Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 224: Teigh - That is the Question

"Your Majesty?" Lord Tadeus said trying to get my attention.

I was still reading the notes Ryu had sent me using the new System messaging features. He had deposited items he thought might be of interest, items he left for me to collect from within the [Ring of Hidden Depths].

Having artisans research and dissect the plants, mineral, or animal parts he shared allowed me to monitor and keep tabs on his progress much more effectively than I thought possible. There were some interesting finds, plants that we would probably develop in the future, but what was most interesting was the [Level] tags that were associated with each item.

Ryu's use of [Identify] translated across worlds. The properties of each item he had discovered became part of System knowledge our people were able to access even without the [Identify] skill.

I was still amazed that the System had adapted and added chat features. It made staying in contact possible. I wouldn't have heard anything from him until after he and his group had finished conquering a Dungeon and claiming the planet without this increased System functionality. The planet needed to be Claimed before we could think about deploying ley-line networks that would allow for M-AI connectivity.

The new features gave me more information, but that information was limiting. I still couldn't react to events, send him help, rescue him if he got in over his head, but his daily progress updates helped. It soothed that worry I had that comes from the bond of family we shared. That worry eased somewhat with each message he sent, each item I collected from the ring.

He had reported that the planet bestiary seemed to be entirely comprised of animals that had adapted and evolved from insects. Fish existed as well as birds, but they hadn't come across any mammalian life-forms. Even a wolf pack he had encountered was more beetle than anything else. I wondered what had happened in Ijal's planetary evolution to preclude the planet from allowing mammals to evolve.

I thought it fascinating how planets that had not been claimed by Gods continued to develop after that first moment of creation when everything had been created and allowed to spin free from the Fountain of the Divine.

Ryu's last missive informed me that they were following a ley-line into a ravine that he hoped would lead to a Dungeon. His description of the area was eerily reminiscent of the gorge, river, and waterfall that had led to, and occluded the CERN Dungeon. I wondered if that was by System design.

I considered asking him to create a bridge between Ijal and Talahm by opening portals between the two planets via the Summerlands but decided it was best not to play around with forces that might compromise the success of System integration and evolution for this first planet. None of the other Pantheon's had this ability, and I worried that System might consider this a breach of rules and automatically fail the Sidhe.

I recognized that claiming a dungeon to claim a planet using only people that hadn't been System assimilated was a test. Our success would change much for our people and our world, but System demanded we earn those changes.

Linking worlds using Summerland Portal bridges was something to think about in the future when we had more worlds under our control. Now that we understood that using paired portals could control the passage of time in the Summerlands, it might be worth eschewing the standard inter-planetary portals for transportation.

I didn't like some of the messages Rye was sending, little details that he and his party were taking as a matter of course that I hadn't been warned about. The knowledge that our entire world would enter 'sleep' once integration was complete so that new functionality could be implemented among the populace, was worrisome.

We hadn't been warned that this would happen and did not know how long the process would last, or how to defend ourselves or our planet while our bodies adapted. Did the System place our children in Sleep too? If not, how were infants and those too young to care for themselves to survive?

I would look into this development by discussing the matter with the Egyptians. I was hoping they assumed we had known of this phenomenon. It was probably something that was common knowledge among all the other Pantheons, and they had forgotten we had been embargoed almost since the beginning.

I firmly believed that System had to deploy protections for our young and our planet while our people adapted. I didn't believe for one second that Olympus or Asgard would pass this opportunity to conquer another Pantheon unless there were severe consequences if they made the attempt, or System made sure the evolving planet was sheltered.

As for Irvin and Wynne? I continued to ignore Lord Aesin as I reflected on their progress.

I had just finished watching a video stream of Wynne's meeting with Caesar. She had stepped out onto the Universal stage with aplomb, full of arrogance that the Seelie were best known for. She was Knocker and Sidhe, but they could emulate Mag and her Court perfectly when they chose.

There was none of the pomp and circumstance that a Princess would expect, instead, she had been treated as less. The same way the Sidhe had been treated forever. Caesar was an idiot to realize that times had changed. The events at the Senate had forged a new path for Sidhe. And should have had him wondering if we would dare provide proof and claim damages from his Gods, why would we now stand for his amateurish attempts to insult and humiliate us.

Someone else might have ignored the insult or allowed it to pass. Wynne was not that someone. Anything that stood in the way of her finding the person responsible for her daughter's death would not be moved. A daughter that was not dead, but that had been squirreled away by Tybalt, King of Cats.

I wasn't certain, yet, how other Pantheons would respond to Wynne's actions, but I intended to fully support her. The agreement-in-kind that I had signed with Rome had been scrutinized, amended, and finally agreed to after exhaustive diplomatic discussions. Caesar had agreed and signed those documents.

Rome's decision to abrogate those agreements almost from the moment Princess Wynne arrived on the planet made clear their intention to only adhere to those rules and agreements as they saw fit. Unfortunately for Caesar, Sidhe were not word-smiths or lawyers. We didn't suffer insult or slights and were more than willing to act immediately, regardless of the consequences.

I admit I might not have acted in the same manner as Wynne had. But then I hadn't lived as long as she had, and I hadn't had a daughter I thought killed by these people, for no better reason than to hide the perfidy and dishonesty of individuals that wanted to fast-track their ascension to Godhood.

That she managed to control herself, when she was met with insult, and not leave a trail of slaughtered bloody bodies on that route from the Portal Authority to Caesar's palace said much about her control. I did find it amusing that she managed to steal such a vast amount of gold along that journey.

I had no intention of commanding her to return it. Instead, I thought about plundering Caesar's city by suggesting she continue her theft by meandering around the city. Gold was a precious metal, it had value and was a part of every Pantheons' monetary system. The more she could extract from Rome, the more Caesar would pay for his idiocy.

The wards and spells that were placed to protect and deter theft was a joke, it held no providence when a Knocker well versed and fully empowered in the domain of metal strolled those streets. Her control was absolute, so steeped in the nature and properties of metal, that I doubted the God Hephaestus himself would notice her actions.

"Should we recall Princess Wynne, King Teigh?" Tadeus my head of intelligence asked.

"No," I responded. "Instead inform our Senate Ambassador to bring the matter up in chambers. I want him to protest vigorously the actions of Olympus and their further abrogation of signed treaties and agreements.

"Send the attached recording the Princess shared with us of exactly what happened, and the actions from both sides.

"No editing," I warned, "I don't want Olympus to suggest that we have doctored evidence to water down our complaint."

"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Tadeus asked. "The Princess comes across as belligerent, even confrontational in that video. She makes no effort for conciliation or diplomacy."

"That's why I want the recording shared," I explained. "I also want it shown that Caesar summoned a Fury, and how that Fury was sent against a Princess that should have been protected by treaty.

"The Senate news services will pick up on and disseminate her actions to a much wider audience. I know that I have developed a reputation across the Universe after my actions before the Senate, and I want it known that my actions were not an aberration, that the Sidhe are inclined to react in a like manner."

"You hope to protect the Sidhe by fostering that same reputation," Tadeus guessed.

"If you make an agreement with the Sidhe, you damn well better plan on keeping it," I extolled.

"I want it known that it doesn't matter who you are dealing with when dealing with the people of Talahm. The Sidhe will return insult with insult and attack with an attack. We are not impressed with cities of gold, or Despots sitting on thrones hiding behind their titles and guards.

"We worship the Tuatha de Danaan, not some jumped up dictator that believes that because the blood of Gods flows within his veins, he is entitled to demand obeisance.

"The blood of Gods flow within every Sidhe citizen. We are Nature's reflection of what our Gods have dreamed. I will not sanction Princess Wynne for her response, but I want it known, publicly, when I demand an explanation from Olympus before the Senate.

"I wonder if they will stand behind Caesar and protect him, or let him be sacrificed, just another pawn in their power play."