"The Agrestian ambassador has arrived, Your Highness."
"Send her in."
Her Majesty Sabine Dupain-Cheng, Queen (for the present at least) of the realm of Boulangerie, schooled her face to impassivity. The only concession to worry she permitted herself was to tightly squeeze the hand of her Consort as he sat beside her, and the pressure of his own hand in return did much to settle her nerves.
The door to their study opened, and a woman stepped through. Neither especially tall nor especially short, and rather slender of build, the Agrestian ambassador did not look imposing at first glance. But her cold blue eyes shone with intelligence and will, and the pink moth crest embroidered on her purple robe was ample reminder of the power she represented.
"Welcome, Ambassador Sancoeur," said Sabine. "Please, take a seat."
The Agrestian ambassador smiled slightly as she took her seat. Sabine snarled internally at that smile, for she knew exactly what it meant. By receiving Ambassador Sancouer here, in her study and in private rather than in public before the court, Sabine was signaling that she might be persuaded to capitulate to Gabriel Agreste's rule. Ambassador Sancouer knew that, Sabine knew Sancouer knew, and Sancouer knew that Sabine knew that Sancouer knew.
"Tea? Biscuits?" said Sabine politely, indicating the refreshments laid out on the desk between them.
"Thank you, Your Highness," said Sancouer with a nod of her head. She poured herself a cup of tea and selected two or three biscuits. She took a sip of the one and a bite of the other.
"These are quite good," she said with another small smile.
"Thank you," said Tom with a broad grin. "I made them myself."
Sabine did not permit her expression to alter in the slightest. This was a game they'd played many times before, for their court and for others. Tom the bumbling commoner raised to the heights of power, prone to blurt out what diplomatic politeness forbade saying in so many words, and Sabine the Queen, elegant, reserved, and in control. Tom and Sabine might ultimately hold a losing hand, but they'd play every card they had nonetheless.
"So," said Sabine levelly. "What does Gabriel Agreste wish to say to us?"
Sancouer put down her teacup. "My master wishes to offer you the chance to accept his authority peacefully and without unnecessary loss of life. The time of feuding kings and shattered realms must end, but it need not end in blood, not here. You have ruled your people well, and Emperor Agreste always has a place for those who are competent and loyal. If you are willing, my master is prepared to offer you integration into the Empire whole and intact. Your kingdom would be made a province of the Empire, and you yourselves would be its governors. You would be required to submit to my master's edicts and laws and to pay tithe of men and goods, but you would receive in return the protection of the Empire and all the benefits that come with being a part of it."
"And why should we bow the knee to Gabriel Agreste?" retorted Tom hotly. "He has no right or claim to this land."
"Does he not?" said Sancouer levelly. "In the aftermath of Downfall, the six Bearers became kings and queens by virtue of their Miraculouses. Your wife's own ancestor created this kingdom by the power of the Ladybug Earrings. But now you have no Miraculous, and my master holds the Moth Brooch. It could be argued that he has at least as much a claim to this realm as you. But if you are resolved, so be it. There is yet one more option before war, one more hope at least for an amicable relationship between our two realms."
"And what might that be?" said Sabine.
"While my master is resolved that all of Paree must be united once more, he is prepared to take his time with that unity. You have a daughter, do you not? Perhaps two years of age?"
"Yes. What of her?" said Sabine. She was fairly certain she knew what the Agrestian ambassador was about to propose, but she was not going to take any steps for the woman. If Sancouer wanted to say this, she could say it herself.
"My master's son, his eldest and heir, is nearly of an age with your daughter. My master wishes to propose a treaty between our two realms, a treaty of mutual nonaggression, free trade, and general alliance. A treaty to be sealed by the marriage of your daughter Marinette to my master's son Adrien. For the duration of your life and reign, your realm will remain separate and independent. After your death, the crown of Boulangerie will pass to your daughter, and through her to my master's son. And so the two realms may be united without need for blood or conquest."
"Are you serious?" said Tom. "Marinette isn't even three years of age!"
"And as I have said, my master's son is no more than a few months older," replied Sancouer levelly. "They shall be betrothed as part of the treaty, but the marriage itself will not take place until both have reached a suitable age."
"If you think…" Tom began to say, but Sabine laid a hand on his arm. "Tom, enough," she said. She turned her focus back to the Agrestian ambassador. "Thank you, Ambassador Sancouer," she said. "We shall need time to consider your master's…proposals. Anton shall show you to your quarters, and we shall resume this discussion upon the morrow."
"Of course, Your Highness," said Sancouer with another small smirk. She drew a bundle of papers from under her robe. "I have drawn up a draft treaty for your consideration. Most of these terms are open for negotiation, but I thought it would benefit us all for you to see my master's… starting position, as it were. I have indicated those provisions which are not open to debate."
Later that evening.
"I hate this," snarled Tom Dupain-Cheng in a low voice, pacing back and forth across his and his wife's bedroom. "I hate that I have to even think about bowing to a tyrant or selling my daughter off. Plagg smite Nathalie Sancouer and Gabriel Agreste!"
"As nice as that would be, I don't think he'll oblige," said Sabine with a smile. "Come on, lie down," she continued, patting the bed next to her.
Tom let out a long sigh, feeling his fury drain away and a sullen bitterness replace it. "If it wasn't for the Moth Brooch, or if we still had the Earrings of the Ladybug, we could tell Gabriel Agreste to go to Plagg," he said as he sat down on the bed. "We've got almost as many soldiers as he does, and his forces may be better trained and equipped, but they're not that much better. And if we went to war, the peasants would flock to our banners. They might not be much good as soldiers, but even poorly equipped and trained soldiers can do a lot of damage if there are enough of them."
"And he couldn't bring anything like his full strength to bear against us," said Sabine. "He needs to keep the provinces he's already conquered in line, and he has other wars he's fighting. But he does have the Moth Brooch, and with the other Miraculouses lost, that's more than enough. Or at least, more than enough for what he's facing."
Tom slumped back on the bed. It all came back to the Moth Brooch. It was like something out of the old tales from the time of the Astrucan Republic, or from just after Downfall when demons and akumas and all manner of monsters roamed the land and the Miraculous Bearers fought to rebuild civilization. But now, after generations of normal mundane life, one of those ancient relics had returned in its full power. And almost overnight it had turned a minor Baron from the backcountry of the shattered kingdom of Papillion into the mightiest ruler in Paree or beyond.
Sabine leaned against him, and there was an odd not-quite-a-smile on her face. "We could still beat him, you know. Even with the Moth Brooch, if all the free nations united against him we could still win. But not even the threat of Gabriel Agreste can make that bunch of squabbling children work together. Those that he isn't threatening right now sit back, happy to let their fellows get munched up as long as they're safe for the moment. Kind of makes you understand his point."
Tom had no idea what to say to that, so he contented himself with embracing his wife. After a long moment Sabine let out a sigh. "But enough of what might be. What matters now is what is. We can't win on our own, and there's no realistic chance that any of the other major realms will join us. We could hurt him, and hurt him badly, but we can't win."
"So we can bow down to a usurper, we can defy him and start a bloody and ultimately hopeless war, or…" Tom couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
"Or we can take his second offer. Marry our daughter to his son, and by so doing buy our people's safety, for a time at least."
Tom's gaze flashed to the truckle bed in the far corner, where their little Marinette slept peacefully. The Miraculous might have been lost, but Sabine and Marinette were still the last living descendants of Joan the First, who had taken up the Earrings of the Ladybug in the chaos after Downfall and used their power to forge a kingdom from fragments of the old Astrucan Republic. Others had done the same with some of the lesser Miraculouses, but with the Ring of the Black Cat lost in Downfall, Joan's possession of the Ladybug Earrings had made her the primum inter pares. That lineage still had meaning, even now. If Agreste wanted to reunite Paree under his authority, the bloodline of Joan would be a great help to him.
"I hate this," repeated Tom, though without his earlier vigor. Now he just felt tired. "Surrendering to Agreste, selling our daughter off to him like that… you saw that "treaty". Marinette will be little more than a decoration on young Agreste's arm, once he gets old enough to claim her. No power of her own, that's for sure. No matter which choice we make, Agreste ends up taking our crown sooner or later."
"It won't be that bad," said Sabine. "In the first place, Marinette will be young Agreste's wife, and that may give her some…unofficial…power. Young Agreste may even be a different sort from his father and give Marinette back some or all of the authority that should have been hers. And even if he ignores her, he won't be able to mistreat her too badly, not without ruining everything his father gets from the marriage in terms of legitimacy. She may not have power, but she should at least have security and luxury."
Sabine's voice grew incredibly resigned. "And if we defy Gabriel Agreste, he'll simply conquer us and take Marinette by force. At best, she'd be married off to young Agreste anyway. More likely, she'd be held as a hostage to keep Boulangerie from rebelling, or given to some minion of Agreste's as a reward. And no matter how bad this marriage will be for us and for Marinette, it will be the best choice for our people. If we fight, it will bring only death and destruction to them. And if we must buy their prosperity at the expense of ours, then so be it. That is what I swore to do when I took the throne, if it ever came to that."
"And that is why your people love you," said Tom, wrapping his wife in a deep embrace. "And why I love you," he whispered in her ear.
Sabine turned her face up to meet his, and Tom eagerly pressed his lips to hers. Tomorrow they would once again have to be Queen and King Consort, guardians and servants of their people with the weight of a nation on their shoulders. But for tonight, they could be simply Tom and Sabine, simply Man and Woman.