Chapter 203: Chapter 203 / Sacred unions
...Before the Holy Kingdom's Purge…
"Are you serious?" Neia asked from her throne. The chair she sat on was carved of stone, but it was crude, rough, and had for its seat nothing but interlaced wicker strips, however… The wicker strips were provided by all the demihuman tribes under her command, and composed of multiple layers each of which was laid over the other, it made for a surprisingly flexible and comfortable cushion beneath her. The throne sat in the frame of what would be her castle, the residence was being built around her while she governed, with the honor of supervising the various sections handed to the various tribal chiefs.
Despite most of them in her eyes being at least somewhat evil, Neia found it surprisingly easy to get along with them after the Bafolk chief was killed in battle and his people spared any further suffering.
The throne was carved around her from a stone on which she sat, an act which the building of the castle now mimicked, providing the 'founding myth' she knew tribes were so very fond of. 'In time, the building of the castle around the Queen will be a fine national myth. If my descendants are overly tall though…' She kept back the private laugh at her own expense, regrettably Olasird'arc's blood had not made her any taller.
But all that was mere background noise, in front of her knelt an ogre, not especially intelligent, they were at least easily swayed as long as she made sure they were fed. "Yuh, got visit guy, human, says south comes."
It was a somewhat garbled message, but Neia understood the gist.
'A Southern delegation, of course it could be from the Northern Holy Kingdom, but I doubt it…' Neia pursed her lips and furrowed her brow… "Bring him in." She said at last.
'I wonder if we caught him by surprise with all the building here?' Neia almost laughed at that and reached up to scratch the slowly emerging horns on her head, the itch made her grimace a little, making her expression all the more fierce when a human came in escorted by two spriggans bearing long spears crossed at his back.
Their glowing green bodies pulsed with life, the tendrils of wood wrapped in green vines which trailed behind them had an ethereal beauty to them. Neia recalled that they yielded to her on the promise of control over the timber industry and harvests, and that they could supervise the planting of trees along every road she laid down to make up for the break in nature.
'Easy win, and a good one.' She reflected as the human approached in front of the towering spriggans that looked down from three heads higher than his own. He wore steel armor and, to her surprise, a red tabard over the front, one that was clearly wrinkled. A dead giveaway.
"You're from the Southern Holy Kingdom, aren't you?" Neia said without waiting for a response as the human knelt in front of the Queen of Frost.
"Yes, Your Majesty… how did-" His full lips stopped when she interrupted.
She pointed to the tabard, "That is wrinkled, but not dirty. That means you kept it protected but not out, Northern Holy Kingdom people only wear blue and they're foolish enough to keep it on display at all times. Let's not get lost in the forest now, tell me what you want, man of the South."
He flushed a bit, he was a broad figure with a military build to him, he had a scabbard but no sword, meaning it was confiscated, probably by one of her guards. His lips moved a little, her brusque approach a novelty, his deep brown eyes searched her face.
"You are the one in charge?" He asked as he looked her up and down.
Neia's talons clicked one after another over the stone. "I am the Queen of Frost, yes. That makes me the one in charge. You didn't come all this way to ask that question. I'm also very busy, so… your reason for being here, Southern nobleman?"
He shifted uncomfortably where he knelt. "The Southern Holy Kingdom is rebelling against the North. We want your help."
"How did you even know there is a 'we' here who might hear you out?" Neia asked and glanced around the open space of the still 'open air' castle. Demihumans large and small bore blank expressions.
"The North took a few captives, one of our people talked to some, we heard about the rise of a central authority here… I happened to be a bit of a gambler." He explained and could not hold back a smirk from his thickly bearded face. "And it looks like it has paid off."
"We'll see, human. You say the South is rebelling, what has that to do with us? We're busy building a Kingdom here." Neia began tapping her foot and rested her head on her fist with her arm upright on the armrest of her throne.
"The Holy Queen butchered our people, she showed no care for our lives, she let our families be slaughtered and turned on her own population-" He snapped his jaw shut when Neia straightened on her throne.
"The Holy Queen is still Calca right?" Neia furrowed her brow and looked at the Southern noble with incredulity.
"The one who condemned you to die, yes." He pointed out, and smiled inwardly when he saw the ice blue eyes flash with brief anger.
"Assuming I believe you… what of it?" Neia asked, "I live here now, I'm no longer a human, I'm no longer a citizen, I'm no longer anything." She tried to mask her thoughts, but she shifted a little, removed her head from her fist and sat up straighter, stiffer.
"Your parents are human, aren't they?" He asked, and the hand Neia was resting on the armrest dug into the stone, the talons piercing the rock, she nodded. "They are."
"They were imprisoned by the Holy Queen on suspicion of treason, shortly after your… escape." The nobleman pointed out, leaving the sentence dangling in silence between them.
Neia frowned in spite of herself, she gritted her teeth. "Were they?"
"Yes. Of course, if you care nothing for them or the people you used to defend… with your permission I will take my leave, Your Majesty." The nobleman bowed his head and waited.
He did not wait long.
"I didn't say that." Neia retorted, "But what do you propose I do?"
"Seize the wall, invade the Northern Holy Kingdom, aid our rebellion. There are tens upon tens of thousands of you, and between us both, the Royal family will have to submit." The nobleman proposed.
"Why should I trust you, even if I agree with what you want?" Neia inquired, and he suppressed a smile of delight at the way she said it.
"Because the Southern Holy Kingdom has no interest in ruling the North, we want only to rule ourselves, they are a buffer between you and us, if you seize the wall, then the wall becomes a buffer between you and your western human neighbor. The Slane Theocracy is near to your border isn't it?" He pointed out, "Don't you think it likely that at some point they and the Holy Kingdom would both turn on you? They won't just sit by while you build a real demihuman Kingdom. Demalbion will be destroyed before it can even begin."
Neia began to rub her chin, "You make an excellent point… I will… present terms to my western neighbor. I will see what they say about turning over my family… see what manner of relations I can establish."
"As Your Majesty wills it." He said and bowed his head.
"Stay in a guest home, our quarters are still crude for now, but you may reside here until I have an answer." Neia promised, and waved to one of the Zern along the wall. "Xin, see Ambassador…" Neia let it hang.
"Astraka." He said with pride. "Duke Astraka."
"Yes, take the Duke to our best available quarters and provide him with whatever he requires." Neia gave the command, and as the human was led away she looked over to her left.
"To'Raven, I have an assignment for you." Neia said and the big orc put himself in front of her and went down on one knee to listen to her instruction.
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To'Raven did not shake with fear. Not again. 'I have fear, no more now.' He told himself, and felt it was the truth. At his back were six orcs and a wagon of goods, steel spat rope that was selling well among the Dark Dwarves, made by the spider people, furs from various monsters, as well as herbs rare in the Holy Kingdom that were more common in the Abelion Hills.
As a single wagon, it was not even a caravan, and not a single one of the orcs was armed. They wore fine tunics as far as it went, befitting the status of 'merchant' as they understood it. Black leather clothing suitable for casual use, open vested in the orc style to show off their big, broad chests, and some golden medallions which bore the crudely shaped face of the Frost Queen.
To'Raven glanced behind him one more time as they came in sight of the wall. The guards up above were already crying out the alarm as he raised his hands.
"I come for peace! Frost Queen sends with words! She sends with gifts! Offers of trade to neighbors!" The outcry seemed, if anything, to send the humans into an even greater frenzy.
At least they weren't shooting him yet.
'Yet.' He thought, and waited.
"Go away! No demihumans allowed! One warning is all you get, monster, and then we shoot!" A high pitched squeaky voice of an obvious battle virgin shouted down at him.
He craned his neck to look up at the top of the wall, "I am ambassador! I come for trade! For peace! Only Holy Queen can say no! Kill me, we have war! Frost Queen and Dragon will be angry! We let you see, we are not armed! Only goods and sealed letter for Holy Queen alone!"
It seemed to shake the confidence of the voice, as a moment later it shouted back, "Wait there!"
He did not envy the young man, 'Always unhappy to have confusion. Always push up to someone else. Easier. Much easier.' He thought, recalling the times he pushed hard questions up to his own father until he was the chief of a tribe himself. 'Thalren was right. Frost Queen is good for orcs.' Her promise to care for his family if he should die, filled him with confidence and courage that had failed him before, when her arrow was at his back and he was bleeding on Holy Kingdom ground.
So he simply sat in the cart and waited, the other orcs took their cue from him and sat down on the ground around the cart with him.
They sat for what felt like hours, but must have been less as the sun was not high in the sky when the gate began to open and some plate mail clad paladins trotted out, they were twenty strong and moved to surround the wagon. Their metal gleaming in the light of the day, they lowered their lances so that the tips were each pointed at orc necks, three or four to each, the orcs remained calm and quiet.
"You better explain yourself, orc." A human said from behind his helmet.
"Did. Frost Queen rules orcs, other demihumans too, she wants peace, no war. Sends me for peace words, a letter for your Queen from ours. Offers of trade. Agree to terms, we will not fight on any tomorrows." To'Raven explained, and the human raised the visor of his helmet.
"Do you take us for fools?" He demanded, incredulously moving his lance away and shaking it, his legs trembled so much that the horse all but cantered away, unsure of what he actually wanted to do.
It stopped when his free hand took hold of the reins and tugged lightly.
"We do not take fools, only what I say." To'Raven answered with a firm nod and held up both his hands beside his big round head. He snorted through his porcine snout, "I say truth, Holy Queen and Frost Queen do not have to fight. No killing. Peace. Maybe she say yes, maybe she say no, but only she say? Or are you Holy Queen wrapped in metal?"
To'Raven snorted, and the other orcs began to laugh, so, against their will, did several of the paladins whose lances with their sharp metal points, began to waver.
The paladin however, turned purple with anger. "We will inspect your… wagon… then escort you to someone higher, you'll be their problem then…" His voice cracked at the end, and To'Raven grunted.
"Then look, I speak true, nothing here, only peace offer." To'Raven said with an emphatic nod, and raised his head when the tip of the lance pricked at his throat and forced his chin to rise to escape bloodshed.
"Go on. Inspect the wagon." The nameless paladin barked, and two dismounted to begin the inspection.
'First problem… done.' To'Raven thought, mentally breathing a sigh of relief, and waiting with patience to move on.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone