The council walked down the hall to the teleportation gate room, along with Virion, Aya, Tess, and Arthur. The long awaited day had arrived, the Alacryan peace delegation was arriving. In preparation for this the floating castle had been searched from top to bottom everyday for a week. Every room, closet, and hidden corner was thoroughly examined with a fine tooth comb to ensure the castle was safe for everyone to move back in two months ago.

And to commemorate the return to the floating castle, on that day the last of the Alacryan soldiers finally left Dicathen. It took a little over a month to move all of the thousands of Alacryan soldiers back home through the teleportation gates, and via ship. After a week they formally requested their ships to be returned to them, so they could at least leave a little sooner. The council refused at first, concerned that they might instead land on another coast and launch another series of attacks. However Arthur convinced them to take the chance. Over the last few months they managed to retrofit twenty of the steam ships with new weapons designed by Gideon that used fire salt. The new weapons had a greater range than any conjurer, so they manned the ships and had them escort fifty ships full of alacryans away from Dicathen and then began patrolling along the coast to ensure that if they did come back they would be aware.

As they walked Virion looked to his granddaughter who was walking with her arm hooked with Arthur's, her cheeks glowing.

"Tessia, are you sure you're ok doing this? No one would say anything if backed out," he asked.

"Grandpa we've been over this, the doctor said it's good for me to stay active at this point, just no overly strenuous activity. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I should be locked up in my room. I'm not even showing yet," she replied defensively, but also smiling.

The thought of being pregnant made her so happy, and the timing couldn't have been better. The war was over, so she and Arthur weren't needed to fight anymore, and because she was only six weeks pregnant she wasn't showing so she could still feel beautiful when she dressed up, like today.

For this week her job was to act as a representative of the council to a group of Alacryan nobles, so she needed to look her best. She was wearing a modern eleven style dress that also held some traditional aspects, with the top half being green with gold detailing, which transitioned to a white skirt. The sleeves were white, with the top green and gold going to mid bicep opening to a white sleeve, then closing back at her wrists.

She never had aspirations of being a Lance, to her it was never an option. After Arthur was announced as a Lance, she imagined going to parties with him, her arm hooked with his as he wore his white uniform as she wore an elegant dress. Unfortunately for her, Arthur almost never wore his uniform. But today with him serving as part of the Dicathen delegation, he was in uniform looking the part for a Dicathen general.

This was part of Arthur's plan to show to the people that even though Dicathen wasn't as advanced as Alacrya, they were far from the barbarians that Agrona portrayed them as. To aid in this a group of Alacryan nobles was dispatched along with the peace delegation to gather images and information to show the common people back in Alacrya. Today they were visiting Zestier, but tomorrow Xyrus, and the next day Vildorial in Darv, with a different guide joining them for the other two cities.

"Don't take it personal," Buhnd said as he walked up beside her. "Virion here is just being a little overly protective."

"He's right," Merial chimed in. "He did the same thing with me when I was pregnant with you. He went as far as to have a team of doctors on standby, and had one follow me around all day every day. So just be happy that you only have Aya with you."

"No offense to Aya, but I'm a Lance too. It's not like I need a bodyguard."

"None taken," Aya replied. "However if there were a threat against you I will be ensuring I get you as far away from there as possible."

"Just accept it, it'll put your grandfather at ease," Alduin replied.

Virion didn't respond, and just kept moving forward, but they could tell he was grumpy now.

"Arthur, why don't you give us a quick refresher on the delegation so we can be ready," Alduin suggested, in an effort to change the topic.

"Gladly. We'll be meeting with a group of eight highbloods, they're essentially equivalent to a high ranked noble. Even though they all carry a great deal of power in Seris' new government, the key figure today is HighLord Corbett Denior. Among all of the highlords preset today, he's the top."

"Didn't you say he was opposed to the war?" Marcus asked.

"I did. He only committed the minimum forces to appease Agrona, otherwise his family would have lost their status instantly."

"So he's most likely to give us the least resistance in negotiations," Pricilla concluded.

"Not exactly. He's a patriot, he didn't support the war because he believed that war didn't benefit Alacrya, that they had all they needed. Even though Seris said Alacrya would pay whatever reparations we asked for, this delegation is here to make sure we aren't making any outrageous demands. Ultimately he's going to make sure to minimize Alacrya's losses as much as possible."

"And that's why you came up with your terms?" Virion asked, finally seeming to break out of his mood.

"Yes. It's mutually beneficial for both parties, so they'll most likely not give as much resistance, probably just fighting over details."

"It'd be nice if they would just go back to their continent and stay there," Buhnd grumbled.

"Unfortunately we can't go back to how things were now. Since we now know of each other's existence, and are wanting to do things the right way now, we should make the most of it. We all have to share and live in this world together, so we might as well be peaceful about it, and that's where Tess comes in. They didn't tell me who was in charge of the public relations group, but if I had to guess it would be either Lenora or Lauden Denoir."

"Corbett's wife or son?" Tess asked.

"Mhm. They were both on the list of people coming, but there were no details stating their purpose. Considering their status, I'm only assuming that one of them will be in charge."

"And what are they like?"

"My interactions with Lauden were fairly limited, he only showed up to get me out of a twisted court case, and then only shared a few words. As for Lenora the only time I saw her she seemed to be very intelligent and calculating. She and her husband actually made a very good pair in regards to how they both think and look at situations differently, but not so different that they clash. Expect any conversation with her to essentially be a war with words, and don't expect to be able to read her easily. Treat your interactions with her like you would Kathyln, as in you won't be able to accurately read her facial expressions or tone unless she starts to lose control, and in this case it could be a bad thing."

"I saw Caera was in the list, do you think I could rely on her any?" Tess asked.

"I wouldn't lean on her too much. Despite our past interactions with her, she's still here for Alacrya. But listen for any ques from her. Considering she is Seris' student, she will probably want everything to run smoothly."

They arrived at the gate and only waited for a few minutes before the delegation started arriving. Unlike normal, the heavy door to the teleportation gate was left open as to make their arrival seem less imposing.

The delegates arrived men and women alike, some with horns, some without. They wore their finest clothes that rivaled the kings and queens of the old monarchies. One even came with a colorful bird mana beast perched on his shoulder.

"Alacryan delegates, welcome to Dicathen. I am Commander Virion Eralith, leader of the Dicathen military."

"I am High Lord Corbett of highblood Denior, leader of the Alacryan delegation," Corbett replied, then gestured to his wife beside him. "This is my wife Lady Lenora, she will be the head of the group visiting your cities."

Corbett was wearing a dark green suit with gold accents and rubies for buttons. His wife wore a matching dress with gold runes, but they were just decorative and didn't actually do anything.

Behind them stood Lauden and Caera. Even though Corbett was leading the peace talks for Alacrya, Lauden had volunteered to be Alacrya's first ambassador to Dicathen, and would be acting as his fathers aid for the negotiations. Caera on the other hand had volunteered to join her adoptive mother to see Dicathen out of her own curiosity and to see her friend Tess again.

Lauden wore a suit similar to his fathers, but a little less flashy. Caera wore a black dress with white sleeves, that had an opening at the top that showed off her ample cleavage, and had a single diamond shaped ruby at the base of her neck.

"It is an honor," Virion replied with a bow of his head, and gestured for Tess to step up. "This is my granddaughter Tessia, she will be guiding your wife and her group throughout the cities."

Tess stood beside her grandfather and curtsied. "Lady Lenora, if you would like you and your group can be shown to your rooms to freshen up, or we can proceed to our city for today."

"Let's begin now then," she replied with an aura of superiority.

She was assigned this task by Seris, but she didn't want to. Even though she agreed the Dicathens weren't barbarians, she couldn't imagine seeing anything that would interest her in the slightest.

"Very well," Tess replied with a smile, then looked to the guard at the controls. "Set the destination for Zestier."

The shuffle then began as the delegates separated from the group going to Zestier. As this happened Tess passed by Caera's step brother Lauden, who turned back to check her out.

Caera jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Please keep your eyes to yourself. You don't want to be the cause of an international incident," she uncharacteristically scolded.

"Excuse me?" He asked, confused. "What's wrong with looking?"

"Normally nothing, but you don't know the implications of looking at her like that."

"Do tell," he replied curiously.

"Her proper name is Princess Tessia Leywin."

He took notice of the name, it was familiar but he couldn't place it. Regardless Caera continued.

"As in General Arthur Leywin's wife."

It now clicked with him and his eyes went wider in realization. Thanks to Seris Arthur essentially became a legend throughout Alacrya. Unbeknownst to anyone else at the ball, she had recording artifacts placed throughout the room that recorded the entire battle, and she later played it back for all of Alacrya to see.

For Lauden however this had other implications. The highbloods were aware that the Lances were supposedly all bound to an artifact to ensure their loyalty to the council, however Arthur was not bound to any artifacts. He kept himself in line through self control and loyalty to Virion and the Eralith family. It was suspected by the highbloods that the main reason his marriage to Tessia was allowed despite his commoner background, was in an effort to keep him under control. This meant that if anyone did anything to her that he didn't like, there was no force in Dicathen or Alacrya that could keep him in check.

"Thank you for the warning," Lauden replied graciously.

Carea nodded and proceeded to follow Tess as part of the group going to Zestier.

"Now if you will all follow me, I will show you all to the room where the negotiations will be held," Virion stated, as he gestured to them to follow.

——————————————————————-

The Alacryan and Dicathen representatives entered a room with a long wooden table lined with chairs. The Dicathen representatives sat on one side, as the Alacryan's sat opposite them. They all formally introduced themselves, and the talks began.

"Allow us to begin," Corbett stated as he pulled out a stack of papers, as did the other representatives, and handed them across to the Dicathen representatives. "Here is our preliminary offer. Of course the amount has some room for negotiation, but not much."

The Dicathen representatives all looked over the papers, and became shocked at the amount of gold they were offering. The amount of gold was listed in the form of coins, but also included weight for ease of understanding.

"I'm sorry, I'm guessing the value of gold in Alacrya is different from Dicathen, but this amount would cripple our economy," Alduin stated bluntly.

"Surly it isn't that bad," one representative commented.

"Oh it is," Arthur stated while flipping through the papers. "The sudden influx of this amount would throw Dicathen into a recession that would take years to recover from. And honestly," Arthur put the papers down. "I can't find a single thing on here that we could approve of."

"Young man," another representative stated. "I'm sure on the battlefield your opinion is held in a respectful regard, but in matters such as this..."

"Please shut up," Arthur stated flatly. "Even though I am the one speaking now, council member Alduin was the first to point out this problem, so don't talk down to me as if I don't know what I'm talking about."

The representative was clearly flustered by Arthur speaking to him, but the other representatives took note of Arthur and that he wasn't wrong.

"To be honest we expected something like this, and prepared our counter offer."

The Dicathen representatives slid over their papers. The Alacryan's began looking over them with intrigue, this was not some list of demands like they expected, but a thought out plan.

"Trade between our two continents?" Corbett questioned as he looked. "Imbuers? And ascender instructors along with acenders? Do you know what you're asking for?"

"Yes, and we have our own relic tomb now, recently discovered during the war," Arthur replied. "Based on the information we gathered, we built a sort of makeshift training for our existing adventures so they could ascend, but if we are to do this long term, they will need proper training, as well as escorts for their initial dives, at least until our adventures have sufficient experience to take over."

"Adventurers?" One of the representatives questioned. "Aren't those the people who would enter your beast glades to hunt mana beasts? Do you honestly think sending people who only know how to fight into a relic tomb is a good idea?"

"That's why they need the training. Because of Agrona's plan of using mana beasts against us, many of the dungeons have been cleared. As a result, there aren't enough mana beasts to hunt unless they go deeper, which multiplies the risk drastically, eventually to the point where it would be dangerous for even a lance to enter."

"Well what about the imbuers?" Another started. "You say you want trade, why don't we just trade artifacts?"

"This goes right back to the beast glades." Arthur continues. "Our way of artifacting relies heavily on beast cores, and some mana beast parts. But we've come to learn that you don't have that same limitation. Hence we would like you to teach our artifacters how you do things."

Corbett rubbed his eyes with one hand. "What in the world was Agrona thinking?"

"About wiping out most of our mana beasts? Simple, the same reason why he did it in Alacrya. He claims he did it for your protection, but in reality he wanted to force a large number of mages into the relic tombs to look for relics," Arthur answered. "Dicathen has two relic tombs as well, and he probably either knew where they were, or at least how to find them. Right now we're only focused on the one, but eventually we'll even be forced to use the other as well."

The delegation was now realizing why Seris agreed to make reparations. Because of the war Dicathen was a mess. They may be ok now, but even their leaders saw the storm coming. Without their help Dicathen was on the path to collapse.

"One year," Arthur stated, seeing the look of understanding on the Alacryan's faces. "We've put several projects in the works to keep our citizens gainfully employed. And while the ones to restore our damaged farmland will result in long term results, the ones we are using to help our adventurers will only work for a year at most. After that the jobs we've created will begin to dry up. When that happens we can't even predict what will happen with the adventurers. The relic tomb is our biggest hope. Even if only half of our adventures can pass the training, that will greatly relieve the burden on the beast glades, and give those who can't complete the training a chance."

Corbett looked at Arthur impressed. This was not some script he was going from, or just repeating what the council members had said, he clearly understood the situation and everything he was saying.

"Very well," Corbett said, taking control of the talks from his counterparts. "Considering the gravity of your need, we will not only agree to the terms for aid with training both ascenders and imbuers, we will also relay this information back to Alacrya to find suitable personnel to begin, and gather the needed materials. Though a space for all this will be required."

"Xyrus Academy was shut down when the war started when the director was discovered to be one of your spies. It was once the largest and most prestigious academy on the continent, so it should fit the needs for space," Arthur stated.

Even though they all saw it, only one realized, all of the talks were not with council, but a nineteen year old general.

"I was right about him, he's not just a prodigy when it comes to combat and mage craft, he could no doubt run this entire continent, no, both continents with a wisdom that could lead to a whole new area of prosperity for everyone," Corbett thought to himself.

"We also need to discuss the return of our war ships you captured," a horned Alacryan delegate stated.

"Those ships are spoils of war, you aren't getting them back," Marcus replied sternly.

"Those ships were built with the hard work of Alacryan laborers!"

"And were based off the Dicatheous, our ship we sent in an effort to make peaceful contact," Priscilla pointed out. "Perhaps you should be returning the crew to us, as we have already released all of our prisoners. Or is the crew already dead?"

"We know nothing of a Dicathian ship ever reaching our shores," the same delegate said, in a manner that was clear he was lying. "But I would be happy to bring the inventor who created the steam engine, and have him meet and go over the design to prove it is of our construction."

"No need," Arthur said coldly. "I've already looked over your design, and even though there have been some minor changes, that is clearly my design."

"You designed the steam engine?" A female delegate asked.

"It was a joint project with myself and our continent's leading artifacter. But I made the base design, and worked with him to make needed modifications to accommodate for the ship, and with testing for proper materials needed during its construction," Arthur explained.

"I must make a connection with him!" Corbett decided.

"The ships were never intended to be used after the war anyway, so we'll forget about them," Corbett said, ending that topic. "As for trade, that will clearly take more time than we have this week, going over and seeing goods produced by both continents and agreeing upon value. Also figuring out a method for transporting them over the long distance, since long range teleportation gates aren't exactly reliable for long term heavy use."

"Those ships do provide an option. Even though it takes a while to travel between continents, it wouldn't be too difficult to build ships with large enough cargo holds for the journey," Arthur suggested.

"Still, that's three months," one of the delegates pointed out.

"Yes, but after looking at your maps and talking with the crews, I've come to realize you weren't going with the currents. It may take some time to properly map the currents, but we may be able to cut some time off of the voyage."

"You're a very impressive person, General," Corbett praised, then leaned forward in his seat. "Did you know that there are several old Alacryan traditions that, because of Agrona, have nearly disappeared?"

"Really?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where's he going with this?"

"I think I know," Regis teased.

"Care to enlighten me."

"Nope. Your reaction will be ruined if you see it coming."

"Yes. In the past, there used to be small wars between bloods over various disputes. Each side would amass their own forces, and would essentially go to war with one another. Of course Agrona put an end to this centuries ago, saying that that was a waste of life, so duels ended up taking their place."

"It seems Agrona and I can agree on something, but what's your point?" Arthur replied.

"With the intention to settle any future disputes, and to hopefully mend relationships between the bloods, a marriage would be arranged between their children."

Arthur looked to the other highbloods, who nodded in confirmation of this, some wearing exasperated expressions.

"Please tell me he's not about to suggest what I think he is."

"Oh he is."

"Well this is a lot bigger than a war between two bloods. But are you suggesting a marriage between a Dicathen and Alacryan in an effort to solidify this peace?"

"I am. In this case, high ranking individuals of bloods involved. Seeing as my bloods ranking is the highest in Alacrya, I am offering my daughter."

"And you would want us to offer a male of equal status?"

"That's correct."

"Hmm, we'll the only person I can think of that is closest to her status, age, and is eligible would be Lance Wykes."

"As suitable as I'm sure he is, I had someone else in mind."

"Oh, here it comes!"

"General Leywin, I am proposing a marriage between you and my daughter."