Eternal Dominion Book 23: Strife, page 7
“I believe I truly hate ye at this point. Ye have caused my daughter tur rebel against me and in durring so, she has humiliated my son. Ye insult me at every turn and challenge how I see fit tur rule my people and yet ye say ye have no desire tur rule. If ye durn’t marry Dafasli, ye better kill me at this point.”
“Point taken, but that will have no bearing on if her and I will work out, as that is a separate matter.”
“Ye can say that in front of her like that, if her mother were here she would-”
“Father, ye should leave Mother out of this. I am not her, nor will I base my relations off how ye placed her on a pedestal. Honestly, it is for the best that she can’t see ye like this, as she would likely leave ye if what ye say about her is true.”
King Dorrin looked wounded by his daughter’s words in a way that even Xeal soundly defeating him had failed to do. Yet he just took a deep breath and turned to Durirnerlug and spoke.
“What dur ye say, my friend, is the deal being offered a good one?”
“Knowing all I dur, I would have tur say that it is at least fair. I lack the knowledge tur know if it will be good for yer people or yer rule.”
“Fine, ye can have yer trade deal, but my army stays in my lands and focuses on the war beneath the surface unless ye allow our enemies tur reach our doorstep again.”
Xeal wanted to get King Dorrin to reconsider, but he decided against it as he just took the win of opening trade up. Now he just needed to make sure that there was no going back to the isolationist policies that had been in place before and prep for when more adventurers were ready to explore the subterranean realm. The next few hours saw Kate and King Dorrin argue over a few particulars as Xeal considered the best path forward in the war. With Nium having secured naval superiority, all foreign forces learned that if they valued their ships, that getting involved in the conflict was a terrible idea. Thus, the only ships besides Nium’s or FAE’s that could be seen these days off most of Paidhia’s and Habia’s coasts were Salty Dogs’ as they delivered food to both regularly. Just from capturing ships that had come to attack FAE’s fleets, FAE’s navy had surpassed 1,000 ships from the reports that he was reading. Still, Xeal knew that the larger his fleet grew, the more expensive it would be to maintain and until they were able to readjust for island exploration and trade, that was just another expense for FAE.
Then with the refusal of King Dorrin to reinforce their ranks, Xeal knew that the situation would stagnate for a few months as everything was once more reorganized and reallocated. Thankfully, the members of FAE and other players who had been part of the defensive effort would finally be freed up to be assigned elsewhere. Still, Xeal knew that he would need to call up the reserves of both beast-men and orcs to fill the need for troops. Unfortunately, as much as Xeal was in the mood to assault Habia to follow through on his prior threat, Paidhia just made more sense at this point. So as Xeal left after the negotiations had been completed and the contract signed, he started sending out the orders of what needed to happen. Like that the events of day 35 came to a close, save for one as Xeal found himself alone with Dafasli as she asked to speak with him privately.
“Xeal, what dur ye see happening between ye and I once ye keep yer word and court me if I ask after the war?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Everything that I have going on pulls me in every which direction, yet I keep finding more room in my heart when I actually look for it.”
“What if I were tur say that I can’t wait for the end of the war tur know?”
“That isn’t a question I can answer without you seeking permission from my wives and while they will likely make things slightly hard on you, they will likely give you approval if you wish to find out.”
“I know, they have told me as much already. Xeal, what I want tur know is dur ye want tur find out at all?”
Xeal took a deep breath as he looked up at the evening sky as he thought on the answer to that question. He considered how he was dealing with the roller coaster of emotions from finding out the answer to that very question with Daisy, Violet and Levina currently and the others in the background. As he thought about this he came to his answer and gave it to Dafasli honestly.
“Yes, I want to know, but not until I have solidified my answer to Daisy and Violet. I am sorry, but currently I am just overwhelmed with that very question about you, Bula, Daisy, Violet, Ekaitza, Lughrai, Malgroth, Lumikkei and Levina. Not to mention the fact that I won’t be able to fully escape Bianca and Lorena until I end this war and well, you can see how I feel a tad bit overwhelmed currently.”
Dafasli let out a breath as she looked down slightly and paused for a moment before saying her next words.
“I think that as much as I have placed ye as my goal for so long, that joining that force in overwhelming ye would only bring me pain in the long run. The more I step away from the shadow of my father and brother, the more I realize what I want and that isn’t tur be lost in the crowd. That isn’t saying that ye would let me feel that way if we did end up together, but when it had been a few weeks since I last got any significant alone time with ye, I wouldn’t be able to help it. I thank ye, Xeal, for opening my eyes tur so much and even promised tur allow me in if it was what I want after this war. That said, I expect ye tur help…”
Xeal just smiled as Dafasli shared with him the favor that she wanted out of him and at the same time he suddenly felt like a weight that he hadn’t known was there lifted off of him. While Xeal felt the door to Dafasli’s heart had closed to him, he didn’t feel as if that was a bad thing and with what she desired he felt it was a good thing. Thus, they returned to the others as Xeal thought over how he would go about helping her still find her happiness.
(*****)
Morning November 27 to Evening December 5, 2268 & ED Year 8 Days 36-62.
As Alex stepped into the dining room the morning after Thanksgiving, it was to the sight of a breakfast of leftovers. Despite the number of guests that they had hosted the prior night, they had still somehow managed to have too much food and none of the guests had taken more than some of the meat for sandwiches. This had left a couple of large trays of fruit, enough sides to fill a normal fridge and more desserts than Alex cared to think about. All with about enough turkey, ham and duck to have one more meal for the normal group who lived in the mansion. Thus, his breakfast was a simple plate of fruit that had been served on the side and some yogurt as he added some granola and nuts to the mix.
As Alex sat between an exhausted Sam and Nicole who had been dealing with their families after Alex had returned to ED for the night, he smiled as he gave them each a kiss and they leaned into him. Both would also be offline most of the day as they would once more be playing host to all those who had yet to leave, or decide to go off and do other things. Knowing that they would be in for a long day, Alex figured that he would try and cheer them up.
“You can always just say that something came up in ED that needs your attention.”
“Ugh, don’t even suggest that,” groaned Nicole. “Just getting online for our family gathering in game last night was difficult enough to sell.”
“Yah, most of our families don’t seem to get that we have family that can’t leave that world,” added Sam. “Don’t even get us started on them complaining that you escaped when you did.”
“Or about when you are going to let them retire like you did your grandparents,” commented Nicole. “Honestly, if we just skip Thanksgiving next year, I would be fine with it.”
“Seconded!” agreed Sam.
“You two know that we can’t do that,” commented Kate as she sat down across from them with her own plate of food. “But I know what will cheer you up. The first of the promo videos for the toy drive dropped last night.”
“Please, no,” responded Alex.
“What, don’t you want to see the final result from all your hard work?” asked Kate with a smile. “I mean the forums are already filled with comments on it as it is the top topic on many of them currently. Let’s see, Xelf seems to be what most are calling it. Natalina is already saying that you should switch to dressing as an elf for the raffle matches that are about to go on sale.”
“My life is over, or at least it would be if I didn’t have all of you to cry about it to.”
“Alex, it isn’t that bad,” retorted Sam. “I have already watched it and I found it cute.”
“Yah, but you love me and were there for the process of making the promos. Part of me was hoping that one of you would declare that you wouldn’t let me be seen by the public in such a way.”
“You are overreacting,” stated Nicole. “Also, why would we stop something that could possibly drive off women who might want to make a pass at you?”
“Yah, now we will just have to worry about a Christmas nut coming along,” added Sam with a laugh. “Good thing that we already know Olympia (Holly) is only interested in a traditional relationship.”
“Small blessings aside, the toy drive is already over a million credits along and a few news agencies have reached out asking for interviews,” stated Kate. “I have passed most of that off to Natalina, but you will likely want to take a few of the bigger interviews as well.”
Alex just sighed as he thought about his options and what he had to deal with before responding.
“I will make time on the 6th of next month for any such interviews. Make sure that we have the normal rights to edit them before they air and-”
“You’re going to have to do one live, but we can set things up in the conference room for that easily enough,” countered Kate before Alex could finish. “But that one will have all five of us in it if I have my way so, it will be the easiest and will likely start our day. After that we can manage all of that and have terms negotiated in case you need to return to ED for any reason in the middle of it.”
“Why do we have to be there?” asked Sam, sounding annoyed.
“Like it or not, we are a public family at this point,” stated Kate. “If it was just Alex and I or any one of us, it would seem like he was favoring one of us to some. That is unless you wish to go off on a trip to handle something else that would be seen as an acceptable public reason for you not being part of the interview.”
“Do I have to say anything, or will just smiling work?”
“You will need to say hi and answer one to five questions, depending on exactly what angle the interviewer takes,” replied Kate. “Though, I am thinking that it would be best to do a full hour live and treat it as a follow-up to the congressional hearing and how our married life is going.”
“I thought we were done with all of that,” commented Nicole.
“Again, we are the poster family for it right now,” answered Kate. “With Christmas coming quickly and Thanksgiving just having passed, interest about our lives will be high once more and we will use that to push the toy drive.”
“Am I going to have to say some cliches about how I just want to help out the unfortunate, or that it is the responsibility of the haves to help the have nots?” asked Alex, sounding like he was already dreading the answer.
“That depends. Do you want to go the safe, or sincere route?”
“If I said we are doing the toy drive because my public image is poor, what would happen?”
“I said sincere, not blunt and blatant. Alex, you should say something like you want to make sure that others don’t just see you as someone who never gives back some of what he has been given.”
“Just as long as I can say that you all forced me to dress as an elf.”
“Alex, you should say you did it to make us smile,” quipped Sam.
“Or that we insisted and you know the key to a happy life,” suggested Nicole with a smile.
“I think I should just be grateful that Ava and Mia are with the kids right now, as they would have a few dozen more things to say on this.”
“Alex, I need to know, are you fine dealing with that kind of interview?” asked Kate.
“Sure, why not, but they are to not ask about anything currently going on in ED.”
“I will tell them to keep it to general topics in ED and if they try and ask anyways, just tell them that you are keeping such information close to the chest, or something to that effect.”
“Great.”
With that Alex returned his focus to his breakfast before returning to ED once more. At the same time, Kate got to work on setting things in motion to arrange everything that needed to happen on the 6th. So, as time passed in reality, Alex found himself splitting his time between prep for the interviews and spending time with family. This included an extended break on Sunday the 29th, where he ended up spending most of the morning with all of the family who would be flying out that afternoon. Still, Xeal was still finding himself spending 21 hours a day logged into ED most days as his focus was still there.
When Xeal returned to ED on day 36, it was time for him to make sure everything was set for the next phase of the war, as the newest groups of tier-7 players were gathered to fill the ranks needed. This also meant that there was a new wave of FAE members requesting permission to perform a guild-assisted restart. Like all the prior waves, Xeal had maintained the stance of asking that they participate in the war in one way or another before restarting. If they agreed, they would be given a five percent increase to the resources that would be allocated to them upon restarting. Still, only half of them were willing to agree to this and with their refusal, FAE was once more short on defensive forces to man the areas most likely to see an attack. The only solutions that were available were to bring in more help from other guilds, or to hold more of FAE’s tier-7s out of the main fighting and Xeal was doing both. Thus, the cost of operating increased once more and the expected revenue that would come in was going to be short without the planned promotions being successful.
Issues like this kept Xeal busy outside his designated grinding time, where he reached level 231 and just smiled as it felt good to make progress. Still, with it taking over three weeks in ED time for him to gain levels, Xeal knew that he was losing his lead once more. To make it worse, even if he worked harder, each level was getting harder to reach as the needed experience was jumping more than the experience gained from killing higher-leveled monsters. As much as Xeal would have loved to go straight to killing level 280-plus monsters now that he had the gear to be able to, he knew that any party that didn’t include NPCs in it wouldn’t be able to do the same. This made Xeal wish that there was a way around the massive loss in experience that came with any aid from an NPC ten or more levels above him. The reverse wasn’t true and Xeal knew it was only in place to ensure that players weren’t power leveled past the range that the top players were in, but it was still frustrating.
This caused Xeal to once more turn his thoughts to Daisy and Violet and the capabilities of their ability to boost his leveling speed. At the same moment he wanted to yell at himself for seeing them in such a way, as it made him feel sick. However, when Xeal realized this, he smiled as it was a much stronger reaction than it had been before and he actually saw that reaffirming what he thought he felt towards them. Though he still needed to confirm it and before that he had one more date each with Princesses Lorena and Bianca.
First came Xeal’s date with Princess Lorena on day 40, during which he sat with her in his gardens as they just spoke to each other. Xeal felt terrible as time ticked away and Princess Lorena seemed to be fighting tears when there was only about an hour left. Yet his refusal to reach out to her or any woman out of pity succeeded in staying his hand. However, his words were another matter.
“I am not going to be tossing you to the side after today, you know.”
“What? Are you saying that you are going to let me in only now that I have all but given up hope?”
“No,” replied Xeal, sounding apologetic. “Though you may find that with our time together no longer being something that needs to happen to fulfil the terms of a contract, that our time is less forced.”
“Why are you still toying with my heart after four years of doing everything you could to shut me out without breaking the contract?” questioned Princess Lorena, sounding desperate.
“I will never toy with you or any other woman purposely. It would also be a lie if I said that I don’t think that all of this is unfair to you. Tell me, what would you do if I were to kick you out and leave you in the care of another here in Cielo city?”
“What happens when you cut a puppet’s strings?”
“Are you truly so weak-willed?”
“No, but that is what would be the fate of my spirit.”
“Tell me when that changes and perhaps Enye will change her mind on you, but no, all that you can expect after today is that Zylah will return to training you in earnest after tomorrow.”
“So, when I reach tier-7 I will be accepted?”
“I can’t answer that, but if you achieve results that can’t be ignored, you will at the very least have shown your determination. Hopefully the war will have ended and we can talk without having that hanging over us and if everything goes well, I will also finally be allowed to let you walk away from needing to birth an heir to your house.”
“Is that what is keeping you from embracing us?”
“No, there are many reasons, but if I had to say one thing that is sure, it is that being forced as we were poisoned our chances during this time.”
“I see. Well, I look forward to re meeting you as who I will be once I have overcome whatever my tier-7 tribulation has to throw at me!”
“Good. Now let’s just enjoy the last bit of time that we have together for a while, without any of the expectations of others mattering.”
“May I at least lean on you?”
Xeal just sighed as he relented and let Princess Lorena lay her head against his shoulder and stay like that. A full hour passed beyond the time he was obligated to spend with her. After that Zylah arrived and rather than return to Xeal’s home, she was whisked away. The following day was much the same as Xeal sat with Princess Bianca, only she was even more emotional as with Princess Lorena not returning, she was unaware of the situation. Xeal’s attempts to calm her by assuring her that Zylah had just taken her a day early only halfway worked, as she believed that their master was going to follow through on her threats. Particularly the one about auctioning off their hands in marriage at a brothel and once the child was born, taking them and leaving both princesses to live and work at said brothel.
