Obviously not a parody of George Pinemartin's epic fantasy series
Celia looked over at the imperial throne, now effectively hers, though the state of mourning for the fallen Emperor would delay her official ascension for a few more bothersome days.
She looked to her Sisters, all looking appropriately contrite, well maybe not Karenia, but she was forever the inappropriate one. The rest of the court was doing its part, Leonardius VIII was an unremarkable ruler, but he was their Lord, and they held their fealty in earnest.
She could tolerate five more days. After octades of enduring the attentions of that tedious old Lion, and all the maneuvering, and all the murders. Not just him, but all the potential male heirs, including her own sons. How she resented his ever putting them in her belly. But it was all done now. Thank the Old Gods for the irrational violence that was expected of the males of the species.
Celia wondered how reliable those Lords' allegiance to her would be, especially when her ambitions were known? She didn't expect she had numbers, this would be unpopular to the wider masses as well as some Lords here, but she expected she would enjoy the support of powerful allies in and out of court, and the might of tooth and claw and steel would prevail in the end.
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Nicholas IV stared at the proclamation that had been delivered from the capital. The new Empress had spared no time in issuing various edicts; most were fairly transparent efforts to consolidate her regime. The secret histories were full of accounts of the various Emperors who had done not dissimilar things. Of course they had to be secret accounts, as there tended to be a purging of the records, least someone dare to compare the vices and virtues of one ruler against another.
But this document, a general renouncement of the Great Peace, was an act of madness. He and his forbearers, the whole reason that House Wilde even existed, was the defense of the Great Peace. Keeping the savage predators and equally belligerent prey species of the far north woods away from civilized folk, predator and prey alike. And now his Empress required that all predators 'be true to their nature and assert their full dominance over the lesser orders'.
Such included that prey species could not hold property, title or rank. All could become subject as slave or serf or whatever disposition to any legitimate predator of any rank or holding. All material holdings of all prey species were to now be the property of the Crown, to be confiscated or redistributed as the Crown may see fit. To his personal revulsion, Nicholas was given license to oversee the local redistribution, as it was presumed he's know the right and deserving mammals to give such out to.
"What do you make of this?" Nicholas held out the scroll to his unofficial Hand of the King, the diminutive Fennec, Finn.
"She's a nasty one, your Empress. And this is cruel beyond words." His deep base voice as incongruous, but his desert accent stamped him as the foreigner he was. "You know what this will do to us little ones, not just the food."
The larger Fox grimaced and snarled at those last word.
The smaller Fox just snorted back. "Just checking. There are too many beasts who will jump on this chance."
Nicholas growled back. "I would hope not. At least few with real ties to this place and it's folk. But there would likely be any number of ambitious types coming in from the south, happy to make the most of anything. It has always been a mystery to me how the Capital, the source of the Great Peace, has always been were the most resistance to it in practice."
"I'd wager its all the money, and lust for more. Too much commerce with those lands where the Great Peace has never held. All that gold to be had if only slavers and meat markets were allowed in." Finn observed.
Nicholas IV, King of the North, considered his position. "There is a way to not heed this." He rubbed his muzzle with one paw while waving the hated document with the other.
"It would mean war, you know." Finn whispered. They were alone, but this was the kind of thing one dare not utter too loudly.
"And we would not necessarily win. But the alternatives wouldn't be much better, too many of our folk enslaved, and 'disposition' means food, so death in either case." He sighed. "And you're right, 'legitimate predator' could well be interpreted to mean only predators of size, as no small number of wolves are already unenthusiastic about even a Fox on the throne here in the north."
He had confidence that the bulk of his forces, and the common folk of all types, would respect and defend the Great Peace. It had been the binding force and source of kinship for too many for too long to be easily tossed aside. But there were ambitious beasts in the fold, interested in the throne, not that they would not, for the most part, actually rule any different. But he knew that any usurpation would sunder the kinships. He and his had always been King by compromise and consensus. Foxes, never trusted by anyone, could be held accountable by everyone.
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Queen Judith, the first of her name, was tragically grateful her father and mother were not alive to see this outrage in the form of a proclamation and a party of great cat lords intent on exercising it's contents. She looked out over her privy court and the Imperial delegation that had delivered the damn thing. No small part of her was doubly insulted in that the party did not come with any body of soldiers beyond an escorting honor guard for the trip. They no doubt expected she and hers to simply vacate the palace with the reading of the document.
"As the tradition of diplomatic respect for emissaries is still, for the moment, respected in these lands, I give you leave to go in peace."
"You forget your new status, as ordered by our Empress, you no longer have any power here." The haughty Tiger, king designate, snorted.
"Only if I concede to obey. And I do not." The young Doe's words were quiet and even, but she gripped the hilt of her sword of office, and there was a rustle in the background as a body of troops, the Queen's Guard, a mixed species formation, predator as well as prey, formed up along the walls of the chamber.
The Tiger scowled, "Careful, 'Queen Judith', this could be considered rebellion."
The Queen snapped back, "This," Holding up then tearing the scroll apart, "Is already a declaration of war."
The Tiger snarled and took a menacing step forward, clearly considering to take down the obstreperous little bunny. For her part, Judith stood firm, though a hint of bright steel shown beyond her scabbard.
Though armed, Lord Kang lusted for blood on his claws and teeth, and there had been private discussion with his Empress about his choice of disposition of the little grey thing. But he was also no fool. Despite her age and gender, she was known for her skill with steel. And given the mood of the room, he suspected that none of his party would see its' exit alive if he dared tried to attack.
He collected himself and stiffly bowed to the Queen for a respectful exit.
Unperturbed, Queen Judith nodded to all. "Then good day and fair travel My Lord. Though do remember you are now a representative of a foreign hostile power in these lands, and enjoy only the right of passage of a diplomat for you and yours."
The Tiger nodded, stiffly, grudgingly, and the rest of his party bowed only just enough to not draw reaction.
As they were well away from the palace, Lord Kang's Second, a sage older leopard had to ask. "M'Lord, this obviously can't stand. Do you have a plan beyond simply reporting this affront to the Empress?"
"Our Empress doesn't like bad news. But I don't expect I'll have to tell her, as I planned for something like this. There are several thousand troops, bivouacked well away from common traffic just beyond the boarders. I ought to have the throne and her pelt as my butt-wipe by the new moon."
"Well done, M'Lord. No way they could muster any formations in time to counter."
"Exactly. And even if they do, what resistance could an army made up of bunnies possibly present?"
"There are more than bunnies there."
"Still mostly prey, and all of them will scatter at the first sight of blood. The few predators, mostly canids," Said with great distain, "Are as likely to turn on them as defend them." The Tiger stretched and gave a great toothy yawn. "There will be a lot of good eating coming."