//------------------------------// // Chapter 35: Diplomacy // Story: The Last Migration // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Gina had never seen the palace in greater disarray. A full detachment of soldiers seemed to be martialing outside, with birds doning old uniforms, testing swords and securing armor. She took her delegation past the prelude to war, up to the throne where Gaius sat already armored. The metal he wore reflected the light like oil under moonlight, turning his outline into a dark suggestion of a bird more than the real thing. A massive warhammer sat on the ground beside the throne, as though he were ready to charge into battle at a moment’s notice. Then they passed through the massive stone doors into the assembly hall, and left the last of the ordinary soldiers behind. It was all noble birds inside, surrounding a massive table filled with maps and diagrams instead of food. There was Lord Gerrard here too, in his own family’s armor, along with two other dark figures. Each of them belonged to noble families, hoarding the few irreplaceable sets of ancient masterworks. They were the only true answer to the Equestrian Alicorns. But they’ve never been enough to conquer Equestria, have they? The ponies are the ones sheltering us. As they crossed through the room, it fell still. Gina heard birds whispering all around her—about the dead returning, and forbidden rites of the old magic that had been lost long ago. You idiots. You really think this is necromancy? But no one actually said so, and no bird lifted their weapons to stop her or the party she was leading. There were four groups of birds in here, one for each house—two of the groups seemed quite a bit smaller than the others. Santiago and Giovanni in particular were conspicuously absent, and instead one of Santiago’s lesser stewards was here for him. Archibald is the one representing a great clan during an invasion? Something isn’t right. As they got close to the emperor’s throne, Gina glanced over her shoulder, speaking in a hushed whisper to her companions. “All of you, stay back. It isn’t proper for a non-bird to address the emperor without an invitation. I’ll introduce you, and after that…” She shrugged. Gina would be lucky if she wasn’t the one wearing a slave collar at the end of all of this. As was proper, Gina removed the medallion from around her neck one last time, holding it up as she approached the throne. “Your Imperator returns to your service,” she said. There was a long silence. Gina didn’t look up, but she did see the wide eyes of birds all around the room. It was possible the emperor would just kill her. Imperators held absolute authority over others just as the emperor did, but when they returned they always answered for their actions. Gaius hadn’t killed any of his servants, though. He took the medallion. “This is most curious,” said Empress Guinevere from the smaller throne. “To have a friend and loyal servant returned after one of our lords declared her dead.” “Very curious,” Gaius agreed. He gestured subtly with one claw. It was such a minor gesture that the other birds didn’t seem to notice. But Gina saw soldiers closing the exit, shutting the door so quietly that it didn’t even echo. Upper entrances closed one after another, or were blocked by birds with crossbows. All without a word. “What do you think, Archibald? I think you should join us. To stand in Santiago’s place when my Imperator gives her testimony.” Archibald wasn’t half as loathsome as some of the other Vengeance birds Gina had known. He wore only a toga as he made his way up to the emperor, not even a dagger. He didn’t so much as look at her. When he spoke, it was without spite. “She must have survived the crash after all,” he said. “Remarkable though that is. Unity has been known to preserve birds through worse.” Gina didn’t speak—at least not until she got the emperor’s nod. She would have to be very careful. Statements directly impugning one of the noble houses were as good as an invitation to duel. Since she had no male relatives, that invitation would come from that of her house instead. The oldest male of that house being the emperor himself. “There is a traitor in house Vengeance,” she said instead. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I expect none of it is correct.” Archibald finally seemed to see her. He turned, eyes narrowing to slits. “That seems hard to believe, Imperator. Gideon has served faithfully for many years. His honor is unblemished.” She shrugged. “I do not know him or his honor,” she said, mostly to the emperor. “But I know he tried to kill me. I swear it on my life and office… and I was not alone.” Archibald cleared his throat. “Lord Gaius, perhaps we should give this female more time to recover from her trip. She’s obviously delirious. Assuming the ponies haven’t poisoned her. She arrived on one of their ships. Perhaps they sent her here to disrupt our resolve on the eve of war.” Gaius raised one claw to silence him. “Gina has served me faithfully. I can see she’s gone through great hardship to get here. She will tell her story. I am certain that story will explain why she used my authority to invite a powerful ship from a dangerous enemy directly into the capital while we are still preparing for war. I especially look forward to that part of her story.” Gina nodded, taking one step away from Archibald. The bird was more of a clerk than a warrior, unlikely to attack her physically. But she didn’t intend to take chances. Then she began. She told the whole story, with as much detail as she could remember. She omitted nothing, despite the ponies being there to listen. She’d already told them what Griffonstone was making to help convince them to take her. There was no real secret left there. Eventually they came to the confrontation with the Equestrian ships on the border, and the room had become very quiet. She described Gideon’s betrayal, him igniting the ship and probably killing its crew, of the way Isabelle had saved her life. Their eventual rescue and the trip here. “I believe Gideon is a traitor,” she finished. “To Accipio, anyway. It seems to me as though he nearly succeeded persuading you to invade Equestria and get revenge for an attack that he perpetrated in the first place. That is why Captain Caliginous has come. The Equestrian navy has granted her authority as an emergency negotiator. Equestria hopes to avoid a war, and so do I.” The great assembly hall fell utterly still. Gina felt the eyes of many birds on her, particularly Archibald. There was shock on his face at her story—any objections he might’ve raised had all fallen away, and he looked only afraid. “It is a late hour to sue for peace,” the emperor finally said. He gestured forward with one claw, and the captain approached with her marines. She didn’t bow to the emperor—but Gina wasn’t sure she could’ve made her no matter how many times she insisted. “Equestria will not sit by and permit these attacks on its creatures and land,” Caliginous said, meeting the emperor’s eyes in his terrible armor without flinching. “But we would prefer to see only the guilty punished. A war will drown us all in blood.” Gina began to retreat—she had no place in this conversation. She would probably never serve as an Imperator again, even if the emperor didn’t punish her for her failure. But either way, she had nothing more to add. But the emperor stopped her with another subtle gesture of his claws. Gina sat down behind the unicorn captain, listening. This is probably where he punishes me for not stopping this sooner. “I am afraid it might be too late,” Gaius said. “When we discovered… when we heard the earlier version of this story, there were only a few pony captives to interrogate. You had thrown our own crew overboard before the monks finally rose up and fought you off. Lord Santiago suspected treachery from Equestria, and he had been preparing for it from the beginning.” He gestured, and one of his marines approached from the wall. “Lance Corporal, your rifle.” The uniformed marine extended one claw without a word, and the emperor took it. He spun it over once in the huge gauntlets of his Voidsteel armor, making the whole thing look like a toy. “We all thought using Griffonstone was genius. A way not to break the treaty and still be prepared for the knife in our back.” “Lord Santiago appears to have been sharpening a knife of his own,” Guinevere muttered. She’d been scribbling something through most of the meeting—taking notes on Gina’s testimony, but she was still writing now. She barely even looked up. “How well do you think a dozen of our palace guards would do if his whole army is properly armed? After we’re tired from an Equestrian invasion, no doubt.” “Is this a formal accusation of my lord?” Archibald had remained fearful and silent all this time, backing towards the handful of lords wearing Vengeance green. His voice shook a little as he spoke. “I would prefer it wasn’t,” Gaius said. “If you can supply an alternate interpretation of what we’ve just heard here, please do so.” He leaned forward from his throne, and the wood creaked under the terrible weight of Voidsteel, metal squeaking against metal. “But use your words carefully. Imperator Gina has served my family long and faithfully. Given the evidence, I will not look fondly on suggestions that impugn her testimony.” Archibald moved uneasily on his claws, shifting between her and the pony captain. “Then let me suggest only that she obviously suffered very seriously in the destruction of the Lapwing. Strong males have suffered injuries that never healed. It was ponies who recovered her, probably led there by her pony slave. Ponies whispering these things in her ears while she was delirious and had their strange pony medicines in her veins.” Gina shouldn’t have said anything—it wasn’t really her place. Archibald was a lesser bird than herself, but he represented a clan lord. She shouldn’t be arguing with one. But she had done a great deal lately that she shouldn’t. “I wasn’t delirious before Gideon blew up my ship, and the ponies never medicated me. Gideon is a piece of treacherous slime. The ponies might be partially to blame for the confrontation, but they were just doing their jobs. Gideon betrayed Accipio. He murdered my friends, and at least one member of my household. He isn’t fit to be gutted and left out for the crows!” Gina finally stopped, though she was panting from the exertion by the time she’d finished. She glowered at Archibald, baring her beak in the same way a male would’ve in her place. It meant she would put her life on her word, sprained wing and exhaustion and all. The emperor smacked one gauntlet onto an armrest. The wood shattered as though it wasn’t even there, showering them with splinters. “That will do, Imperator. Archibald, you have it. The formal accusation of my house. As Gideon is no longer here, we will have to hold you in his place until trial.” Birds from Vengeance and Victory rose immediately from their seats. The air in the great hall grew thicker. Birds rested claws on weapons, or raised them to fight. Victory is part of this too? Come to think of it, Giovanni wasn’t here either. All the Voidsteel in this hall belonged to Valor or Virtue. Those nobles, they’re all like Archibald. They’re third and fourth sons. Losers. Like Santiago planned this from the beginning, so didn't leave behind anything he couldn't afford to lose. She realized what was happening perhaps a second before someone fired the first shot, and the assembly hall descended into chaos.