Lord Amir Shafiq did not want to be here and he was not enjoying the current position he was in.
They were in the largest meeting room they possessed in the ICW building in Switzerland. On one side of the meeting room were King Fernando, Queen Joanna, and ICW Spanish Representative Lord Rafael Ruiz of the Spanish delegation. On the other side of the meeting room were Emperor-to-be Haylan Caliban and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.
Lord Amir Shafiq was chosen to be the mediator between the two parties and Lord Shafiq felt this was only going to end in blood.
"Ah yes, thank you for both coming peacefully to this meeting." Lord Shafiq started, clearing his throat nervously. "This meeting was requested on behalf of the Spanish delegation on neutral ground to help solve any current disagreements between the Spanish Monarchy and the House of Caliban. Do you both agree that you are here of your own free will and while you are here you will remain peaceful?"
"The House of Caliban is here of my own free will and I will remain peaceful unless attacked," Haylan spoke with a threatening grin on his face that made Lord Shafiq shudder before looking to the Spanish delegation.
"We are here of our own free will and will remain peaceful for now." Lord Rafael Ruiz said in his soft accented tone.
"Now the Spanish delegation will begin with their grievances first." Lord Shafiq directed before turning the meeting over to Lord Ruiz.
"We requested this meeting after receiving a threatening package from Mr. Caliban-" Lord Ruiz was quickly interrupted by Narcissa.
"It is Heir Caliban, Lord Caliban, or Emperor Caliban. Do not make me remind you again." Narcissa threatened causing Lord Shafiq to pale and Lord Ruiz to grit his teeth.
"Heir Caliban then. Heir Caliban had no right to threaten the Spanish Monarchy just because he disagrees with their right to sovereignty." Lord Ruiz declared.
Haylan just chuckled. It wasn't a nice laugh, but one that raised the hair on your arms in warning.
"I am glad my package arrived so swiftly. It was not a threat but a promise. Several days ago I woke up to an assassin attempting to kill me. Which honestly an assassin before my coronation is just rude. It took me most of the day and I had to cancel several important meetings to find my answers. But the assassin was Diego Durand, quite a famous killer for hire I hear, and he confessed to being hired to kill me by one Queen Joanna of Spain. Now he was nice enough to admit that she hired him without the consent of King Fernando or the rest of the Spanish government, but I obviously still wasn't pleased as this was in response to my refusal to allow Spain to secede from my empire. So I broke Mr. Durand into many pieces and shipped him back to the one that hired him. I am pleased the threat carried, I wondered if a dead assassin in a box wouldn't be explicit enough of a warning." Haylan's tone was calm and controlled and the smile on his face never wavered. Lord Shafiq was reminded of a predator enjoying playing with its prey.
"Lies! He Lies!" Queen Joanna shouted.
"I suggest you control your wife, King Fernando before I do it for you," Haylan commented.
"That will not be necessary. I had wondered why you had jumped from letters to a bloody body, it did seem rather drastic even for the House of Caliban. Joanna and I weren't married yet back then, but I remember your family well. I may not agree with being part of your empire but your family never did anything without reason. They weren't tyrants. But I worry about your reign since you do not have them there to lead you or temper you as they had." King Fernando's voice was deep and calm and he didn't seem surprised by his wife's actions.
"I am aware that many have this fear. How can you trust I will be good to the people and remain neutral like a true Caliban without any real Calibans to teach me their ways? Well, let me tell you a little secret. They didn't learn their ways from previous rulers. Most of the previous Emperors and Emperesses did very little in the way of leading their heirs down the political path. Tell me what you know of why the House of Caliban was chosen to lead the magical masses the way we do." Haylan leaned forward, intrigued by what the King might say.
"Your family was chosen and declared by Merlin after a prophecy that the House of Caliban would rule us all and as they were our beginning of government back then when the house fell for the last time in the future it would mean our end." King Fernando recited.
"Mostly correct but still not right. Merlin did have a prophecy given to him by Lady Magic about the House of Caliban. But while Merlin was the one to announce to the masses that our family would be ruling them for centuries to come, he wasn't the one to bestow that power to us. What do you know of Lord Death?" Haylan's grin grew a little darker and the shadows in the meeting room seemed to grow in response.
"Death is just a myth! A natural part of life given form for the masses to accept easier!" Queen Joanna declared in a haughty tone.
"Incorrect. Lord Death is quite real. As real as Lady Magic and maintains the true balance in the world. But he is limited in how much he can interact with us without killing everyone. The black plague was a direct result of his trying to interact with humans too much. So instead Lady Magic and Lord Death came together to plan, to make someone who could be the hand of Lord Death and carry out his will. The House of Caliban had often been called necromancers which isn't strictly correct. We are Death's hand, he is who directs us. So no need to fear I will stray from the Caliban creed of true neutrality. If I were to break my vows to Magic and Death then you would not have to worry about killing me yourself. Something much, much worse would happen to me." As Haylan talked, his shadow seemed to grow and become a dark figure behind him with no defining features but they all felt watched by the dark entity.
It was hard to not believe Haylan when it feels like Death is breathing down your neck, but humans are known for being incredibly stupid.
"Well, I think that went well," Haylan commented once he and Narcissa were back in his study at Castle Caliban.
"I don't think Lord Death scaring them was in our game plan." Narcissa rolled her eyes.
"You say that like I have any control over when he shows up." Haylan smiled innocently. Narcissa didn't buy it for one second.
"Your family had never openly admitted to their connection to Magic and Death." Narcissa pointed out.
"Times have unfortunately changed. The majority of the wizarding world is beginning to stop worshiping the old ways. Lots of new blood intermingling and bringing muggle ideas into our world. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it does mean they aren't going to accept my rule just because some ancient wizard said they should. " Haylan reasoned.
"And They agree with this?" Narcissa asked warily.
"Yes, Lady Magic, Lord Death, and I all agreed that I will have to be more open about our connection. There will be quite the show at the coronation that way everyone knows and won't be able to easily refuse what happened. The Spanish delegation is already in denial over what they saw in the meeting. I won't let such ignorance endanger our goals or my rule." Haylan firmly laid out.
Narcissa nodded but she was still worried. She knew beyond just the Spanish Monarchy that Dumbledore and Voldemort may have extreme reactions to learning just how much power Haylan truly wielded being the voice and hands of ancient deities.
Dumbledore may see killing Haylan as the final act he needs to permanently be rid of the old ways, which would definitely bring the end upon them quickly.
Voldemort would see Haylan as a tool to be used to get ahold of the power and connection to Magic and Death. This demonstration at the coronation will lead to many dangerous situations and Haylan's army and guard still weren't rebuilt yet. She would have to talk with the others to figure out how best to protect Haylan.
They were having another order meeting.
Remus was exhausted by Dumbledore's behavior and the aching absence of Sirius.
"Thank you everyone for attending this emergency meeting. I just got disturbing news from the ICW about an hour ago." Dumbledore began. "This morning Lord Amir Shafiq acted as a mediator between the Spanish Monarchy and Heir Caliban in response to the Spanish Monarchy receiving a dead body in a box from Heir Caliban."
Everyone gasped with horror. Would Heir Caliban become a worse version of Lord Voldemort? Just thinking the thought could be considered treason.
"I told you he was bad!" Hermione shrieked. She had not been taking the loss of her magic well.
"That seems rather out of character for the House to just randomly send a dead body." Kingsley pointed out.
"According to inside sources, Heir Caliban claims the body was the famed assassin Diego Durand supposedly hired by Queen Joanna of Spain to kill him," Dumbledore reported in a serious tone.
"Diego Durand? Glad to know he is finally off the street. He is wanted in most of Europe for several high-profile assassinations. He doesn't come cheap." Moody grunted.
"That sounds like a more reasonable explanation," Arthur commented.
"That doesn't make it right! Killing people isn't okay!" Hermione protested.
"Even if he wasn't the Emperor-to-be, he would have been within his rights to defend himself against an assassin and no one is going to miss Durand. That man had done some truly bad things that would turn your stomach girly." Moody grumbled out.
"Getting back to the subject at hand. The disconcerting thing to come out of the meeting is Heir Caliban proclaiming to be the human voice and hands of Magic and Death. There was a dark entity that seemed to join their meeting near the end but there is no proof that it is the being called Death and not just some necromantic trick." Dumbledore continued, scowling. Dumbledore couldn't have the wider population falling back into the outdated belief in the Old Gods. They were finally making progress and moving out of old rituals and false gods and into the modern era of science and political leaders. Heir Caliban could set them back centuries.
"I will visit with the Department of Mysteries to see what they think. Better to have a confirmation on what kind of magic Caliban is using than being sucked into any illusions." Moody nodded.
Arthur on the other hand looked unsure. "And if he is indeed the human counterpart to Lady Magic and Lord Death what do we do then? There will be no fighting him. Not if the Old Ones are backing him and his rule. It would be better if we did as he said and disbanded before bringing their wrath down upon us."
Remus and a few others nodded in agreement, they didn't want to be on the wrong end of the Gods.
"We have no reason to believe he is telling the truth. He is a teenager trying to keep a tenuous hold on his power over Europe. He will use whatever tricks he can to keep everyone in line." Dumbledore corrected. "That will be all for today. I suggest everyone takes time researching what tricks Caliban could be using or may use in the future."
They were all dismissed but Remus couldn't help but have a bad feeling in his gut over where Dumbledore may lead them to.