Blood, Fire and Steel

Chapter 6

"Someone's here to see you, Your Royal Highness," informed General Beckett

It was only just before 10 o'clock the next morning, but I had already been working for four hours. I was on my second cup of coffee and desperate to go back to bed..

"Who?" I snapped, somewhat impatiently.

"Just turn around."

I was slightly startled by who I saw. A tall, slim girl with olive skin and chin-length, straight brown hair stood among my officers, a gentle smile on her lips.

"Tilda?" I breathed, desperately hoping that this wasn't a tiredness-induced hallucination.

"Nerva!" she yelled, running to me with her hands outstretched.

I fell into her warm embrace, trying to find comfort in this after the events of the last 24 hours. I failed, remembering that Princess Matilda, my very own sister, was putting her country at risk by being here.

"You shouldn't be here, sis," I murmured against her shoulder, "if Magnus finds out, he could declare war against Ursidia as well."

"So be it!" she said, shrugging, "I plan to be your ally in this war. I was going to arouse Magnus' wrath sooner or later."

"No, Tilda. You can't," I pulled away from her hug, looking her dead in the eyes, "I won't allow you to risk your country and your life for my sake. I will face Leonia and Pardia in war alone. Magnus is only mad at me, so let me take the brunt of his anger."

"I'm never going to align myself with that bastard," Tilda snarled, "I will rather die than help someone who turned on his own family. We made an oath that we would always put family first and protect each other, and I haven't forgotten it."

"Look," I sighed, worry fizzling like bubbles all over my body, "maybe it won't come to war. Maybe we can get Magnus to withdraw his declaration."

"Good luck with that!"

"We'll bring damage to Leonia and Pardia, but through more diplomatic ways. Perhaps Magnus and his officials were acting on impulse yesterday when they declared war. You know as well as I that he can be like that. Maybe we can make them all see reason when they see how much they stand to lose."

"What diplomatic ways, Minerva? Freezing their offshore assets? Boycotting their exports? Detaining their citizens? Do you think he hadn't thought about all this when declaring war? Do you think he isn't prepared for it? Magnus is hot-headed, sure, but he's not a fool. If he did something as momentous as declaring war, then he probably thought it out at least a little."

I buried my face in one hand, ashamed that I hadn't thought about all this earlier. I must be more tired and worn out than I thought.

"The only thing we can do is to try to talk him out of it, then. Remind him of our father's legacy and wishes. It's our last hope."

To tell the truth, I was doubtful that this would work. Magnus was never one to be talked out of something, even when he was a toddler. I remembered when he just would not go to sleep if he didn't want to, no matter what anyone said or did. Sometimes Father had to get guards to physically drag him to his bedroom. He was more stubborn than any other person or even animal I have ever met. Still, we were all out of ideas anyway, so what did we have to lose?

Matilda nodded reluctantly, her expression doubtful.

"Fine, we'll try talking to him. There's nothing else we can do," she decided.

"I have to do this alone, Matilda. If we do this together, Magnus will know that you're with me."

"If we have to go to war, I'm not leaving you alone to face four other countries. If I ally myself with you, Diomedia and Serpentia might see strength in numbers and join our side. This way, we will have a good chance of defeating Leonia and Pardia."

Tilda raises a good point. If Diomedia and Serpentia see that both sides are equal in strength, then they might not be so intimidated by Magnus. They might be able to muster the bravery to join us. This gives us all a much better chance of making it out alive while maintaining the relative freedoms that the people and countries have.

"Alright Tilda, you win. Come on, we have a war to prevent."

Half an hour later, Tilda and I were sitting in front of a large screen in the situation room, glaring at the video feed of Magnus with his neat crisp white shirt, golden tie and an impeccably smooth black blazer. Even though I despised him, I supposed that Magnus was handsome by conventional standards. He had a head of short dirty blonde hair, sharp tawny eyes, slightly tanned skin and full pink lips that curved into deceivingly warm smiles. I knew of many people who had been tricked by his good looks alone, but I wasn't one of them. I saw the ugly vile monster that hid under his perfect unblemished skin, and that monster made my stomach twist with hate.

"Good morning, my dear sisters. Matilda, I see that you've decided to join Minerva in the war. I suppose it's even now, isn't it? I wonder who the others will choose," he greeted, flashing his two rows of perfect white teeth in a mocking smile.

"I know you're normally a clear-headed man, Magnus, but-" I began.

"I know what you're trying to say and I can assure you that it isn't going to work. The decision to go to war wasn't a split second decision made on impulse, it was well thought-out and planned. I have been preparing for this war for a decade now. I have a countermeasure for every strategy you can possibly think of. You aren't going to be able to persuade me out of this war, Minerva. Because I know that I'm right. You are too weak to lead the whole world into our future. And your response to my declaration of war has proved me right. Instead of preparing your army to defend your country, you're still trying to negotiate peace. Someone who is so afraid of conflict and death should not be a leader, Minerva."

I glared at the picture-perfect video feed of Magnus, loathing him more by the second.

"Don't lecture me on leadership, Magnus! You think you're such a strong leader, but in truth you're nothing but a sadistic and heartless bastard who doesn't care about the very people that he's supposed to protect. I may be indifferent or even cold to my people, but at least I don't massacre my own people or start wars to destroy the world. Father would be asha-"

"Magnus, you want to honour and protect our father's legacy, right?" Matilda cut in, shooting me a glance that reminded me we were in the process of negotiating for peace, not further escalating the war.

"I know what you're going to say, Matilda, so don't-"

"What you're doing here, it's the opposite of what he'd want. He built this Empire to ensure ever-lasting peace, but you're intentionally and directly breaking that peace yourself. Plus, he wanted us to put each other first, above everything, but yesterday you tried to kill Minerva. You ordered an assassination on your very own sister."

"Father supported the idea of changing and adapting with time," Magnus argued, "if he didn't take the opportunity to build this empire when Emerson Enterprises was strong, none of us would be here. I have noticed, especially in recent times, that Minerva, who is supposed to be an example for us all, has become weaker and weaker, so I'm adapting by trying to get rid of her and taking over myself so that the world will have a strong leader to look up to."

I shook my head, my eyes filled with sadness.

"You were always good at this, Magnus. Good at twisting people's intentions to suit your own purposes. Remember that time you were 16? Father said he wanted 'equal opportunities for all his children', and you used that as an excuse to force your way through the guards and backstage crew to do the speech Father intended for me."

"You're still mad about that? I've almost forgotten it!"

I could tell that he was lying. That speech was the few victories that he had over me. How could he have forgotten?

"No, I'm not still mad at that, but that incident was a window into your twisted, manipulative character."

"Look, if you want to be angry at me, you can do so privately in your own time. I have more important matters to tend to right now. If you don't have anything else relevant to say, then I believe this is goodbye. We're enemies of warring nations now, after all."

He ended the call, leaving Matilda and I in shocked and despairing silence,