by Kran Sanon
“That is fine. The people will eventually know the truth if he is telling a lie. I accept this condition. If he wants to show his strength by bringing all his allies, then we will do the same. We will also take all of our allies to this meeting. Now, what is his second condition? Asked King Solas.
King Melton tells all of them that the second condition that King Morrigan has laid is that the meeting will not take place at the King Melton’s Cerid Kingdom as proposed by King Solas but rather at the small kingdom of Tradal which lies just beyond the river of Vrailan. This creates a loud tension in the room as all of the kings do not seem to agree with this. One of them says that this gives King Morrigan another chance to set up an ambush.
“I tried to negotiate but King Morrigan was adamant that the only chance of this meeting taking place is that by us accepting both of his terms. Like I said before, he blames you for what happened at Wovia and that is why he is not willing to take any chances this time” King Herman continues to say.
King Solas though confidently says that he agrees to both of those terms and commands Robin to let the Vrailan messenger know of his decision but he just like everyone else present there gives King Solas a sceptical look. Solas then tells them they do not need to worry because King Morrigan is delusional and will not have any advantage at Tradal.
“Every dog thinks he is a lion at his home but when he comes to face a real lion then only he understands what he is” jokes King Solas but he is the only one laughing to it.
“I thought when the king laughs then everyone else laughs” he jokes again but he is again the only one laughing to it.
Amos then enlightens him why everyone is behaving like that.
“Brother, you know everyone here still have not agreed to the second term and you made up the decision for everyone just like that. That is not you. You always consider the opinions of others” Amos said to Solas.
The King now realises that he is again making the same mistake that he made before coming to the throne room. He is just behaving like Cullen Rutherford and not King Solas. The problem is that even though Cullen and Solas share similar views about freedom and equality, they are still two completely different individuals. King Cullen Rutherford is more clumsy, impulsive and humorous. He likes to make jokes and bring a comic feel to everything while King Solas Alistair is more focused, determined and methodical. Cullen also does not like his decisions being challenged. He is someone who thinks he knows everything for he has lived for more than three thousand years and seen a lot in that lifetime. Once he has decided about something, very rarely can someone influence him to change it. Solas, on the other hand, would never make a decision on his own. He will always first hear and observe what the people around him are saying about any particular issue; then he will make his decision.
Once the King realises his mistake, he tries to amend it by asking them to trust him like they have always done but is not entirely successful. Luckily, his wife Isabela comes to his aid.
“My lords, what my husband is trying to say is that whenever he has lead you to any battle, all of us have won. Many other times in the past those decisions seemed to be wrong but my husband has always proven everyone wrong. Besides, do not forget that even though the kingdom of Tradal is very near Vrailan, they do not stand with them. They are one of our allies. Their king is present here today and I am sure he is going to let us know if King Morrigan is planning something. Also, we have a dragon as well. I do not think they would have anything more powerful or destructive than Noxa. So, I ask you to trust my husband once more as I am sure he will not let you down” said a really commanding Isabela.
All the kings now seeming to have gained more confidence in King Solas’ decision after Isabela’s speech agree to it. King Solas though, has his concentration fixed at only Isabela being completely impressed by her. As everyone else agree to King Morrigan’s demands, the Vrailan messenger is then informed of the decision together with the details of the mission and then sent back to his kingdom.
Now as Solas tries to go to his room to finally get some rest, he is stopped by his daughter on his way.
“Daddy, you said you would teach me how to ride Noxa” said Princess Leliana.
Solas reluctantly tells her that they should do that some other time as he is tired right now but Leliana insists they do it now.
“But you promised me daddy that when you return, you will teach me how to fly a dragon. I want to do it now. Please daddy. Please. Please. Please” Leliana continues to whine about it.
Solas eventually realise that he cannot overrule him, so he agrees and teaches her some lessons on how to ride a dragon. They fly over the palace and Selux River as Leliana feels really afraid. She has never been this high off the ground. She tightly holds her fathers’ hand and asks him to take her down. Solas though tells her that fear is only temporary and that once she masters this, the skies will belong to her.
“Open your eyes, my daughter. Fear is only the work of your mind. Listen to your heart. Dig deep, and you will understand that this is what you really want. Now open your eyes and take in the wind and the wonders. Do not worry about anything else. Trust me. Nothing will happen to you as long as I am here.” Solas explains to her.
Leliana still fears to open her eyes but eventually listens to what her father is telling her. She slowly leaves her fathers’ hand and tries to hold onto Noxa directing him herself. Leliana is now entirely enjoying herself having completely conquered her fears. She has now realised that this is something that she wants to do. Once the both of them eventually land on the ground, Leliana asks her father if Noxa will always live with them for which King Solas replies that he will.
“Noxa will always be with you. He will always protect you when need required” said Solas.
As the day quickly turns into night, Solas assists her in bathing and then sings her the lullaby that he learnt from Isabela as she slowly goes to sleep.
Solas now makes his way to his room where his wife awaits him. He tells her that Leliana is a really fast learner and that maybe she was meant to be a dragon rider.
“She is her fathers’ daughter after all. Of course, she learns everything in no time” replies Isabela.
She then gets close to him and wraps her arms around him. She then kisses him on the lips and tries to seduce him. Solas feels uneasy and uncomfortable by Isabela’s action. Of course, he has been mesmerised by her charm and beauty ever since coming to Selux and does want to give her what she wants, but deep down knows that this is not right. His feelings tell him to lay her down on this night, but he does not want to take advantage of the situation.
“This is not right” Solas tells himself.
“This is not why I am here” he continues to say to himself.
He then eventually pushes himself away from her telling her that he is tired and needs to rest.
“I have completed a long journey before reaching here this morning. After that, I went straight to the meeting and then taught Leliana about riding a dragon so I could not take time out to rest. I am really tired, my love. Please understand” said Solas.
“You know that is not the main reason for this behaviour of yours” replies Isabela.
Solas tells her that he does not understand what she is trying to imply but Isabela tells him that she knows that he understands everything that she is talking about.
“It is no secret that ever since you have returned, you have been behaving differently than your usual self. Everyone has noticed that. But most importantly, you have been ignoring me completely whenever we get close. You do it every single time. I do not know what the Arkhenians did to you but this is not the man that I knew. I do not mean that anything that you have done is wrong so far, but it’s just that it is very different than how you used to be. I am happy for most of the changes in you. I really am. You give more time to Leliana, use humour more, joke more and engage with everyone else more. I like all of that but still deep down, I know there is something that you
are hiding from me. Something really big. I do not want to hear it if you do not want to say it because whenever you have taken any decision for this family and this kingdom, it has always been in our favour. Everyone has always prospered from every single decision of yours and I hope we will this time as well” said Isabela.
Solas is once again impressed by her intelligence but knows that in no possibility can he let her know the truth. At least not right now. In an attempt to convince her, he tells her that what he has gone through recently is what has led him to change.
“I almost died after what happened at Wovia. I actually thought I will die before the Arkhenians saved my life. That is when I realized how important it is to value things that I already have but it also reminded me that I am the one responsible for bringing peace in this realms. For the past five years, peace is something that the realms of men have not seen because of this civil war. I decided to let all other kingdoms to rule themselves, and that is what has led to this civil crisis. I know the decision that I took was correct. It is correct to take humanity forward but now I have to prove it. I cannot be at peace before I do that. Until I do that I cannot give you what you want because spending those moments with you is the very definition of what peace really is” Solas tells her.
Isabela tells him that she understands what he is going through and what he wants to prove.
“I have never questioned any decision that you have taken in the past, and I will not do it now. Even though I do not see any connection between being with me and proving what you believe in, I still respect your decision. I also still feel there is something else bothering you, something that you do not want me to know. I just hope you do tell me when the time is right” replies Isabela.
Solas thanks her for being so reasonable but knows that he may not be able to hide the truth from her for long. He always knew it would be a tough task coming back to the realms of men taking the place of King Solas but he never knew it would be this hard trying to live his personal life. He promises himself that he will tell Isabela the truth once he completes both of his missions.
Over at the Vrailan Kingdom, King Morrigan Pentaghost is informed by his right hand Oliverus Davidson that King Solas has agreed to his terms about the meeting. He also tells him that his messenger has also informed him that the rumour about King Solas returning with a dragon is also true. King Morrigan has grown up trying to make his kingdom the biggest in these realms but has always been unsuccessful. He created this civil war by manipulating other northern kingdoms, making them believe that the southern kingdoms have always treated them as inferiors. He believes that it was King Solas who was actually behind the events of Wovia and now trying to blame him.
“The southerners are so dumb. I cannot believe that those people still trust him after this. He returns with a dragon and tells everyone that it was us impersonating a mythical race but still those foolish people trust him with a blind eye” he tells his allies.
“Maybe it was someone impersonating them but King Solas mistakenly thought it was one of us” replied Arthur Smith, the king of the Creagon Empire.
King Arthur Smith is an honourable man who just has been manipulated by King Morrigan, believing the southerners do treat them as inferiors. King Morrigan knows how important it is to have him on his side as most of the northern armies only see him as the king in the north. This gives him the command of the majority of the northern kingdoms. Understanding this, King Morrigan again tries to persuade him by making him believe that King Solas is lying about someone impersonating the Necros.
“King Solas is a liar. There was no one else trying to impersonate the Necros. I was also present there before he was. I went through all of that. It was real. I am not trying to say that it was the Necros but it was something as frightening. Something genuine. Now I am very sure that King Solas was behind all of this. Look at it this way. He returns with a dragon after many people believed he had died after that attack. He was trying to play the innocence game to gain the trust of people. We have heard the Elf King Samven visiting Selux. Since he returned with a dragon makes it clear that he has also befriended the Arkhen King Cullen Rutherford. Solas might not be capable of something like that but Samven and Cullen are. They are all plotting against us; knowing how strong our northern armies have grown in the past five years. They see us as a threat because they only want to consider us as their inferiors. They have always considered us as inferiors. Why else would they let Selux rule the realms of men without ever asking for our opinions? They only want us to be the slaves of the southerners but that is something which we will not allow to happen. I say it is about time that a northern kingdom takes charge of the entire realms of men. To make this happen, I need all of your support” said a very passionate King Morrigan.
Every one of his allies present there including Arthur Smith once again seems to have gained confidence in him. King Rodelfus Nasnak even proposes that they should attack right now to have a better chance Fihon, the wife of King Morrigan rules against it. She belongs to the race of elves and is also the youngest daughter of Samven but has been banished from the Elf Kingdom after helping King Morrigan create this civil war. She tells King Rodelfus and everyone else that attacking Selux right now will be a bad idea.
“We cannot do this right now. They will see it coming. They will also see it coming at the meeting so we have to make sure that no one tries to pull off something stupid” said Fihon.
“Then when do we attack? How do we win this war?” asked Rodelfus.
Fihon replies him that they carry on with the plan and try to decide this in the meeting.
“We have to make sure that we do not get intimidated by them during the meeting. We should be the ones intimidating them. They might have a bigger army but we have the braver men. We are the northerners. We know we will outclass them in strength. Yes, they have a dragon but we have elephants and wolves. We will remind them during this meeting that if it is going to be a war then we are the ones who will win it. We also let them know that they do not have any other choice rather than accepting our demands of acknowledging Vrailan as the one true ruler of the realms of men” said a confident Fihon.
Rodelfus though, still is not entirely confident that the southerners would agree to their demands like that.
“What if they do not agree with us? What if we get to nothing during this meeting?” Rodelfus again asks her.
“Then we let things be as it is. This civil war will go on. We will still neither trade with them nor let any southerner cross our northern border. We just need to remain patient as we have been for the past five years, and eventually they will have to agree with us. Even if it comes down to war just like my husband and I have said before, we will win. So one way or another, victory will be ours” answered Fihon.
As they all agree, preparations begin for them to depart for Tradal for the meeting of the kings.
The Tradal Kingdom has already been prepared to welcome their guests. Since all the armies of both parties will be coming, the table and chairs have been placed outside since Tradal is just a small kingdom and cannot host that many guests in the throne room at the same time. It is a beautiful sunny afternoon with warm breezes of wind gusting through. The northern armies arrive first and take their place on the right side of the table. Then eventually the southern troops arrive led by Queen Isabela of Selux. As they take their place on the left side of the table, the northern troops notice that King Solas is not present there. King Morrigan asks Isabela that whether her husband has already accepted his defeat for which she replies that he does not even know what defeat actually is. She also reminds him that her husband will be there shortly. Eventually, everyone’s attention turns towards a dragon roar as King Solas makes his appearance riding Noxa as he did when he returned to Selux.
“My husband just likes to make a great entrance” said Isabela to an unsettled King Morrigan.
Solas then makes his way towards his chair on the edge of the left side of the table. Kin
g Morrigan tries to look as confident as possible even though he is intimidated from the within as he has never seen a dragon in his lifetime. Both of them look at each other for minutes. Isabela though seems to be enjoying herself as she makes weird faces looking at Fihon. Solas eventually talks first as he tries to explain that what Morrigan stands for is wrong.
“You need to end this civil war now. You know it very well that this has neither helped your people nor mine in the past five years. There is no need for it” said King Solas.
As he was about to continue, Fihon interrupts him by saying that it is rather Selux who need to end this war right now by agreeing to their terms and surrendering to Vrailan.
“He was not talking to you, lady. So you better shut your filthy mouth” Isabela said interrupting Fihon.
Fihon asks her why she doesn’t make her shut her mouth. Isabela says she would love to as she climbs the table and tries to punch her. She gets one or two minor shots before Solas pulls her back and Morrigan holds back Fihon. All of the northern armies stand up, but the southern armies do it as well. Amos asks everyone to settle down and do this in a civilised manner. He also asks his sister in law to control her anger and not to create a scene. On the other side, Arthur Smith as well asks his armies to sit down and also tells Fihon that the decisions of this meeting are only going to be made by King Morrigan and King Solas. He also tells her not to interrupt when both of them are talking and if she needs to add something then tell Morrigan to bring it up. Before she can say anything, Morrigan tells her that Arthur is right. Everyone again settles down for the meeting to continue. Isabela though is still giving Fihon an angry look as she blows the hair which came in front of her eyes.
Solas then tries to continue what he was saying before he was interrupted.