26 Demonic envoys and trouble they bring.

When Aidan arrived at the palace, it was already surrounded by crowds of people. Aidan had to leave his horse outside the gates, and he still barely managed to squeeze through. Once inside, he saw even more people - the nobles, the generals, and stuffy officials. It seemed everybody and their mother was there to witness the envoys from the savage lands.

Luckily, Aidan soon spotted a familiar General he had seen before at the fort – a thin guy with a face like a dried-up persimmon. Aidan followed him, continuously shoving people in his way and awkwardly apologizing for it.

They entered a familiar hall – at least, it looked like the one where General Lox's trial took place. But Aidan wasn't very sure about that. Who knew how many similar halls were there in this ginormous palace that could probably fit in a small country?

Aidan immediately spotted the Prince at the high table. As usual, he was dressed impeccably, yet he looked tired and sleep-deprived. Jake-the-Regent was sitting on the throne next to him and seemed to be in a very foul mood.

Aidan barely managed to take his place among other Generals on the sidelines when three hooded figures entered the hall, and the Regent motioned to the servants to close the doors.

"We, the People of the Ruan Empire, welcome you in our lands and promise you safe conduct for the time of your visit," the Regent announced with a polite smile, but Aidan could see the hostility in his eyes.

In response, the three envoys silently threw off their hoods, and Aidan had to cover up his mouth not to gasp out loud. All three were men with long dark hair and pitch black eyes without pupils. But that was not the most creepy thing about them. All of them seemingly emitted clouds of smoke and their clothes were ornamented with live snakes.

The room went quiet while everyone's attention was on the unusual guests and their dramatic appearance.

"May I ask for a reason of your kind visit?" the Regent said after a while – he was the only one who remained entirely unaffected by these weirdos.

"We seek to unify our nations in the name of peace and prosperity," the three men responded in unison.

"Our leader The Great Diviner is willing to overlook the recent disagreements and as a sign of goodwill is offering to wed a royal Atarian from the Ruan Empire."

"How very generous of The Great Diviner," said the Regent. The smile had never left his lips. "But if I remember correctly, your leader is already married. Have there been new developments that I'm not privy to?"

"Indeed, The Great Diviner has many wives and husbands. But our customs do not prevent him from having more," the men responded, yet again in unison like some kind of Gregorian choir.

Aidan couldn't help but smile. Were these guys really asking the Regent to become the n'th spouse of their leader? There was shameless, and then there was this. The Prince, who previously looked entirely uninterested in the whole debacle, even raised his eyebrows.

However, the Regent didn't seem to be particularly bothered.

"I see," he said calmly. "What if we decline your generous offer?"

"That would not be advisable." It seemed that the smoke emanating from the bodies of these men suddenly got darker. "The Great Diviner wants to avoid the war in any way possible. But if you refuse his goodwill, he will have no other choice but to take it as an act of further hostility."

"Further hostility?" the Regent's calm exterior finally showed some cracks. "When have we ever been hostile to the Lands of The Great Diviner?"

The men exchanged surprised looks. "The Ruan Empire one-sidedly cut off our trade relations, did you not?"

"We offered to trade our crops, our yarn, our wine, and our spices," the Regent responded with a cold glare. "If I may remind you, you declined. By kidnapping our direct heir to the throne, nonetheless."

"Our lands do not lack crops, yarn, wine, or spices. We only require your sacrificial slaves. The Great Diviner made it very clear."

The Regent now seemed at the end of his last nerve. Aidan felt sorry for his poor comrade from another time and space, but he couldn't think of a way to help him out. He could probably quickly incapacitate those guys, but that would just make the situation worse.

"Does The Great Diviner, by any chance, expect the dowry to be paid in sacrificial slaves?" The Regent smirked.

"Once the marriage is arranged, we will not pursue the slave matter any longer," the men responded.

After this sentence, the room filled with silent exclamations and shocked whispers. The two Generals next to Aidan exchanged confused glances, and one of them muttered to the other: "If he refuses this offer now, there will be an uprising." Only then did Aidan completely understand the Regent's precarious position – almost everyone already blamed him for provoking the war with the savages by cutting off the slave trade. If he didn't take the "golden" opportunity to fix the situation, nothing would save him from the rage of the masses.

The Regent kept quiet, obviously thinking about his options. Aidan was also lost in his thoughts, unsure what would happen to Corus and his people if the Regent suddenly left these lands. But knowing the man, he must have some kind of contingency plan in place.

"Is any royal Atarian acceptable for The Great Diviner?" a melodic voice interrupted the buzzing in the room. Aidan lifted his head and saw that the speaker was the Prince's little sister – Lady Miri. Just as the last time when he saw the young woman, she had her hair neatly tied into a strict bun, and her dress was tidy and modest.

Both, the Prince and the Regent shot her an alarmed look, while the envoys responded: "As long as the Atarian blood flows in their veins, The Great Diviner will agree to the betrothal."

Lady Miri nodded, ignoring the looks her uncle and her brother were giving her.

"I shall be honored to accept your offer in place of my uncle," she said, lowering her eyes.

"NO!" the Regent's loud voice resounded through the room.

The envoys seemed confused for a short while, but then they turned towards the blonde lady and bowed three times. "The Great Diviner will be pleased by this great beauty."

"I said "no"," the Regent stood up, and Aidan got ready for a confrontation.

"The lady has already kindly accepted the offer. We see no issue," the men said with no expression. "A woman is indeed better than a man – it will be easier for The Great Diviner."

"No, I will accept the offer myself," the Regent responded. At that moment, Aidan could clearly see the relief on the Prince's face and even a little bit of schadenfreude.

"Uncle, didn't you say it yourself that my only worth is to be married off for political alliance? I finally have the opportunity to fulfill my duty. Why would you stand in my way? Also, how can you leave the Empire before my brother comes of age?" said Lady Miri very seriously. Her tone suggested that she found her decision to be the only one that made any sense.

And the people in the room ate it up with great gusto.

"The Princess speaks wisely!"

"Lady Miri is right!"

"May the Gods bless the clever lady!"

"Let's drink to the wedding!"

Aidan realized that the Prince's sister had just single-handedly saved the Regent from a lot of trouble, but Jakey-boy didn't seem too happy about it. Neither did the Prince – the vein on his forehead was ready to pop.

"It is decided then," the men bowed yet again. "We shall share the good news with The Great Diviner and prepare the marriage agreement in a couple of days."

The Regent was still standing, obviously unable to utter a word, when Lady Miri ordered the servants to escort the envoys to their guest chambers. The Generals and the nobles also headed for the doors. Aidan hesitated – on the one hand, he wanted to offer Jake and the Prince some support. On the other hand, it wasn't really his place to do so.

Finally Aidan decided to leave. As he was already crossing the room, he witnessed the Regent grab Lady Miri by the arm.

"I forbid you to do that! You hear me?" he said, looking into the young woman's eyes. With a sharp motion, Lady Miri freed herself from the Regent's grasp.

"As if you have any rights to forbid me anything," she spat out.

The Regent covered his face with his hand, and it looked like he was about to cry: "I don't have any rights... But I'm begging you. The Great Diviner is a horrible man."

"Funnily enough, I have a lot of experience dealing with horrible men," Lady Miri responded coldly.

At that moment, Aidan heard the Prince whisper: "Miri..."

Abruptly, the woman turned around: "Oh, royal brother, do you also have something to say? If you do, then by all means... speak now or forever hold your peace."

"You don't have to do this," the Prince said finally, his eyes downcast.

"I know that I don't have to. But I want to. Good Day, uncle. Good Day, brother," she said and walked out of the room, acting as if she hadn't noticed Aidan standing at the door with his mouth wide open.

The Prince immediately ran after her. He gave Aidan a short, concerned look but didn't say anything.

Now, it was just him and the Regent in the room. Aidan sighed as he looked at the completely defeated man sitting on the throne but decided to give him some privacy.

"Close the door and come over here," he heard the Regent's voice behind him before he managed to slip out.

Aidan did as he was told.

"You know, General Minn is famous for torturing a lot of savages to their deaths. After he was done with them... well, it was a sight to behold," the Regent said thoughtfully as Aidan approached the throne.

"So I've heard," said Aidan, remembering his early days in this world.

"The man had many shortcomings, but... I've got to admit, he had style. Maybe I was too harsh on him?"

Aidan shook his head. People in shock tend to say a lot of stupid stuff. He looked at the Regent and changed the topic: "What are you going to do about all this?"

"What can I do?" Jake laughed bitterly. "I've screwed everything up, and I can't fix this mess anymore. I just want to go home."

Aidan couldn't agree more. He also suddenly wanted to go back to the "normal" world where things were simpler. Maybe not less shitty. But still simpler.

Aidan looked up at the Regent and finally found the guts to ask him the question that had been on his mind for a long time:

"I've heard... that the Regent did something bad to Lady Miri... It wasn't you at the time, right?"

Jake smirked and looked Aidan right in the eye:

"And what do you think?"