Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK I - Chapter 33
Queen Aglaia Fetterina Fiorina Maquella was in a large drawing room with two ambassadors from the Eastern Kingdom. The walls of the room were high and white, and the sparseness of the room - just a long table down the centre, with a few murals hangings on the walls - gave her voice a slight pitched echo. She always spoke with a deliberate clearness, and the ambassadors, who'd came with very strict instructions to get some assurances from her, were struggling to impress their case.
"When things get serious enough we'll send some ships, I can assure you of that," she promised, giving every appearance of sincerity. Yet, the ambassadors, having heard the exact same pronouncement barely a few months before, understood precisely what this was: another delaying tactic. Unable to think quickly enough to frame their concerns though, the queen once again took the reins of the conversation.
"Of course, there may come a time when we have to close our borders to the whole of the mainland because of this pox business."
Like the ambassadors, Queen Aglaia understood well enough that the entire Pox story was a ruse. Used only as cover for the ongoing tussles with the Western Isles. However, the doublespeak allowed her to use the false narrative for her own purposes as well, and she knew the ambassadors would not simply come out and flatly contradict it. Even though, right now, as they spoke, they were literally discussing sending ships to help prosecute the very war it was a ruse for. Such was the nature of inter-realm statecraft. Everything was by implication. The truth rarely spoken; the implications perfectly understood by everyone. That is, at least by all those privileged or intelligent enough to understand such things. The queen fell into both categories, though had circumstances been different they'd have no doubt kept her in the dark as well.
In fact, at first, the 'pox outbreak' narrative had been conjured wholly by intrigues on the mainland, and the queen and all her courtiers were very much excluded. Now though it was simply assumed that Queen Aglaia understand what was happening anyway. Either through her intuitive reading of the situation, or from information relayed by her own network of spies and ambassadors in residence on the mainland. There were also the hints and pressures that would come from the various mercantile interests. Spider-webbing out both formally and informally from the demonstrative Madame Drua Maleeva. So, though requests were made for money, ships, goods, resources - and very politely at that - it was understood only too well that if you refused such requests, there would be repercussions.
Consequently, when the mainland asked the Maiden Lands for ships and men the official line was that it was to help the efforts to stem the outbreak. When, in reality, with a nod and a wink, it was well understood what the real purpose was ..and that a lack of help would be heavily frowned upon either way.
Thankfully for the realm, Queen Aglaia was in a strong position to deal with such things. With the three major kingdoms fully occupied with the threat from the west they could hardly be poised to pick a fight in the east. The worst repercussions would perhaps be the false imposition of her ships, or the severing of trade. As was the standard reaction whenever tensions flared up between the Maiden Lands and the mainland kingdoms. Plus, such damage inflicted could be mutual too. Queen Aglaia could turn a blind eye to the exploits of her own privateers just as easily.
Her preferred course of action was to have as little involvement as possible with the western war, and to damage ties with the mainland kingdoms as little as possible. Hence all the promises of ships. It was highly unlikely that she would ever close the border, "because of the pox," but the threat alone give her the leverage to delay the ships. Meaning she could now claim that by not closing the border she had already done them a huge favour to begin with, so another "promise" of some ships ..at some point in the future, didn't seem quite so measly. Naturally, the ambassadors from the Eastern Kingdom didn't buy this for a minute, but as it came with a certain amount of face value logic, she could use it to bat them down nevertheless. Making the case with a domineering air that made it look as if she actually believed it all herself.
As she stated her position the braver of the two ambassadors, dissembling in equal measure, tried to 'remind' the queen of the very real gravity of the situation.
"When things get serious enough we'll send some ships, I can assure you of that," she promised, giving every appearance of sincerity. Yet, the ambassadors, having heard the exact same pronouncement barely a few months before, understood precisely what this was: another delaying tactic. Unable to think quickly enough to frame their concerns though, the queen once again took the reins of the conversation.
"Of course, there may come a time when we have to close our borders to the whole of the mainland because of this pox business."
Like the ambassadors, Queen Aglaia understood well enough that the entire Pox story was a ruse. Used only as cover for the ongoing tussles with the Western Isles. However, the doublespeak allowed her to use the false narrative for her own purposes as well, and she knew the ambassadors would not simply come out and flatly contradict it. Even though, right now, as they spoke, they were literally discussing sending ships to help prosecute the very war it was a ruse for. Such was the nature of inter-realm statecraft. Everything was by implication. The truth rarely spoken; the implications perfectly understood by everyone. That is, at least by all those privileged or intelligent enough to understand such things. The queen fell into both categories, though had circumstances been different they'd have no doubt kept her in the dark as well.
In fact, at first, the 'pox outbreak' narrative had been conjured wholly by intrigues on the mainland, and the queen and all her courtiers were very much excluded. Now though it was simply assumed that Queen Aglaia understand what was happening anyway. Either through her intuitive reading of the situation, or from information relayed by her own network of spies and ambassadors in residence on the mainland. There were also the hints and pressures that would come from the various mercantile interests. Spider-webbing out both formally and informally from the demonstrative Madame Drua Maleeva. So, though requests were made for money, ships, goods, resources - and very politely at that - it was understood only too well that if you refused such requests, there would be repercussions.
Consequently, when the mainland asked the Maiden Lands for ships and men the official line was that it was to help the efforts to stem the outbreak. When, in reality, with a nod and a wink, it was well understood what the real purpose was ..and that a lack of help would be heavily frowned upon either way.
Thankfully for the realm, Queen Aglaia was in a strong position to deal with such things. With the three major kingdoms fully occupied with the threat from the west they could hardly be poised to pick a fight in the east. The worst repercussions would perhaps be the false imposition of her ships, or the severing of trade. As was the standard reaction whenever tensions flared up between the Maiden Lands and the mainland kingdoms. Plus, such damage inflicted could be mutual too. Queen Aglaia could turn a blind eye to the exploits of her own privateers just as easily.
Her preferred course of action was to have as little involvement as possible with the western war, and to damage ties with the mainland kingdoms as little as possible. Hence all the promises of ships. It was highly unlikely that she would ever close the border, "because of the pox," but the threat alone give her the leverage to delay the ships. Meaning she could now claim that by not closing the border she had already done them a huge favour to begin with, so another "promise" of some ships ..at some point in the future, didn't seem quite so measly. Naturally, the ambassadors from the Eastern Kingdom didn't buy this for a minute, but as it came with a certain amount of face value logic, she could use it to bat them down nevertheless. Making the case with a domineering air that made it look as if she actually believed it all herself.
As she stated her position the braver of the two ambassadors, dissembling in equal measure, tried to 'remind' the queen of the very real gravity of the situation.
"You do understand how serious this situation is, your majesty. There is very much at stake here. Very much."
"Oh, I understand it absolutely," came the royal reply, once more feigning sincerity with gusto, "This is precisely why I'm readying some of my ships as we speak. You can tell your king that we stand shoulder to shoulder. The seriousness is not lost on us, though we may be further away from it than he is."
With that Queen Aglaia then began heading towards the door at the far end of the drawing room. As the ambassadors followed, struggling to keep pace, the queen then turned the conversation to less formal things. Purposefully drawing a line under the discussion they'd just had. As she began asking them how they liked the palace, and pointing out various details about the art that hung on the walls, they knew their chance for any further assurances was past, and that they'd be returning home once again to simply relay more promises of ships. Ships that would be unlikely to be arriving any time soon.
"Oh, I understand it absolutely," came the royal reply, once more feigning sincerity with gusto, "This is precisely why I'm readying some of my ships as we speak. You can tell your king that we stand shoulder to shoulder. The seriousness is not lost on us, though we may be further away from it than he is."
With that Queen Aglaia then began heading towards the door at the far end of the drawing room. As the ambassadors followed, struggling to keep pace, the queen then turned the conversation to less formal things. Purposefully drawing a line under the discussion they'd just had. As she began asking them how they liked the palace, and pointing out various details about the art that hung on the walls, they knew their chance for any further assurances was past, and that they'd be returning home once again to simply relay more promises of ships. Ships that would be unlikely to be arriving any time soon.
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