Chapter eight

Ten days before her coronation, Princess Cassiopeia was busier than ever. The rehearsals took a lot of time, and on top of that she had to prepare for her marriages as well, which meant more and more rehearsals. The only concubinus that denied the rehearsals was the second Prince of Vindbjerg, but she let him be.

As she was in the middle of the second coronation rehearsal of the day, great commotion could be heard outside.

She gestured for everyone to stop, and a guard came running to her.

"Sir Tobias, what is it?" She asked, recognising the man.

"Your Highness, the Darafen. The Darafen are at the door!" He sounded extremely alarmed.

She did not really expect them to show up, "I have invited them, have I not? Is this how we receive our guests?" Her stern tone made the man flinch.

"Leave it be, I'll go at the door myself." She gave her scepter and her mantel to a maid nearby, and stormed to the entrance, followed by her aide and two butlers.

Once she opened the door, she commanded for the gates of the palace to be opened.

Before her, a sight se never expected to experience. On winged horses sat around ten people, and at their center, on a beast with a pearly white mane, sat the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The ethereal beauty that emanated from every corner of her person was enough to leave her speechless. Her silver hair cascaded on her flowy sage dress, and her pointy ears were adorned in gold and flowers.

A golden circlet sat around her head adorned with diamonds and emeralds.

Words died in the Princess' mouth.

"Greetings, Princess Cassiopeia. I am Princess Reunah, daughter of the Third. I came here to represent our community in the stead of my father."

Her voice resonated in her chest, like an honeyed melody that wrapped her in a tender embrace. Had she just fallen in love?

Prince Cassiopeia shook herself out of the trance and told her: (from elvish, Greetings, your Majesty).

The girl seemed taken aback, "you speak Elvish?" The men who were dismounting the winged horses stopped on their tracks.

"You speak my language. Why are you surprised? Do you deem me an ignorant?"

"No, I apologise, I meant not to cause offense. It is the first time I heard Elvish from a citizen of Saol, let alone a royal. I apologise again."

"No offense taken, but thank you for your apology. I had no teacher, so I suppose my pronunciation is a bit off. There aren't many books on it in the Empire, so I had to do with all I had."

She knew how bewildered they were. As they were seen as barbarians, no one had tried to learn their language, and that is exactly why she did so.

Pleased, Princess Reunah allowed two men to help her descend from her horse.

Not one of them looked as barbaric as the tales recounted.

Their skin was flawless and their hair straight an long. Their skin colours varied from dark to light, and every movement they made seemed like a dance.

Princess Cassiopeia extended her hand to Princess Reunah, who took it hesitantly.

A guard stepped forward, only for the Princess to half him in his tracks.

"I will guide you inside." Princess Cassiopeia was terrified. She felt radiating from them an ethereal glow she had never experienced before. Something about them set all the alarms in her body to go off, as if she was standing in front of her death sentence.

Even from one touch, the other Princess seemed much stronger than her. Yet, she gently held her hand and guided her through the palace entrance.

"This is the Imperial palace. It is composed of three wings and a main building, the one we are in now. I suppose you are familiar with the palace in the South, the Jade Palace, as it is the closest to the sacred forest. As you can see the architecture is quite similar, but the materials and the designs are quite different. I hope it will be of your liking." She spoke softly, careful not to stutter.

"It is quite Grand."

"Yes. I hope You will have the opportunity to explore it more carefully in the days to come. In the meantime, would you like for us to move our conversation in a more private setting?"

The Princess hesitated, unsure. She looked at the guards behind her, and the one that stepped earlier nodded.

"Very well."

Princess Cassiopeia instructed one of the butlers that escorted her outside to go prepare a room for them.

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Sitting uncomfortably in front of each other, the two princesses waited for the tea to be served. Two teacups were placed on the glass table that separated the sofas on which they sat.

In the room there were nearly 100 people, with soldiers of the Empire and the soldiers from the Darafen tribe. A thin line separated the two fronts that were fiercely staring at each other.

That was a very awkward situation. She did not mean for her soldiers to follow her inside, but they did regardless.

"This is the Jade room, inspired by the Jade Palace. It also matches your dress." Princess Cassiopeia chose it to imitate a familiar place to the one Princess Reunah was used to. She knew she had been sent there to negotiate multiple times.

"It does remind me of the Palace, yes." Commented the girl in front of her.

The tension was unbearable.

"Please, leave us alone." Princess Cassiopeia gestured to her soldiers and the maids.

No one moved. Sir Lloyd stepped forward, "Your Highness, please let us stay."

She appreciated them caring for her, but this time she needed to deal with it on her own.

"Sir Lloyd, please leave us alone. It is rude to our guests to have soldiers for tea time."

That said, the men and the maids left.

Princess Reunah lifted her hand, but Princess Cassiopeia stopped her.

"No need. The tension has already been lifted now that they left. You can let your men stay if it makes you feel safer."

She lowered her hand again.

"I do not need my guards to defend myself." The Princess's guards moved to a room close by.

Once they left, the energy in the room shifted. The being in front of Princess Cassiopeia was ethereal, almost untouchable. Anyhow, she did not emit the same aura as the others. Hers was soft, pleasant.

Princess Cassiopeia poured a spoonful of honey in her tea, stirred twice and sipped on it.

"It's black tea made from camellias, my favourite."

The girl added honey as well, but did not drink it.

"There is no need to keep your guard so high with me. You could murder me this very instant, were you to command it. Perhaps, with a bit of luck, you may even get away unscathed." Chirped the princess.

"Why?" Asked Princess Reunah.

"Are you asking about the reason behind the invitation?"

The princess nodded.

Princess Cassiopeia smiled, "it's quite simple. I want to be your friend, Princess."

"What does that mean?"

"Are you not tired of being a sacrificial lamb, Princess Reunah?"

"I fear I do not understand."

"I fear you understand it all too well." Her nonchalant tone hid the gravity of her words.

The girl remained quiet.

"The guards cannot hear us, no matter how much we scream. You can talk freely here." Precised Princess Cassiopeia.

"Even if I was, it is not my place to express such feelings."

"Why?"

"That is how things are. My uncle is our sovereign, and I am the second and last in line. I am the only one who can be sent as an envoy."

"Do you feel safe?"

"I do." She lied.

"Drink your tea then."

The princess lifted the teacup to her lips, forcing her hand not to tremble too much. She held it like that for a while, only to put it down again.

"You don't feel safe because you are not safe. You don't feel safe because you were sent here regardless of your safety. Princess, are you happy with how things are?"

"I'm happy."

Princess Cassiopeia chuckled bitterly, "will you be happy once your body will be cold in foreign land? Will you be happy the day you don't return? This is not something that you are doing for your people. This is something that you are doing for your uncle."

"Do not speak about matters that do not concern you, Princess." Her hands were trembling.

"Cassiopeia."

"What?"

"Call me by my name when it's just the two of us."

"Why?"

"I'm on your side, Reunah."

"I did not give you permission to call me by my name."

"I want peace between our people. In ten days I will be the one governing this Empire, but your ruler denied meeting me."

"Peace between us cannot be achieved, not now, nor in a thousands years."

"Why?"

"Too many people have died for peace to come."

"And your solution is to let even more people die?"

"I have no solution because it is not required of me to have one."

"Do you not understand? I have the power to make my people stop. I cannot ask you for our people to be dear to each other, but I can ask you to help me stop this useless bloodshed."

"I cannot do anything for you."

"You cannot or you don't want to?"

"I cannot. I have tried persuading my uncle and my brother into proposing a peace treaty, but to no avail."

"Then take the reins."

"What are you suggesting?"

"You know what I am suggesting."

"Putting aside how terrible your suggestion is, and putting aside the fact that you are my enemy. Do you think I could overthrow them?"

"I did."

A long silence fell between them.

"I'm not going to ask you to overthrow the government. I know that is too dangerous, and I cannot afford to lose my only chance at peace by pushing you in that direction. I just wanted to show you that if there is a will there is a way."

Princess Cassiopeia held her hands.

"Reunah, be my friend. Let us be an example for our people. Let's show them that peace is possible."

"I cannot. I will be seen as an ally of the enemy."

"It doesn't matter. I want you to instill in everyone's brain that peace is possible. I want you to guide your people from the sidelines. If necessary, one by one, until there is no one left."

"I'm not like you. I lack courage."

"Sip on the tea."

"I'm scared."

"Drink it."

Princess Reunah repeated her actions of the last time. The teacup stopped at her lips, but this time, instead of putting it down, she took a sip. Startled by her own gesture, she let the teacup fall and shatter to the ground.

"I'm sorry."

"I have more, fear not."

Princess Reunah nodded. Perhaps she did not even know how important her gesture was.

"You are braver than you think, Princess. Be my friend, be my ally. Together, we will bring peace between this Empire and your people.

I give you my words, no human will attack your home while I am the Empress. In exchange, I want you to use the time that I'm buying you to persuade as many people as you can that peace is possible. I don't know when your sovereign will attack us, so I do not know how much time you have. If things proceed smoothly, I will propose a peace treaty in four months."

A new light shone in the Princess' eyes; determination, perhaps. "I will ask you a question, and you must not lie to me. Based on your answer I will decide whether you are worthy of my trust."

Princess Cassiopeia nodded.

"What is it that your heart desires the most?"

The princess smiled. "Isn't it obvious? The same thing every Emperor desires. Power, money and glory. I desire to be the greatest Empress this world will ever see, and I desire to lead this Empire towards an everlasting glory. Such a thing cannot be obtained with brute force alone. Had it been possible, I too would have wiped down your people. My ancestors failed in such a task, and I am not foolish enough to repeat those mistakes."

"Are you admitting that you would have terminated us, were we weaker?"

"Yes."

Princess Reunah chuckled, "that sure was an honest answer."

Princess Cassiopeia was ready to reply, but the girl in front of her stopped her.

"As naive as I may be, I want to believe in you. I will place my trust in your person, Cassiopeia, but betray me and your head will stop being attached to your neck, were it the last thing I do."

"Were I to betray you, I would expect no less."

Princess Cassiopeia held out her hand, and Princesses Reunah firmly shook it.

"You will stay with the other guests. Everyone is scared of you and your people, so you will not be provoked. Please, tell your soldiers to avoid any situation that may cause us offence. The situation is dire as it is."

"Those are my soldiers. My friends. They are good Darafen."

"That's great to hear. I too will trust you, then."

Princess Cassiopeia got up, and helped Princess Reunah up as well.

"One we get out of this room, there is no backing off."

Princess Reunah nodded, "let us go".