Chapter 55 - Banquet 03.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

Third Person POV

Northern kingdoms.

...

...

Madara was in the middle of the floor while dancing with Cirilla. They were just children, so there wasn't much to expect from them, as they were surrounded mostly by adults.

"It seems some nobles are quite upset with our princess, as she refused them and is dancing with Madara right now..." Eist commented while Calanthe sighed.

Madara and Cirilla were there, just letting time pass. Madara had never been a good dancer before, but a glance with his Sharingan was enough for him to master the steps perfectly when Cirilla begged him to dance with her a few months ago.

"People are looking at us a lot..." Cirilla commented, and she was right, with everyone watching the kingdom's princess having her first dance with a young man who many still considered some kind of servant, not that Madara cared about their opinions, as none would have the courage to say anything after what he did, except for a few idiotic teenagers, like the last one.

"Isn't it normal?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes... but could you help... by doing that?" She suddenly asked.

"You know it's not real... do you really want this?" He asked with a serious tone.

"Yes..." She said timidly.

Madara nodded and closed his eyes, before opening them slightly, revealing the Sharingan, with Cirilla staring at him. He put her in a genjutsu at that moment, already used to it, as it wasn't the first time she had asked.

All the people around them disappeared, while Cirilla remained with Madara in the middle, dancing smoothly.

"..." Calanthe saw that but remained silent, noticing that her granddaughter seemed quite relaxed. However, she had to turn her attention elsewhere when a servant approached her urgently, accompanied by a royal guard.

"My queen!" He said, handing over a scroll that Mousesack took to avoid alerting the other guests. He opened the paper and looked at Calanthe.

"Look at this..." He approached and gave her the paper as she read it, frowning immediately after.

"Those idiots... they really think they can come here after all their demands..." She couldn't help but growl, many people stopping to look, surprised by the queen's fury.

"So they've come here... How about I show them my axe?" Eist commented with not as cheerful humor as usual.

"What should we do...?" Calanthe asked Mousesack, who sighed.

"We can't simply forbid their entry... That would be an affront to the kingdom..." He advised her.

"You're saying I should have them here with my guests?" Calanthe growled.

"No... but you should still listen to what they want here..." He said.

"You know very well what they want, Mousesack..." Calanthe sighed. "How did they enter the kingdom without anyone being aware of it, let alone the capital!?" She demanded.

"Probably through a portal..." Mousesack commented.

"Those bastards, they're asking for it. Alright, make them wait at least 1 hour before they can enter..." She demanded.

"Yes, my queen," the servant said.

"I swear we'll end this night with a war on our hands..." She commented as the party continued. Calanthe began drinking more wine than usual since then, with Cirilla and Madara still dancing non-stop.

"At least someone is having fun..." Calanthe couldn't help but murmur as she watched Cirilla act joyfully with the dance, smiling and laughing.

However, her attention was soon interrupted by the herald entering nervously at the entrance 20 minutes later. Calanthe narrowed her eyes as the door opened behind him with a group of nobles, both from this country and others, who were emissaries from Angren, a kingdom that had been making many demands on Calanthe that year.

The herald, with no choice, ended up announcing despite seeing the queen's furious look, as she had demanded they wait an hour, not 20 minutes, but it seemed they had found some very important nobles to be able to enter the party.

"I welcome the nobles of the Chai family and the emissaries from Angren!" He announced, drawing the attention of the entire hall, while even the dancing stopped, with only Madara and Cirilla still dancing at that moment.

"It seems they are using some nobles who hold grudges against us..." Eist said. The heir of the Chai family was with the youngest son of the Rushfords on the night of the attack. They did everything to get their son out of the accusations that everyone faced a year ago. However, Calanthe was very strict about it, and the heir still rots in the castle dungeons, not executed yet because the family is doing everything to avoid it, using all their power and influence.

People were surprised by the presence of the emissary, as they hadn't been informed that they would have them at the banquet. They approached the main table while everyone watched attentively.

"Hm?!" Cirilla found herself surrounded by people again, with Madara taking her out of the genjutsu while looking at the group of people. "What's happening...?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, but the mood doesn't seem very good." Madara commented seriously.

"Queen Calanthe, known as the lioness of Cintra, it is an honor to see you!" The leader of the commission, wearing clothes displaying the Angren flag, approached the main table while bowing in respect to the woman's title.

"How can I help you? I don't remember inviting anyone from Angren." Calanthe was harsh in her tone, showing clear discontent with the situation. The noble in question seemed to expect something like this and nodded.

"I know our visit is sudden, but I am here to talk about very important matters." He said, maintaining a diplomatic smile despite the repulsion he received.

"You've already heard my response over a year ago with my letter. I thought I had made that quite clear..." she said with a disdainful tone.

"I know, my queen, but my king, the monarch of Angren, personally asked me to come here to bring a proposal." He said, and before the queen could respond, he turned to the hall's audience.

"As you all know, we have received some troubling rumors about southern troops preparing to march north... Perhaps this is the time for the northern kingdoms to unite to prevent this threat from catching us off guard." He began, raising his arms with a theatrical tone while people nodded, listening. It was no surprise that such rumors were circulating in the southern regions of the north, like in Cintra and its neighboring countries.

"Do you really think Nilfgaard can face the north? Do you think Cintra can be conquered?" Calanthe raised her voice, and the people seemed to trust her. "Cintra will never be conquered, and I will take up the sword and lead my troops to ensure it doesn't happen. Cintra does not fear Nilfgaard!" She announced fiercely, while people seemed to agree with her.

"But that will lead to many losses!" The head of the Chai family suddenly spoke, making Calanthe narrow her eyes at him.

"Your noble is right, Queen Calanthe... why risk so much fighting Nilfgaard when we can unite our forces?" the emissary spoke again, gaining everyone's attention. "In normal times, such an alliance would hardly happen, but the heir to my king suffered a terrible loss with the death of his fiancée, the future queen of Angren. That is why I am here today, to propose not just an alliance on paper, but one of blood where both royal families can unite..." He spoke while everyone paused to listen, and Calanthe couldn't do much against it.

"The just King Edrin of Angren wishes for his son, Prince Thorne of Angren, to form a matrimonial alliance with Princess Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon! So that we may create a powerful alliance between the two nations!" He exclaimed while everyone was stunned by this. Cirilla looked shocked that her name was being announced and was about to rush to kick the man, but Madara stopped her.

"This is not the moment, wait for what your grandmother will say..." Madara said, waiting to hear the queen's response, who didn't seem happy about it at all.

"But..." Cirilla tried to argue.

"I don't see this working out." He said and looked at Calanthe.

"I knew you were persistent, but not to this degree..." Calanthe began, looking at everyone waiting for her response. They clearly wanted to make this public, seeming like a good alliance, while the pressure on her to accept increased. But her nickname as the lioness of Cintra was not for nothing.

"I received your proposal very well last year, and my answer is still no." She said calmly.

"But, Queen Calanthe... such an alliance would be wise!" Lord Chai spoke again. It was clear that they had planned this to increase the pressure.

"We have no heirs besides Cirilla. What do you think will happen to Cintra if Angren takes its only heir? Do you want to conquer Cintra through marriage?" she asked the emissaries directly.

"That..." The man didn't know what to say about this accusation. "That is not our intention, Queen Calanthe. We are here to unite before fighting Nilfgaard." He continued.

"I've already said Nilfgaard will never conquer Cintra, and we will bleed for it. No matter what happens, we will protect our lands because that is what Cintra has always done!" She declared while the crowd began to clap, understanding Calanthe's logic.

"That's right, Grandma! I will fight too!!" Cirilla shouted excitedly.

"..." Madara remained silent, noticing there was something else strange. Both the other nobles along with the diplomat and Lord Chai looked at each other before nodding.

"Do you hear that, emissary from Angren? That is the voice of the people of Cintra. So if you still want to enjoy our banquet, take a seat and enjoy the party too. But as you know, my answer is no." She concluded with a tone that left no room for further discussion.

The emissary seemed enraged, despite not showing it with his theatrical smile. Madara saw his hands trembling even without his Sharingan activated.

He had no choice but to take a seat at a more distant corner of the hall, where Calanthe made sure to place them.

The party continued after that, with people discussing either in favor, against, or talking about the threat that the south was beginning to show to the north, while everyone feared this war. But in the end, the majority supported the queen who had fought many battles and led her armies in her time.

Everything seemed normal; Cirilla dragged Madara to one of the balconies, and she started talking about stars, while Madara stayed with her, keeping any idiot out of her reach, until the sound of shouting began in the hall.

"What's happening?" Cirilla interrupted her chatter and asked in surprise, looking for answers to those screams.

"Let's see what happened." Madara said and started to leave the balcony, while the nobles seemed agitated there. He approached a spot where he could better see what was happening.

He saw Queen Calanthe still at the main table with Eist, standing from her chair looking for answers, while Mousesack was over a body on the side of the hall where the nobles sent from Angren should have been.

"Mousesack, what happened to him?!" She demanded, frowning.

"He's dead, his wine was poisoned." Mousesack returned to his queen, his voice echoing through the hall, as even the bards stopped playing at that moment, leaving everyone shocked by this news.

"He died?!" Cirilla was stunned.

"It seems so, this was a setup..." Madara said calmly. He knew what the death of a diplomat under the protection of another kingdom could imply. If Angren wanted a reason to go to war with Cintra, they had found one. Even if Calanthe denied any involvement with the poison, they could still claim they would go to war, ignoring any arguments.

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Raccoon here:

This war is not canonical... What did you think of its construction, does it seem logical and natural?

Madara will now have to deal not only with a witcher hunting him from the shadows and a war in the east... Not to mention the southern invasion in a few years. I think this is a good number of challenges before he goes to Kaer Morhen, although in the Cintra escape arc he will have to deal with even mages looking for the princess. I have some ideas of him even invading Aretuza at this moment and killing some foolish cloaked ones.

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