Gift to the Lich Queen

The armory door opened on a Githyanki captain still putting himself together.

That should have made him vulnerable. It did not.

Victor entered in disguise with Jonah, Darius, and Walter beside him, hoping the shape of confidence would carry them farther than the truth. The captain saw the dragon first. His attention fixed there, bright and hungry, before turning back to the person pretending to belong in the room.

He asked the important question immediately.

Was that Victor's dragon?

Victor said yes.

The disguise did not survive the next breath. The captain looked him over and saw through the performance: Victor was no Githyanki. He was an intruder standing in an armory with a dragon, two companions, and far too little leverage.

So Victor changed tactics. He did not call Walter property. He called him a companion. He spoke of distance traveled, worth proven, and the possibility of honor. Maybe he could work with the Lich Queen. Maybe Walter was not a gift, but the beginning of an arrangement.

Jonah, trying to keep Victor steady and possibly bless the lie into usefulness, patted him on the back.

Blessed be the Creator.

Victor named the dragon properly then: Walter.

The captain heard the offer and decided he liked only one part of it.

They would take the dragon.

The order came fast. The Githyanki moved in with cuffs for Victor and Darius, treating the negotiation as already over. Victor tried one last protest, but the room had passed beyond bargaining. Darius saw the cuffs and chose steel. Victor chose fog.

The armory vanished inside a sudden cloud.

In that smoke, Victor shouted the word he had given Maine as the emergency signal.

Abacus.

The plan was no longer to convince the Githyanki. The plan was to survive them.

Somewhere beyond the armory, Maine and Ash had to hear the signal, understand it, and act before the fortress swallowed the party in separate pieces.

Diplomacy had failed.

The Lich Queen's claim had been spoken aloud.

Walter was no longer merely the reason the party had been spared. He was the prize.