System Change

Derek counted six elves sitting around a long table that had been placed in the center of the Throne Room. There were four men and two women. Three of the male elves looked somewhat similar with their long, flowing silver hair and emerald green eyes. If he had to guess, Derek would say that one was the king, and the other two were his sons. Hmm… how many sons does this king have? He thought to himself. It looks like they’re having a late meeting. I bet I can guess the subject.

“Sister,” one of the male elves jumped to his feet. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you here?”

Oh, so at least one of them is Sabrina’s brother… older, I guess? It’s hard to tell. Even though the man had called out to her multiple times, Sabrina didn’t answer—no, she couldn’t answer. After all, Alanah hadn’t allowed her to.

“Sabrina!” her brother yelled once again. “Answer me!”

“Settle down, Laeryn,” another young looking elf—the one sitting at the head of the table—spoke in a light tone. “It isn’t that she will not speak, it’s that she cannot speak. Likely, your sister has not been in control of her actions for some time now. Isn’t that right?” The man stood and gave a light bow to Derek’s group. “Ms. Swan.”

“Swan?” another one of the men asked, then hushed murmurs fell around the table. “Father… You can’t mean…”

“It seems my reputation proceeds me,” Alanah said as she walked forward, stopping a good ten feet away from the table full of what seemed to be Indrian royalty. Derek and Edgar followed closely behind. Unsurprisingly, everyone at the table seemed to be unaffected, or at least affected very little, by Alanah’s casual speaking. “Osian, I believe that this is the first time we’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person.”

Around the table, everyone except for one woman jumped to their feet and drew their weapons. However, the man who Alanah was speaking to, apparently the King of Indria, held up his hand and motioned for them to stop.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that. Put your weapons away and sit down,” King Osian commanded with a sigh, and everyone but him fell to their seats—though not without some hesitation. “If Ms. Swan is here, then by that white-silver hair and blue eyes, I assume I am also in the presence of a Cydarian royal—I would guess Edgar Cydaria. Which means that the remaining man must be Mr. Derek Hunt and his companion, Silvi.”

“I have an idea. Though I had imagined we would have a bit more time before you arrived, and I didn’t believe your arrival would be so… sudden. I guess I can just add that into the growing list of miscalculations made by myself and my brother’s part,” the king sighed.

“Miscalculations indeed,” Edgar stepped forward and spoke. “Now, I believe it’s time to discuss the terms of your surrender.”

“Surrender!?” King Osian’s son jumped out of his seat once more. “With the three of you, you expect us…”

“Silence! Olivar!” Osian shot his son a glare before turning his head back to Derek and the others. “Come, have a seat.”

The table where the royal family was sitting had multiple empty seats on one end. Edgar gave both Derek and Alanah a look, and they both shrugged. “Fine,” he said before walking forward and sitting at the opposite end of the table from Osian’s position. He was the Cydarian royal in their current situation, and thus, would be speaking for the whole of Cydaria.

Once Edgar was seated, Derek and Alanah took their own seats to his right and left. Sabrina—since she hadn’t been commanded by Alanah—continued to stay back, not moving.

Seeing his niece still standing there, King Osian looked at Alanah and said, “May I be so rude to ask you to release my niece from your control?”

Alanah looked back at Sabrina, then at the king, and shrugged. “That’s not something I can control. She’ll break out of it when she breaks out of it.” Finally, looking back at the girl one last time, Alanah said, “Sabrina, go sit with your family.”

The elven woman mechanically walked over to the empty seat next to her brother and sat. She didn’t say a word—only staring directly ahead.

“It shouldn’t be too long now,” Alanah said. “I half expected her to break out of it on our way over here. She must not have a lot of points invested in wisdom—either that, or she has horrendous willpower. That’s something she’ll really need to work on.”

“And will she get to?” Osian took that chance to jump in and ask a question that had to have been on his mind for some time now. “Will she have the chance to work on her willpower?”

“That’s not up to me,” Alanah said with a shrug. “It’d be better if you asked Edgar.”

Everyone in the room, aside from Sabrina, Derek, and Silvi, turned their heads to see what Edgar had to say. Derek, on the other hand, was busy trying to guess the age of the elves at the other end of the table. I didn’t think that the youngest looking guy in here would be the king. Damn… he thought. Then he turned his head slightly to look at his companion. Silvi… well, Derek didn’t want to guess at what Silvi was thinking—being in a room full of elves and all.

“That,” Edgar finally began. “Will entirely depend on how negotiations go.”

“Father,” Olivar leaned forward, and in a hushed whisper, which did nothing to hide what he was saying, spoke to the king. “There are only three of them. Why must we do this? Has the war really become that bad?”

“Hah!” Derek snorted, causing everyone to look at him. “You haven’t told him yet? Have you?”

“Told me what?” Olivar furrowed his brows. “Father. What is this man talking about?”

“No, Mr. Hunt,” Osian said. “I’m afraid your group arrived before I had a chance to explain the current situation to everyone other than my wife and adviser.” The king looked over at the elven woman who had remained sitting throughout everything. It was no wonder why, other than the king, she was the only one not to act rashly and draw their weapon.

“Explain what?” Olivar continued to ask.

“Go ahead,” Edgar said. “Things will be easier with…” he began, but was cut off by Sabrina, finally coming out of her trance.

“Wha—” With a panic-stricken face, she shot to her feet and looked around. “Where am… Uncle… Your Majesty.” Even in her panic, she managed to recognize her king and bowed deeply to the man. Then, her face flushed and she quickly looked down and pat her robe before sighing in relief. Finally, she looked around at everyone, and her eyes landed on Derek. “You!”

“Me again,” Derek answered with a chuckle.

“Sister,” her brother, Laeryn, said, getting her attention. “Please, get control of yourself and sit. Uncle is about to explain to us what is going on.”

Finally, she seemed to realize her situation, and silently fell back into her seat beside her brother. Still, she occasionally stole glances at Edgar and Derek, her face blushing more and more with each one. Her eyes shot to Alanah, and, in recognition, a plain-looking necklace with an emerald stone appeared in her hand and she put it around her neck.

“As I was saying,” Edgar continued. “Go ahead and explain the situation. I believe things will be easier once everyone has an understanding of what has happened.”

“Very well,” Osian said, then he waited until he had everyone’s attention before continuing. “Earlier this afternoon, I was informed of losses suffered by our army inside the border.”

“But didn’t King Tevarian and Duke Terrin, along with General Whitaker, join the army days ago?” Olivar asked. “The only enemies they needed to deal with were…” the prince looked at Edgar and Alanah, but then his eyes widened and they fell on Derek, then Silvi.

“Yes, Olivar,” Osian continued. “It seems that either Mr. Hunt has left the dungeon they were in, or they have completed it much earlier than we assumed.”

“The second one,” Derek interrupted with a yawn.

Everyone looked at him, but then focused back on the king and his explanation.

“Well, it seems that they completed the raid much sooner than we anticipated, and Mr. Hunt, along with his… companion, joined the fighting not long after Tevarian and Terrin did. And as a consequence… from what I have heard, mind you, our army suffered massive losses.”

“And King Tevarian?” Olivar asked.

“What about my father?” Sabrina looked at Osian with tears in her eyes.

“That,” Osian’s eyes landed on Derek, then quickly moved to Edgar. “I am not certain of the fate of the commanders of the army. Ryven seems to still be alive, but I do not know his state. Prince Edgar… my brother…”

“He’s alive and in no danger,” Edgar answered. “For now.”

Osian sighed heavily in relief. “Good… good. And those from Astrus? King Tevarian?”

“A puddle,” Derek answered. To his right, on his shoulder, he heard Silvi snort.

‘Stupid ice enemies. Leaving no ingredients,’ Silvi sent to him.

‘Exactly,’ Derek replied. Silvi was sulking from accidentally destroying the king’s storage ring with her dragon fire. She was also still salty about the Frost Wargs she had fought in the raid, not leaving her anything but buckets of water.

“A… puddle?” Osian asked hesitantly.

“He turned into pure ice and was a pain in the ass to fight without killing. So… he died,” Derek explained. “The general guy is dead, too, but the two dukes, your brother included, are currently alive.”

The king looked from Derek to Edgar, and Edgar nodded. “It’s as he said.”

The king slumped back in his seat and sighed. “It seems that it really is our defeat.”

“Like I said.” Edgar leaned forward. “We’re here to talk about the conditions of your surrender.”

The room went quiet for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few minutes. Finally, Osian nodded to himself and spoke once more.

“I beg of you to release my brother. Allow my remaining children and family to live, and you may take my life. I will admit to my folly as a king to my people and urge them to foster no hatred. I will take all the blame, for it is mine, and mine alone.”

“Father!” Olivar struggled to come up with words. “N… no! You can’t do that.”

“It must be done!” Osian raised his voice and glared at his son. “It is the price for failure.”

“Actually…” Edgar began, getting everyone’s attention once more. “Your son is right. You can’t do that. Your life is both too much and not enough.”

“Too much and not enough?” Osian looked on, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we’ve already made our plans. The death of a king will not be enough to satisfy our kingdom. Our losses have been too great, and our citizens have lived in fear of your army for too long. That, and we all know what would have happened to Cydaria had you and Astrus accomplished the task you set out for.”

“Then… what will happen?”

“You will not die,” Edgar said bluntly. “Ryven will not die. None of your royal family will die.”

“What?”

“No, you will not die, but your kingdom must change,” Edgar said. “You and your family will continue to rule Indria. However, Indria will become a vassal of Cydaria. Unlike what would have happened had you won this war you started, however, Cydaria won’t mass execute or enslave your people. They will be able to go on living their… almost normal lives.”

“A vassal kingdom…” Osian looked down. “My grandfather would be ashamed.”

“We’re not done,” Edgar said, and Osian looked back up. “Your royal family will form soul contracts with Cydaria. The details will be discussed later. But, obviously, your rules and laws, especially how you treat others of different race, will have to change. But… you and your family will live.”

Osian was quiet and didn’t speak for some time.

Impatiently, Derek decided to speak up. “You do have another option. There is also option two,” he said.

Osian looked up with hope.

“Oh, I don’t think you will like option two,” Derek said with a menacing grin. “It’s the option where I lead the counterattack on Indria and Astrus, along with a dozen dragons and dragon riders. You’ve heard of Edgar’s dragon, right? Well, I brought more.” Derek stared intently at the man. “Option two is also the option where none of you make it out of this room alive today, and Indria will be nothing but a footnote in the history books.” Derek took a note out of Tevarian’s book. “But go on… take your time. I’m sure it’s a very difficult decision.”

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