In the aftermath of the Battle of Storm Spire, a superpower emerged. This superpower was the Kingdom of Duren. Although it had been a Great Power, never could it's rulers imagine it as a superpower. After all, the only superpower in the Human Kingdoms had been the Kingdom of Katolis, but after their army's near annihilation at the Battle of Storm Spire, things have changed. Although Katolis is not as powerful as it once was, it still retains influence over what remains of the other kingdoms. But now things have changed, Pax Duren has begun.
On a partly cloudy yet still warm morning, King Ezran awoke from his sleep after what little sunlight penetrated between the cracks in the clouds and beamed down on him. He gave a slight yawn and quickly got up. However he did not bother to wake up Bait who was still in a deep sleep and would hate to be awakened. As Ezran rubbed his eyes he began to remember what day it was. It was the day he was supposed to meet with Queen Aanya. He remembered when he first saw her during the Battle of Storm Spire, when she saved Callum and killed the Prince of Neolandia. While Ezran was thankful for Aanya saving his brother, Ezran was surprised at just how ruthlessly Aanya killed the other soldiers without any sort of hesitation. This led Ezran to become somewhat afraid of his meeting with Aanya. But either way, Ezran prepared for his meeting with the Queen of Duren.
Soon the time came for the meeting of the two monarchs. Ezran walked into the meeting room, in the middle of it was a table with two seats on two ends, one for Aanya and the other for Ezran. On the walls next to the seat for Aanya were two banners of Duren and on the Katolis side were two banners of Katolis. Ezran then saw Aanya walk in on the other side of the room. She proceeded to sit on the chair at the end of the table, Ezran then sat on the chair on his side.
"Welcome, Queen Aanya." Ezran said.
"Greetings, King Ezran. I am sure you know why we are here." Aanya said.
"Of course, we are here to discuss what will happen to the other kingdoms after the assassinations." Ezran said.
Aanya then said "Precisely. As I am sure you know, the other kingdoms are not doing very well. In fact, they are doing the opposite of well. They are all on the brink of collapse, only Neolandia has a slight chance of recovering, but King Ahling could die at any second now. So, what do you think we should do?"
Ezran then said "I have been thinking and thinking of a solution to this, but I never managed to come up with one. There isn't much we can do. Neolandia is against both of us, Evenere is too isolated, and Del Bar has no leader."
Aanya was preparing for Ezran to say he had no solution Although Ezran was not a bad king, he had made some bad choices such as abdicating to Viren, which nearly doomed Xadia. "If you have no solution, then we may have to use mine. I believe that we should use our influence to stabilize the kingdoms. Duren is now rising in power, we can use this power to help the other kingdoms."
Ezran said "What do you mean?"
Aanya answered "I am saying we can provide these kingdoms what they need, they will not collapse once their people realize they will need us and become more loyal to us."
Ezran did not agree with this. "This is just making them rely on us and making them into our vassals, we need the kingdoms to stay independent, we cannot rule them."
After Ezran spoke, Aanya said "Your right. Your kingdom is in decline, we cannot rule them. But, my kingdom can keep the others stable. And since we are both wise rulers, and since they will be reliant on us, we can have more power over them. It is a great opportunity."
Ezran did not agree with this. "This just sounds like you are making the kingdoms more dependent on you and then you turning them into your own puppets. I do not agree to this."
Aanya realized she shouldn't have said what she had said. She had come to the meeting to figure out what Ezran's plan was and maybe to influence his declining kingdom. But now, her plans had changed. "Then the relations between our two kingdoms have changed. And I do not think they have changed for the better. That is all for now. But remember, I only want my kingdom to flourish. I know it may sound like what Viren once said, but I am not Viren. I do not slaughter cities the way he did."
Aanya then left the room and proceeded to go back to her kingdom. Ezran wondered why she was like this. He had been told that Aanya was a wise ruler who made good decisions, but now it seemed like she was suggesting that the other kingdoms be loyal to her. But then he remembered how she had said that she was doing this for her kingdom. She was not wrong, as she really was doing this for her kingdom and not for herself. But now, it seemed like things were about to change, and not for the better.
AN: Well, that was fun to write. The next chapter will follow Aanya more, put any suggestions in the comments, I will be happy to read them. But I unfortunately cannot make any promises.