All in all, Marianne Neralt reflected, her mission could have been going better.

It had even started fairly promising, after their unfortunate change of travel plans. Arriving earlier than they would have by carriage had most likely been a good thing, however. And she supposed things could be worse even now. In fact, they could be a lot worse, although accompanying a foreign invasion army into Narlia was not what she would have considered a goal for the negotiations.

At least the Esemen respected diplomatic protection, by and large. After hearing what had happened to Bea and the rest of the Hive Queen’s last envoy to a supposedly neutral polity, Marianne had been just a little nervous. But that concern had been laid to rest rather quickly. The Esemen had made a point of treating her courteously, if nothing else. They hadn’t even quibbled about her status as an ambassador for the Hive.

That fact had interesting implications if you considered the wider picture. Treating her akin to an envoy from a proper, legitimate country indicated that the Esemen had no issues with seeing the Hive as one, or would at least be open to acknowledging it.

It fit the impression she had gathered of them, admittedly. Of course, that image had gotten its start before she even talked to a single Esemen, so she was conscious that there would be some bias. But they did strike her as primarily pragmatic. Marianne still did not feel like she had gotten to the bottom of the core of their motivations and ambitions, but some things were rather obvious. They clearly did not have much of a problem with the Hive occupying territory on an ideological level.

They’d also been rather indifferent to the fact that she was a woman. That was nice, she’d admit privately. Not all of the people she had talked to here were men, either.

The most important man she had spoken to was, of course, their High Shaman. Marianne had read all she could about the office, as soon as the Esemen involvement became clear and especially in preparation for this mission, and several unexpected similarities had struck her. She couldn’t help but see parallels to the Governors of Cernlia. Like them, the High Shamans had dominated politics in Esemen, despite not being the actual monarchs. The office even had a similarly religiously-inspired background, though in a somewhat different manner. Unlike in Cernlia, however, their power had not waned in Esemen.

The current High Shaman, Usebius, was a wizened old man who looked like a gentle breeze might knock him to the ground. He had played the genial grandfather rather well, but Marianne had not missed the sharpness in his gaze, unclouded by age. This was not one to take lightly.

Unfortunately, he had insisted on personally hosting her, which in effect meant that she had to accompany him here. Although the unfortunate part was rather that he had politely insisted on leaving Ria behind to engage with a gathering of Esemen noblemen. He’d even cited concerns for her safety as one reason for it with a straight face! As if anyone would be a greater danger to our - and especially a Hivekind drone’s - safety than he himself.

"Do not be afraid, Lady Neralt,” her current escort said reassuringly, interrupting her thoughts. “We will not encounter anything more than assorted brigands and miscreants, nothing we cannot deal with handily. You will not be in any danger, I assure you.”

“It would not even occur to me to worry, Milord,” Marianne replied. Her answering smile was a little more strained than she would like.

Lord Thebens was a gallant knight who clearly made a point of his gallantry. She’d dealt with worse sorts; at least he acted respectfully. He also stuck to her like a particularly persistent thistle. He was always polite and courteous about it, so there was little she could do, even to complain. Marianne still was not certain whether he was putting on an act while being more alert and deliberate than he was letting on, or just a slightly oblivious hanger-on they’d foisted on her for his persistence, which irked her quite a bit.

She hoped his motivations weren’t romantic in nature. He was rather too young for her, really. He couldn’t be much older than thirty, although the System might have slowed his aging some. Still, he was apparently only a Steadfast Knight at level thirty-eight, it could not have that large an effect.

“Would you like to move up to the High Shaman’s party? I am sure he would be happy to speak to you during the journey,” her escort said.

Marianne frowned in thought for a moment, before nodding. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There would be no harm in at least seeing if she could speak to the Esemen leaders. She had felt off-balance since being separated from Ria, much to her annoyance, but letting it stop her from acting would be a mistake. It was more important than ever to gather what information she could, and if that meant taking some risks with information she herself might inadvertently reveal, that was what she must do.

Marianne accompanied Thebens forward along the course of the Esemen army. They were currently walking, although the Esemen had provided her - and escorts - a carriage. The army was moving slowly enough this did not pose much of a challenge, even for someone like her, who did not have high physical stats. Unfortunately, Marianne did not have enough experience with armies in general to know if their pace was normal or not. She had picked up a few things in regard to the Hive, but it was obvious that would not be a good point of reference.

She took a moment as she approached to watch the High Shaman and the people with him and attempt to ascertain their dynamics. They were traveling under the open sky, which apparently held some cultural significance, although Usebius himself was riding on an open, horse-drawn carriage, really more of a chariot with extra wheels. Some men and a few women crowded around him, most of them much younger, and about half of them wearing traditional Esemen spiritualist garb - robes in either a tight or wide, flowing style, sometimes over trousers. Their behavior did not differ much, and she knew many young nobles would enter an order or spend some time as a devotee before getting on with more earthly affairs, or at least taking up a court position or similar.

"Lady Marianne,” the High Shaman greeted her as they approached, interrupting another young man who was currently talking. He smiled at her and gestured for her to approach, ignoring his current companions for the moment.

“High Shaman,” she replied, bowing respectfully. “I hear we have crossed into Nerlia?”

“Indeed,” he replied, still smiling and appearing to all the world like a cheerful, carefree traveler, who was not currently invading another sovereign nation. “We crossed the border perhaps an hour ago, in truth.”

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“It is not clearly marked out here, so there is some room for debate,” another woman added, who a glance at the System notification identified as a Lady Matringel.

“I’m sure they will endeavor to correct that as soon as possible,” Marianne remarked a touch sardonically.

“It certainly won’t be their border for much longer,” the young man who’d spoken earlier snorted, the sound grating to her nerves. “They will have other things to worry about! Soon enough the Nerlians will be begging to retain as much as the rump of their former kingdom.”

“We’ll have to win it first, before you rascals can divide the spoils of our victory. Until then, perhaps you had best focus on your sword arm rather than your mouth, hm, Sir Ian?”

Marianne glanced at the man who’d spoken and noticed that he stood a bit apart from the rest. According to the System, he was a high-leveled fighter, however, with the Class of Grandmaster Knight at a high enough level that she could not see it. His name, Pavel Nightsen, seemed familiar, although she could not place it right away. She eyed the way he stood and was placed in regard to the others, however, and thought she understood. He’s not excluded, just holding himself aloof a little. Combined with the System’s information, that made things rather clear. So he’s their general.

She’d known the High Shaman was not responsible for conducting this operation himself, even if it was done under his authority. While he might be a talented politician, military strategies would be rather a different matter.

The young man he’d reprimanded flushed, but bit his lip and did not respond, only glanced briefly at the High Shaman. For his part, their ruler was looking at the men with his usual benevolent grandfatherly air, and clearly had no intention of involving himself in any way. In his place, Marianne would have done the same.

“What sorts of gains do you expect?” she asked innocently.

Usebius smiled. “Come now, Lady Marianne, surely you do not expect us to give you an accounting of our war aims that easily? It would not be much fun if you did not have to work at it at least a little, do you not think?”

“Clearly,” Marianne agreed. “Perhaps you would like to hear something of the hive’s aims, then?” The Esemen preferred to be direct, in her experience so far. She supposed it could not hurt to try.

“Tempting,” the general replied, sounding like he truly meant it. “However, I am afraid that is an exchange I would not consider necessarily beneficial for us, so we would have to decline.”

The High Shaman nodded slightly in confirmation, not even looking at Nightsen except for a brief moment. Marianne made a mental note of the apparent trust and close working relationship between them this signified. She had not expected the military leaders to have this much influence in what were essentially political concerns, but she supposed it made sense. The Esemen certainly weren’t stupid.

“Very understandable,” Marianne conceded, putting just a hint of disdain into her tone. “I cannot help but notice that we are not quite moving in a straight line.”

“Armies are not arrows, Lady Neralt,” Thebens spoke, managing not to sound very condescending in his reply. “Like rivers or roads, they have to follow the features of the terrain. And, especially, what roads exist. It is rare for them to offer a straight path for more than a few leagues.”

“I know,” Marianne replied, unruffled. She resisted the impulse to point out that the Hive very well could go in a straight line in most cases. They had likely surmised as much already, and if they had not, she was not going to bring it to their attention. “But there are several highways and smaller roads in this part of the country, are there not? Even taking into account the constraints of the road network, it occurs to me that if you were heading straight into Nerlia from your point of origin, there would be a better, more direct path to take along a reasonably broad road.”

Ria had shared a few maps with her before their journey. While their knowledge of Esemen itself was sparse, the Hive had sent flying drones across most of Nerlia, where they could reach, and even beyond their link’s psychic range on occasion, with their Keepers putting the information together. The resulting maps might not have names for most roads or settlements, but they showed topographical features quite well.

She had noticed the Esemen had sent advance parties off not long ago, and from what she could see, were preparing to follow a southern course at the next fork in the road. Putting her recollection of the maps together with what she had observed of the army’s movements, Marianne was starting to suspect they were ‘drifting’ from a straight shot because the Esemen were not taking the shortest path to their destination, whichever it might be. Likely because they wanted to hoodwink the Nerlians, pretend to go for a different target than they were truly attempting. And as she watched the expressions of the assembled Esemen closely, she grew more confident in that suspicion.

“Perhaps you should leave the war-making to those trained in such arts, Lady Neralt,” Usebius suggested gently.

Marianne bowed her head, forcing an apologetic smile onto her expression. “I apologize if I misspoke or offended, High Shaman. Gentlemen.”

“Hm,” the general grunted. “You said she wasn’t connected to her hive back in the Approaches, didn’t you, Lord Usebius?” he asked his leader, disregarding her presence.

Usebius’ eyes narrowed slightly. “She shouldn’t be,” he replied.

“Then I doubt it truly matters, at this point,” Nightsen said.

Marianne tried not to let the smile on her face visibly freeze. Once more, she wished she had some way of contacting Regina. Unfortunately, the Esemen was likely correct. She had no true way of getting a message to the Hive, certainly not instantly, while they kept her separated from the drones that had come with her. She had not even seen any of the Swarm Drones in a while. That is not my purpose, she reminded herself. I am here as a diplomat, able to negotiate on behalf of the Hive. For all I know, they would not even have spoken to a drone connected to the Hive’s link.

“If that is the case,” she began, smiling demurely once more. “One of you might enlighten me?”

“Perhaps we might,” Usebius replied with a chuckle.

Marianne sighed and shook her head. “I would caution you not to underestimate the Hive,” she told him, modeling her demeanor as if she was giving friendly advice. “They might be new to the stage, but they are quite formidable. And they have allies, ones who are nothing to scoff at, either.”

A few of the hangers-on around the High Shaman actually gave something away at those words, exchanging looks or even the smiles of people who thought they had the upper hand and were enjoying lording it over someone else, if only in their minds.

“It would be a shame if some of your allies were unable to come to anyone’s aid,” Sir Ian said with a smirk.

Marianne blinked. It barely took her a second to realize what he must mean. Earl Whitor.

She did not know if it would be this army or another one — she was not a strategist — but evidently, the Esemen could march into northern Cernlia. And it did not take a strategic genius to see that would be a problem for Lord Whitor.

Marianne glanced away, taking a moment to marshal her thoughts and what she remembered of the strategic situation. The armies of the Nerlian and Cernlian kings were still in the southwest of the county in question, posing a major threat. There was Marquis’ Lyns’ army, but last she heard, it did not manage to be a significant factor. The Hive had an army there as well, but was preoccupied fighting in Nerlia’s interior.

The Esemen could be halfway through all of northern Cernlia before they even encountered significant resistance. Perhaps even the adjoining parts of Nerlia, as well, especially if they diverted their enemies’ attention skillfully. It might be a bold move, certainly, but Marianne could not soothe the sinking feeling in her stomach. She doubted they could be stopped easily.

It would also bring the Esemen close to major armies from every other player in this messy, not-entirely-civil war.

After a moment, Marianne shook her head slightly and turned her full focus back on the assembled Esemen. “Be that as it may, it is always better to have allies than enemies.”

“Wise words, Milady,” Thebens said with a smile she thought looked slightly sardonic.

“Perhaps we can still come to understand each other,” Marianne said, even as she saw in their faces it would not be an easy task.

She did not let herself be discouraged. Diplomacy took time, after all. And the longer she was here, the more she learned about the Esemen.