The Union

From the top of the wall, Timothy ma.s.saged his jaw. He raised his arm and then dropped it to signal his order. The gate of Nirvana was raised. As it creaked open, Castonian soldiers poured out. They surrounded the carriage and disarmed the Tulosans. Those in chains were taken and put in a line.

The door of the carriage opened. The person inside set foot on the carriage"s steps. She looked at the walls and the city and permitted a smile.

"Is that her?" Timothy asked Henry

"I confirm Your Majesty. That is Princess Emily of Tulosa"

Timothy stared at the Princess. She was young- about a year younger than him. With straight flowing auburn hair and tall stature, she was a beauty. Not as beautiful as Luci not even worth comparing- but the royal blood was apparent in her looks.

Princess Emily looked innocent. But from what he heard from Henry, she was a person to be wary of.

"Bring her in the palace" Timothy said to Henry as he turned around "Permit two of her guards. Two, nothing more"

**********

"I was told that the King of Castonia has looks to match his ferocity" Princess Emily lifted her cup and took a sip of the tea. She shrugged and put down the cup "I was not told wrong"

"You were not" Queen Lucia said. "He is a great catch for me"

"I envy you Queen Lucia. I once had someone in my life..

Henry cleared his throat "Princess, you have a proposition for the King and the Queen?"

Princess Emily eyed him then smiled. "You haven"t changed Prefect. Still not a fan of small talks or reminiscing the past. Well I do have proposition Prefect Henry. As we all know, last year Tulosa invaded Castonia. And last year we were defeated twice. You Castonians play a little too rough when it comes to war. Us simple horse-riders were decimated by marauding lions" The smugness in her expression remained "Now that spring is here, let us set aside our differences and bury the hatred in the past. We want peace. The few hundred prisoners outside are our gift. But a transgression as heavy as an invasion can"t be solved by a simple gift right? So name your price. Although please be lenient as we Tulosans are poor"

"Justice" Lucia said "We only want justice. We want the rest of them. Gather those who led the invasion and all the soldiers who partic.i.p.ated in the butcher of our citizens. Bring them to us. We want justice for what we have suffered. We also want Knightsend back"

Princess Emily was silenced. She smiled smugly "A queer request I must say. Tulosa is defenseless. You have destroyed our army. We are at your mercy already"

"And I dare say when in the negotiating table one must not lower her position"

"Honesty itself has its merits in the negotiating table. And Tulosa, honestly, has lost against you. I trust you two are smart enough to see that. Now name your price for peace"

"We just told you our price" Lucia said "We don"t want your gold. Vanadis is rich enough. It will also make the Union look weak. We don"t want your lands. It will make the Union look like the aggressor. All we want is justice. If we can force you to hand over the people responsible for what happened, the other nations will grow to fear us. They will respect us."

"That is...a valid statement. I must admit, you are right. But handing over the people responsible for the invasion is a little tricky. Some of them hold high position in our government you see. Just plucking them out wouldn"t be nice"

"As what you said, Tulosa is at the mercy of the Union. It"s either that or we will send our army to capture your capital. We could do so. You know we could"

The Princess" smile vanished. "We cannot promise to hand over everyone. My father himself had some hand in the invasion. We cannot hand over our King"

"A few exceptions will be granted"

"Then fine. We agree on these terms. In return you will not retaliate. Castonia and Tulosa will remain indifferent to each other. Shall we write the terms on paper and sign it now?"

"Not yet. We still have something else to discuss" Lucia"s lips curved into a smile. "He"s dead, isn"t he? The Grand Master of Knights- Grand Master Nelson is dead. Tulosa is on the brink of civil war. That"s why you came here. That"s why you want peace"

The Queen"s statement made everyone in the room look at her. Princess Emily chuckled.

"Who? Ah that old man. You"re wrong, he"s still breathing"

"You cannot lie to us. We know he"s dead"

Princess Emily laughed again. This time, her anxiousness was apparent. "He"s not dead"

"Let me guess" Lucia tapped her finger on the table "He"s been dead for months and you were just hiding it"

This time Princess Emily lowered her head. She allowed a bitter smile.

"It seems you are as smart as they say"

"Your statement betrayed it. Tulosa is defenseless? Not with the Knights it isn"t. And handing over officials in your nation would be a hard blow. It would shuffle your government. I myself wouldn"t agree to it. Not unless you"re already expecting your government to be shuffled with the civil war on the horizon"

"It is true" The Princess" complacent disposition earlier was no more "Grand Master Nelson is dead"

Henry had expected the death of the Grand Master but hearing it now pained him. Grand Master Nelson is a good person. The Knights had stayed true to their character under his leadership. Henry considers the Grand Master as his father, his mentor.

"Is that true Princess?" Henry asked "He"s... dead?"

"He"s been dead since the start of winter. We have been hiding the fact from the people and to the two candidates for the next Grand Master. But we cannot hide it for long. Those two candidates will fight for the position. The Knights will fight among themselves and the rest of Tulosa will be dragged into it"

"But to hide his death?" Henry clenched his fist "What did you do to the Grand Master? Did you send him off with the necessary honors and ceremony?"

"We buried him in secret"

Henry rose. He pointed at the Princess. "You... The Grand Master is a good man! He is a person worthy of being honored with at least three laurels. And you"re telling me that you just buried him without any ceremony?"

"That"s what he would have wanted Henry. A civil war in winter would have killed many of our people. By making his death a secret, we postponed the chaos"

"But..."

"Calm down Henry" King Timothy"s voice was firm "The Princess means well. You would trade the lives of thousands for some fancy ceremony? Don"t you knights value the lives of the commoners?"

Henry"s racing heart grew tamer. He sat back but kept his glare onto the Princess.

"So you confirmed it, he"s dead" The Queen voiced "Your position in the negotiating table just grew weaker"

"What more do you want from us?" Princess Emily said. Her placid voice was no more. "I know we were in the wrong but we have nothing left. Tulosa have nothing. My nation is on the brink of collapse. Thousands of Tulosans will die soon- citizens who just want to live their lives will die because of two ambitious men. If gold and land are what you truly want then we can provide you some. But aside from that, we have nothing left"

"You should have thought of that before you invaded us" Said Timothy

"You think all of us wanted to invade you!? I tried to stop my father. I really did" The Princess" voice trailed "Many of us tried. My mentor was even killed because he tried to stop the invasion. Many good people have even sacrificed their lives. Most of my people have nothing to do with it. We didn"t want the war with Castonia as much as you. Scheming old men brought the war, not my citizens. So please be contented with our offer of peace in exchange for justice for your dead. We can add gold and lands and even monopoly in trade if you want to. But let us Tulosans solve our civil war first. I beg you- not as a fellow royal- but as a fellow human. Please don"t strike us when we are already down. Tulosa is bleeding. We are tired"

King Timothy stood from his seat "Then how about another deal? What if we help you solve your problems?"

"Help? Why would you do that? And what do you mean help?"

He looked at Henry "I once promised a knight that if ever the Grand Master dies, I will send my soldiers to help the Tulosans. I think it"s time to fulfill my promise. Plus a ruined Tulosa will not benefit the Union. We also desire peace. We want a stable neighbor we can trade and forge relations with. Also we don"t want refugees rushing towards our borders. Many of my own people will hate me for this. But I know this will be for the best. As long as we have justice for your transgressions, I am open to forging a long-lasting peace with you. I want a real peace between our nations- a peace not just on paper but a real peace between our people. We are also tired of this war"

Princess Emily fell into a deep though "Your soldiers will march into our land. Why should we trust that you won"t attack us?"

"Because you don"t have a choice. We could attack you, that is true. But if we are truly going to help you, then the benefits outweigh the risk. My army would protect the noncombatants. Let old men fight and let old men die. But your citizens will be protected under the flag of the Union" He held his hand towards the Princess "So what would it be Princess Emily? Are you strong enough to take a leap of faith?"