"Everyone, calm yourselves! Those of you who have drawn weapons, your Queen commands you to sheathe them this instant! Mizuki, was this really necessary!? You could have at least warned us!" (Elira)
Everyone freezes as the room falls deathly silent, and eyes are fixed in equal parts on myself and Queen Elira. After a moment, a couple of the sword bearers hesitantly sheathe their swords, but some keep theirs drawn, frozen in fear. This is probably a good time to start settling the situation.
I clear my throat, and all eyes immediately snap to me.
"Ehem! I'm sorry for startling you all like that. First, let me say that I did not intend this as an act of aggression. It was clear that Lord Jorah and several more of you were skeptical about Nina's claims. So, this was merely a demonstration to speed along the process of convincing you. You're in no danger, so please put away your weapons and be at ease." (Mizuki)
I pause briefly to survey the people around me. A few of them relax noticeably, and some even put away their swords after a few seconds. However, a couple of them keep their weapons out, and they're eyeing me suspiciously. Both from Tessa's escort. I fix my gaze on them. I know this is a little hypocritical of me after such an incendiary demonstration, but...
"I'm not trying to threaten you two, but please be reasonable. Those weapons would do you absolutely no good. Even if you think I'm manageable, have you forgotten that Nina is an Elder Dragon? Keeping your weapons drawn serves no purpose but to keep the tensions of everyone here raised. I kindly ask that you put them away so we can have a civil discussion." (Mizuki)
The two women wielding daggers glance between one another nervously, but before they can come to a decision, Tessa glances over her shoulder and speaks in a low tone.
"Selena, you and Kathryn put away those weapons....right now. Don't let me see them again." (Tessa)
The younger-looking female escort widens her eyes.
"M-Mother, are you s-" (Selena?)
"Don't make me repeat myself, Selena." (Tessa)
I and Tessa's two escorts widen our eyes in surprise. I can imagine it's for the same reason, because we can't believe Tessa is telling them to not pull weapons on me. On another note, I guess this girl, Selena, is Tessa's daughter.
After a moment, Tessa's two escorts reluctantly sheathe their weapons, and Tessa turns back to me with a calm but intense gaze. I nod at her appreciatively and smile, and she gives a polite nod. Honestly, her drastic change in behavior is starting to freak me out, but that's a mystery for later.
I turn back to scan the faces of everyone else in the room. The only people that have remained seated are Alara, Cara, Helena, and Darak, and everyone else is standing with their gazes locked on me. I try to give a reassuring smile.
"Now that everyone seems a bit calmer, let me answer a few questions that I'm sure you have. First, you are all currently in our home, or rather Alto's home, in the city of Eden. I teleported you all here. Next, most of what we've told you was Nina's doing was actually mine, like the trains and freeing the elven slaves. Third, you should know that the royal family, Lady Alara, and Lady Cara were already aware of my abilities. The reason I am now divulging all this information to the rest of you is as a sign of trust. I want us to help one another deal with the Empire." (Mizuki)
Surprised whispering breaks out, and I see a lot of glances directed towards Elira, Ilina, and Dargo, as well as Alara and Cara. In particular, Dargo and Helena are making 'you motherfucker' eyes at Cara, who is just giving a sheepish smile in return. Similarly, Tessa moves her attention to Alara. Elira gives me a pained glare, probably because I'm making her life progressively more difficult. I see her sigh deeply.
"Alright, that's enough! I can confirm that everything Mizuki is telling you is true. I have known about him since before the royal announcement, as have King Dargo and Princess Ilina. If you have any questions about the royal family's decision, you can direct them at Princess Ilina. She's known Mizuki's secrets the longest, and is the primary reason he's here." (Elira)
All eyes swap to Ilina, and Elira seems to be genuinely relieved to toss the metaphorical talking stick to her daughter. To her credit, Ilina just steps forward politely, and nods her acknowledgement to the others in the room. I see Jorah glance at me briefly, fear still in his eyes, then he turns to Ilina with an exasperated expression.
"Princess Ilina, how long have you known about this!? Why were we, the nobles, not informed that you'd brought such a monstrously dangerous human into our country!? He just kidnapped our entire government, and you're acting like he's not a problem! I think I speak for all of us when I say – we deserve an explanation from you this instant!" (Jorah)
Ilina purses her lips in disapproval.
"First of all, Jorah, I'd encourage you to avoid such hysterical accusations. While it's true that Mizuki brought us here without warning, our Queen has already told you to not treat it as hostile. Furthermore, Mizuki himself has taken no violent actions here, and he clearly only brought us here because of your accusations that he was being dishonest about his abilities. I'm sure that he'd promptly return us to the conference room at the palace if we asked." (Ilina)
Everyone in the room turns to face me expectantly. I just nod my acknowledgement. After all, I don't care what room we talk in. Jorah's eyes light up hopefully, then he turns to face me defiantly. However, I can see a trembling in his hands, and terror in his eyes, as he addresses me with a shaky voice. It's like watching a child try to posture at a bear.
"Y-Yes, then we demand that you do so at once, human! We will overlook your actions for now, because of the grace our Queen and Princess have shown you, but your behavior is unacceptable. Do not try our patience further with your intimidation tactics!" (Jorah)
I just stare at him blankly, absolutely stunned speechless by his sheer stupidity. What do I even say to someone like this? Before I get a chance to decide...
"Shut up, you utter moron. The stupidity of giving orders to a...well, whatever Mizuki is...like he's one of your subjects is unfathomable. Also, you're not any safer back at the palace, Jorah, and this room is more spacious. So, I'd like to stay." (Helena)
I glance at Helena in surprise, and noticing my gaze, she shrugs back at me. She's a freak of nature if she's already regained her calm after what I just did.
"I agree with Helena. In fact, I also strongly encourage us not to return to the palace just yet. Jorah, I know full well that you intend to scream for guards the second Mizuki returns us there. At best, that would just delay everything we need to discuss, and at worst, you'd get people killed. None of whom would be Mizuki." (Cara)
"Yes...that sounds like Jorah to me, too." (Alara)
I glance towards Cara and Alara in surprise following their accusations about Jorah. He wouldn't really be that stupid, would he? Jorah's eyes widen in fear, and he glances between us frantically. Oh god...he totally would.
"What!? How dare you! I-I was going to do no such thing! It's just more appropriate fo-" (Jorah)
"Quiet, Jorah. They are correct, that is exactly the kind of dim-witted thing you would do. I'm not letting you jeopardize the calm that was just starting to settle here. Keep your schemes at bay for the time being. Darak, I assume that we're in agreement on this?" (Tessa)
I'm sure the surprise shows on my face that Tessa just circumstantially supported me against Jorah. However, she's watching Darak now, not me. Darak nods solemnly, keeping his eyes intently fixed on me the entire time.
"Yes, I see no point in changing venue. Princess, my Queen, is that acceptable to you? If so, then please continue with what you were saying, Princess. We apologize for Jorah's interruption." (Darak)
Jorah is sputtering while looking between the other nobles in disbelief, but they're ignoring him in favor of Ilina. Ilina glances at her mother, who nods.
"Yes, Darak, we're in agreement. As for you, Jorah..." (Elira)
Elira turns to fix Jorah with an absolutely blood-curdling glare, and her eyes narrow dangerously.
"If I get even the faintest hint of you trying something as utterly stupid as that again...you'll be blessed beyond belief if I only confine you to a cell for the rest of your life. I don't care about your history or your reasons, your days disrespecting and antagonizing Mizuki are finished. Am I making myself clear?" (Elira)
Jorah seems to visibly recoil at Elira's words, and all the color drains from his face as a painful silence washes over the room. After a moment, he nods meekly without speaking again. Witnessing the end of the exchange, Ilina calmly turns back towards the nobles with a smile.
"Very well then, I think remaining here for now is fine. Now, regarding Jorah's question of how long I've known about Mizuki – it's since the night he freed Alto, Linnea, and the other slaves. Mizuki chose to confide in me as a gesture of good faith. That's in addition to safely returning myself and those poor women to our country through the kind of magic you've just witnessed. As for why I brought him to our country after that..." (Ilina)
Ilina pauses to narrow her eyes at every noble present, resting on Jorah for an especially long time.
"...that should be obvious, especially now. I'll remind you all that, at the time, we were facing potential annihilation by Veyron and the demons. It was Mizuki's assistance that we truly needed – Lady Nedonera wouldn't have gotten involved of her own volition. But Mizuki refused to meddle in a war unless he was sure of the underlying factors, so I invited him to our kingdom as my guest to convince him to assist us. After all he'd done, I thought he'd earned that much trust." (Ilina)