“Regis Caldera,” Natalie called out with a charming smile in a singsong voice when she noticed the spell weaver standing not too far. “Or should I refer to you as Lord Regis Thorne now? I must admit, I didn’t expect to meet you again here of all places.”

“And I hoped that the Seven would spare me from meeting you anywhere ever again, Lady Natalie, but it seems they had other plans in mind.”

“Oh come now,” she sighed while waving her brother off to stop him from drawing his weapon. “Are you still mad at me about that small mishap from last time?”

“Small mishap? I wouldn’t call trying to charm someone into servitude a small mishap. Then again, you Argents were always quite liberal when it came to moral standards.”

“You...” Etienne growled as his hand shook while grasping his sword’s hilt.

“Regis,” the dark elf woman spoke with a mock hurt in her voice. “I truly hoped that you would let bygones be bygones after killing me that day.”

“Sadly, it didn’t stick. But we’re not here to bicker and I don’t want to cause trouble for Lord Merv, so let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s path today.”

“I... very well,” Natalie sighed. “It would be rude of me to cause trouble for our host so soon after arriving, so I agree. Come, Etienne. We should meet the others before the assembly officially begins.”

Saying that Natalie turned to the side and left, beginning her tour of meet and greet with her fellow nobles.

“Well,” Quentin let out a troubled sigh. “That escalated quickly. For a moment there I thought you would start a fight. Despite telling me not to.”

“Natalie wouldn’t let it go that far,” the spell weaver remarked. ‘She’s obviously here to network, so causing too much trouble early on would harm her agenda.”

“I believe you have already greatly hindered her goals,” Tristan stated. “Whatever they might be. Mentioning the fact that she can charm people likely made the others quite wary of her.”

“I sure hope so,” Regis nodded as he accepted a glass of white wine from his steward. “She was already extremely dangerous back in Hunor. Seven knows how skilled she has become in it after all this time.”

“I highly doubt that she would try to use whatever skill or spell she has, given that there are so many spellcasters and people with high willpower present.”

“It looks like you have quite a history with that pretty lady,” Regis heard a familiar voice from behind his back. “Care to share?”

“Are you looking for some gossip, Perry?”

“I would never,” the young nobleman said appalled. “But it was clear as day that you two hate each other more than fire and water, so…”

“Let’s just say that my friends and I are firmly against her family’s way of doing things. They did terrible things back in my home world and some other things are best left unsaid. They forced us to leave Hunor in a less than friendly manner.”

“I see,” Perry hummed. “You sure don’t like to share much in the way of words, but from the sound of it, this Argent family firmly believes in having their way, no matter the cost.”

“That’s one way of saying things.”

“Another would be to call them outright demon collaborators, but we don’t have clear evidence of that, so it’s best left unsaid.” Quentin added.

“But then…”

“As my friend said,” the spell weaver stopped Perry from freaking out. “There’s no real evidence besides the rumours back from our old world, but their unscrupulous way of doing things is still a threat.”

“Just try to be careful around them, your lordship!” Tristan remarked, earning a slight nod from the nobleman.

“Thank you for the warning. I think it’s best if I have a small talk with some of my father’s old friends.”

“Please, don’t hold back on our account.”

Perry left with an apprehensive expression on his face, leaving the three men behind. They watched him stop at a small group of nobles, their faces soon turning sombre as well.

“That’s one way to spread rumours.” Tristan said as he watched the lordling chat with his peers.

“I’m sure Natalie’s doing the same, trying to make herself look like the victim and us the villains.” Regis whispered as he glanced over to the dark elf woman who was having a surprisingly cheerful conversation with another noblewoman.

Despite the obvious hostility the two groups showed towards each other a few minutes ago, neither side made any open moves against the other. Another hour passed by, strained by the tense atmosphere with the spell weaver having some small talk with a few men and women who were supposedly the guild masters of distant spellcasters’ guilds. He even managed to broker a few small trade alliances much to Tristan’s excitement before butler Edwin entered the room with a guest who drew everyone’s attention.

“May I introduce Princess Helena Andrade of the royal family, her knight commander, Sir Godfrey Hackett and Archbishop Philip Brondum from the Church of the Seven Paths.”

“Lord Andrew Merv greets the princess of the royal family!” The man said loudly while lowering himself to a half-kneeling position.

This gesture was followed by all of the old nobles of Ecragurne with the outlanders bowing slightly to greet the young woman. In Regis’ view, the princess looked less than regal, although that could have been due to his modern views on life. She was a woman of average height at around a hundred and seventy centimetres with softly curled chestnut-coloured hair. Her oval face had no birthmarks or freckles and no scars of any size marred it either. Her brown eyes felt a bit cold and distant, but then again, she was royalty so that was to be expected.

“Please, arise everyone!” She said with a gentle tone and the lords and ladies of the room did just that.

“I take it everyone who was invited had already arrived?” Knight commander Godfrey asked with a stern look, earning a nod from Lord Andrew.

“Everyone is present and ready for the assembly.”

“Good,” the archbishop hummed. “The sooner we get this over with, the better. The princess is expected to return to the capital before nightfall.”

“In that case,” Lord Andrew raised his voice. “I would like to ask everyone to take their seats so that the assembly could officially begin.”

“Here we go.” Regis said to his companions as they walked over to the long set of tables put together to cut the large hall in two.

Tristan sat on his left side while Quentin sat on the right one, Perry’s people covering them on the right with Zola’s on the left to keep any unwanted strangers at bay. In about five minutes when everyone had taken their seats and quieted down, the princess spoke up from the end of the long table.

“I would like to greet everyone present here today,” she said after clearing her throat. “As the one to represent the Andrade royal family, I, Princess Helena Andrade hereby declare the beginning of the Annual Lords’ Assembly.”

Her words earned a slight nod from the people present before she continued.

“As it is customary, the assembly will begin by announcing any royal decree sent by the Andrade family. After that, Lord Merv is to take over to bring forth any territorial or national issue that needs our immediate attention before the last part of the assembly commences. At that point, any lord or lady can speak up regarding their grievances or official statements. Sir Godfrey, if you would be so kind.”

“Of course,” the man replied before pulling out a set of silk ribbon-tied scrolls from his expensive-looking satchel. “The royal family hereby amends his previous decree regarding their refugee integration decree. It had been previously decreed that any refugee coming from the neighbouring kingdoms or free regions are to be thoroughly investigated to make sure that they are not a threat to the kingdom of Ecragurne before allowing them to settle down to refill the drastically reduced population of our lands.”

Sir Godfrey read from the scroll before stopping to glance at the nobles.

“It had come to the royal family’s attention that certain members of the nobility began to extort and pressure said refugees to settle into their territories despite the previous decree stating that they are free to choose their new liege. This amendment is to make sure that this won’t happen again, as doing so will now incur severe punishment, including the possibility of execution if the crimes require it.”

These words earned a hushed murmur from the people around the table, some of them glancing toward people like Lord Verhen who seemed to have shrunk into his seat slightly.

“The second royal decree regards the safety of the travel routes between the different territories. Due to the large number of bandits, deserters and undead that are still roaming throughout the land, it had been decreed that every noble must prepare guards to patrol the routes to assist the royal army.”

This piece of news earned a less-than-pleased reaction from the people as they loudly voiced their dissatisfaction with the decree.

“With all due respect, Sir Godfrey,” a man from the side opposite of where Regis sat spoke up loudly. “The standing army of my territory had already been devastated by the undead and the wild beasts fleeing from those monsters. If I were to send out my troops to patrol the routes further away from my town, it would leave my people defenceless. Is that what the royal family wishes for?”

“Likewise.” Another noble spoke up, joining the man in his protest.

“No one asked for you to send out the entire standing army beneath your banner,” the knight commander stated flatly. “A squad of twenty should be more than enough if they were trained properly. If everyone present does the same, it shouldn’t be a problem to secure the main roads, allowing the royal army to concentrate on ridding the land of the monsters that are still remaining.”

“The spellcasters’ guild of Atraune pledges six mages of the second tier to provide aid in patrolling the main routes leaving from our town.” A white-haired elder wearing a lavish robe stated, earning a nod from Sir Godfrey, as well as a few more volunteers from the other guild leaders present.

“The royal family thanks you for your support, respected elders.” Princess Helena said with a slight bow, her manners befitting her position.

“With the matter settled,” Godfrey spoke up again. Let us continue. “The third decree hereby states that due to the severe losses of population incurred on the territory of everyone present, King Mikkel has decided to lower the annual taxes to two-thirds of their original amount this year.”

Another round of relieved and agreeing murmurs filled the air, making it obvious that the lords and ladies were quite happy to skip some of their obligations.

“The fourth decree regards the new lords and ladies appointed by the Heart to rule certain territories within the borders of Ecragurne. House Andrade is ready to welcome you and accept your position as the ruler of said territories on the condition that you officially bend the knee and swear your fealty to the royal family. Refusing to do so will mark you as an enemy of the people of Ecragurne and everyone else present.”

“You wish us to bend the knee,” a soft voice resounded in the dining hall. “But to whom exactly? Who is worthy of our fealty?”

“What…” Archbishop Philip turned toward the source of the voice, his eyes widening.

“Who are you?” Godfrey asked while clenching his fists. “How dare you ask such outrageous questions?”

“My name is Natalie Argent,” the dark elf woman said with a slight nod. “Heiress apparent to house Argent and representative of the Exiled Court.”

“You dark elf…”

“I don’t believe that my question would count as an outrageous one,” Natalie said with a firm tone. “If anything, it is quite justified.”

“You...” the knight commander growled, ready to stand up from his seat.

“The royal decree orders us to bend the knee but does not state to whom we should bend it from the Andrade family. It’s no secret that King Mikkel’s health is rapidly degrading, some saying that he’s not long for this world, a few months at best. From what we understand, there was no official declaration regarding his successor yet. With the king dying and no successor named, I believe I speak for all of us present when I say that we can’t pledge our fealty unless the matter gets solved.”

“You dare,” the knight commander slammed his fist into the table as he stood up. “This is treason!”

“No,” Natalie hummed. “This is called staying neutral. Without a proper successor declared, if anyone present pledges their fealty to the wrong person, our entire house could get branded as traitors and get executed when the true successor rises to the throne.”

“She’s right.” Several voices resounded from the room, most of them from fellow outlanders, but even some of the old lords agreed with her statement.

“The Exiled Court fled from Harmarond to avoid the extinction of our race, hoping to find a safe haven so that we could focus on increasing the number of the dark elves. Should a successor to the throne be declared and the matter finally settled, we are more than willing to pledge our allegiance, but we cannot jeopardize our race’s future over the royal family’s succession battle. I hope that the princess can understand our situation and will accept our temporary neutrality.”

“It is not a decision for me to make,” Princess Helena spoke up after a long moment of silence. “But I understand your worries. I’ve heard and understand your willingness to pledge your loyalty to the royal family and I promise you to forward it to my father. In the meantime, however, I must ask you to fulfil your duties as vassals of the kingdom by obeying the other decrees.”

“I understand, your highness,” Natalie nodded. “House Argent is ready to serve, pledging troops to aid in the restoration of peace and order.”