Three days later, as Joe was adjusting her uniform, making ready to go on her active duty shift, she was summoned to attend the Lord Veng. As she approached his private conference room she was wondering what he could want of her. She wrote her report as thorough as she could leaving nothing out. She had hoped that if her report was as detailed as possible with leaving nothing out, that she might avoid being summoned to his office. She was a quite, reserved person who just wanted to go on living without any interference with higher authorities.

As she approached his office she was confronted by an odd person that seemed to pop out of the shadows. He was of a unusually pale gray skin with what she could have sworn were scales, but that was impossible within the citadel. The Lord Veng did not like O’tosei or any mix breeds. There were no high level officers with mixed blood as far as she knew and she knew the backgrounds of many people of various levels of rank.

“Who are you to come to the office of our Lord Veng?” His words seemed strange to him, Joe thought, and some of his vowels seemed stressed as if his tongue wasn’t the quite the right shape.

“My name is Joe Soernza Nagues of the mid level hall guards. I was summoned to speak before Lord Veng. If you will not let me pass then I will leave and return to my post.” The fellow cocked his head to the right, a quizzical yet piercing look on his face. He then broke out into a wheezing, hissing laugh. “They said you were a spirited creature but their descriptions do not give you full your credit. You above all others are expected by our Lord Veng. He is most anxious to speak with you. He said if you were to come after General Zemphis had arrived I was to keep him waiting and have you come in. I have much stalled you longer than desired. You must go before our Lord Veng now.” With that he actually pushed Joe towards the now open doors into Lord Veng’s office.

A little disheveled, Joe wondered who the fellow was and how he had opened the doors while pushing her through, all the while being behind her. As she began to adjust her uniform she scanned the room she was standing in. The walls were lined with mahogany bookshelves that climbed to the domed ceiling. There was a large mahogany desk in the center of the room, hours of polishing to bring out the glossy shine it now held. Papers galore were strewn about the desk with a number of books thrown into the mix.

Lord Veng stood behind the desk, having risen from his equally polished, hard backed chair which showed a great deal of use and age. He was short and rather fuzzy. He resembled the Dwarves that worked in the Deep Moon mines. He was renowned for being a scholar and a swordsman. He looked like a fat little man with a much too long beard and a bald spot large enough to be polished atop his head but he wasn’t. He held the rank of Swordsman Master Instructor. As a swordsman he was the best, he trained the elite. Any aspiring swordsman lucky enough to be trained personally by him gained great fortune and rank. At the moment though, he was wearing small bifocal specs that seemed to balance on his little brown nose ready to fall off at the slightest breath of air. His hair, which was still thick save for the bald spot, was no longer obsidian black but heavily streaked through with white.

On the table he was standing behind, rested twenty volumes of books that looked to have seen hard times. They were recently oiled and dusted. Knowing Lord Veng’s avid desire to preserve knowledge of any kind, those books would last a lot longer than their original makers could have dreamed of. His eyes scanned her once then he looked down at an open account book in front of him. “While you were seeming to adjust your perfectly pressed uniform, you were observing all the details of this room and of me. I am surprised since I thought I was aware of all the potential officers within my ranks yet here you are, coming to my attention only because of an incident which occurred three days past. Is it true that you have been passed up for promotion 117 times? Why ever did you wish to stay a simple guardsman?” He looked up to meet her eyes expecting an answer to his question. “Sir, I have fought in the war of beasts. I have experienced what adventure has to offer and I also know that of the men who were raised above me in rank have died of all sorts of tasks mainly involving adventure. I simply decided that I would have nothing of it and that I was content with my current standard of living. I wished to stay anonymous and undesirable.”

A sad but ironic look came upon his face. “Perhaps it was a wise decision of yours to stay anonymous as long as you could. I most certainly would have used you as you described but you are worth more than just an officer. I think you have the potential to be a general of great renown. But until I am able to make of you a general, you must settle with being an ambassador. I am afraid you will never again be a mid level hall guard.” He reached within a drawer of his desk and withdrew a small signet ring sized to a woman’s hand and placed it on the opposite side of the desk closest to her. “The ring bears your family’s emblem surrounded in the clover wreath of an ambassador. I expect you to represent the honor of your family and that of this citadel by not refusing this ring and also you should know that you have no choice in this matter but to either surf the wave that will take you were you need to go or be swept away within its wake. You only dishonor yourself by refusing.”

He waited for her response, to pick up the ring and ask him what she must do but when she did not react he began to be curious. Could he have so misjudged her character that he put pressure on the wrong points? Surely not, her family for twenty recorded generations represented the strictest dedication to honor and responsibility. Despite her refusal of rank and responsibility, she was still a person with strict morals. “My lord, I am not refusing but I would like to speak to you of some things.” Her quite statement truly peeked his curiosity now. He presented before her a new life, a way to give challenge to her skills and yet she ignores that and wishes to speak of other matters. “Sir, you have obviously looked into my file so I assume you also know of my family’s background and of some matters we would wish to cover up. Why then do you wish to use me as an ambassador? I am mixed blood and therefore can not truly be respected or trusted as a worthy ambassador. Not by any humans at least.”

Understanding finally blossomed for him, she could not be persuaded to take up a family honor when she considered her family to be blemished and therefore having no honor of its own. “You believe that because your family is no longer a pure blood line that you are now subhuman and unworthy of any occupation but lowliest workman or guardsman. You believe that I have a bias towards humans. No doubt stemming from the circumstances surrounding the war of beasts.” Her startled look confirmed what he had just said. “The Cyclops King was going to subjugate all of humanity unless he was stopped but no human army would have followed an O’tosei lover so I had to show them that I was out for O’tosei blood and those of mixed blood. Humans would not be free to do as they wish if not for what I gave up to win. I value all mix bloods for their superior adaptability and intelligence. I may not be able to publicly show my love of mixed bloods but I do try my best to treat them fairly and give them high levels of rank. That fellow you met outside my office, his name is Jenks, his mother was a mixed blood. She was half saurian and half witch. His father was a common human. And since you still seem reluctant to believe me, I shall tell you another thing. I myself am not a pureblood either. I am part dwarf and proud of it. Now I expect you to pick up that ring and receive instructions. Do your heritage proud and show what a mixed blood can do that no pureblood could ever do.” Woodenly, Joe reached towards the ring but just as she was about to pick it up she paused and withdrew her hand. “Sir, who did you have in mind for me to be an ambassador to?” His expression which had been pleased when she was reaching for the ring took on a put upon appearance. “You can not be serious. You should already know who I mean you to be ambassador to.” All he received was a blank look. Sighing, he continued, “You happen to be the first person ever to open dialogue with a Fae within the citadel. It is with them that I wish you to be ambassador.”

Joe slowly reached again for the ring and this time she did not pause in picking it up. She quickly slipped it on the middle finger of her right hand. And watched as it began to glow a brilliant blue. Seeing this Lord Veng reached again into his desk drawer and withdrew a small washed leather booklet. He flipped through a couple pages until he found what he was looking for. “That ring you now wear was not specially made for you but for one of your ancestors. It was made for your grandmother when she became an ambassador and within that ring is the O’tosei blood of your great grandfather. According to this booklet written by your grandmother, the ring will glow brighter when you are near an O’tosei of the same blood as you. Also it seems that you are not only a mix of two species but of at least three. It says that at one point in her diplomacy she encountered another specie of which the ring glowed. She had asked the person whether they may have been part Naga but they said they were not.” He looked up from the booklet and smiled handing her the booklet. “Perhaps it would be best if you read what your grandmother wrote. No doubt there are things in there that only one of your family could appreciate.”

Abruptly a bell tolled followed by three distinctive knocks on the door. “It seems my dear, that we have a visitor.” He reached into a belt pouch Joe had not noticed once and retrieved a small silver hammer which he then used to tap the only metal showing on desk. He saw her puzzled look and smiled. “A small trick I learned from my father along with the hammer given to me while I was in my cradle by my grandfather. I tap an piece of metal and I can send a ring anywhere I want. I simply signaled Jenks to let General Zemphis enter.”

That was all he was able to say before the doors opened and the general stormed in the office. The general was a very imposing person towering 7 foot 4 inches tall. Broad shouldered and well muscled, he had not an ounce of fat on him. His head was cleanly shaven save for a single lock of hair hanging down his back to his waist. His graying brown hair was now the color of mud and his one good brown eye was livid. He had a square chin and seemed to have no neck. His hands were callused and bronze like the rest of his body. Joe would have known him as a outdoors person even if she had not known his reputation as the most experienced tactician in Lord Veng’s army. But the oddest thing which Joe noticed was the fact that one of feet was composed of elfwood. Apparently in one of his campaigns he must has lost his leg and had it replaced with the magic wood he now had.

“Lord Veng, I demand an explanation to why I can not take command of the army and scour the countryside looking for the looters who took the Jeweled Tusks, the Pyramid Crystal, and killed a number of our guards.” That statement along with General Zemphis’ obvious act of ignoring Joe that caused Lord Veng to lose his temper. “I have been through this once before with you General. The crystal was not stolen and I was in the process of retrieving both items when you came in. This woman,” he gestured to Joe, “is to be the ambassador representing me to the Fae. It was they who borrowed the crystal and they no doubt know who took the tusks as well.”

Only then did the general deign to look at Joe. He quickly scanned her form the bottom of her shoes to the top of her head taking in all the details. He gave a longer glance to the two rings she wore and to her face. “This woman is who you intend to be ambassador? What makes you think she will be able to find the Fae or if they will even talk to her?” Lord Veng walked around his desk to stand next to Joe. “This woman was the one who opened dialogue with the Fae that was within these walls. She is the only guard who survived the encounters with the furies that were involved in the looting. And she has the potential to not only be an ambassador but also to become a general.” General Zemphis glanced at her once more and snickered. “Faes and Furies are one thing but a general is another. I must see her abilities before I can pronounce her worthy of becoming a general.”

Nodding his head, Lord Veng turned to Joe. “Now that you are confirmed as an ambassador I expect you to begin traveling to your destination in two days. I will be sending you Jenks and 8 guards to accompany you on your journey. I assume you remember the directions the Fae gave you? You will travel west for 3 weeks until you reach the Black Desert then travel another week until you reach the Wolf canyons at the base of the Wyvern peaks and from there I expect you to travel to Banyan village. That is where you most likely will have the most success in finding your Fae contact.” He gave her a very level look and pointed to the door. “Now it is best you leave and make ready your preparations for your trip. I recommend you say good bye to any you think you will miss because I do not expect you will be returning any time soon.”

Joe bowed and backed her way towards the now open doors. “By your leave, my Lord. A good day to you general.” She rose from her bow and turned, passing between the doors. As the doors closed the scaly figure of Jenks approached Joe. “I trust our Lord Veng has set you a worthy task in this business which transpired not three days past?” Joe smiled and met his eye. “You now speak to the new ambassador to the Fae. It seems I will be leaving in two days and I will have the pleasure of your company on my journey to the Wyvern Peaks.” His face had become blank when she had mentioned her new ran but it gradually became sullen by the end of her announcement. His voice a whisper he began fading into the shadows alongside the walls. “If it pleases our Lord Veng then so shall it be done.” His voice faded leaving Joe to walk alone back to her designated room to prepare for the coming trip.