Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 7) - Chapter 36 - My Good Graces

The vast grey throne room inside the Sovereign’s Satellite Fortress fell eerily silent for one long, stretched out moment following Xavier’s request.

“You want Damascus as your boon?” Sovereign Rewke Fouran raised his chin, turned his gaze to Damascus somewhat thoughtfully. “Why, so you can kill him?” He frowned, returning his attention to Xavier. “No. That is out of the question.”

“I want him freed from your service so he may come into mine.” Xavier faced Palini Damascus, sitting on the third armchair, silent during the entire conversation. The man remained looking at the floor, face pale, frozen.

“Whatever you may think of me, Xavier Collins, I am no slaver. This man is a citizen of my empire, and under my employ. I will not reward him to you like some object that lacks autonomy. I abolished such practices on my world, and in the entire Orin sector, a long time ago.” Sovereign Fouran’s eyes narrowed. “I did not think that was the kind of man you were.”

“Slavery?” Xavier shook his head. “No. I want it to be his choice.” He turned to Damascus. Yes, the man would have killed him, but he would also be very, very useful. Besides, Xavier saw why the man pushed so hard, why he didn’t want to give in to Xavier’s request—he feared disappointing the sovereign. “I asked my last question of your sovereign not to hurt you, but to see what he would say. To see how he would treat you. Now, you know too. You know that your position with the emperor can be used as a bargaining chip after a single mistake. Tell me, Damascus, is that the man you want to follow?”

“Careful with your words, Mr Collins. You speak without thought, as though I’m not before you,” Sovereign Fouran said, his voice hard.

Mr Collins. Xavier couldn’t remember the last time someone had called him mister.

“That is how you spoke of Damascus.” He didn’t look at the sovereign, eyes remaining on the third man in the room. It wasn’t his intention to offend the True B Grade ruler; he was simply speaking the truth as he saw it.

Such a thing is always liable to offend.

The silence returned to the vast hall, only interrupted when the sovereign released a sigh. “You may speak freely, Damascus. I give my word that nothing you say here and now will impact your position with me unless you wish it.” The sovereign managed to sound equally impatient and sincere.

Damascus raised his chin, though his gaze remained on the stone floor. “Your word, Sovereign?”

“Yes. My word. Now answer, and don’t make me repeat myself again.”

Damascus let out a long exhale. His stiff body relaxed a fraction. “May I ask you a series of questions, Xavier Collins, before I give my reply?”

Xavier smiled. The fact he wanted to ask questions at all meant he was considering this. “Ask away. Here”—he signed the truth-contract the man had tried to force on him, and it initiated right away—“now you know I’ll speak the truth to not only the sovereign, but you as well.”

Damascus’s eyes widened, then a smirk tugged one side of his lips. He released a hoarse chuckle, muttering, “Now he signs…”

The man cleared his throat.

“Do you wish me to sign a contract of loyalty, if I were to enter your service? If so, what would be the consequences of refusing an order?” Damascus asked.

Xavier had thought on this. The moment he’d had the idea to ask for Damascus as his boon, he’d set a part of his mind at work, puzzling out the details. Xavier had often found contracts problematic, even if he’d used them in the past. That was why he had been so steadfast when refusing the forced contract in the containment room. He hadn’t made Romalda sign a contract, and that had paid off.

This situation was different, however.

Xavier wanted Damascus’s loyalty. Like with Romalda, he wanted that loyalty to be true, not forced. He wanted to get the best out of the people he ruled. He wanted them to follow him because it was their choice, because they felt it was in their best interest, because their values and goals were aligned. Not out of fear of consequences.

Fear led to bad decisions.

Like the one Damascus made with me.

Unlike with Romalda, however, he needed to be absolutely sure the man before him wasn’t duplicitous. If he were to place the type of responsibility he had planned on Damascus’s shoulders, he needed him to be truthful in his actions.

To that end, contracts had their place. He would be a fool to think otherwise.

Xavier leant forward in his armchair, elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlocking. “I believe, at your core, that you are an honourable man, Damascus. I will of course need your word that you will serve me to the best of your ability, but I do not want my orders to usurp your own moral code. Orders should be followed. Chain of command is important.” He lowered his head. “But sometimes, following orders is not the right choice. I am not too prideful to think that every decision I make in the moment will always be the correct one simply because I am in charge, and I am not too prideful to refuse being questioned. So the ability to question chain of command is equally important, if one deems the circumstances appropriate.”

“Naïve,” the sovereign said under his breath, barely louder than the faintest whisper, but the other two Denizens heard the word loud and clear.

Xavier continued, “I will not require a loyalty contract. I will, however, require a truth-contract, one that will be in place for the duration you serve under me. The specifics of the contract can be worked out later, but the gist is this: If you refuse an order, you must explain your reasoning; and if you report something to me, you must not skirt the truth or provide only a portion of the picture, you must provide the whole of it.”

Damascus seemed to consider Xavier’s words, then provided a curt nod as his only reply. “Why do you wish to rule? Is it power you crave?”

“Oh, I crave power,” Xavier said with a dark chuckle. “I crave more power than anyone has ever wielded before, and I fully intend to acquire that power.” He paused. “But that is not why I wish to rule. I wish to rule because I truly believe I can bring peace to those I govern, and because I think most Denizens in the Greater Universe deserve that peace. That they deserve to live their lives as they choose, as long as what they choose doesn’t infringe on the peace of another without just cause.”

The sovereign was actively shaking his head now, wearing a small grin. “You’re a strange man. Strange. Foolish. Young. Perhaps it’s a good thing you refused my offer to become my first Sector Warden…”

Once again, Xavier ignored Sovereign Fouran. “Do you have any other questions, Damascus?”

Damascus creased his forehead. “No. Though I do have a condition. A couple. If I were to leave the sovereign’s service and come under yours, I have some requests. From each of you.”

The sovereign raised his eyebrows. “You actually intend to serve this man instead of me? Why?”

Damascus raised his gaze and locked eyes with his ruler. “I do not believe I have to answer that.”

The sovereign stiffened. “Your requests?”

“That if I am to serve Xavier Collins, that starts now. You free me from your service while allowing me and my family to remain citizens of Orin, without becoming political prisoners should the relationship between the two of you shift.” Damascus’s gaze remained on the sovereign. “That, I want a contract assurance on.” He faced Xavier. “And you, if I do this, will take me with you to the Ventorin sector to assist in the assassination of The Collector.” He raised a hand. “And before you say you don’t need my help, while that may be true, I believe I have knowledge you lack. I’ve made knowing about The Collector a personal priority since evidence of his agents kidnapping promising Denizens from Orin was found.” He turned back to the sovereign. “That’s a case I wish to close, by the way, with freedom of movement in Orin and my authority to remain until The Collector’s agents have been rooted from this sector.”

The sovereign stared at Damascus. “Granting your request almost seems like I would be rewarding your mistake. And to give this man”—he waved at Xavier—“a boon before The Collector is dead at his hand?” Sovereign Fouran sighed. “Well, perhaps this isn’t a reward. Perhaps giving you what you want is exactly the punishment you deserve for disappointing me in this matter. Because even if you survive, even if you live to serve another, you will not reap the same benefits service to me would provide.”

Xavier hid a smirk at the sovereign’s words, knowing just how wrong the man was about those benefits Damascus would reap.

Honestly, he’d had no idea how he’d expected Damascus to respond, but he liked that this was how he had. The man was passionate. Cared about his job even as he intended to leave it. He hadn’t considered taking the man, or anyone else, to the Ventorin sector with him. If he had, he might have taken one of his students.

But he hadn’t known—still didn’t know—if he could guarantee their safety.

Maybe he didn’t need to. Maybe this wasn’t his choice to make.

“I can take you,” Xavier said. “But you might not survive.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Damascus replied. “Though I intend to.”

Xavier stood. “Then it’s time we leave.” He looked at Damascus. “Unless you have things to attend to?”

“I must speak with my wife. Then, we shall leave.”

Xavier looked at the sovereign. The man stared back at him, a coldness in his eyes. “Thank you for granting me this boon, Sovereign Rewke Fouran.”

“You’re welcome, Xavier Collins.” The sovereign raised his chin. “If you survive, I am certain we will meet again. Know that if you defeat The Collector, you will have done the Orin sector a service. That puts you in my good graces. It is a place you will wish to be remain.”

“Until we meet again,” was all Xavier said in reply.

Damascus and the sovereign exchanged no words, but they looked at each other as though some telepathic conversation was underway. Whatever passed between them didn’t take long.

Xavier and Damascus turned from Sovereign Rewke Fouran and walked out of the long stone hall, the loud echo of their bootsteps the only sound. With his Farscope lens, he watched the sovereign closely. Xavier had achieved part of what he’d intended to achieve after he’d been unjustly captured.

He was leaving this sector having made a new ally.

He glanced at Damascus and was still peering at the sovereign behind them with his Farscope. The ally wasn’t exactly who he’d intended, and he may well have made an enemy in the mix after all.

The large, heavily marked wooden doors creaked closed after their exit. The two men stood beside each other, an awkward silence between them.

Damascus cleared his throat. “I will requisition a portal to the main portal hub for you, Collins. The sovereign agreed to create a portal to the Ventorin sector there for us when we are ready to leave. I’ll review my intelligence and suggest a location to you before our departure.”

“No need for a portal requisition, Damascus. We’ve spent long enough dallying already.” Xavier cast Time Alteration, encompassing the other man in the time dilation field. He produced something from his Storage Ring and held it out to Damascus. A key. “A Sector Travel Key. The talisman around your neck should allow you to bypass the fortress’s security. Use it to take us to your wife.”

Damascus paused. It almost looked like he was going to decline or ask a question. “You could have escaped all along, and with that base of yours.” He touched a hand to his breastplate about the collar. “Could have taken the talisman with ease.”

“I told you I was being gentle.”

Damascus sighed and took the key. He glanced, then smirked when he saw the large double doors that led to the sovereign’s throne room. There were no keyholes, yet he sunk the key into the wood without resistance and turned it. He looked at Xavier. “Would you like to meet my wife, Collins?”

“First, stop calling me Collins. No one calls me Collins. Second, that depends. Will she be angry about what you’re doing? It’s not as though you consulted her.”

Damascus laughed. “Oh.” He tapped his forehead. “Communication Stone. Don’t worry, I consulted her. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I’m not a complete fool. Couldn’t tell all with that confidentiality contract, however. And to answer your question: Yes, she’s absolutely furious.”

“Well, in that case, it would be a pleasure.”