Haku looked at the person who had spoken. It was undoubtedly a male arachne (although he was still having difficulty distinguishing the two genders, while walking through the city he had clearly noticed substantial differences between men and women), which unlike Arethar had the forehead and part of the cheeks more pale and on which sort of tiny cavities had formed similar to the lines on the palms of the hands; Haku thought that they were probably the arachne's equivalent of human wrinkles, and therefore must be a sign that the person in front of him was quite old. Even the strange spider-like hair seemed to confirm this theory, since although it was still well cared for it was coarser, swollen and in some places it had even fallen out, leaving entire patches of skin exposed. The arachne was taller than Arethar, reaching roughly six feet, and despite her age every inch of her body was perfectly sculpted, as if she had been constantly training to stay in perfect shape; however his right hand was wrapped around a magic staff, a sign that he must have been a mage, consequently such training could not have been a consequence of the need to improve physical strength but probably more due to a mentality that placed great value on the care of the body, another thing Haku had noticed about the arachnes. He wore a dark blue robe studded with silver dots that was very reminiscent of the night sky, which covered him up to his waist; from the waist down, however, its arachniform part was covered by a sort of blue cloth that closely resembled the color of the sky during the day. On both dresses was embroidered a silhouette composed of a thousand colors similar to a rainbow, but which wasn't difficult to understand was actually a rampant dragon, which rose from the base of the legs to the neck. The dragon was drawn with almost maniacal accuracy, but the most interesting part was his expression: it wasn't furious and destructive or calm and compliant, but it was a strange mix of the two. The dragon's face was neither angry nor smiling, just neutral, but looking at it someone could almost sense that it could bestow both riches beyond imagining and limitless devastation. The arachne held two sticks in her hand; in his right hand he carried what was doubtless a magical staff, but in his left hand he held a strange golden scepter on the top of which sat a dragon carved in gold and whose eyes, spines and tip of the tail were composed of silvery fragments, while the flakes instead were made of tiny diamonds, rubies, emeralds, opals and a lot of other precious stones, which were set in such a way as to allow the underlying gold to shine and at the same time to look like one stuck together like real dragon scales. The final result was that that sculpture seemed almost alive, overflowing with vital energy, and Haku could almost imagine that at any moment that dragon would spread its wings and fly away roaring towards the sky.
Haku realized that probably that arachne had to be an important figure; it was probably the supreme priest Arethar had mentioned, and judging by his expression he looked as if he were about to faint with delight. It was at that moment that she thought maybe he was waiting for him to say something. In fact, no one was saying anything… but what was he supposed to say? He certainly couldn't speak in a normal way, not after being greeted in that way. It had to maintain an image! That was the way it was customary to do it, right? I mean, as far as he knew, newcomers did this… oh, it was so complicated. But he couldn't stay silent forever thinking about it, so he cleared his throat and put a hand on his chest trying to look as elegant as possible. "It is a pleasure for me to know you and your people. Arethar here told me about your city, but I never believed it was so beautiful, a true masterpiece of architecture and engineering that everyone in the world should look at with envy and admiration So let me introduce myself: as you yourself in your wisdom have understood, my name is Haku, and this you see is my brother Rhaegal and my sisters Tikka and Teramon. It is a pleasure for us to meet such kind and welcoming people with strangers, especially with those of our kind; never before have we had such good fortune. You should be proud of your hospitality, and my family and I will be very happy to spend our time with you and get to know you better. Curiosity, however pervades me, so I humbly ask you to ignore my bad ways and my being too direct and answer this question: what is your name, and what position do you hold in this magnificent city?"
Haku didn't usually talk to people of high rank, not of higher rank than his at least; even though he didn't have a real title or political office, his strength and skills compensated for this lack, and for this he was able to speak as an equal even with the king of the Jurao Kingdom. Therefore, he used to be a very simple and direct conversationalist, avoiding long rounds of talking unless he wanted to deceive or make fun of the interlocutor. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of behaving appreciably: he knew very well how to make newcomers likeable and which words they would like and which not. Although there were many variables, each of them was calculated by him and taken into absolute consideration to form the best speech for each situation. In that case he had found himself faced with a rather difficult challenge: he didn't want to risk offending the people of the arachnes, but at the same time he knew that they saw him as a supreme entity, so he couldn't even behave too submissively. The solution had been simple: in an elegant and regal way he had flattered the hospitality and the city of the arachnes, but he had done it in a very authoritative way, as if such praises were actually those of a master who claimed to be satisfied by it that his servants had made him find. And finally he had asked a question to force his interlocutor to speak, and he had done it again with very kind words, but imbued with a strength that showed that he would not take no for an answer. A perfect combination of humility and power, typical of a being who in the eyes of newcomers could have been considered divine: not too arrogant, but not humble either.
And as he'd expected, the arachne reacted exactly as he wanted: they didn't speak their feelings aloud, but their expressions confirmed that this was exactly what they expected from a dragon. The supreme priest's old and somewhat watery eyes flickered slightly, and Haku clearly felt the Arachne's breathing and heartbeat change several times over the course of a few moments, and for a moment he feared that he would have a cardiac arrest; but fortunately it was not so, and the supreme priest answered him: "Your words flatter us too much; nothing you have seen in this city would have been possible without the help of you noble lords of the world, and in any case, the our humble abodes pale before the magnificence of the bones of the elder Balagaberan, just as they would pale before the body of any other dragon.Our city, fine and fine as it is, is but a pale imitation of the magnificence of the lords of the world ; therefore for us to know that one of them considers you so extraordinarily can only fill our hearts with joy. You need not delay inquiring, my rulers: here all is yours and ever will be, and it is my duty and duty of all to grant your every wish. To answer your more than legitimate request, I am Iflhet, supreme priest of Tigu-chtu-tal and of the entire people of the arachnes, and I am here to welcome you to our humble palace. If you wish, follow me and the other priests so that we can celebrate your arrival and welcome you with a sumptuous banquet"
Everything had gone as Haku had foreseen: he had satisfied the supreme priest, but above all he had satisfied the rest of the crowd. As long as he and his siblings remained in that city, it would be essential to fulfill the expectations of the arachnes: a happy people was a people who would not risk causing trouble. He could have behaved as usual only in private, when he would have been in the presence of only a few people and therefore could have acted as he pleased without the rest of the city seeing him; but outside of that, he had to maintain the facade of a regal and very noble individual. Which also meant that he could not refuse the banquet: even if he would have much preferred to seek answers to her questions, backing away would have been like spitting on the kindness of the arachnes and showing them that he was hasty and inattentive to their needs, and this could have created dissent. So for the moment it was better to continue to play along: "Your hospitality never ceases to amaze me; I never thought I'd meet such a generous people. My companions and I gladly accept your generosity: any food you prepare for us will certainly be worthy of the finest palate in this world. And please do not belittle yourselves: it is true, nothing could ever compare to the noble bones of she who had once been my fellow man, but nevertheless your city is still worthy of praise. So as you say that a dragon is nature's most extraordinary art form, I see here a different art, not natural but born from the ingenious minds of craftsmen, sculptors, manufacturers and painters who have spent their whole lives to make this real that existed only in their thought; and such art from my point of view must be admired as much as the perfection of a dragon, therefore believe my words when I tell you that you must be proud of your city and of all the extraordinary works that I have admired in my way up to here and also of those that my eyes have yet to see"
Again, his speech was meant to be kind and arrogant at the same time: Haku made it clear that nothing compares to dragons, but also stated that the city and the art of the arachnes were worthy of praise, even if from his tone it was clear that the dragons were still superior. Just as could be expected of a supreme being. And in fact the arachnes seemed happy with his answer and led them inside the priestly palace; most of the crowd remained outside, but all the priests and their servants accompanied them, serving and revering them as if they were the most important guests they could have... which was probably true given the mentality they were displaying. "Nice speech" Rhaegal whispered in Haku's ear after making sure they couldn't hear him. His brother just nodded.
They were led into a large circular room, almost ten meters high and so wide that the four dragons could easily lie down on the ground without even huddling. The servants carried there huge sofas that looked like an odd fusion of a chair and a bed; four of them were 'dragon-sized', and were for Haku, Tikka, Teramon and Rheagal, while all the others were for newcomers and were therefore much smaller. No tables or cutlery were brought: all of them were simply made to sit on those sofas and many priests, including Arethar and the supreme priest Iflhet, lay down on them with them; after which some servants began to play very melodious music with instruments that neither the dragons nor their companions had ever seen before, and which must therefore have been instruments proper to the people of the arachnes. They produced very relaxing music that almost seemed to have the power to calm the nerves. Other servants instead brought numerous gold plates studded with diamonds, inside which there were dishes of all kinds and on each of which were placed cutlery, and offered each of the guests one of these plates so that they could eat. Apparently things like tables weren't common in Arachnes society, but it was customary to eat while reclining on a couch. With that knowledge, everyone began to enjoy the feast.