Diplomatic Coup

King Haroldris gathers the Imperial senate to pay for the destruction of the Northmarch cities.

31.

Diplomatic Coup

 

Seveus the Imperial Legate was sound asleep in an improvised pup tent he had constructed from several cloaks, when with a flash of blue light he found several pairs of glowing red eyes all around his face, one holding a hand over his mouth.   He tried to bolt upright, but they were too strong and a moment later there came a soft female voice chanting a spell, another flash of blue light and he suddenly found himself on the bridge of some sort of luxurious ship with a dreadfully familiar group of people  watching in amusement at his surprise.

“See?” One of his abductors, who was one of several extremely beautiful Drow women in the room said, “That was easy!”

“Legate Seveus, I apologize for abducting you from your camp.”   King Haroldris spoke from where he sat nearby.

“Y-your Majesty, I assure you, I pushed my soldiers to march until-“

 

The King held up his hand, silencing him.

“Yes, you have complied adequately, Seveus.   But we have beheld the terrible damage your legions brought upon Aegoppa and I am certain Southgate is likewise in as dire of a situation.   So my council and I have decided that the Empire will rebuild both cities, as they are responsible for their destruction.   Now I do not mean to conscript your men to this task, but I do require your testimony to the Imperial senators when we show them the damage.”

 

Seveus stood for a moment, confused but cautiously choosing his words, “So you want me to speak to the senators when we return to Aeropolis?”

“No, no, I want you to speak to them when we bring them here.”

“Tonight?!  B-but Your Majesty, I-I don’t think they will-“

 

Again Haroldris interrupted him by raising his hand, “Don’t worry about the logistics of it, Legate, for they will indeed all be brought here by sunrise and they will look firsthand at the damage to both cities and will agree to completely fund the rebuilding of both cities, or else I fully intend to claim the Imperial throne for myself, if they don’t comply.”

 

Seveus’ mouth dropped open and he only shook his head slowly.

“I see that this alarms you; it should.   But this can all be avoided by your strong encouragement to the senators to comply with my wishes.   Now have a seat and relax, for it will be a while before we have assembled everyone.”  

 

Haroldris turned to the three Drow who had kidnapped him, “Be careful, you three, but hurry; I’d like to get all 50 assembled before dawn.”

 

***

 

In Aeropolis and the senatorial estates nearby, it would be a night long remembered as The Night of the Drow.   The kidnappings mostly went smoothly; most were asleep when they appeared and in seconds they had snatched the sleeping senator and teleported out, thanks to Sophia’s very wonderful ring of infinity, which allowed one spell to be selected and cast an infinite number of times.  

 

She had wisely selected a teleportation spell as that spell, since her job as an archivist involved a great deal of travel.   Now it came in equally as handy, and as long as her voice held out to chant the spell again and again, they were able to move all around instantly.

 

Four times they had to subdue the Senators, who were awake when they arrived, but this was done easily thanks to the great strength that Aurei and Eleazar’s magic belts gave them.

 

Once they had a rather tight situation as the Senator they came upon was having a very spirited orgy when they arrived.  

Their appearance sent a number of naked men and women racing from the bedchambers, but Eleazar tackled the Senator and they wrapped him quickly in some of the bedclothes before teleporting out.

 

Three times they did not find the Senator in his home and had to go on to the next Senator before, finally, teleporting quickly to Flux so that Sophia could use the oddest scrying device Eleazar and Aurei had ever seen, to locate them.  

Aurei had led Eleazar out into the hall to wait when her cousin decided to use the visit to indulge in what she claimed was a desperately needed Dart’loxinchu cigarette.

 

The sun had halfway crested the horizon when they arrived with the last Senator, who had sneaked out in the night to pay a visit to his mistress.  

 

Of course they had to move the Senators to another location, for the Autumn Maid would not hold so many people.    Haroldris had chosen one of the two still standing guard towers and so they had taken the last 25 senators to the great hall of the guard tower, which was locked and well-guarded.  

When they all were assembled, the Senators turned with a mixture of anger and fear to Haroldris, who ordered Seveus to address them.  

Aurei was very surprised and pleased to hear the Imperial Legate explain the situation to the senators and passionately urge them to agree to Haroldris’ demands.  

 

Then the King outlined what he wanted.  

 

“It is quite simple”, he said to them, “I want Aeogoppa and Southgate rebuilt to my specifications, at the expense of the Empire; walls, gates, homes; everything down to the very smallest tool shed.   You will also pay the people of Aegoppa and Southgate generous financial restitution for their losses.   Finally, Northmarch will be free from any tithes or taxes to the Empire for 20 years.”   

“These are my demands; I expect all of them to be met and they are not debatable.  I have always been a loyal subject of the Empire, and the Senate knows this.   If you comply with my wishes, I will continue to be a loyal subject, but if you refuse, or else try to wiggle out of your responsibilities, I will use more of the powerful magic that I have demonstrated that I possess, to take the Imperial throne for myself.”  

“As I’m sure you can see, I have that capability, for you all were brought here easily by some of my companions.   Rest assured that if it comes to that end, all of you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation, as my first act as Emperor will be to remove those who opposed me.”

“But before you debate this very important decision, you shall first witness first hand the devastation that Fendoris’ legions brought down upon Aegoppa and Southgate.”

 

They were led, under heavy guard, through the city and spent several hours seeing the destruction and suffering.  

 

Sophia took Seveus back to his tent, terrifying a handful of his men preparing a search for their missing commander.  

“Thank you, Legate.”  Sophia said to the man with a sweet smile, before teleporting back to the others, “Hopefully, that will be all that we require of you.” 

 

In late morning Sophia began teleporting them in groups of 15 to Southgate, after she, Aurei, Eleazar and Haroldris first teleported there to find a safe location where the senators could be brought and kept securely.

 

The Drow girl’s voice was going hoarse by the time the last group of senators joined the King and the others in the southernmost city of the Kingdom.

Aurei was shocked to see how much more severe the damage was here.   A terrible struggle had occurred and much of the lower potion of the city, where the strong southern gate was located that led into the mountain pass had been destroyed.  

 

There were few survivors and most of them had fled from the onslaught, risking more danger from Orcs by going up into the mountains.

 

The battle had been so fierce that though the massive southern gates had been utterly destroyed, the Orc tribes had not ventured to come down and raid the city, for fear of the force that had leveled such massive destruction.

 

The small number of people left in the city was mostly women and children and their plight seemed to powerfully move even the most cold-hearted Senator.

As before in Aegoppa, Aurei and her companions helped out as best as they could in the devastated city.   It was toward the end of the day when the Imperial army came within sight of Southgate, causing a panic amongst the people that remained. 

Haroldris had the senators brought into a tavern that had escaped destruction and without pleading his case further, asked them flatly, “Well, what is your decision?”

 

Whether it was his boldness and seemingly powerful companions or shame over the ruin to the city, none could say, but they voted unanimously to rebuild the cities and help the people.

Haroldris was pleased and immediately ordered that they put their decision in writing and outline what they were going to do and when.  

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"A terrible struggle had occurred and much of the lower potion of the city, where the strong southern gate was located that led into the mountain pass that was controlled by hostile Orc tribes had been destroyed." This bit seemed long; probably just needs a little reworking.