Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 56 - The Grand Prince and the Serpent

General Summary

In the morning, Didar and Malina present Arsenii Trofimovich their portraits of Princess Birute. He is suitably impressed, and wants to learn more about her. Given the initial reception, he is quite certain than the Grand Prince was suitably impressed with their gifts, and will almost certainly approve the betrothal, and send the forces his father requested. 
Soon, they are summoned to breakfast by Gintaras himself. Arsenii directs Malina and Merius to do most of the talking to make sure things aren't derailed by Agapia and Didar. Before they can make a pitch, Gintaras declares that he is not interested an the alliance with Trofim Andreevich. His patrimony - Ladeisk - is a small, distant principality, beset by enemies on all sides, and he would be crazy to commit his army to its defense. An incredulous Arsenii looks to his advisors to interject. Merius calls for a mutual front against the Kochmaki, but Gintaras counters by saying that while the Kochmaki are indeed enemies, he has more flexibility by trading and negotiating with them rather than committing himself to an all-out war against them on someone else's behalf. He does not know what to make of the stories of wolves, and indicates that he has no trouble with them, and does not see them as a threat.  
Malina, for her part, says that on the way to Laima, Arsenii's party passed through a blight that seems to have been caused by a serpent, and, not coincidentally, several of the prince's servitors are known by the moniker 'Serpent Slayers'. This catches Gintaras' attention. The blight is something he finds threatening. If the group is who they say they are, and can deal with the serpent problem, then the alliance is subject to negotiation, despite the fact that up until now, he has not found anyone worthy of Birute (at 19, she is actually quite old for an unwed princess). Agapia confirms that for her part, she has been involved in the slaying of multiple serpents, she herself chastised a particularly large one to death by speaking truthful words. Malina presses Gintaras for information about the serpent, and he tells her to consult Matas, his wiseman. Matas later indicates that the serpent has nine heads, and that his breath may have the power to corrupt with its speech (it is not clear whether the corruption is a material effect of its breath, or of its words, or both). He does know that the serpent has the power to take human form - a distinct form for each of its nine heads.    After Gintaras leaves the chamber, letting the Serpent Slayers think upon his offer, and decide what they need for their mission, they are approached by a musician who was entertaining the prince over breakfast. Petra is a Norik with a distinct preference for the old ways, and has come to Galinda to see what this land, ruled by a family that still pays homage to old gods (who may or may not be the same as the old Norik gods) has to offer. Petra over heard their conversation with the prince despite the low tone and the din coming from the balcony where the musicians were performing. She wants to offer her aid and her services. They are also soon joined by a Norik boyar named Yevgenii Mikhailovich (or Zhenya, for short). He has traveled to Laima from Nor', and is offered hospitality by Gintaras, pledging his service in return for as long as he stays in the prince's household. This Zhenya enters the chamber during the Serpent Slayers' conversation with Petra, and it soon becomes clear that he has an eye for the musician.
After returning to their quarters, they continue their planning. Arsenii is effusive with his praise of Malina because she was able to turn a bad situation around. He is also excited to lead an expedition to slay the serpent, to become a Serpent Slayer himself. While Agapia and Petra explore the citadel, Malina sends a message to speak to Matas, the prince's advisor, about supplies. A meeting is arranged, at which Matas tells Malina what he knows of the serpent, and Malina makes a request of items that may protect them against the serpent's breath and words. Matas tells her that he will search the prince's stores to see what he can find. He also tells her that it's probably a bad idea to let Arsenii come - should anything happen to him, the alliance will be endangered. Better to let him stay in the citadel. Matas ask Malina to break the news to him as well as she can.
When she does so, Arsenii is not happy. He has come here to make his name, and will not sit out a serpent-slaying expedition. Yet Malina sees reason in Matas' words, and thinks that protecting Arsenii's life is top priority with his father. The next day, as she again speaks to Gintaras to make her requests concrete, she mentions that if the latter wishes to keep Arsenii from the expedition, he may do well to arrange some supervised interaction between Arsenii and Birute. Gintaras agrees, and when this plan is shared with Arsenii, he comes around. Merius adds that letting his servitors do the dirty work still allows their prince to take the credit.  
Didar is left unhappy with what has transpired. His mission is to steer the prince to the right path, not to perform services for a foreign prince. He is especially concerned with a vision he had that shows the Arsenii becoming trapped, though he is unsure about what that means.

Character(s) interacted with

• Gintaras, Galind Grand Prince
• Matas, his advisor
• Other courtiers
• Musicians from Petra's troupe

Report Date

16 Jul 2021