They’d acted too quickly to get much news from elsewhere, but as a few days passed since the start of it all, messages and reactions from elsewhere started to come in. Regina was curious about how this turn in the war would be received, but she couldn’t deny that she was nervous, too.

They had acted quickly, maybe too quickly. She had sent a declaration of war to Lyns, in an official letter, but to be fair, she hadn’t exactly given him a lot of time to respond. They didn’t even have an army - a ground-based army - in position at the time. Well, they had one in Cernlia, augmented by the Delvers, just not ready to fight any battle.

The elves had sent a relatively neutral communiqué, as an actual letter rather than only passing a message through an ambassador. It was accepting of the war but didn’t give much insight into their opinions. Regina wondered about that a little, then shrugged it off. They wouldn’t be wrong to feel annoyed or concerned.

Unsurprisingly, the Esemen hadn’t reacted nearly as well. Instead, Regina had received a rather flaming letter, through Earl Whitor of all people. Well, about as flaming as official diplomatic correspondence got, which was not much. She hadn’t expected much eloquence and wasn’t very surprised. Still, it did make her suspect they might back Marquis Lyns in this war. His plans to marry Kiara off to the Esemen certainly gave an indication of that. On the other hand, they had to know he was hopelessly outmatched and she didn’t think they’d want to tie themselves to a sinking boat that way. If they did break their agreement in order to form an alliance with him and fight, she’d deal with it. It wouldn’t exactly do much good for Esemen’s own diplomatic reputation, which was already not stellar, from what she understood, given their theocratic tendencies. In the long run, such a thing might even help Regina pull more of the remaining countries to her side.

It was the response from Nerlia, though, that really took her aback a little. Not because it was negative, though. On the contrary, it did not express much negativity at all. It was about as neutral as the elves’ response. But, they were inquiring very cautiously into the possibility of making agreements with Kiara. Regina had a strong suspicion it was meant to be another marriage alliance (maybe even with June, she had been in Nerlia a bit, recently.)

She sighed and decided to show the letter to Kiara, not that she expected much to come of it. It better not, if she hurts Janis because of political expediency — Regina shook her head. Either way, while it was subtle, the tone of the letter pleased her quite a bit, because it didn’t strike her as what one would use to write to a former enemy they’d grudgingly made peace with, or even an equal. Instead, Nerlia … clearly knew where they stood, in terms of power. It might help that she still occupied a significant part of their country, depending on how you sliced it. But they acknowledged her as their superior, and combined with how the negotiations had been going, she was confident that meant her plan was succeeding.

For now, she was mostly happy that she had some good things to show to the Cernlian nobles willing to support Kiara. Regina was only too aware that this willingness would be tentative for most of them, encouraged by the fact their faction had been obviously about to win the battle that split the Marquis’ former army. That was the thing about such decisions, though: They set in and grew with time, and if one didn’t pay attention, one day one might find themselves at the end of a path with no way off it or back to a crossroads one had passed long ago. And this change didn’t just happen in the eyes of the outside world, but in people’s minds too. People didn’t like cognitive dissonance, something she had more experience with than most. Unless they were already firmly opposed to Kiara or at least held strong opinions, quite a few would probably find themselves decently-loyal supporters eventually, for several reasons.

That didn’t mean some of the nobles, knights or common soldiers in the army didn’t just stay on hoping to sabotage or spy on them, of course.

Duke Bluegrass was currently leading the army back to the capital, but he was taking his time. Regina didn’t mind. It gave him and the other rebels (counter-rebels? No, that was stupid) more time to organize. The Hive could supply them with provisions relatively easily, so there was no urgency on the logistical front, and tightening a siege around Cera for a bit wouldn’t go amiss. Regina wouldn’t actually let people starve — and neither would Kiara — but they had agreed it was an option to siege it for a while, if they needed to increase the pressure without attacking.

To her credit, Kiara had not been happy, and had already asked Regina to extend her aid shipments to all parts of Cernlia.

Regina had been happy to do so. They needed fewer food supplies for Nerlia, now, and the armies they sent against the gnomes were mostly supplied from their local area.

Besides, she had suspected it had had a positive effect on the attitudes of the enemies they would inherit from the Marquis. There were still a few knights and minor lords holding out, ostensibly, for the now-dead king. Maybe they hoped one of his illegitimate sons would turn up, otherwise Regina really wasn’t sure what they imagined as an endgame. But she and Kiara had sent them letters, mostly dropped from Winged Drones all over the region, and they’d been quiet.

One lord had actually proclaimed his loyalty to Kiara right away. She gathered his opposition came from a grudge against Lyns, and he was probably happy to spite him by supporting Kiara while also getting out of an untenable position. The others hadn’t gone that far, yet, but several had sent assurances of neutrality and more or less promised they wouldn’t attack Kiara’s troops for now, so Regina had to be content with that. They couldn’t exactly continue with Lyns’ original plan of going around all the local castles. Well, I suppose we could, but it would be stupid.

She was still a bit anxious, but not because she thought there was a large risk. However, Kiara insisted on going to Cernlia in person to meet with Bluegrass and the others willing to bow to her, so Regina thought she had the right to be a bit worried. Kiara had almost been killed there, after all.

Stolen novel; please report.

Still, she gave in to her protests and didn’t assign her a massive security detail … just some of her own bodyguards that Max had put together, not that she’d ever really needed them, and other veteran drones, both sapient and Swarm Drones.

Kiara would probably assemble some human guards as soon as she could, if only to equalize the visual impression they gave, but judging by the satisfaction she felt from Max Regina knew he’d like that.

Janis had wanted to come, but Kiara put her foot down. Regina wondered if it was because she didn’t want to be distracted by her new romance or if she worried about Janis’ safety. Regina didn’t get involved. She just gave Janis something to do with the army she was taking deeper into Cernlia. It wasn’t exactly busy work, she really did need Janis.

Tim was already there, of course, and he greeted Kiara cheerfully when they arrived and arranged for her to get to the army and the lords without trouble. Regina listened in with one ear as they talked for a minute, then entered the current camp of the army.

Kiara decided to walk through it and give the soldiers a chance to see her. Despite the risk, Regina was inclined to approve. A ruler needed to be seen, but shouldn’t be seen to show fear, and Kiara was charismatic enough to win them over with a bit of effort. She was wearing some armor, mostly because they didn’t have royal clothing that fit her, but also showed quality and elegance. The soldiers lined up — despite not having much warning, someone had prepared pretty efficiently, Regina noted with approval — and stared. There were a few scattered cheers and some bowing and kneeling, and Kiara responded to all of it with gracious nods and smiles. She did make for a pretty photogenic warrior queen, Regina had to admit.

Bluegrass and a few other nobles waited in the center, lined up to greet her. He clearly had to hold himself back from more emotional displays. Over the last months, they had become something like friends, and Regina could sense their affection and pleasure at seeing each other again. Instead, he greeted her solemnly, kneeling to the woman he proclaimed as the rightful queen of Cernlia.

Kiara stayed in sight of the soldiers long enough to ensure all of the gathered lords and ladies, and some who had come once they saw it happening, repeated that declaration. Then she bid them join her in the command tent with another gracious smile, and allowed Bluegrass to courteously offer her his arm and escort her to it.

Regina wasn’t able to watch what happened there, since they hadn’t invited any of her drones in yet, but she did have a few in the vicinity. With their superior hearing, she caught most of the conversation that followed.

“I thank you all for your loyal support,” Kiara told them solemnly. “You took a risk to stand up for what was right, against tyranny, not once but several times. I will not forget it. I know that I am young and some of you may have misgivings, but I intend to lead our people into a new golden age, where things long thought lost will be available to us all once more and there will be no senseless death on fields of blood without accomplishing or changing anything. And I will prove to you that I am capable of it.”

There was a second’s silence, before she heard what sounded like banging, probably equivalent to applause. “Thank you, Your Highness,” Duke Bluegrass responded and they fell silent. “With the aid and support of the Starlit Hive as well as those gathered here, we should be able to bring the war to a decisive conclusion and help you gain your rightful throne very soon.”

There were a few mutters that largely sounded approving, she thought.

“Speaking of the Hive,” she continued. “We will invite Sir Tim and Lady Via soon for their counsel, as well. For now, we may need to take advantage of their generosity. How are our supplies? How are the wounded?”

“We have enough food to march on Cera, Milady,” another man spoke up promptly. “I am uncertain how long we would be able to siege the city, however. No more than a few months, at best.”

“That will do,” Kiara replied.

“Our wounded are being treated, and it would be best to not march at full speed, at least, until they are healed. We have healers, still, but more would be welcome. We also need men to care for the prisoners we’ve taken.”

“I’ll ask for more drone healers, if they can spare some,” Kiara promised.

There was a short pause, and Regina turned her focus away to check on the state of the army through other drones, when the next thing Kiara said caught her attention again.

“One more thing before we bring this meeting to an end,” she was saying. “In order to ensure that no one can question or doubt this, and to set all of our minds at ease, I would like to make it official and recognize you as my loyal vassals. I want you to officially swear yourselves to me as your queen.”

There was a short silence after that — shocked, Regina imagined. She smiled to herself, but still listened intently through the ears of the drone she’d sneaked closer, as well as Tim, who was lingering close by to join their discussions later.

One mistake Lyns had made, she and Kiara had agreed, was waiting with this. It might be against tradition, but she was already breaking tradition. He hadn’t required the oaths of fealty, or at least, he had not imposed it as a general requirement, or officially called himself king since he hadn’t been crowned yet. If they had sworn them, perhaps more people would have been loyal to him. Of course, some of the men here presumably had sworn to Lyns, so it was hardly a guarantee of anything.

Before anyone else could say anything, she heard the rustling of cloth and then Duke Bluegrass started making his oath. Regina let the words she’d exchanged with Kiara before wash over her, focusing on what she could sense of the people inside. Clearly, and she didn’t need to be a psychic to know this, some of them were dismayed and hesitant. But she knew they’d feel pressed to do it, if only subconsciously. They weren’t being threatened or anything, so they couldn’t say they were forced to swear these oaths, but it would also take quite a bit of bravery to refuse as the situation currently stood.

She wasn’t surprised no one was brave and traditional enough to refuse. Presumably, those who would have balked at the idea of swearing fealty to a female ruler were on the other side, and now dead, captured or fled. In comparison, quibbling about the timing probably wasn’t high on anyone’s priority list.

Not that Kiara planned to officially call herself Queen yet, either, Regina knew. That wasn’t necessary.

Finally, Kiara gave them a few more reassuring words before she called for Tim and any other envoys from the Hive to join them, to discuss the condition of the army and the state of the war. Regina actually paid less attention to this, knowing that Tim had it well in hand. He was a bit amused at what he’d just listened to, but she also felt his happiness that everything had gone well for Kiara.

They probably wouldn’t even need that much support from the human army for this, technically speaking. But Regina would like them to contribute as much as they could, since this was, after all, for Kiara. And she already had too many commitments for her troops.