Chapter XI: Tea and Intrigue.

April 1105

Pomerlane approached the marble gates of Pendoria alone and was immediately hailed in by the guards. Unlike at Kalmar, he trusted his cousin's hospitality. He had bathed in the river that morning and shaved his beard with his prized knife; Before putting on perfume and his finest purple silk garments that he owned. To top it off, he wore the Diadem that the Aquileans had made in his honor. He understood well that even though Emylia was his cousin, that court etiquette of Eliria dictated that he should come prim and proper.

Once into the city, he was directed to the Royal Gardens of Pendoria, which were said to be the most beautiful in all of Ninisani. It was there he met his cousin alone at a pavilion where servants had prepared cake and tea for the two.

"Dearest Cousin!" said Emylia with excitement, "It is so wonderful to see you again."

"Can say the same to you, my LiLi!" Pomerlane says with a smile.

Both embrace and kiss each other on the cheek before sitting down

"You have grown into quite the beautiful young woman since I last saw you, it's been quite a long time hasn't it"

"It has indeed." Emylia says as she drinks some tea. "You have grown as well, it seems, pray tell me what happened with your leg Pommers?"

"I permanently injured it serving as a mercenary...Such is expected from war."

"That seems to be the case!" she looks at him with her deep light blue eyes and brushes her long wavy blonde hair behind her ears "But you have me worried Pommer... I never expected such barbarity and brutality that you have shown against the Ryuguards." Looks down "It was quite shocking to hear of it to say the least."

"LiLi" Pomerlane looks into the distant coldly "War is not a pleasant affair, as I am sure you know. There is no such thing as honorable conduct in war... the Pomurans taught me that when the killed my own father after he surrendered." Looks back at her "You must understand that my brutality is for a reason." Looks down to think before looking up "I have shown great amounts of cruelty and ruthlessness in some instances so that further bloodshed may be avoided...." takes a drink "By making examples at some places, many more lives are saved at others. You see, Posiedonia suffered its fate in order for other cities to avoid the pains of being besieged and the looting that takes place after." Looks to the side "I do not regret my actions because of that."

Emylia twirls her hair, seemingly fixed on something deeper before replying "I see your logic... though I do not agree with it... there is some degree of truth there that I hate to admit..."

"War is hell, my dear LiLi. But you know why I do it and you believe in the justness of my cause, do you not?"

Emylia looks down and then says "You know I do... 'Tis a shame that things have came to this, but..." thinks for a few moments "but perhaps the violence which I so despise has a purpose for the greater good." Takes a drink "I do know that you are an honorable man, Pommers, it is in your blood and I have seen it myself. The Aquileians seem to be quite pleased with you as their ruler after all."

"Thank you for your faith in me and understanding cousin." Pomerlane thinks for a moment, suddenly reminded of his deal with Magnus "I have something on my mind I need to share, but I need a moment to put it into words for you."

"Take your time dearest."

Pomerlane thinks about the deal he made with Magnus. He hates that arrogant and manipulative bastard. Magnus knew that he had him by the balls when he pressed about overthrowing Emylia. Had he not been practically a hostage at the moment, he would have challenged the son of a bitch to a duel. Pomerlane did not have it in his heart to hurt this poor girl, who had always been kind to him and shown him love when he was shunned by the rest of the world. No, that won't do. To hell with that cocky shithead and his plans.

"LiLi, Did you hear of my meeting with Magnus VII?" Pomerlane says with a bit of a angry look on his face

"Yes, Pommers, I did hear.. It seems to have bothered I can tell, has it not?"

"Quite a bit when I think more about it." Takes a drink and looks her in the eyes "Do you know what Magnus wants me to do to your realm?"

Emylia, via spies already knows but feigns ignorance "No, pray tell, what does Magnus want with my realm anyways?"

"He made a deal with me... In said deal, I, having a claim on Eliria as you do know, would invade and conquer it myself for his sake... In return, I would
become ruler of Eliria and Feeshland as his vassal"

"You never planned on fulfilling that, did you Pommers?"

"The moment I walked out of that room was the moment that deal ended in my mind... I only made it so that he would stay away from my plans in present time."

Emylia thinks for a moment "I see...so it must be reasonable that Magnus has plans to become Emperor himself then..."

"Absolutely, quite the wise observation dear cousin."

"Well now that won't do now will it Pommers? We must act to counter that knave..." Both of them think for a few minutes while eating cake and drinking tea before Emylia speaks up with her proposal.

"Pommers... I have a solution that will not only deal with Magnus but could also help you regain your throne in Greifswald and secure my own domain from these impetuous cretins that always have their eyes on my throne..." Emylia clears her throat with a bit of bashfulness says "P-Pommers, I-I propose that you become my husband and my Imperial Consort."

Pomerlane looks shocked

"You see, Pommers, as we both know.. You are a brilliant military commander who could keep Eliria and me safe from outsiders. Furthermore, as a blood Prince of the House of Rainpuff, you are more than qualified for such a position. It has been a struggle to find a suitable husband for me since I came of age... I distrust most of the suitors that are available naturally.. but you would fulfill this and I do believe you are a natural fit for me and Eliria as a whole." twirls her hair "I-It's not that I am in love with you or anything... Rather that it is in both of our interests for this political marriage to happen..."

Pomerlane recomposes himself and cracks a smile. He knows Emylia too well.

"It's alright to admit it, LiLi. I have known you have had such feelings for me for a while now given the tone of your letters" Emylia blushes and looks down embarrassed "But regardless of that, that's a brilliant idea from a political standpoint. Eliria has for a while now struggled to defend itself from Selenium and her vassals... I do remember your uncle being replaced on the throne by your father because of them." Glances to the side "If I were Prince-Consort of Eliria, not only could I protect Eliria from these perfidious Dragoons but with Eliria's coffers at my disposal, break the power of them forever." Looking back at Emylia I could also restore the traditional power which protected Eliria, Pomerania, back to her former state."

Emylia looks inquistively before saying "You aren't proposing that you become King of Pomerania as well, Dearest Pommers?"

"I absolutely am, LiLi. And the Goddess Pomu appeared before and said it is my destiny for that to happen.

Emylia in shock "Y-You were visited by the Goddess Pomu herself?"

Pomerlane refills his tea and takes a drink "Yes, around 4 years ago I was.. Indeed, that is the reason why I invaded Feeshland to begin with."

"It all makes sense now to me... I never did understand why you did that but now... it is clear." brushes her hair behind her ears "Perhaps the Goddess Elira herself had planned for things to end up this way as well..."

"It certainly seems so, LiLi... In any case, If you truly wish it, I accept your offer of betrothal" raises his tea cup for a toast

"For the glory of LazuLight, by them We'll never have to be alone!" both say.

The two would spend the rest of the weekend together before Pomerlane departed. Something about what Pomu told him didn't quite make sense if Elira was involved too, but he trusted Pomu to given him wisdom on this matter soon enough...

To be continued.