Edelweiss slowly approached Baldwin carefully, making eye contact with him.
"Hello. I'm Edelweiss." He said with a smile.
Baldwin looked over at the young soldier with a look of intrigue.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Just to talk. What's your name?" Edelweiss responded.
"Grandmaster Baldwin Achard of the Knights Templar. Why do you want to speak to me?"
"I just want to know some of the people here."
"I am not here to make acquaintances. I am here to negotiate peace."
"Maybe I can help with that."
"How so?"
"If I know a little about you, maybe they'll be more fair."
"Very well…" Baldwin indulged in conversation with Edelweiss. The two shared drinks while Maxis spoke with Aldonva and Boscogne.
"What do you think of the war, Aldonva?" Maxis asked.
"I'm fighting because I knew the priest that lived with the Sons of God. We were good friends, and when word of his death got out, I was angry. I knew some of those men, too. I think everything that's happened could have been avoided, though." Aldonva responded. Maxis tensed up at the mention of the Sons of God, and he held his tongue.
"I see. What of Baldwin? Is it true he started all this?" Maxis asked, sipping from a glass of water.
"It is true. As for my feelings about him…" Aldonva leaned close to Maxis and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"I think he's a dung eating fool."
Maxis looked at Aldonva with shock.
"Why do you say that?" Maxis asked.
"He's a white supremacist, and he's using me and Boscogne for our troops only. He's too much of an extremist and makes some of the more agreeable Grandmasters look bad. Most disagree with me, but there are some who think he is unfit to be the Grandmaster." Aldonva looked around and leaned in towards Maxis again to whisper. "There are also rumors that he didn't ascend to his position legitimately."
Maxis raised his eyebrow, intrigued.
"What do you mean?"
"Many believe he killed Grandmaster Roland four years ago."
"Why would he do that? Didn't he die from food poisoning?"
"It would be a perfect cover-up."
Maxis nodded in agreement, and the three continued with their drinking and conversation.
Meanwhile, Edelweiss and Baldwin spoke to each other outside on a balcony outside the palace.
"How did you become the Grandmaster of the Templars?" Edelweiss asked, knowing well of the rumors surrounding Baldwins rise to power.
"Grandmaster Roland was sick and dying of food poisoning. Whatever he ate wasn't cooked fully. As he was dying on his bed, he made me Grandmaster. I miss him... I could use his guidance right now." Baldwin spoke sincerely and somberly as he recounted the story. Edelweiss looked up at him with remorse. "I'm sorry about that. You two must have been close." Edelweiss said, getting closer to Baldwin, their shoulders brushing.
Maxis walked through the doorway that led out to the balcony and saw his lover, in his eyes, attempting to lie with the enemy. He stood a few feet behind them in silence, balling his hands into fists and trying to fight the Iump in his throat.
Edelweiss suddenly pecked Baldwin on the cheek and turned around to leave when he was met with Maxis standing there. Maxis and Edelweiss locked eyes for a moment, and without saying anything, Maxis left.
Edelweiss ran to catch up to Maxis to explain, and Baldwin stood there on the balcony.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, utterly confused and disgusted, wiping his cheek off.
Baldwin leaned against the stone guardrail of the balcony and suddenly hatched a plan.
"Based off of Maxis' reaction, those two are in an unholy union. Maybe I can play along with Edelweiss and drive him to madness with heartbreak, rendering him unable to strategize or think clearly. A general that is too focused on his emotions cannot win a battle. Maxis will be broken and unfit to lead, and they'll find someone else to lead the war." Baldwin thought to himself as a smirk formed on his face.
Edelweiss ran to catch up to Maxis, who walked through the halls of the palace quickly to get away from Edelweiss.
"Maxis, wait!" Edelweiss yelled, his voice echoing through the dimly lit and unoccupied space of the palace.
Maxis stopped. Without turning around or looking at him, he spoke to Edelweiss sternly.
"Why do you continue to do this to me? I have remained faithful to you all these years, I have killed scores of men for you, I have carried you through blizzards and held you in the winter nights, I have suffered greatly for you and you continue to be unfaithful." Maxis said, holding back tears that Edelweiss couldn't see.
"We aren't married, Maxis." Edelweiss said simply, as if he'd said this a thousand times before.
"So everything has meant nothing?" Maxis said angrily, turning around with tears rolling down his cheeks. "Baldwin is a murderer and a madman. How could you choose him over me? what does he have that I don't, money? Power?"
"Maxis, I was just using him for information, I-I don't love him at all." Edelweiss stumbled over his words, accidentally revealing his true intentions despite not saying them explicitly.
"Leave, Edelweiss. Go to our home and pack your things. I am done with this, I'm done with you."
Shocked, Edelweiss stood still as Maxis walked away. The moon shone through the tall glass windows and onto Edelweiss' face.
He left the palace and rode all the way to his shared home, packed his clothes, and left.
During negotiations, Maxis glared repeatedly at Baldwin, who sat down on the other side of the long dinner table in the kings main dining hall.
"We are willing to give up our chapters in Middle Tahl and the Hospitaller garrison in Arnestown. However, I will not give up my headquarters at Fort Bruford, and Aldonva and Boscogne will not give up their Headquarters in Frostgrad." Leopold said to King Bryce.
"We also will not give up our headquarters." Grandmaster Tiberius of the order of St. James. Every grandmaster in the room began interjecting, demanding that their headquarters remain where they are. In Middle Tahl's territory.
As all the Grandmasters began clamoring and speaking over each other, Maxis yelled for order, and they were silenced.
"Who of you have chapter headquarters in Arnestown, Catoosa, Tahlequah, or any of the other towns in Middle Tahl?" Maxis asked the congregation. In response, Tiberius, Hermaeus, Baldwin, Leopold, Boscogne, Aldonva, and many other Grandmasters stood up.
Maxis looked around and sighed when all but a handful of Grandmasters stood up. "How many of you have chapter headquarters in Tahlequah, Arnestown, or any of the towns close to them?" Maxis asked.
In response, many of the Grandmasters sat down, leaving only Grandmaster James of the holy Sepulcher, Tiberius, Hermaeus, Grandmaster Jethro of the Livonian Cross, Grandmaster Cavalera of the order of Santiago, and finally Grandmaster Ulrich of the Crusaders of the Red Star.
"Alright, how does this sound? All of you standing up have to leave your headquarters and establish them elsewhere. They can't be in Middle Tahl." Maxis said sternly. The Grandmasters began to bicker again, and the king whispered to Maxis.
"You may go now, I will handle this situation." Bryce said to Maxis.
"Are you sure, your highness? Leave you here with these dogs?" Maxis asked.
"I'll be fine, Owaine and Tos-Que are somewhere in this room with rifles loaded." Bryce reassured with a smile.
Maxis looked a bit concerned, but he nodded and left the palace. Maxis mounted his appaloosa and quickly rode through the dark streets. The cold wind snapped against his face as he rode harder, fighting back tears in his eyes. He rode through the streets of Middle Tahl and out into the pine forest that surrounded the city. He wept as his horse carried him through the wilderness and snapped twigs loudly under its hooves.
The appaloosa scaled the steep, rocky hills and finally brought Maxis home. Edelweiss' horse was gone now. He dismounted and stepped through the threshold of his empty home. He looked around in the darkness, the pale moonlight being the only source of illumination as it shined through the glass windows of the cabin.
He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down as he tried to cope with what he had done and said. He regretted kicking Edelweiss out already. "Maybe he was right. Maybe I'm irrational." Maxis thought to himself, trying to understand his lover.
"We aren't married, he's right... I need to find him and apologize. He's the only one for me, the only one I can ever love and the only one that can ever love me. I need him. Without him, I am nothing and feel nothing."
Maxis ran out of his house, lit a lantern, and mounted his horse again, quickly galloping down the dirt path that led into the woods. Shouting Edelweiss' name as loud as he could, he wept and screamed in anger and sorrow.
He rode as fast as he could, following the tracks of a horses hooves implanted on the dirt path. In the distance of the forest, he saw a fire burning and immediately rode over to the fire. He dismounted his horse and ran towards Edelweiss and fell to his knees.
Maxis begged for forgiveness, tears streaming down his cheeks. He held Edelweiss and apologized over and over, his words barely getting out clearly.
Edelweiss awkwardly wrapped his arms around Maxis in return and stayed there on the ground next to the fire.
"It's okay, Maxis..." Edelweiss said reassuringly, stroking Maxis' long black hair. The pair got up from the ground and retired to Edelweiss' tent.