The Winter Palace at the city of Mel-Izar was turning into a rather busy place. The bells of war had been called all over the country and now it seemed that another front was about to open. To the south, the long-standing rivals of Khazaria, Komentiolos, had begun their naval operations over the black sea. Waiting for the results was stressful enough for the ex-imperial regent, Sevil Macar but it seemed that the sixteen-year-old. Şahin Macar remained calm over this throne waiting for the reports both from the west and south, his mind had turned into an incognita for most but not for Sevil, the aunt that had raised him.

She was quick to recognize that the true face of the Emperor was that of a young emperor, excited to prove his worth yet nervous to fail in the early steps that could have him labeled for the entirety of his reign. A defeat was not allowed for him and his pride, when he gave the order to Alp Tarkhan to attack the western areas with impunity it was quite clear that he sought glory and prestige as the ruler of his kingdom should succeed. 

But at the same time, he worried over a possible defeat of the coalition army to the west. It was impossible to tell by the reports, just how much Alp Tarkhan was collaborating with his allies and only seeking glory for himself rather than trying to actually win the war. One of Sahin's fingers constantly tapped the arm side of his throne, he was anxiously waiting for the report that Alp Tarkhan had promised would arrive soon and two weeks had passed and nothing had been sent. 

Had Alp Tarkhan been defeated and his army routed so that the news would probably take far longer to get through the wartorn region of the Dorist province. It made him smile though, that a war begun with a provocation by the Dorist had turned so sour to them, rallied the eastern neighbors and probably secured another hundred years of peace between Stevata, Teclav and Khazaria. A couple of servants beverages to the young Emperor and he drank them graciously, it helped cool his head off. 

He looked at his aunt and nodded, thanking her for the gesture. It was already the afternoon and it was about time to take a bath, the Emperor was thinking of retiring from his throne room in the winter palace for the day, perhaps tomorrow would bring the reports he sought so much or perhaps not. It was then that footsteps of metal Khazarian boots could be heard coming from the hallway, Sahin macar leaned his back on his throne preparing himself for whatever was to come. This could be an early victory or defeat depending on just how well Alp Tarkhan had worded the letter addressed to him.

The guards opened the door and the messenger the Emperor had sent to Alp Tarkhan could be seen. He bowed to the Emperor and then approached him, leaving the message on the hands of Imperial Regent Sevil Macar, who then passed it to the young emperor. The messenger respectfully retreated back waiting for the Emperor to speak, his aunt waiting for him to read it and then pass judgment. But her eyes were far focused on his facial gestures, something that could tell more than a thousand words in circumstances like this.

"It is done." The Emperor stood up after reading the report, leaving the report on the experienced hands of his aunt. "Alp Tarkhan has been victorious!" He said rallying the cheers of his bureaucracy, servants and the guardsmen. It was tradition to always cheer a victory and it was the Emperor's judgement to say if a battle was a victory or not, but it seemed that the conditions on the front had stabilized and for the better. One of the Dorist's armies had been defeated on the field, while casualties had been inflicted upon his own forces it was expected that the Khazarian footmen wouldn't perform as well as its cavalry or their Dorist counterparts. 

"It is certainly a victory." Confirmed Sevil, the Emperor's aunt with a nod of her head. Her approval gave the whole court a sense of relief. "But it won't be much so for the sons, brothers, and fathers who were sent to the battle." She finished with those words, the Emperor glaring at her trying to understand her but finally doing so and instead of minimizing the death of his subjects, he remembered the great sacrifices that past emperors had also taken to ensure that their subjects had not suffered as much. "You are right, the soldiers who have fallen in this battle are just as important as any other of my subjects, they deserve a propel rest with the great sky father. I am sure that the pensions we pay to windows and orphans will get to the families of the fallen. They have done their part for the Empire and I can only thank them for that with shiny coins and pretty words.." He finished, realizing that just as his mother and father had died because of fate, the bodies littering the fields had also died because of the pettiness of fate. 

He calmed himself though and he knew that the war wasn't yet over. Two Dorist armies remained to the west and the navy of Komentiolos had been hurting trade and commerce through their raiding and letters of marque. But the navy of Khazaria had yet to fulfill its potential and much like the army, it still needed years of training and preparedness to fulfill the security needs of his nation. The war had also begun to drain the national treasuries, time would be needed to solve all those issues but the backstabbers of the Komentiolos true nature could finally be seen.

"Anyways. This victory is enough for us at the moment, it is time to rally help from the south and who else that our long-standing friends to the south. We had indeed promised to respect their neutrality out of respect for their marriage ties with their neighbors to the west. But that was for the conflict with Dorist, this time the hidden dagger of Komentiolos has struck us like that of an opportunist crow looking for meat. But they won't find any rotten meat in our empire! and less without allies to support us. They will pay the price of this affront with interest." The speech of the emperor roused another cheer from the nobles within the court and his officers. "Bring me a scribe. I want this message immediately sent to the king of Paranas."