"By order of his Royal Highness, Peter Octavius Westfold, King of Wendolan and Blood of Excavor, the following demands are made of the Eastern Peoples:

First, unconditional surrender, given in order to end the current war between our two peoples.

Second, the transfer of Eastern Lands and Peoples from autonomous rule, to Wendolan rule. Under one King shall we become one people.

Third, the disarmament of Eastern armies. Nobles who keep their titles shall be allowed to maintain private forces of no more than 100 men for Barons, Viscounts and Counts, 500 men for Marquis, and 1000 men for Dukes. Noble Ranks shall be given by the Wendolan Crown, based on previous status, merits and the advisement of the Wendolan Court. In addition, these private forces shall be offered to the Crown under the condition of war when called upon by the Wendolan Banners.

Fourth, one man from each family shall be conscripted into five years of service in the Wendolan Armies. Those who perform well shall be given merits and ranks as any other Wendolan Warrior.

Fifth, Trade of Eastern products shall no longer be taxed within Wendolan borders. Foreign trade and tax rates shall be dictated by Wendolan laws under the jurisdiction of the Wendolan Court and Crown.

Sixth, Citizen Tax shall be paid annually by every family to the Wendolan Crown. Those unable to pay the Tax shall offer goods of equal value. Those further unable to pay in goods shall be able to appeal to the Wendolan Court for exceptions and alternative payment recommendations.

Seventh, three noble families shall offer up one young woman of marriageable age and suitable temperament to join the Royal Harem. The Concubine's family will be offered 300,000 Ruis a year every year until the Concubine's death. Should the Concubine be promoted to Consort, an additional 200,000 Ruis shall be offered. Should the Concubine/Consort birth a royal princess, a gift of 100,000 Ruis shall be given, if the Concubine/Consort births a royal prince, a gift of 500,000 Ruis shall be given.

Eighth, any noble marriages between Eastern and Wendolan nobles shall receive a gift of 10,000 Ruis for promoting the unification of both peoples under the Wendolan Crown.

Ninth, going forward, the traditions and celebrations of the Eastern people shall be respected and allowed the continue under the condition that it does not undermine, disregard or oppose the interests of the Wendolan Crown or the culture and traditions of the Wendolan People.

Finally, the Eastern People will be required to treat Excavor, God of War and Patron God of Wendolan as their own Patron God. Any worship of another God shall be permitted, but this God shall be considered a Minor God only.

"In return for these ten points, any prisoners of war will be returned safely, and the families, lands and peoples of nobles who sign the accords will be spared any further warfare or suppression".

General Lowan finished reading the list of demands from the Wendolan King. The Nobles, both those who had been present at the meeting and those who had not, listened to each point with increasing rage.

"How dare he!" snapped Lord Estow, "He is treating us as if we are but cannon fodder to fill his ranks and his bed!"

Saorise blew out a breath as the other nobles proceeded to agree and add in their opinions which seemed to become increasingly insulting towards Peter. She didn't blame them, he'd really brought this on himself. Perhaps if he'd first conquered the three western countries and Clarisse in the south he'd have more of a right to demand such things. But right now, it was only insulting.

"What say you, Lady Saorise?" asked Lord Estow, "No doubt he expects you to be one of the three concubines he demands".

Saorise didn't have a doubt either. With the way that he'd been looking at her during the meeting she'd all but confirmed it. Still, there were more important things in the points presented to worry about.

"I think we have an entire people to think about when considering these points. Let us adjourn for dinner and cool our tempers so that we might approach each point diplomatically," Saorise reasoned.

"Diplomatically?" called Lord Reiland, "He has all but spat in our faces and you want to do nothing but talk with him?"

Saorise's eyes turned cold, "Then what would you have me do, Lord Reiland? Attack? Let them see our strength and pride? Say that we'd rather die fighting and sacrifice all of our people than accept such terms? Do you think I am not tempted?"

The hall was silenced before Saorise stood and continued, "But in attacking, what happens to those they hold captive? What happens to your families and your people at home, waiting for your safe return?"

Saorise took the list of demands from General Lowan and held it up, "Yes, I should burn this now. But in doing so, am I not promoting Excavor's teachings? What of Leisha? What of our Goddess of Life? What does she teach us?"

Saorise met the eyes of the men in the room, conveying both her sympathy for the plight they were all in and her resolve in fixing it.

"We shall not resort to war to fix this, for if we do, we will lose," Saorise said, "With their King by their side, and with those they have already captured, the battle we would start is already won by them. So we will adjourn now, gather our thoughts and the hopes of our people, then we will reconvene and discuss the points presented to us one by one so that when we meet again with the King who would have us be little more than cannon fodder in his war efforts, we can present the united front of a proud and worthy people. Agreed?"

A sweep of reluctant murmurs swept over the crowd of nobles before they rose and moved out separately.

Lyle turned to face his sister as he stood, the deep frown not suiting his young face.

"I get that we don't want to endanger our people, but why are you so willing to discuss the demands he has made? They’re ludicrous," Lyle insisted.

General Lowan nodded in agreement, "Perhaps, because they are the party with more advantages, I could agree to a few of them, but not all of them. He is practically wiping out our identity as a people".

Saorise sighed, "Do you know what our fault is as a people? The weakness that we are now faced with?"

Lyle looked at her expectantly and General Lowan waited behind him.

"We have never lost before".

General Lowan sighed, realisation in his expression, "And because we have never lost we have never had to make compromises or sit down at a negotiation table where we weren't at an advantage".

"Exactly," said Saorise, "I am trying the best I can to learn as I go. To keep the culture and essence of my people alive. The first, second, fifth and sixth demands will be non-negotiable, the fifth and sixth are more of an extension of the first two anyway so I will try to convince the Lords not to fight over these points. The Third, Ninth and Tenth points I sense are already compromises despite how unpleasant they are. Though I will try to negotiate more on these and they will likely be the hardest to negotiate on. The fourth the seventh points are the ones I will need to negotiate on for the people. And the eighth, well that just seems more like a form of incentive to sign than anything else, I'm not even sure why it is included unless we choose to publicise the demands. They no doubt figured that 10,000 Ruis was a grand incentive".

"And if the Lords don't agree with your appraisal?" asked General Lowan.

"Let us presume that I will not be getting much sleep tonight and we'll all be in an even fouler mood at the negotiations table tomorrow," Saorise stated.