Rebirth And Second Chances 151 Parley

She used the uncompromising power of a tsunami. Towering waves growing higher and higher, each more ferocious as she battered at the Sithern. Her onslaught would have devastated my newly built city if I hadn't managed to expand the Sithern's dimension to include the entire Valley. Now, her attacks were meaningless. She was using her command over the vast waters of an entire ocean to batter at the demarcation between reality and another dimension.

Even if she somehow managed to breach the tear in s.p.a.ce that allowed entrance to the Sithern, the waters would still be contained. Swallowed up by the Sithern and added to the Sithern structure or stored as resources to be used when and as needed.

"How have the Seelie not managed to destroy the Unseelie if they are all this stupid?" I asked d.u.c.h.ess Wynne, my voice tinged with Power so that Liotonis heard our conversation. "And wasn't Liotonis supposed to be the monster from the depths that Sidhe needed to guard against?"

"At most, she can lay claim to Unseelie illusions of grandeur. Propaganda, perhaps? The myth, the legend, the Unseelie monster? Reality is so disappointing," I sneered dismissing her and her fury.

I'm not sure if it was my words that dispelled the madness, or if she finally realized the futility of her attacks. But the waves quieted and the harbor that was affected by the tsunami she had summoned calmed, the seabed all but destroyed, the churning waters littered with the detritus of dead life. It would take a significant amount of time for the silt and soil to once again settle and the water to return to the crystal-clear paradise it had been just moments ago.

"I would parlay," Liotonis announced once she admitted that her attacks were ineffective.

"Parley? After you've attacked?" I said voicing my shock. "Is this an Unseelie negotiating tactic? Attack and if you win, might makes right. But if you lose or your attack is stymied it becomes permissible to negotiate?"

"Basically," Liotonis admitted amus.e.m.e.nt tingeing her response. "Why would we attempt to make a treaty or alliance with someone that was weaker?"

"You had to have read the same World Announcements as the rest of the Sidhe. You know I am Ranked King. A fully vested Ranked King in possession of System awarded Regalia. I have claimed my territory and constructed my Capital. What part of that sounds like a Ranked: Princess or Ranked: Earl would be successful when attacking?" I asked.

"I am a level ten Ranked: Princess," she replied. "I would be a Ranked Queen if the Unseelie Monarchs allowed for even the barest hint of compet.i.tion or if I were another species. The Slaugh, Redcap, and Goblins all have their Kings and Queens.

"I have been a level ten Ranked: Princess for eons, the chances of me prevailing in combat against the Morrigu are so small as to be relatively impossible. They have held their Rank and honed their abilities for too long. You know as well as I do that a newly Ranked needs time to come into their Power."

"What do you want Liotonis?" I asked realizing that if I was going to rule the Unseelie that resided in my territory, I would need to muddle through until I understood the intricacies of Unseelie protocol. I couldn't just jail everyone after the initial introduction.

Well, I could, but the Sithern would have to expand vastly to create enough facilities to house them all.

"I would like to ransom Earl Hugo," she admitted.

Ransoming those that had been defeated and captured was a time-honored and accepted method of returning those too highly Ranked to simply kill or keep jailed. At least without significant repercussions. In this case, I didn't see a benefit in agreeing to her request.

[She is probably one of the strongest Powers in your territory,] Caraid said breaking into my inner dialog to share his opinion.

[What you do here, and how you treat Princess Liotonis may seem unimportant, but the eddies of this choice may have far-reaching consequences. Sidhe are used to Ranked ignoring mercy, depending on torture and fear to make their point. You have stated you want a different path.]

[This may be the opportunity to take your first step upon that path.]

"You may be right," I agreed reluctantly, "but I can't be known for acquiescing when confronted by those that have the backing of the strong, that would set an untenable precedent."

[The trick is to allow the ransom but to make it painful. Whatever price you decide on, make Oath a condition of his release. Both his and hers. They and those that have sworn to them will become new Va.s.sals of House Teigh, and members of the Tuatha de Danaan Faction,] Caraid suggested.

I liked that idea. A lot. The carrot and the stick approach had become an effective bargaining strategy because the combination worked. And I knew exactly what to bargain with to get real Oaths of fealty from them, not those sworn under duress.

I decided this discussion required a more intimate setting, not the shouting match of Power that we had been engaged in. Moving toward the harbor, the Roane who I now knew was named Hugo, stopped struggling against the chains of fire and ice that bound him and began following obediently.

When I arrived at the water's edge, I pulsed my needs to Sithern using our bond. The ent.i.ty responded creating a beach-side setting; chairs for the Cernunnos, d.u.c.h.ess, and myself placed in a semi-circle, a grouping that faced another chair for Liotonis, each of us able to sit and face the other in comfort. I would have this discussion take place without the need for shouting or employing [Voice].

If this was to be my first foray into Statecraft, I wanted at least a modic.u.m of dignity.

Princess Liotonis had allowed the billowing fog and sea spray that shrouded her in clothing to calm, allowing her face to be revealed fully as well as her arms and neck. The mist that remained became more body-hugging couture, formed into a shapely gown that used water droplets like diamonds, reflecting the light into rainbows of scintillating colors.

She was a Hag. A nightmare the Unseelie feared. Tendrils of seaweed were interwoven with the few tufts of hair that remained. Her face decayed, one eye hanging uselessly from the socket. Her neck and arms were pockmarked with decay, pieces of flesh torn loose as something had once feasted on her flesh.

Her image was no illusion, it was not an affectation. This is how she truly looked. But this was done by choice. She was a Power. She had the same abilities to heal and regenerate that all Sidhe claimed. If she looked like this, it was done with foresight and meaning. She could heal and restore her appearance but chose to dress the ugly up in clothes of wonder, her decision only emphasizing the beautiful monster that she had become.

I wondered if she even remembered what she looked like anymore, or why she had initially decided that she was content projecting this dichotomy of beauty and monster.

"I extend guest rights," I began addressing her directly. "You are welcome to enter but will bind yourself to those conventions that exist when one enters freely as a guest. You will use no skill or power to harm me or mine, you will leave when asked, and you will make no attempt to divest yourself of spy or minion while enjoying those guest rights.

"Earl Hugo's freedom is the topic of discussion. What ransom is demanded and what you are willing to pay is the topic of conversation. If either party calls an end to this discussion, you will vacate these lands and return to the sea."

___________________

[You have brokered a temporary truce with Princess Liotonis, Mother of Selkie, allow her entrance into Saor o Shlabhraidhean under the constraints of Guest Rights?]

[Yes/No]

___________________

We both agreed simultaneously, System recognizing our agreement. The Sithern knew that Liotonis now was allowed access and opened a rift in the spatial boundary that separated my Valley from the sea.

Motioning for her to take the isolated chair, I seated myself first as protocol demanded. It was only after she too was sitting that the d.u.c.h.ess, Aspen, and Pine followed suit. The three of them were part of my Court, at least for this discussion, but she still out-ranked them.

"You are a Ranked Princess," I said ignoring any further protocol and getting straight to the meat of the matter. "So, you have the ability to invest Earl Hugo and elevate him to the Rank of Duke but have chosen not too.

"His ambition, his desire to Rank up was the motivation behind his initial attack, I think. Why have you not gifted him with this Rank?" I asked.

"His actions speak to reason," she admitted. "He is too impetuous. He believes too much in his own worth. I had thought to temper him for another eon or two before elevating him. And it is the reason I did not intervene, allowing loyal Lords to be sacrificed.

"I hope he finally realizes that actions have consequences, and it was his choice, his word that allowed the Coinchenn to be slaughtered.

"I will readdress that decision after today's events. It may be that I have ignored his faults, spoiling him and encouraging his hubris with my inaction. I will need to think on this, on how I can season him to become more thoughtful without destroying his character."

I thought her actions mercurial, perhaps even mercenary. She would allow people that have followed her to be slaughtered seemed a betrayal and one I refused to sanction. I would have protections from such scheming.

"I am not averse to ransom," I admitted coming to the crux of the discussion, "but I will need more than financial remuneration to agree. I will have your Oath of fealty. I want a.s.surances that his actions do not continue. His petulance and inability to accept that he is not my equal becoming an ongoing matter of sniping and opportunity, forever attempting retribution to a.s.suage his pride.

"His Oath of fealty, and yours. As well as the requirement that you join the Tuatha de Danaan faction as part of that Oath.