Beyond the Void

Chapter 57, Effort

of Shattering 298 - The Draig'yar assault New Gaea again. Chronicles suggest that the D'yer, fearing that the Humans would tamper with an ancient construct, tried to warn the Draig'yar. Instead of fleeing, the Draig'yar launched an all out attack on New Gaea, attempting to bring a swift end to the conflict. 

An excerpt from the diary of Pia...

KELDIN

Three moons and five tens since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

"You have a letter, your highness." Keldin did not raise his head. He was already occupied with another.

"Leave it in the pile I haven't read yet." In an attempt to keep up with the correspondence and other work, Keldin tried to keep his desk as organised as possible. It only meant an ever growing pile of letters he had not even opened yet.

Should he hire a secretary? Navvar, Tennver and Doldir had told him to keep the auxiliary staff to a minimum. He could get a slave, that would solve the security problem. But that meant giving Sool a minor victory.

"It's from the Pelesi Princess." The royal guard pushed the letter under Keldin's nose.

Immediately he discarded the impossibly long letter from some village elder near Shadowwatch complaining about a group of outlanders and ruthless bloodmages. The Princess was a duty he could not afford to delay.

"Tell me when you have the answer ready. I'll send someone." The guard sighed. "Third letter today. It's not even midday yet." Keldin heard her mutter as she was closing the door.

It had been difficult to meet with the Princess. Close to impossible suddenly. It was already improper for the two of them to meet on their own. Her guards followed her like hounds, everywhere she went. They could only have awkward conversations in that company.

Soon enough, even those meetings became rare. Out of nowhere, a small part of the Princess's family turned up. If Keldin wanted to visit the Princess, he would have to meet her family and bring along his. An impossible feat now. The two of them had resorted to letters.

Even with the awkward and formal atmosphere of their last meetings, Keldin had learned enough about the Pelesi Princess's displeasure. He would not rule alone, but with his Empress. In the heat of the moment, he had forgotten all about it. In his excuse, no emperor had ever included the opinion of his wife to be when ascending the throne. It was difficult to ease the guilt. She had come here of her own accord and she had sought Keldin out to let him know.

Another knock on the open door. Keldin raised his gaze and saw his uncle. It had been a while since the last visit.
"You will get nowhere if you keep reading all the junk people send you."

"You were the one who told me to keep my personal staff to a minimum." Keldin said, disappointed.

"You need one glance to tell if the letter is important or trash. Get a secretary. There are more lawyers in this city than criminals. I shouldn't really complain when you are putting this much effort in it. Your father burns the letters right there if he finds them boring. On a good day, two out of fifty survive."

Keldin stood up and stretched. He felt as if he had been chained to that chair for tens now. He rarely had chances to leave the mansion. The suggestions to their vision for rule kept them busy, revising and constantly making new and better drafts and backup plans or countering the critique sent their way. This was one of the rare days when Keldin had had a chance to attend to his own business.