[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
...
...
It wasn't just Temeria receiving news from Cintra; in Redania, at the royal palace, a man sat on his throne like King Foltest, listening to people talk about the south. However, instead of a soldier messenger, this person was a mage.
"So you're saying that when you went after the girl, she fled?" the man with a crown on his head, despite his youthful appearance, murmured with a tone of dissatisfaction, looking at his court mage, whom he had sent to Cintra to hunt the girl.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't catch her; after all, when I arrived, the room was empty... King Radovid," the mage spoke with a tone of apology.
"You know... Philippa..." He began in a tone quite characteristic of the man known as Radovid the Stern, the fifth of his name and king of Redania, where the famous city of Novigrad was located and also the cradle of a new faith arising, still too young to be considered a real religion, known by some as the Sacred Flame.
"I believed that when I heard of Nilfgaard's march north, I expected a great opportunity, that Cintra would suffer greatly and even fall... but I needed an important piece for my ambitions, after all without the princess... I can't achieve anything I plan... you know how furious I must be with you, don't you, Philippa...?" He said in the same dangerous tone throughout the conversation.
Philippa lowered her head a bit more, not wanting to draw the ire of her king, even though she was a respected mage, she still had limits and she could not afford to infuriate a king further.
"I apologize for my mistake; after all, I was late, but I can manage to locate her after collecting some of her belongings from her room," Philippa commented.
"Do you think you can manage with that?" Radovid asked curiously, letting his dangerous voice slip.
"Yes... I will... I'll do my best to achieve it," she said.
"Well... if you can rectify your mistake... I'd be interested to see that..." Radovid spoke at the end.
Radovid was someone skeptical and hostile towards mages, but he could not deny that they could be a useful tool, just as he saw Philippa, merely a tool for his ambitions and plans.
These conversations were not limited to Temeria and Redania; in Kaedwen, King Henselt demanded explanations from his mages after sending them to Cintra, not having the success Philippa did, demanding they immediately search for the princess, whom he also had interest in. The same could be said of King Demavend III of Aedirn.
At this moment, everyone in the north already knew of the War of Cintra, while Kovir and Poviss also discussed the entry of the black soldiers into the north, though they did not seem very interested in Cirilla, believing that the girl would soon be dead, if she wasn't already.
Back in Redania, numerous mages were gathering in Aretuza, Triss stepped through her portal while the sound of waves crashing against the rocks beside the school could be heard, and she looked at the place where she had spent the first decades of her life, before leaving to serve at some court serving a king.
Triss looked at the huge bridge leading to the island of Thanedd, where the school of magic, Aretusa, was located and where almost all the mages of the continent were trained. She sighed and began walking toward the place, as some guards in front of the gate looked at her surprised before opening the gate for her.
"Lady Merigold," one of the guards said, recognizing the girl.
"Thank you," she greeted them out of courtesy, despite not knowing their names, after all, mages hardly cared about the names of people beneath them.
"There are many mages already there; they must be waiting for you," another guard spoke and Triss entered the bridge and finally entered the school after a walk.
She didn't linger long, walking in silence until she began to meet her first robed colleagues. They were in a corner, seemingly having a quite heated conversation. Her presence was quickly noticed as they looked towards Triss, but despite the red-haired mage being quite well-known, not everyone knew her.
They just looked at her and returned to their conversation without much care, and Triss continued her way until she met some people and one in particular.
"Triss! It's good to see you," said Margarita upon recognizing her immediately.
"How long, Margarita." Triss murmured.
"Yes, I stayed still at the school and you never came to visit us again," her friend said with a smile. "It seems that being at the court of Temeria is taking up so much of your time that you can't even come here." She spoke with a smile.
"Don't talk like that, I just haven't had the time," Triss replied amicably. "So much so that I'm here only because of the situation in the north..." She commented as her friend became serious at this moment.
"Yes... things aren't going very well, all the kings of the north are quite worried to know that Emhyr has put his black army in place and invaded the north, destroying Cintra in just a few battles, not that I blame them, 70,000 black soldiers... who could deal with that on their doorstep?" She murmured.
"I know," Triss told her friend. "I'm here to meet with Yen, so I'll be waiting for her to discuss some important matters," she spoke in a calm tone.
"I understand. Anyway, let's go see the others. I'm sure Director Tissaia wants to talk to you." Margarita said.
Triss nodded and followed Margarita through the corridors. It was at this moment that another acquaintance of Triss crossed paths with her in the corridor.
"Triss! Good to see you, my sister," Keira Metz looked at her surprised with a big smile on her face. "It's been so long!" She hugged her after months without speaking to each other.
"It's good to see you too. How are things in Redania?" Triss asked.
"Not good. Philippa isn't even here. King Radovid kept her tied up on a task, and it seems to be about the princess of Cintra," Keira spoke as Triss frowned, but not too surprised. After all, it wasn't just King Foltest who would be interested in Ciri.
"Anyway, come on, we're going to talk to the others," Margarita said, and the other two mages followed.
They began walking through the school until they finally emerged into a large open space, like a debate hall, where dozens of mages were gathered at that moment, talking and discussing everything that was happening in the north. Among them was Tissaia de Vries, the director of the school and the one who trained Triss and many others there.
The woman noticed their presence and left the company of some other mages and approached. "How have you been? I would like to know what King Foltest decided to do." She spoke, as she hugged Triss.
Triss greeted her while beginning to exchange a few words about what Foltest said after Tissaia created a space so no one could hear her there, while Keira and Margarita moved away, this was a bit inappropriate, but Tissaia wanted to know exactly the decisions of the kings before starting the discussion.
"So you're waiting for Yennefer..." At the end, the director cancelled her spell and asked.
"Yes... she told me she would be here soon." Triss spoke.
"We will start soon then, and Yennefer will also be here soon," Tissaia said.
It was at that moment that the door opened. "Are you looking for me?" Yennefer said as she entered the place, making a small presentation with a smile.
"It's good that you're here," Tissaia de Vries replied, greeting her. "Let's begin," the director spoke at the end.
Yennefer nodded, though she cast a glance at Triss. "Looks like we'll talk later..." Yennefer commented.
"Attention everyone!" Director Tissaia de Vries exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention. "Let's begin. Call everyone who is outside, it's time." She ordered, while some mages who were still outside began to enter the place quickly.
As soon as everyone was ready to start, the director looked at everyone. "Well, as you know, the north just lost Cintra, and Calanthe is dead, with the armies of Nilfgaard beginning to move through the fallen kingdom, while advancing towards Sodden." She began as most had an unpleasant face. "Therefore, today we have come to discuss which direction Aretuza should take and which side we will choose." she looked at everyone.
"We cannot let these barbarians invade the north! We must expel them, Aretuza belongs to the north, and so it shall remain!" One of the mages murmured immediately.
"Yes, we must fight for the Northern Kingdom!" Another mage exclaimed, agreeing with the first as if this were not something to discuss because it was very obvious.
"There are mages who studied here with the Nilfgaardians, fighting among them in their ranks. They should be cut from the order!" another mage suggested.
"Just because we are working for Nilfgaard and have taken their side, doesn't mean you can just banish us!" a voice emerged at the entrance of the hall. A group of mages appeared at this moment, and they were none other than mages working for the Emperor, with Fringilla.
"You dare step here?" someone exclaimed angrily.
"We are mages of Aretusa like you. Don't be angry just because we are on the winning side," one of the mages there, taunted.
"What did you say, you Nilfgaard whore...?" Someone exclaimed.
"The Emperor Emhyr will win this war, you should simply ally with him, after all, the north will soon belong to the empire," another mage from the group said.
"To hell with you and your emperor who is committing a massacre on our lands..." The discussions began to get quite rough, while someone intervened before it could turn the place into an uncontrollable shouting match.
"Silence!" The director immediately requested. "When we formed this institution, we took an oath. And we are all part of Aretusa, no matter which side we follow," the director spoke, while the Nilfgaard mages seemed to smile. However, Tissaia de Vries continued before anyone could say anything.
"But that does not change the fact that, clearly, it was Nilfgaard who initiated the aggression against the north, and today we will debate which position Aretusa should take. Remembering that the position with the most votes will be the one decided," the director faced the Nilfgaard mages with a cold look, while they seemed a bit lost.
"May I also participate in this?" a new voice emerged, and everyone looked towards none other than...
"Vilgefortz of Roggeveen..." Tissaia murmured as the mage now appeared at the entrance.
"What's the matter Tissaia? Am I not welcome here either?" He asked with a smile as he approached them.
"Be it, just choose a place to stay and don't interrupt if it's to talk nonsense." Tissaia spoke, knowing this character all too well.
"You hurt me like this, Tissaia," He spoke, but did not insist, while waiting for the discussion to start.
"This guy is up to something..." Yennefer murmured next to Triss while knowing that Vilgefortz seemed to be playing here, the mages of the Nilfgaard party did not seem very close to them, while they did not even look at each other, but according to rumors Yennefer knew, this guy had a strange contact with Emperor Emhyr.
In the end, Tissaia began talking about everything that was happening with Cintra and the south, while Nilfgaard continued marching, speaking in a neutral way. Until she looked at each of the people there and sighed. "Now after telling all this, we must choose, choose the north or the empire," she spoke in the end while the voting was about to begin.