Jochi considered what had been said and nodded. "Bypassing the king of Fristha and forcing Anstarn in a bad or worst choice... It is cunning your majesty... I do hope that this isn't the start of a trend however, as you said earlier 'We either fight with complete honour or none at all, there is no middle ground in your reign.'... I believe we may not share the same conception of honor, but I will follow your lead." Beowulf loudly crashed his hands on the table and got up. Jochi jumped a little at the sudden action right next to him. The man of Anstarn spoke with his accent (Think Arnold Schwarzenegger). "I agree with Jochi about questioning your notion of honor. I for one will follow my king, but..." He leaned closer toward the princess across the table. "...I hope for all of our sake that my fellow countrymen will not have the same definition of honor as you. Them deciding it is best to be 'Pushing away a weak king for a popular princess more cooperative to their ideas' could be a very bad news for this alliance of yours. You are not so cunning as you think and if this alliance is built on convenient opportunism it is doomed, as are we all." He pushed himself away from the table. "I'll wait for words from my king and from my king alone before taking a stance about this. It is a shame, but not all unexpected, to see Jochi, Revaz and Helgland in general, the most openly willing to strike at your weakness, to be the one to gain the most of this alliance proposal. At the end of the day, my people will still starve every winter without your damn handouts. Perhaps Revaz was right and the only way for Anstarn to survive and thrive in this world is to take every opportunity to move forward, even if it means straying from the path that is Righteous."

Beowulf walked away leaving a moment of silence around the table. Jochi finally broke it. "Then so be it. We will however have to discuss about the command structure of this army, no Helgland will ever fight under the banner of an Elianst general. And of course, there is still the matter of the conservatives among Helgland. I'm thinking of giving the land you are offering to Revaz, of all people. If we get her on board most of the hardliners should follow and-" Jochi was interrupted by Caroline's cry and collapse. "W-what's going on?! What's wrong with her?"

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[url=http://youtu.be/_Fa06Fzkftg]Music[/url]

Revaz loudly slammed the door of her room shut behind her and began to pace in her room. She knew Jochi was shifty but she didn't expect him to betray her like that, marry the damn queen and let her down like a used rag now that he had better prospects for his own future. Asshole. Revaz fell heavily on her bed without bothering to take off her armor or boots and she began to think. She couldn't just mass her army and go tear a new asshole to Elianst while they were busy alone. Even if she managed to somehow ally with the invaders they were sure to back stab her later on and she'd never have the resources to fight them alone. The voice of her familiar came to her ear, she felt him slithering on the bed. "Now, now, Revaz... We know what we want, don't we? Wealth, power, land... But do we not think we may approach thisss on the wrong angle?" Revaz rolled her eyes and didn't bother to look at the snake. "Oh, aren't you the insightful little thing? Why don't you shut up for a change? I don't need your damn advices." 

It continued... the voice was a little bit different this time it seemed. "I'm just saying... don't you think you may be thinking too... small." Revaz was about to rebuke the snake, but there was something strange to this, she frowned. "Think of it." Yes, the voice was distinctively feminine. Realizing this Revaz turned to face the snake and to her surprised faced... herself, with the arrogant half-smile she always had. In her surprise she pushed herself away, but it wasn't that large of a bed and she quickly found there was no more bed to fall back on and began to fall to the ground. With lightning reflex however her copy grabbed her forearm and prevented her fall. The double continued to speak. "Think of it? How did your father went from a goat herder to a lord? How has any war ever been won? It's not by fighting like Elianst, and certainly not like Fristha, although that one princess may be an exception." The copy pulled Revaz back over the edge and on the bed, inches from its face. "How? Tell me!" Revaz tried to lunch a kick toward... her other self, but she found it blocked. As she looked down to see how she had managed to block it without ever looking down, the copy got on top of her and pinned her down. It leaned toward her. "Revaz Samarkand, how do you win a war?!" It was almost as if it was going to kiss her so Revaz turned her head before answering. "By attacking!" 

A triumphant smile appeared on the copy and loosened her hold and leaned back, still looking at her but this time with a large grind. "That's right! By stealing the lives their peasants and enslave them before they can be trained into soldier! By stealing their ore before they can make swords out of them! By stealing their precious and valuable gold and gems before they can use it to pay for this pitiful war of theirs... By making all that is theirs yours and when you have sapped their strength and hope to win, they are at your mercy to get what we want, what you want. Don't you see it?! It's the key! At. Their. Home. Turf. Elianst? Why do you think so small!? We're better then this! Play this game, their game, that of the 3 others, so happy to defend their homes and loved ones, but even they know that you can't win by blocking all arrows if you can't get the archer on the other side of the sea... Make their fire weapons yours, make their tactics your own, make their gold flow into your own pockets and finally, claim them, body and soul, as yours to command... You've stolen gold and lives, but it's time to play a bigger game and steal yourself a kingdom, an empire! But for this you need them, your 'allies', to use them, if only as a distraction, and this game they will play with you, because as much as you need them, they need... you..."

As she finished the sentence the double placed a single finger before its face and began to advance it toward Revaz's. Mesmerized, she could only follow the digit and the face of her double began to fade in the distance as a black shadow. When the finger touched her nose, Revaz blinked. In front of her, was her snake. "Now, now, Revaz, are we alright? We heard us speak in our sleep." A dream? No, it couldn't have been, it felt so real! Out of a reflex she gave side chop with her hand at the snake. It didn't mind, bending with the hit and twisting itself around the arm and moving on to the body. "Are we alright? We are sssweaty. It seems like it was quite the vivid dream." Revaz took a moment to place her ideas back in order. "Revaz?" She ignored her familiar and began to lean back. Yes, it was genius! Why didn't she think of it earlier? The alliance, Elianst, it was all... manageable, something that could be used for something greater. What was Elianst, but a petty little nation, getting its capital overwhelmed in mere hours? There was so much more potential for herself.