He won, completely and utterly.
What he thought would be the hardest challenge for his conquest of the continent ended in an hour.
The Storm King has taken over Abyssinia.
One nation down, two more to go.
The Zebra nation of the Savannah, Farasi.
And the Hippogriff island nation of the tropical coast, Hippogriffia.
And with one of the Giraffe King's three legendary artifacts already under his control and another on the way, things seem to be going well for our conqueror king.
So well in fact, that when something troublesome finally happened, he was relieved he no longer needed to expect it.
It was during the after-battle feast, organized by the best chefs of the newly official Storm Empire, and the best chefs from the castle of Panthera.
The feast hosted the leaders of the empire, Including but not limited to, King Meowmere, Queen Mittens, Minister Softpaws, Princess Lavender the Hippo, The leaders of The Argonauts, Several of the Storm King's military captains, Lord Strife, and finally The Storm King himself.
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After eating the delicious and most-likely expensive food from the table, the Storm King stood up and tapped his glass to catch everybody's attention.
He sat at the head of the table, on the opposite head sat King Meowmere, trying his hardest to make himself look smaller.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to make a toast," The King began once all the eyes of the feast were on him, everybody chose to remain silent as to the fact that his wine-glass was filled with water instead of the alcoholic beverage it was named after.
"Today, just an hour earlier, our two nations have joined and became one," He said, and the Storm Army side of the table clapped politely to his words, only King Meowmere clapped from the Abyssinian side of the table, ignoring the looks of disappointment from his wife and advisors.
"Play along," Meowmere wanted to tell them, "He won't kill us if we do what he asks, we might even keep our nation," But he knew that he couldn't tell them that at this time, too afraid of interrupting The Storm King.
"And it is thanks to the wonderful work of every single person at this table that such a day could end without bloodshed," The Storm King smiled, and Meowmere forced himself to smile with him, the looks from his advisors and wife searing into him with their unbearable disappointment.
How Pitiful King Meowmere must have looked to the untrained eye, but Both Kings at the table knew that King Meowmere playing along with The Storm King's demands was the only thing allowing him to keep the golden headpiece that laid atop his head.
"And for such wonderful planning, and the genius to tactically surrender without endangering his people, I would like to reward my new friend Meowmere," The Storm King said, and all the eyes at the table moved to the Cat King.
"I will allow you to continue ruling your nation, You may keep the crown on your head," The Storm King told him, and Meowmere gulped the saliva that built up in his mouth, leaving it as dry as a desert. He knew what he was hearing was too good to be true, and he waited for the catch.
"You may keep the nation, but you must dismantle the army, you will listen to every word I say and you will follow it to the letter, any new law you wish to implement will go through me, any change of budget you wish to make will go through me first," He told him, and King Meowmere nodded his head quickly.
"Everything in your nation is mine, from the money to the food, to even the land and the people living upon it," He said, "Make no mistakes King Meowmere, The only reason I am not putting one of my officers in charge of this nation is because it would be too expensive for me to take care of. That does not mean I allow you to do whatever you wish, You are king in name only, do you understand me?"
King Meowmere looked at the eye of the Storm King, all the humor and friendliness from the beginning of his speech were gone, replaced with the cold and hard eyes of a monster, a predator toying with his prey simply to exert his power.
There was no humor, The Storm King didn't find what he was doing to be fun.
He was doing it because he had to, and because of that, King Meowmere nodded his head in understanding and accepted his burden.
Any other tyrant would make fun of him, they would laugh and jeer as his land was taken from him. But not The Storm King, as Meowmere looked into his eyes, he understood that he found a good leader.
Such a paradoxical existence, a conquering tyrannical emperor who was also a good leader.
How humorous.
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It was nearing the end of the feast, when Minister Softpaws stood up and grabbed an untouched glass of wine he kept near his plate, and made his way around the table and towards The Storm King.
The King paused the chat he was having with Princess Lavender to look at what was happening.
"Your Majesty, I would like to give you this drink of our finest wine," He told him, holding the wine class from the bottom, balancing it on his paws.
The King grabbed the glass and moved it closer to his face, Minister Softpaws started to sweat as the glass inched closer.
Before it stopped as the king took a sniff of the wine.
"A peculiar smell, it doesn't seem like grape, what kind of wine is this?"
The Minister's heart almost stopped, the table was silenced as every person turned to look at what was going on, at the edges of the dining hall, the guards stationed near the walls trembled in fear as The Storm King's voice echoed around the hall.
"It- It is Pomegranate wine, your Majesty," The minister answered and his swear started to roll down his face.
"Pomegranate you say? Interesting... And what of this nutty smell? Is it pecan perhaps?" The minster wiped his swear before answering quietly.
"No, It- It is a wine of Pomegranate and almonds," And across the table, King Meowmere almost had a heart attack as he heard what was said.
"Pomegranate and Almonds? A very interesting choice, I'll look forward to drinking this, but, Minister," The Storm King turned to Softpaws and Softpaws couldn't stop the waves of seat rolling down his body.
"You look thirsty," The Storm King smiled as he looked at the Cat Minister's sweaty body and dried throat, "You must be parched after such a stressful day," And The Storm King's next words told him that his plan was doomed to fail.
"Would you like to drink this wine?"
The silence that followed that question was interrupted by a raspy chuckle from the doors to the entrance of the dining hall. Every person in the room turned their head to look at the new arrival, everybody other than The Storm King, King Meowmere, Strife, and minister Softpaws, that is.
"I'm sure this wine will do you good," The laughter grew in its intensity as the new arrival slowly made her way to one of the empty seats at the table, saved specifically for her.
It was like she was watching the best sitcom of her life.
"Your Majesty, I couldn't dare think of drinking this wine," Softpaws tried to turn down the king.
"Please," The Storm King smiled gently and moved the glass of wine closer to him, "I insist,"
"No, As I've said before, this wine is-" He was interrupted by The Storm King.
"Drink it,"
All emotion that was recently in his voice was gone, the gentle smile was replaced with a flat frown, and even the laughter of the new arrival quieted down.
"B-But I-" The Storm King once again interrupted the Minister, "I am no longer asking,"
"Drink The wine," His eyes bored into the minister who tried his hardest not to look at the emperor that sat in front of him.
"I-I mean-" "I am telling you, Minister Softpaws," The Storm king grabbed the ministers shoulder and pulled him closer to where he was sitting.
"Drink the poison,"
And with all the eyes on him, Softpaws moved his trembling hands towards the wine glass, and with a shaky hold, he drank it all.
Not a drop was spilled.
And the shaking of his body grew stronger.
The Laughter of the new arrival returned, louder than ever before.
The glass slipped from the Cat's paws as he fell to the floor, the glass shattering next to him.
And The Storm King turned to look at the King of Cats at the other side of the table, a small smile gracing his lips.
And King Meowmere gulped in terror as he spotted the small, barely noticeable spark of amusement in The Storm King's eyes.
"As I said before, No Bloodshed," He told him before turning his head to look at the laughing arrival, her usually closed eyes open to the world, showcasing the glowing golden orbs that replaced her eyes, her large and heavy shell was decorated with chains and trinkets of gold and silver.
But most importantly, around her neck sat the Orisa Eye, one of the legendary artifacts of King Twiga.
"It is good to see you in good health, Kasa," The King told her.
And the centuries old turtle couldn't stop laughing.
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At the edge of the desert surrounding half of the nation of Abyssinia, a hooded pony left a town of steam and gears, intent to continue her search of finding a way to fix her horn.