"As we heard the other day, my Uncle will be making some public announcement and according to Vorenia, he will be inciting a rebellion with it. Having consolidated his main force he plans to start his rebellion. The army will be moving from the South Sea border, right beside the Ponte Mare."
"Ponte Mare?" I ask.
"It's the crossing between the continent of Lausiel and the neighbouring continent of Mons. During the low tide, it is possible to reach Mons by foot if you're fast enough from the Ponte Mare. Mons is actually the name given to the land by the people of Lausiel, no one actually knows what the inhabitants call their land. It is my understanding the in the past there have been many attempts to conquer Mons, but the Empire was never able to breach past the shores. The Land is--"
"You don't need to explain further, Lia. More importantly, I hadn't finished nor gotten to the best part yet," Aurelia says before continuing, "While the path they're going to take isn't completely certain, given the starting position, there is a very high chance they will pass through the domain of Lord Gaoh and I want to make that area the battleground."
The other three people in the room give Aurelia an expression that clearly asks, 'are you crazy?'
"Are you crazy?" Lia asks.
Oh, she just came out and said what we were all thinking.
"Hear me out, my Uncle and his forces are not going to want to stay in the area for long and will likely speed up their march to leave as soon as possible. This is due to the general perception that everyone should stay away from the Mountain of Storms and its surrounding area. I intend to stall them and drag Lord Gaoh into the conflict. Even with us being stronger than most of their army, we are still vastly outnumbered so to compensate, I'm going to bring Lord Gaoh into the fight."
"But, my Lady, how are you going to ensure that the Ursine Lord doesn't attack our side as well?" Vorenia asks.
"Easy, I intend to go up and ask him for help."
"That sounds easier than it really is. The only reason we had assistance from him previously was because of the deal he made with Cory and she was the only one to really get anything from him," Lia says.
"No, it really is as easy as it sounds. He only goes berserk once every week and he is otherwise pretty easy to talk to. I even used to go to his mountain and play over there when I was younger. Although, my mother usually accompanied me and he always seemed nervous around her. But I think I can convince him to help. If we have his help we don't need the levies of Maia and can keep them around to guard the city and we can fight off my Uncle's army with just us, my personal guards, and the handful of former Legates we recruited. We are heading off to see the big bear tonight, so be ready."
Saying all she felt she needed to Aurelia starts to get up, but is paused as the rest of us yell out, "wait!"
Aurelia stays silent for a moment before nodding her head, then saying, "it's just as I said, tonight we will be leaving in secret to visit Lord Gaoh to asks for his help. If your worried about palace operations then don't be, I will be leaving behind a doppelganger to manage things here. It only has half of my strength, but it should be sufficient."
"I mean, that was one of my worries, but that isn't really the point..." Lia says.
"What are we going to do if he is in a berserk state when we meet?" I ask.
"We wait it out, simple really. It feels like you all don't want to see Lord Gaoh... oh, you really don't want to. Too bad, the three of you are coming with me. Vorenia and Cordelia will actually be useful if he is berserk when we meet, as for you Lia... a bonus I guess. Vorenia is fast enough to outrun Lord Gaoh, so she can keep him distracted and Cordelia can help me slow him down if needed. Lia can just sit on the side and watch I guess."
"Putting this issue aside for now since you don't seem to be changing your mind anytime soon, we've been working together for a while now, right? So isn't it about time you do something with that poor attitude you have with me?"
"Hmm... I'll think about it. Anyway, we will be meeting at the palace entrance tonight after we eat, being late will result in punishment," hearing her words, Vorenia blushes slightly, "except for Vorenia."
Is this really the same person from last night? What the hell happened!?