Power Play - Plan B

Belzac waited around the main entryway of his estate, the sun at its peak in the sky, waiting for Naya to make an appearance. He was a noble, for crying out loud...he should have more weight than this. If only his daughter had obeyed him, he wouldn't have had to move on to Plan B. Since he didn't have her now for a politically expedient marriage and thus securing at least a familial status increase, he'd have to do things a bit more directly. He'd climbed his way up the ranks from nothing, he wasn't about to let this set him back. With the recent events, he figured now would be a good time to try and move up in the ranks, even if he had to tell lies about his daughter. He had called her to his estate to ask about possibly increasing his standing in society, and he would use his weight wisely. "Damn that daughter of mine..."

He welcomed her with open arms. Better to play things safe and play to their sense of power, something he'd expect someone to do to him. "Welcome. Sorry to call you out here, but I have some matters I would like to discuss." He bowed as a courtesy to his guest, before resuming his speech. "It is to m understanding that the king has passed, and I think this is a trying time for us all. Hence, I would like to offer my services as a noble of the realm. My daughter is currently out becoming a demon in her own right, my wife overseeing her as well. Which leaves me here merely tending to my lands."

"I could, but I wanted to talk about more in depth involvement." He opened the door to the castle as an invitation for her. "Perhaps we can talk about things over some fine food and drink?"

He had a seat prepared for her, a bottle of wine that Tsun had brought home was on the table between the two plates. She had actually done something useful for once. "My sources tell me that we are occupying the Angel's homeworld. My wife just so happens to be an Angel, so she would be invaluable to the cause, if you needed one to pass through territory unnoticed."

"I see. Well, I will have to deal with them then. Can never find good help these days. Information does change quite quickly in times of combat and crisis." He sat down opposite her, his weight making the chair creak. These were designed with his wife and daughter in mind, not his bulk and stature. "You may drink as much as you like from the bottle, it was brought from the human world." He'd have to play a different card then, if things had developed this quickly...

"Well I can certainly see them being a pain. My wife can be stubborn herself." He watched her. He was failing in this exchange. He would have had better leverage with the old regime than this mess. "Well, I guess I acted in haste with outdated information, so I apologize for bringing you all the way here for nothing." He stood up, bowing to her again."It may be pointless to mention this, but my daughter slew hundreds of humans during the human-demon war a while back. She may be a valuable general to you, if you want to enlist her services."

"Her name is Tsun. I did say she slew humans, but it was of her own volition. Her rite of passage, so to speak." Seeing her reaction, he had to make it seem like she acted alone, rather than with the army. He had, after all, sent her right in the middle of things on short notice. "So, if you will pardon me, I think I will go draft my enlistment papers, since my information was inaccurate. Do you want me to see you out?"

"That is what she told me, yes. She came back to report on her errand not too long after the hostilities ended." He looked at her, she seemed to distrust him, which was understandable. He was one of the newer nobles, after all. No reason to completely trust him out of the gate. "I cannot verify her numbers though, so I just took it to mean that she had passed her rite of passage as a grown demon. She is my only daughter, after all, I have pride and trust in her abilities."

He simply shrugged. "Children often exaggerate to impress their parents. It is even more common among us demons, since we have a society based on war and strength. If she lied to me, I will simply discipline her upon her return home. My apologies again for dragging you out here, ma'am." He looked at her the entire time as he spoke.

"I simply looked at the facts presented to me. For example, you know the front and activities of the war better than I, and when you said you had not heard of my daughter's supposed exploits, I knew she had lied and exaggerated." He paused for a moment, then resumed. "I have pride in her, yes, but as a father, I will punish her for lying to me. She damaged the trust I had in her. You simply exposed her lie, and I apologize for telling you her falsehood. I am not intentionally misleading you on anything or correcting you on any point. I simply relayed what my daughter said, and if you know better, then I defer to you in that regard."