Back at the Divalo Manor. A footman from the royal palace came by in the dead of night.

"I have a message for his lordship," The footman said as he handed over a scroll to the head butler, Belial.

"Is there anything thing else to report?" Belial asked as he opened the parchment and read the message.

"Everything is in the message, Mr. Belial." The messenger said as he bowed.

"Very well. You may leave now," Belial said as he waved the messenger off.

Belial looked at the message and began to walk to the Duke's study.

***

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

The Duke Alaric Revelia was reading some documents at his desk when he heard a knocking on his chamber door.

"Come!" He said out loud as he sat there still reading.

The door opened as Belial walked into the study with a paper in hand.

"My lordship, I have a message from one of our men on the inside of the palace," Belial said as he handed over the message.

The Duke didn't say anything as he grabbed the parchment and began to read.

After a few seconds, he looked up at Belial standing five feet away from his lord. "So she made it in. I guess the rumors about her are true then..." The Duke said as he took another look at the message.

"Yes, my Lordship. But there may be some concern about her change in appearance. That maternal elixir might have altered her mindset as well. Especially after hearing rumors of her screaming out a Royal Knight's name during a feeding time with the prince." Belial said with a bit of concern.

Duke Revelia sighed and shook his head.

"Or she's trying to get this knight, who is tasked to protect the prince, to fall for her in order to get alone time with the prince. It's what she's known for in the Assassin's Society." Alaric said as he folded the parchment and held it over a candle to burn it.

"I don't know my Lord. I didn't like reading about her acting like a woman in heat. If anything, shouldn't we have a backup plan in case things go south?" Belial asked as he stood there looking concerned for his master.

Duke Revelia looked at Belial and shook his head. "No, she said it would take her three months at the earliest. So, I'll give her three months. And if things aren't going as planned then advise our people in the palace to use whatever discretion necessary to aid or encourage our little snake to complete her task. Is that satisfactory for you, Belial?"

Belial nodded and said, "Yes, your Lordship."

"Good. Now, let me be. These tax reports aren't going to finish themselves." The Duke said as he dismissed his butler.

"I can retrieve you a refreshment if you wish. My Lord."

"No, I'm fine Belial. You may finish whatever you need and turn in for the night. We're leaving tomorrow morning to collect taxes from my territories." The Duke said as he began to work.

Belial nodded and left the study closing the doors behind himself.

***

By this time word has spread outside the Fiafyr Kingdom into the surrounding human kingdoms.

The Kingdom of Marn had an emergency council meeting with their king and queen in attendance.

A room with 20 ministers and cabinet members was arguing amongst each other about how to deal with this matter.

"Silence! I can't hear any of you when you're bickering like children!" King Arnaud yelled as he slammed his fist down on the table.

Everyone turned silent as they stared at him.

King Arnaud continued, "So the Kingdom of Fiafyr has their next heir! Yes, it is a surprise that it came from Rianna Meredydd and not from a mistress. However, the fact remains that we need to take some of their fertile lands. How do you plan on dealing with that?"

The meeting exploded again as everyone was talking at once.

Finally, someone pulled the attention back to them by saying, "The main issue is that their heir is legitimate! Their nobles would unite and stop us from taking their lands!" Yelled Counselor Hennif.

Counselor Berthrand added, "Yes! If it was a mistress's child, the kingdom would have been divided. I don't know why the Fiafyr Kingdom's parliament put a restriction on their king to only allow him to have one wife and no concubines. But regardless we need to do something about that child!"

Many of the men nodded in agreement.

Then Advisor Krenn spoke up. "If you're wondering why their Parliament put that restriction on King Cyndre is because of his older brother Duke Alaric Revelia... Alaric promised not to go to war for the crown if his brother accepted a certain condition, which was to have no more than one wife. And Cyndre agreed."

King Arnaud looked at Advisor Krenn. Then he turned to the rest of the advisers and asked, "What do all of you think? Do we risk sending assassins to kill this child and the threat of war?"

Krenn shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know my Lord. As I said before, I'm not sure whether we should just leave this alone or try to assassinate the child. What are your thoughts on this?"

A few of the advisers began to talk about how dangerous it would be to attempt to murder this child, even an assassin.

Counselor Hennif chimed in, "I think it's worth the risk, Your Majesty. We are tired of giving our gold to the Fiafyrites. Flaunting their fertile lands in front of us! If we can get rid of this heir, then we can claim the northern half of Fiafyr before the southern nobles could react. Plus, if the child dies we can claim it was the Dark Elves doing and make them pay instead of us."

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Counselor Berthrand smiled when Hennif suggested this idea. "Yes! We just need to make it look like the Dark Elves did it. This way if it fails we are in the clear and avoid conflict with the Fiafyrites."

King Arnaud looked around the room. He knew what Berthrand was thinking, but he also knew that his advisers didn't want to admit it.

He leaned over and whispered in Krenn's ear, "Do you think it is an unwise idea? Do we risk war so soon?"

"Our coffers have not grown in years because we need to spend it on their produce, Your Majesty. Yes, we are in a comfortable spot. But the Kingdom of Fiafyr is stronger than us because we buy most of their goods and we have nothing in trade that the Fiafyr Kingdom wants. Besides minor trades with their border cities. It's only a matter of time before they are far stronger than our kingdom and they can push us around how they see fit."

Arnaud nodded then turned to the others and said, "We can't let it happen. So we need to contact the Assassin's Society."

Berthrand said, "Yes! We'll need to send a messenger to request for someone to come."

"But we don't know where they're located," argued Minister Kornel.

"Of course, no one knows where they are, Minister. Otherwise, it would've been wiped out ages ago! But they are a necessary evil."

Minister Kornel sighed. "I'm getting really tired of hearing that phrase, counselor."

Counselor Berthain rolled his eyes. "It's all about connections! Sooner or later a assassin will hear about our request and find us."

"Then it is settled! Krenn! I will let you find an assassin for the job." Said King Arnaud.

Krenn nodded and exited the room. When he was gone, Arnaud looked at the remaining advisers and said, "So is there anything else to discuss?"

Hennif replied, "There's nothing more, your Majesty! But I wanted to ask if we could increase the royal guard. Because as you know we need to protect ourselves from the other kingdoms!"

"Hmm... That's true. We might as well increase our guard. If that is all, you're dismissed."

After the advisers left the room leaving only King Arnaud and his Queen. He stood up and walked to the window. He looked out the window and saw that the sun had set.

As he gazed out the window, he thought to himself, 'How am I going to find a killer?'

***

While southeast of Fiafyr Kingdom, where the Alliance of the Divine Three was assembling in the capital city of Istur. Which was in the Holy Kingdom of Chalced.

The city was the birthplace of the Divine Three, who were Gods of purity, virtue, and wisdom. It was also the place where the Divine One, God Paul, created the perfect world in their image. A world where humankind was meant to cleanse the world of all its impurities and restore it to its purest state. Where men could live in peace once they became the only religion on Tertius.

The Divine Order was ruled by a man that could hear the Divine One's voice. This man would be a devoted follower of the Divine Three, and he would lead his followers to spread their message throughout the land.

This man would cast away his birth name and take the name Prophet Paul, which meant prophet of the gods.

And so began the Divine Order.

***

As time went on the first kingdom to join the Divine Three was the Kingdom of Nordland. And then the Divine One's word spread to the other smaller kingdoms and quickly created the Alliance of the Divine Three.

And when the Alliance was formed they needed to crown a ruler to run the Alliance and name them the High King of the Divine Three. Prophet Paul was told to crown King Rolmund Aguilar I as the High King by the Divine Ones. King Rolmund was the ruler of Nordland and his line has taken the mantle ever since.

As of this date, King Rolmund Aguilar III is the current ruler of the Alliance.

The Alliance of the Divine Three was to be a union of small kingdoms that were dedicated to the teachings of the Divine Three. And purging the subspecies around their lands and the people within them that refused to follow the teachings of the Divine Ones.

And so that was how the Alliance was formed to this day as they assembled in the capital of the Holy Kingdom.

***

The Divine Order met up in the Temple of Paul where they needed to discuss the news about the birth of the next heir of the Fiafyr Kingdom.

In the Temple, there was a room with tall walls and a high ceiling. It was filled with statues of the Divine Three and the Prophets that came before them. Each statue had its own unique quality that made them stand out among the rest.

But what distinguished them most was the fact that they were all wearing their holy armor. Their paladin armor.

Light shined in from the windows that sat above the doors of the temple. In the center of the room, there was a large triangular stone table surrounded by chairs. A white cloth was draped over the stone table and it was covered with many scrolls and documents.

At the corners of the table sat the three rulers of the Alliance. The right corner sat the Prophet Paul, the left corner sat Prince Dreyand Stoneworthh, and the final seat at the top of the table belonged to the High King Rolmund Aguilar III.

Prince Dreyand Stoneworthh would typically be a King of his kingdom if they weren't a part of the Alliance. As well as the rest of the smaller kingdoms' royals. But the Stoneworthh family had earned the right to be the third highest ruler of the Alliance after generations of loyalty and service to the Divine Ones.

And in between the three rulers were the other princes of the alliance. There were three seats per side of the table. And each prince sat in the chair beside their rulers. The nine princes and the three rulers.

***

When the last prince arrived and took his seat, Prophet Paul stood up and spoke, "Children of Light, we are summoned here by the Divine Ones. His word is absolute! And he has shown us a path to grow our flock..."

"Which kingdom has the Divine Ones set his eye on?" asked the High King Rolmund Aguilar III.

"Well, my King," said Prophet Paul, "It seems that the Fiafyr Kingdom has given birth to a child that shouldn't exist. The son of King Cyndre Meredydd."

"What makes this boy so special?" questioned Prince Dreyand.

"The Divine Ones has told me that Rianna was infertile and shouldn't have conceived. And because of this miracle, he is possibly a demi-god, my prince. And his children will most likely become demigods as well. And this will be our best chance for us to spread our enlightenment to the nobles of the Fiafyr Kingdom once his heir is born." Prophet Paul replied.

"So the Divine Ones want us to take Fiafyr without bloodshed? Well, there's going to be blood spilled in that city of Ironside and those heretics that will try and defy us. Meredydd's ancestors were fools to side with dwarves!" said Prince Kaindle.

"It's not the fault of the people of Fiafyr that all their generations of Kings lacked good sense, Prince Kaindle. If at all possible we need to educate our kind before using force." retorted Prince Dreyand Stoneworthh.

Prince Kaindle looked away and let out a snort, "We've been waiting for generations to convert the people of Fiafyr. They mock us to this day as they follow that false goddess of theirs. It sickens me just thinking about them worshiping a false idol that doesn't exist."

Some of the other princes nodded their heads in agreement with him.

"I agree with the Divine Ones. We should use this to arrange a marriage with their prince and use his heir to join the Alliance. This way we can grow our followers," said Prince Terenthiel.

Kaindle glared at Terenthiel and wanted to retort.

Prophet Paul cleared his throat, "You all know that the Divine Ones are changing the world. The time has come to unite us against the coming threat. Of the subspecies in Tertius! Prince Keindle, we will need your guidance when we find the beastkins, dwarves, and elves. Please don't strike down our people just because they are blinded from the truth."

Everyone listened to the Prophet and nodded their heads in agreement. Kaindle didn't want to but he knew he had no other choice. He bowed his head and let out a sigh.

"So, it is settled then. We need to find out what this prince values in his women and we need to persuade someone in their royal court to arrange the marriage for us." King Rolmund stated.

"I believe I have a cousin once removed who's a minister in King Cyndre's Parliament. I will contact him as soon as possible, my King," said Prince Terenthiel.

"Good! Now all we need is a princess to send them. Dreyand, didn't your wife just give birth to a daughter?" King Rolmund asked.

Dreyand Stoneworthh glanced over to King Rolmund.

"Yes, and if she fits the bill? Then she's his to do as he wishes." Dreyand answered.

"So, confident that your child will be pretty enough to entice the prince of Fiafyr?" questioned Prince Kaindle.

"She'll make a fine little bride," Dreyand responded.

"What if my daughter is the one? What if her beauty is what they are looking for?" Kaindle continued to egg on Stoneworthh.

"Then we'll see if the prince accepts her or not. But until then, we'll have to wait until the little prince gets older." Dreyand said.

And with that, the Divine Order continued to discuss how to convince Fiafyr to join their cause without violence.