SS 1.5 - Tristain's Ambassador Returns
At the court of Tristain, where the young crown princess sat on the throne in royal regalia and her regent the Cardinal Mazarin sat on a gilded chair beside her, there was an atmosphere of gloom and depression.
They had already heard reports from their agents since the day Muurleth appeared, and had several sleepless nights since each time the events were confirmed and added to with even more dire descriptions of the chaos in Albion.
"Oh Wales…where are you? Do you yet live?" She whispered to herself, hugging her sceptre close to her chest.
Cardinal Mazarin looked like he had aged considerably in just a few days.
The various nobles who lined the hall all muttered amongst themselves. They had gathered here today to receive the Tristainian ambassador to Albion, who had been ordered to stay in Londinium to ascertain the intentions of the new administration and their foreign policy.
Their ambassador entered with little pomp, wearing a black caped suit, and quickly bowed before he was beckoned by the Cardinal to rise.
"Your highness, your excellency. I bring grave news from Albion. The royal faction has been defeated, and King Henry is dead. However, Reconquista and their leader Cromwell is also dead, only to be replaced by an even more terrifying force," he said.
"Yes, Ambassador, we are already aware of what happened at Newcastle. It is deeply troubling, and though difficult to believe, numerous independent reports have confirmed it," said Mazarin. "Have you had a chance to meet this…emperor Muurleth?"
"No, your excellency. When a full court was convened at Londinium, his claim to the title of emperor was retracted, and the kingdom was declared to be in a state of Interregnum. Muurleth was instead proclaimed His Divine Greatness," the ambassador visibly made a disgusted face at the ridiculous styling, "Prince of Duality, Lord of the Infinite, Patron God of Albion by General Fairfax and the military forces under his command. Muurleth did not make any public appearances outside of punitive expeditions against remaining resistance forces, nor did he receive any audiences. The acting Chancellor informed me that there would be a public ceremony in two days time at Londinium to swear in a new Council Regency during the Interregnum, and that Muurleth does not intend to rule in person now or ever. He will instead establish a new form of representative governance."
"Representative governance? Does he intend to do the same as Cromwell intended, forming an assembly of nobles? A parliament?"
"Based on the chancellor's description, that is not quite the case. Muurleth's new government will abolish nobility."
"What? Abolish the nobility?!" Mazarin squawked and shifted forward in his seat, which was mirrored by rancorous cries from other nobles in the hall. If Muurleth abolished the nobility, what would become of them if Tristain was conquered? Were they to live as commoners?
"Yes, your excellency. However, it is only the taxation and levy rights of nobility that are being abolished. As I understand it, the nobility as a whole will retain positions of power and titles of nobility, but it will be through appointed and elected positions in the new government, with titles being largely honorary rather than assigning any actual hereditary rights and privileges. Nobles will no longer be permitted to collect taxes or raise levy armies independent of the Crown or decree by-laws for the commoners on their territory, but they will keep most of their property and may continue to collect rents on them. It is simply that anybody with enough money will be able to purchase property to do the same, including commoners, and they will also be eligible for positions in government with sufficient education."
"That is not much better! These reforms would destroy our way of life!" One prominent noble called out. "How can commoners possibly administrate the kingdom?!"
"What of religion? Muurleth claims to be a god now?" Mazarin waved down the noble and asked the ambassador again.
"He claims that Muurleth is a god, and that he is its avatar."
"And the people of Albion have accepted the words of this heathen?"
"Many did not, but those who refuse to recant their righteous faith in Brimir are being burned at the stake. I witnessed with my own eyes the burning of the Archbishop of Canterbury in front of the London Cathedral. The worship of Brimir and the true Gods of Valhalla have been outlawed. The laws banning marriage with firstborn races have also been repealed. The half elven bastard daughter of the late King Henry was declared the legitimate heir to all of the Tudor dynasty's personal demesnes, and granted the style of Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal of Albion, although there has not been an official line of succession announced yet."
"Oh my…" The Cardinal quickly made gestures to ward off evil and spoke a few prayers. Many other nobles followed his lead.
"Eh? So it's really true? I have a half-elven cousin?" Henrietta suddenly sat up with attention.
"It would appear so. I have met the princess and several members of the late King Henry's royal guard. They confirmed that the King did keep an elven mistress and ordered the princess Tiffania to be hidden away. The former royal guard members also claim that shortly before his death, King Henry made a deal with Muurleth, in which Muurleth promised the King that he would keep the throne. They seem to be under the impression that with the king's death, the princess has inherited the right to the throne under the agreement with Muurleth. Judging by how they've been reassigned to her personal guard and how she was legitimized with a royal title, there may be some credence to these claims."
"But what about Prince Wales? Is he not senior in the line of succession, if Muurleth does intend to honor the agreement?" Henrietta asked with a frown.
"There was a royal order issued for the Prince Wales' return, but he has yet to be found. According to credible sources within the military, he was never captured by Reconquista. His failure to return implies that he is either opposed to the new administration, which carries a death penalty, or he is unable to return because he is already dead. Either way, the order for his return was accompanied by the ultimatum that failure to appear within two days—before the planned swearing in ceremony, would result in all his noble and royal titles being stripped."
Henrietta slumped back down as soon as she heard the words "already dead". She had held little hope of his survival when she first heard the news of the royalist faction's defeat, and now in her mind, it was practically a certainty that he was dead. The Wales she knew was prideful and stubborn. He would have stayed to fight until the bitter end out of honor if he could.
She had been contemplating sending an agent to retrieve the love letters he had and also offer asylum to him in Tristain, even though she expected him to refuse, but in the end she didn't even have a chance to do it before it was all over.
At least now it was very unlikely that those letters could be found.
"Perhaps Muurleth can be reasoned with after all, if such an agreement existed," Cardinal Mazarin said with a hopeful expression. Then it morphed back into worry. "Ah, but the Church cannot possibly stay quiet on this! For the whole of Albion to fall into heathen hands, this is worse than any simple heresy! All the innocents who are being martyred!"
"We should ask Romalia for help! Surely they won't let Tristain fall to Muurleth as well? Cromwell at least pretended to act on behalf of Brimir and the true Gods!" A noble suggested.
"Yes! We must petition the Papacy!"
"They should declare a crusade to liberate Albion!"
"No, a crusade would be too late, we should quickly ally with Germania!"
"You think the barbarians in Germania can protect us from Muurleth? He would destroy them as easily as he did Reconquista!"
"Then we should ally with Gallia, their cannons are second only to Albion's!"
"And their king is an incompetent fool!"
"All the better for us to use!"
Numerous cries of agreement and disagreement could be heard among the nobles present. The hall descended into a mess of bickering and shouting.
"Silence!" Henrietta yelled, tapping her sceptre on the floor.
The nobles did not listen and continued to shout, ignoring the princess. The Cardinal stood up and demanded order but he too was ignored.
Then the princess's face turned furious and she too stood up. With a wave of her sceptre, a torrent of water was unleashed in the hall, showering all the nobles on either side of the carpet, but leaving the ambassador alone.
The nobles immediately quieted down and began casting drying spells on themselves.
"Ambassador, I would like to know more about Albion's foreign policy. Did you get information on what their intentions are towards Tristain?" Henrietta said after sitting back down.
The ambassador bowed his head. The princess had become much more aggressive than he remembered, and he opted to show a little more deference.
"Your highness, the acting chancellor assured me that their intentions are entirely peaceful. They desire no conflict with either the kingdoms of Halkegenia or the elves," he said.
"Or the elves? Was it necessary to make that addition? What did he mean by it?" Henrietta asked.
"Your highness, I believe the chancellor's statement was meant to indicate that they will not be pursuing a crusade to the Holy Land, which the former Reconquista had publicly announced as their goal."
Henrietta twirled her sceptre as if in thought. "I see. Do you believe it is as the chancellor said? That their intentions are peaceful?"
"It is difficult to say, your highness. I sought audiences with leaders in their military, but only Admiral Bowood agreed to speak with me. He said only that the Divine Prince Muurleth is not interested in mundane affairs, and that their foreign policy will likely be determined by the new appointed Regency Council."
"Not interested in mundane affairs? Then what is he interested in?" The princess had a perplexed expression on her face.
"I have only heard rumors, your highness. There is talk of significant increases to planned funding for windstone mining and refining, as well as magical research."
The Cardinal spoke in a hurried voice to the princess. "That does not sound like peaceful intentions at all! Windstones are used for building ships!"
"I know, Regent. They are most likely building up their forces before invading," the princess said. "Ambassador, is there anything else you can tell us that would be useful in understanding what is happening in Albion?"
"Ah…there is something, but it is very strange and I can not make sense of it myself. It is being treated very seriously by many academics in Londinium however, so I feel I must bring it to your highness' attention."
"Yes? What is it?"
"They say that Muurleth has given divine revelation to mages he has deemed worthy, secrets of magic never before known to man, including something called the 'periodic table' and an additional 118 elements different from the pentagram five."
"A-a hundred and eighteen elements?" The Cardinal shouted with wide eyes.
"Yes, your excellency. According to the researchers I've spoken to, there are already experiments which have proven the existence of some of these new elements, and some materials previously known to us, such as sulfur and lead, have been classified as chemical elements. They call them 'chemical elements' to distinguish them from the 'classical magic elements', because the chemical elements can all be manipulated through alchemy. Even more strangely, they say that alchemy is not solely an earth magic, but can be a method of performing the magic of a different element without stacking or having affinity for that element."
"Preposterous! Ambassador, how can you bring such blasphemous ideas to this court? These are obvious lies and lunacy! We have studied the five elements of the pentagram and alchemy as an earth magic for thousands of years!" A noble shouted in outrage. "Have you also fallen to heresy?"
"Ambassador, that you take such heresy seriously is indeed disturbing. Perhaps you are shaken by the persecution you witnessed in Albion and require rest. You are dismissed," said the Cardinal.
"Hold on! Please stay Ambassador. I would like to hear more about this," said Henrietta.
"But princess, this is clear heresy! If you entertain him any longer, the church may not look kindly upon us!" The Cardinal protested with a desperate expression.
The princess hesitated and bit her lip. The steward of the palace saw the princess' hesitation and a hand signal from the regent.
"We cannot allow the princess to be infected with such heretical ideas! Guards, take him away and throw him in the dungeon!" The steward shouted and gestured towards the guards.
The guards moved to grab the ambassador.
"No! Your highness, I speak the truth! I saw with my own eyes a line mage create fire by casting a water spell on a piece of alchemically prepared metallic rock!" He struggled as he was dragged away.
The princess made her decision and stood up.
"Stop! Guards, let him go!"
The Cardinal shrunk back in dismay, "Oh dear…" He whispered to himself. "We'll be excommunicated!"
The guards released the ambassador.
He quickly kneeled and thanked the princess.
"Ambassador, you are sure there was no trick involved? You really saw fire created from earth and water spells?"
"Yes, I also suspected deceit, but I was allowed to try casting a water spell of my own on the alchemically prepared rock! I am a double water line mage, your highness, and I could not put it out! The more water I used, the more fiercely it burned! I was nearly blinded by the sheer brightness of the white-hot fire!"
"The flames were white? But only quadruple fire Square-class mages can produce that fire that hot…" Henrietta observed.
"Exactly! There is no way that I, a double water Line mage, could possibly have cast a Square-class fire spell, even with trickery by the researcher, who was an Earth-Earth-Water Triangle mage!"
The hall was silent for a moment.
"Ambassador, why did the researcher show you such a powerful magic? A technique that can allow a line water mage to cast a Square class fire spell would be priceless. I cannot imagine any mage would carelessly reveal it to even friends, let alone a foreign mage," the princess said at last.
"Your highness, I swear on my honor as a noble that I have not lied. The reason they were willing to show it to me is because I cannot do anything with it after seeing it. The secret lies not in the spells cast while I was watching, but in the alchemically prepared rock, which was not made with simple Earth Transmutation, but the Muurlethian Alchemy that uses all four of the main magic elements! The full procedure is so arcane, complex, and incomprehensible that they believe it is simply impossible to replicate without being given the secret in exacting detail."
"In other words, you have no proof of what you claim to have seen," the same noble who shouted before said with a sneer.
Henrietta ignored the comment and addressed the ambassador. "Thank you Ambassador. You have given us much to think about. You may take your leave now."
When the ambassador left, the hall was left with a short silence before the nobles began to whisper and talk amongst themselves again.
Henrietta sat thinking for a time, until it seemed that she made a decision.
"Regent, I am tired. Please adjourn the court."
The Cardinal did as she asked and ordered the court to adjourn. The nobles filed out quickly, leaving the hall empty for but the princess and her regent.
"Cardinal Mazarin, I believe I will visit the Academy tomorrow. Are there any other plans already? If so, we will need to cancel them."
"But princess, are you really taking his words seriously? Even if it is true, it is too dangerous!" Cardinal Mazarin protested again, thinking that the princess wanted to discuss the new alchemy with the professors at the academy.
"No, I do wish to speak to Osmond about that, but I have a different purpose in mind. I should not have waited so long to do this…in the end, that man was right. By the way Cardinal, please inform the Germanian ambassador that we are withdrawing from the marriage negotiations."
"What? But if we do that, they will not be willing to provide any military assistance! If you offend the Church at the same time, we'll have to fight the war alone!"
The princess gave him a sad smile. "No, Regent, Tristain has always had to stand alone. Or have you forgotten that Germania is a heathen country too? The Germanian emperor has already made it clear that he is unwilling to change his faith for me. Were I to wed one of their princes, it would merely tie the fate of Tristain to a heathen land, and how is that any different from simply surrendering to Muurleth?"
"B-but we could at least get the support of Romalia! I was even elected as Pope before, although I turned it down, I still have many connections there! I'm sure I can convince them to quickly declare a crusade," Mazarin said. "Pope Vittorio is young but his faith is impeccable, and the fires of youth would only push him to act. He would not simply stand by and allow Tristain to fall. In all likelihood, he is already preparing to call a crusade, even if I do not ask."
"Perhaps, but to get to Tristain, Romalia would have to send their armies through Gallia. And would Gallia so readily agree to help, without any benefit, without concessions from Tristain? Shall I allow this kingdom to be taken piecemeal, only to protect the interests of a few powerful nobles?"
The Cardinal looked pained, but he did not relent. "I understand how difficult it must be, princess, but I cannot see any other solution. Tristain simply does not have the means to defend itself from the Albion forces, let alone a mage as powerful as Muurleth. Princess, I fear it would be a difficult war even if all the kingdoms of Brimir allied together. Even in the most catastrophic losses we suffered against the elves in all of history, the strongest of elves could match only a hundred mages, and that is probably exaggerated for storytelling. Yet, by all the reports from Albion, at Newcastle Muurleth faced an army of over three hundred elite mages, including eight square class mages, forty thousand commoner soldiers, ten thousand demi-human soldiers, and over fifty ships of the line! And he won without a scratch!"
Henrietta suddenly thought of her friend Louise, and the words of Kaleidus her teacher. If Louise was truly a void mage that had summoned Gandalfr, then could it be that the Founder had foreseen this and sent aid already? But her friend was hardly a match for a line mage, let alone Muurleth, and what she'd observed of the Gandalfr was not encouraging either. Still, it was maybe their best hope…unless Kaleidus himself was willing to help. If anyone could stand up to Muurleth, it would be a great hero like Kaleidus. But last she heard, he'd gone to Albion in the midst of the chaos and she could only pray that he was safe.
"You are probably right, Cardinal Mazarin. But hoping for someone else to save us is pointless. You can ask Romalia for help, but I will be making my own preparations for war," said Henrietta.
"Huh? But why go to the Academy then? Are you planning to use the Staff of Destruction?"
"Hahaha…" Henrietta laughed bitterly. "If only that were an option. Nobody knows how to use it, Regent. No, I go to the Academy because in dark times like these, I must ask everyone to fight…even the students at the Academy."
And if that meant becoming a tyrant that used her own friend as a weapon, then so be it. Why else would the Founder have given a schoolgirl the power of Void? There could be no clearer sign of the Founder's will than that.
The Cardinal looked shocked. "T-the students?"
Henrietta stood up and the regent felt a dangerous air as the princess' face turned hard.
"Yes…the future of Tristain is at stake! There can be no exceptions! Whether noble or commoner, every able-bodied citizen shall be called to fight for their home! We will fight until the last man, woman, or child standing, until the streets run thick with rivers of blood that our enemies will drown in it even as they kill us!"
The Cardinal felt chills running down his spine as he watched the princess march away. "Oh dear…"
A/N: Back to MC POV next chapter.
ZhaWharudo: I agree that there could be some interesting interactions with the Goa'uld. My knowledge of StarGate is fairly limited though, and if we go there it'll probably be a much later world, if I ever get around to looking up the source material. Otherwise, it could be fused with something else.
Peroroncino: Well, there was already a brief segment from the Pope's POV a while ago, which tells you what they're going to do. They will plan a crusade, but the Pope isn't particularly eager to do it, because he has a mission from Brimir.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed.