Chrome snarled at the mention of that name and stood up straight.
"I no longer answer to that name!!! I am Chrome!!, Son of Storm!!, Beloved of Xenia!!, the first Steel Dragon!!" Exclaimed Chrome.
What little tolerance he had left dissappeared entirely at the mention of that name.
"It really is you!!? My... you've grown!! H-h-how have you been?!" Asked the Seneschal.
"Don't pretend like you ever cared about my well being Fafnir!! You never did before!!" Retorted Chrome.
With his secret now revealed, the Dwarven Seneschal dropped all pretenses.
"I see you found someone else stupid enough to tolerate you! But then I suppose even dragon families take on 'pets'..." started the Seneschal.
He didn't get a chance to finish whatever insult he intended to throw. No one actually saw Orian move, the Seneschal just blinked, then he felt something very warm and sharp pressing against his throat.
He looked down to see Orian had appeared beside him, had drawn a golden sword from out of nowhere and currently had it's edge pressed against his throat.
"I'd be careful how you address my brother, dwarf!! I may be civil but even I have limits, and you are quickly approaching them!!" Threatened Orian.
It took the guards stationed in the room a moment to realize that one of the people they were supposed to protect was in danger.
They cried out and began to approach but a sharpened scale fired at the ground in front of their feet was enough to stop them in their tracks.
"Take one more step and I'll give you another hole through which air can reach your brain!" Threatened Chrome.
No one was willing to test him and see if it was an idle threat.
"You damn ungrateful lizards!! We welcome you into our homes and this is how you replay our hospitality!!? Our ancestors should have hunted your damn kind to extinction at the dawn of creation ,you da..." started Fafnir.
The Seneschal fell silent when Orian pressed on his sword. A shallow cut formed across his throat.
The light magic Orian's sword was formed out of was exceptionally sharp, in fact he and Chrome had actually tested the weapon on a variety of different materials and yet it cut through them all effortlessly.
Orian needed to apply very little strength to the sword when striking due to the sharpness. He just lightly touched the dwarf on the neck and it was enough to draw blood. If he pressed any harder, then he would behead the dwarf.
Something that the dwarf must have noticed because he fell completely silent.
Chrome stepped closer until he was standing right in front of the Seneschal.
"Tell me, Fafnir!! How has the Order been hitting the Phoenixes so successfully!!?" Asked Chrome.
"I wouldn't know!!" stated Fafnir.
"And how did they get Gretchen's aircraft designs? What you didn't know was that she often showed me her diagrams when I was a hatchling! She was very proud of those designs.
The night before her death she confided in me, telling me that the diagrams were stolen. So how did her creations end up in human hands?" Asked Chrome.
"I don't know!!" Stated Fafnir.
"Ohh I think you do!! But you don't have to tell me! I'll find out myself!! And when I do, there will be a reckoning between us!!" Stated Chrome.
He nodded at Orian, who unsummoned his sword. The two dragon brothers then twisted around and marched out of the hall.
Leaving the Seneschal to nurse his wound.
After they left the room, they sought out Augustus, who had rented a room at a inn.
"How did the meeting go?" Asked Augustus.
The two brothers quickly filled him in on what happened with the Seneschal.
"I suppose that means we can't count on Dwarven support anymore?" Asked Augustus.
"He wouldn't have helped even if we hadn't Threatened him!" Stated Chrome flatly.
"It's clear that you know something that we don't! How do you know these dwarves?!" Asked Orian.
"I was raised by the former Seneschal. Her name was Gretchen." Explained Chrome.
Orian remembered the story of Chrome's childhood years, how he was found by an expedition of dwarves and adopted by a kindly matron.
No one in Storm's family was aware that the matron just so happened to be the Seneschal of Mythril city. Chrome had refused to talk about his dwarven family until now.
"You never told us any of this!?" Stated Orian.
"It was painful to talk about... my departure wasn't exactly 'pleasant '. " stated Chrome.
"Who is Fafnir to you then?" Asked Orian.
"In a way you could say he's my 'brother', although he never called me that, and he certainly didn't fit the name!!" Said Chrome with an hint of rage.
"What happened?" Asked Orian.
"Fafnir always was greedy and ambitious, like most dwarves, but he lacked the good traits of honor and loyalty.
Several members of the family called for him to be disowned and exiled, but Gretchen always was soft, and he was her son, so she always gave him another chance.
Shortly before I left, the human city of Callahan began to create inventions that were clearly based on Mythril Clan designs.
Not old battle tested designs, but brand new ones that hadn't even been fully produced yet. Gretchen suspected that someone in the family was selling secrets to the humans. " Explained Chrome.
"And you think this traitor might be Fafnir?" Asked Orian.
"He always had a lot of gold despite his creations never succeeding to catch on and he always was a self serving dwarf.
Gretchen met up with him the last evening before she died. I was worried about her safety but much to my relief, she returned from the meeting unharmed, she was looking sickly however, but I assumed it was just nerves or that she was upset about what she discovered.
She turned in for the night and I thought she'd be fine, but the next morning I found her dead. The healers claimed it was heart failure, but there always was something strange about her death to me.
Unfortunately I was never able to investigate. Fafnir never hid his dislike for me and once he was in charge, he quickly locked out family resources to me.
I wasn't even allowed at her funeral... he said they had no place for 'mongrels'." Stated Chrome.
Orian bared his teeth as his anger rose.
"Fafnir had some ... suspect... business practices... including a rumored dragon enslaving ring... using his captives to smelt iron for his business
I feared that if I stayed, they might kidnap me off the streets as well, so I packed my things and never looked back until now." Finished Chrome.