23 C23 White Flag

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POV Duke Freemont

We lost again today, and I don't think we have enough soldiers to continue. They're predicting our every move, and it's starting to scare me. This would have been so much easier if those good for nothing soldiers from the Malum Kingdom made it here. The elders are still fighting, and I don't know if that's good or bad. Suddenly, a flash of fire appeared in the middle of the elders' battle, and the Crowned Prince materialized out of the flame with a red bird on his shoulder. He said something causing our elders to attack him, but he disappeared in flames and appeared out of the attack's range in another burst of flames.

"My God. How did he do that?" A soldier next to me utters in fear and awe.

This is bad. Is this how they defeated the Malum Kingdom so swiftly? Did this boy take the king's army to ambush our reinforcements, and get them back in time for our arrival? Suddenly, my great uncle says something with a sneer on his face, and the bird appears behind him and uses some sort of fire to cut him in half. So, the bird has the space attribute, not the Crowned Prince. The boy says something and leaves with his elders. Soon after, our elders come back with puzzled faces. It seems a meeting is in order, so I have everyone gather in the tent as always.

"What did the prince say to you?" I ask.

"He set the terms of our surrender and went back for his bedtime." One of the elders wryly says.

"Madam Delilah, can you please explain what's going on." Madam Delilah is one of the strongest elders in the kingdom, and the only one that can match her is Lady Amelia. Their fight earlier destroyed the majority of the landscape in this area.

"Tobias may have been crude, but he didn't lie. The boy appeared on the battlefield and gave us the terms for our surrender. Every one of us including Queen Liviana and Prince Alexander is to turn ourselves in. We are to be judged by the king, and our successors are to travel to Vadena and swear their allegiance to the crown. For the next fifty years, our family's will have to pay 20% more on tax. After that, there will be no reparations paid immediately. I believe he wishes to end the war quickly in order to preserve our power as a nation." She explains.

Nobles have there own land with peasants living in and around it. These peasants are taxed annually, and that money goes to the Noble family ruling them. Then a percentage of that money is taxed to the crown. These Nobles would easily be able to live with a 20% increase. Some may have to cut down on extravagant spending, but if they're smart then they'll survive. Every single one of us knew that this deal was a godsend for our current position. We're losing and the best outcome without this deal is escaping with our families and remaining wealth. The problem with that is we need to get to a country that won't just send us back to the Fortis Kingdom. The scary thing about this deal is that we would have to give our lives to protect our families.

"We are not surrendering! I'm the king and I order you all not to surrender!" Alexander furiously screams. His mother next to him is crying, as she can tell that their time is up. They're losing and this deal is beyond generous.

"Madam Delilah, do you see this as a good deal for us?" I ask ignoring my grandsons' outburst.

"I only joined your side because I would be able to fight that harlot Amelia, so I have a bit of an objective view compared to the rest of you. I think your best bet would be to surrender and accept the deal. You may die and that's sad, but you would be preserving your families. The only other option would be to send us out again, and even then we're one man down. Your uncle couldn't keep his mouth shut for the life of him." She explains.

"Don't listen to this dumb bitch. We can easily win if we persevere!" Alexander yells trying to inspire courage in the Nobles, but he only looks like more of an idiot himself. Liviana didn't even bother talking, as she knew they would take the deal no matter what she said.

"Thank you for your input, Madam Delilah. This meeting is adjourned, and another will be held tomorrow morning. During said meeting, we will hold a vote to decide if we will accept this deal or not." I said and the room cleared fast. We'll see how many try to escape during the night.

The next morning we gathered again for the votes. During the night a couple of the younger and more impulsive Nobles tried to escape during the night. Of course, they were captured and brought to the meeting in chains. If we do plan to accept the deal, we can't just let people escape.

"The vote will be a simple show of hands. I will call once for accepting the deal and another for turning it down. The majority wins. Does everyone understand?" Everyone nodded, but in the case of the captured Nobles, it was more of a resigned nod. The Queen was there and ready for her fate, but prince Alexander wasn't invited to this meeting. Everyone knew that he would throw a tantrum, so they didn't wake him for the meeting. His mother will vote for him, giving Liviana two votes. "Alright, all in favor of surrendering?" I call out and a good chunk of people raise their hands. I do a quick count and move on. "All in favor of declining the offer?" I say and the Queen and some others raise their hands. I do another quick count, and it 9-5 the winner is clear. "Surrender wins. We will surrender immediately. Have the soldiers fly white flags, so they know we wish to speak."

After flying the white flag, a pigeon delivered a letter from the fortress. It said to meet in the middle between our camp and the fortress at noon so we can converse. We are both sending two representatives and two guards. Before noon, the fortress gate opened and servants rode to the meeting spot to set up a table and chairs. They then retreated back to the gate, and around noon both sides made their way to the center.

POV Syrin

They flew a white flag which is good, but now I have to convince my father to let me come. The meeting will happen at noon, so I have to work fast. Entering my father's office, I see him preparing documents for the meeting.

"No." He says before I can even speak.

"I haven't even asked yet."

"You were going to ask to come to the meeting between us and the rebel army. Am I wrong?"

"Good, we're on the same page. I want to come along, so name your price?"

"Name my price?" He asks back. Not understanding what I meant.

"Yeah, what do you want in return for me coming along?"

"Let's see... Ummm nothing. Stop trying to bribe your father." He says breaking into a chuckle.

"I see that the carrot wasn't effective. Let's try the stick. If you let me go to the meeting, I won't tell grandmother that you called her an annoying old hag." I blackmail the king of the fortis kingdom straight to his face.

"I never said that." He denies.

"Yes, but will she believe you? I mean, you're already in deep trouble with her, right? It would be such a shame if she heard about you calling her such horrible names." I say with an innocent smile on my face.

"You know that your evil, right?" He sighs.

"Good and evil are subjective."

(A/N: Want to read ahead of what I've posted so far? Go to my patreòn and get early access chapters. https://www.patreón.com/AlienWarlord

Get on Discord https://discord.gg/JhVeZn5

I'm hoping to get top three in the rankings this week, so give me some power stones please. Thanks for reading!)