The Mountain Lion turned about snarling viciously as it lunged towards the Tiger, fastening its teeth around the tiger's neck until the furious kicking and struggling slowed and finally stopped.
The crowd applauded. Edward rose from his place in the top box acknowledging Jasper's lost bet with a nod and a slight smirk.
He strode briskly through the passage under the surrounding seats and signalled with a careless flick of his hand, to the carriage.
The footman swung the door open as the carriage pulled to a stop a foot away. Edward leaped into the silk furnished carriage. The carriage walls were lined with gold and encrusted with white and coloured diamonds, rubies and pearls. The interior was padded and richly furnished with the finest silk and furs for royal comfort.
As the carriage made its way down the curved ramp to the bustling street below, He stared unseeingly out of the window at the city of a million, pondering the coming meeting with his father. The war with Arizona was dragging. It was fast approaching ten years since its beginning.
It was a relatively small country- much smaller than Illinois, but with so many damn mountains high enough to surpass the clouds, all the barbarian natives had to do was retreat into the mountainous heights and watch the brave army of Illinois destroy itself.
Illinois was a predominantly flat country blessed with, minerals, gold, precious stones, sunshine and warmth with rich pastures. The Blessed Land we called it. Our war strategies worked flawlessly in our own land and in lands similar. Illinois had dominated many peoples and countries with superior tactics, strategies and the ability to overcome unforeseen obstacles.
Arizona was a blip in a long history of successful conquests. The land was unforgiving. The ancient forests were thick and unyielding, when hunting parties were sent out to gather food for the army they never came back, picked off one by one by the barbarians who knew the forests intimately.
Soldiers died of exhaustion clearing the stubborn shrubbery, soldiers died of hunger unable to find or grow food in the barren soil, soldiers died from the cold, supplies wagons lost wheels on the rough terrain and were swept away by ferociously strong rivers- stronger and fiercer than any in Illinois, or stuck in the deep mud.
Encampments were rained out, and the mountains; they were impassable. Altitude sickness killed many and made the survivors sluggish and easy pickings for the Arizonians.
By the time a head on battle was necessary the soldiers of Illinois were tied, hungry, thirsty, cold, dirty, oxygen deprived and greatly reduced in numbers.
In true Illinois tradition we'd persevered, we had refused to be defeated.
After all, through out our long history our perseverance had paid off. There were no countries or peoples able to resist the armies of Illinois.
When sending large armies hadn't worked then we'd sent small mobile bands. When the forests proved too treacherous we'd tried to cut them down, when the soil previously held together by trees was washed out from under us we'd built bridges.
When attaining food proved suicide we'd sent wagons, when the wagons became impractical we'd set up encampments to store and grow food at.
When the armour was too heavy at high altitude, the blacksmiths had developed lighter armour.
When the snows came and the incessant rain turned to hail and the water in our cups iced over and icicles formed on our beards we'd tried again the following spring. Nothing worked long term.
The Illinoisan attitude had always been that difficulties were learning opportunities. Only the weak gave in. There were lessons to be learned and the gods would favour those with patience, who were clever and cunning. Who learned their lessons. Perhaps the lesson to be learnt in this instance he thought wryly; was our limits.
The wrought ion gates, decorated with gold and sporting jewels on their peaks that glittered under the harsh sunlight opened to admit entry of the heir to the imperial palace. As the carriage halted Edward pulled himself from my revere and proceeded to his fathers Privy Council chambers. The doorman opened painted gold door as he strode in. The council of the realms highest lords rose to its feet as Edward took the high backed, velvet padded gold chair directly to his father's right.
"Where's Jasper?" asked his father without looking up from his papers. "Still at the games, he has a bet with the lord of Cardijan. He will join us shortly.
Edward IV ruler of all Illinois nodded absently before turning towards me. "The trading embargos you suggested have been applied to Alaska; they must not be allowed to expand their army above the set ratio. They need to be rained in.
The plans for the sword fighting tournament in the coming month have been finalised and the Great North Road reports have been delivered, construction has progressed to three miles south of the city of Shooi. And lastly the South East has come out of its self imposed lock down and the busy trading routes are active again, soon would be a good time to extend our influence in the South East. But to enable this, the problem of Arizona in the North West needs attending to. Since Arizona has formed alliances with its neighbours Utah, Oregon and Indo it has become more of a threat than merely a thorn in our side, if we proceed with our ambitions in the South West then we need our backs covered."
Edward sighed, nodding. The Arizonian barbarians had united with their neighbours over two months ago making it far more troublesome than profitable to continue with the campaign.
"What do you suggest to nullify the threat?" he asked.
"The counsel has been debating the issue all morning; I feel the best option is to arrange a truce and organise a conference to discuss terms. We will press for non-aggression and boarder agreement. This is an important treaty, it needs to hold steady so we can be done with this money drain. I do not wish to waste any more valuable time patching up these affaires and diverting my attention from more profitable ventures. I believe it would be advisable for you to take a royal daughter of Arizona as your wife."
Edward raised a sarcastic eyebrow at his father. Reports of the Arizonians differed on many points but all agreed that they were little more than savages. Certainly it was highly doubtful that any so called 'royal' daughter would be fit to act as Empress in consort.
"Seriously? Do those bush people even have the ability to converse in anything other than grunts?" He noted with amusement.
His father sighed "That is a problem, if the candidate chosen in unsuitable to be visible in the public eye then she can be kept in a remote palace and used only for breeding." He said without feeling. "The children need not grow up in her presence- we wouldn't want her uncivilised ways to taint them. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The union would cement peace in the region, possibly for generations; freeing up our armies and recourses as well as covering our backs."
Edward pursed his lips thinking though the complications of this endeavour. It would also circumnavigate the arising problem of favouring a family of the court if an Illinoisan candidate was selected to be Empress. "Very well, but it might be wise to invite candidates from all the barbarian countries that have banded together so that at least one of them should be suitable. It would also give us more options and negotiating power, -less is assured for them, each country will want their own candidate to be selected and give them more security. Divide and conquer if you will."
He nodded at the sense of my words "I will dispatch messengers tomorrow then."
The rest of the meeting half of which Jasper attended was spent discussing renovations to the royal palace of Chi de Summer.
While they discussed the ratios of flower species and geometric patterns for the landscape design Edward wondered who his wife would be.