Stronger Together chapter 193

While I might not have been able to respond without potentially  starting a fight I really didn't want to start, Emperor Qin was  definitely not worried about that. His hands crashed down on the table  (which flickered slightly, implying some kind of magic) and glared at  Drakul. "You dare! Do you believe this Emperor will tolerate your  insults vermin?" His beaten gold eyes flared with a sort of metallic  glow.

I'd read in a post by Butcher back in my world that  the Jade Court stole "breath" which was fascinating to me because Chi  literally meant breath, It was the reason internal alchemy and stories  based on it utilized breathing techniques to circulate heavenly energy.  As Emperor Qin glared at Drakul, I literally felt the air become thicker  and harder to breathe. My lungs had to work slightly harder to pull in  breaths.

You wouldn't expect something like that to be  noticeable to me when I had super powerful lungs, but a shift in such a  fundamental aspect of my world just felt odd and wrong. Everyone at the  table focused on Emperor Qin, clearly able to feel the air becoming  denser. Naturally Drakul, not needing to breathe, didn't even seem to  notice, he just offered a bland smile to the Emperor, not even bothering  to respond.

When I was younger I worked in customer  service, specifically tech support, and as a defense mechanism after  being screamed at and berated for months I finally began to focus on  being as polite and kind as possible, while simultaneously hoping to  make the difficult customers as angry as possible with my calm demeanor.  This form of shadenfreude became so satisfying I actively hoped I would  get difficult customers so I could experience that rage.

The  look in Drakul's eyes was the same one I used to see in the mirror  after a call with particularly belligerent customer. That feeling of  knowing you've successfully enraged another person in a way that makes  it impossible for them to respond with hostility without making  themselves the bad guy. Whatever Qin did Drakul had already won this.  He'd set this up so he would get victory either way. It really pissed me  off and I started thinking of ways I could fuck up his day. Nothing  came to mind, but I would figure it out.

Drakul had  reminded me of how insanely petty I could be when I didn't like someone,  which was a mistake on his part. I'd spent so long in this world  focused on heroics because of the girls and that was good, but I'd  neglected the fact that you could do more to enemies than just punch  them or blow them up. I didn't want to fight the king of the vampires,  but I wanted to make his life as difficult as fucking possible.  Shadenfreude, maximum strength.

Raven seemed to have  picked up this little inner monologue, or at least the emotions that  inspired it because she raised and eyebrow and gave me an amused grin. I  winked at her and she giggled quietly, stifling it quickly, but getting  plenty of odd looks before she did. Despite my initial estimation of  Drakul's victory though, I realized something I had overlooked. I would  have been at a loss because of the reactions of the accorded nations,  but Qin wasn't.

The First Emperor didn't give a shit what  these people thought of him. His honor had been breached and he was  gonna fuck up someone's day because of it. I'd gotten more and more  powerful over the time I'd been here, and become a freeholding lord in  name, but my thinking had been stuck as what I had been. I thought of  everything I came up against as larger predators I had to outsmart. Even  when I was strong enough to crush them I still thought of myself as the  person I used to be.

This though, was what someone with  power should be. He didn't see obstacles, only targets for his ire, this  kind of bearing, this disdain for the world and it's restrictions was  something you couldn't really learn. I'd been thinking of myself so  passively, like the victim or the underdog, but without knowing it I'd  stepped into the ranks of the strong. I'd known intellectually, but  seeing Emperor Qin demonstrate it so clearly brought into sharp relief  the fact that this world functioned on survival of the fittest, and I  was one of the fucking fittest.

Despite  being unwilling to back down however, Qin obviously wasn't an idiot.  Drakul was baiting him into a fight, which meant he was under the  impression he could win. You don't live to the age the Jade King was  obviously at taking stupid risks. He glared for a minute, then the anger  was just gone, blown away like smoke in the wind, and a smile replaced  it. He glanced across the table to the seat next to Odin and I suddenly  realized there was a woman there, she'd clearly been hiding her  presence, but when he focused on her it was like she just appeared.

She  was gorgeous, with white blonde hair and lips like frozen berries, and I  knew her just by looking. I should have expected it, of course Mab  would be here. Qin lowered his head in a nod, still smiling "Lady Mab, I  seek vindication from these spurious claims, the vermin makes a mockery  of these proceedings, and in response I seek justice from one who can  serve it. I request an Arbitration."

I  didn't know what the fuck that meant, but any time I'd heard anyone  emphasize a word like it should have capital letters at the beginning  like that it ended up being a pretty big deal. Drakul's eyes actually  widened, clearly not having been expecting Qin to do...whatever that  was. Which implied it was either stupid or dangerous, and Qin didn't  strike me as a stupid man. Something very big had happened, and I  glanced to River to get his feedback.

His  eyes were wide and shocked at the statement, as were everyone elses.  They all just stared at Qin like he'd said he wanted someone jam a fully  grown pineapple up his ass. He turned to smile at me, and those beaten  gold eyes had not a hint of actual positive emotion in them, flat and  hard as the metal they resembled. Qin gestured to me "Of course, as the  honor of our newest comrade was breached more strongly, I entrust our  Arbitration to his capable hands. The one who slew the god wolf must be  powerful indeed."

See,  I had no idea what he meant by that, but somehow, based on tone or  expression I could absolutely tell that this asshole just did something  that was going to seriously fuck me. I just had this certainty that  whatever was happening was bad and that I was getting shafted from both  sides. I was deeply regretting taking Odin up on this offer already, it  was day one and I was stuck between a rock and a hard place with no real  benefit to show for this. I had to figure out what to do or I was  fucked.

First  I had to decide on my response. I'd been railroaded, that was obvious,  but that meant that there was some reason I either had to do this  Arbitration or that the consequences for turning it down were dire.  Either way, my options were simple, I could say yes, or no. If I had to  do this anyway the trap might be saying no in the first place, forcing  me to look weak in front of the other accorded nations. My only real  move in that case would be to cut them off at the knees and do something  they wouldn't expect.

So  I did that. I shrugged and shot him a smile "Of course, I would be  happy to aid my compatriots in proving their innocence. Qin's eyes  flashed with surprise but he kept it locked down, I was glad to see the  shock but it made sense, what I'd just done was ridiculous. No sane  person accepts a grand magical trial or task when they have no clue what  it entails, under any other circumstances I would never have even  considered doing something that crazy, but this was the only move I  could see.

These  things were old and crafty and definitely had plans for every possible  contingency. So I needed an impossible contingency. I had to stop doing  things that made sense, confusion would act as a shield for me when  dealing with the old monsters here. They were too used to dealing with  all these wily geniuses and ancient schemers. They would assume any  choice I made was logical and well reasoned and if they couldn't figure  out why they would wait and try to guess what my plan was. Of course  being backed into a corner meant I didn't have much to lose here anyway,  but confusing them all was a big plus.

I  fixed my gaze on Mab. I'd met her daughter but never come across the  Queen of Air and Darkness herself. I felt a brief flash of jealousy for  the regular timeline version of Harry for having slept wit her, but then  I thought about it a bit longer and decided he'd probably dodged a  bullet. I knew she was identical to her sister though and that Titania  was all heat and passion, made me really want to visit the summer court.  I bowed my head to Mab "Milady, might I ask what the details of an  Arbitration are?"

Mab's  lips quirked slightly at the corners, so slightly that I might have  thought I imagined it if I wasn't blessed with amazing skills of  perception. Clearly she was amused by the fact that I'd agreed to this  little trial without knowing what it was. Her voice when she spoke was  cold and beautiful and sweet, like a gorgeous sculpture carved of frozen  sugar water. "You may. It is your right as the one undertaking the  challenge, but I warn you, this will push your limits boy, even with  such power as you have. Are you sure you wish to undertake this task?"

I  nodded, since going back on my word would probably be even worse than  turning this down and playing into the hands of my enemies. Mab's almost  smile grew a few shades brighter. "Very well. An Arbitration is an  ancient trial between two parties. It has it's roots in the mortal  soulgaze, though it is infinitely more complex and powerful. It's  execution is an ability I possess in my function as a Judge." She spoke  calmly, as if telling me the weather or what kind of soup she liked, but  that couldn't be all of it.

I  put on my best deferential tone "Your majesty. If this trial can prove  my innocence of this heinous charge then for what reason would I turn it  down?" I was trying to make it sound like a statement of confidence but  I really wanted to know what reason I would have, no way people were  getting this worked up over a glorified soulgaze. There had to be some  hidden cost or penalty that made the Arbitration something scary enough  to shock this group of ancient bastards. I had to do it but I should at  least know what I was getting into.

Mab's  almost smile finally formed into a fully fledged grin, but it wasn't  comforting or warm. If anything this was even scarier than her blank  mface. I got the impression Mab didn't smile much, and never for a  reason I would like. "Arbitration is considered a last resort for two  reasons. The first is that it works on even the immortal and allows  those with no soul to interact with a mortal spirit." Her tone became  silky and amused "The second of course is that the loser of an  arbitration will have their very essence wiped from existence." Yup,  there it was.