The council room is filled with the dense smoke of cigars and cigarettes. Cigars had always been customary of ?thalrykk VI at important meetings, and ?nnywella has no intent to break from tradition.
Romyll Dornytter, Alawel Heren, and the handful of his most trusted knights he had invited to the wedding look at her in suspense.
?nnywella breathes in deeply as she looks around the table. She purses her lips, unsure how to deliver the news. It is a single day short of a full maiden since her coronation, and here she is, about to inform these men that they must be ready themselves for war. “I have recently been made aware of both unrest and a thirst for conquest within the court of Drewer Koeh-Styer as well as a desire for the kingdom of Styd?n to become a county under my rule. I will be meeting with Drewer and his advisors on the fifteenth of the next maiden, in hopes of addressing and finding a way to prevent any conflict."
Alawel leans in. “And I assume this is what caused you to pay my daughter’s dowry for Dyder and request the wedding occur on such short notice—to show Styd?n that if they lay siege to my land, involvement from your own private forces will be unavoidable.”
?nnywella nods. While he is not correct about her intentions behind paying the dowry and having the prompt weddings, it was a fantastically sophistic cover. “Verily. I am, however, concerned that this is not enough. Your land sits on a vast wealth of iron, which Styd?n lacks within its borders. I intend to try to have them simply become another county under my rule."
“And what if your meeting fails, and they say no? What then? Do we just wait for them to lay siege to Sc?dstan? I will have little to no time to respond; I can see Styd?n from my window on a clear day."
“If I cannot come to an agreement with Styd?n, I will have Romyll provide you with excess siege armaments from my citadel nearby.” ?nnywella looks to Romyll. "What do you believe to be reasonable? I want Styd?n to see this as a deterrent through visible preparedness, not a threat of war."
"I offered to move troops into the forest nearby, you said 'no'; now you want to directly reinforce a city?" Romyll responds.
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?nnywella runs a hand down her face. She feels that he is trying to paint her as a fool. She had specifically told him that she did not think Styd?n would try anything in the winter. "I'm sorry, Romyll, I should have been clearer: I'm thinking trebuchets and catapults—I want nothing bearing the Herst coat of arms to be involved in this."
Romyll knits his brow and huffs; he cannot argue with ?nnywella's logic—strength deters war. "How about this? I can provide Alawel with five deconstructed siege towers, five catapults, and a trebuchet, in addition to the dowry. I will have all the heraldry removed from them as a precaution."
"On loan or to keep." Alawel asks Romyll.
"On loan, you may have them for as long as it takes for the dispute to blow over."
"I want this to be extremely public. Can you have them in Sc?dstan by the end of the maiden? We can have a military parade."
"That should be doable. I'll speak with Yllwyk [1] later tonight."
"Excellent. Does this work for you, Gekaryna?"
"I don't see why it wouldn't. I think the parade will reach the advisors and work quite well as a deterrent."
Alawel takes a quick puff on the cigar. "And what if they see this as an escalation?"
“I don't believe we will truly know until spring, so let’s not dive too far into hypotheticals; I would like to avoid armed conflict as much as I’m sure—” She pauses, watching as Gul Weks licks his teeth; the look in the Wylh?lmian man's eyes is that of a cellar cat as it looms above its prey. “They will not attempt anything until Wesnyrah’s [2] reign begins; Faerthryne seems to have given us a particularly harsh winter. So, I will be using this to my advantage to find a deal with the Kingdom of Styd?n; between winter and their poor harvest, they are right where I would like them for a peaceful resolution."
She takes a brief look around the table; some of Alawel's knights look disappointed, which is understandable—most train their whole lives for an opportunity like this. "Any questions?"
"Can I take a cigar for Dekhlynn?" Asks Lunynn Finykk.
"Be my guest; you are all free to take one cigar for each of your sons. I apologize for bringing this up the day before the wedding, but I'm sure you can understand the importance. I shall keep Alawel up-to-date with the goings-on. You are all dismissed." ?nnywella watches as the men pick at the cigar like vultures on carrion, but none take more than they should have. This pleases her; if one did, she would be sure to make each put them all back.
[1] Yllwyk Dynkulf (b. 17/12/1008 EotG) is the Marshal of the Siege with in the Herst's private army.
[2] Wesnyrah (pronounced VEHS-nee-rah) is one of the four witches, sister to Morzivayn and Faerthryne.
