sat abandoned on the plains. Pilferers took the coin. Wolves got the sheep. The kegs of wine ended up in many a farmer's cellar. The Lord Mayor's small council was concerned. It seemed wasteful to keep leaving a tax that went uncollected. Yet, to risk a dragon's ire by not paying... that was madness. So, a delegation was sent to the King of Bolden and was refused. They turned then to the High King in the hopes that he would intervene.
Fortunately, Lord Choon and his assorted knights and free riders were on hand when the High King received his news from abroad. The aging monarch looked up and around his court.
"Who will go for me to Daymarch?" he asked.
The courtiers and ladies looked at the floor. House knights and hereditary lords stared quiety. Lord Choon was not like them. He knew it and they knew it. He had earned his title the hard way -- with a sword in one hand and a torch in the other. He had battled foes, killed monsters, and survived traps that would have ended any of these stuffed shirts around him. He bore the scars upon his body.
He stepped forward, "Good King!"
"Yes, worthy lord."
"I will go for you to Daymarch."
The High King smiled and nodded. The other great men assembled breathed a sigh of relief. But the great monarch of all Westrun was not finished with the pageantry of the moment.
He intoned his warning solemnly, "You speak quickly -- there will be dangers."
Choon stood impassive.
The High King continued, "It may mean the end of you, who only so recently became a lord and a member of my court."
Choon felt the eyes upon him and said nothing.
"Will you accept still now, knowing all the dangers?" the High King asked.
Choon repeated evenly, "I will go for you to Daymarch."
The king nodded. "Where is my chamberlain? Where is Garwen?"
A man pushed his way from the wall of the throne room. The way slowly parted for him. He was brown-haired and pale. He wore velvet brocade trimmed in gold.
"I am here, your grace!" said Garwen.
"What can you advise Lord Choon and his retinue, regarding this dragon?" the High King inquired.
"This is a fools undertaking, your Grace, there have been no dragons sighted in Westrun for a century or more. Moreover, these people of Daymarch are simple folk and have likely mistaken some other lizard for an actual dragon. Finally, under the Fourth Law of the Codex ought to be referred to their King, your cousin, who sits on the throne of Bolden. He granted the charter to Daymarch to become a city, he is responsible for their protection."
"Am I not the High King?"
"You are, your Grace. In the matters of dispute between the lesser kings. And, of the Highway and the Northern and Southern walls; and of course over the Free Provinces."
"Does not the Second Law of the Codex also apply?"
"I fail to see how, your Grace," The chamberlain shook his head.
"What did Wald the Lawgiver say?" The High King was a scholar in his own right.
Garwen closed his eyes and quoted from memory, "We acknowledge that the masses have no champion greater than the Prince of Peakshadow, and their mistreatment shall be as an affront to his throne."
The High King inquired. "Am I still the Prince of Peakshadow?"
"You are, your Grace."
The High King smiled. "Well, I am affronted by this mistreatment of my masses."
Garwen seemed exasperated, "Your Grace, you are affronted that a so-called dragon does not collect his extortion?"
The entire court was enrapt by this discussion, looking from the High King to his chamberlain to the baron who had volunteered and was still standing.
The High King was smiling as he stood with flourish and declared, "Give Lord Choon Yi a letter of introduction to the Lord Mayor of Daymarch. Tell all who inquire that he is to find the dragon, treat with it and determine what will restore the proper order of things in that corner of Bolden. Let it be known that for the masses of people who look to the Prince of Peakshadow to make things right, they will not be disappointed."
The chamberlain bowed low, "As you wish, your Grace."
