Nero
“I had a dream once,” Nero began to explain. He was speaking to President Cain, Vice-president McGrath, and the general staff for the Griffin Republic. The Lake Republic declared war on the alliance about a week and a half ago, and chaos reigned in the capital. Nero wasn’t allowed into any meetings, people hoarded the grocery stores to stock up on supplies in case of a blockade, and the dock had ships come in and out every couple of minutes. Ships worth of burned men would disembark with the fresh sailors watching as they boarded the ship next to them.
Nero never thought that he could hear trumpets used in such a dramatic way, but he did. Musicians sat on the docks and helped hurry the sailors along with their tasks. The mixture of trumpets and trombones filled the air and made it seem like a play where the sailors were moments away from turning on each other. It made him think of what the Kingdom of Qar would be like if the country decided to go to war and achieve reunification. The strings of the violins, cellos, and bass would ripple through the air. For some, it would seem like the strings of a bow were pulling armies across the country, while for others, someone gently cutting a person’s arm off centimeter by centimeter.
Tens of thousands of soldiers mobilized in case of an invasion, and tens of thousands more sailors were recruited to go out into the sea and seemingly never return. Either by physical or psychological death. Nero talked to one of the sailors as he boarded a warship. He was caring, talkative, and saying goodbye to his wife. The man seemed interested in Nero’s dragonvine. He didn’t make fun of it or stare at it in amazement but asked academic questions about where it came from and if he inherited any supernatural tendencies, and when Nero politely said no, he left him alone. When that man came back, all of his limbs were intact, but his face was covered in blood, and he had a scar of his own. It seemed as if someone took a bite out of his cheek, and he stared at everything. Someone touched him on the shoulder, and the man flinched in fear grabbed his dagger, and waved it wildly. They calmed him down eventually, but calm is a temporary emotion. Terror seemed to sear itself into the man’s face.
To Nero’s surprise, the Kingdom of Qar, the Dicon Diarchy, and the Honorable Teoland Stratocracy all pledged to fight on for their continental brothers if someone decided to land troops on the other’s continent. Nero knew that Maximus must not have been happy making such a decision but had to for geopolitical reasons. With those promises, the likelihood of an invasion became near impossible, and the mobilization of ground troops halted.
Lucius now did what he wanted to do, to protect the continent to the best of his ability. He told Nero that he had the opportunity to deny the possibility of an invasion for the next couple hundred years if they won. If they didn’t, an invasion might happen in Nero’s lifetime. He roamed the skies and in the first week of the war, destroyed twenty Lake Republic ships. However, the impact became negligible as the Lake Republic still had 600 and 80 ships while the alliance now only had 400. The so-called “War of the Republics” became wildly imbalanced the day the Expert’s Commonwealth’s 2nd fleet was destroyed in Salmonport.
The president and his generals were discussing a way to deal a blow to the Lake Republic so they would offer peace terms. All sides knew that if the war went long enough, the Lake Republic would win militarily, but economically, it was anyone’s game. If there was a way to make the war economically impossible for the Lake Republic, the war could end in months. Though many ideas were thrown around, by the time Nero was allowed into a meeting, the military had come to a consensus that an attack on Kato Kanali was necessary.
Nero grew sweaty and twiddled his thumbs at the thought. The risk of the destruction of the canal was high if not intentional. Thousands of people lived on the artificial land above the canal and if it was destroyed by volleys of cannon fire, the destruction would be too great. The thought of collapsing buildings horrified Nero. The blood, sweat, and tears put into those buildings and the memories tied to them were too much of a cost, even if it was the enemy. Luckily, President Cain agreed with him and no attack would happen on Kato Kanali for the time being.
When the generals asked what they should do, Nero began his speech. “I had a dream once,” he began. “It wasn’t a dream on Riverward or anywhere that I knew of. It was a grandiose hallway with white tiles all around me. It could have fit a dozen palaces with room to spare. I slowly walked down the hallway, but before I reached the end, I saw Cayo, but he didn’t look like the other dragons. His scales were twice the size, they were green, and his eyes pierced through my skin like he knew what I was thinking. Cayo demanded that I give him what I owed. I assumed he was talking about my dragonvine on my face, but I refused, saying that I didn’t know how to. He didn’t believe me no matter how much I tried to convince him and the dream ended with him chasing after me.
“My point is that I know that I can’t be in this room and make a national security decision, but I want to tell you that Hektor won’t know it is over. He will keep coming, build more ships, and destroy what you guys have until you are brought into submission. He will keep coming even if his goals are as illogical as Cayo wanting to rip the dragonvine off of my face. This war won’t be won on the seas but at the negotiation table. The only way we can win is if he forces Daniels’ hand.”
The room remained silent, except for Vice-president McGrath who asked when he saw this dream. “I saw it when I was very young,” Nero answered. “When my father still had a semblance of hope for me, he told me that if Romulus ever died, I would have to take over, so he dressed me up like a king for the day. I even wore the Griffin Crown.” Nero took a deep breath. “That’s not important though. Those days are over. Aim to win his mind, not the war. How you would do that, I am not sure.”
#
Later that day, Nero was walking through a market, trying to clear his mind. What was he going to do in Godmouth? He already wrote a letter to Raya informing her that he would stay in the city for the next couple of months to help with reforms that President Cain wanted to pass, but which reform would he commit himself to?
He immediately crossed many of them off the list as they required a lot of money to implement. Such as welfare reforms, the establishment of a river transport service, etc., and had no hope of passing with the money required for the military.
It was a fairly busy day at the market as Nero was shoulder to shoulder with people nearly the entire time and looked around for ideas. Food? he thought. What reforms would have to do with food? He didn’t think of anything but decided that he should probably get some food to cook back in the room that President Cain leased to him for his stay. It was getting quite expensive to stay at a hotel every night.
Nero approached a fruit stand and started picking some apples and bananas until a woman talked to him. “What’s that thing across your face?” she asked. She seemed to be around the same age as Nero and was quite an attractive woman.
“It’s,” Nero stumbled. “It’s Dragonvine. I have some dragon blood in me.”
“Dragon blood?” She asked. “Is it contagious?”
“No,” Nero answered.
“Good, I don’t want my business messed up with you spoiling all of my fruits.” Nero nodded, and he didn’t know if he should continue the conversation or not, so he kept quiet, but the woman kept asking away. “You got a pretty fancy costume. You work at the capital?”
Nero hesitated before trying to correct her that it wasn’t a costume but actual proper clothing, but she kept talking before he could answer. “Fucking politicians,” she said. “They never actually fucking govern. The one thing that they didn’t want actually improved all the people’s lives around me.”
“Are you talking about the war? How did that—”
“Ever since that war began, I’ve had twice the amount of customers, and so have all of my business friends. Everyone is worried about an invasion, but they are all idiots. To be honest, this war is the best thing that’s happened to me since I was born.”
Nero didn’t answer and stared at the woman. How could she think that the war could be positive? Even if she benefited from it, any sane person wouldn’t want their countrymen to die or be scared. “You want the war to continue?” Nero asked.
“I don’t really care,” she answered. “Those politicians will fuck it up anyway, but if it doesn’t affect me, I don’t care.” Nero continued to stare in disbelief. “You okay, man? Do you want ale or something? Why the fuck are you staring at me as if I just told you that my fruits are made of wood or something?
Another customer browsing her stand looked up at her in suspicion. “I was only joking,” she told the customer before turning back to Nero.
“No,” Nero answered. “I’m fine, I don’t drink.”
“Wow, you must have a sad life. Good luck getting a date without drinking, unless you already have a girlfriend." Nero shook his head. “Have you ever had a girlfriend?” she asked.
Nero hesitated before the woman answered for him and said that it was a complicated situation. “Yeah, something like that, but I don’t need a drink to get over it,” Nero said before walking off back to the capitol building. He needed to talk to the president.
#
After getting approval from President Cain, Nero pursued the goal of creating the first restriction on alcohol in the world. It was a campaign promise that Nero found out about while he was on his way down to Godmouth. The reform was simple: no one under the age of twenty may consume, buy, possess, or sell alcohol.
The president gave Nero a list of all Congressmen and ranked them in order of most to least likely to support the bill and added the note that no Covenant congressmen had crossed the aisle and voted to pass a bill without the support of Opposition Leader Man ever since President Cain took office, but that was an issue to deal with in the future.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Nero went down the list and first tried approaching them individually, but after three days, he was only able to get eighteen people on his side which would be impressive for any person, but those votes were already a given and the amount of time it took to get those eighteen men to agree to the law was a worrying sign for Nero, so he came up with a new strategy.
All of those eighteen men were from the Whig party, and though they supported many reforms, their party seemed to be split into two factions: big government and small government. The Covenants seemed to also be split into the same two factions but did a better job of keeping the party as a coherent voting bloc. Some of the Whig congressmen told Nero that some of the Covenant members were closeted monarchists and would pledge their support if Nero asked for their support, but that was the problem. Already, people started to notice that the exiled prince was in Godmouth, and one time a group of men followed and called out to Nero. It seemed like they wanted to talk, but luckily, Nero made it into the capitol building before they made a move. Worries of the People’s Lord froze Nero sometimes, and he sometimes stopped himself from going outside to minimize the danger. If he asked for their support, there was a serious risk that the bill would be tied to monarchist influence in the government, and further movement would be halted. No, he needed to stay with the Whigs and the other members of the Covenant Party, but the math didn’t add up.
The Whigs didn’t control Congress, so he needed to talk to Ulysses, which Nero didn’t want to do before, hoping talking with individual congressmen could prevent him, but he deceived himself no longer.
Before he scheduled a meeting, Nero got a couple of more Whig members to pledge their support. The Whig members from Blackrun, Burton, and Godmouth already were on board, with two from Knittingford and four from Witon agreeing only if the bill gave more funding to the military, to which Nero reluctantly agreed.
Nero also invited a couple of Covenant members to the meeting. He chose them based on the president’s recommendation, and Nero brought them along so he could talk to more people at the same time. He convinced the Whig congressmen from Blackrun to also attend. They were much more invested in the bill as they described weekends that raged throughout the night and into the morning, and with alcohol supplied from Whiskeyville, many of the drunk patrons that roamed their states weren’t even from the area and often trashed the city.
#
It was the same room that Nero and Ulysses first negotiated in, with Nero sitting in the same chair. However, this time, the meeting took place at night as this was the only time all the congressmen were available. Ulysses was the last to enter, with ten other men besides Nero in the room. Five Whigs and five Covenants.
Ulysses entered and gave a small chuckle before apologizing. “I didn’t realize you were all waiting for me.” He took his seat across from Nero. “Well, I suppose for no further delay. Nero, you called us for a bill regarding alcohol. I hope you haven’t called all of us just to have a drink,” he laughed. The entire room laughed, with Nero raising a smirk, not knowing what else to do.
“No, Ulysses, I am afraid not. I have called you all here because I—”
“No need,” Ulysses interrupted. “I’ve read the bill.” Before he continued, Ulysses reached into his pocket, pulled out some chewing tobacco, and threw it into his mouth.
“Where’d you get that from?” asked one of the Whig Congressmen.
“I was very lucky,” he answered. “Before the war started, I ordered a batch through I guy I know. This is high-premium stuff. If the country could afford it, I would import all the tobacco from Teoland. Too bad Leozan doesn’t have any tobacco on it. Anyway, here is the thing Nero. You got twenty-four Whig members agreeing to this. Has there been any additional amendments added to the bill?”
“An infusion of 20,000 copper for the military,” Nero answered. “Before we continue, is there any problem with the bill?”
“Yes,” Ulysses quickly answered. “The problem is that I don’t think that this is necessary, and I don’t think it is popular with the people. I’ve heard complaints about angry mobs roaming around the streets, but the thing is that there is one person complaining about 100, 1,000, or 2,000 people. Now, which is a bigger number? The second one, of course, and they are the ones who are going to give us votes.”
“Why are you here then?” one of the Whig congressmen asked.
“I am here because twenty-four congressmen supported it, and I don’t want to be mean to a newcomer in the game, but this is the last time I will honor such a meeting.”
“So, there is nothing that I can do to convince you to vote for the bill?” Nero asked. Ulysses shook his head. “What about you guys?” Nero asked the Covenant congressmen.
“They won’t deprive the people of the Griffin Republic of their freedoms. Now with that, I wish you a good night.”
Ulysses got up and made his way to the door but when he turned the handle to open it, it didn’t budge. He tried again before turning back to Nero. “Did you lock us in here?!” he demanded.
“There are people in this country who think that we don’t govern. I want to dispel that notion, so please, sit down and let us reach a compromise.” Nero said.
Ulysses walked back to his chair but didn’t sit down. His face was in a state of shock and rage. It seemed that he couldn’t believe that Nero was capable of such a bold maneuver. “How did you lock the door? It swings inwards, so you couldn’t have told someone to prop a chair against it.”
“How do you know it swings inwards?”
“Because every door in this building does, now tell me.”
“I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s a device you slot into the gap between the door and the wall, and it acts as a deadbolt, but let us negotiate. I am willing to lower the age from twenty to eighteen.”
“No,” Ulysses responded. “I won’t ever agree to a prohibition, a tax maybe, but—”
“Deal,” Nero interrupted. “I’ll tax it at an eighth of a copper per liter of beer, ale, and wine; and a quarter for any alcohol stronger than that.”
The Whig congressmen in the room immediately raised a riot and said that they wouldn’t agree to that. They wanted prohibition. Nero tried to calm them down but gave up as he was more interested in Ulysses' answer. The opposition leader remained silent as he considered the offer. The Covenant Party congressmen looked up to him in shock, like they had never seen him consider an offer before. “One more thing,” Ulysses said. “We increase the permanent budget of the military by 5,000.”
Nero stood up and reached his hand out. “Deal.” The two men shook hands before Nero went to the door and knocked. “Hey, we’re done in here. You can open it.”
The Whig congressmen were furious, but he didn’t need all of them Even if he lost all of the ones from Blackrun—which he doubted as it would be too big of a political victory to give up—he would still have enough votes from the Covenant Party to pass the bill.
They all left the room as Nero went back to his seat and sat there. The room that had twelve people in it became eerily silent except for a small tapping noise coming from the ground. Nero looked down as he held his breath and saw that his right leg was shaking relentlessly. Nero gave out a large exhale like he had exhaled kilograms of body weight and wiped his face with his hands. The thought of how locking everyone in the room could have gone wrong swirled in his mind. He tried to convince himself that it was okay since it worked, but the thoughts kept on coming. Charging Nero with false imprisonment of congressmen, getting beat up, or the plan simply not working.
Nero cranked his back and saw the waxing crescent of the moon stare back at him. Nero wondered what would be like if someone else lived on the moon and stared back at him. That was one of the leading theories, but Nero couldn’t commit his mind to such a complicated topic. He placed his head on the table and rested for hours.
#
It took twenty-three days for Ulysses to get all the votes, and after a couple of days of debate, the bill came to a vote on December 15th. Though Nero wanted to be part of the only major accomplishment in his life, he, the vice president, and the president decided it would be best for the country if the image of the law wasn’t tainted by rumored monarchist influence. So, he wasn’t able to watch the vote happen while seated in the viewing gallery. Rather, he sat on a bench near the docks waiting for an hour for the vote to finish.
While he was waiting for the results to come in, Nero watched as ships came in and out of the harbor. It was as peaceful as a dock could get during wartime. People were performing routine checks on the ships, sailors remained at their posts but chatted freely and often laughed, and people looked up at the sky as Lucius flew through the air. Wait, why is Lucius here? Isn’t he supposed to be more north flying with the fleet?
Nero watched as Lucius landed on the docks and hastily ran down the harbor, yelling at the sailors to man their posts and head out to the sea. “To the border of the Starved and Conqueror’ Sea!” he ordered. “Your comrades need assistance!’
Nero flew off the bench and ran toward Lucius, asking what was happening. “A battle at 1,000 kilometers north of here has commenced. The Lake Republic fleet has destroyed 100 ships in one battle while only losing fifty of their own.”
Nero stood shocked for a minute while he processed the information. “Ok, I will tell the president,” He said before running off to the capitol building.
He hoped that the vote was over by now, and thankfully, it was. Nero caught the president on his way back to the office and called out to him when he was only a couple of paces behind. “Nero!” President Cain said, delighted. “The vote has passed fifty-two to twenty-nine!”
Nero smiled at the news of the passage, but it disappeared as fast as it appeared, and he told the president of what happened. The president's face turned to desperation as he looked away and scoffed. “In my office, now,” The president said, sounding exhausted.
President Cain told his secretary and Keon to gather the general staff while he talked to Nero. “If you’re numbers are right, Nero.” He spoke. “Including other battles, the Lake Republic should be down to 550 ships compared to our 300. Though we have destroyed more ships, I doubt that we will be able to keep the rate like this, and even if we do, the commitment of either the population or the Expert’s Commonwealth is unlikely to be upheld. You were right; this war won’t be won on the seas but through negotiations.”
“Do you have a plan, then?” Nero asked.
“Yes, but I don’t like it. We move on Kato Kanali.”
Nero immediately protested saying “I thought you wouldn’t tolerate such destruction?”
“The cost of losing this war in our current position is more than the material destruction of Kato Kanali, but don’t worry, I won’t go after the city, only the naval base there. On the way back, we’ll also hit the ports at Akripoli and Ormos.”
Nero bit his lip, not knowing what to say. “You’re sure there is no other way?”
“Was there a way for you to pass your alcohol tax without compromising?”
“The mere fact that it’s a tax is because of compromising.”
“And that is what I am doing here.” The president said. “I am compromising with Keon and the general staff.”
“President Cain—” Nero tried to say.
“Please, if I am in a meeting alone with you, we are past the point of President Cain. Call me Wagner, and besides, what other option do we have? Do you have a better idea than banging our heads against the might of the Lake Republic fleet?” Nero shook his head. “Ok, here is what I want you to do, then,” Wagner said. “I want you to write a letter to Foreign Minister Floyd, telling him what is going to happen and request support from the Expert’s Commonwealth fleet. Even if we are unlucky, they might agree to start a diversionary attack while we sail to Kato Kanali.”
“Do you think you’ll make it? Get to Kato Kanali without any prior notice?”
“The admirals suggested sailing up as far as we could along the Leozan’s coastline before turning due east toward the city.”
“That’s going to be in deep water,” Nero said.
“So, let’s hope that Mydrazan doesn’t have a storm waiting for us.”