Kavaa watched the latest delivery arrive to Central Requisitions. It had transformed from a camp to a sprawling woodland fortress. Iniri had raised buildings for the men to sleep in and they all came with her touches. Branches and thick leaves gave plenty of shade. Stairs curled around trees to lead to higher levels. Great oaks served as a watchtowers and thick hedges marked out zones for everything. Arascus and Kassandora had both told her she could do whatever she wanted to as long as it followed Kassandora’s basic design, and the Goddess of Nature had ran crazy with the idea.
And now, something primitive yet inventive came along. Something that had not seen the light of day since the days of the Great War. Four trucks had arrived and were being unloaded by men driving forklifts, tomorrow there’d be twenty.
Bombs.
Iliyal shifted in his seat as Neneria and Anassa stood behind him. Across the small room, on chairs and long couch were sat the leaders of the five most important Epan countries. King Wissel Ellenheim of Doschia, King Aimone of Rilia, King Richard VII of Allia, and Presidents Artois and Jozef of Rancais and Lubska respectively. They came in suit and coat and cloak, the royalty having medals to mark their office. Richard had a band around his head to represent the crown.
Behind the leather couch stood the five Divines. Olonia and Agrita were the shortest, Olonia with the white braid and that thick coat topped off with fur. She there, stood arms crossed as her eyes inspected Iliyal. Agrita was most the most alluring of the four Goddess who had come to attend. In a tight silken dress that hugged her frame tightly. And Paida and Saksma next to them. Taller, with golden hair. Rancais’ Goddess with her purple eyes, Doschia’s with her blue.
Other men may have trembled under the gazes of five rulers and four Divines. Maybe they would ran, or hesitated, or become flustered. But Iliyal had commanded Olephia before, he was chosen by Kassandora. During the Reclamation War, he had talked with Fer almost everyday. He was only a mortal elf, but he didn’t like that title. He had not survived for an entire millennia to be reduced simply to a mortal elf.
Anassa and Neneria stood behind him. Neneria a step away, Anassa breathing heavily and tapping her foot as she waited impatiently. Iliyal did not even know why the woman was impatient, didn’t she have a copy of herself outside she was entertaining herself with? “Kassandora could not come.” Iliyal began. “So I’ve been sent.” He clapped his chest. “I’m sure you know who I am already.”
“Iliyal Tremali.” Artois said. “General of Arascus Eighth Legion in the Great War.” Iliyal smiled proudly at them. Of course they’d knew. He was more famous than any of them.
“I am Anassa.” Anassa said and the men blinked and gawked. The national mascot Goddesses shifted in their positions as Anassa circled around and sat on the arm of Iliyal’s couch. She was tall enough that her feet still reached the floor. “Goddess of Sorcery.”
“I am Wissel Ellenheim, I extend my greetings.” Wissel said. The other men introduced themselves and Neneria finished off.
“I am Neneria, Goddess of Death.” She said quietly. Iliyal waited for the other Goddesses to introduce themselves, as was custom. They didn’t, merely standing and waiting for him. He clicked his tongue, hoping they would catch the hint. Wissel leaned forwards.
“Are we here to discuss the plan Artois has shown you?” He asked. They were still at the Gala, Neneria had found a way to sneak off, Anassa had no issue, she merely summoned a copy of herself to watch. Iliyal had been in enough battles to learn how to not attract attention. Hopefully the royalty could be secretive, Iliyal assumed they could. Men who revealed their secrets easily were not the type to run this sort of scheme.
“My apologies.” Iliyal said as he extended his arm to the four Divines behind the Epans. “Are they not going to introduce themselves?” Wissel gave a wave of his hand.
“Saksma, of Doschia.” And Paida followed along, Olonia in that rough accent, Agrita in her sweet one.
“Do you girls not make decisions?” Anassa asked. Iliyal stopped his eyes from rolling. Neneria was good support in diplomacy since she stood there and kept quiet unless she saw something, and people were more prone to compromise when the Goddess of Death was in the room. Anassa was the opposite, Kassandora had once confided in Iliyal that she and Anassa were grown on the same tree, the one that liked to listen to itself talk.
“We represent the nation, not the politics.” Paida answered calmly and Anassa shrugged.
“So be it.” She said. “I’ve seen worse.” Paida only made an amused smile, but Saksma obviously had her ego hurt.
“That means what exactly?” Saksma said angrily.
“What do you think it means?” Anassa answered back smoothly. The humans looked up at the brewing storm.
Iliyal stepped in to settle it down, just as Kassandora would do. “Different age, different customs Saksma.” He made sure to direct the comment at her and not at Anassa, some mistakes did not have to be repeated. “But yes.” He turned to Wissel. That man was obviously the leader among these five, the first to speak and sitting in the middle. With the most experience among them, Iliyal had done his research before meeting them. “This is about your plan.” Iliyal pulled out a photocopy of Artois’ paper and unfolded it. “To be frank, it is terrible.”
It wasn’t terrible actually, Iliyal would have concocted something better, but for men who had no experience in the battlefield, they could have done a lot worse. Iliyal only wanted to see how they would react to something which was obviously an insult. Olonia’s lips quirked up in humour, Saksma narrowed her brows in annoyance. Paida and Agrita gave no reaction. The men all sighed, Wissel leaned down and looked at the notes. “I have made my own changes, you’re welcome to take it and incorporate them.” Iliyal smiled as he leaned back. “Goddess Kassandora looked over it.”
They may have issues with him, but if the Goddess of War had looked over the changes, they would accept. But there was one thing not on the paper, for secrecy rather than anything else. “And there is one more change to be done.”
“What is that?” Wissel asked, he handed the paper off to Jozef. Olonia leaned down to read it along with him.
“I should be the commander of the operation.” Iliyal said. This was the hardest part of the discussion, these men could potentially storm the Divine Armoury themselves, but it would be better if the weapon-invention Divines were used by their rightful owners and not by these pretenders to power.
“You?” Wissel said. Saksma behind was obviously not happy. Agrita smiled though, but Iliyal had seen that hungry smile on women before. She was trouble.
“Me.” Iliyal said with a nod. He leaned back as Anassa stood up. Iliyal had told her and Neneria what the point of the meeting was in the first place, and that they should back him up however they thought. Total independence was a rare order, but it was the only Anassa would receive, and Neneria would shut down thinking about the technicalities if she was given a list of instructions.
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“Iliyal is the best choice.” Anassa said. “My sister has chosen him as a General, he is more skilled than anyone you could muster up.” Iliyal sighed, that sort of deliberate tone did not help in diplomacy. And Saksma’s reaction was the exact reason why. She scowled, but didn’t say anything.
“We…” Wissel said slowly. “We have our own commanders.”
“To sell myself.” Iliyal quickly scrambled, his tone apologetic but firm. “I am better.” He let the statement hang for a few seconds, it was obvious no one would argue with someone who led one of Arascus’ Legions. It was simply an appeal to his own fame and prestige, but if there was one thing Iliyal knew, it was that his prestige was deserved. Out of everyone, he was one of the few who had been personally chosen after all. “It’s not a case that I doubt your officers, but Maisara’s head quarters won’t be dealing with criminals. They will fight back and stand to the last man.”
Anassa began, this time coming in with a gloating tone. “Frankly, I-“
“Control yourself Anassa.” Neneria interrupted her from the back.
“Well if dear sister says so.” Anassa cooed. Fer would have had a retort, Olephia would too, but Neneria simply let the statement drop. Iliyal was glad she did.
“This…” Wissel leaned back and looked to the men by his side.
“It is a suggestion.” Artois admitted.
“We would have to discuss it.” Jozef added and King Aimone nodded.
“Discuss all you want, our offer won’t change.” Anassa said, Iliyal wished Arascus had not brought her along, there was a reason she was usually kept away from diplomatic meetings. Neneria came in.
“To add to that.” She said slowly and took a pause. Saksma jumped on the chance to speak.
“General Tremali, do you have your Divines do that talking for you all the time?” She said. Anassa chuckled from the side as Neneria froze up. And the Goddess of Sorcery came in to defend her pride.
“I understood that the opinions of mascots are not worth much your highness.” She directed it to Wissel, the man grew pale as if he wanted to die simply from the terrible position he had been put into. “But you should keep order in the court.”
“It is simply unprecedented.” Saksma said, Paida came in. Simply from the watching the show with Neneria outside, Iliyal knew this woman would say something that would try to alleviate the situation. He’d agree with her as long as it wasn’t stupid.
“Saksma, have some decency.” Paida said, Iliyal lifted his hand to catch Neneria’s attention and made one of Kassandora’s signals. The Goddess of Death remembered it from a thousand years past.
“Keep your cool Anassa.” Neneria said, colder this time. She stepped forwards to put herself on the other side of Iliyal. Arms crossed across her black dress. “I will do the talking.” Iliyal wished Arascus or Kassandora or Fer were here, they could steer the rest of them easily. Whenever he captained the ship, the rudder would become like jelly.
“Of course, I aim for decorum and nothing else.” Anassa said sarcastically. “But your highness, you-“
“Anassa.” Neneria interrupted her once again. “This is the final warning.”
Anassa finally shut up.
Iliyal switched tactics and feigned a sigh. From the expressions of the mortals, it was obvious they didn’t feel safe with Anassa and Neneria this close to them, but there was also a questioning doubt in their eyes. Kassandora had taught him this, when an opponent thought you weak and disorganised, let him believe what he wants. Overestimation of yourself could only lead to biting off more than you could chew, but underestimation was the opposite. Iliyal looked up at Anassa, she wasn’t stupid, nor would she sink a meeting for satisfaction of her own ego… usually. Two crimson eyes looked down at Iliyal, framed by a perfect face of black hair.
No point, Anassa had always been impossible to get a read on. Whether she was doing on purpose or whether she was truly so petty was a question Iliyal had decided wasn’t worth the effort of figuring out a long time ago. “In regards to Iliyal.” Neneria said. “You know his qualifications, he is Kassandora’s man, so he won’t boast of his actions but as of this moment, he is in the top five in the world when it comes to leadership.”
Wissel turned to Neneria. “And may I ask the others?”
“Arascus, Kassandora, Allasaria, Fortia, in that order. Iliyal fifth.” Neneria listed the names off slowly and Iliyal kept the grin off his face. It was high praise, and it felt good when it came from someone who knew everyone on that list.
“Is he?” Agrita, Rilia’s mascot, cooed. Iliyal realised who she reminded him of. Alee the maid. That was a terrible woman who did terrible things to him, and this Agrita carried the exact same expression. Light brown hair, shorter, but making up for it with everything else. The orange dress did not help either.
‘”Agrita.” Paida said sternly.
“I’m only commenting.” Agrita said as she rubbed her chin. “And they’re allowed to talk.”
“That we are.” Anassa said smugly.
“I like you.” Agrita said. “You’re full of yourself, but you don’t look too bad.” Anassa laughed.
“You are cute.” The Goddess of Sorcery replied. “I will give you that.” Saksma rolled her eyes as the mortals once again became ingratiated in the conversation between Divines.
Iliyal returned the topic back to what it should be. “With the changes I’ve made.” Iliyal said. “You should be successful no matter who leads, but I will lead the operation.” He made his tone stern.
“That is one way to talk to a King.” Saksma said.
“When the man is older than your nation, he can talk however he wants.” Anassa bit back.
“Anassa is crass, but Iliyal’s point stands.” Neneria said. Wissel leaned back and sighed, he crossed his arms.
“I assume you can understand why we aren’t…” He stopped and thought for a second. “So eager to let you lead?”
Iliyal had his reply ready, a flanking offensive to the man’s shieldwall. “In regards to this, we initially wanted to send Goddess Kassandora.” That was a complete lie, Kassandora would not step foot in Epa before they had a large presence there. “But that would look even worse, I will not be seen, I will not make a diplomatic incident.”
Wissel nodded slowly, then launched his parry. “But likewise, I think you understand we don’t trust you entirely.”
Arascus had already rehearsed this with Iliyal. “There is a reason.” Iliyal said proudly.
“Then I’d like to hear to it.”
“We’re not this for ourselves.” Iliyal said. Now that the Divines had shut up, he could said what was needed to be said. Frankly, brining Anassa was good. One conversation with her made her look like an impossible-to-work-with maniac, and those people rarely made good plots. “We’re doing it for you.” Wissel raised an eyebrow. Artois stepped in.
“How?”
“You’ve seen Neneria power already, Anassa is strong too.”
“The strongest.” Anassa said. There it was! They wouldn’t catch it, but Iliyal knew when the woman was making a joke. Her voice always curled upwards when she started enjoying herself, and she was obviously enjoying picking on these weaker Divines.
“Fer, I’m sure you’ve heard of the attack on Arcadia.” Iliyal said and the humans nodded. The Divines behind them made grim faces. “Kassandora and Arascus, and Olephia. If we wanted to, could the White Pantheon stop us from destroying the Paladin Headquarters?”
“You raise a good point.” Wissel said.
Iliyal made himself seem more reasonable. Anyone with a bone of pragmatism in their body would immediately distrust those who didn’t reveal what they wanted. “Our interests lie in the weakening of Maisara’s forces. You come to us with a plan, it’s rather good, it costs us little.” He tapped the paper on the table between them. “Frankly, it was a pleasant surprise, so I have to thank you for that.” He had them being eating out of the palm of his hand now, he knew it. “Thank you.”
The elf continued. “But we have two stipulations, the operation launches when Kassandora gives the green light, and I lead it. You agree, and we can smuggle rifles to you immediately.” Wissel looked to Richard and gave the man a nod. They weren’t bad diplomats, especially since they didn’t lose their cool when the Divines were picking a fight, but there was a reason Kassandora had created a list of hand signals for everyone.
Richard spoke in his high Allian accent, every word pronounced as it should be properly. “I will organise it, an Allian ship to Rilia, Rancais and Doschia are already in the Pantheon’s bad books.”
“That is your domain, we won’t interlude. We can have a hundred rifles ready with ammunition by dawn.” A call to Kavaa in CR would make it happen.
“What sort of time-scale are we working with?” Jozef asked. “A year? A matter of months?”
“We are waiting for Elassa to leave Epa, upon confirmation she is in Arika, we will bog her down and stall her here.” That should be enough time. “So about a month, fifty days at the most.”
“And it’s just you?” Wissel asked. “Not anyone…”
“I will bring a team of my own bodyguards of course.” They were already sold on him being there, he could see it in their expressions. Now, the frog was cooked, he could make more demands.
“Not Divines.” Wissel said quickly.
“Of course, only humans.” Iliyal already knew who’d be going, it was the sorcerers. But these people didn’t have to know that. Wissel sighed and looked to the men around. They nodded. The King of Doschia leaned forwards, his arm extended.
“Very well General Tremali, we graciously thank you for your help, and hope this will be the start of a long and fruitful relationship.” Iliyal shook the man’s hand.
Fruitful, the relationship would be.
For his team at the very least.
Maybe not for them.