Fatima XI

PA 1 – April

The three God-Kings sat in shocked silence, staring at Enzo dubiously. The man himself was smirking at them, probably relishing the sight of their stupefied faces. It made her want to punch him, but she got a hold of herself at the last moment, half-remembered etiquette lessons forcing her to calm down.

After taking a moment to regain their bearings, Fatima finally reacted to his absurd announcement.

“I… apologize, King Enzo,” Fatima began slowly. “But this isn’t something we can just agree on out of the blue. We’ll need some time to speak with the rest of our allies, at the very least.”

“Of course, of course,” Enzo nodded, waving his hand. “I didn’t expect an answer today anyway. However, I would ask that my people are given some sort of housing while we wait. Some hospitality is the least you could do for a future ally, eh?”

Xian scowled, before forcing his face into a more neutral expression. “Why did you even bring so many people with you in the first place?”

“Oh? Isn’t it obvious?” Enzo gave him a sharp and toothy grin. “They’re my gift to you!”

“…Gift?”

“Of course! After all, your fleet was destroyed, and your harbor sacked. It will be months at best before you can restore your fleet to its former glory. And in that time, well, what if those pirates attack again? Who would protect your citizens from attacks by the sea? But should you accept my offer, then I gift to you a part of my own fleet—ten ships sailed by some of the greatest sailors of my Kingdom of the Sea, to patrol the waters around your cities and protect them from any threats. A gift worthy of a King, wouldn’t you say?”

“Are you saying I’m too weak to protect my own people!?” Xian snarled, slamming his hands onto the table.

“Indeed,” Enzo smiled back, seemingly unphased. “After all, you couldn’t do anything when you had a fleet. What’s to say you could do anything now? Ah, but don’t worry—allies protect each other, no? This is just me showing how good of an ally I can be.”

Xian looked like he was about to jump over the table and strangle Enzo. Fatima stepped on his foot lightly in warning, before turning to Enzo. “Regardless of the worth of the gift at hand, you should still present it with politeness,” she scolded him calmly. “If you truly wish to join our alliance, then you shouldn’t provoke your own allies.”

Enzo kept that smug grin on his face, but conceded her point with a nod. “I apologize if my words upset you, King Xian. All I want is to protect my new allies, and if that offends your pride, then I’m sorry, but is your pride really worth more than your people’s lives?”

If looks could kill~

“Of course, King Enzo,” Fatima reassured him, stepping harder on Xian’s foot. “All we want is what’s best for our people as well, and we thank you for your consideration. However, it’s been a long day, wouldn’t you agree? And we need some time to think over your proposal. If you would leave us, we will send someone later in the day to help with housing and feeding your people as well. Is that agreeable?”

“Very well, Queen Fatima,” he nodded, standing from his seat. “King Enzo, Queen Avery. I’ll return to my people while we wait for your answer. But, ah, don’t take too long. I don’t want to stay away from my home for too long, after all.”

And with that, he left.

The moment Enzo was out the door, Fatima slumped in her seat, sighing slightly. Rubbing her eyes, she groaned quietly, worried and confused. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect… that.”

“I don’t think any of us did,” Avery frowned, coming to sit down in the spot Enzo had just vacated.

“Well, what do you two think about this?” Fatima asked, raising her head. “Do you think it’s a real offer? Should we even accept it?”

“Of course not!” Xian scoffed, crossing his arms. “This is obviously some sort of trap! I mean, just think for a second, would you? I’m pretty sure he’s the one who sent those pirates to begin with! He just wants us to let our guards down so he can stab us in the back!”

She leaned back, tapping the table. “I know that, but I can’t help but wonder… He’s the strongest power in the region, at least navally. Others can match him in terms of population, economy, etc., but on there’s a reason nobody disputes his title as ‘King of the Sea.’ And now, he’s here, offering himself up to us as an ally.”

“So you agree it’s a trap?”

“Maybe,” Fatima grunted. “I think… I think the offer itself was honest. His reasons behind the offer, maybe not so much, but if you think about it in a different way… He has no allies, you know? None. Even the Mountain Queen has allies. We don’t know who they are, but we know they exist. Enzo, on the other hand, we know is completely isolated. So, in that case… he could see this as an opportunity to peacefully secure his northern border.”

“That man wouldn’t know peace if it punched him in the face.”

“Of course not,” she scoffed. “I’m aware of how cruel and arrogant he is. I’m aware that he’s probably using us. I’m aware that this offer was probably made in bad faith. But as I told you before—we really can’t deal with him being our enemy.”

“I’d have to agree with Xian on this one, Fatima,” Avery crossed her arms, scowling. “I think he just wants to use us. Even his so-called generosity feels like a trap.”

“If he’s using us, then we can use him right back. An alliance isn’t a one-way street. If he supports us, we’ll support him. If he uses us, we return the favor. But if he’s our ally, then that means he’s not our enemy.”

“He’s not our enemy on paper, you mean,” Xian stressed. “You already said it yourself that he has no allies. He’s hated by half of his neighbors and barely tolerated by the rest. He could turn on us on a dime! It’s not like his reputation would sink any lower!”

“I understand where you’re coming from, Xian, but you’re wrong on that account,” Fatima shook her head decisively. “While he may be despised by many people, they still do trade with him. They still treat with him, giving him the respect deserved of a sovereign ruler. This is because, warmonger or not, he’s never broken his word. He’s a bastard, but he’s never crossed that one line. However, if he stabs us in the back, he’ll never be able to make another ally again. Nobody would ever trust him to keep his word again, and he’d politically doom himself. And while Enzo is many things, I’m certain he’s smart enough to understand that.”

“I think you’re giving him too much credit.”

“Perhaps,” Fatima groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Maybe I’m just grasping at straws. But I just… can we even afford to reject this offer?”

The other two grimaced. “…I think we could beat him in a war,” Avery grunted. “We’d probably lose Isabella and Xian’s cities, but I think we could grind him down once he gets further inland. He’s the Sea King, after all, not the Land King.”

“Maybe we could, but that doesn’t really sound worth it, does it? If we’d win a war like that, it’d only be a pyrrhic victory.”

“We don’t even know that he’d attack us if we rejected him,” Xian pointed out, looking uncomfortable. “Just because it’s possible he’d do that doesn’t mean it’s likely. We shouldn’t immediately be jumping to the worst-case scenario.”

“Yes, like you’ve been doing all day?” Fatima shot back pointedly.

Xian scowled, but didn’t refute.

“Perhaps instead of attacking us directly, he’d just send more pirates at us,” Avery scowled, biting her lip worriedly. “Maybe even after our traders while they’re sailing to foreign ports. Capture the boats, kill or enslave the sailors… cut us off from trade and slowly strangle us to death while he profits off our dying corpse. It wouldn’t even be hard—we’ve only got the one port. Only the one navy. We might still be able to trade by land, but that’s not really viable in this age, especially not during winter.”

“…And we can’t survive without trade anymore, anyways,” Xian sighed, his shoulders slumping as he finally gave up. “Especially not after the harbor was sacked. I don’t even have enough food left to feed my people right now.”

“We might be able to survive independently if we develop better agricultural techniques, but there’s no telling how long that could take,” Fatima sighed. “Even then, we’d lack the ability to import any of the foreign crops that would make agriculture so much easier.”

The three of them slumped in their seats, falling into a defeated silence.

“…So, we don’t have a choice then?” Avery sighed tiredly.

“We always have a choice,” Fatima grumbled back halfheartedly. “It’s just that some choices are wrong. But in this case, I don’t think there is a right one.”

“…I still don’t want to agree to this,” Xian growled under his breath. “It feels like I’m betraying my own people.”

“We can always figure something out later,” Fatima reassured him. “We have time. More than most. In a year or two, maybe we’ll be in a better position to defy him. But for right now, it’s better to keep our heads down and our voices quiet. Unless either of you have any other objections?”

“…Er, are you sure we should decide this without Isabella and Issei here?” Avery asked, looking somewhat uncomfortable. “Something as big as this… shouldn’t we get everyone together to vote on this, rather than just us three?”

Fatima grimaced, but shook her head. “If we don’t have a choice anyways, it’s not like them being here would change anything. And besides, the sooner we give him an answer, the sooner we can kick him out.”

Avery huffed out a tired laugh. “Yeah, I guess I see your point on that. So, what, we tell him tomorrow?”

“Might as well,” Fatima grunted, standing from her seat. “Xian, could you prepare some messengers to Issei and Isabella and let them know what happened? I’ll join them in the morning, once we’re sure Enzo’s left.”

Xian nodded, an exhausted look on his face.

“Thank you. And Avery, do you have anything you need done?”

“…I think I’ll stand guard, tonight,” she said after a moment of thought. “I don’t need to sleep, so I’ll make sure Enzo’s sailors don’t try any funny business while they’re here.”

“Thank you, Avery,” Xian gave her a pained smile.

“Of course,” she nodded back. “Worry not, King Xian, no more harm will come to your city while it’s under my watch.”

“Excellent!” Fatima clapped her hands together. “In that case, we’ll meet again tomorrow morning to speak with Enzo then. And, well, let us hope all goes well. Are we agreed?”

The other two nodded in agreement and, standing from their seats, left to begin preparing for tomorrow.

And as Fatima left the bunkhouse she couldn’t help but stare down at the docks, down at the foreign fleet sitting quietly in the harbor. At the King she knew would be sitting there, plotting and planning his unknowable reasons for coming to them.

And she couldn’t help but hope that she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

--

The next morning saw the three God-Kings once more sat in the bunkhouse, Xian and Fatima across from Enzo, while Avery stood guard by the door.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think you would come with an answer so quickly,” King Enzo hummed, raising an eyebrow at them. “You must be more desperate than I thought, to agree to my offer so easily. Tell me, did you even talk to your other allies about this? Or is this so-called alliance not as equal as I once thought?”

“When the only answer is obvious, taking anymore time to answer it would just be a waste of everyone’s time,” Fatima replied, ignoring the dig at their alliance. ‘Honestly, it’s like this man doesn’t understand the concept of diplomacy at all. A brute, though and through.’ “And with an army sitting on our front gates, we felt it all the more prudent to respond swiftly.”

“Oh? You were intimidated?”

“Hardly,” Fatima lied. “We were more worried about the amount of food you all would eat. Nancheng isn’t in the best of positions to host an army right now, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“So you say. Well, whatever,” Enzo waved away the previous topic. “That’s not that important, anyway. What is, however, is your answer. Tell me, are you accepting my offer? Or are you sending us home, emptyhanded?”

“…We have accepted your offer of alliance, and would welcome you as one of our own,” Fatima replied after a beat of silence. “However,” Fatima held up a hand, cutting off Enzo’s smug grin before it could form. “We have some caveats we’d like to address first. To begin with, we will not join you in your offensive wars. We are your allies, not servants to be ordered around as you please.”

Enzo raised an eyebrow. “If you won’t fight each other’s battles, then what’s even the point of being allies.”

“Don’t be pedantic, King Enzo, you know what I meant,” Fatima glared at him lightly, her polite mask slipping for a moment. “Should you ever be attacked, we will of course rush to your aid, as any good ally would. However, as I assume you’re aware, you have quite the reputation as a warmonger. And I have little intention of letting my citizens die in your wars. So if that’s the only reason you wish to ally us, then you can walk out the door this very instant.”

Enzo stared at her hard for a long moment, before scoffing, lounging back on his chair. “Is that all? I did not need your untrained soldiers to get in the way of my armies anyway. Very well, I accept your caveat.”

“Ah, there is one more thing.”

“More? You’re making this seem like more trouble than it’s worth, you know.”

“It’s a small thing,” Fatima assured him. “It’s just that Nancheng is not big enough to host your sailors, especially not when it needs to host its own. You have some, what did you say? Ten ships, and a crew of some two or three each? That’s twenty extra people, at minimum.”

“Get to your point already,” Enzo scoffed. “Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you really want. If it’s reasonable, I might be willing to accept it as well.”

“…Very well. We want to build an outpost, further down at the mouth of the bay. Your sailors can stay there rather than Nancheng. We’d already been talking about building an outpost there before you came, and not only would it help us, it would also give your sailors much better control over the northern sea. And isn’t it much better to cut off any pirate attacks far, far away from the city they mean to destroy?”

‘And if it’s your sailors who are the pirates, we keep them far away from anyone they could hurt.’

Enzo stared at her for a moment, thinking it over. “Do you expect us to build this outpost ourselves? It seems this deal favors you more than me.”

“Not quite. We’ll help build it, of course, though we’d ask for your help. It only makes sense, don’t you think, that these sailors would help build their own homes?”

Enzo almost looked like he was going to scowl at her, before he finally scoffed, slamming a fist against the table. It was only through sheer force of will that she managed to avoid jumping. “Fine. Fine! I accept. But that is the last thing. If you want to be my ally, then that is the last exception I will make. Is that clear?”

Fatima smiled sweetly at him, glad to have figured out how far she could push him. “Of course, King Enzo. That was all we wanted to ask for, anyway. Then, as Queen Fatima of the Northern Alliance, I accept you, King Enzo of the Sea, as our new ally.”

“I, King Xian of the Northern Alliance, also accept King Enzo as an ally,” Xian spoke up begrudgingly, barely keeping his face neutral.

“I, Queen Avery of the Norther Alliance, also accept King Enzo as our ally,” Avery nodded from where she was standing, her voice cold as ice.

Enzo glanced to each of them in turn, before turning back to her with a shark-toothed grin. Reaching a hand out, he grasped hers in a firm grip. “Excellent. Then I, King Enzo of the Sea, am grateful to call you my ally.”

“Wonderful,” Fatima smiled back. “I look forward to working with you, for now unto eternity.”

9,874 God-Kings Remain