"Very well done, everyone! We did the impossible!!!"
I look at the cheering soldiers in front of . Everyone is tired from all the fighting, but with their spirits bolstered by the resounding victory.
We are in a plaza inside the fortress’s grounds. The fortress’ outer wall has crumbled, and so of the buildings inside are damaged, but the inner castle and the plaza are intact.
Even that destruction is just a minor conundrum compared to what could have happened.
"We stopped an army several tis the size of ours, and with very few casualties. To the point that they sent for a talk of peace. They are asking us for peace. Think on the size of what you all have just achieved!"
More cheers.
"Now, everyone. You deserve a good night of resting. Tomorrow we’ll hold the peace talks. Those negotiations might end this war, or they might not. But, even if they fail, we’ll hit them even harder next ti. Until we can go back ho to our land and families. We will only stop when our people can live with freedom and hold our heads high!"
To be honest, I can never tire of the roar of the crowd. The sensation of commanding such a reaction gets every ti. It’s thrilling.
I get down from the place from where I was talking and go in the direction of the office, but Lovelace gets in my way.
"Where are you going, my dear?"
"To the office."
"No, you aren’t."
"Huh?"
She is soon joined by Yaci.
"Exactly. You are not going back to work today. You are going to your quarters, and you’ll have a good night of sleep."
"But there are too many things to do..."
Yaci puts a hand on my shoulder and looks in the eye.
"Aurea. This victory today was only possible because of you. You guided us every step of the way. You are the general who pulled off the impossible. If you overwork yourself, we won’t last a week. So we are not going to let you overwork."
"Exactly. You need a healthy balance. And we’re here to ensure you are going to have it."
"But..."
"No ’but’ allowed, Aurea. Lovelace, please help ."
"Of course, Yaci."
Yaci takes my left arm and Lovelace my right arm, and together they take to my room.
I wouldn’t be able to resist even if I wanted to. But the truth is, who in their right mind would want to resist these two aweso girls?
I love them so much. Period.
:::
The following day, at noon, we go to the agreed eting point. Lovelace, Ingela, Mom, and .
To my surprise, Urraca doesn’t co with the three angels, as I was expecting. Instead, she cos with the High Bishop and two of the commanders of her army.
"Good day to you, Princess Urraca. It’s been a while."
"Good day, Princess Aurea."
After the introductions and exchanges of pleasantries from both sides, the real talk begins.
"I’ll be blunt and direct. You won. I just want to go back ho and end this stupid war, so I ca to negotiate the terms. There’s no way we could win a war against a goddess."
"I see. Then that’s why the angels didn’t co with you today?"
"They weren’t very pleased with the idea. They might try to do sothing, but I assure you that any move that they do from now on is not in any way related to my army or this crusade."
At my side, Mom nods, acquiescing.
"What she said is true. I don’t feel them anywhere near. They have probably gone sowhere to plan their next move."
That’s good and worrying at the sa ti. They might strike from the shadows at any mont, and that thought fills with unease.
"Right. Now let get this straight. You reunited people from everywhere, declared war on us, and marched upon our territory. Without any provocation from our part, nor any real motive. And now that you were defeated, you want to simply wash your hands and go back ho as if nothing had happened?"
"No. I understand your frustration. So we’re open to negotiating your terms."
Our terms, huh?
That’s sothing I haven’t put that much thought into, to be honest. I’ve been so focused on winning the war that I haven’t had the ti and energy to plan for what cos afterwards.
But here we are. A victory so thorough that the enemy wants to negotiate our terms without even having heard them before. Let’s see what I can leverage.
"First and foremost, you will have to accept formally our freedom of faith. What we worship is our matter and ours alone."
"Of course. We’re ready to accept that."
The High Bishop is tense but is not saying a word.
Wait, is that a rancorous glare Urraca gave to him? Has she caught up with the Church’s lies? Hehe. This ought to be interesting.
"Second, all the countries who formally endorsed this invasion will have to accept that the people can worship whover they want. No persecution against other faiths. In exchange for that, we of course won’t persecute Juno’s followers within our territory."
"Sounds fair, but I can’t guarantee it without talking to the governnts of those countries first."
"I’m not in a hurry. We have ti to work out the kinks on that before we sign the lasting peace."
"Right. Anything else?"
"No citizen of the kingdom of Wesgoth will ever be taken as a slave in any of your countries. If there are citizens of ours among your slaves, they should be returned to our country. That includes beastkin."
"So nobles will flinch at that, but it can be negotiated."
Oh? The Bishop is livid and doesn’t say a word. Sothing must have happened for her to be so accepting of these terms without any complaints whatsoever.
"And, of course, you will take your troops out of our territory and pay reparations for the families of the fallen soldiers, as well as for the villages whose fields were thrashed by the movents of your troops."
"Naturally. How much?"
"We’ll make an estimate of what our losses are. But don’t worry, it will be a reasonable value. We don’t aim to enrich by plundering."
"Very well. I will begin by taking our troops out of your territory and returning ho. Then I will talk with all the leaders involved in this campaign to work out this peace deal. Do we have a truce in the anwhile?"
"Yes. Let there be peace in our ti."
I extend my hand to her, which she takes.
I can’t douse the nagging feeling inside that she is being a bit too earnest with all this. I wonder what happened last night inside that tent.
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