- Chapter 36: Judith's Choice -

Judith liked to think of herself as a good diplomat. Regional etiquette, customs, and social norms were fascinating to her. She adapted to those of the country she was dealing with as easily as a priest changes his robes according to the ceremony he is performing.

But she now had to admit, she'd never faced a true diplomatic challenge before. And she'd certainly never dreamt that she'd one day have to negotiate, on behalf of all of Cypress, from a position of weakness. She prayed to the Light that Sharland's king was in a benevolent mood, even as she knew that for King Saul, there was no such thing as a benevolent mood.

But there was no sense in postponing the inevitable. "Tell Sharland's emissary I will see him now," she said to an attendant. He went to do as she said, and she sat back in her throne to wait.

A few minutes later, a red-haired woman entered the audience chamber. "Thank you for seeing me, Your Highness. My name is Valeria."

Judith nodded. "Before we proceed, I want to establish one thing. Have you been authorized to sign an alliance between Sharland and Cypress?"

"Cypress is in straits that desperate, then?"

Judith silently cursed her carelessness. By inquiring about the proposed alliance, she had shown an increased interest in it – and in doing so, exposed Cypress's wound. A true diplomat would not have made such a mistake. Her parents would be ashamed.

But she could not let one major error lead her to make further ones. "Iom has invaded our borders. We have defeated them before, but would greatly appreciate Sharland's assistance so that we can bring this war to a swift conclusion, with as little bloodshed as possible."

Valeria tilted her head. "Cypress has defeated Iom before, but Iom has also defeated Cypress before, and none of the wars between them happened within your lifetime. Moreover, Cypress's last victory against Iom was masterminded by your father as king and your mother as queen, and according to our intelligence, they are both now missing."

"Your intelligence is mistaken," Judith said, with as much calm and bemusement as she could feign.

"No offense, Your Highness, but if there were even the slightest chance of that, I wouldn't have said anything. Our intelligence also tells us that both Prince Barro and Prince Eli, the heir to the throne, have gone to Iom on a diplomatic mission. And since Iom is now invading Cypress, I take it that they aren't coming back any time soon. We have also found out that Emild was taken over in the blinking of an eye by Iom's wonder boy general. Cypress desperately needs help, Your Highness." Judith could think of nothing to say. "Fortunately, to get back to your question, I have been authorized to approve an alliance with both Sharland and Kerinam, the country I represent. We arrived in this part of the world just recently, but we've been collaborating very effectively with Sharland and we hope to start up relations with Cypress as well."

"That is a very... sudden introduction." Could what she's saying be true? Am I... making first contact with a previously unknown nation?

"Isn't it?" Valeria flashed a cheeky grin. "Seriously, we wanted to introduce ourselves more naturally, but when General Hindel of Iom suddenly popped up and started conquering every nation in sight, our hand was forced. We knew stopping him was the only way of preserving peace."

"So..." How would father approach this? I know next to nothing about the nation I'm negotiating with. But I can't trust any answers she gives me, and with the Iom army practically at our doorstep, I don't have time to find answers myself. My only choice is to go in blind. And be prepared for the worst. "...I assume there are terms of some sort for this proposed alliance?"

"Minimal ones. Nothing beyond what you'd expect." She held out a sheaf of papers. "Obviously you're going to read through these yourself, but basically, Sharland wants a generous cut of Iom's territory when annexation time comes, and Kerinam wants a long-term alliance. Something to ensure an ongoing exchange of ideas between our countries, and Cypress's help if we find ourselves in the same sort of trouble you're in right now."

"Annexation? You mean King Saul intends to destroy Iom?"

"'Destroy'... now that really is quite melodramatic. But yes, King Saul believes, and we of Kerinam agree, that the world will be better off with Iom under the guiding hands of Cypress and Sharland. Iom has proven to be too unstable, chiefly due to their perverse national religion. Their continued sovereignty is a constant threat to world peace."

Judith was silent a moment, but in thought, not hesitation. "But you yourself pointed out that this is the first time Iom has been at war during my lifetime."

Valeria looked at her thoughtfully. "...You are not like your father. Your father would be happy for the opportunity to expand Cypress's territory and power in a war of self-defense."

"I like to think that Cypress and the other nations of the world can all thrive together." It was a bold statement, but if there was one thing Judith shared with her father, it was that she was not one to cower. And as soon as she said it, she felt confident that, while Valeria held all the cards in this negotiation, she would not withdraw the offer of alliance so easily.

"As a rule, I agree. But Iom's religion means they will always be, at best, a simmering threat. More to the point, I can tell you now that neither Sharland nor Kerinam will accept a treaty that ends this war with Iom retaining free rein."

Judith had no doubt of that, and not just because Valeria struck her as an honest person. The fact was, religion had played a negligible role in most of Iom's wars, which were most often motivated by the usuals: blood feuds, a desire to expand territory, and the like. Iom was not even the aggressor in some of these wars. But Warderer's bid for royal sacrifices, and the violent coup which had killed her aunt and grandparents, had given the Iom religion a bad global reputation. General Hindel's actions had only made that worse. It was easy to see how annexing Iom would make a lot of people feel safer.

But Judith was not convinced that the people of Iom as a whole were a threat, regardless of exceptions like King Warderer and General Hindel. More importantly, Valeria's repeated reference to the threat of Iom's religion made her suspect that the occupation of Iom was not meant to be a wholly benevolent one. There would be religious oppression. Judith was not particularly religious herself, and certainly did not subscribe to Iom's faith, but she found no justification for taking away people's right to worship.

"May I have those papers with the terms of the alliance?" Judith said aloud. "And some time to think it over?"

Valeria frowned as she handed them over. "Naturally, but if I were you I would have my answer ready within 24 hours, preferably much less. Iom is practically knocking on your door."

The doors to the throne room boomed open, making Judith start. "I prefer not to knock," said the man at the head of the little entourage that strode into the room. "Knocking implies that I need permission to enter."

Judith stood up and called, "Guards!"

"They won't be here for a few minutes yet, Your Highness. Besides, we can accomplish a lot more through negotiation than through fighting."

She studied the intruder. It was rather remarkable how that last statement of his perfectly mirrored her own sentiments. And while she of course couldn't judge his sincerity, it was a matter of fact that he and his troops were not attacking either her or Valeria. Unnerving as it was to have her throne room broken into without warning, there was no immediate physical danger, and she could not allow the intruders to see her unease.

She sat back down. "It would help if I knew who I was negotiating with."

"I am General Hindel, the Cloud of Iom." He gestured to the centaur at his left. "This is General Leduc, here representing Emild." He next gestured to his right. "And this is Queen Anri, who of course represents Guardiana. I've gathered that this woman with you is representing Kerinam."

"And Sharland," Valeria said pointedly.

"...and Sharland? I didn't realize Kerinam had already sunk their claws into them that deeply." He turned to address Judith alone. "But I still think we can offer you much more agreeable terms than they can."

"Queen Anri. General Leduc," Judith said. She knew these two fairly well, had talked with them at diplomatic affairs. "Is this true? Have Guardiana and Emild taken General Hindel's side?"

"It's an alliance of necessity, Your Highness," Anri said. "While I do not wholly agree with General Hindel's approach, he is not my enemy. Kerinam is. They sent assassins to try to kill me so that they could set up a puppet ruler in my place."

"As for me, I do not agree with General Hindel's approach to any extent," Leduc offered, casting a rueful glance at Hindel. "However, Emild is now a vassal of Iom, and King Kay has ordered me to comply with their orders."

"If I may cut in," Valeria said, with sincere politeness, "...what makes you think your assassins were sent by Kerinam, Queen Anri?"

"Adam here identified them as official Kerinamese agents." Anri returned Valeria's appeal with a stare cold enough to send a chill down Judith's back. "I can trust Adam at least as much as any other person in the world. Maybe you weren't told about the orders to kill me, but that Kerinam plotted my assassination is beyond any doubt." She turned to Judith. "Your Highness, you must believe us. Kerinam is trying to turn us all against each other so that they can take over."

"What about my brother?" Judith demanded. "And my parents, and my cousin Barro? I suppose we don't have actual proof that Iom is responsible for my parents' disappearance, but Barro and my brother went on a diplomatic mission to Iom and never came back. Do you mean to deny -"

"No," Hindel interrupted. "That's the last thing I would do. Let me make this clear to you, Judith. Queen Anri and I share the goal of negotiating an alliance with you to stop Kerinam, but not her preference to negotiate strictly through logic. What Kerinam intends to do to this world would cause incalculable harm, so I intend to prevent it any way I can. If you won't listen to reason, I'm fully prepared to point out how little chance Cypress would stand against Iom's power.

"Yes, I captured your brother and your cousin. I have your parents too, though in their case I actually liberated them from Kerinam kidnappers." He folded his arms. "That leaves you all alone, and as the Cloud of Iom I have already bested Cypress at every turn. So if -"

"Please, Hindel," Anri said. "Let's try it my way. Your Highness, it really is our intention to be friends."

"You expect me to trust Hindel, after what he's done?"

"You must. He's the only one who's managed to stay a step ahead of Kerinam's plans. My court was infiltrated by assassins before I had any idea what was going on. King Kay had all but lost control of Emild until Hindel invaded. Sharland has gone over to Kerinam's side, and given their doings in Emild, Iom, and Guardiana I strongly suspect that King Saul didn't sign with them of his own free will. And from the look of things, if we hadn't come along you'd have allied yourself with Kerinam without having the least suspicion of their true nature. Whether you approve of Hindel or no, we all must stand with him to survive." She turned to Hindel. "Tell her what you told me. Tell her what is at stake here."

Hindel hesitated a moment. Unless Judith were misreading things, he was not taking any sort of orders from his ally, and so had to consider whether or not her suggestion made sense.

He apparently decided in the affirmative, because his face took on an extra shadow of gravity, and he said, "Princess Judith, the people of Kerinam are non-believers. They sincerely think that none of the gods exist, and that public worship should be outlawed. And they intend to foist that belief system on this entire continent. When they have their way, there will be no one serving the gods."

"I don't see anything particularly awful about that," she replied.

Hindel gave a heavy sigh of restrained anger. "Then either you are without morals, or you haven't thought things through. We are talking about the gods, the beings to whom we owe everything we have. The very ground on which we stand, the air we breathe, was provided for us by them. They are beings as far above us as we are above a mule. A mule would never deny a benevolent human a ride on his back, so of what value are we as mortal beings if we deny the gods our own crude service?"

Judith said nothing.

"And even if we were to turn our back on duty, piety, and our rightful place in the universe," Hindel continued, "...turning away from the gods would only mean our own destruction. This has never been revealed to us before now, because before now there was no need for us to know, but the gods are all reliant upon human service in one form or another in order to remain in this world. Iom needs sacrifice for the power to reach out, even briefly, from the hell that is his home for the time being. Mitula needs to have peace and serenity directed towards her, the sort of peace and serenity experienced only when her followers meditate in prayer to her. Volcanon needs his followers to feel righteous anger in his name. And so on, for all of the gods. Without these devotions, the gods will not only disappear from this world, but lose the ability to act in it. Given enough time, people will forget they ever existed."

As Hindel was speaking, Judith saw a flash of feathers at the window, then Claude's head looking in. He looked at her and lay a hand over his beak.

She understood. By now her guards, or what remained of them after Hindel came through, had no doubt arrived at the door of the throne room, and sent Claude to scout out the situation. They would charge in at a signal from him, but Hindel and his troops were close enough to kill Judith before they could do anything to stop them. They would have to bide their time until the moment came... or better yet, until she found a way to resolve this with minimal violence.

"...I apologize," Judith said. Hard as it may be, I have to forget Eli and Barro for the moment. Whichever side I take, Cypress's position is precarious. This is the time to be diplomatic. "I can see that you are a person of sincere piety, and I insulted that piety, though I did not mean to. But you're talking of gods like Iom when we of Cypress worship only the Light. You can't expect me to believe that the Light will just go away if we stop thinking about it."

"Why not? I don't even need Iom to tell me something that obvious. The Light isn't here in this world the way the other gods are; it just gives power to people who act morally. If you stop thinking about the Light, then you stop thinking about morality. If you stop thinking about morality, then you stop acting morally. And if no one is acting morally, then how can you say the Light is still here in any meaningful sense?

"Besides, the Light can't do anything in the way of miracles without the other gods. I don't really understand what the Light is – Iom explained it to me, but the concept is a little beyond mortal minds – but it doesn't will its power into our world, the way the other gods do. It's like... like our world is a shed, and the Light is the sun. The other gods open the front door to come in, and the sunlight just streams in. If the other gods stop coming, then the door stops opening, and the sunlight doesn't come in anymore."

"But..." Judith wasn't sure what to think. Hindel's actions so far made her disinclined to believe anything he said, but she wasn't lying when she said she thought his piety was sincere. And he was saying this all with such casual honesty, as if the idea that someone might suspect him of lying had never even entered his head. "But the Light is the only source of good in this world."

"If that's true – and even Iom doesn't know the answer to that for sure – it's pretty obvious what will happen if people give up their faith, isn't it?"

"Except that it's all nonsense," Valeria snapped. "Do you really expect her to believe that we're deliberately setting in motion events that would turn this world into a pit of evil? Why would we do that?"

"If you'd asked me that just a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have known how to answer. But now I'm beginning to understand: You got so caught up in your beliefs, you wouldn't allow yourself to think about the consequences, even for a second."

"What do you mean, our beliefs? You have beliefs. We have facts. There are no gods, and you can't change that just by believing in them!" Her face was red with anger. "Enough of this. Enough lies. Enough myths. Enough fantasies." Valeria snapped a peculiar stick with a curved end out of her pocket and pointed it at Hindel. "Do you know what this is?"

"Does it matter?" Hindel shrugged.

"Of course you don't. You Iomites are barbaric fools, obsessed with your outdated superstitions to the point where you don't even grasp for new knowledge. That's wasteful enough on its own, but now you're trying to drag Guardiana, and the rest of the world, down with you into the pit of ignorance and self-destruction. You kill your own people in an attempt to gain a power that doesn't even exist. But it stops now. I'm going to put an end to Iom's mad leadership, and in the same stroke prove to Princess Judith and Queen Anri that your god is a myth." She fingered a tiny lever on the stick, and it produced a sharp click. "You say Iom protects you? Then let him protect you from this."

A loud bang rang through the chamber, making nearly all of those present cover their ears or crouch down in alarm. Hindel staggered backward.

Then there was a light "tak" sound, as a small metal pellet fell to the floor at Hindel's feet. Valeria stared at him, stupefied, as he bent down and picked up the pellet. "I'm not sure I understand," he said. "Was this supposed to kill me?"

Valeria had no words.

Hindel shrugged, and crushed the pellet in his clawed fist. "I think you've just proven, to yourself at least, that Iom does protect me."

"It does," Judith said. "It also proves your story, to some extent at least, and that is enough to decide me." She stood up and approached Queen Anri. "Guardiana is Cypress's ally, and Cypress always stands with her allies. And if Kerinam intends to rid this world of the Light, that is all the more reason to stand against them."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Anri said. "Thank you trusting us."

Judith nodded, but to herself she thought, Trust itself is not enough. Trust can always be betrayed. Father taught me that. But Hindel just laughed off whatever bizarre attack it was that Valeria threw at him, and he's essentially seized control of Castle Cypress with minimal effort. Whether or not he's telling the truth, I have to play along with him, at least long enough to find out how to defeat him.

"Guards!" she called. At that, six Cypress soldiers poured into the room, Lieutenant Dawn at their head. "Please escort Sharland's representative from the castle. I'm sorry, Valeria, but your use of violence in this chamber cannot be tolerated, and if Kerinam wants to push their ideas upon other nations, they'll find this continent united against them."

Before Valeria could reply, two of the Cypress soldiers discarded their hoods, one of them announcing, "I don't think so. If no one else is going to stand up to my big brother, I will."

Hindel sighed. "Dusty, did you not hear what I just told Princess Judith?"

"We heard. That's why Josh and I infiltrated Cypress's ranks, instead of coming right to Her Highness: We wanted to hear what you had to say. But it's all lies. Whatever happens, the Light could never be on the same side as Iom. I won't say that Kerinam isn't a threat, but you and Iom are the bigger threat."

"Besides," Josh said, his breath uncharacteristically heavy, "...if you were really fighting against evil, you wouldn't have murdered our parents!"

"That's enough," Judith said. "Guards, escort these two intruders out along with lady Valeria."

"Hold on a second." Lieutenant Dawn held up a hand to her men. "I think I see a familial resemblance here, and one of them is named Hindel... Your parents are Deanna and Natasha, aren't they?"

Dusty and Josh nodded, but Judith said, "I gave you an order, lieutenant."

"I know, Your Highness, but I can't follow it. The man you're about to ally with murdered his own parents and abducted the crown prince of Cypress, and these youths you're throwing out only want to avenge their mother and father. I understand the position you're in, but such an injustice can never be allowed in the halls of Castle Cypress."

"We're with ya, Dawn!" another of the guards, a dwarf wearing a pot for a helmet, offered.

Queen Anri turned to Hindel. "Is this true? Did you kill your parents?"

"It's too difficult to explain right now," Hindel answered her with a grimace. "For now I'll just say that this is something of a misunderstanding. Can you trust me far enough as that, at least?"

"...I can. You've been true to your word so far; you got us to the throne room without killing anyone. But they have no reason to give you that same trust. What do we do?"

"Defeat them, without any casualties if possible. Our victory will convince Princess Judith even further that she's joining the right side."

Most of those on both sides were reluctant to join in actual conflict, but Dusty was the opposite. "Your reign of terror ends now, brother!" he vowed, leaping forward to strike his sword against Hindel's murky carapace.

Claude swooped into the room to join his comrades, and Dawn led them in a charge. They held no delusions about their chances: against Dusty and the five Cypress soldiers were Hindel and his Shining Force, General Leduc and his Emild squad, Queen Anri, and a handful of Guardiana's elite, among them a strange creature with smooth skin the color of a tarnished axe. But Cypressians were not given to backing down against any foe. Strength and courage was their heritage.

Jaha strode forward, shielding his comrades as best as he could from Redgar's spear, Leduc's lance, May's spells, and Sig's iron-gloved knuckles. Dawn leapt into the midst of her foes like a demon let loose, striking frantically yet for the most part accurately with lance and hoof.

Judith looked upon it all and felt the harsh sting of failure. She had liked to think of herself as a good diplomat. There were few things she wanted more than cordial relations with all nations, or at least with Cypress's allies. Standing beside her, Valeria murmured, "How did it all go so wrong...?", echoing her own thoughts.

She was beginning to entertain the thought of retreat (it would do Cypress no good for her to be killed by a carelessly flung weapon) when she heard a voice from just outside the throne room cry out "Spark!"

A storm of lightning bolts struck at several of Hindel's Shining Force. Looking to the source, she saw seven newcomers, among them two faces she'd feared she would never see again.

Hindel, meanwhile, was still enduring Dusty's attacks. Again and again his brother slashed at his chitinous body, making it impossible for him to strike back without risking his head being cut off. He could eliminate that risk by allowing the transformation to spread over his head, but he was angry enough at Dusty as it was; he was afraid of what he might do if he allowed the change to consume his mind.

"Stop it, Dusty," he yelled. "Just stop it! Damn it, I was going to resolve this whole thing peacefully before you showed up! Now you're making me wish I'd killed you the last time we fought, and what in Iom's name do you think you can accomplish here anyway?!" He gave in at last, allowing the transformation to spread over his head. He had to put an end to this nonsense, whatever the cost. "I've shown you already, nothing can harm one who wields the power of Iom!"

He was about to strike Dusty down when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw something that made no sense: A glowing blade piercing through his back and out his front.

"Nothing?" Prince Eli said over his shoulder. "Not even the Sword of Hajya?"