VIII—Zanna Caelestinius of Lucia

It had been three days since Zanna and Albion came to the House of Gates, royal family members and nobles alike joining them for the parley.

And still others were coming.

With members from each royalty and nobility spread about—sometimes far from home, enough time had to be given for them to arrive—otherwise the consequences Zanna and Albion had in mind would be null and void.

Members of the nobility would claim they hadn’t arrived out of sheer inability to physically get to the location within the time allotted. But the two leaders were well ahead of any such claims, as their royal letters summoning each and every member from their respective nobilities had been couriered with all due hast more than two months past.

Now, Zanna strode down a narrow corridor of stone steps leading deep into the recesses of the House of Gates, General October at the front with the rest of her procession of mages following behind.

They came into a chamber of solid stone bricks. At the center was a pedestal surrounded my Lucian mages, and even some from Florencia.

Together, they interacted with the magical loadstone on the pedestal as it glowed brightly with luminescent light. The stone’s shape was that of an elongated egg and had a spidery shell with translucent panels.

“This is the loadstone, Empress,” October said as he gestured to the murmuring mages. “One of many.”

“How many?” she asked.

“There are thirteen small loadstones and one big one, located on the skylight balcony in the drawing room citadel tower.”

“And this will prevent anyone from leaving the House?”

He nodded. “Precisely. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“The Gates will still be available to any who pass through them.”

“That is fine, Ocotober. In fact, the House of Gates will not be our point of contact for the parley.”

“Empress?” he asked questioningly.

No, the House of Gates was filled with far too many secrets—and too much bad history.

Remembering the War of Chambers when Lucia and Florencia had fought for control of the House, she went silent for a moment. Even though the number of deaths had been staggering on both sides, still neither Lucia nor Florencia could take the structure. Zanna remembered it for what it was—a bloodbath.

Fortunately that had been before her time.

“An agreed upon location has already been chosen,” she told October. “Lagoon.”

“The resort fortress?” he asked.

“Precisely.”

He nodded, his dark eyes making his face full of shadows. “May I ask, Empress, why you have chosen such a location?”

Glancing at the mages filling the loadstone, she said, “I did not choose this location singlehandedly. It was chosen as an agreement between both myself and Emperor Justin.”

“I see.”

“If this parley between our empires is to succeed,” she added, “then there will need to be sufficient distractions so we don’t devolve into killing one another.”

In another land, the statement might have been funny, but not when talking about Lucia and Florencia, as the situation had the possibility of actually devolving into a bloody conflict involving each side’s nobility.

That could not be allowed to happen.

The war between Lucia and Florencia needed to come to an end—for the sakes of all involved.

Nodding, Zanna said, “I will meet Emperor Justin and inform him of our progress.”

“Yes, Lady Empress,” October said.

Dapper as ever in his long high-collared jacket and white shirt, he motioned for her to take the lead back up the steps.

Soon, once the barrier was raised, both Lucia and Florencia would be convened within the main drawing room so Zanna and Albion could inform both sides together of what was exactly to take place.