The candle's flame flickered in the wind as the tent's flap opened to expose the dawn of a new day. It was a chilly morning, the breeze of Lake Tarion making Maven pull the covers over his head as he shivered. Beside him in a cot came the groggy voice of Cal, asking if it was morning all ready.
Maven gave himself a few more minutes in bed before kicking off the blankets and slipping on his shoes. He lazily ran a comb over his messy hair, stifling a yawn as he shrugged on a jacket and following Cal outside of the tent.
Squinting his eyes at the morning sun's blinding rays, he surveyed the surroundings. The coast of the lake was about some five hundred feet away, and the green plains where they currently camped on were stationed lay on Nortan soil. They were close to Lakelander territory, closer than he'd personally like but it was necessary.
"Come Maven, we need to meet with the others." Cal said, his breath visible in the cold. Maven rolled his eyes at his brother's order but followed him into the command tent. Ptolemus and Arven were already on there, looking over documents on the great oak table. They snapped to attention when he and Cal entered, bowing hastily and then resuming what they were doing.
"How long do we have?" Cal questioned, taking a place opposite of the silencer. Maven followed suit, standing across Ptolemus.
Arven scratched his grey head, estimating the amount of time until he answered, "About an hour or so, scouts said they had spotted the Lakelander party a couple miles north of base camp."
Maven nodded, taking the information in and analyzing it. One hour, one hour to prepare to meet the other people that will decide their fate and the fate of the war. Cal tapped his fingers against the dark wood, no doubt thinking over strategies that could be acted upon if the negotiations went awry.
Time passed slowly, and although they stoic faces didn't betray any emotion, there was a nervous tension in the air. Their little political party made up of himself, Cal, Samos, Arven, and some twenty sentinels for protection was hastily assembled the previous day. A messenger had dropped in the throne room, alerting Cal that the Lakelander king had requested a meeting between the two kingdoms had caused quite a stir in the court. Cal was intrigued, and so was Maven, although more suspiciously so. Mare had overhead the message and insisted that they go and possibly end the war. Being a Red herself, she had experienced first hand the devastation brought on by the century long conflict.
Maven agreed to some degree, but leaving his pregnant wife with their five year old son and three year old daughter made him reluctant to leave. They had discussed it in length, with Mare urging him to go to end this dreadful war. A tearful goodbye that night led to his early morning departure with Cal.
A messenger with two sentinels at his side barged in the tent, commanding their attention. "Your Highness," he bowed lowly, "King Stephen has arrived."
All of them immediately straightened up, setting aside the papers and adjusting their clothes. Cal beckoned him and Ptolemus to his side then motioned Arven and Osanos to step back to the side, a backup you could say.
Cal cleared his throat, "Send them in." The sentinels nodded, going outside to collect the other royal into the tent. The messenger wrung his hands nervously, fidgeting with his shirt until Cal sent him away.
"His Royal Majesty King Stephen of the Lakelands, Crown Prince Ethan of House Darya, Lord Eric Fuentes, Lord Harold Miner, and Lord George Desio. " A sentinel introduced. The King stepped forward arrogantly, while his advisors lingered behind a few steps. He locked eyes with Cal the moment he stepped in, never once flinching under the other king's stare.
Maven studied the group with curiously, King Stephan appeared to be Cal's age, if not a bit older. His blond hair long and shiny beneath his jeweled crown. He was not ugly, his handsome chiseled features and jade green eyes were something he had heard the younger Silver ladies at court fawn over. Two of his advisors on the other hand where not as attractive as their king. Old and grey, Maven wondered if the old geezers had already gone senile.
His attention however was glued to a five year old gripping the hand of the third lord. An exact replica of King Stephan, Maven had no doubt that this was the crown prince. A risky and idiotic move on their part he thought, to bring his heir to a dangerous meeting such as this. The boy's guardian was around the same age as the king, and Maven thought he could be a relative of the king, such as was implied by their similar features.
"King Tiberius, I would like to thank you for agreeing to this meeting," King Stephan began stiffly. He was tense, Maven noted.
"Likewise, King Stephan." Cal responded. He motioned to him, "This is my brother, Prince Maven and on my left is Lord Ptolemus Samos. Behind them is Lord Osanos and Lord Arven."
King Stephan nodded, studying them all. His eyes lingered on Maven for a while before looking back towards Cal, "On my left is Lord Harold and Lord Eric. My son, the Crown Prince Ethan is with my cousin, Lord George." The little prince stood by Lord George, his big green eyes staring at all of them in wonder. He looked to be about David's age, with short blond hair just like his father.
"Very well, King Stephan, I invite you and your party to take a seat, for I believe that you will soon grow tired of standing." Cal said, motioning to the chairs on the other side of the table.
King Stephan nodded, taking a seat opposite of Cal and gestured for the others to do the same. Maven sat besides Cal, and directly opposite of George and the young prince.
"I'm sure the reason for this meeting is quite clear," the foreign king began calmly, "to discuss and end to the war." Everyone nodded in agreement, but the tension was still in the air.
"Correct." Cal said gruffly.
King Stephan smiled, an interesting sight to behold in the the seriousness of the tent. "I will recall half of my armada back in exchange for the disputed lands south of the Lakelander/Norta border."
Maven almost snorted at the King's arrogance, to demand such a large portion of land in exchange for the removal of only half of his army was absolutely ludicrous. Thankfully, Cal thought so to.
"No." Cal said simply, "To give you such a large amount of land would be a bad move on my part."
King Stephan sighed, "Then what is your counter offer?"
"I will give you a third of the disputed lands on the grounds that you remove your army entirely and I will leave a small legion there to ensure the safety of the nearby towns." Cal said, repeating the deal he and Maven decided on.
The king shook his head, clearly not in agreement, "That simply will not do, the Lakeland's have been fighting for decades for that land, and to receive such a small portion will not please them." Said Lord Eric from beside the king.
Maven drummed his fingers against the desk, trying to find a solution. The logical thing to do would be to give them half of the lands and remove both armies, but Cal would want at least two thirds of the land; it was Nortan territory to begin with, the Lakelands had been the ones who invaded first.
The argument brewed, with Stephan and Cal slowly growing impatient. Cal tried to offer them gold and other goods native to Norta in exchange for the lands. King Stephan refused, saying that he would accept nothing less than at least half of the lands. Lord Eric and Harold tried to interject, but one glare from Ptolemus made them quiet down.
Lord George stayed out of it, seeming to be paying more attention to the prince than the negotiations. Only when the temperature from within the tent rose due to Cal's temper did he speak up.
"The Lakelands will accept a third of the lands disputed, in exchange for gold, other goods, and the hand in marriage of a Nortan noble lady." He said.
"What?" Everyone seemed to say.
Maven was shocked, the offer was a good one, almost in complete agreement with Cal's deal. But one thing made him wary of the deal, who would the Nortan noble lady be?
Lord George sent a look to King Stephan, and they seemed to have a conversation through their eyes. It was almost imperceptible, but King Stephan gave a very subtle nod, encouraging Lord George to explain.
"Please elaborate Lord George," Cal said slowly. He too, was suspicious.
"It's rather simple really," he began, "A third of the lands will be accepted on the grounds that both armies are removed save for a small legion on both sides of the border to help the nearby towns and cites. In exchange for this agreement, a peace treaty will be signed by both kings and the lords that were there to negotiate. Also, an amount of gold will be handed to the Lakelands by Norta as payment for the other two thirds of land. To ensure the peace treaty be maintained, the joining of a Lakeland Prince and a Nortan Princess will be required."
"I have no daughters." Cal stated in confusion, while Maven's blood ran cold.
King Stephan smiled with a cunning edge, and Maven wanted to strangle both him and his idiotic lord. "You don't, but your brother does."
Cal looked to Maven who was shaking his head frantically, "No, absolutely not. My daughter is much to young to be sent away to a foreign country to be the wife of a bratty little prince!"
King Stephan growled at the insult towards his son, but Lord George continued, "She wouldn't need to come with us now, I would hope that she and Prince Ethan be married upon reaching her twentieth birthday, as is the traditional age of marriage for many noble women."
Twenty years, about a year older than he had been when he married Mare. He could feel Cal's gaze on him, urging him to accept and give his daughter's hand in marriage to the little prince. He felt guilty though, he had been hoping to give both of his children and the many other possible children he had with Mare the opportunity to choose who they loved and married. To trap his little Alexandra in an arranged marriage at such a young age made him feel awful, not to mention that Mare would have his head.
But this marriage was one that could guarantee both countries peace and tranquility for many years to come. Prince Ethan was close to Alexandra's age, maybe two or three years older. And if he looked as much as his father when he was older as he did now, then Alexandra would have a handsome husband at her side. Not to mention that she would be a queen once Prince Ethan ascended onto the throne. He and Mare wished the best for their children, and to make Alexandra a queen was a great thing.
However, he knew that royal marriages were something that were easily corrupted by a third party or general dislike from both sides. He would never forgive himself if he pushed his daughter into an unhappy marriage like the one his mother and father had. And heaven help the prince if he ever cast Alexandra away for some strumpet or took on a mistress.
He looked at the prince, a small child with an innocence that resembled David's. He thought of his own son, and smiled when he thought of what a perfect little gentleman Mare was teaching him to be. If only he knew with certainty that Prince Ethan would never hurt his daughter and treat her like the princess she is. The child looked at him and smiled meekly, trying to hide his fear. Maven studied him in length, trying to predict what kind of man he would turn out to be. After a few minutes he made his choice.
"As Princess Alexandra's father, I give her hand in marriage to Crown Prince Ethan in exchange for land and the peace between the two nations for years to come."
Cal looked at him gratefully, whispering his thanks but Maven ignored it, his eyes trained on the foreign king.
King Stephan smiled and extended his hand, Maven stared at it for a moment before taking it firmly in his, giving it a good strong shake.
"Very well, I'm glad that we were able to reach pleasant terms." King Stephan spoke, "I will call back my armies after we sign a treaty which will be drafted immediately upon our return to HighLake, the capital of my Kingdom, and we will get together to sign it in what I hope is in three days time."
About half an hour later they finally said their goodbyes and parted on friendly terms. Maven was glad but his imminent doom when he returned back to Mare weighed over his head.
Cal put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "What are we going to tell Mare?"
Maven shook his head, "I don't know," he whispered, frightened by the thought of speaking to Mare about what had transpired today.
