[Ouroboros' End]
Taking a seat in the conference room that the owner of the estate had led them to, Darganth was still surprised by how obliging the man had been after spotting his daughter. When Darganth had marched past the still stunned Sorlus family patriarch, he had expected anything from an attack to complete apathy toward her, but he instead got pleasantly surprised by acceptance and an invitation, not that a lack thereof would've kept him from entering the building.
Quickly giving an order to one of the employees who had greeted them upon entering, the man then guided their group deeper into the building and to the room they now found themselves in. Though before any of them could take a seat, four more people had entered through the only other door leading into the room, their gazes immediately snapping toward the patriarch's daughter.
But despite the emotion-laden looks on their faces, this group of three men and one woman wordlessly walked toward the seats on one of the table's long sides. Sitting down with the middle seat between them being left empty, they didn't shift their gaze from Darganth and his partners as the patriarch took the empty seat.
Once everyone was seated, the man opened the conversation, "Now then, might I introduce my wife, Esma, and three of our sons. As pillars of the Sorlus family, it is their, and my, pleasure to welcome your small group in our humble house."
"I can see the resemblance, though hopefully it doesn't extend to the tendency to cause trouble." Darganth said. During those words, his gaze briefly flickered to the three young men, mentally noting that while they shared many physical similarities to their sister, in terms of power and presence, they were far behind. While that might simply be a product of an age difference or their power wasn't representative of their other siblings, it wasn't unlikely that this was at least part of the reason why the patriarch had made such an effort to have his daughter returned despite he fact that she had left of her own volition.
Oblivious to those thoughts that went through Darganth's mind, the man answered with an apologetic laugh, "No, Ceraia was always the most rebellious one of my children."
"I take that their orderly behavior also extends to keeping a secret? Otherwise, I'd advise you to send them out of this meeting because if any one of them were to spread what they're about to hear, the consequences won't be pretty." Darganth said.
Hesitating briefly and glancing at his sons, the patriarch of the Sorlus family nodded a moment later. While he didn't mistrust them, he briefly considered using the invitation to keep his children away from this meeting just in case something were to happen. And though he quickly decided against it, feeling that the experience of listening in on the meeting would help them enough that it outweighed the potential risks of one of them leaking the contents, his wary gaze didn't vanish and instead shifted toward his daughter.
Recognizing the look, Darganth took the initiative to explain, "She's already aware. And yes, your concerns are entirely warranted. Had she pushed our patience just a bit further, we wouldn't be having this conversation, as the trouble would've outweighed the benefits of keeping her alive. Though considering it's our fault she found out, we've prepared something to ensure her involvement won't cause any trouble for the rest of your family."
With those words, Darganth conjured two scrolls onto the table before him. Grabbing the smaller of the two, he opened the leather strip that kept it bound together before rolling over to the man opposite him, causing it to unfurl across the desk in the process.
Stopping the still rolling lower end of the scroll from rolling off the table with a tap of his fingers, the Sorlus family patriarch pulled the almost two-meter-long piece of highly mana-infused paper toward him. Grabbing its upper end, he pulled it off the table only to freeze when his eyes landed on the words 'Bloodline Enforcement Contract' written at the top of the text.
Patiently waiting for the man to come out of his shock, Darganth answered with a small smile when he spotted the man glancing past the scroll and toward him, "It is what it claims to be. Even writing on paper made from the wood of a spirit tree and processed in a mana dense water spring. Combined with the fact that the ink is mixed with the blood of an awakened Phoenix, it makes this a nearly unbreakable contract for any avian beast that isn't an ascendant."
While these words were meant to calm the growing unrest in the man opposite him, Darganth misjudged the situation and the reason behind it. Whereas he tried to reassure the patriarch of the Sorlus family of the contract's quality and convince him that it wouldn't cause any backlash, the man's worry had stemmed from the fact that he had recognized some of the ingredients Darganth mentioned.
"Talnar, dear." The matriarch said in a calming tone as her husband only grew more worried in response to Darganth's words. Placing a hand on his arms, she prevented his thoughts from spiraling with theories and brought his mind back to the matter at hand.
Taking a few moments to process what he just learned, Talnar sat in silence with a constantly shifting expression as his eyes stayed glued to the contract in his hands.
"How?" He finally asked a couple of seconds later, "The only known group of phoenixes with awakened legends among them doesn't even talk to outsiders."
"That is for me to know and you to not care about." Darganth said sharply, his tone making it clear that this wasn't a line of questions he was willing to entertain.
This was because the phoenix blood he had used in the contract was something he had gotten from Irsyr. Though it was especially useful for the contract because phoenixes are sometimes attributed rulership over birds, something that naturally reflects in their legend, such blood could also be used in a variety of potions and magic items, which is what Darganth had originally taken it for.
"And what do you want me to do with this?" Talnar asked, quickly pivoting the topic at Darganth's tone.
"Ensure that your daughter doesn't cause trouble for us. The original plan was to just have her sign a contract to ensure our secret was safe, but she wasn't willing to do that. And you should know how much easier unwillingly signed or even forced contracts are to break. So instead we're giving you this one and use the influence blood relationships can have to force her silence while mostly mitigating the impact her unwillingness through your, hopefully, willingness to sign this contract." Darganth explained.
"Then I take it that me not signing this isn't an option?" Talnar asked.
Shaking his head, Darganth confirmed this, "No, it isn't."
Holding up a hand to stop the outrage from his sons before it even began, Talnar only needed to let his gaze drift toward Neandra for a few moments to make his decision. Conjuring a quill fashioned from one of his very own feathers into his hand, he was just about to prick his finger to spill some blood onto the tip when one of his sons spoke up.
"Father, you can't seriously be doing this?" The young man said, jumping out of his seat.
Pausing and slowly turning to look at the youngest of his children who were present, Talnar asked in an exhausted tone, "What are you suggesting, that we abandon your sister?"
"No, of course not. It's just that, well, I thought-"
Interrupting his younger brother's stammered response, the man immediately to Talnar's left leaned forward to interpose in the eye contact between the two as he spoke, "I doubt my brother is saying we abandon her, just that we shouldn't become blinded by emotions. There is clearly another scroll, so they have at least one other offer for us."
Briefly pausing at his son's words, Talnar started to lean back and was just about to place the quill down to think for a moment when Darganth interjected, "Save yourself the time, there is no alternative offer. Or rather, this is for a separate offer for which you must first accept the contract before you."
At Darganth's words, the Sorlus family matriarch leaned forward. Glancing to her left in a silent exchange with her husband that made him lean back ever so slightly, she then focused her eyes on the second scroll that still sat before Darganth.
"What kind of offer?" She asked.
Slightly surprised by the question, Darganth raised an eyebrow as she answered, "That is relevant?"
"Not for what we're willing to do to get our daughter back." The woman said, "But it does help paint a picture of what kind of person you are and how much we can trust you."
Laughing slightly at her words, Darganth couldn't help but reply sarcastically, "You're the ones who aided your daughter, a known pirate, in evading capture by warning her of any ships aside from yours that tried to search for her. So please, who is the one who should be worried about trust?"
In the brief moment following his words, in which the members of the Sorlus family were stunned that he knew of this and worried who else might know, Darganth glanced to the side to catch the expressions of his wives and lovers. When their eyes met, Allaire and Venrie both gave a quick nod, with Neandra also agreeing, while Jennia, Yldra, and Serania shrugged indifferently.
With this agreement, Darganth interrupted the darting glances of the Sorlus family members opposite him a moment later, "But if you want to know, the second offer is one of cooperation. Initial financial help from your family in exchange for helping you elevate your status, maybe even become a second-rate organization."
Catching the slight reaction Ceraia had to his words, Darganth grinned at the success as he added, "Ask your daughter, she'll confirm that we have the power necessary to make such a promise."
Startled by Darganth's words, Ceraia briefly froze as her mother's gaze landed on her. Briefly considering the idea of purposefully misunderstanding Darganth's words and revealing Neandra's status as an ascendant as it flashed into her mind, she quickly discarded the thought of using such petty methods to inconvenience her family when she caught the warm look in her mother's eyes.
"They have." She simply confirmed instead.
Hearing the confidence in her voice, Talnar couldn't hide the smirk on his face. Ignoring the grumbled complaints from his two sons to his left, he was already reaching for the quill when his second-oldest son at last also made his thoughts known.
"Father, before you sign, I have to confirm one thing." The young man said, leaning forward in his seat to fold his arm on the table as he looked Darganth in the eyes, "We've heard reports of what happened in the port yesterday. Does that confidence have anything to do with that meeting?" He questioned, glancing at his sister in mistrust.
"We've got no alliance with one of the pirate groups or ascendants if that is what you're asking." Darganth replied.
Nodding, the young man leaned back again, clearly content with the answer. Along with it, his eyes once again narrowed as he focused back on his sister.
Meanwhile, Darganth turned his attention back to Talnar when the latter spoke once more, "I take it that the alternative to that second offer is a reward for Ceraia's return and restitution for the damage she caused?"
"We don't plan to leave this meeting empty-handed." Darganth admitted.
"I appreciate the honesty." Talnar said in response before falling silent. Slowly tapping the scroll before himself as he sank deep into his thoughts, he considered the situation. Not whether or not to accept the contract before him, that decision was already set in stone, but whether to accept Darganth's offer of cooperation afterward.
On the one hand, it certainly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise his family's status. While his leadership had already expanded the small trade company he had inherited from his father into almost a dozen successful businesses that now belonged to his family, after an initial explosive growth, their expansion had been constant but slow. And though that was a significant achievement, at his current stage of power, he'd have maybe a century of life left, making it increasingly weigh on him that even that achievement pales in comparison to his ambitions.
Furthermore, this offer would also protect his family in the long term. In his early life, he was solely focused on business, so by the time he met his now wife, he was already relatively old. Even with her mana reserves being lower than his and her talent being worse, she'd outlive him by at least a century. Without him, he wasn't sure how both she and their children would fare in the opportunistic politics and business landscape in Ouroboros' End.
And though it carried the risk that this investment wouldn't work out as intended or even backfire on him, the thought that, despite all of his hard work, his children would still only live in a marginally better situation than he did made his hand wander to the quill before the decision even fully formed in his conscious thoughts.
Dripping a drop of his blood onto the quill and placing his signature under the Bloodline Enforcement Contract within moments of his decision, he focused his gaze on the second scroll as he looked up, "I'll take my daughter's words that it is a good offer and take you up on it."
Smiling at his answer, Darganth enthusiastically slid the second scroll over to Talnar. Waiting a moment until the latter also signed that contract, he then rose from his seat and held out his hand, "To a good alliance."
Mirroring his gesture and taking the handshake, Talnar responded in kind, "To a good alliance."
"Now then, it's only fair to share what makes us so confident in our claim. Though we do need a room that is better isolated for mana leaks for that, I'm assuming you have something of the sort?"