I looked around and saw that the king and Queen were sitting on their thrones. Ancelot's children were to his left while his most trusted advisors were on his right. We all entered the room and bowed to the sovereign. Even the centaurs did so. He watched us for a long moment with a look of disdain. "Can one of you fine warriors of the faith tell me why there are 'taurs in my throne room? I don't want the stink to linger." he said with a malice borne of exhaustion. Father Micah rose his head and said "We are clerics, paladins and militiamen from Estlor in Klaka Kingdom. We are here to lodge a complaint with Your Majesty." The king's brows furrowed and he sat up. Micah was not the best at diplomacy. Leaning forward, he said "What do you have a problem with?" Father Nele took this opportunity. "Your Majesty, it is not you with which we find fault. It is your agents that have done us a disservice. The damage and casualties have been considerable." He blinked and finally gave us leave to rise to our feet. I looked at him and he seemed to be a bit interested in what we had to say. Sir Michel spoke up next.
Keeping his composure, he stood in perfect attention. "My name is Sir Michel. I was once captain of the guard for the town. I was made a knight of the Church of the Sky after killing a brown hooded assassin from Chegow after a long battle in the streets. The bounty hunters and assassins that were sent to Estlor on your orders have killed multiple townspeople and members in the guard that I had the total honor to serve with. We have been terrorized by your men for weeks on end. We have come to ask you to stop." he said. The king looked confused. "Marshal, did some order to this effect went out in my name?" he asked. The marshal stood and clarified. "Due to all the petitions from many cities after the scourge caused by a centauress and her companions, you sent an order to find and arrest her. It appears the cities themselves sent a number of their assassins as well." he explained. "Where is this centauress?" he asked. I smiled when the marshal pointed to me. "It seems the problem has an easy solution. Stop defending her." he said. "I'm a paladin residing in Estlor. That can't happen." I shot back.
My declaration rankled the entire court. "What insolence! She has no right to speak to His majesty in that way!" one noble said. Another chimed in with "Careful 'taur. We don't play around in Chegow. You will be put in chains for this disrespect." I just scoffed. Micah smiled and said "This is why we are here to bring a complaint. Surely your hatred does not warrant sending so many men over your borders." The king chuckled darkly. "And what if it is? Are you supposed to scare me? What would you even do?" he goaded us. Father Nele sighed. "The second reason we are here is to issue a further warning. If your agents continue to attack members of the Church or Estlor, the wise and holy Bishop Annabelle will authorize a crusade against the Chegow Republic." That shut them all up. "... You can't be serious. A damn crusade over a bunch of 'taurs!" he snapped. Sir Michel shook his head. "I am afraid not, Your Majesty. Her Beatitude is quite serious." He then produced her letter and it was taken to the king on his throne. He read it over and glared at us. "Fine! Go in peace and never return. I will stop them."
Obviously, the king did not want to deal with a crusade. While the Church of the Sky was only one of 6 major faiths, it would be a headache for all of the cities to stave off simultaneous uprisings and an invasion. This was a giant threat to his rule. He had no choice but to back down. "Hear this, you unreasonable zealots! You are all banished from this realm. You will be killed in sight without a damn good reason for showing your face in my lands!" That was just basic posturing to save face. It was the best he could do in the situation. The outcome was obviously more than fine with me. I would be going back to Arkton after this anyway. Now I did not have to worry about all of their bounty hunters and assassins following me there as well. It was a good way to passively farm exp. steadily, but it was getting really annoying. Especially if they would interrupt my quests or attack my companions randomly like now. King Ancelot Robertus XVI sighed a royal decree that day making it illegal to hunt or kill us outside of the Chegow Republic. We spent a few days for the order to spread out before going away.
