Chapter 52

"Ambassador, it is good to see you again."

The Sound of the Queen's voice caused Nicholaus, Royal ambassador of Gavroza, to turn around with an elegant spin. He then bowed deeply, his lips brushing against the ruby that adorned Argath's left index finger.

"Not as good as it is to see you, Your Majesty" the leopard replied in a suave tone. "It is always a pleasure to visit the Vinolian court and to bask in the presence of its esteemed monarch."

"You must be tired from your journey" Argath said, with a courtesy that rivaled that of her guest's. "Please, sit down. We shall remain standing though, We have been seated for many hours and feel the need to stretch Our legs."

Thanking the Queen, the ambassador sat down at the table. Several small bowls, filled with a variety of fruits and sweetmeats had been placed on it, as well as a decanter of wine and two glasses. Argath filled the glasses herself and handed one to the ambassador.

"Help yourself, ambassador." She said, indicating the delicacies at the table.

Nicholaus' eyes fell on a bowl filled with red, shiny cherries. He promptly picked one out and put it in his mouth. 

"Delicious" he said, spitting out the stem and the pit in his handkerchief. He then took another one and repeated the procedure. 

"Your Majesty's had a busy day then?" He asked.

"Alas, the work of a sovereign ruler is never done" Argath sighed. "By the way, how is Daphne doing?"

"She is doing well. Thank you, Your Majesty." A knowing smile passed briefly over the ambassador's face. "I hope Your Majesty was not too disappointed when she came into this room only to find yours truly waiting for her?"

"Oh, not at all."

Last time, Argath had entered this room, prepared to meet with the Gavrozan ambassador, only to find herself face to face with a female leopard, wearing a blue dress which hugged her figure in all the right places, causing the Queen's tongue to temporarily get stuck to the roof of her mouth.

"Greetings, Your Majesty" the young woman had said, curtsying. "I am Daphne, ambassador Nicholaus' niece. My uncle has regrettably taken ill, but he has sent me in his stead. I hope that Your Majesty is not offended by this."

So, that's your game, Nicholaus, Argath had mused, as she kept eyes focused on Daphne's oval-shaped face. You send this minx my way thinking that she'll distract me. How adorable. Its so transparent that I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or not.

"On the contrary" she had replied. "Have a seat, We trust that your uncle has filled you in?"

"A most charming young lady, your niece" Argath said to Nicholaus, while she put a piece of licorice in her mouth. "We should welcome an opportunity to get to know her better."

"Your Majesty most certainly will" the leopard replied. "I intend for Daphne to become my successor, one of these days."

"A female ambassador? Will your King agree to such a thing? After all, in all of your country's history, no woman has ever held that position."

"Its a controversial choice and its bound to cause some waves back home. Still, its ultimately His Majesty's decision and I believe I can convince His Majesty that Daphne is the right person for the job."

"How is King Frederic doing these days? We heard that he suffered a stroke recently. We trust he is still alive."

For a second, Nicholaus was unable to conceal his surprise, then he inclined his head.

"Your Majesty is well informed. The King is still with us, though he has grown weaker and the doctors fear his next stroke will be his last. After all, he is not a young man anymore."

Argath nodded. She recalled when she had first met King Frederic, during a diplomatic mission to Gavroza. At that time, the current King had been a cub, sitting at the feet of his father's throne with a multicolored ball in his lap. 

Now that cub has become an old lion; one whose mane is graying and whose teeth are soft, whereas I still have my youth and will continue to have it when Frederic's own son becomes as old as his father. 

The Thought caused the Queen to smirk inwardly; to her, this was yet more proof of the superiority of dragons over all other races.

"That is one of the reasons why I requested to meet with Your Majesty. With the King in a weakened state, he is beginning to worry about the state of the nation that he is leaving behind to his son and certain parties within the government are using this to try to persuade His Majesty to move away from Vinoli. They believe that agreeing to your proposition was a mistake on the King's part and I fear that the King is starting to find their arguments persuasive."

The Queen's eyes narrowed slightly. Before the Vinolian army had set off for Guanaca, she had sent an emissary to King Frederic's court, carrying gifts as well as a message. The Gist of the message was this: If, once King Faljan had reclaimed his throne and he and Argath were wed, Gavroza made a promise to acknowledge this marriage and stand by Vinoli's side against any who would contest it, all Gavrozan merchants would be allowed to traverse Guanacan territory without having to pay any fees or taxes, for a period of three years. Argath thought that this had been an extremely generous offer on her part, especially considering that it did not require Frederic to take any action himself. In fact, all he had to do was to remain at home and not send any support to Bashar. And now he was beginning to have second thoughts? 

Of all the spineless...

Argath could feel anger well up inside her, her shoulders shook with barely restrained anger. 

Nonetheless, she kept her feelings at bay and spoke in a calm voice:

"The Vinolian army" she began, "is the best trained and most well-equipped army in the World. We concede that this siege has been going on for some time, but mark Our words ambassador, Guanaca will fall and when that day comes and the city is in Our hands, Vinoli will forget neither her friends nor her enemies."

She paused to let her words sink in. In the silence that followed, the sound of Nicholas swallowing another cherry seemed to fill the room. 

"There is another reason why this faction seeks to influence our King against Your Majesty", the ambassador remarked, dabbing his lips with his handkerchief.

"Oh? And what pray tell may that reason be?" Argath asked. Probably the fact that I am a woman who rules her own kingdom instead of being the subservient consort to a male monarch, she thought scornfully.

"There is a rumor" Nicholas said, his finger-tips touching each other. "That Your Majesty had a hand in the unfortunate demise of your father."

Argath staggered backwards, as though she had received an unexpected blow. She stared at the ambassador, her eyes wide open.

How is this possible? She thought, sparks flying as the gears in her head spun rapidly. I thought I had squashed that rumor years ago. How can it have reached all the way to Gavroza? I better put Lorenzo on the job; he'll find out who the guilty party is. 

"By all the Gods!" She roared, bringing her fist down on the table with such force that the bowls jumped. "Who dare spread such vile and baseless rumors about Our person? When We find out who they are, We shall have them drawn and quartered!"

She put her hand on the back of Nicholaus' seat and thrust her face so close to his that the ambassador could see the thin wisps of smoke coming out from her nostrils. For the first time since he could remember, Nicholaus felt fear seize him. He had never seen the Queen of Vinoli like this before and he was afraid that she would forget that he was a foreign diplomat, whose person was inviolable and strike him, or worse. Instinctively, he bared his claws.

The Sound of claws being bared acted on Argath's anger like a bucket of water on a fire. She seemed to deflate like a balloon and took a few steps back, her expression now no longer conveying white-hot anger, but a deep sorrow over how cruel and unjust people could be.

"Forgive Us for loosing Our temper, ambassador" she said in a voice that sounded as if it was on the verge of breaking. "Its just..." She shook her head, as if in disbelief. "We loved Our father and it pains Us that some people are so cynical as to believe that that love was feigned on Our part."

"I understand, Your Majesty" Nicholaus said."It can not be easy for anyone to have such suspicions hanging over them. Rest assured that I, for one, regard them as nothing more than complete nonsense of no consequence."

At this point, Argath decided that the time had come to bring their conference to an end.

"Thank you, ambassador" she said. "We appreciate your support." Once again ,she offered her ring for the leopard to kiss. "Give Our regards to King Frederic and remind him of the friendship between his kingdom and Ours."

"I shall, Your Majesty. Farewell, it has been a pleasure and an honor, as always."

Just as Nicholaus was about to leave, there was a knock on the door. Argath bade whoever it was to enter and a shrew wearing a servant's livery appeared in the doorway.

"Forgive the disturbance, my Queen" the shrew said and if a voice could grovel, his would. "A dispatch has arrived for you. Its from General Jeraddin."

Argath and Nicholaus traded looks.

"Give it here" the Queen demanded, her heart pounding with excitement. 

She broke the seal on the dispatch using one of her claws, unfolded it and began to read. She then handed the dispatch over to Nicholaus.

"Here, ambassador" she said."We think you should read this yourself."

Nicholaus looked down at the cursive letters in front of him. Half-way through, he paused and shook his head, as if he could not believe what he had just read and yet, there it was; as undeniable as the existence of gravity or the changing of the seasons:

Guanaca had fallen.