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Point of view - Goldora
I said goodbye to Eimin and the Lord, then we rent a carriage; it was me and the League: Lunim, Claude and the team of twenty men provided to me by Hausara six days before. As I have repeated several times, despite being a continent, Aostra was really small, to reach Shiitia, in a carriage, it would have taken one day and a half. So, to come back, in total, I would have taken about four days. I was tired, and I absolutely needed to sleep. Between battles, revolts and reforms I did not have much time to rest, and that would not be the right time anyway, we could have been ambushed at any moment, so I could not distract me. My goal would be to find an alliance agreement with the ruler of Shiitia. Both nations would agree. Avaloria, in that moment, counted its own territories, that of Chromelia and Elandria, with an army of 50,000 men.
Shiitia counted its great portion of Aostra, with an army of 80,000 men.
Triosa counted only its own territory and an army of 30,000 men.
Moreover, only Avaloria intended to carry on the war.
Doing a quick calculation, we would surely have been the next target of the bastard king, we were too vulnerable at that moment... But Avaloria was well aware that if it fought with us, then with Shiitia it would have no hope. Figuring out his next move would not be easy.
If I could make the alliance in time, instead, with an army of 110,000 warriors we would have devastated the Avalorian one, kill the king, and then I would became the monarch of that nation, and finally grant Eimin a peaceful future. We arrived in Shiitia in half a day, but the place of arrival, the ruler's court, was still far away. We then stopped halfway in a hospice offered to us by his majesty himself, who was at the time far away.
I began to speak with Lunim. Meta had told us that we were a problem for his king, but we still did not understand from which nation he came. It could have been Avaloria, but I was once in the army, and had never heard of a sorcerer, and they might as well have deployed him to battle... So I decided to exclude it.
Cromelia could not be, we helped her against Avaloria. We could not have been a problem for the old king. I thought the same for Elandria, we had always been far from the nation of the north-west, and we never thought to attack or defend it. But this would have been true for Shiitia. This would have meant that he should have come from Triosa. It would have made sense, we were indeed a danger to the king of Triosa. But he would have intervened before his death if that had been true. We still had too little information to reach this conclusion.
During the discussion someone knocked on the door. I decided to open it slowly; security would never be too much.
«Are you the king of Triosa?» Asked the woman who had interrupted our conversation.
«It's me. Who are you?» I asked, trying to make a not too proud tone. She was dressed in a rather regal manner, I would not have wanted to present myself impolitely.
«My name is Aleria, I am the daughter of the ruler, who sent me to welcome you until you have arrived at the court, can you follow me a moment outside?» She asked me.
I followed her, looking at Lunim. The place where we were received was a hospice, probably the richest in the area. All the rooms were connected by corridors that flowed into a main hall, a kind of tavern frequented by many aristocrats. As we went out, passing through that big hall, I felt watched, who knows what those fools had in mind.
«Sorry to let you out, but I can't reveal information about the royal family to so many people. Hold this» She put a bag in my hand.
«What's in it?» I wondered intrigued.
«Before the war, Aostra was a united continent, by culture, language and even currency. Only Shiitia uses a different one» She answered with her hands behind his back, putting the rounded tip of the right boot against the ground.
«So you don't use the Crest in Shiitia?»
«No, our coin is called Gem, its value is a little over 7 times that of the Crest» She replied.
I tried not to look too surprised. That bag I had gotten contained coins that were worth so much... They could have kept a family alive for a whole year. We, on the other hand, had come without anything in return.
«Don't worry about anything else. Since you have come all this way, it seemed to us the minimum to pay your expenses. My parents are understanding people. It's not a problem for them» She added looking down.
«I understand, then the king and the queen in Shiitia have the same weight... I now understand why it seems to live in a future era here» I said.
She seemed a little confused. She was not aware of the male supremacy that characterized other nations.
«What did you want to say? Why did you let me out?»
It seemed that she had forgotten for a moment. Shortly afterwards, she replied.
«I should not tell you... But the king and queen are already intent on signing the alliance. The reason they are receiving you is to talk about an even bigger problem» She replied a little scared, looking frightened by the war.
«What would be so bad?» I asked.
She had caught me off guard. I might not have been able to moderate the tone well, but it didn't seem to matter.
«It concerns Avaloria... as you know, the war is now coming to an end. When the alliance between the two nations is established, then there will be the last clash, Shiitia and Triosa against Avaloria. Our army, however, is too large compared to the other, so we have sent soldiers on reconnaissance to the maritime borders of Elandria... Tell me, have you wondered why Avaloria decided to delay the attacks so much?» She asked.
It was true. The first attack had not been many days away from the second. And since the second was not fought, but was a "peaceful" conquest, the third attack should have been anticipated because the army had been reanimated in a short time, and the situation between Shiitia and Triosa was at stake. So I answered her with a nod, she continued:
«Our soldiers saw ships coming from an extra-continental nation, outside of Aostra. This nation would lend soldiers to Avaloria. If all this time it didn't attack, is because it was waiting for the rescue» She finished.
At that moment i understood everything, and not only, the situation had become more terrible than one could imagine.
«Tomorrow morning you will find me outside. I will wait for you, if you get into my carriage we will arrive in a short time at the court. Make good use of the information I have given you. I recommend» She said walking away.