Conviction, page 5
“Well, it seems that all is not lost at the very least,” replied King Ulfert Uladzimir. “Now tell me, were I to surrender, what would become of my head and why would my son not be allowed to rule here if he were to be allowed to found a marquess house?”
“Those would be in the terms of the surrender, but I can at the very least guarantee that you will live, though it would be in exile. As for your son not ruling here, well, King Victor has decided that no noble house will be allowed to remain in the area that they governed before. It is an act to ensure that none of them can quickly build up too much power, while also exposing as much corruption as possible in the early days. The new nation that will be founded will be unstable for decades and the last thing he or I want are any local rebellions to occur.”
“Then no deal can be reached. I am afraid that so long as my head remains attached to my neck, I will never surrender my throne to any but a son of mine. Were you married to Bianca, I could treat you as such and happily watch as you rule here, even if it was only as a duke, but until then I must die first.”
“Why must you be dead set on something so meaningless,” retorted Princess Bianca. “Your unwavering stubbornness is the main obstacle that exists between me and actually having a chance to secure Xeal’s affection. As he has already made known, I have at the very least gained his favor and trust. What does it matter if he marries me now or in 20 years, so long as he can keep me young in the meantime.”
“Then it is true that he has found a substantial amount of the waters of youth,” commented Queen Bridgette before she could stop herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It is fine, Mother, and yes, Xeal has assured me that he will provide enough of the waters of youth that I will be as young as I was when this war began when the time comes for me to start having children.”
“It makes no difference. Guarantees are what guards my throne. Bianca, it doesn’t matter what I want as until all lands that I rule have been conquered and all that is left is this city, my oaths will hold me.”
“I see now why King Victor was adamant that we take the same path that we did with Paidhia and conquer all of Habia before sieging here,” commented Xeal. “Am I to take that as you will surrender the city once things have reached that point then?”
“No, we will have to see just what the situation is when and if things come to that. Though I am surprised that Nium hasn’t simply started attacking with airships already.”
“That is actually the second line of negotiations that I am here for, though these ones will take more time and would be better done after we have eaten.”
“Fair enough and see, daughter, I have not made any attempt to have either of you harmed as of yet. Though your mother warns me that were I to do so, it would be me who comes out the worse for it.”
“If the information we have is good, Xeal could kill you and fend off your guards, including the special one easily enough,” retorted Queen Bridgette.
“This is what happens when it becomes clear that your days are numbered, even a queen will turn on her king,” quipped King Ulfert Uladzimir. “Though, it is refreshing to have at least one voice who is willing to tell me the reality that so many others refuse to see. Now, sit and eat, and perhaps I can hear a few more such voices and continue to come to terms with the reality before me.”
With that Xeal and Princess Bianca took their seats, before Queen Bridgette left to let the staff know to begin the meal and when she returned, it was with two full plates and two empty ones. Xeal held in a groan as he realized that he would need to once more portion out part of his own for Princess Bianca and that how he did so would likely say much about him in a way that he didn’t know. Part of him wanted to just tell her to take what she wanted, but he knew that would be a mistake. In the end, he made sure she had about 75% of what he did again and left it at that. All the while all he could think about was how he was looking forward to leaving, as at the very least each of his meals would no longer be so complicated.
Once they had eaten their fill and the dishes were cleared, Queen Bridget closed the room and King Ulfert Uladzimir turned his attention back to the matters at hand. As he did so, Xeal didn’t miss the malice that the king was directing towards him, or the look of worry that crossed Queen Bridget’s face. However, before either could say anything, Xeal spoke as he let his aura control and fighting spirit focus in on King Ulfert Uladzimir, while sending a calming feeling towards Queen Bridget and Princess Bianca.
“I will not take well to any amount of hostility being directed at me such that I don’t need to be looking at you to notice it. I am not here seeking to cause you or your people harm. On the contrary, if we can reach an agreement, your lands may very well come out the least scarred from this war, even if you are doomed to lose the struggle.”
“You say that, but no matter how I see it, any deal you make will be such that any fighting will just be for show as the result will have been guaranteed beforehand,” retorted King Ulfert Uladzimir.
“No, if we can come to the terms I would like, all fighting would only be between my kind, with all cities being captured the moment the defense of the walls fails…”
Xeal went on to lay out what he hoped could act as the terms for the war which, if King Ulfert Uladzimir accepted, would remove all NPCs from the conflict. This would actually work in Habia’s favor as they were outnumbered as far as tier-6 and up NPCs went, because many that had once fought for Paidhia would join Nium’s forces otherwise. The only caveat to it was that the moment Habia made any attempt to invade Nium, to include the lands that used to be Paidhia, everything went out the window. Xeal could see King Ulfert Uladzimir considering all of the angles of the agreement, as it essentially took his odds to defend his lands from around one percent to as much as ten percent. The real kicker was that any noble who ignored the treaty would be considered to have rebelled against Habia and also declared war on Nium by doing so.
With all of this laid out before King Ulfert Uladzimir, Xeal just waited and waited some more for him to respond. During this time, Xeal could see Queen Bridgette looking uncomfortable as she held her tongue, while Princess Bianca maintained a look of confidence. Still, Xeal knew that the terms before them were anything but guaranteed to be accepted, as they didn’t guarantee any considerations for the royal family or nobles, beyond the ones already in place. If he were king, it would be these very things that he would focus on as to not do so was to invite discord into the kingdom as with no central way to disseminate information, what commoners knew could vary widely. If Xeal had to bet, many of the common folk who lived in the rural areas didn’t even know that Paidhia had fallen and wouldn’t know that Nium’s forces were approaching until they arrived. Finally, as Xeal was thinking all of this over and how he might alter the deal if needed, King Ulfert Uladzimir spoke.
“Were I to agree to this, it would essentially turn my kingdom over to your kind completely. Simply put, no matter how I look at it, doing so would be folly and ensure that my head wasn’t attached to my neck by the time you reached this city. I am not even sure if my son and by extension the rest of my family, could survive the purge which would follow. It may even be that those who perpetrate the rebellion will then turn around and try to hand everything over to Nium as if they did you a favor with their actions.”
“They would be true fools as while those who surrender their lands to us when faced with the impossible odds can be forgiven, once a betrayer always a betrayer. Such fools can never be trusted as when the next opportunity to secure positive gains arrives, they will once more betray who they think they can,” commented Xeal.
“It is good that we can at least see eye to eye on something so plain to see. Yet fools will exist at all times and in all places. It is part of what makes being a ruler such a burden, as a fool of a son can destroy what generations have built if left unchecked. Tell me, Xeal, how would you deal with such a son if you had one which was already named as your heir?”
“Set him up to learn a hard lesson and hope that it either taught him what needed to be learned, or broke him to the point that his disinheritance was easily accepted by others.”
“And if you had only a few months to do so before it would be too late, and you feared his actions would result in countless issues and the eventual destruction of all that you hoped for?”
“A cancer cannot be cured so quickly by any reliable means. At that point it is best to simply remove the infected tissue and hope for the best. In this case I would say that if you fear your son’s actions, exile would be the best option. I can even aid in placing him in a situation where he would be unable to cause any harm in the future, while also having a relatively secure future.”
“I see, though I think that I will just have to solve the issue myself and hope that you will ensure that it is handled if any actions are needed after I am no longer able to act. With that said, I think I can agree to your proposal with one change to it. Any fort, city, or key defensible position that is marked on a map that will be provided in a week’s time, can be guarded by any native to this world. To counter this, Nium’s invasion force can contain up to 1,000 of those native to this world.”
“Change that to it can be defended by those who have at least reached tier-5 and that each invasion force can contain 20,000 of those native to this world. However, only a number equal to those defending each position may participate in any battle to capture any position with the minimum being 1,000. Also, any commander who refuses to disclose their counts at said locations, will be assumed to have over 20,000. Finally, should a force be forced to retreat, those who didn’t participate in the battle may still aid in the whole force’s safe withdrawal.”
At Xeal’s counter King Ulfert Uladzimir paused once more as he considered everything, before sighing and speaking to Princess Bianca rather than Xeal.
“Tell me, daughter, what lengths would you go to if I were to have you returned to me and put in charge of Habia’s defense.”
“Are you asking what lengths I would go to escape and return to Xeal’s side, or do you actually believe that I would willingly return?”
“It is a hypothetical question, as I wish to know just what you would do if faced with the odds that Xeal is proposing.”
“I have too little information on just how his kind is operating here in Habia to answer that, but I would simply have only the strongest of our kind even participate in any defense. Even then I would limit them and actually focus on them surviving each fight while hopefully killing the ones on Nium’s side. Perhaps with enough luck, Nium’s force could be depleted and time could be bought to gain more support from those outside of this continent. Though, the best you could hope for is to force Nium to sign a ceasefire as no country will wish to become true enemies with Xeal and FAE, unless he proves to be too brazen in their eyes to be allowed to exist. Yet even then, any nation that aids us will be left vulnerable to another and any of his kind who does the same risks far more than they could gain from your success at this point.
“In short, if you are asking just how far I would go in defending this kingdom, I would see reality and focus on making it so that its fall was as least painful as possible. Then I would add in a few attempts to keep my head and secure the lives of those I care for as best as I can. After that, all there is left to do is hope for the best and see things through to the end.”
Xeal held himself back from responding to Princess Bianca’s words as her father seemed disappointed and her mother could have been mistaken for being in mourning. Yet, Princess Bianca just looked at them both as if daring them to say that her assessment was wrong, or that she could do anything but what she had said. In the end, her father just shook his head before responding to her words while looking at Xeal.
“I will agree to your terms, but my family is to be taken by you and guarded in Cielo city and Ulrich is to never leave it again. I am going to name Bianca as my heir so long as she stays out of this struggle completely. I will not allow my image to be ruined like that fool Tybalt’s was and this should at least solve any issues the idiot could cause.”
“I take it that your son has bought Abysses End’s narrative that they can actually overcome the odds the current situation presents,” replied Xeal. “I just hope he hasn’t been party to any of the movement of demonic weapons as if so, I am sorry but his fate is beyond my control.”
“If you can prove beyond any doubt that he has, feel free to make an example of him if you must, but anything short of that and a life of exile is all he will receive. Can that be agreed upon?”
“If it can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, as any doubt would only require that his mother still question the truth of any accusations. I am sorry, Queen Bridgette, but I can’t trust a mother who would sacrifice herself for her children to remain objective on such matters.”
“It is fair, but I don’t believe that he is so foolish as to have gotten mixed up in that mess.”
“It is only a mess now. It could have very easily looked like a profitable venture when it began. Though if all he did was connect a few players with avenues for distribution without knowing what he was helping spread, his life might be saved if that is as far as things went. Though now you have me believing that you both know something regarding the demonic weapon issue.”
“It is who used them,” retorted King Ulfert Uladzimir. “While nothing that I have looked into on my end can be said to be more than circumstantial, all of those who used them had a connection to the black market that circulated goods between Nium, Habia and Paidhia. As you are well aware, the three of our kingdoms have been bitter enemies for longer than any of us care to think about, but we still need to trade. However, any official dealings between us would be mired in attempts to harm the other party and so we have long turned a blind eye to most underground smuggling between each nation. Though, I know more about the ones in Nium and what used to be Paidhia than my own nation and King Victor may not be well acquainted with any of them yet. After all, he is still new on the throne and he has been focused on this war, which would certainly destroy all such networks in the process.
“While I can’t say for sure that the weapons came from my lands, I can say that I suspect that those involved in the black markets are more likely to know what is going on. Sadly, your guild has thoroughly disrupted the ones in Nium that I was keeping track of with your slave ring round-up, but I am sure a few smaller players are still active. Thus, the only other request that I have of you is to focus your investigation here and keep it a few weeks ahead of your advance if possible.”
“It seems that I may have to bother my father-in-law and former king of Nium, Vincent. Perhaps he will have some known leads to look into. On that note, I have a feeling Viscount Lennox and Marquess Mercer may be worth speaking to as well. I wish I could formalize this as part of the treaty that will be signed, but that would be a tad too brazen and likely alert our targets if done so. Instead, I will have a second document signed that will cover the investigation efforts and just what FAE will be doing regarding it in your kingdom. Now, if you would excuse me, I need some time to make sure the final version of what will be signed is started, and Princess Bianca and I have a lot of ground to cover today.”
“Wait, you’re not even staying for lunch?” asked Queen Bridgette in surprise.
“No, I think it is best for all if things are seen as having been less than amicable between us as we part. Play up the angle that the deal which was reached was only done so because to not do so would have seen airships attacking the capital in a week, or less. Make sure that the fact that your whole family will be held captive is more of a hostage situation than them escaping and I am sorry, King Ulfert Uladzimir, but it is likely that your life will end and this deal will fall apart before the end. After all, you will be setting yourself up to be seen as dancing to my tune and once you die, the deal will be such that airships are still off the table, but all ground forces will be acceptable on both sides.”
“Ha, you are brazen and unapologetic, though I suppose it would be better to be remembered as the king who was betrayed while trying to preserve the people, than the one who was executed after the war. After all, I have known all along that my life will be required when everything is said and done. It is a good thing that you have no desire to rule as if you did, well, this world would fall to you and I doubt a thousand kings could stop you.”
“Regardless, I would expect that everything will be settled in the next few days and I will make sure that you see a copy of the document before I arrive with the official one for you to sign. Sadly, this will mean that one of my agents in the area will be exposed, but such is the price for security, as the aide you have next to you can’t be trusted with the details of this. They will be here in an hour…”
Xeal passed King Ulfert Uladzimir the details of how everything would be handled, before bidding the capital of Habia farewell. Xeal could tell that Princess Bianca wanted to say something as they mounted his griffin, but in the end, she stayed quiet and took the rear seat and for the next few hours they flew until it was time to stop for lunch. Though, once they were on the ground, she wasted no time in letting Xeal know just what she wanted to say.
