Chapter 2
“Thank you,” I said.
I picked up the envelope from the silver tray, and the footman bowed before he pivoted on his heel and strolled off back to the castle.
“Who’s it from?” Tanell asked.
Serra leaned in as I flipped it over. The envelope was closed with black wax and stamped with a seal that displayed a crown of leaves that reminded me of what the Caesars of ancient Rome used to wear.
“That’s the seal of the royal ambassador from Kestran,” Serra said. “It must be about the meeting.”
“Mm,” I hummed and broke the wax.
The paper inside was just as high-quality as the envelope itself, and it had a bit of weight to it that spoke of money.
I read the letter to myself and then looked up at the women.
“It’s the final details,” I said. “The other royals have all agreed to my suggestion to meet in the northern region of the Plains of Duulg. They want to meet in two weeks.”
“Oh, good,” Tanell said. “I’m glad that’s finally decided.”
“Yeah, it took long enough.” I rolled my eyes.
It had taken us two weeks just for everyone to agree on where to meet.
The royals from the Silver Coast had tried to insist on having the gathering at their palace in the capital, but the representatives from Zall, Kestran, and Valnar had staunchly refused that idea.
The King and Queen of Basstrum had been open to the idea, but it hadn’t mattered when no one else would agree.
I’d finally suggested the Plains of Duulg because it seemed like the only vaguely neutral option.
Technically, I was the leader of the Drolg now since I’d defeated their war chief in battle, but I’d given them permission to manage and govern themselves within their villages and communities so long as they kept their fighting within their own population and stayed within the borders of the Plains of Duulg.
They were a simpler people who were rather tribal in culture, and it didn’t make sense to me to try to impose our societal norms on them.
So far, that had been working nicely, and some of my ambassadors had been developing relationships with the remaining tribal chiefs among the Drolg. I was hopeful they would continue to keep to themselves, but I was prepared to stamp out any violence with an iron fist if they pushed me to it.
“I’m rather surprised the Silver Coast royals agreed to the location.” Serra frowned. “I thought they would keep the situation hostage until the rest of us relented.”
“I guess they know that wouldn’t benefit them in the long run,” I said.
“True,” Tanell agreed. “The Haktorian Empire is as much of a threat to them as it is to us.”
I nodded as I thought about the map in my Master of War’s chamber. Nalatria shared more miles of border with the Haktorian Empire than any other nation, but the Silver Coast and Kingdom of Zall also shared borders.
It wouldn’t be difficult for the tyrannical dictator Khorr to invade the Silver Coast from the south.
“I assume they will be arranging a campground for the event?” Serra asked, and she tried to peek at the letter again.
“Um…” I scanned the page until I found the details. “Yes. Each nation is supposed to send an allotment of soldiers, servants, and tents to prepare the location for the meeting.”
I frowned and looked up at the four women.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“They’ll set up a sort of temporary town for everyone,” Tanell answered. “We have appropriate tents that have always been used for hunting trips. I can manage that, if you’d like.”
“Yes, please,” I said, and I gave her an affectionate smile. “Sounds like it’ll be like a Ren Faire.”
“What’s a Ren?” Serra asked with a furrowed brow.
“Oh, um,” I laughed. “It’s something from my realm. Basically, people gather together in an open place in nature. They set up tents and stalls and… It’s like a social event?”
“That sounds pleasant,” Serra said. “Is there dancing and feasting?”
“Yes,” I said. “And markets where people can sell things they’ve made, like art or tapestries…”
I tried to convert the modern Earth event into terms they would understand, and I felt like I was doing a decent job.
“Sometimes there are sporting events, too,” I said.
“Like hunting?” Yori asked with excitement.
“Like… knife throwing competitions,” I said. “Archery, I think. There’s this one guy who would do whip shows, and he’d sing songs while he snapped his whip to keep the beat.”
“That sounds delightful!” Tanell said.
“I never got the chance to go to one,” I said. “I know this meeting won’t be anything like a Ren Faire, but I’m kinda excited anyway.”
“Let’s not forget the purpose of this meeting,” Tanell said in a sage voice, and then she cracked a playful smile. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t also have fun.”
“It’ll be exciting to meet the other royals!” Yori said. “We’ve already got Basstrum on our side, so it shouldn’t be too hard to win over the others, right?”
“I wouldn’t be so certain,” Serra cautioned.
“I agree,” I said. “The Silver Coast royals haven’t been the most cooperative during all this.
“Very true.” Tanell nodded. “We also don’t know much about Valnar.”
Valnar was the real outlier in this whole situation. They were the only nation on the continent that was a democracy. Their leader was a Prime Minister who was elected by popular vote of the people. I’d been surprised when I’d learned that, and I was pretty curious about how their system worked.
From my limited understanding, it was a pure democracy.
Every citizen over the age of sixteen was allowed to cast a single vote, and the candidate with the majority, even if it was only by a single vote, was declared the winner.
The Prime Minister led for a period of eight years, and each town and city in the country was represented by two people.
I wasn’t sure if it was closer to the United Kingdom’s parliamentary system or the United States’ constitutional republic, but I liked that every person’s vote mattered the same.
“You four know more about them than I do,” I said.
“Not me,” Yori snorted.
“Fair.” I smiled at her and looked to the other three. “Do you have an instinct or idea about how they might come down on this issue?”
“Well, they are buffered from Haktorian by the Silver Coast,” Serra said. “It’s possible they may choose to try to stay out of the conflict and let Silver Coast take the brunt of whatever assaults may come.”
“Mmm.” Tanell nodded. “I think that’s a fair assessment based on my limited experience with them. We’ve never had any conflicts with the democratic nation, so I have very little to go on.”
I turned to Carissa for her thoughts, and she looked almost startled that I’d want to hear what she had to say.
“I’m no more educated than your queen, Your Majesty,” she said.
The formalness of her response took me a little by surprise, but I nodded.
“Okay, what about Kestran?” I asked. “They’ve been allied with Basstrum in the past.”
When I’d first come to this place, there had been a conflict brewing between Kestran and Nalatria, but once the news of my ascension to the throne had spread, the issue had dissolved without any bloodshed.
I wasn’t sure how much of it had to do with Oberis being removed as king or our alliance with the Basstrum royals.
Maybe it was a “the friends of my friends are my friends” situation, and neither my Master of War nor my Master of Spies had any concrete answers on it.
“I would expect they’ll be easiest to sway,” Tanell said. “They’ve always seemed to handle such issues with a pragmatism I respected, but King Enken and Queen Doria may be able to give you more insight when we see them.”
I nodded thoughtfully.
“What about Zall?” I asked. “They’re like Switzerland, right? They–”
The looks of utter confusion on the four women’s faces reminded me they had no idea what I was talking about, so I backtracked.
“Sorry,” I chuckled. “What I mean is, they seem like they try to stay out of conflicts in general. They stay neutral?”
“Oh, yes,” Tanell said. “They haven’t involved themselves in the issues of other nations in quite some time, so I’m really not sure how they might feel about any of this.”
“Their location on the continent has left them in a rather good position throughout history,” Serra pointed out.
“But it may be the very reason they agree to unite with us against the Haktorian Empire now. They share hundreds of miles along their southern border, so the empire is a direct threat to them. Plus, the Kingdom of Zall has some natural resources that could be very desirable for Khorr.”
“Let’s hope they’re as worried about this tyrant as we are,” I sighed.
A sudden thought occurred to me, like a bolt of lightning striking my brain.
“So what do we do now?” Yori asked.
“I’ll begin arranging everything we need for the campground,” Tanell said. “I’ll speak with Master Algan about how many horses we will need to send.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Um… you said we have tents from hunting trips?”
“Yes,” Tanell said. “We have the royal tent, which will obviously be for you. Then we have the ladies’ tent, as well as a series of smaller ones for the servants and soldiers.”
“Okay, great,” I said. “I’m guessing we’ll want to send some soldiers ahead to help with setting all this up?”
“Yes, that would be wise.” Tanell smiled.
I didn’t know what I would have done without her by my side.
Tanell was the epitome of a queen. She was regal, elegant, and educated, and she always helped explain things about royal life and Nalatria without making me feel dumb for not knowing. I was eternally grateful that Oberis had selected her and that she was now a part of my life.
“I can begin gathering what information I have on the other royals,” Serra offered. “Then we can go over the information together so you’re as prepared as possible to meet and negotiate with them.”
“Yes, that would be amazing,” I said. “Thank you.”
“I’m not sure what I can offer,” Yori said with an uncertain expression. “But I’m happy to do whatever I can.”
Tanell and Serra exchanged a concerned look, and I quirked an eyebrow at them.
“What is it?” I asked.