The Warlord

Chapter 9: Calthius

The auditorium fills with a stunned silence, the lords and ladies, and even me, sitting on the edge of their seat. Then, slowly, a low, hesitant laugh spreads across the crowd, eventually growing into loud, cackling howls. I myself giving a little scoff at the idea. Letting a warlord attempt to make a peace treaty? With a queen like that as their leader, Serestine is doomed to fall.

My mother leans towards me, and to my confusion, not an ounce of amusement lies on her face. "I find it to be... an interesting proposition. What do you think, my son?"

"It is a completely absurd idea, Mother. Why you are not howling with laughter is really the question you should be asking." My mother does not respond, and instead furrows her brow, staring hard at the parchment Zarul is holding out. "I tell you, Mother, either Serestine's queen is up to something, or she is twice the fool we originally thought she was." Again, I am only met with a hard, gazing stare at the letter.

I turn my attention back to the laughing crowd, each and every one of them clutching their stomachs and wiping tears from their eyes. When I was younger I might have joined them, and though I want to chuckle at the proposition, my mother's perplexing behavior is all I can think about. Does she actually believe that Serestine's warlord is going to come here and make peace with us? No, my mother is not a fool. She must have some ulterior motive that she wishes to hide. Yet as I survey the laughing crowd below me, I wonder if any good will come out of giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"Silence, lords and ladies of Heaven!" Zarul's voice booms across the auditorium, jarring the crowd and even me. The same unearthly hush falls over everyone, and Zarul lays the parchment on the center of the circular table. "We have not had a debate in centuries, but due to the disagreement between us, the Top Order, we must ask the lords and ladies to vote instead. As I have said before, the proposition presented to us by the queen of Serestine is to send her warlord here as an ambassador of peace. She wishes for us to reach a treaty, an agreement. All against the proposition?" I blanch as the entire crowd raises their hand, a few still struggling to hold in their laughter.

Zarul turns towards the other gods and goddesses of the Top Order. "The vote to reject the ambassador is unanimous. We must take this to the ruling family." I see disappointment shadow the faces of Malelai, Soranel, and Averith. Of course it would be those three, each respectively taking up the sphere of peace, life, and love. The daughters of one of our long-gone primordial gods, Harmony. If the Primordials were still alive, they would have utterly crushed Serestine's little rebellion. But they faded long ago, their power leeched from them and placed in their children: us, the gods. Now my father, war incarnate, must bear the burden of waging war against Serestine, leaving me and my mother to defend his throne.

I sit up straighter as Zarul lifts off the ground, his black wings barely making a sound, Gliding towards us with parchment in hand, he bows at our feet. "My queen, my prince, I ask you to call upon our king. He alone can change the verdict of the lords and ladies."

"I object, Zarul. I have proven to be loyal to the throne, and have kept my position for over an eon, giving me the right to call upon the Law of Substitution. I grant myself the king's powers in his absence through my relation to him as his consort." Careful, precise words, each letter tightening around any loopholes. 

Exasperation creases across Zarul's face for a moment, but then he bows again. He can do nothing against one of our Laws; the rules that govern Heaven in terms of political matters. "Very well, my queen. What is your verdict?"

My mother reaches out and takes the paper from Zarul's hand and stares at it with intent, reading the queen of Serestine's message. The silence morphs itself into cruel, simmering tension, and when my mother speaks, cold shock washes over me.

"I approve the queen of Serestine's proposition."