The Ancients World

Chapter 273: Splitting up again IV

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As Sally sleeps and Cera and Hailey continue talking, there is much happening in the capital city of Pleer. The king is discussing important plans with his nobles and military leaders. Why, you may ask, because he knows that the elven queen holds grudges and isn't going to take the disrespect from the king of Pleer. As all full-blooded elves think, he knows that retaliation is coming. Be it an assassination attempt or a political subterfuge. The king of Pleer is a wise leader, and while he is old now, his mind is still bright and sharp.

I curse this old body of mine. I'd give almost anything to have my youth back. To fight alongside my men in battle, to lead them at the front. Instead, I'm confined to this castle, and I'm stuck talking and planning for things that I used to handle with my sword instead of my words. There is nothing more emasculating than losing what makes you a man and to me. That's the ability to fight and defend my people and land in battle. "My King, what do you suggest we do about the elven spies all over the capital? They're obviously probing for weaknesses in our defenses." One of my generals speaks.

I look at the reports and understand while there won't be a direct conflict with the elves, there is going to be a problem. The actions of disrespect I took against the elven queen were in retaliation to the disrespect she had for me. Telling me how to treat people in my kingdom, citizen or not. "You all know why there is a scuffle between us and the elves?" I ask the room the main reason for all of this, and everyone exchange looks. Most of them know, but others are a little lost. "Slayer Zern is in my kingdom." The people who didn't know look up with surprise and know why there are problems now.

It's no secret that the elves are after Slayer Zern. The church made an empty promise of promising Slayer Zern in marriage to one of the elven princesses. They are looking to consecrate their bloodline and actually make it divine. It'll not just be in words anymore but in fact. "I have no intention of reaching out and contacting Slayer Zern, and I have no intention of being pushed around by the elves. So what we're going to do is purge her spies from my capital city." That'll send a message to her, and it'll show Slayer Zern I will not cooperate with the elves.

He may never know, but it makes little difference. The elves are a powerful people, but everything has a weakness, be it a person, an object, or physical or mental fault. The elven queen's faults are in great supply, and all we have to do is exploit a few of them to get her out of my kingdom. "I'll get the magical surveyed ready as soon as possible, My King. We'll have the elven spies routed shortly." I'm glad that my allies can piece my plan together. I grow tired of having to explain everything to everyone. I'm grateful for such great subjects.

While this is happening in the capital city Pleer, the opponent to the king of pleer, is planning things herself. The elven queen is no idiot, and she knows her spies will be found and made an example of. She has so many spies. She can toss them away like tissues. She's sitting with her two daughters and sipping from glasses of tea, special tea created from The Eternal Forest. It's poisonous to all other creatures, but to elves, the tea is the most flavorful drink ever to sip. She has a calm exterior, but inside. The queen is festering. She holds grudges, after all.

I look at my two beautiful daughters, and my anger is quelled for a second. They have traces of their wonderful father in them. I wish he were here to help me through some of the current problems our kingdom faces. The room we're in is covered in marvelous decorations and brings on an extremely elegant feeling when sitting in it. It makes me feel better, in a way. "Mother, you have been awfully quiet." My firstborn makes an observation. She has the rightful claim to the throne, but that doesn't mean her sister doesn't have a claim altogether.

The plan to decide who inherits the elven kingdom was complex, something I came up with on the spot. Whichever one of my daughters successfully seduced Slayer Zern would inherit. The other will remain a princess. "I'd like to discuss an important matter, one regarding Slayer Zern." They both put their full attention on me. I have already told them about the competition. I have another thing to discuss about Slayer Zern. Something that I've been ignoring. "As you two know, he's traveling with a half-breed." Both my daughters react in a way of disgust.

There is much turmoil and hate for any elves of mixed blood. It corrupts the purity of the elven blood hence why most are banished. "Saliandra is the daughter to the firstborn daughter of the Orvello house. She was to be wed to your brother originally, but that fell through." That's putting it lightly. If she married my son, then there'd be a whole different discussion of who's ruling. My son is in exile himself and is never coming back. After what happened to his beloved, he lost faith in our ways. I don't know where he is...

Both my daughters set down their tea and sit up straight. "The Orvello family is extremely important to our kingdom. Their vast wealth and resources make it imperative we see to their requests. The first of their requests in a very long time is the return of Saliandra, alive and unharmed. I want to hear your ideas and thoughts on this. As one of you will be a future queen, there needs to be a discussion like this. I need to see how well you plan and lead." They nod their heads and proceed to tell me ideas on how to handle this situation.

While this is happening in the elven kingdom, back in The City of James, Sally is starting to wake up. It's been a few hours, and after all the mental stress she underwent, she needed a nap to recharge her energy. Cera is sitting at the table with Hailey, talking with her. He looks over to the bed and sees her stirring around and slowly getting up. Cera stands up from his seat and walks over to the edge of the bed as Sally leans up. She cleans the gunk out of her eyes and slowly looks around. She sees Cera's face and smiles.

I look at Sally and see her bright and beautiful smile. She must think that what happened was a dream. The horrible truth that she learned. "I had the worst nightmare of my life... You should've woken me up... Did you get the information?" She has blocked out most of what happened. To the point in time, I came back with the crystal ball. I place my hand on her shoulder and bring her to my side. "What's wrong? You make it sound like it's not good." I don't know how to handle this, but I'm going to have to. I have to do what a man does.

I look her deep in the eyes, and I take a small breath. "It wasn't a dream, Sally... What happened really happened..." I watch her reaction go from a good mood to a horribly sad one. She's on the verge of tears again, and I quickly wrap her in a hug. She wraps her arms around me and sobs into my chest piece. "I'm so sorry, Sally..." That's all I can really say. I don't want to tell her anything other than that. I look over to Hailey and nod my head for her to come over. She does, and she hugs Sally from the otherside.

After a couple of minutes, the crying stops, and I let go of her. She lifts her head, and I see a look of rage and anger. "I want to end them! We are going to The Elven Kingdom!" As she says that, two of my quests get updates to them. I don't look at them just yet. There will be a moment to look at them in a bit. Right now, Sally needs my full attention. This means Hailey's plan to meet up with us regarding the slavers has changed. I'll discuss that with her later. Sally stands up, and I can feel the shift in her aura, her mood. She's changed.