[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV
Loc Muinne.
...
...
Tissaia's proposal was accepted, while the meeting continued around matters that had already been discussed.
The next subject was the Scoia'tael themselves, elves creating ambushes around the North. Madara stated that he had threatened them in Redania, and that Francesca was forbidden from sending her troops again to attack defenseless humans to plunder.
Another topic that came up was that the kings wanted to know more about the other continent.
Madara only gave answers without going into much depth, saying that the other continent now lacked strength, with most of the members who had entered their continent having been destroyed by Madara.
The bigger problem was finding the portal that connects to the dark dimension. If all the mages of the continent worked together, they should be prepared for anything that might come from that dimension.
In the end, no matter about trying to weaken Madara's power was discussed anymore. They kept silent about it.
In any case, the meeting was adjourned. The kings did not seem very satisfied, but none of them looked at Madara with defiance. On the contrary, they all avoided looking directly at him, since Madara made a point of showing that he did not care about anyone there, and his eyes seemed to invite anyone to try to challenge him.
"Lord Madara, Crown Princess Ciri..." A man in a cloak, with a symbol of the king of Sodden, approached the bench, being stopped by Yennefer and Geralt.
Madara simply nodded for him to continue.
"King Thorne wishes to meet with you to discuss political matters of interest to you and to Cintra," he said.
"Alright. Let's meet outside. It's a bit bad in here," Madara replied.
The kings were meeting to talk among themselves at that moment, some even exchanging messages in secret notes so they would not have to speak and have their words heard by other ears.
Some went to Tissaia; other sorcerers, scholars, and even knights approached the nobles to talk.
The meeting ended up being adjourned, but Madara knew he could not do anything with the king of Kovir at that moment, not there after signing his pact. After all, he still had to keep his word before all the kings...
And the North would not try anything, despite the dissatisfaction of many kings there. Messing with Kovir now would be a shot in the foot, when Nilfgaard was preparing to attack the North again.
'What do you think about this meeting?', Ciri asked Madara through telepathy.
'It's a trap, perhaps... But, in any case, it's good for them to know about the dark dimension,' Madara said.
They began to leave the podium. On the stairs, King Bran did the same and approached them halfway.
"Let's go outside," Madara said to King Bran before they started talking as well, making him nod silently.
They followed after that. Tissaia also accompanied them, while they were looked at by everyone as the center of attention.
"Lord Madara! Lord Madara!" Someone shouted. It was that same old man from the University of Oxenfurt, but he was stopped by the men of Skellige.
"Lord Madara, may I have a word with you?"
Madara looked at him. The man seemed cautious, but eager as well. He certainly wanted to ask many things, and Madara did not have time for that.
"There is nothing for us to talk about right now. I have a meeting with my future allies. Perhaps at another time." With those words, he simply moved forward with Ciri.
Obviously, everyone heard that and also seemed discouraged upon realizing they would not have a chance to speak with Madara.
'They are persistent,' Ciri murmured telepathically.
'That is expected. We just won't waste time on it,' Madara said.
'No one did anything about the king of Kovir. Is it going to stay like this?', she murmured.
'They could have done something if I had insisted. And they will probably do something or call another meeting for it. However, I have something better,' Madara said to his wife.
'Kovir is confident because of its wealth. It's no wonder its influence comes from it.' He added.
'Yes. And the king's coffers must be full… or will be used to being so...', Ciri simply left it hanging in the air as a glint passed through her eyes.
She already knew what he planned to do... "So we will become richer?", she asked in the end.
"More than that. I also intend to take all the contracts with Nilfgaard and make the empire pay me everything they owe to Kovir. I intend to invest in Cintra with that money. At least it is a bit of justice for the fallen kingdom," Madara said.
Ciri nodded, satisfied with that.
They left the temple, but they did not go away. They went to a corner where the sorcerers created some barrier, while King Thorne also joined them. They could not discuss anything inside the place with so many ears, so they did not discuss anything there, they just went outside. After the barrier was ready, Mousesack joined Madara and Ciri.
"How are you?", he asked, while Ciri created another barrier as well, only around the three of them. After all, not even the nobles and men who accompanied the kings should hear the conversations they would have there.
"A few days left, grandpa. A few days and our son will be born...", Ciri replied with a smile, while Mousesack nodded, satisfied.
"That is great, and I would like to go to the temple in the coming days then. It was smart not to show the pregnancy and to use an illusion for that. Not even I could identify this magic."
"Not even Tissaia could. I did it myself," Ciri bragged, while Mousesack looked impressed.
"In any case, you did well. They did not find two kittens to scare, but a lioness and a dragon...", he praised in the end, these two would not be controlled by those men and woman.
"Of course. Our intention here was not to make great changes or demand anything among the kings. It was to affirm our position in the North. To show that Cintra has not died yet and that we are a power apart, that no king or kingdom can control, not even all together. If they are not used to dealing with things they cannot control, then they should get used to it.", Madara replied.
"It was not yet time to intervene in the North with enemies loose. But we need to express that we are still here and that we will act when the time comes."
Mousesack nodded, satisfied.
"Calanthe would be very proud of you, princess of Cintra and future queen of the kingdom."
"Thank you. That means a lot to me, grandpa," Ciri replied in an emotional tone.
"In any case, well… I am sure that you, Bran, and the others have a lot to talk about."
Since they had left the temple, many kings did the same. Their entourages came out through the main door, observing Sodden, Skellige, and Cintra together right there.
In the end, another barrier was raised. Yennefer, Geralt, Bran, and Mousesack, together with King Thorne and another trusted person, gathered for a conversation.
"I want to declare a formal alliance," Thorne began.
"As we had already announced inside, the return of Cintra is welcome. This does not even need to be formalized. After all, as I always say, Skellige will always be a friend of Cintra," King Bran spoke firmly.
"Alright. We have this alliance," Madara said, turning more toward Thorne to see if he needed that to be formalized. There was no reason to deny it.
Thorne knew that Sodden might need Madara's help in the future, but Cintra also had something to gain. As much as Madara and Ciri could display strength together against the entire continent, isolating themselves completely would be political foolishness and would bring unnecessary problems. It was good to have allies. That was how kingdoms functioned.
"And about Kovir?", Ciri asked the two kings.
"Skellige will no longer trade with Kovir," Bran replied, spitting on the ground.
"Well, I do not have it as a country within the continent, but any merchandise from Kovir will be taxed in Sodden," Thorne said.
"I already know how to deal with Kovir myself," Madara also replied, since he had just discussed this with Ciri.
"In any case, this alliance is made. Now let's see what the king of Redania wants before we return home," Madara said, while his eyes turned to the group approaching.
Since they were the center of attention inside, it was no different outside. Many had already left the temple, still wanting to exchange a few words with them, and began to spread around the group, waiting for a chance to talk.
The king of Redania approached with his entourage.
"May I speak in private with Lord Madara and the crown princess of Cintra?", he said formally.
Dijkstra was already at his side, together with Philippa and even Radovid, the crown prince.
"It will not be any problem, as long as it is only him." Madara pointed at Dijkstra. "Leave the rest outside," he said calmly.
This caused a certain discomfort among the king's court. Some looked at the spy with suspicion. To them, it seemed that Madara favored Dijkstra, and none of them liked that — especially Philippa.
But that did not interfere with the king's decision. "Alright, I accept," he decided.
They moved a little away while a shield was created so that no one could hear the conversation.
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Madara, Crown Princess. I hope the last-minute gift was pleasing. I heard later that it was a unicorn and I was surprised, rare creatures," he said, recalling their wedding gift, which the king of Redania had given as a demonstration of good faith.
He had hired a smuggler to deliver something, since that man was in Skellige and could bring a proper wedding gift for the two.
"Yes, it was a unicorn. And one that accompanied us for a while. Fortunately, we found its mother and returned it without any problem. Even so, we thank you for your gift. We will never forget this kindness," Ciri replied.
It was obvious that if they had not received it, the smuggler would have sold the animal somewhere else. So even Ciri and Madara had to be grateful for that. They had grown attached to the little Eira and hoped to meet him again someday, together with his mother.
"I am glad you liked him," the king said in a calm and controlled tone. "I have always wanted to meet you. Many years ago, I heard about an extraordinary child that Calanthe placed in her court. They say she saw talent in that boy," he commented, looking at Mousesack near them.
Vizimir III knew that Mousesack was part of Calanthe's court at that time.
Madara nodded.
"And that boy makes all kings tremble just with his presence... Lord Madara, you know that Redania has nothing against you, right?" He seemed to want to get somewhere with that.
"I know, it seems we have some goodwill coming from Redania, King Vizimir," Madara said.
"I like hearing that. I see no reason why we would become enemies. I myself will take measures against Kovir after the evidence you showed," the king replied, but he did not stop there.
"Even so, I would like to hear some things about you. After all, I heard about your activities in Novigrad," he continued. "They say you established residence there..."
Ciri merely raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Madara nodded slowly. Obviously, the control of Novigrad that he had taken in the last weeks should no longer be a secret. All of Redania should have already heard that the city had changed.
"I am concerned about Redania," Madara began, staring at the man. "I have certain information from the future, and it is dark. I see darkness taking over your kingdom."
"A darkness?", the king asked, curious. He did not seem to take the words completely seriously, but he did not dismiss them either.
"You have a monster being raised in your lands. A monster that is growing every day. I suppressed it in Novigrad. I hoped to slow it down much more, but throughout the country it is still continuing to grow."
Madara paused briefly.
"In the future, Redania will no longer be a place of peace. There will be an internal war. Non-humans will be hunted by the Eternal Fire. This will weaken the kingdom greatly, and it may be conquered by Nilfgaard. Of course... this future happened without my intervention."
"The Eternal Fire...", the king widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing all that and pondered the possibility.
"Yes. I am sure you have already received some information. Humans always try to blame something, and in Redania the non-humans will be hunted. Your hunters and part of the population will believe that all the bad things happening in their lives are their fault, supporting this kind of atrocity."
Madara then concluded:
"That is why I created the Akatsuki."
The atmosphere seemed to grow tense.
In other words, it was as if he were saying that he created the Akatsuki specifically because of Redania.
"In any case, we will stay a little away from political decisions for some time. I only hope you take these words into consideration. You will have a weakened kingdom if you let them gain even more power," Madara said.
"About Novigrad, I intend not to intervene anymore for now. I will have other problems to deal with. I only hope you maintain the same peace that I ended up creating and also continue suppressing the Eternal Fire."
"About the elven hunters, called Scoia'tael, they were all sent away from the country as well, after I threatened them, as I said in the meeting."
Madara paused briefly and then added:
"And one more thing: be careful with your sorceress. Philippa is too ambitious, more than a sorceress should be."
With those words, Madara ended the conversation and returned to his wife.
"Let's go. We have nothing more here." Ciri nodded, and the two left the king and Dijkstra behind.
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