"Regent Saladin! A pleasure as always," greeted Primus Jann Cocher as he extended his hand to Regent Saladin at the entryway to his private offices inside his residence.
'Your Excellency!" Regent Saladin said as he entered the offices and shook the hand of Primus Cocher.
"Please, come in!" Primus Cocher motioned inside.
"Thank you." Regent Saladin replied.
"Would you like some tea?" Primus Cocher offered.
"No I am fine. Thank you."
"Please sit." Primus Cocher motioned to a nearby chair in the seating area.
"So what do I owe the unexpected pleasure of your visit?" Primus Cocher asked as they took seats opposite one another.
"I am here to discuss some of the details that will be involved as we begin the process of incorporation of the 25th Delegation into the Presidium."
"I have to say many of us are still in shock with the Regnant's decision to create this new delegation in the first place. Are you sure her past…association with Evony is not at influence?" Primus Cocher asked.
"I am not sure I like your implication Jann. It sullies the adoration The Regnant has for The Queen Consort as the entire Realm is well aware of." Regent Saladin replied.
"My apologies, Regent Saladin. I only meant to imply a sense of long-standing loyalty between them."
"That much is very true." Regent Saladin replied.
"Does Evony still look as beautiful as ever?" Primus Cocher asked.
"Still as ever." Regent Saladin replied. Jann smiled.
"So one of the points we need to highlight not only with the Four Pillars but also with the Parliament is the acceptance of the humans in all aspects of our Fae life." Regent Saladin said.
"You know as well as I do, accepting The Princess Royals's partner in it of itself will take a great deal of acceptance. Now you are asking us to accept billions of them?" Primus Cocher asked.
"The Regnant directs it."
"You know as well as I do many of us think of the humans as food. You are expecting us to mingle with our food?" Primus Cocher asked.
"Not many of us have a necessity to feed off humans, Jann."
"Still it is insulting to think I have to converse with a species many of us consider cattle. Bad enough she wants to marry her food, but even worse that she produced offspring with it. Luckily, her four children are one hundred percent Fae, otherwise I would call for their termination right along with her lover." Primus Cocher said.
"Jann, remember, you speak of The Princess Royal and her family." Regent Saladin cautioned.
"You know very well that my opinion is a tepid one compared to the ones you will hear when this matter of marrying her food is brought before the Parliament of Fae." Primus Cocher said.
"Her Majesty supports the position of The Princess Royal."
"Given recent circumstances, yes I am sure, but truly, would Ari have been just as supportive if the question of destiny surrounding Fitzpatrick's progeny was not as definitive?" Primus Cocher asked.
"Matters not as to what anyone supposes. Her Majesty's stance on this position is clear." Regent Saladin replied.
"Nevertheless, the consent of the Parliament of Fae to pass such a measure still needs to be had, consent that will not be as forthcoming as Her Majesty may wish, my dear Saladin."
"Both she and The Princess Royal understand there will be hurdles to jump."
"Hurdles? Try entire planes of existence."
"We digress, Jann."
"Yes, of course, forgive me. Back to the matter at hand." Primus Cocher said as he took another sip of is drink. "So how does Her Majesty plan to approach this new Incorporation?"
"The first step will be to retain a covert army at Grand Ducal Marquis's discretion should any issues arise with Fae security, of course." Regent Saladin replied.
"Of course."
"The second step will be saturation of our agents throughout the human plane, followed by Agency involvement." Regent Saladin continued.
"Very good."
"Lastly, and for the immediate, emigration to the Presidium, starting with the Under Fae who could not live openly on the Human plane." Regent Saladin said.
"Understandable."
"In course there may be some 'claimed humans' who may join the emigration." Regent Saladin advised.
"I see. Well, we will need to address this claimant business."
"We quite agree." Regent Saladin said. "Once The Princess Royal arrives we will need to first address the Regency Council on the goals and objectives of Incorporation. Then brief the Parliamentary Council, then the Parliament of Fae, and once approved, focus the individual pillars and staffs on alignment packages and agreements with the Humans. This will be a step-by-step approach to minimize the shock of the humans in efforts to bring the 25th Delegation under Presidium rule while maintaining the safety and security of the Fae against some humans who may have nefarious intentions."
"Methodical as always Regent Saladin. My compliments." Primus Cocher said as he raised his glass to Regent Saladin who bowed his head slightly in response as he took a sip.
"So I trust the Four Pillars, namely mine, will be intimately involved?"
"Absolutely! In fact, I am here to discuss the broad strokes of the Business Pillar involvement. One thing we understand for sure is that the Humans like to be compensated. For everything."
"Your mean money?" Primus Cocher said incredulous.
"Yes. In fact, in some quarters, they kill over it." Regent Saladin replied. Primus Cocher raised his eyebrows.
"Barbaric!" Primus Cocher said. "Your Excellency, I raise the question again as to why are we incorporating these humans instead of pillaging their plane and then disposing of the scraps?" Regent Saladin took in a deep breath.
"Oh very well!" Primus Cocher relented as he took another drink. "Where shall we start?"
"I thought we could quickly review the various economic approaches that exist on the Human plane. That will help guide and inform our planning processes as we begin to establish working groups in aligning business practices between their plane and ours." Regent Saladin replied.
"Well, I can tell you now if they are that beholden to currency to the point they actually kill over it, that will be our greatest hurdle. Instinctually, we should approach this point first, but it could serve as a bottleneck instead. I would recommend leaving the issue of monetary currency as the last item on the Incorporation agenda." Primus Cocher said.
"I agree. So shall we start with the outline of human economies?" Regent Saladin queried.
"Please." Primus Cocher gestured as Regent Saladin began his outline.
An hour later, after Regent Saladin left Primus Cocher made a call.
"Did he say anything suspicious? Any indications that he knows of our intentions?" The man said on the other side of the call.
"None that I could detect. He kept his comments limited to the incorporation of the Humans." Jann replied.
"With both Wacal and Olan dead, and Jorakor and the Monoliths banished, we need to regroup and re-think our approach. Fall back into the shadows until a fresh opportunity presents itself. Luckily, we have time, a great deal of time to re-position ourselves for another strike."
"I agree. Whatever I can do to help the cause I am here." Primus Cocher said to the man.
"You have served our cause well. Good evening, Primus Cocher." The man replied.
'Good evening." Primus Cocher ended the call, grabbed his drink, stood up from his chair, and stepped out on to his balcony and took in the evening breeze.
It was a lovely evening that fell over the City of Nahala. He always found the city that surrounded the Presidium quite lovely in the evening. He felt tired, really tired from a day full of meetings and conspiracies. He wanted this whole business with The Regnant to be over so he and his conspirators could begin the business of transforming the Realm into their new vision for it. Jann didn't hate The Regnant, he just fundamentally disagreed with her policies, and her approach to them. Benevolency has its limits, and now with the inclusion of the Humans as some sort of protectorate of the Presidium under the guise of a Delegation out of some affection for The Princess Royal exceeded his tolerance. Jann rubbed his head as if almost laughing to himself. The Realm should plunder the Human plane, line them up like cattle, and feed until the plane was depleted of their very existence. That would be true strength Jann thought, instead of cow-towing out of whatever affection The Princess Royal has for the species, and now apparently even The Regnant. Jann was grateful he sided with the forces he did, to ensure the Realm's strength, position, and authority remained strong and undiluted.
Jann yawned as he put down his drink and leaned on the balcony contemplating the days ahead. He yawned again and as he outstretched his arms his felt his chest suddenly expand. He looked down in terror as he watched his chest inflate, and felt his rib cage cracking as he felt his heart swell. The last thing Primus Cocher heard was his own screams as his chest exploded like rain into the night sky.
A man dressed in all-black clothing and a mask covering his head walked up to Primus Cocher's dead body that lay on the balcony floor, chest exploded outward and gazed down at him for a moment. He then took out a small communications device and pressed down on it. A man answered.
"It's me."
"Is it done?" The man asked.
"It is quite done."
"Good. Report back here, Rumlar. I need you to make a trip." The man said.
"Where?" Rumlar asked.
"Have you ever been to the Human plane of existence?"
"Primus Cocher was found dead this morning by his staff." Regent Saladin reported as he walked into The Regnant's office with Agent Chennai. The Regnant faced the window, looking outside, turned and acknowledged their respective courtesies, then approached them.
"Our suspicions were correct then. There are people watching our movements here as well." The Regnant said.
"It appears so, Your Majesty. My visit to Primus Cocher's residence elicited the precise reaction we wanted." Regent Saladin replied.
"Whoever Primus Cocher was dealing with must have suspected he had brokered a deal with us, and so took him out." The Regnant said.
"I stayed long enough to give off such an impression." Regent Saladin replied.
"That means whoever is monitoring us are close enough to have intimate knowledge of both Jann's movements and mine." The Regnant said.
"I agree." Agent Chennai replied. "That means we need to focus our attention on the higher level staffs, starting with the obvious, the Intelligence Pillar."
"For now, I want to keep this between the three of us." The Regnant said.
"You mean the five of us." The Queen Consort said as entered from a side door across the room with Trick in tow.
"My love, I did not hear you come in." Ari said.
"I take it there has been a development?" Helen asked.
"Jann is dead." Ari replied.
"That means your suspicions were correct." Helen said. The Regnant nodded.
"Now we need to keep our ears to the ground in our continued hunt for the relic. Not only on this plane of existence but also on the Humans." Agent Chennai said.
"It may yet still be on the Monolith plane." Trick said.
"Doubtful. They were too close to achieving their objective. No, it is still out there, and supporters of this scheme will lie in wait until they believe they have another chance at capturing The Regnant." Regent Saladin said.
"Agreed. We have to find it and destroy it entirely." The Regnant said.
"That will be part of Kenzi's job to keep her ear to the ground so we can intercept it if word of it pops up again." Agent Chennai replied.
"She nor Bo nor any of Bo's associates must never know its true power and purpose." The Regnant looked to Trick. "Agreed?"
"No argument here! I know all too well what is at stake." Trick said without hesitation.
"We should loop in Evony as well." The Queen Consort advised.
"See to it." The Regnant said as Regent Saladin, Trick and Agent Chennai offered their respective courtesies and departed the room.
When they left the room, Helen turned to her wife.
"This is going to get dicey." Helen said. Ari nodded.
