Chapter 53

Josh and Demetri had organised the meeting, and it was to be at the mansion.

They didn’t have a palace as such here, but the building was still impressive. All of the nobles had grudgingly agreed to attend. They weren’t happy that the twenty most gifted Shifters that Demetri knew about were also invited.

Dusty and James weren’t surprised to learn that the nobles guarded their positions in society. They were quite sure the nobles were apprehensive at learning that they had a couple of true wizards now in residence.

Demetri was sure that Symone would be the least happy to learn about the new wizards, and he wasn’t disappointed. Her ire radiated from her.

Lunch was set up in the ballroom, and Dusty and James were seated on either side of Symone. They noted that Demetri had been seated at the table with Josh and the people who were obviously considered not in the immediate Nobility but modestly important. The younger generations sat at the third table.

Demetri had told them that the other Shifters were related but from different branches of the current nobles. They were mostly third and fourth cousins, so to speak. Dusty was curious as to why Demetri was the only noble not at the main table.

After they had arrived, Dusty and James were introduced to each of the nobles and their significant other, even if they were not a mage. These people didn’t touch when greeting each other and simply bowed their heads. Many of them were quite haughty and tried to hide their worry behind this facade.

Symone had called lunch immediately after the introductions were over. She was a tall, blonde woman, and while handsome, she had a hard line to her mouth and eyes that spoiled her looks.

Dusty suspected that the nobles had a meeting before she and James had arrived. She was okay with this, as it really wouldn’t matter in the long run. After all, what she decided was what counted.

They had to discuss what was going on in the compound. Dusty got a few sour looks when she mentioned that it would become a military outpost for their protection.

“Young woman, we don’t want a military post here. We can look after ourselves,” one of the men told her.

She knew he was from Blue Waters and one of the shorter nobles who had more Genteli in his blood than Grandteli.

“Are you aware that we can see through the shields and that they won’t keep the people from Earth out now that they know you are here?” she asked him.

“We will deal with them if they do not behave, as we have already done so,” he replied pompously.

“Right, so when they bomb your harbour and machine-gun your civilians, you are going to stop them. You have been lucky, the pirates wished to stay hidden, so they didn’t make a lot of waves.”

“A country from Earth that decided to take this land by force will not be so gentle. None of you has the magical power to withstand an organised army of the size many Earth nations could easily muster.”

“And you do,” one of the women said snidely.

Dusty smiled at her. “I am an Overlord. In case you haven’t been listening to the gossip, I’m placed between a Queen and an Empress Wizard with regard to my power.”

She held up her left arm and slid her sleeve back so the vambrace appeared.

“This vambrace and the one James wears were in a cavern we found, in that very mountain you can see from those windows,” She stated before she had her other bling appear.

“Queen Lee made me a High Mage before I came here. I had already outranked all of you before I found the vambrace. By your culture, the vambrace of your ancestors accepting me, and by me accepting the job of protecting you, this makes me your Overlord whether you like it or not.”

“And I will do my job as I see fit. I’m not here to rule you per se. I’m here to make sure you are ruled fairly and kept safe from outside interference. If you are happy to let visitors come here from Earth-owned planets, and the other planets that also have descendants of the Keltrian race living on them, then that is your business.”

“If you are happy to let them settle on the other continents on this planet that is fine by me too, as long as it is done fairly and in an orderly manner, and your people don’t suffer as a result. Do you have a problem with anything I’ve said?”

“What if we just want you to go away and leave us alone?” Symone asked.

“I’m sorry. As I said, you can no longer live in ignorance. Too many people know you are here. You may have forgotten parts of your history, but I am compelled to keep you safe as long as I wear the vambrace.”

“Well, just take the damn thing off, and you can go,” Symone said angrily.

“Fuck, you are an idiot, Symone. She can no more take it off than you can take your diadem off,” Demetri said in irritation.

“Of course I can. We all can see,” she said and pulled the diadem off her head irritably.

“No, you foolish woman,” one of the other women cried, but it was too late.