Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

The Darr Kingdom had always valued martial prowess above all else and often forewent teaching things like diplomacy or tact in favour of more combat training. That was all well and good on the battlefield, but when it came to any kind of negotiation or business, it was a terrible drawback.

That wasn’t to say there weren’t schemers or cunning strategists in the Darr Kingdom, there were plenty of them in fact, but among the vast majority of the population, especially the younger generation, acting belligerent or solving problems with one’s fists was often their first impulse.

Talia even suspected that the whole reason her kingdom, despite being older, bigger, and more populous than its neighbour to the west, was considered less powerful and prosperous than the Rockwell Kingdom, was because this might-makes-right attitude was stifling their growth potential and their ability to form a cohesive whole.

Glancing over at her son, Talia was at least relieved to find that he had remained calm and composed throughout this whole embarrassing episode; in fact, if she wasn’t mistaken, she even saw Landon smiling slightly, a rare thing for her boy.

It seemed her strict teachings had not been in vain after all, which was a great relief to her.

Having regained control of her party, Talia considered whether to apologize for the outburst or not, but ultimately decided against it. She was willing to be diplomatic when the situation called for it, and understood the value of using words rather than her sword to fight some battles, but she was never going to lower herself and act subservient, especially not to her ’enemies’.

Instead, Talia turned her head to the older woman who first addressed her and studied her face. A moment later, the Crown Princess smiled carefreely and laughed, "Lady Carlson, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh?" Hearing this girl, who was clearly too young to have participated in the last great war, speak her name aloud with such confidence, and so quickly, Elizabeth was actually quite impressed.

It seems that rampaging bear finally fathered himself a decent heir, Elizabeth and several of the others from the older generation thought to themselves.

They also felt that this might be a problem; after all, it was easier to deal with a barbarian who only knew how to charge forward and smash things, rather than with a cunning wolf that was adept at smiling while hiding its claws.

To be fair, Darian Darr wasn’t a total fool, but he was prone to getting lost in the heat of battle, a fact that the Rockwell Kingdom’s Generals had taken advantage of more than once in the last great war.

Noting the subtle shift in the atmosphere around the enemy’s side, Talia continued without showing any hint of fear, "To answer your question, we are here today to discuss a... sensitive matter with the leaders of your kingdom, so having so many of those leaders gathered here already is... fortuitous."

"I see," Elizabeth nodded, neither trusting nor distrusting this answer. It might very well be that Talia Darr had something she wanted to talk about with them, but it could also just be a pretext for them to enter the city and cause trouble.

It could even be both; only time would tell.

Not noticing, or not caring about Elizabeth’s skepticism, Talia continued, "That being the case, I would like to request an audience with whoever is in charge here and can speak on behalf of the Rockwell Kingdom."

"That would be me," a familiar voice spoke up from practically right beside Talia, causing all her muscles to tense and nearly resulted in her leaping back to assume a defensive stance.

Fortunately for her, through a combination of decades of experience, extreme self-discipline, and plain old good luck, Talia managed to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground and her expression mostly unchanged.

The rest of her party, however, did not fair so well, with many of them instinctually backing away from the intruder that had somehow managed to enter their ranks without them even noticing.

This time, Talia didn’t fault her subordinates for reacting so dramatically, as they were right to worry that their lives were in danger now that a deadly predator had somehow managed to slip into their ranks undetected.

Turning her head slowly, taking a few extra seconds to calm her breathing, Talia fixed the smile to her face through sheer force-of-will and said in a much more formal tone than before, "Greetings, Marquess Balfour."

Talia had seen Celestina from afar a couple times, and had seen her picture a few more times than that, but this was the first time she was actually meeting her in up-close and in person.

Taking in the sight of the woman standing just 3 steps to her right, Talia was thoroughly impressed.

Whether it was in terms of strength, presence, or beauty, Celestina Balfour more than lived up to her reputation, especially tonight in her bold red dress that practically screamed both confidence and sensuality.

Feeling her heart beat a little harder, Talia couldn’t say for certain whether it was nerves, or awe that was quickening her pulse.

No wonder Royal Father always speaks so highly, and so warily of her, she’s truly a magnificent woman and warrior, Talia thought to herself.

Celestina was also checking out her old ’friend’s’ daughter, and she too had to admit that Talia was a gem, a rough gem still very much in need of tempering and polishing, but a gem none-the-less.

The silence between the two women lasted for a brief moment before Celestina actually burst into laughter, her sweet voice cutting through the tension like a knife.

Walking up to the ’little girl’, who was actually over 100 years old and who would have been a couple centimetres taller than her were it not for her new high-heels, Celestina patted Talia on the shoulder and smiled teasingly, "Relax, Crown Princess Talia, it was just a little joke."

"Lady Balfour certainly has an... interesting sense of humour," Talia replied, allowing her muscles to relax ever so slightly, but not daring to drop her guard.

Celestina appeared carefree, perhaps even a bit kindly, but that didn’t make her any less dangerous.

Noticing the young princess from the less-than-friendly neighbouring country to the east was still fully riled up from her earlier prank, Celestina only laughed harder, her smile slowly softening into one that held genuine warmth, "You’re right, you’ve arrived on a fortuitous day, one that is far too joyous to be marred by blood and conflict."

Turning to address the crowd, Celestina infused her voice with Spirit and Soul Qi and declared loudly enough for all to hear, "Princess Talia and her companions are my guests tonight! No one is to harm them, unless they are harmed first!"