Mazdak left the throne room, walking ahead of Rebat. His stride was long as quick, a pace he intentionally kept so as to remind the kobold how difficult it would be for him to keep up with his much shorter legs. "Rest assured that my lord will hear of my brusque treatment, Rebat. You will have quite the task to accomplish if you seek to convince him that kobold are fit to be anything more than miners and farmhands at best." Mazdak kept walking out of the city center, only pausing for a moment to make sure that Rebat was still with him. 

"And another thing. I hope you have more sense than your leader. Surely you know that he's no emperor. He's just a scared little boy trying to compensate for his half-breed heritage. Oh, I'm sorry. Rughoi is half-[i]animal[/i], as he described us dracons. Adykon told me all about him. You see, that kind of talk has to stop on the part of your leader. He has to realize that he has a weak hand, but he's playing it as if it was a strong one. In nature, this would result in the smaller creature being devoured by the larger. Sooner or later, all this talk will give way to nature, and frankly, an alliance with Hekaga is the only thing which can stop nature from taking its course. As you will find out, Hekaga is a city where the unnatural happens as a matter of policy."

---------------

Kali couldn't believe what she had seen. Rughoi had just insulted the emissary who was quite possibly their last shot at gaining a powerful ally, recognition from the major powers, and the safety which came with such things. She'd have to pull some strings with Aerta and call in every favor she was owed to even have a shot of fixing this, but for now, she held her tongue. At least, when speaking to Rughoi.

"Ardasa, could you come with me for a moment? I'd like to discuss something, and I think our lord needs his rest." Her tone was flat, even-tempered, and controlled. In fact, it was so much so that one could easily deduce that she was adopting such a tone as a means of compensating for something else. Frenzied panic tinged with anger would better describe what she really felt, though her face didn't betray it. Not yet, at least.