An elven woman sat on a throne made of white wood. A man kneeled before her, his head touching the ground. The woman threw a piece of paper in front of the man.
“So you are telling me this is the peace deal? You didn’t even manage to share the extra burdens with Lord Cicero”, Queen Galvalla spoke calmly, but the elf before her didn’t manage to relax regardless.
“My queen, we have tried to do our best, but those demons threatened to kill us and the prisoners of war. There was no way for us to not accept. The Tribes of Pannonia also posed a possible threat to Dacia”, he continued to explain his reasons for accepting the deal. The queen looked on in silence and didn’t look convinced.
“Harthaden, I will make this short. In hindsight of your past contributions and your houses status, I will not punish you harshly for your failure. You are hereby stripped of all your political ranks and you will step down as head of your house in the next days”, she said.
“No please your majesty show mercy! I have served you for decades, please give me a last chance to prove myself useful to you! PLEASE”, he threw himself on the ground.
Galvalla expression did not change. The queen gestured for one of the guards to pull the screaming and pleading elf out of the palace.
“You, tell me, has my failure of a daughter finally arrived?”, she asked a guard next to her.
“Yes, your majesty she arrived this morning. Should we send somebody to get her?”, he answered his master.
“Yes bring her and all other failures here. Drag them here, if necessary”, Galvalla ordered and the guard moved accordingly.
Her daughter entered the throne room shortly after. The man, who had been supposed to help in the operation, was dragged into the room and stared at the queen in horror and desperation.
“Greetings your majesty”, Helvallia said and bowed to her mother.
“Is this how you greet your mother? Come here child”, the queen said and Helvallia moved to her mother.
A short hug and kiss on the cheeks followed. Helvallia looked uncomfortable with the gestures and retreated back immediately when the chance appeared.
“So you failed your mission. What do you have to say in your defence?”, the queen asked.
“I would have failed to kidnap the heir anyway. Without an expert in wyvern hybrids, the outcome would have been the same, regardless of the preparations”, she answered and caught the amused smile on her mother’s face.
“Is that so? How come you didn’t think it's important to investigate a wyvern familiar? I assume the creature saved your target?”, she inquired.
“I asked for a detailed investigation of all the persons protecting the prince. My sources all confirmed it was a normal black wyvern”, her daughter answered and kept her expression blank.
“So you failed to evaluate your opponents' pieces”, the queen said.
“Like mother, like daughter”, Helvallia said. “I remember having heard you lost a war and signed a harsh peace deal. All that against an ‘inferior’ enemy.”
“You will not speak like that to your mother!”, the queen lost her composure for a moment but regained it shortly. “Don’t speak of matters you can’t understand. Don’t compare your failure with mine.”
“Of course mother”, Helvallia said with a smile, if mother loses her temper this fast it means the war really ended strongly in the enemies’ favour.
“I also got the offer to sent one of my daughters to Alexandria. Your failure shows your inability, so I will send one of your sisters to Alexandria. Your position as a non-official heir will change if your sibling succeeds where you failed. You will visit one of our estates in Dacia for the next years”, the queen commanded.
“I understand mother”, her daughter said and gritted her teeth at her punishment. This meant house arrest and if you were absent from the political theatre for too long, allies will have turned into enemies when you return.
“Now leave. I want to speak to the man who was supposed to ensure my daughter success”, Galvalla said and her daughter left the room.
“You have failed your liege and country. What do you have to say in your defence?”, she said.
“Please don’t hurt my family ...”, the man stammered.
“Oh by the gods. Guards put him in jail, torture anything out of him while he is there and then execute him by burning him. Get me the next suitable candidate from his family to replace him”, the queen ordered.
“Please show mercy my queen!”, the man pleaded, but his fate was sealed through the words of his liege.
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“What do we make of this?”, an old dwarf said to the present demi-human and naiad.
“We choose not to help. Their failure at expanding has nothing to do with us”, said the demi-human.
“You are only saying that, because the demi-humans didn’t provide anything for the invasion”, the naiad said in an annoyed tone.
“What has that to do with anything? You are just pissed off, that some of your ships and crews were lost. Oh, and all the money as well”, the wolf-like woman said. She didn’t manage to hide her happiness at the failure of the other eastern races.
“Language please, and that still affects you as well. The prestige and reputation of our realm are at stake. We need to set an example with the duchy of Neapoli. Other nations may try the same if they think the east to be weak”, the dwarf tried to convince the woman.
“Oh, you old hairy asshole. Neapoli didn’t even start the war. If, and I say if, there is a nation which is stupid enough to underestimate us then I will agree to act together”, the demi-human crossed her arms and glared at the other two participants.
“Neapoli did provoke the war. Several cities were willing to join the east and the duchy stopped them from making that choice”, the naiad said. “There are also reports of them executing huge numbers of prisoners of war.”
“That is what war is. Death and destruction, if you sent troops into war you have to expect them to win or die altogether. We invaded the sphere of influence of another country and got beat. Peace was made and the matter is closed for me”, the woman concluded and ignored the glares.
“We have to respond somehow. We can’t leave the elven and human part alone in this situation”, said the naiad.
“I veto all military options or ignoring the terms of the peace deal”, said the wolf. “We will also not invest much into other measures, but we will support all diplomatic missions to relax the situation.”
“The veto should be used to defend your own rights and interests. What interests do you have in Italia?”, the dwarf asked with a frown.
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“I am interested in you not having it. We wouldn’t have got anything from Italia if the elves and humans won”, she said.
“That was your own fault. You could have joined the invasion directly or indirectly to get something”, said the naiad.
“Yeah, I could have. You could have also decided to not support the humans and elves. You did not. So deal with the consequences yourself and leave me out of it”, the demi-human smiled triumphantly at the other two.
“Is that your final position?”, the other two asked.
“Yes it is my friends”, she confirmed.
“Well fuck me. I hope an earth wyrm appears and eats you alive. We can only react diplomatically and economically in the situation”, the dwarf said and locked eyes with the naiad. “You know more about those matters than I do. Any ideas?”
“Western Sicillia has been claimed by an alliance of other nations. I say we support them in their claim with goods and diplomatic pressure”, the naiad suggested.
“Doesn’t that go against the spirit of the peace deal?”, the demi-human asked.
“The elves and humans are not allowed to interfere with the politics of Italia. We are free to do what we want”, the dwarf pointed out.
“If that is what you want to do I wish you good luck. The demi-humans will provide minimal assistance”, the woman said.
“We will remember your decision, as will the elves and humans”, said the naiad.
“Let us get to the next point. The governorship of Aegyptus is open after the early death of the last ruler. Neapoli has made an unofficial alliance with two houses. We have to stop them from interfering in our internal policies”, the dwarf said.
“Not so fast. We support the current development. It has been two decades since the last demi-human reigned over the province. I want for house Ptolemy to get the position”, the demi-human said. “I do not care if I need your help or the help of an outsider.”
“I also support the development in Alexandria. House Bilibin should take control of the capital”, the naiad said and both looked at each other with warm smiles.
“Considering the state of the humans after the lost war there won’t be much they can do. I don’t care who reigns the damned river. I will support your claims, but the houses must cut off the alliance with Neapoli. We can’t allow outsiders to control our inner conflicts”, the dwarf explained.
“If your support is equal or better, then I will agree”, the demi-human said.
“I would also agree under those conditions”, the naiad added.
“Then it is finalized. Let our diplomats work out a document for the archive, also inform the elven council and human assembly”, the old man stood up and left the room.
“That worked out better than expected”, the woman’s tail swayed from left to right as she stood up.
“You look happy with yourself. I am just satisfied we could agree on something for once”, the naiad stood up and left the room together with a now transformed demi-human. The smaller woman now towered over her with a height of two meters.
“You think this impresses me or should I be scared of the big bad wolf”, she said and moved her hand through the thick fur. The demi-human transformed back.
“No touching, that tickles”, she said with a smile. “Did you hear? The heir of Neapoli is in Alexandria and some people are sending their daughters in hopes to form a connection”, the wolf said and the naiad laughed.
“Yes, it just so happens one of my daughters will stay for a while in the city”, the naiad added.
“One of mine will as well. The library and architecture are just too good to not show them to her”, she added as well.
“Then I wish a good hunt to you”, the naiad bowed lightly and entered a carriage.
“You too”, the demi-human answered and entered her own carriage.
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“Another city defected to the Duchy of Sardinia”, Marcena said and put the report on her table.
“That makes three for this week. We are losing control and support in Sicillia”, I said and rubbed my temples.
“We could send the legion to the island. It may stabilize the situation”, Marcena suggested.
“No, we can’t risk losing control in southern Italia. If the same happens there ...”, I sighed and stared at the ceiling.
“Yes that would be bad, but there is not much we can do”, Marcena added.
“Inform all of our lords of a meeting in Napule. We may reach an agreement with our ‘vassals’ and stop the dissolving of our nation”, I opened a window for a bit of fresh air.
“They will want more rights and concessions from us. We would have no real control over them and lose even more tax income”, Marcena said, pointing out the disadvantages.
“But it should stop them from seceding and gives us time to stabilize the realm”, I explained.
“I guess you're right. At least the eastern war reparations may help us in rebuilding Napule and other cities”, Marcena said.
A knock from the door interrupted us.
“Come in”, was the reply from both of us.
Jagu and Duran entered the room. We were surprised and our husbands dashed to hug their wives.
“I thought you wouldn’t be back for a week”, I said and enjoyed my husband’s embrace.
“Rastus has handled the rest for me. I missed you Ren”, he gave me another kiss. We ignored Duran leaving the room while princess-carrying a giggling Marcena.
“I missed you too Jagu”, I said and gave him another kiss. My man was back at my side, back to his family and that save and well. We settled on the couch after a few minutes.
“So how did it go, the peace deal I mean?”, I asked my husband.
“It worked out well. We had to play out the Pannonian ace we had, but both sides accepted the demands in the end”, Jagu said and explained the rest of the deal to me.
“That is good to heir the goods and money from the east will help us rebuild our cities”, I said. Jagu grabbed my hand and put it into his own.
“Are there any news about Lucius?”, he asked. I didn’t answer and looked at the ground instead.
There were still no news about his whereabouts or his condition. My baby could be dead for all I knew. I feel so helpless and scared of losing him. A tear flowed down my cheek. Jagu used a finger to make me look up into his eyes.
He had also a tear running down his cheek. We swiped away each other's tears. The silence continued with me hugging my husband fiercely until I calmed down, and he also relaxed a bit.
“Niloticus says the elves didn’t manage to capture him, but he was shot and his whereabouts are still unknown”, I said and the feeling of being helpless to help my child surged up again. Jagu gave me a small smile.
“Be a bit more confident in our son. He is a Vespasianus, we are hard to kill. He has his friend with him, so he won’t be totally alone”, Jagu reassured me and the turmoil of emotions in my heart settled down a bit.
“I hope you are right”, I said and again silenced ensured in the room.
“How were things on your side while brother and I were campaigning”, he asked me.
“Bad, but it could be worse. How much information did you read about Sicillia”, I asked him.
“The basics. We can’t start another campaign right now, but we should be able to keep the eastern half. We should also have a meeting with our vassals”, he said.
“We were already preparing to summon them soon. We planned to have the meeting in a month in Napule. Or its remnants”, I said and pulled away from Jagu to my desk. He followed and went through a few of the papers himself.
“Hmm, the count of Agrigentum declares he is seceding from our realm. The reason is ‘we’ managed to defend against the east and there was no more need for us to be united”, my husband read the newest city escaping from Neapoli. “I remember him. A fat man. Part shark, sea-folk, he could regrow his teeth and never washed his mouth because of it.”
“Sounds charming, but it doesn’t help us now”, I said and Jagu smiled at me.
“Oh, it does my love. I have sent our new marine gathering point to his city”, he said. “It may have been an accident, but our navy will have the town back into control without noticing what they did.”
“We should inform Titania. He might try to trap her, she needs to know the city is theoretically rebelling”, I said, a bit nervous about our navy heading to a port under enemy control.
“She will be fine. The enemy will either try to stop her and fail or let them in the city. There is no way some local militia will stop those hardened sailors”, he said.
“And what if they are not local troops, but troops from the Carthaginian Republic or the duchies”, I reminded him of the real threat.
“Yes, that would be problematic. Still, I trust Titania to make the right call”, he put down the documents.“Now tell me how are my other children?”
“Dad!”, two girls ran into the room with Silas following, having trouble keeping up.
“Ivy, Iris, Silas come here and give your father a hug”, my husband said and moved down on one knee.
They hugged him from all said and gave him kisses on his cheeks. They started to laugh soon in excitement about their father's return. Jagu started to laugh next and I soon had to join as well. All the worries about the realm and Lucius forgotten for this moment.
“Did you beat the bad guys?”, Iris asked and looked at her father. Refusing to let go of his hand.
“Yes, the war is over. There will be peace from now on. Dad will be home more often”, Jagu said and his promise again made the children laugh and fiddle around in excitement.
“New letter from brother?”, Silas asked and the expression of me and Jagu fell.
“The letter should arrive soon, it may have been lost on the journey. You will have to wait a bit for the next one probably”, Jagu said carefully. It was better to keep it secret from the children for now.
“Remus and Romulus said the other people are rebelling against us?”, Ivy asked.
I cursed the two talkative boys from Duran in my head. They should be more careful about what they say to the small ones.
“Nobody is rebelling right now. We will meet with the vassals in a few months and resolve the things. You don’t need to worry about that right now. The war is over and a next one won’t follow”, I said and my children nodded in understanding.
“How about you show dad the things you did while he was away. I will tell the kitchen to prepare a special dinner for today”, I offered and the little ones agreed and dragged my husband out of the room. He threw an air kiss before disappearing behind the closed door.
I smiled. Hopefully, Lucius rejoins us quick as well. I miss my oldest boy.