by Andy Holland
"Do you mean to lie to the Council?" Lord Robert asked. "I can't agree to that."
"Not lie," Noah replied. "The opposite, really. That army was several times as large as yours; if only a quarter has survived then they still might outnumber you. They'll have retreated to their cities, and probably also to the cities they took from you. Retaking them might be harder than you think. I'd recommend sending your own spies to your Southern and Northern Principalities, and quickly. Everyone is assuming that you have an easy task ahead of you; anything that can challenge that view will smooth the passage of this treaty."
"I'll get on it," Prince Gerald said, standing up. "I have friends in military intelligence; I can bypass the Council for this. They should be doing this anyway, really."
"I'll get word out to our spies," Mark volunteered. "We can get word to Jude and he'll then send messages to all of the other nations."
"Excellent," Noah replied. "Then get back here as fast as you can to help with the writing of this treaty. We'll get started straight away, but we'll need help from both of you. If this document is agreed, it may change our world for ever."
Chapter 35 - The End
Crystal had seen many street parties in her home town of Black Rock, as well as one or two celebrations in Furnace to mark the birthdays of various members of the royal family, but nothing prepared her for the festivities that marked the signing of the treaty. The city was completely transformed, with every street decorated and dancing in every square. It was going to be a long night of partying and it looked like everyone in the city was out in the streets to celebrate. Although the war had been won some time ago, the formal signing of the peace treaty which had just taken place yesterday marked the end of the all hostilities.
"I was a little disappointed when I heard about the celebrations in Furnace after the Blues were defeated," Jenna commented as they walked through the streets towards the centre. "I thought we'd missed out being stuck in the East. But I bet they were nothing compared to this."
"We just got back in time," Crystal replied, shaking her head as someone offered her a drink from a stall at the side of the road.
"Don't be silly," Seth told her. "They're in our honour! They couldn't have started without us."
"John's honour," Daisy corrected. "He's the one that they're celebrating."
"If only they knew which Golden Dragon he was," Seth mused. "You could help them out there. You don't need to stay hidden now."
John was wearing a hat that covered his hair and was passing by unrecognised. They had seen several Golden Dragons in the streets who people were assuming were John and he had done nothing to disillusion them.
"I'm happier this way, Seth," John replied, pulling his hat closer to his head. "I don't need lots of attention from people I don't know."
"You don't know what you're missing out on," Jenna replied. "Besides, I feel as if we should be getting some sort of recognition as well. We did fly all the way there and back to get the Browns into this war. I don't know why we have to miss out just because you're shy."
"Leave him alone," Arthur replied, taking Jenna's arm. "You're getting enough attention as it is."
Crystal stared at Jenna in surprise, who smirked smugly back at her. So she was back with her Prince. Crystal wondered when that had happened.
"You won't be able to avoid the attention at the palace," Seth remarked. "Isn't there going to be some sort of official recognition of what you did at this ceremony?" Unfortunately, Crystal and her friends were obliged to attend the official ceremony held in the palace, which would probably take several hours.
"Of what we did," John replied. "All of the Golden Dragons, not just me. Noah will be representing us, so I can hide at the back."
"What?" Seth asked in amazement. "So why are we going? I thought we were only going to cheer you on. This is going to be the dullest part of the day."
"Sorry, Seth," John replied. "But the rest of us have to be there anyway, so you may as well come along."
"Our whole family will be there," Daisy said. "There's no way we could get out of this. I would have thought that your family would have to be there as well. The King is your great uncle, isn't he, Seth?"
"It's a very large family," Seth replied. "No one would notice if I wasn't there. Not even my own parents, let alone the King."
"I have to be there as well," Crystal added. "My father was the Commander of the Southern Army, so it's expected that his family would be there."
"Was?" Seth asked. "Has he retired?"
"Yes," Jenna replied. "And he very kindly recommended that my father take over. I am now the daughter of the Commander of the Southern Army. Although I do admit, it's probably a good thing that there's not likely to be any fighting any time soon as I don't think he's that familiar with how the army works."
The others all laughed at this.
"What will your father do now?" Daisy asked.
"Some sort of government role," Crystal replied. "He was a little vague about it."
"Well, congratulations, Jenna," Seth added. "But I'm still not looking forwards to this ceremony and think we should try and get out of it. It's going to be very dull. Will they read through the whole treaty? Do you think they'll mind if I fall asleep while they do?"
"I can summarise it for you," John replied. "It's quite straight forward?"
"You know what's in it?" Crystal asked in surprise. "I thought only the Council knew what was in it. And the commanders of the Blues and Browns. My father didn't give me any details."
"Not just Blues and Browns," John replied. "Golden Dragons, Sandys, Wasps and a few smaller nations also. And seeing as my brother helped draft it I know exactly what's in it. He discussed some of it with me while he was drafting it."
"Did you really help write it?" Daisy asked. "A treaty that our government signed?"
"That's only fair," Seth replied. "He did end the war. So what's in the treaty? Give us the short version."
"The short version, alright. Firstly, you get your cities back of course, along with some modest advances in your borders. The Browns get to keep their gains, as do the Sandy and Wasp dragons. No one actually gains that much land, truth be told, but it's enough to satisfy the vanity of your leaders and appease the more vengeful members of your Council."
"Probably best if you didn't describe them like that when we're in the palace," Crystal pointed out.
"Fair enough," John replied. "That's the uninteresting part, although the bit which took the longest to negotiate. Your Council found it difficult to agree amongst themselves let alone with the other nations. But the bits that Noah and Mark put together are far more exciting."
"Well, tell us," Jenna replied impatiently. "We'll be there soon."
"I will. Secondly, the Blues are to get a completely new style of government. This general will be the last military leader to run the country, a change that will hopefully rein in their tendency to invade their neighbours, but the changes go much further than just changing the leader. The structure of their new government will be something that combines ours and your way of doing things and should give them a more responsible government that looks after their own people, rather than concentrating solely on expanding its borders. Like your principalities, they going to be divided into nine regions, each with powerful local governments and a weak central government."
"Our King wouldn't like that comparison," Seth interrupted. "But it does hobble our ability to do anything, so I can see why you'd want to impose it on the Blues."
"There are other changes to their government. The army would no longer run the government, but would report to the government and answer to it. The government itself would be elected, so the Blues would choose their own leaders, with everyone over sixteen able to vote. Finally, each region would host peacekeepers, delegates of ours, who would be there to observe the Blues and ensure that they keep to the letter of the treaty. The government will take time to establish itself and we'll be there to help that happen."
"Very good, although I don't envy you the task," Arthur commented. "And I'm not sure about this style of government either. It may work for you, but I think larger nations such as ours benefit from the stability that a King provides. I find it hard to believe that my brother agreed to this suggestion."
"I think he really liked the idea," John replied. "Now we get to the really interesting bit. The south-western part of their territory was not really captured by anyone, but was abandoned when they fled the attacks from the True Dragons. Instead of returning the land to them, or giving it to you or the Browns, three new cities are to be built on the ruins of that land."
"What?" Seth asked in surprise. "But that should be our land. We defeated them, after all."
"Not really," Daisy replied. "John did. We just fled from that land."
"Exactly," John continued. "You retreated, just as the Blues did. The Browns could have just as easily claimed the land, or the Blues could have tried to retake it. But no one really had much appetite for any battle so close to where the True Dragons were last seen though, so persuading everyone to agree wasn't as difficult as you might imagine. The True Dragons are still flying about, but we think they'll return home soon."
"So who will own these three cities?" Crystal asked. "If it's not to be the Blues, Browns or us?"
"They'll be three independent city-states," John replied. "One will be a home for Blues spawned by those slave camps. Their mothers, who come from all nations, can live there with them if they wish and we think a lot will choose to do so. The Blues don't want the youngsters, as they only wanted them for the first wave of the attacks, their so called suicide squads. As far as they're concerned they dilute the purity of their race and were not meant to survive the war. None of the other nations want them either and will kill most of them if they get the chance, but their mothers do want them and are used to living together with other races. This city will be theirs."
"That's an excellent idea," Daisy commented. "You were worried about what would happen to them, weren't you?"
"They'll probably have a statue of him in the city centre," Jenna commented rather drily. "What else, John? What about the other two cities?"
"The second city will be based on the Sanctuary, the part of our capital that you visited that hosts refugee nations, but a larger version. A home for the homeless, on the former lands of the nation that made most of them homeless in the first place. Sanctuary has been far too crowded for a long time."
"I'm guessing that was your brother's suggestion," Crystal observed. "Maybe they'll have a statue of him too."
"Very funny," John replied. "The third city is the most interesting one. It will be jointly owned, funded by the Blues, Browns and Reds equally and will host representatives from every nation that wishes to attend to hold continuous talks on how to further improve relations between us all, promote peace and facilitate trade. If this works, it could prevent wars like this one ever happening again."
"What a nice idea," Jenna commented. "I mean, it hasn't a chance of working, but it's a nice idea."
"It might work," Daisy protested. "They worked together in this war."
"For just over ten days," Seth replied. "And there was no direct cooperation. It won't work in the long run."
"I don't know," Arthur said thoughtfully. "If you'd asked me a year ago whether we could form an alliance with Brown Dragons I'd have laughed at the question. If you'd have asked the same question about Golden Dragons, I'd have told you that they don't exist. Who knows what is possible?"
"Only time will tell," John added. They had just reached the palace grounds. The ceremony was to be held in the great hall. "It doesn't seem that long ago that I was here, asking for another treaty to be signed."
"It wasn't that long ago," Crystal replied. "We should go in now. I need to find my parents in there."
"Do you want to sit with us?" Daisy asked John. "I'm sure my parents would be happy for you to join us."
John smiled politely. "Perhaps your mother might not be."
Arthur shook his head. "John, Daisy is delusional. Mother most definitely won't be happy to see you. But don't worry, you only have to get Grandfather to like you."
"And the King," Seth added. "Leah told us about your rules for marrying foreigners."
John nodded, noticing Daisy's sad expression. "Yes, Mark told me about that. I wish I'd known about that conversation at the time. Look, I should go and join Mark and the others. I'd like to sit with you, but Noah insisted. Do you mind looking after this for me, Daisy?" He handed her a scroll. "I picked it up from the palace last time I was here."
"What is it?" Daisy asked.
"Something I should have showed you a long time ago. Have a read if you like," he replied. "I'll see you after the ceremony." He hurried away before she could reply and disappeared from sight.
"What is it?" Seth asked as Daisy unrolled the scroll.
"It's some sort of official document," Arthur said, glancing over her shoulder. Daisy let out an excited scream and Arthur gasped.
"What does it say?" Seth asked again.
"I can't believe it," Arthur said in amazement. "How did he get the King to sign this?" Daisy said nothing, covering her mouth with one hand and her eyes wide, staring at the scroll.
"Give it here," Seth said, prising it from Daisy's hand. "I, King Henry III, grant permission for John Wood, the Golden Dragon, to marry Princess Daisy, provided this is agreeable to Prince Carl, ruler of the Western Principality. How on earth did he get the King to sign this?"
Crystal and Jenna shrieked and snatched the scroll from him. "Is this real?" Jenna asked. "Is this really his signature?"
"It's real alright," Seth replied. "Actually, that was pretty clever. John must have asked the King when Prince Henry was still in the North. The Prince would have stopped it, but the King probably didn't care what he was signing, especially after signing that treaty. He probably thought that John wouldn't make it back anyway. Anyway, congratulations, Daisy. That's one less obstacle."
"I can't believe it," Daisy replied weakly. "He must have been carrying this the whole time we were away."
"Not the most romantic way of telling you," Jenna said.
"Who cares?" Daisy replied happily. "I just wish I could show this to that stupid cousin of yours, Crystal. Leah, not Jenna," she added quickly.
"Be careful what you wish for," a voice said from behind them. The five of them spun around to find Leah, standing behind them. Daisy blushed immediately, but Leah smiled at her and approached. "Congratulations, Princess, I heard your conversation. I'm sure the two of you will be very happy together. And I apologise for how I behaved when you visited. Mark was right to send me away."
"What are you doing here?" Crystal asked, having recovered from her surprise. "When did you arrive?"
"Just moments ago," Leah replied. "And although Mark sent me away, he also summoned me back again. John's idea, apparently. He thinks it's time for you to learn how to transform and that I should be the one to teach you. Which means I finally get my wish and visit your capital city. For some reason he's treating me far more kindly than I ever treated him."
Crystal nodded, taking her cousin's hands. "Don't worry, you're not alone in having treated him badly. Fortunately he's not good at holding a grudge."
"Neither am I," Daisy added, smiling sweetly. "Especially on an occasion such as this. Welcome to Furnace!"
"Thank you, Princess," Leah replied. "I just came to say hello, for the moment. I will go and join the other Golden Dragons, well, the ones who aren't attending the ceremony. I'll see you afterwards. I think it's about to start. Have fun!"
The ceremony wasn't as dull as Seth feared, although it was quite long and Crystal struggled to pay attention to everything. The King sat at the front, but let his son, Prince Henry, do all of the talking, presenting medals to a long list of commanders and soldiers who distinguished themselves during the war. Her father had explained to her all of the different medals that you c
ould be presented with, and their relative importance, but she had never paid that much attention, something she now regretted as she didn't really understand everything that was said. Her father was included in the long list of commanders that were recognised. Then they were called up, all six of them, including John, to be presented with medals. Crystal had worried that he wasn't going to be recognised at all. Prince Henry did mention their bravery in carrying the treaty to the Browns, but glossed over John's name too quickly for her liking. There were a few Brown Dragons there and they were presented with medals as well; then finally the Golden Dragons were called up. John went up again, along with each of the captains who had fought and they were each presented with various medals. Noah was asked to make a short speech on behalf of all of the Golden Dragons. Crystal hoped that he would mention John, but knew that he wouldn't. Then they sat down and she couldn't see him any more.
Every medal was rewarded with polite clapping and Crystal's hands ached by the end of the ceremony. She had never thought she would see the day when the palace hosted two foreign nations; the Browns and the Golds and she knew that she should have felt elated. But, although the Prince had done an excellent job and had spoken most graciously, Crystal felt a little let down by the whole event. Her mother picked up on her mood as they walked outside.
"Is something the matter, dear?" She asked. "I would have you thought you would be happy."
Crystal shrugged. "I was just hoping they would have said a little bit more about John. It feels like he has been forgotten."
"I understand that was his request," her mother replied. "He does seem to be quite shy, doesn't he? Here he is now, dear."
"Hi Crystal," John said in greeting. "Why are you so sad? I thought you'd be pleased about your father's new job?"