Frenzy & Torch

Chapter 34: A Little Convincing

On the USSR's capital planet, Queen Violet sat in the reception area of a fortified building. The snowfall outside was unrelenting and severe; already there was fifteen inches of it on the ground. She twiddled her thumbs as she thought over what she would say to King Ivan, ruler of Ruskva.

Annabel walked over at that moment, her movements concise like a well-oiled robot. "His Majesty will see you now."

Violet looked at her very closely. "You the one who went toe-to-toe with Councilwoman Marigni?"

"Indeed."

She rose from her seat. "Putting aside nations for a second, how much of a fight did she put up?"

Annabel smiled. "She put up good fight, she's very well trained."

"You half elf like her, too?"

"Yes."

"Are you her clone or something?"

"No, just coincidence, like Elizabet and her capitalist counterpart."

King Ivan was munching on syrniki in a lavish private lounge. His dark brown robes reached down to the top of his insulated boots. He briefly looked away from his food to acknowledge her arrival and wiped some of the crumbs out of his beard. "Queen Violet."

"King Ivan."

"What brings you to this place in the middle of a tundra? I thought you Gladexians needed your 24/7 sunlight or else you'd wilt like precious little flowers."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"The Soviets and I have a mutual interest in stopping your batshit crazy councilwomen. They gave me and my people a place to set up that's closer to the action."

"We're both Gladexians, what the hell sense does it make to side against us?!" Violet could barely suppress her rage any longer.

"You have quite the temper!" he remarked.

"Don't bullshit me, I want an explanation!"

"An explanation? What are you, my mother? Typical Gladexian, you do whatever the hell you want and don't care to look at who you step on until they bite your ankle. Did you bother to see what the rest of the world thought of you dragging us into a war with an advanced civilization?"

Violet found herself lost for words. She had to be honest not just with him but also herself. "No, I didn't."

Ivan was seventeen years her senior, a fact he used to further his argument. "You're eighteen, you've only just become an adult. I can't blame you for your impulsiveness and lack of foresight no more than I can with your hotheaded, warmongering staff. There is panic in the streets and my people are looking for me to do something."

"But how did the Soviets get in contact with you?"

"They simply sent a small envoy to the snowy region of our world, asked if we were communist, and then proposed a deal to stop your soldiers. Can you believe they speak the same language we do?"

Violet crossed her arms. "What could they have possibly offered you to oppose us?"

Ivan took a swig from his glass of wine. "Assured protection for our planet—you can thank me for that later—and a handsome sum of diamonds."

"So the word of people we don't even know and material goods was what you accepted? How long before they go back on their deal and royally fuck us?"

"I don't trust them any more than I trust you. The difference is they actually want to work with me. All I've heard from your nation the last few decades is hatred and fear of Ruskva."