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...Fortress Alaf…
Leinas was ecstatic and horrified at all that she had come to learn about the Sorcerer King's plans for the Slane Theocracy and the turning of the world. But even though the enemy's army drew close, she feared it not even slightly. Behind her was an invincible force and beside her an invincible general, and they had tens of thousands of reinforcements along the way.
She learned the truth of that in the evening when the messenger arrived, it was a dark elf on an undead horse, he knelt in front of her in her private office, well, semi-private, she shared it with Aureole Omega.
"I come from the north, I represent Chindai Khan of the Golden Horde." He began politely.
She and Aureole Omega looked him over, he was slender but ripped with lean muscle, everything about him screamed 'warrior'. His clothing was, much to her surprise, very soft cloth beneath rune crafted equipment, this spoke to the authenticity of his status. Nobody else used, or even had the stuff except the Sorcerer King's servants, and there was no way a servant would have issued it to a messenger unless the matter was of some importance.
"I accept your claim of station, what words do you bring?" Leinas acknowledged, formulating her speech as much as possible to conform to their normatives of expression.
His eyes widened briefly, but he was polite enough to make no comment, "Chindai, Khan of the plains, servant of the Great Khan, the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, that he brings eighty thousand of his riders to the aid of General Leinas Rockbruise and Guardian Aureole Omega, with him comes one thousand of the Dark Dwarves of the Understone Empire. He brings word that he comes to aid your fight against the Slane Theocracy and all the walkers of the green lands of the South who stand in opposition to the master of the Everplains. Your enemies are his enemies, and your lives will be treated as those of brother or sister."
Leinas suppressed a sigh, it had been a long time since she'd been to the plains, not since her days as an adventurer, but the strict formalities of the dark elf people could be… trying still.
"I will receive the noble warriors of the north, both dwarf and elf, as brothers and sisters in turn. Together we will fight, together we will bleed, and together we will drink over the still warm bodies of our fallen enemies, or together we will ride the Everplains." Leinas replied in a sonorous and solemn tone.
The dark elf messenger was clearly abundantly pleased with her words, he could not or did not suppress his wide toothy smile. "He will be pleased to know your response." The messenger replied.
"When will my brothers of the north come?" Leinas inquired, "The siege is nearly upon us, those broken ones of your southern cousins and their fell master, along with his honorless and vile allies, will be here by morning." Her voice sounding not at all concerned.
"He rides with all speed, you should expect the thunder of the horse people on the horizon within three days." The messenger informed them.
Leinas thought for a moment, searching her memory for their customs. "Does he come with a wife?" She asked.
"He comes with both wives, Lady Khava and Lady Ryla, his warrior bride of the south and his warrior bride of the north." The messenger replied with great pride in his Khan.
"Tell him if he arrives within two days I will have a bottle of the best wine in the fortress waiting for him to present to his wives to celebrate another bead being added to his hair." She suggested with a clever smile.
"I have no doubt he will be pleased to hear this." The messenger said with a grin. "How do you know our customs so well, you are not one of us?" He asked.
Leinas had a cocky little smile, "I was an adventurer once, my journey took me to the plains many years ago. Your people are many things, but forgettable does not stand among them." She answered in an amused tone of voice.
"I will depart then, and tell him of your words, no doubt he will be greatly pleased to share your gift in turn with you." The messenger said, and stood up tall and proud, he inclined his head politely, and then departed.
When they were alone Leinas looked over to Aureole Omega, "What do you think?" She asked.
"They will make it, and it will be a terrible shock to the Theocracy and to the elves, but the elves will not long be a factor. The elf king will have another matter on his mind very soon." The Guardian said authoritatively with a mysterious smile on her face.
"I take it by your expression, you're not going to tell me?" Leinas asked.
"Correct." She replied with a smug look on her face.
"Because?" Leinas asked further.
"You have no need to know, it is enough for you to know that the advancing army is not the problem you think it to be, even as your expectation of victory is." She said happily.
Leinas had a little frown on her face, "I understand. I can live with it as long as you're right." She shrugged dismissively.
"You have no other choice." Aureole Omega stated matter-of-factly.
Leinas sighed, "Yes, I know. Look, I know you're not happy that I'm not thrilled about how things are going to play out, but understand that this does not shake my dedication even in the slightest, I believe this is the best of a bad situation. You can trust me."
"I know." Aureole Omega said in a genuinely sweet voice. "Your loyalty is not in question, I assure you if it were, you would not be sitting here now, His Majesty would never take chances like that, it is why he always wins, well, one reason anyway." She remarked casually.
"The other reason is what we're about to see too, hand me those inventory reports, we have to make sure we have a full complement of arrows, stones, and other materials at every point of advancement that we'll be facing off against. In preparation, lies victory." Leinas said in the hard voice of the experienced professional.
"Exactly." Aureole Omega said as she handed the documents over to her mortal counterpart.
...Southern Holy Kingdom…
Inta wasn't happy. If the truth be told, he was still mourning Gustav. Hilda however, acted as a kind of motivator for him, and she helped to keep him focused as they swept through the outlands of the south seeking any other options for screwing up the supply lines running from south to north, They'd been very busy with that, until a hole in reality opened up and a buxom blonde girl with a wide smile wearing a maid outfit, stepped out of it and confronted them.
Inta did not even need to ask. "You're from the Sorcerer King." He said.
"Yes, and I'm here to take you all elsewhere, it is the view of His Majesty that your accomplishments are sufficient for all to receive pardons for past acts, and he said to make sure I told you that would include Gustav Montagnés." She stated in a sweet voice that lay over a thinly veiled sense of hunger.
"Gustav Montagnés is dead." Inta said with sadness saturating every syllable of the sentence.
"Oh. Too bad." She voiced indifferently. "Well, the rest of you are free to come with me, you will have one day's rest in Nazarick and then be reunited with the army marching south under Neia Baraja. Up until now you have been raiders more than anything else, now you will become conquerors." She spoke with the casual indifference of someone for whom the trials of war were as harsh as a stroll in the park.
"How many do you have left of your original number?" She asked curiously.
"A few hundred, Lady…" Inta began.
"Solution." She said, and her eyes widened with a hint of surprise. "You suffered so many casualties?"
"We did, our goal was to draw as many of the enemy soldiers south as possible, we were successful enough that we were almost exterminated. I suppose you could say we were just a little too good at our jobs." Inta gave a wry, sad smile to the maid.
She shrugged, "I suppose that happens. Now gather your people and follow me, you will be given your rest and your official pardons, for those whom that applies to. I am at your disposal for the evening in Nazarick, then you must rise early and be ready to join General Baraja after your morning meal."
"It will be done, with great… satisfaction." Inta said, trading a vengeful glance with his sister as they contemplated returning with an enormous army at their backs, suitable to utterly crush the south once and for all.
...Re-Estize Kingdom...City of Re-Estize…
When Renner and her bodyguard left, General Nimble and King Zanac were alone save for a handful of guards. "Well, you've won back your country for all intents and purposes, Your Highness." General Nimble said politely. "Now you'll face a much more difficult challenge of actually ruling it."
"Well, there is still Re-Lobell… but I have dispatched a messenger there already offering amnesty and a retirement to those ruling it if they surrender immediately. I've included the information that we've already recaptured the capital city, so I should hear back from them any day now offering their total capitulation." King Zanac replied offhandedly.
"When did you do that?" General Nimble asked curiously. "This morning?"
"No, the night before we left to come and take the capital." King Zanac answered with a clever smile.
Nimble did a double take, then he thought it over. "Oh, I see. It was an inevitable victory and this will compel their submission that much sooner." He commented thoughtfully.
"Correct." King Zanac said succinctly.
"I would say, Your Highness, that you are well on your way to ruling quite adeptly." Nimble remarked generously.
"Thank you, General Nimble. I truly appreciate the support of the Baharuth Empire in these trying times, and while ruling here may be… a very different challenge, having the Sorcerer King behind me will make things much, much easier than they have ever been for any king in my country's past." King Zanac said enthusiastically.
He pondered for a moment and curiously asked the general, "Tell me, in the time since his submission to the Sorcerer King, how many nobles have posed a threat to your Emperor or his position?" Zanac's voice was curious as he asked the question.
"None, absolutely none." Nimble replied with finality in his voice. "Who would dare? If someone starts to complain, Emperor Jircniv just asks if they would like to complain directly to the Sorcerer King, and suddenly their issue with whatever it is, seems to vanish and they comply. In the years since his submission to the Sorcerous Kingdom, I have seen only one man, just one, take the emperor up on his offer."
"Oh?" King Zanac voiced his interest as he rested his head on his fist and his arm on the armrest of the throne. "Do tell." He prompted with a nod.
"It was a noble with a great love of the arts, proud of his craft and his artisans, it seems that a particular tax would have crippled them. So the emperor allowed him to argue directly to the Sorcerer King." Nimble's voice was dumbstruck with awe at the man's courage as he spoke of him.
"Was there enough of him left to bury afterwards?" King Zanac inquired with a snort.
"To the contrary, His Majesty heard him out, agreed, and even invested substantial funds in establishing both a school there and providing the necessary complex roadways and logistical support to make trading those goods farther away, possible at a lower cost." Nimble responded with surprise evident in his voice.
"So your academy for the arts…?" Zanac asked, impressed.
"Yes, it was the brainchild of a single meeting between one discontented but passionate noble, and the Sorcerer King." Nimble finished.
"Good to know. Good to know." Zanac softly replied, and then continued with greater emphasis, "I will have to see about establishing one in my capital as well, a means to celebrate our prosperous future, if I want to cement my legacy as a king worth remembering, then I will need to do so in some way other than war, and the way to do that must be to build up something worthy of remembrance." King Zanac spoke, but clearly he was only thinking out loud and not really addressing General Nimble.
Yet as Nimble listened to the young king, he had a vision of the future, wherein he foresaw the great cities of a mighty nation under the Sorcerer King. All competing to build the grandest monuments, to create the finest arts, and to raise their differing cultures to ever greater heights. He foresaw the great works traveling enchanted roads to awe and inspire people everywhere from the plains of the dark elves to the court of Arwintar. It seemed as if for a moment, he was seeing what the undead monarch had in mind for the world, with children growing up and living to grow old instead of dying in pointless battles against hunger, beasts, or each other.
"A world worth fighting for, a world worth dying for… By god, is it really so close…?" Nimble whispered so softly that even King Zanac couldn't hear him even if he had been listening. But to the knight of the Empire who had seen countless dangers and deaths, an inspiration was rising that it lit a fire in his heart that he did not think would ever go out.
...Private Quarters of Princess Renner…
"M-My lady, what…?" Climb asked with disbelief as he looked down at the ground that was several inches away from his feet. His eyes widened in utter disbelief, his armor was a complete adamantite set, which meant it was the lightest and strongest material he knew of. Yet 'lightest' was a relative term, and he was still wearing at least thirteen kilograms of the stuff, not to mention his sword and the weight of his entire body.
"My Climb, my precious, wonderful, darling Climb, things are different now, in the most wonderful way." She articulated joyously in a voice that rang like a crystal bell. She gently set him down, then walked to the long side of the room and face its opposite end. "Stand over there." She directed, "Then look at me." The Golden Princess commanded gently.
He obeyed, but could not restrain the concerned look, it seemed glued to his face as he looked at the princess he served.
Princess Renner took a deep breath and continued, "Many things are a test, some of these are tests by life itself on whether or not we can endure or triumph, however with the Sorcerer King, these tests are more… deliberate. You know I have been working with him for quite some time, there was no other option." She left out that she would have done so even if there had been other options.
"I- Yes, I know this." He spoke cautiously.
"The box was a kind of final test of my worth in his eyes, passing it has resulted in me being given a kind of promotion." She said delicately.
"A promotion?" He asked gingerly.
"Yes," she replied. "I am now the Outer Guardian of the Re-Estize Kingdom. My task will be to ensure the competence and performance of the king over this country, as well as to ensure the compliance of the crown with the edicts of the Sorcerer King." She said simply.
"Will you rule?" He asked hopefully, "I have no doubt that with you on the throne, this kingdom could truly become a paradise."
She shook her head, "No, I will advise and support my brother, and his heirs, and their heirs, and their heirs, for as long as the line is worthy." She said, watching his eyes as the implications of that began to take shape in his mind.
Before he could ask, she continued, "I have been promoted 'beyond humanity' as well." She explained gently.
"Beyond… humanity?" He gasped in disbelief, allowing his jaw to drop. "What are you…?" He asked with wonder.
She closed her eyes and lowered her gaze. Her hands crossed together and were held outstretched, so that they were cupped as if to have a hand placed within them.
"I was your mistress, and the woman that you have loved since you were little. Am I still that now?" She asked, as her wings sprang out from her back and struck the wall hard enough to crack each end, and with a radiant white glow emanating from her body, she raised her face to meet his gaze with eyes as white as freshly poured milk.
Climb fell to one knee and lowered his gaze before the archangel princess. "Yes, no matter what, you will always be She." He said solemnly, his entire body shook within his armor.
'He's mine, all mine, and I'll kill anyone who tries to take him from me…' She thought wildly, glad her new eyes did not reveal what she wanted to conceal.
"I am an archangel now, the Sorcerer King has given me this new form to exert his will over this country, I will never grow old, I will never grow weaker, I will never die. I have been… elevated." She said in a powerful voice.
"I… have no words." Climb stammered, his mouth agape as he looked at her, she drew closer to him, her hands cupped his face and tilted it up to meet her own.
She smiled down at her truest worshiper and her most loyal servant, her precious puppy who looked at her with adoration that even seemed to surpass what he had held in his eyes before. "Say only that you will keep your word, that you will stay at my side, that you will give me a child, that you will give your life to me forever, that you will be mine and only mine, now and in every day to come." She said, her hands, though they were still soft and gentle, had a feel of unbridled strength to them that Climb would not have believed possible.
Though he blushed deeply at the mention of a child, Climb responded enthusiastically, "It will be so, my princess, until my body dies, it is yours. That is all the life I need." His voice was a gentle caress that warmed her heart, and as if by instinct, her wings closed in around him, their bright white feathers covering his body completely as they drew him, whether he would have had it so or not, closer into an embrace, which kept them both oblivious to everything, right up until the door to her room opened, and King Zanac entered and stood agape as he saw her milky white eyes and the enormous wings.