He could only listen and stare in shock, resisting the urge to beat his head against the stand he was on, before he began to strip himself of his magical items, including the two Ioun stones that orbited his head, storing the items into the bag of holding on his back, and then tossing it off the stand. "I request, as per my rights as the accused, to be allowed to refute the charges under a zone of truth."<br/><br/>He heard the buzz from the lesser ranks behind him, one of the older dragons in attendance casts the zone of truth, before nodding to Mykell. He looked up at the elder amethyst, and then waited for her to grant him leave to continue. "I have never hired the Fire Giants to do any raiding, but instead any contact between us has been them hiring ME to destroy infringing Frost Giants. The last time they contacted me was to help them raid a location, and though the leader never said what the location was or who they were raiding, he did specifically mention that my previous hirings had given me the skills needed to be of assistance to them. I took this to mean that they were raiding a larger encampment of frost giants. I did, however, decline the offer due to a conflict with a previous agreement with another group hiring me."<br/><br/>He seemed to be fighting with himself for a moment, before he continued. "And as I am sure my clan leader would have mention had you contacted him for any reason other than simply demanding my presence, I don't have the hoard to be hiring anything other than the most basic of adventurers, as my studies into magic have consumed most of my hoard."<br/><br/>The last was added through clenched teeth, though it was understandable, as he had just admitted he was a beggar by dragon standards at the moment. He stared at Mykell, ignoring the anger he felt radiating at having to admit that he wasn't making enough from his outings to maintain a decent sized hoard as well as preform his studies, but he knew that such an admission would have a greater impact than anything else that had been said. He knew that by the time he returned to his lair in the clan, word of his lack of hoard would have spread, and he was likely to have to kill a few boastful young dragons before they would respect him again.