The Union 287 A New Era

What Lucia said was still murky to him. She was pregnant, she said. Or did he mishear? No she definitely said it.

Timothy swallowed. "I am... going to be a father? We are going to have a child?"

"Yes" She said. "I haven't bled. Every morning these past days I have been..."

He embraced her, burying his face on her shoulder. "I am going be a father. Omniscient. I am going to be a father!"

He looked at Lucia. She smiled as tears trickled down her cheek. "Yes. At last Tim. At long last. I have long waited for this."

"We have long waited for this." He gripped both her hands. "Listen. We will announce it at once. We will serve all the sheep, deer, chicken, all meat in our stores. We will have half of the grains we have in a feast. And wine! Oh wine will flow. And mead. And ale. Whatever is available. Everything. I... I am... I don't know what to say. We have a child. Is it a son or a daughter? Oh wait too early right?"

He put his hand over her belly and stared longingly at it. His son or daughter was inside, their first born.

"We will provide our soldiers will additional wage, a bonus." Lucia said and coiled her arms around Timothy's neck. "And alcohol shouldn't be the only thing on the table for the feast. Tea and fermented milk should be included. But there should be something more. Shadow once told me that there is this drink in their land..." Her voice trailed. She bit her lips. "Shadow...Tim, we should also ask Shadow about this. He said I can't get pregnant."

Timothy fell into deep silence until he nodded. She was right. They had been ecstatic that they forgot that it was supposed to be impossible for her to bear child.

Shadow sat with his lanky body awkwardly seated in the chair. His hat was gone and so was his cane. His coat was new but the design was still followed the old one.

"So," Shadow said. "You think you are with child."

"I know I am." Lucia said.

"I'm sorry. I really am but you must have made a mistake Your Majesty." He chuckled nervously. "I mean the eternal pair cannot have a child."

"Who told you about this then?" Timothy asked. "You could be the one who is making a mistake."

"I am certain. There are three immortals in our race according to legends. My father and the eternal pair. My father, well he is not my real father since immortals cannot bear children. I am sure."

"There are two possibilities. Its either my wife is not pregnant or you are wrong about the eternal pair." Timothy looked at Lucia. "My wife cannot be wrong. She is smarter than the two of us combined."

"Actually," Lucia said. "There is a third possibility."

Timothy and Shadow heaved looks at her. Timothy then realized what she meant.

"You judged us as the eternal pair just because we can illuminate some stones. But have you ever thought that you could be wrong? We might not be the eternal pair."

In a moment Shadow's face flashed panic. He was shaking his head, frowning with eyes wide.

"No. The Resitance is certain. I...there were..."

"Makes sense actually." Timothy said. He then remembered something crucial. "Lucia...the impostor..."

"Yes Tim, we could be the impostor. The vision of the priestess showed the truth but not in the way we expected. The Impostor opened his palm and the lion and the pelican were on it."

"Impossible!" Shadow rose, the noise prompted Abraham to peek inside. Timothy waved the royal guard away.

"Impossible" Shadow said again. "The cull, my people, the desolation, who would save us all now?"

"Idiot" Timothy scoffed. "Let's say that we are not your immortals. So what? Does it matter that we were not the ones destined? The true eternal pair had run away. They left you. They ran from their responsibilities! Tell me, does greatness require destiny? Can't we become great even without being prophesied? I piss on destiny. I don't care about fate. We make our own paths. We are free to choose. The eternal pair has abandoned you but we will not. My wife and I are normal humans but we have power greater than any prophecy."

Shadow fell on his chair. He was silent, just staring at the carpet for what seemed to be a thousand heartbeats. "You are right of course. It doesn't matter even if you are not the eternal pair. But I still think you are the immortals. What about your dreams?" He looked at Lucia. "What about that vision you saw during your wedding? It matches." He looked at Timothy. "The male of the eternal pair is named Mathew and the female, according to the Queen's vision, is Stella. You two have been having dreams and visions of your past memories."

"And are those our memories?" Lucia asked. "What if we saw the eternal pair's memories?"

"Possible." Timothy said, nodding. "How can we be sure that those are our memories? We can't. Shadow, you said it yourself, there is little information about the past. Very little information."

"I don't know" Lucia said. "There is still a possibility that we are the eternal pair. This world is strange. There are many things we don't understand. But will you still follow us even if we are not who you think we are?"

Shadow was calm now. He leaned back against his chair. "I have seen what you two can do. I know that cooperating with you will be good for the Resistance. I will still follow you. No matter where it would lead. But the others in the Resistance will not take this doubt of your identity with friendliness. So I think we should keep this a secret. I will just make some excuses to them about how you got pregnant."

"Thus fulfilling the prophecy of the impostor." Timothy said.

"Yes."

"It is settled then. Our identities are a mystery but you will still support us." It was Timothy's turn to be silent. He curled his lips. "So now we must accept Wismar's peace."

"Peace?" Lucia looked at him. "I thought you wanted to destroy their pyramid. You want Wismar to kneel."

"I was prepared to fight them until my last breath. But we can't let our child inherit this feud with Wismar. I still want to pulverize that pyramid. I still want Malzan demolished. But our child..." His head drooped. "We need to think about our child."

***

A gazebo with red linen roof rose near thr drawbridge. Four seats were placed under, divided into two by a table.

"So you finally considered our request for peace." King Himel Wismar said. He was not too old. His grey beard was tied by a ribbon. His loose clothes were lined with shiny jewelries. But his face had the look of exhaustion. Dark swollen lines were under his eyes. "And thank you for returning my son to me."

Skall was beside his father. The Wismarine Prince mirrored the King's looks though Skall had become a little fat since he became a hostage.

"He is not free though. He will be one of our bargaining chips." Timothy said.

Lucia handed the King a piece of paper. "This is a list of our demands."

The King took the paper, unrolled it and the displeasure showed on his face.

"Don't worry, the demands of our allies were already included in there." Lucia said. "Ten million gold coins payable in installments. That is mostly for the destruction of Holm and the cost it would take to support the orphans and widows. We also demand fleet basing rights to all ports in Wismar and we mean all. From small river docks to large ports. Also, military access and control over the thirteen forts written in there. You will also surrender all Hellfire in your possession. You will allow preachers of the faith of the Omniscient to spread the faith freely. You will admit that it was you who massacred the Cantonese, Inkish and Hadeans during that battle near Mythrille. You will never set foot in the territories of the desert tribes again and leave them alone. You will cede the city of Kotara to us. And lastly, you will become our vassal."

King Himel was frowning hard. "The last two are unacceptable. Wismar could never recover without the wealth of Kotara. And we are too proud to become your vassal."

"We could always subjugate you instead. Annex all your territories or just leave them to rot under a power vacuum." Lucia said. "In a few days we could. But this is mercy, our mercy. Accept it."

King Himel looked at his son. His pain was apparent. He again looked at the list of demands.

"And what would we get in return?"

"Peace obviously. Your son will be returned to you, free of his crimes. But you will also have our protection. Levan will not invade you. We could also open our markets to your goods."

King Himel sighed. "Losers don't have much choice in the negotiating table. We accept. Let the war between our nations end."

Timothy and Lucia signed the document detailing the demands and conditions of peace. King Himel pinned his thumb and used the blood as ink as the Wismarine culture demanded.

King Himel and Skall rose first and bowed.

"May this peace last" King Himel said. "May our two nations never be at odds again. Let it end."
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"Yes" Timothy said. "Let it end."

***

'Twenty-second Day of Late Autumn, Year Five Hundred Eighty

This is awkward. My last record seems to detail my death. But I survived, somehow. My wound had healed. A Castonian surgeon stitched it with care. The reason why it took so long to write again is because I am ashamed. I was just too dramatic last time. Ashkara. This is embarrassing. The thought of tearing that page did occur to me. But I realized that this journal, everything that I'm writing is part of history. So I'll just swallow my shame.

Well a lot had happened since my last record. The Union besieged Malzan after their victory but they suddenly asked for peace. Their terms were heavy but that's better than losing all of Wismar right?

I and everyone else then discovered the reason why the Union's monarchs decided to trek the path of peace. The Queen is pregnant. Castonia and Wismar will be united. Thank that child for sparing Wismar.

A celebration followed, one that was the largest I've seen. Food, sumptuous beyond my imagination was served. Wine flooded. It lasted for days. Prisoners of war like myself joined the celebration of course. It's free food. Some Wismarines from Malzan also braved going outside and joined the feast. Let's just say that many people haven't been sober for days.

Well as of writing this piece, the Union's army have left. Wismar is licking its wounds. But it is now peaceful. The sky is blue again. The wind is strong. The warhorns have stopped blaring. The clang of steel is a thing of the past. As for me, I'm going home. Mother and Father would be glad to see their son again. I will cook them good food and we will talk about my adventures.

To whoever is reading this, be informed that I have decided to stop writing daily journals. This will be the last page. Know that Hatshin stood amongst giants. I witnessed history. I lived in the era of the Union.'

Chapter end