Elaina and Ezra sat at the end of an ornate table in what Elaina guessed was the royal dining hall. While well made, and nicely appointed, Elaina could not help but notice the signs of wear on all the furniture, and the color of the tapestries beginning to fade. While well cared for, it was obvious that keeping the dining hall impressive was low on the list of the royal families priorities.

Elaina silently chided herself silently, of course it was, they were at war. If they had been keeping the dining hall plush for visitors it would indicate a very poor allocation of resources. Still, she couldn't help but think that she would do her best to keep her new home looking nice for visitors. It was one of the things Father and Mother had both drilled into her, diplomacy involves everything the person senses, not just words. You need to create a reality for them where they WANT to agree with you.

An old oaken door to the side of the table bumped open, and out Zoey wafted, three platters of food balanced in her two hands. A blast of heat reached Elaina from the doorway, and the smells of a bustling kitchen reached her.

Zoey placed the trays of food in front of Elaina and her brother, before taking a seat beside Ezra. On it was some freshly made dark bread and a plate of what looked like a rich creamy stew. Zoey immediately began eating, ripping off hunks of bread to soak up the stew.

Ezra was a bit more cautious, tearing off a commensurately smaller piece of bread and dipping it in the stew before popping it in his mouth. He immediately began to tear into it with more gusto.

Elaina looked at the two of them and and daintily took up her spoon, making at least an attempt at table manners. The soup appeared to be far more flavorful than she had thought, and significantly spicier. Elaina tried to keep her composure as the spices forced a coughing fit on her.

Zoey looked up, keeping a straight face, while Ezra tittered.

Elaina looked over at Ezra with a scowl.

Ezra spoke up.” You should really try it with the bread. It's really rich and it mellows the spice in the stew wonderfully.”

“You know what mother would say if she were to see us eating with our hands.”Elaina said

“Good thing she's not here then isn't it!” Ezra said as he soaked an extra large piece of bread in the stew and popped the entire thing into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge out like a chipmunks.

Elaina reluctantly ripped off a piece of bread and lightly soaked it, before popping it into her mouth.

Elaina grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

“What was that?” Ezra said in response, an insufferably smug look plastered over his otherwise adorable face.

“I said you were a brat!” Elaina said as she threw a piece of bread at him, which he ducked easily enough.

“Don't waste food dear.” Zoey replied, a smile hidden behind her own piece of bed.

They ate in silence for some time, focusing on sating their hunger before sitting back. Elaina reluctantly admitting to herself that it was pretty good that way.

“So... that battle we saw was pretty intense. It looked more like they were razing or looting the town rather than trying to conquer it.” Elaina said finally to break the silence.

Zoey nodded. “That tends to be their modus operandi. The country they come from... Well from what we know, a religious order came to power several decades ago. A fertility cult, where the prominence of the family was represented by how many children they had. This resulted in a population explosion, and within the last decade it reached the point where they can no longer support themselves, either by growing and farming or selling what they produce to import food. So, the government collapsed, and a new regime came to power. And the first thing they did was conscript every able bodied person not directly involved in producing food or necessities and marched them into our neighboring country, Grief.”

“God that is such a morbid name.” Elaina said.

“The country was founded by the survivors of a purge during the last incursion, it is apt.” Ezra replied.

Zoey smiled at the interplay between the two of them.

“Anyway, during the sacking of Grief, the conscripts had little more than farm tools and whatever they could pick up on their way. They took Grief by surprise, and nearly half the country was lost before the king could rally a defense. This eventually ended in a stalemate, and the king's death, leaving his widow Queen Scarlet in command of the country. Unfortunately the success of the early stages of the campaign was used by the fertility cult to whip up a religious fervor, and their country has been inundated with volunteers to what is now considered something of a 'holy crusade', though it is more akin to locusts scouring the landscape. Since their soldiers started with nothing every battle is a chance for them to loot better equipment, or money to buy themselves out of the army. The unit you saw there was one of the more 'elite' troops, that had been in since the beginning, and have used their loot to ensure they are all equipped properly so they can continue looting. It is chaotic and wasteful of life, but it is resulting in proper fighting units over time, as the weak are winnowed out. Which is unfortunate for us.”

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'That sounds awful, but... If it is as bad as you say, there is no way they can sustain those kinds of casualties. It would devastate their population.”

“At the start of their conflict with Grief, their countries population outnumbered our own by roughly forty to one.”

Ezra's eyes bulged out.

“That is insane. Even our own kingdom, as prosperous as it is, has barely more than ten times your own countries in people, and most of our kingdom is urbanized, not to mention larger than your own.”

Zoey nodded. “Their religion dictates that a minimum of ten children, raised to maturity and each with ten children of your own, is what is required to reach their 'heaven'. Within just three generations their population had exploded by two orders of magnitude, and their cult preaches that children be married, or at least be expecting a child, as soon as possible. It is common for them to marry at twelve or thirteen.”

“No wonder they ran out of food. I am surprised they were able to keep up their food supply as long as they did...” Elaina spoke in wonder.

“They burned through their treasury trying to keep up with the food demands, they actually became our biggest customer of growth and farming crystals, until it reached the point we literally could not keep up with their demand without permanently damaging our crystal supply. They actually threatened us to give them more, and I believe they would have gone to war then if they had not been overthrown by the popular rebellion that arose due to, you know, their people starving.” Zoey explained.

“Why would the rulers allow such a thing to happen? This cult sounds like one of the most damaging religions imaginable. Also somewhat abhorrent with the whole children getting pregnant, but even beyond that it is in no way sustainable.”

Zoey nodded again. “The cult began in the royal family, apparently. One of their members returned from overseas with a harem of individuals inducted into this cult, and it spread to all the members of the royal family very quickly. It helped that sexual hedonism and knowledge of medicinal agents to prevent the diseases normally endemic to such a lifestyle came with them.”

“Ah, and the rapid spread of this cults popularity begins to be explained...” Ezra replied dryly.

“They do seem to be leaning into people's base urges to spread their teachings.” Elaina replied.

Zoey shrugged. “I am not sure if the sexual hedonism was part of their original teachings or simply due to it being taught to the royal family by a harem, but it seems that way. Unfortunately for the rest of the country those herbs that prevent disease were rapidly depleted, and so most of the countries population is suffering from syphilis, gonorrhea... or at least our contacts in Grief say. I place these accusations at a low reliability, I think it is more them demonizing their enemy.”

“They certainly seem to be demonizing themselves enough on their own.” Elaina replied flippantly.

Zoey nodded. “Their morale is rather low. Most of the conscripts seem to know what they are doing is abhorrent, and either do it so they can eat, or have just given themselves over to being the equivalent of bandits. Taking what they can.”

Ezra's mouth screwed up. “That sounds... Well it does not sound like a way to run a proper army, but I can also see why it would be hell to defend against such a force. The right hand wouldn't know what the left is doing half the time.”

“It is just so...” Zoey began as Elaina let out a massive yawn, belatedly covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

“You two must be tired, let me show you to your rooms.” Zoey stood and walked towards the doors, the twins trailing behind her.