I just realized I've been incorrectly spelling "Tristain" as "Tristan". Can't believe it took me this long to pick up on that, Wow.
I'm not too confident on how I wrote this and so I may edit or change this in the future.
(Edit: Just added in a missing line breaker and fixed some errors.)
Siesta was giddy the next morning. Arlerus said that the College accepted only the best and brightest, and was willing to give out payments to those who had the skill but not the money. Who does that?
While Arlerus couldn't be sure; he said he was confident that she could get a sponsor from the Archmage.
Learning magic was something she never expected to do. Most of her life had been focused on helping her family and looking after her siblings.
But now, the Imperial said that he could send some of the sponsorship money back to her family while she studied the Clever Craft. After yesterday's duel, there was no doubt that the magic to be learned was powerful. And the Imperial said he wasn't even a master only barely an adept at magic.
While she didn't know whether she should agree or not; she was now leaning towards accepting. The problem was if she wasn't accepted then she would lose all source of income and her family would fall into financial difficulty. That and she didn't know how much she would get from the sponsorship, though Arlerus said something about gold nuggets yesterday.
"Siesta, where are those plates?" hearing Marteau call out to her, broke her out of her thoughts. She saw that she was still holding the plates for the breakfast service in her hands and had been standing still for the last few minutes.
Blushing slightly at her mistake she hurried back into the kitchen. She wondered offhandedly what her saviour, Arlerus was doing.
Arlerus stepped out of the temporary quarters that he and his entourage had been given. While he and his Housecarl were obviously given the better rooms, the rest of his men slept comfortably.
According the Professor Colbert; Princess Henreitta was arriving today alongside Cardinal Mazarin. She had been informed of Tristan's new residents, if the large snowy land that appeared wasn't enough of a clue, though whether she knew of their presence here was unknown.
He had dressed himself as finely as he could and prepared to leave. His men, wearing their shined and hastily cleaned armour followed him towards the main building.
There was a crowd near the gate. Students, staff, servants were mingled together to catch a glimpse of the Princess of Tristan. The crowd parted to allow his group to pass through. Enough had seen the duel yesterday to know that the Thane was not to be trifled with.
Arlerus and his grey warriors stood near the doors to the main building. The headmaster was already there and paid no heed to his arrival.
"Good morning to you Headmaster Osmond." Greeted Arlerus politely.
"And to you, Sir Jurulonus" acknowledged Osmond.
While he and Osmond engaged in petty conversation, his guards stood in formal position behind him.
Finally a large cheer near the gate signalled the arrival of the Royal party.
An escort of riders led the procession. Their black capes fluttered with the wind as they entered the Academy. From the chatter, Arlerus identified them as the Imperial Guards of Tristan. They were the elite mage knights that were Tristan's symbol of prosperity.
He chuckled slightly as he compared Tristan's with the Empires. These black cape wearing nobles did not even resembled the cold hard Imperial Guards he remembered from Tamriel.
Four white stallions with golden manes followed next. No, not stallions, they were Unicorns, realized Arlerus with surprise.
The majestic beasts were a rare sight in Tamriel and only the best of trackers and adventurers could even dream of sneaking up to mount it. To have found four of the beasts and tamed them was most impressive.
The unicorns led an ornate carriage behind it. It was adjourned with gold, silver and platinum sculptures; all masterfully crafted into the white wood of the carriage. The most prominent of these being a unicorn crossed with a crystal staff that marked the carriage as the Princesses.
Behind her carriage came a second carriage, less decorated, but magnificent to look at nevertheless. More black riders followed in its wake; acting as the rear guard.
The procession stopped in front of the main hall.
"Her Royal Highness of the Kingdom of Tristan, Princess Henrietta has arrived!" announced a herald.
Osmond walked down to greet the Princess while he just waited. He had no idea what was expected of him in this different culture and cursed himself for not asking earlier.
It would be rude to be too presumptuous and greet the Princess first. Deciding that waiting for a more private opportunity to greet her would be better. For now he would just wait as people cheered for the Princess.
An old man dressed in extravagant robes descended out of the back carriage. He walked up to the first carriage and opened the door for the Princess. As she appeared the cheering renewed itself as Henrietta waved to the people gathered around the carriages.
As she and the Cardinal made their way towards the Academy Building, their Imperial Guards marching smartly behind them, Arlerus made his move.
Stepping forward he stood in front of the princess and gave a deep bow from the waist. "Honours to you; Princess Henrietta De Tristain. I am Arlerus Jurulonus, Thane of Winterhold and I am here to discuss the matter of my Hold appearing within the territories of Tristan."
The Princess was slightly surprised by this and was unsure how to respond to the strange greeting but recovered immediately. "And to you Thane Jurulonus." She responded politely.
The Headmaster quickly ushered them in, eager to get them out of public eye to begin more important talks. He noticed that he stayed near the Princess and the Cardinal, conversing with them throughout the journey.
The Imperial managed to pick up some of the words being said and putting it together it appeared that he was telling the two about recent events involving Winterhold's appearance.
He led them to an empty classroom that had been turned into a meeting room of sorts. The desks and chairs were replaced by a large table with several more regal seats situated around it.
The guards from both sides were left outside the door, being unable to all fit in the room. This left only Arlerus, his Housecarl, Henrietta, Cardinal Mazarin and one of her guard captains who introduced himself as Viscount Wardes. Old Osmond sat in the middle of the table acting as an observer and mediator if need be.
Mazarin took it upon himself to start the long discussion that was to follow. "The Headmaster has kindly informed us about your situation and while I sympathize with you and your situation; I have to ask to what you and your people are planning to do."
"The College will, or already has; research means to reverse whatever magic brought us here to Tristan. Outside of that, we have no clue. This land is unknown to us so we have no immediate plans beyond making contact with the local leaders." Responded Arlerus quickly, having expected the question.
"That is fine and well, but there is the matter of all this new land and how it has affected Tristain." Said Mazarin in a grim tone.
"The land that your Winterhold now covers has extended the usual distance it takes to travel between locations. Our own delayed arrival is an example of this. This has caused many problems; especially among the nobles, whose lands are now separated by frozen tundra" The Cardinal stretched out the part about problems.
Arlerus grimaced. "We did not want to be called here. It is confirmed that one of your own students was responsible for our predicament."
Though he didn't want to place Miss Louise into trouble, his first duty was to Winterhold and its Jarl and only by extension the Empire. "Miss Valliere was the one responsible for calling us here during your Springtime Summoning."
The Princess was surprised upon hearing the involvement of her childhood friend. "What about Louise?" she asked worriedly.
"Miss Louise called the entirety of Winterhold, city and hold, as part of the traditional ritual you call the Springtime Familiar Summoning. The Academy has promised its aid in supporting our efforts to reverse the spell and return us to Skyrim, our home."
"And how many people are there exactly in Winterhold?" asked Mazarin.
"I lack exact numbers but I suspect there are approximately 110000 within the city itself with another 50000 throughout the Hold in villages."
That was no small number. Winterhold was one of the most prosperous cities within cities in Skyrim, trailing after Whiterun, Solitude and Windhelm.
As a result of its cold climate and dangerous predators, many stayed within the boundaries of the city. The few large settlements outside the city and within the hold were few and were situated near the mines or by the Wayward Pass.
Winterhold relied greatly on trading its 'magical' goods for foodstuff that they could not produce themselves. Potions, curatives, herbs, books, enchanted trinkets were traded for meat, crops and gol within Winterhold.
Now without its usual imports of supplies, they would soon have to tighten their belt straps. That was one of the main goals that the Jarl had entrusted him.
The granaries and stockpiles only had enough food to last the city a year; and that was if they rationed it. Arlerus would have to negotiate some form of trade agreement with Tristain.
"That is… no small number." Muttered Mazarin.
"Yes, which is why I must ask whether Tristain is willing to trade with us." Admitted Arlerus.
"And what exactly are you proposing to trade?"
"Food. Enough to feed the Hold for our stay here. I admit feeding that many mouths will be costly, so we are willing to trade our own unique goods for it." Stated Arlerus.
"And what type of goods could possibly interest us?" asked an interested Mazarin.
"Winterhold is most famous for the College of Winterhold and the number of mages residing within. So of course our goods are of the magical kind. Healing potions that can close wounds instantly, enchanted equipment and even the services of our mages."
Mazarin went into deep thought for a moment. He turned to the Princess briefly and conferred with her. They spoke softly and sadly Arlerus couldn't hear what they were talking about; but he could guess what it was about anyway.
The Princess nodded at some point and took over the negotiations. Mazarin reclining back into his chair, content to let her highness take over. "And how many mages are there exactly within Winterhold, Sir Jurulonus."
"There are around 2500 members of the College of Winterhold." The Tristainians were surprised, they had expected only a number into the few hundreds not the thousands.
Were there that many nobles within this Winterhold?
"Of course that is only registered members of the College. There are maybe another 4000 to 5000 mages of varying degrees of skill residing within Winterhold, not affiliated with the College.
Now they were impressed. That was more mages than most Tristain had itself.
"There might be more outside the city, but I'm not aware of how many there are. Though there might be so-" Arlerus broke off his own sentence before scratching his head in embarrassment.
"Ah. My apologies your highness, I tend to ramble on. There are approximately 7000 mages within the Winterhold, give or take a thousand." He concluded.
"Now, are there any other questions I can answer or can we return to trade?"
"Yes, Sir Jurulonus. You mentioned healing potions that could heal instantly and enchanted items. Could we see examples of such items. You see we have healing potions of our own, and though none can claim to heal wounds instantly they serve us well enough." Henrietta asked.
Arlerus smiled. "The Archmage had kindly provided us with some of these said items. I would be happy to show you the effects of Winterhold's speciality items."
His Housecarl stepped out of the room and whispered something to one of the Winterhold soldiers outside. The man in question nodded to the quiets instructions and rushed off.
He returned minutes later, out of breath, carrying a crate that was covered in cloth. The Housecarl carefully relieved the container from the exhausted man and laid it onto the table; before returning to stand behind his Thane.
Arlerus reached into the box and brought out a vial containing a red concoction. This is a healing potion, it works simply by pouring it over ones wounds. If I may I will demonstrate."
The Princess nodded her assent and Arlerus pulled out a small knife. Wardes stiffened, his hand sliding down to his sword wand but Arlerus directed the blade to his own arm.
With a quick slash and a grimace of pain, he cut a gash into his forearm; blood flowed freely from the wound. Henrietta was slightly nauseous at the sight of blood but watched in quiet fascination as the wound closed itself when the Imperial poured crimson liquid over the wound.
Flesh seemed to knit itself back together as the gash closed. Once the process was finished, there was not even a scar to indicate there was a wound in the first place.
Arlerus smiled. He had them with the potion. Judging by their reactions, whatever potions they had here could not produce the same results as the ones common in Tamriel could.
"Healing potions are not the only thing we can make. There are also potions that restore energy, ones that make your stronger, ones that make you invisible and so on."
Not giving the Tristainians time to recover; he pressed on. "And this is an example of an enchanted item." He pulled out another dagger from the container.
This one was finely made and a blue aura could be seen on the metal. He stabbed it into the table, for ice to freeze over where he had inserted the blade into the wood.
"Steel Dagger of Ice and as you can see, it freezes whatever it touches with its blade." Explained Arlerus.
Again the Tristainians were surprised though Wardes, as a military man, had a more calculating look on his face; as he assessed the usefulness of such weapons.
"Of coure, enchanting is not limited to tools of war nor does it only make things more destructive. It can be applied to almost everything and there is a variety of enchantments available."
The Imperial let the Royal Party sink in the information. He had sounded more like a merchant there than a diplomat.
"What exactly do you want for such goods?" asked Henrietta at last.
"Mainly foodstuff, though raw materials would help as well." Responded Arlerus.
The Princess looked towards the Cardinal, who gave her a slight nod. Turning back to face Arlerus "How much do you want and how much of those potions and enchanted items do we get in return?" she asked.
The talks had progressed at a fast pace. The Princess had turned out to be a haggler of great skill, constantly trying to seek an advantage. Finishing off the trade and agreements they breached a more contentious another subject.
"There will be outcry from nobles whose lands were split." Reminded Henrietta again.
"And as I said before; we cannot be held responsible for something outside of our control." Arlerus maintained.
"This is not helped by your religion differing from our own. According to you there are Elves who live in Winterhold. The Church will likely want to be involved." Informed the Cardinal.
"You are free to believe in your Founder and we will not persecute you for it, mostly. I see no problem with our worship of the Nine Divines."
"It would be considered heretical for you not to worship the Founder." Mazarin warned again.
"And for me that would make you heretics for not worshiping the Nine, so that is hardly a compelling argument." Countered Arlerus.
Mazarin looked ready to continue before Henrietta interjected. "We are not trying to persecute your religion Sir Jurulonus. But there will be friction because of this."
"That is no issue. We dealt with the Thalmor for nearly a decade to regain Talos as a Divine. It would be impossible to make people stop worshipping the Nine regardless."
Henrietta still looked worried but moved on nevertheless. "Well, despite how you might deny your involvement in Winterhold's relocation. It will not stop people blaming you."
"Furthermore we cannot have a foreign nation, even if it just a province, within Tristain. It is a major threat to our security."
"So what do you propose then?" Inquired Arlerus
"The allegiance of Winterhold to the Kingdom Of Tristain." the Princess stated simply.
"Our loyalties lie with the Empire, I'm afraid."
"And we cannot leave a Hold of people, uncontested within our borders."
Arlerus pondered on this for a moment. He understood their need for national security but he didn't have the authority or power to decide this.
Looking for a compromise, he found one. "I am sure Jarl Kraldar would say the same,but I give my assurances that we will make no move against Tristain. While we cannot offer our loyalties, due to our existing allegiance to the Empire, I propose the Winterhold to be somewhat of a protectorate state under Tristain for the time being."
"And what is a protectorate?" Asked the Cardinal.
"Essentially, Winterhold will retain its sovereignty but we will adhere to Tristain in most things. It is like an alliance with Tristain being the leader."
"While we won't be subject to you, we will give generous compensation for you protection. And outside of Winterhold we will submit ourselves to your laws and the same applies for Tristainians entering Winterhold."
"Is this acceptable?" Asked Arlerus.
"It appears that Winterhold gets the better end of the deal here. What incentive do we have to accept this? This Empire is not present in Halkengenia so your oaths to it should be void, or at least till you return to your Tamriel. It would be more effective for Winterhold to integrate with Tristain rather than exist as a separate state." Pressed Mazarin; as he made to support the Princess.
Arlerus grimaced. "That will be a problem. The majority of the population within Winterhold are Nords. There are proud people and will not look kindly on switching allegiances from the Empire to a foreign nation. Heck, our new 'land' will be enough to likely cause riots at the College; demanding the mages to send them back."
"And Winterhold existing as a separate state, even if it is subservient to our own, will cause similar issues with our own people. The nobles will not accept it and the commoners will likely not either." Countered the Princess.
"Say if we merged with Tristain then. Would you guarantee our security and allow us to return to Tamriel as soon as we are able?" asked Arlerus as he played with her offer.
"If Winterhold was to swear their allegiance to Tristain, they will receive the same treatment as any other within our borders." Answered the Princess as she pounced onto this opportunity.
"And what if I told you that we have commoners who would be called a noble; going by your standards."
The Princess was confused. What did he mean by that? She looked at Mazarin and saw that he was similarly perplexed by what he had just heard.
"Could you explain what you mean by that?" she asked.
"Our magic is different to your own. While magic is limited to nobles here in Halkengenia; in Tamriel almost anyone is capable of casting magic to some level."
Well that explained how they had so many mages. Was the Princess's first thought. That they didn't have a Founder to grant them magic had crossed her mind earlier. Though she could now see why this might cause problems.
In most of Halkengenia, those who could cast magic were always nobles and were treated as such. But they had many more who had magical abilities but were not nobles. A new thought crossed her mind.
"Sir Jurulonus, is it possible for anyone to learn your magic?" she frantically asked. If so, then commoners would flock to Winterhold. If enough commoners learnt Tamriel magic then there would be unrest as the rest of the nobles would be threatened by this. Civil unrest was likely going to a problem.
"Yes, the Clever Craft is limited only by ones talents and efforts."
"I see why this is a cause for concern." Said Mazarin as he scratched his chin in thought.
"The College only accepts the best, and even then there is now a hefty enrolment fee in joining. Add on the limited spaces within the College and the fact that it's already nearly full. You don't have to worry about everyone learning magic all a sudden in Tristain." Reassured Arlerus, as he read their train of thought.
"It also takes years of constant study and hard work to get anywhere as a mage, so there won't be any immediate impacts, hopefully." He added as an afterthought.
"Founder be praised for that at least." Sighed Mazarin.
"Which brings me to a second issue: religion." Continued Arlerus.
This got the attention of the room. Mazarin and Henrietta leaned closer to hear what the Imperial had to say.
"We have the Nine Divines as our patron gods and I suppose the Daedric Princes count; seeing that some do worship them. Anyhow, from the reactions I have received so far from mentioning this; there will be some problems."
Henrietta sighed. The Church would be an issue she supposed. The Church in Romalia wouldn't accept a heathen province becoming part of Tristain. If the Imperi-
Her mind clutched onto the thought. Sir Jurulonus was an Imperial. Most of Winterhold were Nords. Never once did he call himself or of Winterhold humans.
"Sir Jurulonus, do you consider yourself a human?" she asked.
The Imperial was surprised by the sudden strange question. This was likewise shared by the rest of the occupants of the room.
"I'm afraid, I do not understand the question, Princess." he replied honestly as he tried to rationalize the confusing question.
"The Church may not accept a city of human heathens merging with Tristain. But, you Sir Jurulonus consider yourself an Imperial not a human." She explained
Arlerus finally picked up on what Henrietta was implying and smiled at her. Technically, he was human, but he didn't know anyone who would call himself that instead of a Nord or Imperial and so on.
Cardinal Mazarin was not so amused. "Princess, it is a stretch to think that the Church would give way because of such a small technicality."
"Unless you have a better idea, then this is the best way to avoid the Church's ire." Countered Henrietta.
"Well Sir Jurulonus, would Winterhold be willing to merge with Tristain, even if it is for only your duration here." She asked as she faced the, still smiling, Imperial.
The Imperial Thane stared at the Tristainian Princess. She stared right back. Finally Arlerus gave way. "Very well, I will have to return to Winterhold and get the Jarl's approval, but I expect he will accept. I'll let Thonjolf fuss over the little details."
Getting up, he made a bow to her. "It has been an honour meeting you, your highness."
As he made to leave, he stopped just before the door as he remembered something. "You may keep whatever is left in the box. Consider it a sample of Winterhold."
With that he exited the room, his burly guard followed after him.
Mazarin leaned closer to the Princess. "Princess Henrietta, do you really think that merging with them is the best idea."
She didn't look at him as she answered. "It is the most peaceful option that I can think of as of the moment."
Wardes chose this moment to speak. "Begging your pardon, but I don't understand why we have to reach a peaceful resolution to this. They have limited food, the 'Thane' admitted as much himself. Would it not be possible to allow them to starve and gain a more favourable position?"
"Captain, he also admitted that they have nearly 6000 mages. And we have no idea how many troops they can field. If they were starved and kept within their Hold, they will likely respond like a caged wolf; by striking out at their captors."
Wardes fell silent as he remembered that small fact. That many mages was nothing to laugh about.
The Princess got up to leave when light snoring got their attention. The last neutral member of the talks was still present.
The Headmaster had been present throughout the whole time and was forgotten by both parties as they discussed the future. He fell asleep about half way through, seeing that his presence wasn't really needed.
The Royal Party left the room in silence, to not disturb the respected mage in his slumber. While it was impolite and wrong to go to sleep during such important discussions. The Princess, bless her kind heart, didn't want to disturb the old mage and had silently lifted her finger to her lips to signal silence.
It was not until dinner time that someone noticed Old Osmond was missing. It was hours later that he was found by the servants coming to clean the room. By then he was slouched into an uncomfortable position while he slept.
Afraid of disturbing him, the servants quickly and quietly finished their duties and condemned the Headmaster to his secretary that was unfortunately left with all the paperwork that he was meant to do today.
Again, I'm not too confident on how I wrote this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.