When I went downstairs, I’d found that Kazumi had whisked Sally away to get clothes fit… somewhere. The castle was big, and without Kazumi or Sabine to guide me I was quite lost. I barely remembered the way back to my chambers. I finally stumbled into the room I’d been assigned, just recognizing it by virtue of it having the largest door in the castle. I remembered distinctly the annoyed grunts the servants made when they dragged beds three, four and five into the room, so I’d have a place to sleep comfortably.

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I was woken up by a polite knock from Kazumi, who was already dressed and, apparently, here to help me get hoisted into my clothing. We decided on something less defensive, with no armour, opting for a red dress with gold trimmings instead of a black one. I hoped I looked a little less imposing, a little less threatening this way.

We made our way to the main hall, where we met with Sabine and Erza. Sally was going to stay behind in the castle. Sabine looked somewhat tired, insofar as that was possible for someone with permanently white skin and red eyes. She’d probably stayed up late during the wake. That’s probably why they were called wakes. But our talk with Queen Anastasia wouldn’t wait for hangovers, so onto the camp we went. As we descended through the courtyard, we saw much of the Queen’s Escort’s eyes follow us. I was sure many of us didn’t like us going down into the enemy’s camp, which might as well have been a war garrison. Nonetheless, I’d decided to concede one more time, to make sure there was no possible mistaking my intentions. As we arrived at the edge of the camp, we were halted by guards, one of which was probably not the sharpest bulb in the drawer, or at least very concerned with protocol.

“Who goes there?” he asked.

“Really?” Sabine muttered, but Kazumi did one of her cute snake-curtsies.

“Queen Eliza, here to meet with Queen Anastasia, and her retinue.”

The man looked me up and down, as if there were many nine-foot-tall demonesses that often went to go see Queen Anastasia, and then spears were lifted and we were allowed passage. A clear path had been laid out through the camp that led us to the same tent we’d tried to have our meeting at the first time, complete with table and large chairs, although I’d insisted there be chairs for my advisors as well, this time. Queen Anastasia was already sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea and watching our approach with marked interest. Her blue eyes didn’t seem to miss anything, and betrayed a sharp mind, even if she was somewhat naive due to her upbringing.

On both sides of her sat Tybalt, Lillian and the Wizard. I couldn’t see the Archeress anywhere, but the ones who were there looked a little worse for wear, so she was probably somewhere sleeping off the previous night’s revelries. Apparently Wydonians took their wakes seriously. The partying had gone deep into the night, according to Kazumi, and I’d been lucky my room had not been on that side of the castle. Even Erza had looked a little bit disheveled, but then her room in the southwest tower had overlooked the camp.

I stood before the table and politely nodded my head. “Queen Anastasia. A delight to see you again,” I said. Kazumi had been training me in proper protocol, and I wanted to make a good second impression. The first one had been a little weird, but at least I hadn’t come out of that one looking like the bad guy.

“And to you as well, Queen Eliza. Please, be seated. Would you and your compatriots like some tea?”

I nodded graciously as I sat down. “Please. You’re very kind.” The others sat down too, each opposite one of the companions. I wondered briefly if we were supposed to wait for the tea to arrive, or if we were supposed to get started. Kazumi, however, immediately got started.

“Officially opening the peace talks between the Kingdom of Wydonia and Queen Eliza. Presiding are the Queens Anastasia and Eliza. Moderating is myself, Kazumi of Clan Amethyst. Also present are Sabine of Shereton, Erza of the Greenstone and…” She waited, motioning her pen towards the others seated at the table.

“Tybalt of Kurham,” Tybalt said softly. He sounded tired, on a more existential level and than just the physical. The previous day’s hostility seemed to be gone, and there wasn’t much fight in him. It was also possible he was just hungover.

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“Lillian Dance,” Lillian said. She was there, She wasn’t much more awake or active than Tybalt, albeit a little less moody. Of course, ‘not as moody as Tybalt’ was a low bar to cross, and the third companion cleared it without trouble either.

The wizard sat upright, a little uncomfortable in the officiousness of the meeting. “John Mustrum,” he said. A character I’d never been interested in, there was something odd to him. He looked over our shoulder, as if he was expecting someone else, and shifted in his seat.

“With all members present, we can hereby consider these peace talks opened,” Kazumi said, and then looked up, waiting patiently for someone to start speaking. Just then, tea arrived, and there was a round of softly murmured ‘thank you’s.

“Queen Eliza,” Anastasia began. “I believe the best place to start is at the beginning, so we are all on equal footing, I think. Why was war declared in the first place? And then, as a follow up, why capitulate and request peace talks so soon after? If you are simply fickle, what’s to keep you from declaring war, say tomorrow?”

I took a deep breath. Kazumi and Erza had coached me a lot on what to say, here. The peace talks were important and I’d needed to get my story straight. We couldn’t just tell the whole truth, but we needed to act from a position of honesty if this peace was going to work.

“There was an… incident. It involved magic, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I was not the person who initiated hostilities.” Anastasia raised her perfectly manicured eyebrows, making her big blue eyes even bigger, and I had to close my eyes for a second to not get distracted. “However, the people who flocked to my banner were disenfranchised in more ways than one, and, rather than immediately surrendering, it was the advice of my seconds,” I nodded left and right, “that we use these peace talks to open a dialogue about why this is, and hopefully come out of these talks in a state of not only peace, but also, uh…” I took a deep breath, and Kazumi nodded at me encouragingly.

“But also,” I continued, “to the benefit of both our lands, that we address the systemic issues that would lead entire races to flock to the banner of someone who would oppose Wydonian rule.”

That had taken me an hour of studying to get into my head, and I tried not to relax too visibly. Queen Anastasia leaned forward and steepled her fingers thoughtfully.

“You are speaking of the Monstrous Races, I believe?”

“Among others.”

She took a sip of her tea, staring at the table. I wasn’t sure if she was deep in thought or trying not to give too much of her internal dialogue away, but she was completely unreadable to me, until she put the cup back down.

“Queen Eliza, I’ve recently heard some things that have made me reconsider my position on certain subjects, but I would like to, for the record, state my view on the current status quo.”

I gestured that she continue.

“The history of the Monstrous Races of Wydonia, as I’ve heard it, goes as follows: The Monstrous Races lived as peaceful neighbours in these and other northern lands, among the Territories,” she began. I hadn’t heard of the region queen Eliza had referred to as ‘the Territories’ before, and I made a mental note to ask Kazumi about it later. But first I needed to let Anastasia speak. “Then they attacked, desiring the wealth of Wydonia. My father struck down this civil war, and most of the Monstrous Races were driven out. The Orc left Wydonia in a large exodus during that time.”

There was uncomfortable shuffling around the table, as even the Hero’s companions looked around the table, hoping others were just as unsure about what to say as they were. Erza was the only one that made a sound, which was halfway between a snort and a grunt. Anastasia looked at the reactions with marked interest.

“Going by everyone’s… response, I’m led to assume that this version of history isn’t the only one.”

I’d expected Erza or Kazumi to be the first to speak, but it was John Mustrum, the wizard, who was the first to speak. Going by his appearance he must have been at least sixty, and probably a lot older, so he would, of course, have remembered.

“Not to imply that your highness is wrong, I nevertheless feel it would be remiss not to bring up the history as… others have experienced it, your majesty. If I may.”

Anastasia nodded, indicating he had the proverbial floor.

“Wydonia was in a state of unrest, some fifty years ago, as what are now referred to as the ‘Monstrous Races’ were… second class citizens. The right to own land was reserved only for Human and Elven citizens. During that time, a campaign began to label all species that had been excluded from such office as ‘monstrous’. Before that the ‘Monstrous Races’ didn’t exist. They’d just been… races, trying to coexist. When protests began some forty, forty-five years ago, there was a government mandated… program, of sorts. All of the…” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and decidedly did not look at Kazumi. “‘Monsters’ would be registered as ‘servants of the state’ or lose their status as citizens entirely. Things got… violent. There were… pogroms.”

Anastasia looked at John in shock, but didn’t say anything. It was clear this was all news to her.

“As for the Orc, I believe our friend here might be more qualified to answer those questions.” He motioned to Erza, who piped in as if they’d been practicing together.

“The Orc saw what was happening. The more, shall we say, ‘beastly’ races, the ones easily classified as lesser than Human or Elf, had been the first to lose their status as citizens, but the Orc had been exempt from this treatment. However, we saw the writing on the wall, and decided to try and plead to the crown directly. In response, Wydonia’s military might was mustered and we were… evicted.”

Anastasia looked… furious. She was clearly trying not to lose her temper. The dirty history of her nation had clearly been kept from her and she was clearly upset by this.

“I take it nobody around this table disagrees with this… version of events?” she asked. Everyone shook their heads. Nobody wanted to tell the queen that she’d led a sheltered life, but it was crystal clear that whoever had led in her stead had wanted to keep her from finding out about the injustices happening in Wydonia. A lot of it was news to me as well, but I kept that to myself.

“Your goal, then, Queen Eliza,” she continued, her voice ice cold, “is to use these peace talks to restore the right of citizenship to the Orc and the Mo-- To the other races mistreated by my… predecessor’s actions?”

It was clear she couldn’t bring herself to say ‘father’. It was painful to see, so I just nodded in agreement.

“I can only commend such an initiative, Queen Eliza. I believe I have many things to reconsider when it comes to my rule, and I think I might need a new cadre of advisors.” Something about the way she said that last part made me feel like she wouldn’t just be handing someone a pink slip.