Italics = Thought
I do not own Fire Emblem.
Cross published on A03
The sun slowly crept over the horizon, and over the endless fields, farms and rolling hills of Hoshido. The farmers of the country were starting to awaken for the day, and the morning cacophony of the morning birdsong filled the land. The hardworking people that kept the great machine that was their country got down to the usual business of the day.
In the Capital, however, the country's ruler was in no mood to wake up. His Glorious Majesty, The King of Hoshido, Takeo, groaned as a servant entered his room to rouse him for the day. He neither knew, nor cared what their name was, he was angry that he had been woken.
"Get out." He snapped in a raspy voice, and glared at them with bloodshot eyes. His head was pounding, his mouth dry, and he needed more sleep. The last thing he needed was being disturbed.
The servant complied, and left the room with haste.
Now alone, Takeo tossed and turned in his fine, oversized bed, but could not return to the land of sleep. Cursing his luck, he slipped on a lounging robe, and called for the servant to return. When they did, he barked his first order of the day.
"Dress me. The silks from Nestra will do. Then I will have half a dozen peacock eggs to break my fast." He decreed. The servant nodded, and busied themselves with dressing their monarch.
Takeo let out a quiet wince as the servant tightened his kimono. "Not so much you fool! I still need to breathe!" He hissed venomously. The servant complied, and silently led him into the dining hall. Courtiers and courtesans that were flitting about stopped still, and bowed as their King approached.
"Greetings." Takeo said in an overly proud, authoritative tone as he draped himself on the throne. "Where are my eggs? I demanded eggs!"
"Your request hadn't reached us, Great King." One servant said. "We will get you them now."
"Do so." The King said, waving a hand dismissively. "And send in the council! I must do..Kingly..things. Hurry!"
The servants bowed, and went off to complete their duties. All knew it was a bad idea to stay near the King when he was angry. Which was often.
His councillors, a collection of wizened old men wearing gowns of varying colours walked in one by one. Mentally, he named them The Bald One, The Grey One, The Green One, The Red One and The Blue One. Names didn't matter.
"Great King." The Bald One bowed. "You called for us?"
"Yes." Takeo said airily. "I want an update on whether the Nohrian's have bowed to my will. Have they accepted my terms when it comes to the prisoners?"
"No, Great King." The Blue One said, adjusting his eyeglasses. "They have arranged a diplomatic conference in Izumo. We have been invited to discuss terms. In essence, these are peace negotiations for the whole continent."
"It would be wise to attend, Great King." The Bald One advised. "If only to save face."
Takeo let out a harsh laugh. "We're far superior to those foreign dogs. Any….peace negotiations we have will result in them getting what they want. Dogs must obey their master, in this case, us. They will get nothing from us. Save of course the heads of our trophies." An unsettlingly cheerful grin formed on his face.
"That is a bad idea, Great King." The eldest of his advisors, The Green One spoke up. "It will likely result in war."
"We can beat Nohr into the dirt, we'd only be fighting mindless beasts, it'd barely be a challenge…" Takeo said confidently.
"You must remember, Great King, it is Izumo is holding these talks, and Nestra will likely send someone. It would be….unfortunate if we didn't take the chance to talk with our neighbouring nations."
"Why? We live in the greatest nation in the world, why should we bother with meeting the rabble?"
"Those are just words, Great King. Words will not save us if they all ally against us! Nohr's military alone outnumbers ours!" The advisor in red lost his cool. "You may be King, but just because you say something does not make it true, especially regarding other nations."
Takeo stood up quickly, and pointed at the disagreeable councillor. "What is stopping me from having you killed?"
"Because he cannot be replaced. No one is as skilled in working out national production as he is." The eldest councillor, The Grey One intoned. "You cannot kill people that disagree with you, Great King. Whilst his tone…" He shot his colleague a glare. "Was poorly placed…he is not wrong."
The King growled in annoyance. "Fine. I will dine in my chambers. Do not send anyone to talk with the filth. We are Hoshidian. The chosen people of the Dawn Dragon. We do not deal with beasts." He barked as he strode off, a few servants followed swiftly behind him.
The councillors shared the same, tired look.
It would be a long day.
The council met in their chamber later. All wore nervous looks on their faces.
"So…." The Red One started. "What do we do?"
"We act. As we always have." The Grey One said.
"Indeed. The council have been running the kingdom for nearly two centuries, whilst the Monarchs have been mere figureheads." The old man in green said stroking his wispy beard. "Why should this change? Send an envoy to this meeting on our….his majesty's behalf. If it works, he can claim credit, if not, we can deny it."
"Is it worth it?" The Bald One asked. "If he finds out we are the true rulers, our heads will roll, to borrow a Nohrian phrase."
"If he discovers us." The Green One said. "We will remove him and install his cousin as Queen. She seems more open to peace talks."
"No. Nola has no desire for the throne. We'd be better off with her brother, Shiro."
"True enough." The Blue One agreed. "…So, that's the plan then?"
"It appears so." The Bald One said. "If King Takeo finds out, we will replace him with Lord Shiro."