"You sent for me, Your Might?" Kutur asked, sheepishly entering the room behind a row of guards. Kali didn't look happy in the slightest about this.

"We have a bit of a problem," Rughoi said. Immediately to the point, as always. "An emissary of Hekaga was just in here, screaming about how the Hekaga king wants peace between our nations. If you ask me, it sounds like a load of nothing, a ploy to get merchants through our pass or worse, an army. I've invited their king to come to the palace to formalize it, but we should always prepare for an honorless dracon to break their word. What are your thoughts?"

"Umm . . . " Kutur hummed. He had no answer to such. Either way sounded like a bad gamble for the empire. It seems, that for a burgeoning nation like theirs, traps and pitfalls were always waiting to snap them up. "I wouldn't worry about the Hekaga king while he's within our domain, Your Might. We can force him to leave any protection he brings outside of our domain, on pain of open war, while keeping our defenses at maximum condition."

"Well, you'd be in the minority in the court," Rughoi groaned. "You should probably stay here for the meeting. I'm already hating it."

"Wise Sister Kali, how nice it is to see you!" gushed Ardasa, bowing to the priestess. Two things the kobolds chose not to adopt from their former dracon overlords were the dress and the curtsy. "Do our gods honor us today with mercy and favor?"