My extensive engagement with the ambassadors from Erst and Kandalar roused the suspicions of the Theran ambassador, who sent word to Queen Herana that I was reaching out to the other kingdoms for what could only be the formation of an alliance. The confrontation with Herana was now at hand, however, despite strengthening my hand by securing the support of Erst and Kandalar, my intention was not to use it to bully Herana into submission. I informed Ambassador Gail of my desire for an audience with Queen Herana and she agreed to communicate my wish for an audience to Avondrea.

The moment that I had been waiting for was once again at hand. I had tried once before to bring unity to the realm, only to have those efforts dashed by Herana's preference for a civil war in Dranii. There would be no such opportunity for sabotage this time, and I intended to take full advantage of my position of strength to bring about unity in the realm. My plan was to approach her with the same proposal that I had presented to her the last time, which was to craft a framework of rules that all of the kingdoms would have to abide by when they traded, loaned funds to other kingdoms, and sought to resolve conflicts. As I explained to Queen Herana when I flew to Theran for my audience with her, the chances of conflict arising between kingdoms will be significantly reduced if the opportunities for certain kingdoms to exploit their advantages over certain other kingdoms were eliminated, and the best way to achieve that was to take away the ability of kingdoms to restrict the sale of their goods to would-be buyers by forcing them to sell it into a common market first, where prices would be determined by the overall supply and demand within the realm. On the issue of debt and the need to bring an end to the predatory lending practices that Dranii had used to accumulate power throughout the realm, I proposed the creation of a central bank that would facilitate the loaning of funds to debtor nations at fixed interest rates and under specific, agreed upon conditions. These institutional creations would largely eliminate economic exploitation and drastically reduce the likelihood of disputes between kingdoms escalating into conflict. Of course there was the possibility of conflict arising in the absence of any provocation, as was the case when Kandalar attacked Grunheim. Conflicts such as these generally arose when a smaller kingdom possessed something that a larger kingdom wanted that they thought they could take by force rather than paying for it. Gronden and Menten were the most concerned about this happening to them; to alleviate their fears and gain their support I offered them a security pact that would oblige Aseron to come to their aid should they be the victims of an unprovoked attack.

"You told me that you had no interest in being involved in realm politics, and yet here you are telling me all about how you've managed to gain the support of nearly all of the other kingdoms for a set of reforms that would change the way that everything is done in the realm," Queen Herana said to me.

"I'm only doing this because your overtures to Kandalar and Volstaff were causing unease among the other kingdoms, enough unease to cause some of the other rulers to start worrying about the possibility of a future war, exactly the thing I was looking to prevent when I came here last and asked you to join me in bringing order to the realm."

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"King Gregorio was never going to accept our plan to bail out Kandalar and Volstaff; that civil war had to happen, he had to be gotten rid of, him and his son."

"You may believe that, but you need to understand that what you did has led the other rulers to believe that you are a ruler who cannot be trusted, hence their unease about your overtures to two kingdoms that have acted as rogues in the past."

"But they trust you?"

"They trust me because I've earned their trust."

"You have only been on the throne for three years, you are yet to be truly tested, it is ridiculous that they would put their faith in an untested leader."

"And yet they have, which leaves me needing to convince only you to sign on to my proposal."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we move forward without you."

"You can't do this without me, my kingdom is the largest producer of food in the realm; how can you conclude a trade treaty that doesn't include the kingdom that supplies most of the realm's food?"

"As I have proven through the use of crop rotation and our water towers, agricultural productivity in the other kingdoms can be increased to the point where your grain imports are not needed."

"Now you are threatening the very existence of my kingdom, such a threat is more than enough for me to declare war on your kingdom."

"Declare war with what army? Your slaves? Everybody knows they're useless in battle; your threat of war is a hollow one."

"You are prepared to fight a war with me in order to see your ambition for a unified realm come to fruition?"

"I am, but there won't be any need for war if you agree to sign on to these reforms."

Herana took a moment to consider my ultimatum.

"Who is going to oversee these institutions to ensure that there is no favoritism, abuse or corruption?" She asked me.

"We create a body consisting of representatives from all nine kingdoms that will be responsible for oversight of all trade, banking and security matters; I think The Supreme Council would be a good name for it."

"And would this Supreme Council be situated in Aseron?"

"I don't care where we put it, we could put it here in Theran if you'd like."

Herana took another moment to consider things.

"I'm inclined to sign on to your proposal, however I will need assurances that Theran's interests will be protected."

"Your monopoly on grain exports will remain, however I would advise you to start thinking about diversifying your economy."

Herana was not very interested in my advice; we had concluded our business and she didn't see any need for us to talk further, though she did see the need to leave me with some parting words.

"Alegra," she said to me as I was leaving.

"Yes?"

"Well done."