I have re-written this part multiple times already. I have talked of the family being a castle, then of being a kingdom, then of being a collection of individuals. I have tried to ascribe the pack mentality of wolves to family, I have tried to even frame it in terms of objects. To metaphorize it through the idea of a home, a village, a country, a business. And each time, it is insufficient. It is much akin to trying to describe the human soul, or the home, or anything else just as personal.

  So the most detached, impersonal and cold language must be used if the most poetic is insufficient. It is a collection of individuals, within a hierarchy established through a mixture of favouritism, seniority and meritocracy, that treats each other as greater than oneself. The greatest privilege is to be a shield for the unit, the greatest sacrament is to uphold each other’s honour, the greatest sin is to turn away from each other. In context of narcissistic, self-serving and grandiose divinity, it is a logistical impossibility.

  Yet I have proven that family within Divinity can exist.

  Now comes the next part.

  How large can a family possibly be?

  How far can I possibly extend it?

  - Excerpt from Arascus’ Private Writing.

  To think that Arascus had not come here. To think that Fer had not come. To think Kassandora was missing. To think that the only Divine save for Maisara and Fortia was Agrita of Rilia. Iliyal stared at his generals, at the ministers of the Empire, the various bureaucrats of Rilia. At Agrita, who stood full and buxom as she always did, although at least she had the decency to dress up in her own Imperial black uniform. The buttons had been all done up the moment she saw two Divines, half again her size and dressed in the sole armour they had, the ancient plate they wore for the White Pantheon, enter the office in Irma that had been temporarily taken over by the CSC.

  Iliyal’s eyes passed over the Rilian artwork over the wall. A small section of it was of Agrita, although only one piece was knew. That was a piece which showed her off holding a shield over the whole country as ash fell from the sky.

  Well, now that he wasn’t here, there was only one way to go about this meeting. “First of all, I will mention the two elephants in the room.” Iliyal said. “Maisara and Fortia have not yet taken the Imperial vows, Emperor Arascus has gone to assist with the Salvation Fleet.” Iliyal did not know what they said to him for this happen. It was thoroughly out of character, he had left a single voice note explaining he would be away and that Iliyal was trusted with temporary regency over the Empire for the few days it would take to go. But it was not his job to question and it was not even his job not to trust. He had spent too long in this role for such qualms of mind. The silence was once again filled. “So, Maisara and Fortia are Imperial in all but name.”

  He looked around the room at the shocked reactions. Some of the fresh humans, who only knew of the Great War and did not live it, actually had the stupidity to narrow their eyes in suspicion. Agrita’s reaction was better, her breath caught. Menith and Aryon, the generals who had been brought in from the other relevant fronts in Epa, had heard enough wits to not give a reaction. Enough wits and not enough experience. But no one said a word. That, at least, was the smart choice. Iliyal brought out the seal of Arascus that was practically always in his possession at this point. No one seemed surprised. “Although my authority as Grand Marshal permits me to do it, it shall be done in the Emperor’s name. I hereby ordain Fortia, of Peace, and Maisara, of Order, as General-Divines of the Empire, with the same authority as Agrita here.

  It was expected at this point. If someone came into the Central Strategic Council from the military, then they needed to have some modicum of rank. General-Divine was the norm anyway. Agrita took a deep breath. Maisara nor Fortia smiled. No one raised a word nor a hand. A finger did not even twitch. That, Iliyal did not want to happen. Sometimes, Imperial organisation was simply too good for its own sake. Assigning jobs now would do nothing to pave over the distrust. Iliyal knew he would not be able to make them holds hands and stand together, only battle could. But there was no reason not to lay foundations. He sighed and leaned back. “I am aware of the history, recent and old, we are dealing with here. I am aware that Fortia led the White Pantheon invasion of Rilia during Epan separation, Agrita, this is why you have been called in today.”

  Agrita just raised an eyebrow at the elf, she did not take her eyes off Fortia. Iliyal spent more time on the reactions. From what Kavaa had told of the White Pantheon, he expected an argument today. Yet the Goddess of Peace did not even smile. And still, there was silence. Iliyal did not let it last too long. “I struggle to imagine you two seeing eye-to-eye, as well as the ministers of Rilia, but I make it formal now, all of you are under the same Imperial umbrella. The men were starting to take it badly, they obviously were starting to get defensive. Iliyal changed his line of attack. “Fortia, this is not the White Pantheon. You are not the Grand Marshal here. Maisara, you too.”

  “I am aware.” Fortia said. Maisara, thankfully, kept her mouth shut.

  “Orders come from my desk.” Iliyal said, he turned back to the Rilians. “Likewise, Agrita, this is to you, I am not saying you will, but Imperial logistics will be used to support Fortia and Maisara.” Agrita just nodded. That wasn’t the reaction he wanted. He made the language more explicit. “That means Rilian trains, Rilian barracks and Rilian roads will be used to support the Goddess and the army that once invaded you. If you have any issue with that, then this is the time to state your case about the sheer injustice of it.”

  “I am Imperial.” Agrita said slowly, her eyes still not leaving Fortia. “Arda is under threat. The Empire will save it. That is all I can say on the matter.” She took a deep breath and nodded to Fortia. “Apologies.”

  “There is no need to apologize.” Fortia said. “No wrong has been done.”

  Iliyal understood what she meant, the rest of them did not save for Maisara. He had seen it happen when Kassandora, who had stopped Fer’s incursions, simply moved on. She had gone from working with Elassa to working with Anassa, who had once been the Goddess of Magic’s student. It was simply the nature of old breeds who had seen the world shatter to think of Pantheons and factions in the same way that men thought of clothes.

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  This meeting would have truly gone better with Arascus or Goddess Kassandora here, at least they could lead by example. Well, at least they had talked. He was not here to play friendmaker. “Then firstly, Maisara shall be sent to Khmet, she will retrieve the Guardians and Paladins, the eastern Eparika fleet will be placed in charge of retrieving them. If Ashen Skies spread faster than we expect, the Maisara shall march them out east and go through the land route.”

  To be honest, that was the only way it could be done. Iliyal did not know how well the Orders would respond to Imperial commanders. One of the two had to be sent and if one was sent, then one was enough not to bother with Imperial commanders in the first place. Maisara was only soul in the entire room to speak. “It will be done.”

  Iliyal preferred if someone had argued. He wanted to force something. Malam, for all her annoyances and how terrible she was to deal with, could be asked to play a role. She had done so before. Even Fer would know how to prod a question so that it could be explained. Iliyal needed someone to pick on. He gave a dour gaze to Agrita. To his generals. To the ministers of the Empire. And finally, he gave it to Fortia and Maisara.

  And of all people, it was Fortia who caught the fact that the battle was undone. “Imperial commanders are enough if we declare publicly.” If only it was the correct meaning.

  “Arascus is not here to take you and your station can only be done by him.”

  “You possess the seal.” Agrita said.

  “But I am not Arascus.” Iliyal said. “Arascus personally laid the crown on your head Agrita.”

  “I was Imperial by then.”

  “Ceremony and how things are aren’t the same thing.” Iliyal said. “The papers have been signed already, it will not do for the Goddess of Order and the Goddess of Peace to join the Empire without the Emperor present. They are not spirits of local geology.” That shut her up, but it wasn’t the lesson he wanted to teach.

  Blunt force then. If they fell, then they fell. If they didn’t, he could use it to teach. He gave the next assignment. “Fortia will take over my position in southern Rilia. The Goddess of Peace will have one day to fill herself in on the information we have regarding the Eparika landbridge making its way towards Rilian shores, and then Fortia will be tasked with preparing a defence for it. I will provide oversight.”

  The fact that Fortia and Maisara had been invited to the CSC meeting had not broken them. Nor the fact that the Imperial fleet would be used to transport their Orders back to the mainland. But the notion that the most crucial in the whole Empire would be given over to someone who had just arrived? Well, it was too radical a policy for any of them.

  Even Fortia’s eyes grew wide with the amount of responsibility being handed over to her. The men, Rilians and not, civilians and military, furrowed their brows at what had just been said. Agrita was the one who broke the silence, she took a step forward, her brows furrowed, her voice cold. It was as close to a shout as she could manage. “In regards to that Iliyal, would it not be better to have you still remain there?” It was polite, but it was as close as someone had ever come to outright disagreement in the CSC.

  Fortia opened her mouth to defend herself and Iliyal raised his hand. That was not how things were ran in the Empire. “Fortia led the Great War against the Empire, she did well enough that we lost.”

  “Is…” Agrita stood there, searching for polite language. “Is that not the reason she should not be given that front.”

  “I will-“ Fortia began and Iliyal once again cut her off with his hand.

  “Fortia is Imperial.” Iliyal said. “Thus, she is the best choice for this scenario. My role as Grand Marshal is vast, I am not stepping back from leading the defence of Epa, but that is my job. The defence of Epa as a whole. Not the defence of the Rilian coastline. Fortia will manage it.”

  “If I may-“ Fortia began. Iliyal waved his hand. Whatever she wanted to ask for, she could not. This was not council politics. Arguments back and forth mattered little when he had already made a decision.

  Agrita said the words that Iliyal was hoping she would not. She was a child, a Divine of the Era of Pantheon Peace, hundreds of years old true. But Iliyal numbered over one thousand. Maisara and Fortia were around thrice that. “But I have to question whether someone who switches sides like that is the best choice for a front that crucial.” The only way it could have been worse is if she called Fortia and Maisara outright traitors. It was exactly what Iliyal wished for. He launched into it before Fortia or Maisara could get a word in.

  Iliyal could tell from the reactions what was wrong already. “Ladies and Gentlemen.” This was not his lesson to give, Arascus should be the one to give it. Or Kassandora. Or Irinika. But it fell on Iliyal’s lap, so Iliyal would give it. “I will not even pretend to ignore the frustration you have. Fortia and Maisara have joined the Empire, thus, they are Imperial. There are no clean slates to give but if there were, I would not hold them from you.”

  “At this point, their men are just as Imperial as the Goddesses. Emperor Arascus has breached the Ashfront to save Olonia, Tanit and a potential two thousand of the One-Seventeenth Motorized Light Infantry. Five ships have been sent, the Kassandora, Hallin, Zawitz, Kaczaw and Gnydia.” He stared at them. “The Kassandora alone has a crew of two thousand. With the other ships, we have sent five thousand souls to rescue less than half their number.”

  He stared down the table. “By all material analysis, we are making the wrong move by rescuing them. The Kassandora alone is worth more without a crew than the One Seventeenth is fully equipped. But that is exactly why we are sending her. A message is sent, one to the people of the Empire, one to those standing against us. That message is that logical, cold, material analysis is not part of the equation whatsoever. If someone falls under Imperial protection is harmed, then it is treated as if all of us harmed. When Uriamel threatened the Kirinyaan coastline.” Iliyal leaned back and spread his arms out. “And I will be blunt here, the Kirinyaan coastline, at this point, is but a sliver of the Empire, then Elassa and Olephia were sent to tear open the ocean and annihilate their cities. We would have done the same in Alanktyda. It is because we have done the same to Alanktyda that they do not touch us now. It is why the UNN, even though they have every right to hate us, merely bows its head when it receives Clerics and why Kavaa could be sent over there.”

  “An attack on one is an attack on all. To kill a son of the Empire is to kill of a son of mine. To lay hands on any daughter here is to lay hands on any Imperial Princess. To spit on our beggars is to spit on Arascus.” Iliyal summed it up. “When one of us succeeds, we all succeed. That is the game we playing here. I am not asking you to get on your knees before Fortia and Maisara, neither will I ask the same of them. The policy is for anyone going against Imperial will.”

  “I will come, with the full backing of the Imperial military. Anassa will come. Fer will come. Baalka, Irinika, Neneria, Elassa, all the Epan Goddesses, now it will be Fortia and Maisara as well. Every gun in the Empire will be turned onto anyone who thinks they can get away with so much as a single scratch on a single child of ours. Every ship, every tank, every plane we have will make it their mission to crush resistance into dust. And if all else fails, then we shall send Olephia wipe it always.” He turned his gaze from the table to Fortia and Maisara, then to Agrita. “This is what we will do with Tartarus. It is what will happen with Paradeisius as well. By the time this war is done, then if any of them are left alive, they will execute anyone who even thinks of laying a single uninvited footstep onto Arda before they let such a mistake fester.”

  He turned finished, his gaze on Agrita. “Fortia and Maisara will not betray us, because now that they are of the Empire, the only way for them to leave is through opposition to us. I am not going to threaten you, Goddess of Rilia, but remember you are of the Empire as well.”

  The atmosphere in the room had gotten so cold the air could freeze.

  Iliyal met each and every uncomfortable gaze on him and held it directly. From the men. From one Divine. From all the Divines.

  The lesson had been taught.