210 Armistice

As Corco and Fadelio strode up the hill at the edge of Lord Makipura's lands, he looked at the table that had been set up on the new border between the Kingdom of the South and Kingdom of the Center. By now, weeks had passed since his last battle against Pacha, and the snow in the north had melted.

After all the long-winded negotiations, atop this lone hill would be where he and Pacha were to sign the final peace treaty that would end the war that had lasted for two seasons. However, when Corco reached the top of the hill, he failed to find his uncle. All he saw at the lone table set up on the hill's crest was an old-familiar servant he hadn't met in a long time.

"So Pacha wouldn't come, would he?" he asked the man. While he took a seat himself, the servant stood to pay his respects.

"Greetings, King Corcopaca. This servant's name is Pallatio and will act as a proxy for King Pachacutec."

"What, my uncle couldn't come himself? Is he worried about an assassination? We've wasted so much time trying to find a meeting place both sides would agree on though." Corco touched his chin in fake thought."Or maybe he thought I'd humiliate him for losing against me, again? My good uncle Pacha should have come. I'm not that petty."

"King Pachacutec has made an oath: He will not meet King Corcopaca until he is the master of the south. However, King Corcopaca can be relieved that this servant is indeed able to serve in King Pachacutec's stead. This servant is a long-standing member of House Pluritac and thus both fully legitimized as well as honor-bound to fulfill his duties to the best of his abilities."

"Yeah, I know. I remember you." Even though it was a reunion after many years, Corco really wasn't too happy to see the veteran servant again. There weren't many good memories associated with their meetings.

"This servant is honored." Pallatio raised his brows. "Don't look so surprised. I got a good memory." As he observed the servant's reaction, he put on his well-practiced merchant's smile. "I remember quite well. Even back when my father was still around, you always stuck with Spuria and her kids and never paid much attention to me."

"This servant was only ever interested in the continued success of House Pluritac. After the attack on young master Corcopaca and his mother, young master was no longer in a state to defend the throne. Although the attack itself was vicious and unforgivable, its nature had no impact on the consequences."

"So you'd rather break with tradition and have an impostor on the throne than the rightful heir, just because he wasn't tall?" Out of turn, an angry Fadelio chimed in. Of course, the strong idiot persona he often wore in front of enemies would let him get away with these kinds of outbursts. "That doesn't sound like a very good idea. Now all the princes know they can become emperor by killing their brothers. Aren't you just inviting more poisoning and backstabbing between the Pluritac heirs in the future?"

"I would not expect the son of an upstart to understand." Even when his voice and words turned sharp like swords, Pallatio's face remained polite.

"That's enough, out of both of you," Corco interrupted before the two servants could derail his business any further. He wasn't here to listen to the power struggle between the warrior families of House Pluritac.

To his surprise, not only Fadelio, but even Pallatio calmed down as soon as he ordered them. Though he was surprised, he would make good use of the silence and ask what was on his mind.

"So, now that you've seen me fight, or at least heard the stories, do you still think I'm unfit to rule?"

"This servant is deeply gratified to see King Corcopaca fare this well despite the troubles of his youth. Yet some decisions cannot be reversed. Though it is unfortunate, the choice has been made."

He looked genuinely sorry, which elicited a deep sigh from Corco. At this point, the borders between the three kings were razor-sharp. There would be no proper alliance between any of them and no one would be able to work with more than one and expect to be treated as anything more than a traitor. Of course, an experienced, stern advisor like Pallatio would never make such a basic mistake.

When he left Arcavia, all Corco had wanted was a unified Medala Empire, so they could grow in peace and face the challenges of the future together. What he got was a divided empire of mortal enemies, embroiled in constant war. Really, the entire fatality of their position only worsened Corco's mood.

"How about we just get into the details of the contract and sign the damn thing?" he asked in a tired voice.

As his attendant handed him paper after paper and Corco began to organize the final document that had come out of the negotiations over the past few weeks, he started to paraphrase the agreement for final confirmation.

"First off, we'll exchange all the injured and dead between our sides. As per the usual ways, any imprisoned warriors who are not in imminent danger can stay in the respective territory of their captor until they are bought free for a ransom."

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This was one part of the post-war cleanup Corco was quite looking forward to. Although his battle against Pacha had ended in a retreat and they hadn't made many prisoners then, they still had many warriors left in their care from their earlier war against Rupilo, and from Dedrick's conquest of the northern encampment.

"This servant will once again note that King Pachacutec is not convinced by the medical abilities of the southern kingdom. Thus he offers to take care of the injured of the southern kingdom. For a price, of course."

As he thought about the barbaric methods Pacha's doctors might be using on his men this very moment, Corco shuddered in fright. Then his mind wandered to his group of Chutwa doctors who had managed to save an astonishing number of lives and limbs during the last war.

"No," he almost shouted, though at the last moment he managed to hold himself back and retained his pokerface. "No, that won't be necessary. They are my men, so they are my responsibility. Even if they might end up without the best help, I will just have to compensate their families. Plus, what the heck kind of price is Pacha expecting for a bit of medical assistance? Is my uncle running low on cash?"

"Very well, then this servant will no longer make mention of the offer," the servant dodged the question. "King Corcopaca, please continue to enumerate the points of the agreement, if you may."

"Well, the entire war came about because Pacha thought the merchants and craftsmen of Arguna were his personal servants somehow." Again Corco had to suppress his reaction, this time a grin. He could see the stern servant look visibly uncomfortable.

"Indeed. King Pachacutec's actions may have been somewhat rash this time. No lowly commoner should ever receive this much attention from a lord. It dirties their good name."

This time, Pacha's actions had caused some real trouble for him even among his allies. In Medala, craftsmen and merchants were considered the lowest classes of society, not even fit to contact the great lords, much less be considered servants.

At first, the craftsman issue had just been a quick and easy casus belli for Pacha, an excuse so he could conquer the south in one fell swoop. However, now that his plans had broken on the walls of Qarasi Castle, this very excuse now appeared as the real cause of the war, and it had harmed Pacha's reputation. By putting this much weight on the commoners and calling them his people, he had inadvertently raised their status to the level of peasants; or even worse, warriors.

Almost no one within the higher social classes of Pacha's kingdom would be happy with this shift in social order. Especially his warriors would be unhappy, since they didn't have much beyond their status to rely on. No wonder even Pallatio was unhappy with his master this time, as he was a warrior himself.

"From now on, the central kingdom will no longer prohibit the free movement of the low-status rabble within or throughout its borders. This issue does not need to be raised any further," the servant said as a brusque wave of his hand tried to shoo the problem away.

"Nice, nice. So... I guess that brings us to our third point on the agenda. What exactly are these borders you speak of?" Corco asked.

"King should know quite well, since the borders are set by the contract."

"Yeah, but I'd much rather hear it from you."

The servant scoffed in response to Corco's playful tone.

"King Corcopaca shall acknowledge that Lord Vareo and his estate of Port Ulta's have joined the central kingdom and will be one of King Pachacutec's subservient lands from now henceforth."

"...fine," Corco said, his good mood ruined by the servant's one-sided explanation. "You don't wanna play along and take away my fun instead, I can't change that. But you're still legitimizing our takeover of Makipura and his Tacicir region. Cause that's in the contract too."

"King Pachacutec has no interest in traitors or turncoats."

"Yeah, unless they come over to his side, huh?" Corco asked. At this point, he was just having fun with the servant who had stood against him ever since he was young. In response, the servant showed his wisdom and remained silent. Nothing he could say here would make Pacha appear in a positive light. After all, Pacha really did have a propensity for collecting all the traitors and opportunists of Medala around him.

"On the topic of turncoats, I want you to guarantee Lord Rupilo's safety. I know it's not in the contract, but in the near future, my merchants will be launching a shop in one of his towns and I'd rather not get annoyed by Pacha's meddling in the process."

Although his eyes narrowed as he thought about the issue for a moment, Pallatio still gave his agreement in the end. Corco had promised Rupilo's ruin, and he was determined to make good on his word. At this point, the southern king was about ready to close things out. Had his uncle been at the table with him, the southern king would have enjoyed watching him rage a bit longer, but the loyal servant only looked more and more dejected the longer the conversation dragged on. Even Corco was starting to feel sorry for Pacha's stand-in.

Thus, the two quickly put their seals under the final documents. In such an anticlimactic way, with only a single stamp of ink, the first war between the southern and central kingdoms had been concluded. Still, Corco had a final issue to clear up, even though it would further offend Pallatio.

"One more thing, though I'd like to avoid it: Neither the promise about Rupilo, nor the guarantee of free movement for the craftsmen can be policed by me in any way. I mean, if I start attacking Port Ulta right after we sign these papers, you will send your own people to attack Tacicir in return. That's a pretty balanced position, so we don't need any special measures to make sure we don't start killing each other again. But if you hold commoners hostage again or if you prevent the construction of my shops in your territory, there's precious little I can do about it unless I want to go to war again."

"So what does King Corcopaca suggest?"

"As luck would have it, the solution is pretty simple. I want Pacha to make a starlight oath. And I don't want just the priests present, I also want one of my own representatives there. I know he doesn't care much for tradition, but even he can't go back on his word when the loyalty of his lords depends on his integrity."

In truth, it was an audacious request. The starlight oath was an incredibly rare occurrence, a life and death oath directly to the heavens. Not even emperors would take it at the start of their rule. It would only be invoked if the oath taker was of questionable integrity. Since Corco wanted to force Pacha into the oath, the implication was that the youngest king lacked integrity and could not be trusted.

To the central king however, the starlight oath also presented a chance. Since his actions during the war had damaged his reputation with the traditional forces of Medala even further, the oath would be a chance to make up for some of his earlier mistakes. In this way, at least he would show that he respected the old rituals and was willing to degrade himself in front of the Divines. Thus, the Pluritac servant agreed without much fuss.

"In that case, will King Corcopaca follow this servant along to the capital? Surely, King would love to see his brother humiliated so."

"Ah, no worries, this isn't me trying to show off or anything." Corco had been ready to leave, but now his eyes turned sharp, for the first time in their conversation. "I've sworn this a long time ago: I won't return to Arguna; not until I've become its master."