Here's the next chapter guys! I bit late I know.
Here we get some explanations about the Ace Kingdom and at the end, a sudden agreement is reached between the Clover Kingdom and the part of the Ace Kingdom
As always, leave a review and let me know what you think
Chapter 5- Agreement
Present Day
Seven months after Spade War
Clover Kingdom
Common Realm
Celestial Phoenix HQ
Valance sighed as she gazed out the window of her office, the summons from the King and Julius crumpled up on her desk. What a mess.
"Sighing isn't going to fix anything," Eisen said from the chair at her desk, looking at her with worried dark brown eyes.
"I know that I just wasn't expecting the Ace Kingdom to act so fast. It's only been two weeks since we ran into them in the dungeon but in that amount of time, they were already able to set up a meeting with King Augustus, Julius, and the magic knight captains."
She knew it was also stressing Celande out. This meeting would be the first time Celande would meet anyone from the Ace Kingdom since her marriage to King Augustus XIII. Valance knew she was just as anxious about it as she was but for a completely different reason.
"They are efficient. But it could be possible that those people have been planning on reaching out to the Clover Kingdom for a while and by running into you, they got their best opportunity. Don't you want to see more of your own people again?" Eisen asked.
Valance was silent for a moment, of course, she would love to see the people from the Ace Kingdom again. Seeing Adriane had been a nice treat, even if it had been short. But... "Adriane and Charis aren't really my people. Those two are part of the Lunar Court. I was part of the Celestial Court. But our two courts were always close and Adriane did help train me to fight."
Eisen blinked at her. "There were different courts? All ruled by the same King or Queen?"
Valance shook her head and sighed again, she looked back at Eisen, it was time to reveal one of Ace's secrets, and she'd rather her squad hear it from her first. "Can you gather the squad? I want to tell you something before we head out."
Eisen nodded, standing up. "Of course, Valance."
Once everyone was gathered, Valance looked at her squad with a serious look on her face, Fiore was there too, looking cleaned up and healthy.
Valance had decided to keep the young woman with her squad once they had escaped so she could heal and it seemed to help, but Valance couldn't help but notice how nervous Fiore still looked as if she still expected to be put in chains at any second.
"Why did you gather us here Valance?" Aun asked curiously, his head tilted slightly.
"Is it to show us your magic?" Alex asked excitedly and Valance immediately shook her head, of course not.
"I'm going to tell you a bit about where I'm from," Valance said calmly.
"You never told them before?" Fiore asked curiously, looking all around her, her blue eyes filled with confusion.
"From what I understand, the Ace Kingdom is a mystery to all the other kingdoms," Eisen explained patiently to her. "The only ones from there are Queen Celande, Valance, and Charon Novalic, the vice-captain of the Silver Eagles."
"It's because we all swore an oath of silence before we left to not reveal anything," Valance sighed, looking at Fiore. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything."
"No one asked," Fiore said, blushing a bit when all their eyes turned to her. "I wouldn't have even thought of omitting any truth if someone asked me."
"That's a good thing then," Valance reassured her, "But I'm telling you now because this part of it is not going to be a secret any longer, at least I don't think so." There was no way it could be. Not with Qrow coming.
"Just tell us already," Alex said, sounding slightly impatient, no doubt he wanted to get back to whatever he had been doing, and Valance could bet that it would include reading books on space.
"The Ace Kingdom has no Ruler," Valance said. There was a moment of silence before Eisen broke it.
"What do you mean Valance? Weren't you exiled by the King? I thought the King of the Ace Kingdom, Oberon was the one who arranged Queen Celande's marriage to King Augustus XIII."
"Oberon did arrange Celande's marriage. But he's not the ruler of all of the Ace Kingdom. He's the High Lord of the Solar Court, where Celande comes from. A court that specializes in sun and light magic."
"Sun magic?! That's cool, do you think the Queen will show me sometime?!" Alex butt in, excitedly. "Maybe you can show me your celestial magic while she does it too."
"Don't even try to ask," Valance said sternly. "If you want, I'll show you my magic when I get back."
"Great!" Alex said and Valance immediately felt a sense of dread, she knew she'd regret that promise quickly. But she also did admit he did deserve to see some of her magic, the kid at least worked hard when the sun was up.
"Valance I have a question," Aun spoke up softly, "You said the Solar Court. Is the Ace Kingdom made up of different courts?"
Valance nodded, "The Ace Kingdom has three different courts. The Solar Court, the Celestial Court, and the Lunar Court. All three courts ruled independently from each other. The decisions of each court don't usually affect each other. The only exceptions were when Celande was given to King Augustus to marry and when I was exiled."
"Why did it affect the other courts that Queen Celande was given off to marry the Clover King?" Aun asked.
"Because at that moment, High Lord Oberon painted himself as the King of the entire Ace Kingdom, which angered the other High Lords, obviously." It was Fiore who spoke, much to Valance's surprise. "I heard the retaliation of that action wasn't pretty, but I don't know what it was."
"So Celande's not royalty?" Eisen asked, genuinely shocked.
"No." Valance said, "She's close to royalty, she is from a high noble house in the Solar Courts."
"Does the King know?" Zane asked.
"He does now," Valance said, wincing slightly when she remembered the King's reaction, both she and Charon had been with Celande when she revealed the truth to her husband and children... the King's reaction had not been good and it was only thanks to Julius that he calmed down and accepted the Lunar Court's request to meet. "He's not very happy but we had to tell him since the correspondence from the Ace Kingdom was coming from Qrow Vasilikov, the High Lord of the Lunar Court, and has nothing to do with Oberon. It would have raised questions if Oberon never came."
"What does that mean for their children?" Aun asked curiously, clearly thinking of Sophia who was absent from this meeting. The fifteen-year-old Princess was back at home with her family, still digesting this information.
"Nothing. They are still the legitimate children of King Augustus XIII, the fact that Celande isn't royal doesn't change that." Valance said simply.
"Why is it such a big deal? Why keep it a secret?" Zane asked, looking slightly annoyed. "Does it matter that the Ace Kingdom is run by different courts than one King who rules the entire Kingdom?
"The Ace Kingdom has learned through its history that a country that does not have a united front is an easy target for invasions. Think of the conflicts we recently had with both the Diamond and Spade Kingdoms, if either of those Kingdoms thought they could invade the Ace Kingdom easily because the courts were divided, they would."
"Then why don't they make peace? Or just assign a King to rule Ace Kingdom?" Alex asked.
"Because the courts always find a reason to be in conflict," Fiore answered this time and Valance nodded in agreement. "There's no way they could all agree on who should be the ruler of the Ace Kingdom. And the people in each of the courts are all equally loyal to their own High Lord."
"That's just stupid." Alex quipped. "Think of all the cool space magic they could do if they got along."
Valance laughed lightly at that, she could always trust him to have a one-track mind, "You're not wrong." She was about to say something else but Eisen tapped her shoulder, "What is it?"
"It's time to go." He said looking at the clock and Valance followed his gaze.
Valance sighed, dread filling her once again. She did not want to be part of this meeting. She didn't even understand why the Lunar Court had asked the magic knight captain's and their vice-captains to attend. What were they trying to accomplish? "Fine lets go. Zane, keep an eye on things here."
"Of course, Valance." Zane nodded at her, "Good luck."
"Thanks, I think we'll need it." She said back honestly.
Clover Kingdom
Noble Realm
Magic Knights HQ
Valance stood near the back with Eisen, watching the rest of the magic knight captains and their vice-captains silently as they waited for the Wizard King and King Augustus XIII to appear. She had also had to explain to the captains how the Ace Kingdom hadn't been ruled by a single King and there had been rather mixed results, but nothing too bad. She knew that Nozel had been a bit annoyed with Charon for not telling him before, however.
"Valance," She blinked when Fuegoleon approached her. "How do you think this meeting will go? You know the representatives from the Lunar Court, correct?"
"I haven't seen them for seven years, and I was never part of their court to begin with, so I can only guess," Valance sighed, troubled. "I don't even know why they pushed for this meeting."
"Can you tell us about who you think the Lunar Court will send to this meeting?" Zen asked, joining them with Rill. He looked on edge.
"In the Lunar Court, Qrow has an inner circle that helps him run his court. He has a brother named Nox who is the diplomat, if there ever needs to be discussions between the courts, he's the one who Qrow sends. His main advisor is a woman named Amaris; he listens to her advice above anyone else. He has two generals that help him run his armies, Killian and Niall. Lastly, there's Adriane, she's the one who truly runs the physical court." Valance explained. "At least, that's how it was before I was exiled and I don't think it has changed."
"It's not changed at all," A man with fair skin, tousled white hair, and deep sapphire blue eyes joined their group. He wore a dark blue jacket over a silver shirt, white close-fitting trousers, and black boots. "Qrow is just as grumpy as ever and Adriane still loves to harass him."
Valance laughed a bit at that, she remembered clearly how Adriane would always bother Qrow whenever she would visit when she was younger. It was good to know that the two still had that dynamic between them. She hoped to see that again and was feeling admittedly a bit jealous of Charon; unlike her, he was allowed to return to the Ace Kingdom four times a year, whenever he wanted to. Probably because he left on his own accord to watch out for her and wasn't kicked out. The Ace Kingdom still wanted him.
"That's good to know. I'm glad." Valance said only to go silent when she finally saw the King and Julius enter, Julius using his magic to make himself look like his adult self, and much to her surprise, Celande was there as well, looking a bit put out.
"Glad you could make it everyone," Julius said, giving his magic knights a kind smile while Augustus just huffed.
"Where are these guests?" Augustus demanded, looking around... was it just her imagination, or was Augustus glaring at her? "Weren't they the ones who demanded this meeting of us?"
"Wow, impatient aren't we?" Adriane suddenly materialized from the shadows, dressed in a close-fitting black dress that was embezzled with silvery jewels and there was a slit on the left side of her skirt, revealing her long, pale legs. She sauntered into the room, the silky skirt of her dress swaying against her legs.
Augustus jumped in shock at Adriane's sudden appearance and a moment later, Marx entered the meeting room with the rest of the Lunar Court members, which consisted of Qrow, a man who looked just like him, his younger brother Nox. He was dressed in a three-piece suit that was all black. A small woman with pale skin, black hair cut to her chin in a bob, and silvery-gray eyes walked beside him, Amaris. She was dressed in a loose gray crop top, flowing bright blood-red pants, and black flats, and looked like she did not want to be there at all.
"It's rude to just suddenly appear Adriane," Charon said with a smile, being one of the only people not shocked by her sudden appearance. He actually looked amused if anything.
"I thought your King wanted to get this meeting started," Adriane smirked back, tossing her curls over her shoulder.
Valance noted that Adriane looked perfectly put together as always, not a curl out of place. But that had always been how she was, she always looked collected; her beauty her most powerful weapon against her enemies.
"Adriane," Qrow called, stopping in front of the dais where the King and Queen sat, looking annoyed. "Don't cause me any extra issues."
"Sure, sure," Adriane said teasingly as she walked over to Qrow, her dusky blue eyes flickering with amusement.
The magic knights immediately surrounded them, curious and anxious to know why they suddenly wanted this meeting. They were also on alert in case anyone from the Lunar Court decided to attack which was unlikely.
There was a moment of silence, none of the royals or Lunar Court wanting to speak. Finally, Celande sighed, looking down at Qrow with her brows furrowed. "It has been a while Qrow. I hope you and your people are doing well."
"The Lunar Court is doing well, thank you for asking," Qrow said, distant and it felt like the room dropped a few degrees and the tension in the room grew at his tone.
Valance felt unease start to build in her. She had hoped that since the Lunar Court had asked for this meeting that they would be able to control themselves and their emotions and while Qrow had been polite and formal there was no mistaking the ice in his voice or eyes. Even though Celande was a beloved Queen in Clover, no one from the Lunar Court was fond of her. She foresaw some problems because of that.
"You should watch how you speak to our Queen," Zen said, glaring at Qrow and he only calmly looked back.
"My apologies, I meant no offense," Qrow said ruffling his hair and ruining it from the neatly combed back style he had it in and allowing it to fall into the natural, thick waves he usually had it in. "I didn't come here for a fight."
"Then why did you come here?" Valance couldn't help but ask. It just didn't make any sense to her for him to actually come all the way to the Clover Kingdom so suddenly. Why the rush?
Qrow finally turned to look at her, and the grim look on his face made her heart stop. "There's no solid evidence yet, but I've found signs that the forces of Hyberion are moving to invade the Clover Kingdom."
"Excuse me?!" Valance said, straightening up and looking at Qrow with wide eyes and he just nodded.
Her heart felt like it stopped at the news Hyberion again?! Why?! And why did they come for the Clover Kingdom of all places?! Flashes of her past flickered through her mind, none of them good.
"What is Hyberion?" Julius asked, noting Valance's reaction.
"They're the reason why the Ace Kingdom closed its borders for centuries. They are an island nation that is warmongering and is active in the use of slaves to this very day." It was Qrow's brother Nox who spoke up. "They are savages, to say the least. The last time they tried to invade was eight years ago."
Valance nodded, she remembered that clearly, the invasion of her home kingdom had been rather bloody and horrible. "... they're also the reason why I was exiled. The person I was chasing was a high-ranking General of the Hyberion army. Once I failed, my court, the Celestial Court didn't want anything to do with me."
There was a shocked silence at her confession and she made sure to not look at any of her fellow captains. Unfortunately, that meant her eyes landed on Augustus who did not look impressed by any of this.
"And you're saying they plan to invade my kingdom? I'd like to see them try. Others have tried and failed." Augustus boasted. "My Kingdom is too great to conquer. Is that really all you had to say? What a waste of time!"
"I was going to offer an alliance," Qrow said, looking annoyed at Augustus' attitude. "Hyberion forces are vicious and use old magic that is only rivaled by the Ace Kingdom. I believe you had a team of magic knights who even encountered them a few weeks ago."
"Those were Hyberion soldiers?" Valance asked stunned, but then she thought about it. Hyberion was known for fighting with overwhelming numbers. "But Fiore said that she had been running away from someone in the Ace Kingdom. Why would Hyberion try to be in those dungeons? How would Hyberion even know that there was a dungeon that connected the Ace and Clover Kingdoms?"
"Seriously?" Amaris finally spoke, looking at Valance before looking at Celande with a scowl on her face. "Are you really asking that?"
"Are you trying to imply that our Queen had something to do with it?" Fuegoleon asked, meeting the woman's stern look with one of his own.
Valance glanced up at Celande and though the Queen had remained silent, there was no mistaking the shame in her eyes, but Valance couldn't keep quiet. "I don't think the Queen had anything to do with it. She has had no contact with her family since she moved here."
Adriane scoffed; her calm mask slipping slightly as her eyes went to Valance before looking at the Queen. "That doesn't mean anything. And we both know the Queen has no direct family she can contact anyways. You can't contact the dead." Celande flinched at Adriane's words and there was no missing the look of satisfaction on Adriane's face when she caught it.
"Adriane!" Qrow snapped, sounding frustrated, it was clear that he thought this meeting was going nowhere.
"There she goes..." Nox sighed.
"She speaks the truth." Amaris shrugged. "Queen Celande's family in the Solar Court are all dead."
"Why even implicate our Queen?" Julius asked, looking at Adriane, trying to smooth things over before there could be conflict. "I can guarantee that she hasn't done anything to help these Hyberion forces. And why not include the other courts in this meeting?"
There was silence as the Lunar Court glanced at each other, unsure of how they should proceed for the first time and Valance sighed again. They were revealing much more than she ever thought they would. That meant that they were more desperate than she had ever thought. It meant Qrow truly did believe that Hyberion was on the move again. He might be a slacker, but when it came to protecting his Court from outside forces, he was the best High Lord to have. He was proactive in that.
"Because we don't trust them." Amaris said, speaking for them all, "In the previous war eight years ago, the only reason why Hyberion was able to get a foothold on Ace lands was because the Solar Court, the court of your Queen, allied with them. Many people in the Ace Kingdom died because of that decision."
"But Queen Celande was already here when her court decided to side with your enemies. She has nothing to do with them." Julius reasoned, calm and collected, "Please don't mistreat her because of the actions of her court. She had nothing to do with it."
"I agree," Adriane said, surprising some of the captains, especially since she seemed the most inclined to be disrespectful to Celande. "The reason I hate her is much more personal."
"Adriane!" Qrow snapped clearly getting frustrated by one of his friends. But Valance just shook her head. What had he expected to happen if he allowed Adriane near Celande? Those two had a short, but extremely bad history.
"Back to the topic at hand," Qrow sighed, looking like he was barely holding his patience together. "Those Hyberion soldiers probably got access to the dungeon because someone in the Solar Court is working with them. It may not even be Oberon, though I wouldn't put it past that old cranky ass. But for why they were capturing Fiore, I don't know if it was on purpose or just pure chance that they caught her."
"So, what do you want to do?" Julius asked. "You mentioned an alliance of sorts. How do you imagine that taking place?"
"I just ask that if you find any Hyberion soldiers on your shores you notify us, and we will do the same for you," Qrow said.
"No," Augustus said, shocking them all. "A feeble deal like that won't work for me. You've insulted me with your claims and supposed truths. Who knows if you're even telling the truth."
"Then what do you want?" Amaris asked.
"A marriage contract," Augustus said huffily.
There was dead silence in the room as everyone registered what the King had said. Many of them were in disbelief.
"This alliance would benefit you, people, more than it would benefit me." Augustus continued when no one said anything. "It's a waste of my time to agree to anything if there is no marriage tacked on to it."
"Who are you trying to marry away?" Qrow asked.
"Why don't we decide that?" Julius asked before the King could make a truly ridiculous demand. "And to add on, why don't you leave one of your officers here as a contact? Can we speak privately Lord Qrow?"
Qrow sighed looking annoyed. Clearly, this hadn't gone as he had planned. At all. He massaged his temples in agitation. "Adriane, Nox go ahead and head out. Amaris you stay. I'm going to need your help."
There was some grumbling but the two of them left with the Magic knights, waiting just outside the doors.
"Well... this hasn't gone as planned." Nox scoffed.
"What did you expect?" Zen asked, "You guys set up a meeting, accuse and disrespect our Queen, and still expect our help?" He was looking at the two of them as if they were crazy.
"You're right. Letting Hyberion invade would have been a better solution." Adriane said, sarcasm dripping from her words as she glared back at him. "It is a waste of our time to try and help."
"Adriane, seriously, do you have to pick a fight?" Charon asked, going up to the dark silver-haired woman.
"Always. It's just in my nature." Adriane said calmly smirking up at him and Valance inwardly sighed. That was untrue. In most situations, Adriane was more for compromise than conflict.
Adriane then turned her attention to Valance. "How is Fiore holding up? Is she okay?"
"She's okay," Valance said immediately. "A bit jumpy but that's to be expected."
"And how have you been? Has life in the Clover Kingdom been treating you okay for the past seven years?" Adriane pressed.
"It could be worse, I definitely landed in the right place," Valance said. "It was actually nice living somewhere away from home."
"I wish we could have done more for you," Adriane said, looking at Valance with regret. "You know Qrow argued against you being exiled."
Valance gave Adriane a small smile, "I know. It's more than my own family gave me so I am grateful for that."
"It's a shame we couldn't have stopped your exile," Nox added, joining them and Valance blinked a bit. She was always taken aback by how much Nox looked like Qrow even though she knew that they were brothers.
"It's probably for the best. I've learned a lot here and don't regret it." Valance said genuinely, noting how Adriane and Nox shared a look as if they didn't really believe her. "Maybe you two could spend some time away from court."
"Unlikely," Adriane said, crossing her arms.
"I already have a struggle being a diplomat in the other courts. I'd rather not step outside of the Ace Kingdom." Nox agreed.
"Is that the attitude a diplomat should have?" Charon asked, with a raised brow.
"Of course, it's not." Adriane laughed, "But better him than me in that position."
"I agree," Zen said, shooting another glare at Adriane. "I doubt you'd make a very good diplomat to begin with."
"Excuse me?" Adriane raised a brow at him, looking both curious and like she wanted to smack him, thankfully that's when the meeting doors opened again and Marx ushered them all back in.
"We've come to an agreement," Marx said.
"And what is the agreement?" Nox asked curiously, but he shot his brother a threatening look... if he had entered him into an engagement, he wouldn't hear the end of it.
"There will be an engagement." Julius said, "But it will be a trial engagement."
"What the hell does that mean?" Nox demanded.
"A mage from the Ace Kingdom will get engaged to a mage from the Clover Kingdom. If they don't think that the engagement will work after six months, then they can break it." Amaris said, looking amused. Far too amused; it was the most expressive she had been the entire time and everyone who knew her felt their stomachs drop. That did not bode well for them.
"... and have you chosen these mages already?" Rill asked nervously.
Julius nodded, a small grin appearing on his lips. "It was actually Celande who suggested a magic knight, but of course, he can always refuse."
"Adriane," Qrow called out, shooting her a smirk of his own, his dark purple eyes mischievous and glittering with amusement.
"You can't be serious." Adriane scowled at him, but stepped forward, nonetheless. "Did you seriously just promise me to someone?!"
Qrow laughed, "Think of this as payback for all the times you've toyed with me. There's nothing better than this. I hope you think again before messing with me," He was barely keeping his laughter and smugness in.
Adriane's brows twitched, in annoyance and it was clear that she was about to refuse, but Valance seized this opportunity. The faster she got Adriane to agree the faster this meeting could end without a fight, which she felt like they were close to. But at this point, she was afraid Adriane was about to throttle Qrow despite him being her High Lord.
"You can also help train my squad. You trained me after all." Valance butted in, honestly. If she were to be stuck with someone from the Lunar Courts she'd choose Adriane in a heartbeat.
Adriane's mouth dropped open but she just sighed. "...fine. I don't like to be sold off in marriage but if it helps the Lunar Court I can live with it for six months."
Valance swallowed, it was like she already decided that she'd hate the guy she was engaged to.
"Who am I engaged to?" Adriane asked.
"Him." Qrow nodded to someone behind her just as Celande spoke. "Zenyan Vaillant if he agrees."
Adriane turned and her jaw dropped when she met Zen's eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"What?!"
And that's the end of the chapter! Let me know what you think in the reviews. I know we only got a glimpse of the squad mates but the next chapter is going to return the full focus to them.
Next Chapter: Training with Lions