Juliette XIII

PA 1.7

A week ago, the Red Kingdom had been preparing to go to war with the Kingdom of Galloway.

Today, they were planning to meet with their leaders to discuss peace.

How did this happen, you might ask?

Well, for about two weeks the Kingdom of Galloway and the Kingdom of Light duked it out. Cities were taken and retaken, soldiers died, and a brutal frontline had emerged between the two Kingdoms. Unfortunately for them, though, neither side could get the upper hands. They’d win, they’d lose, and then they’d end up right back where they started. This continued, until the border of the two Kingdoms was filled only with slapped together fortifications and half-dead soldiers, any civilians having retreated further inland to get away from the fighting.

Then, when the fighting reached it’s peak, and it looked like one side would finally win a decisive victory—!

The fighting stopped. The Queen of Galloway and the King of Light met up and signed a peace treated, drawing a defined border on the map and, not only that, signing a mutual defensive pact as well.

Juliette had not idea how that happened. But it did. And now the Red Kingdom was scrambling to get out of a war they knew they wouldn’t be able to win.

And that was why, today, the Kingdom of Galloway and the Red Kingdom were meeting on a ‘neutral ground’ to discuss peace between the two nations.

That designated neutral ground had in itself been a matter of debate, before they finally decided on a small section of land right at the end of the bridge she’d built nearly a year ago, on the Galloway side of the river. The Queen on Galloway would only agree to meet on their side of the river since the Red Kingdom had the superior navy—she feared that if she crossed over to their side they’d blockade the river and kill them.

Which they probably would have done, so, uh, yeah.

Damn, was she on the wrong side of history?

No, no, she wasn’t here willingly, after all. Once she killed off the Billy-bastard she’d be in the right again.

But of course, that lack of trust went both ways. In return for holding the meeting on the Galloway side of the river, the King chose the spot right in front of her bridge, so that if things went tits up and they were betrayed they’d easily be able to retreat back across the river.

Ideas for other places had been bandied around, like on one of the many uninhabited islands throughout the river or a place closer to Saanvi’s island. There’d even been the idea of asking to hold the meeting in the lands of a neutral third party, but in the end it was decided no one could be trusted not to backstab both parties.

Which brought them here. On the ‘Red’ side of the bridge sat a group of tents holding their delegation—including the King, Juliette, and Saanvi—while on the ‘Galloway’ side of the bridge the Queen and her delegation were staying in the smallish fort that they’d built on their end of her bridge. As planned beforehand, at exactly noon both parties would exit their camps and march towards the end of the bridge, where some servants were setting up a table for them to meet at. Before meeting, the table would be checked over by servants from both sides for… she didn’t actually know. Bombs? How the hell would they sabotage a table? Were they being too paranoid here? Was there even such a thing?

Juliette digressed. The fact was that she could admit (only to herself) that a lot of pettiness and ego had gone into designing the meeting like this. She could also say that she would never meet with them under any other circumstances, so she supposed she couldn’t complain.

Of course, she could complain about the fact they were just abandoning all their war preparations. For one thing, this was probably the weakest the Kingdom of Galloway would ever be—having just fought a brutal war against a foe who was now their only ally, there’d never be a better time. It wasn’t even like they had to worry about losing, since they controlled the river!

But no~ Billy-boy got spooked so now they’ve gotta make peace with the northern savages who keep on raiding her people’s lands!

Gah! Why in the world did she have to have been conquered by such an idiot!?

--

If there was one thing she hated more than anything about these peace talks, it was that it forced her to suffer hours of being in the same place as both Saanvi and Billy-boy at the same time. Every second that passed did so with agonizing slowness, until, finally, the sun reached its peak and the peace talks could begin.

Crossing the bridge along with their small contingent of soldiers, Juliette couldn’t help but feel tense. Even though this whole meeting had been planned around being as safe as possible, she couldn’t help but feel like they were walking into a trap—that any second now, the Galloway army would jump out of the river and surround them. It was an irrational fear, but one that clung to her heart.

A quick glance to the side showed neither Saanvi nor the King to be nervous, though that didn’t say much. Whether they were having second thoughts or not was impossible to tell, as Saanvi wore her mask as easily as she breathed, while Billy-boy having second thoughts would require him to have any thoughts in the first place.

They reached the end of the bridge, stepping onto dry land in what was firmly Galloway territory. A simple dirt road stretched from the bridge up to the Galloway fort, as far as she knew only used by soldiers and the occasional merchant. As expected, a space had been cleared away for them, a table and chairs placed almost eerily in the middle of the road.

A distance up the road she could see the Galloway contingent making their way down as well, led by an older woman dressed in flowing, dark indigo linens.

Queen Margaret Walker, the Queen of Galloway. An older Scottish woman, she’d conquered her way across the lands north of the river, winning as many battles through diplomacy as she did conquest. On her head rested her famous ‘crown,’ a wooden tiara painted a dark green, from which four polished teardrops of jade hung, moving gently in the breeze. From under her crown her small, narrow eyes glared at them from even as far away as she was, while her jaw was set in a stern frown.

Behind her walked her two vassals, Lord Noah Burton of Ricecastle, and Lady Fen Zhao of Tiantang. The first held the lands closest to her, and Englishman with short, sandy-blonde hair, and a scowl that she could tell immediately was aimed squarely at her. Lady Fen Zhao, on the other hand, seemed the softest of the lot, her long straight black hair flowing freely in the breeze as she made her way behind her Queen with measured, almost delicate steps.

Together their lands made up a Kingdom near equal in size to the Red Kingdom, making them a threat that even now shouldn’t be underestimated.

“King William,” the Queen of Galloway came to a rest at the other side of the table. “It is a… pleasure to meet you for the first time.”

“Queen Margaret,” the Red King gave her a toothy grin, holding a hand out as if asking for a handshake. “You’re older than I expected!”

Oh, this was going to be awful.

Margaret’s eyebrow noticeably twitched. “Yes. I get that a lot. I assume you’ve come to meet us in good faith?”

“I wasn’t aware there was any other kind?” William replied, looking genuinely confused. His hand was still hanging in the air, as if waiting for her to shake it.

All of them had yet to sit down.

Damn, and here she’d thought she’d need to sabotage this meeting if she wanted war. She should have known better—anyone who spent more than five minutes with Billy-boy instinctively wanted him smote off the face of the earth.

“Perhaps,” Lady Fen spoke up, her voice as soft as her looks. “We should sit down? The servants put so much work into making sure it was safe—it would be a shame to let all that work go to waste.”

Ah, a woman of sense. How dangerous.

The Queen turned to look at her vassal, before sighing softly. “Very well. King William, I allow you the honor of sitting first.”

“Ah, don’t mind if I do!” her idiot king agreed, finally dropping his hand and sitting down. The rest of them followed after, Juliette and Saanvi sitting to either side of the King while the Queen and her vassals sat across from them.

“…So,” Margaret continued after a moment of awkward silence. “You called this meeting because you wanted a truce, yes? A peace treaty between our two nations?”

“That’s right,” Billy-boy nodded, his smile shrinking to become something a little more serious. “For too long our Kingdoms have been at odds with each other. From the very beginning, all of us God-Kings have been spending too much time at each other’s throats. It’s just been violence, violence, and more violence. But you know what? I’m not a violent guy. Never have been. And so these past few years have been hell, a constant struggle to stay good, even in the face of true evil! But with you, I see someone who’s truly good—someone who, when faced with war, decided, ‘no, I’m going to choose peace.’ And it inspired me, truly! Peace! What a beautiful idea! That’s why I think it’s time we put the past behind us, and look towards the future, together!”

The table was silent, all five God-Kings staring at William incredulously. Even Saanvi, who’s mask was second to none, couldn’t help but stare in shock at the absolute bullshit that the King had just spewn from his mouth.

“…A truce, you said?” Margaret continued, glancing at her vassals, then her soldiers, then Juliette, before finally back to the King. “You want… peace… you said?”

“Indeed,” he gave her a blinding smile, giving her a thumbs up. “I’d love nothing more than for our people to exist in harmony! That’s my only intention for this meeting!”

“Yeah, right,” Lord Noah scoffed from beside the Queen. “Please tell me you don’t believe this crap, Your Grace?”

Margaret gave him a light glare, but the man either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“I don’t see why we should even pretend at this farce of a truce,” Noah growled, his face twisting into an ugly sneer as he glared at Juliette. “After all, the company this King keeps shows his true colors. The barbaric bitch sitting next to him tells us all we need to know about their intentions.”

“Strong words from someone who can’t even protect his own borders,” Juliette drawled back, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “Though I suppose it should be expected, from such a primitive savage.”

“You dare?” he snarled, leaping up to slam his fist onto the table. Around them, the soldiers they brought for protection grabbed nervously at their weapons. “Do you know how many of my people have died to your raids? How many have starved because you stole their food? Their clothes? Their very livelihoods!? And you have the gall to sit there and call me the savage, you barbarian!?”

“My, is that the stench of hypocrisy I smell? Or do you just not bathe anymore, now that you’ve regressed to being a caveman?”

“Red King William,” Queen Margaret cut off whatever rebuttal Noah would have responded with. “Reign in your vassal, lest I do so for you. I will not accept such a slight against my own people, much less from someone who is known for attacking them.”

Juliette paused, side-eyeing her king. He returned it, the two of them having a silent battle of wills as she dared him to tell her to leave.

Slowly, his eyes moved back to the Queen across from them, before pursing him lips. “This meeting is about peace, between all of us. As such, I will not remove someone so important to these talks so easily. However, I am willing to compromise—if you send away your own vassal Noah, I’ll agree to send my vassal Juliette away as well.”

The Queen narrowed her eyes. “You would ask this of me, even after she has so callously insulted my people in front of me?”

“Hey, he started it, after all,” the King shrugged, leaning back casually in his chair.

For once, Juliette was glad for the man’s inability to take anything seriously. It made him look almost like he was the one in control, and not just him being an oblivious idiot.

“…Very well,” the Queen gave a shallow nod. “She stays. However, should she speak out of turn, I will not hesitate to call this meeting off, do you understand?”

“Crystal!” the King smiled, slamming his foot down on hers before she could even move to open her mouth again. “Now, where were we?” he continued, talking over her hiss of pain.

Across from her, Noah gave her a smug look before wincing himself as the Queen subtly—but painfully—pinched his arm.

“I do believe, despite the distraction they caused, our vassals raised a good point,” she said calmly. “The raids. They have been going on for months now. I will not pretend to take the high road, as we both know the both of us have participated in them. However, as part of this treaty, they need to stop. Permanently.”

“Hm? That’s all? Sure, sure, it wasn’t like they were very profitably anyways,” he waved it away casually.

God, couldn’t he try to not sound like an asshole for five fucking minutes!?

The Queen’s face soured, yet, somehow, she had not simply left the table and declared war on them. She had more patience than Juliette did, at least.

Or maybe she was even less prepared for war than they thought. In which case, why were they still trying to make peace!?

“This is not something we can just wave away,” Margaret nearly growled. “Noah might have been out of line with how he said it, but he was not wrong that the raids have harmed our people greatly. This isn’t something you can just say sorry for and expect that to be the end of it!”

Actually, he hadn’t even said sorry in the first place. Please stop trying to make this man sound better than he actually is. Accept his bastardous nature, foreign Queen. Accept that the only way you can ever live peacefully again is to murder this man.

“Eh? But I mean, it’s not like it harmed you personally in any way, right?”

Margaret looked about ready to murder the Billy-bastard, and in any other situation she’d gladly help. However, in this case she merely grabbed her dagger, tensing up as she prepared for the inevitably fight that would break out.

“Ah, Your Grace,” Margaret’s soft-spoken vassal suddenly spoke up, cutting through the tension surrounding the table. “It seems things are getting a bit stressful here. Would you like me to make you some tea before we continue? Ah! Pardon my manners, I would of course be willing to make some for the rest of you as well.”

Wow, what a pleasing person. Would you be willing to join our side? Pretty please?

Hm, wait, no, Billy-boy would try to fuck her if she did. Never mind, stay away! Stay far, far away!

Several minutes later, the six of them were drinking (honestly pretty mediocre) tea, all of them having calmed down considerably.

“Queen Margaret,” Saanvi spoke up before their King could open his stupid mouth and ruin the pleasant atmosphere once more. “We understand that the raids have hurt your people. Like, we get it, it’s a total bummer. But your raids have also hurt our people as well. At this point, I’d ask that we take the mutual L and all agree to put the raids behind us if we want peace moving forward.”

The Queen pursed her lips, before finally nodding slowly. “Very well. I’ll let this slide, for now.”

“Your Grace, you can’t be serious!?” Noah whined like a little baby, turning to look at his Queen with something akin to betrayal.

“We must all make compromises for the sake of peace,” Margaret chided him softly, taking a serene sip of her tea. “But, Red Kingdom, mark my words. Should these raids continue, then I will return the favor so thoroughly that people will remember your folly for generations.”

“Okay,” Billy-boy gave her a smile, before downing the rest of his tea in a single gulp. “Does that mean you agree to peace now?”

“…Very well,” Margaret nodded solemnly, looking pained yet resolute. “For as long as I rule the Kingdom of Galloway, you can rest assured that we shall never be enemies.”

“Great!” the King cheered, moving to stand up. Before he could, Saanvi surreptitiously slammed her foot down onto his. “Oh, uh, I mean, same! So long as I’m the Red King, you don’t have to worry about us attacking. For real!”

Queen Margaret looked like she was already regretting this meeting.

Don’t worry, Queen of Galloway. You aren’t the only one.

9,881 God-Kings Remain

Hello, it is I, map guy, returning to you with another map. (See below for map)

(y'all will never know what a fucking process it was to post this map. The lag fought me every step of the way)

Anyway, here's a map to show the nations surrounding the Red Kingdom. A couple notes about this map:

- The Blackheart Kingdom is actually smaller than it looks. That area where the Red Kingdom, the Blackheart Kingdom, and the Grand Lake Alliance connect is 'disputed' and the map there would change depending on who you asked.

- This is actually pretty common, with 'soft borders' being more common than 'hard borders.'

- While the Kingdom of Galloway hits the river, they don't have anywhere near the same amount of control over it as the Red Kingdom has. Their powerbase is more focused towards the eastern coast.

- The Kingdom of Galloway and the Red Kingdom are the only ones who have named cities because they'll be the focus of this arc. Other cities and Kingdoms will be given later on in the story.