The coastal wind drove a multitude of smells alongside the fresh smell of the air from the sea and for a long time, such smells had never before been experimented by the people of Khazaria. At least, not by its ancestors that didn't know of the sea but rather of the vast expanses of the steppes filled with grass and the company of the Sun and the Moon in their long travels to find land to call their own. But for the modern Khazar, the smell of the sea was like that of any other. The fact that so many cities were now built next to it represented this fact the most. Now, there were few Khazars who had not seen the Black Sea and Şahin Macar was amongst those who knew of the sea just as well as they knew the saddle of a horse. Truly, the sea was intriguing and a vast new unexplored ground for the Khazarians. A new world to be explored for the young emperor and for many more Khazars willing to make a living on the sea through trade and adventure. Was that the reason for his aunt's decisiveness of approving the construction of the large vessel that transported him to the city of Mel-Izar. Mel-Izar was the jewel of the province of Kumbag. A city filled with foreigners and one of the main trading ports of the Empire. Şahin Macar knew pretty well the reason for his voyage to the city. It was to visit his aunt on the Winter Court of the Empire, for while the rest of the Empire braced themselves for the cold. The peninsulae of Kumbag remained a warm place to say and a comfortable one, no wonder his aunt when she was the regent stayed there most of the time and many began to notice that it was sort of the second capital of the Empire. It would indeed be a nice place to stay for the rest of the winter, too bad that the summer vacations of the past wouldn't repeat once again. For now, Emperor Şahin Macar had holy duties towards his people and ancestors, and most importantly to himself. It would be bad to let his aunt do all the job herself of the managing of the whole empire looked bad on him and the wouldn't improve the health of his aging aunt. Perhaps, that was the reason his Aunt had called him from the capital of Itil to the city of Mel-Izar. Truly reasons would soon be known as the Emperor when he disembarked on the city. One thing he picked up before returning to his quarters on the ship was the number of ships going and coming from various directions if it was a sign of something it was probably a sign of a prosperous nation. A true nation befitting of the Emperor's title. He could even see how some captains bowed from their decks to the ship when they saw the Imperial's Dynasty Sigil and Emblem painted on the ship's sails. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few days later at the city of Mel-Izar Truly, the summer palace was something worthy of an emperor or in this case an emperor's regent. The painted columns made of a bright mix of yellow and orange, alongside exotic carpets decorated every wall of the massive palace that sat next to the shore. It had four tall towers and several more living quarters where the servants of the Emperor and regent slept and ate. Truly, a magnificent sight to most kings and commoners. Şahin though was rather bothered though. He was a young mind that wasn't used to waiting in a room for his Aunt to finish speaking to the Stevatan ambassador. He was an emperor and perhaps even a spoiled one at that, perhaps a result of his aunt wishing to keep him away from the political intrigue of the court by sending off hunting and traveling with the pretext of knowing the Empire, but certainly now that he had him right next to her things would have to change if she wished to maintain a certain level of decorum. A few more minutes passed before Şahin received approval to enter the massive hall of the summer palace. At the center, he saw the European looking ambassador and his entourage of advisors and men. Their caucasian features all too clear for Şahin to recognize them, their hard defined features had become a usual sight throughout various cities in the Empire, a result of the rise of trade coming from north, south, west, and east that had the Empire at its center. They modestly bowed to the Emperor dressed in his bright golden clothes and hailed him as Şahin walked through towards his aunt, who dressed in a similar colored dress look at both the Ambassador and his nephew from above. The throne of the regent sitting at the top of a tall pyramid-like structure that allowed however sat at its top a clear view over the whole hall. "My emperor, it is a pleasure to have you here, I was just finishing talking to our honorable Stevatan guest" said Sevil Macar, regent in interregnum and matriarch of the imperial dynasty. "We were just about to finish, your imperial highness." Replied Ambassador Landon Jameson an old hand but experienced and competent, one that had seen to it that trade with Khazaria continued to increase over the past decade in a swift and continuous manner. Sahin though still looked a bit bothered but tried to hide in front of the honored guest, not knowing whether or not he successfully managed to hide the emotions inside of him. He nodded at the ambassador and replied to him in a calm tone. "As always, any Stevatan envoy and diplomat are welcome to our palaces if he wishes to discuss matters that concern both of our nations...now, I do wonder what kind of talks have been going between our most esteemed guest and the Imperial Regent." For a moment, a tense atmosphere formed up around the Emperor and the Regent. The request of the Emperor seemingly out of the blue and out of the ordinary, but nonetheless a valid one that regent Sevil was more than willing to grant to his imperial majesty. "We were just discussing a basic matter of arranging an imperial visit to the Stevatan capital send our finest riders and gifts to the king of Stevata will be a sign of respect to the King. It is about time don't you think, your majesty?" Sahin thought about it for a moment, but he nonetheless gave a rapid answer agreeing with his aunt like many times before."Well, you are right, lest we forget that not so many moons the Stevatan king had sent his finest horse as a gift to my mother and father when they got married. We should return the favor now that I am emperor, I do not wish for the King of Stevata to think of me as an impudent ruler that forgets so easily about past signs of friendship." The Stevatan ambassador smiled and Sevil did as well. Almost as a sort silent "well said" or "well done" kind of response. "Indeed your majesty, I knew you would approve of this and as such, I have already sent a messenger to Alp Tarkhan to select five hundred of his finest raiders to make the voyage. We are still descendants of the great Nursultan and we must show it to the world. Anyways, Ambassador Landon I think we are done for now. If you wish to discuss any other matter, you are more than welcome to send the Emperor a missive and we can arrange another visit for you and your entourage." Replied Sevil to the Ambassador, her long nails seemingly waving towards the guards to escort the ambassador outside. "As you say, imperial regent. We will be keeping contact and your imperial majesty, it is always a pleasure to see you. You are truly young and healthy, how I envy you. Truly the spitting image of your father, I am deeply sorry that he wasn't able to see his son grow up to become such a fine man and emperor too." The ambassador excused himself and made his way to the entrance of the Palace, escorted by two guards in full ornamental armor that while fashionable and expensive was too heavy and impractical for anything beyond the ceremonial walkings. Perhaps, another thing that had changed for the Khazars was their change of practical things for more luxurious stuff, but this had slowly ingrained itself in the nobility and as such, few pay much mind to it. Except for those from the provinces that were also part of the house of notables, they wore a mix of modern and ancient armor. Practical to the brim and not good looking at all, but it also was a way of showing that they had not lost their ways unlike the rest of the notables. "Now your grace, we can finally talk without the ears of foreigners listening to us. Please, come here I want to look at you closely my precious nephew." Sahin acknowledged his aunt's request and stepped forward as he climbed the steps towards the throne of the Imperial Regent with every step, the figure of his aunt looked less imposing and more fragile yet her imposing aura only grew stronger and stronger. Perhaps, age had made her frail but not stupid or any less frightening to her enemies, yet Sahin didn't fear his aunt or at least he had yet to find a reason to and as such moved forward with tranquility unknown to many of Sevil's closer advisors. "Truly, just like the Ambassador said. You are your father's son, I remembered his face when he was but a young teenage boy like you. Same face and same impatience, if it hadn't been for your mother I doubt someone would have put him in his place." Sevil replied reminiscing a past time and era one that she knew too well to forget. "I know Aunt, but I didn't expect that an Emperor would have to wait out on his own meetings with foreign ambassadors and envoys." Replied Sahin to his aunt. "Well that is right, but the talks with the Stevatan ambassador were worrying, to say the least. I needed to figure out the true intentions of the ambassador, first of all, to know if he spoke the truth and see if his information could be corroborated with my informants." Sahin's face seemed to get sour, the mask he put out before seemingly broken at the words that his aunt spoke to him. "I am the emperor, I would have known how to deal with it regardless." Unlike Sahin, Sevil's face remained as calm as ever her voice unbroken or her tone not changing in the slightest. "I know, but just like your father, you are too brave but also reckless. The matter is as follows, the Stevatans are worried that the Kingdom of Dorist may take another attempt at their lands soon and whilst they have failed once already, they aren't willing to do so again. This time they will be prepared, but as prepared as they can be. The Kingdom of Dorist remains the stronger country and they require friends, you surely know about the Thousand Saddle Marches, don't you. Just like them now, we once also required friends and allies to defeat the great Bujir horde, it is time to repay the favor. But of course, favors don't come for free and a simple show of respect and friendship will be enough to tell the world that the Khazarians don't forget their neighbors. Five hundred raiders will suffice." The face of Sahin was lighting up red just like a young kid feeling treated like someone younger. "That's it's not true, I would have done the same, but I would have sent our troops to the neighboring province just to be sure...those from the Kingdom of Dorist and perfidious, and their tongues do nothing but spill lies about us, I bet we could show them a real lesson in the plains of the Stevatan kingdom." "See, this is why I didn't want to have here before. You still have much to learn my young emperor, it is better I continue to stay by your side to advise you well..." Sevil was interrupted by the sudden entrance of the second Marshall of Khazaria, Yitzhak ha-Sangari. A man who preferred wearing the "Sobkhata" a mix of western and Khazarian uniform, but more western than Khazarian. He came with several of his close advisors all dressed in similar uniforms and with a strange-looking face as was typical of him. "Imperial regent. Your imperial highness." He bowed to both before addressing them. "You will have to excuse me for interrupting your discussions, but I heard rumors that the Azhil and Telphal clans are preparing to engage in ritual combat in the outskirts of the city. I request your permission to take men from the palace to put an end to the violation of the public of order." "Men from the palace? Aren't the soldiers of the city guard and the barracks enough to deal with this?" Asked Sevil, putting on a much more authoritarian tone than the one she was using with Sahir. "Normally, Yes. But the Azhil and Telphal clans are particularly aggressive and numerous, they also lead a host of minor clans who came from the east and if they begin fighting then the other vassal clans will fight too. I need a large enough force to dissuade them from such...and restore public order. I beg your forgiveness, I should have instructed the city guard to have put a stop to any altercation before it came to this." Yitzhak ha-Sangari kneeled and his face looking downwards towards the ground a sign of subservience to the regent and Emperor. "Do as you please, Yitzhak but this better not repeat itself. The safety of the Emperor and his council should come first at all times, not the squabbling of commoners and peasants." Sevil replied showing anger but in her mind, she knew well of the situation of the Azhil and Telphal clans, but this time it was another sign that sooner or later she and the Emperor would have to tackle this issue of the incoming waves of nomads from the east. In ancient times, she would have considered them brothers and sisters but now they were more like unwashed cousins of the like that cause more trouble than benefit. Regardless, this played to her hand anyways and a little reprimand to the Marshall helped the Emperor understand that from his position, he was to be superior to everyone and bow to none. Not even on the of the mightiest generals of the continent. "Before I go, your imperial highness. I did hear about the riders you requested for Stevata, I must advise you that repositioning our troops should be commendable should you truly wish to invest in our relationships with Stevata. The Kingdom of Dorist is no weak foe as you already know, I traveled there and I must say I am envious of their common soldier. Far better disciplined than one of ours, we must treat with caution if our path clashes with theirs. No precaution will be too much to take." Yitzhak then bid his farewells and went on to work once again. "I didn't expect Yitzhak to have big ears out of everyone in the court, but whatever. He is right and I believe this will prove an important decision for you as well, but we shall discuss in detail later. But remember what I told to you, don't be too reckless but neither too trusting of our neighbors, believe me, I don't like the Dorist either. They are even more stone-faced than the Stevatans, but matters that involve the whole region. Precaution is key." And just like that, the Emperor was left to his own devices once again. Later on, he would take a peek at the intervention of Yitzhak from the wall of the city with a telescope, watching just how large the hosts of the Azhil and Telphal clans were. Truly, only someone of the caliber of Yitzhak could have put them both in the position to just go away and leave fields with no blood on either side.