Cold War

Cold War is one of the Tales of Arkain.

## Synopsis

The story was on the POV of a Kerrel noble, who was one of the invited to a banquet organized by Zyainor's Ca'laer and Ca'lea Gardon Bloodclaw and Vail respectively.

## Story

I still remember the day when I first met the Ca'laer and the Ca'lea of Zyainor in person. Well, I think I might have met the Ca'lea during her old life when she was still the bodyguard of our prince, but back then she appeared as nothing more than a savage, not one of the most powerful politicans on the continent. It was four years ago, the 7th October, 542 E.F. or as many would now say 10 Z.R. The tenth anniversary of the Second Void War. A banquet was being held in the recently finished Bloodclaw Fortress to celebrate the event. Up until today I am not sure whose idea that was. Was it the rulers of Zyainor or one of their advisors? The years before that, no one seemed to bother about it, it was considered nothing but a day like any other. Then, this year, suddenly a letter with the royal seal of Zyainor (or whatever word the dragon worshipers use for to describe "royalism", I am still not sure how their Zyaise works, it is a confusing language to begin with) with an invitation to a banquet. As far as I know, all nobles in all human and elven realms were invited and despite the conflicts between Kerrel and Zyainor, a cold war some would even call it, most nobles of Rengar and about at least half of the nobles of Kerrel attended to this unexpected event, myself included. King Dorten himself did not appear, but that was to no one's surprise. What DID surprise us, however, was that Princess Felicia, Dorten's daughter and heir after the disappearance of Prince Toraes, was not only there, she was among the first to arrive. I suspect that she was curious, just like the rest of us, why we would receive such an invitation rather than an invasion - we were expecting the latter ever since the foundation of the "new" Zyainor, especially after the failed assassination attempt on King Dorten. Of course, it could still be an attempt to first gather and then slaughter us, but even the Ca'laer would not be so bold. He wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating what such a shocking betrayal would cause. Of course, we still had no doubts that he would sooner or later try to take direct control of Kerrel. The question was only who would make the first move. Bloodclaw Fortress was an impressive, if sinister, sight to behold. However, the rumors about the heads of Gardon's enemies being impaled on the way to it were exaggerated. I actively looked for any, but couldn't see a single head of skull, not in the forest, not on the way to the entrance, not inside and not even on the walls. Maybe they had been removed for this event, but I quite frankly think that people tend to exaggerate when they are talking about the rulers of this realm. Surely, the Ca'laer had certain rumors surrounding him ever since his days as General Gardon Bloodclaw, but if I would compare the Zyainor of today with what is written about the "old" Zyainor, the realm had been improved hundredfold. Then again, how much truth is in those stories anway? History IS written by the victors, after all, is it not? We were led through a hallway directly into the banquet room, guards were on both sides, making sure that no one would get any idea to go any other way as directed. This did not surprise me, it was not uncommon. The fortress was a dark place on the inside, same as from outside. Statues of heroic humans and of dragons, side by side and on their own, were all over the place. Yet, I failed to see anything made of gold, it was either stone, iron or, seldomly, marble. I found myself wondering if this was simply because the owners of this place didn't care about gold, didn't have any interest in impressing their guests or in boasting or if it was still somehow related to the conflict with the Golden Guard. I think that this was something that impressed me the most about the aesthetics of the fortress.

In the banquet room, we were greeted by the servants. We were served the finest wines and food, some apparently were Zyaise specialties as I had never seen anything like them, yet I still remember that they had a very good taste. Whatever the old Zyaise were, they knew how to make a nice meal, that is for sure. After a while, the door right to the two empty thrones opened and three figures entered the room. It was Ca'laer Gardon Bloodclaw, followed by his right hand High Lord Thanok, who, according to rumors, was a black dragon in human disguise, though one had yet to see him in his dragon form. The other man was not as famous as Thanok, but widely-known regardless. He had followed into the footsteps of Grand Admiral Seabright after his death, not by title, but by the status of being among the most trusted and highest-ranking servants of the throne of Zyainor. Lord Commander Varan the Soulkeeper, a tall man wearing black armor. He had once served his current liege as a soldier, he had been a lowborn son of a farmhand or a smith, I honestly cannot remember, I only know that he does not have noble blood. Yet, in his service he had risen through the ranks of the Ironfist and had become a high-ranking lieutenant of his superior Thanok. When the Bloodclaw had taken the crowns of Toran and Pyrru, Varan was among those who would be given title and lands. He had always shown great interest in the art of necromancy that had been practiced by some magicians of the Ironfist and had convinced them to teach him - and apparently he did actually have some untapped magic potential in him which allowed him to master their craft. He would later gather all necromancers and supporters of their art in the Human Kingdoms around him and, with the permission of his Ca'laer and Ca'lea, found the Guardians of the Grave, a necromantic order that served the interests of Zyainor while also improving the art. Varan would be the first Grave Warden, some would call him a "dark paladin" or even "anti paladin". Personally, I had high respect for the man. It is not an easy feat to have survived the low ranks, being promoted and then ending up as the grandmaster of such an order. After all, the Guardians of the Grave were a large organisation within Zyainor. Despite past events regarding Undead, the rulers of Zyainor seemed to continue supporting the use of necromancy.

At the same time as the right door had opened, the door to the left of the thrones was opened. This time, there were four figures and no guards. I was not surprised about the lack of guards, I was pretty sure that anyone who would have tried to attack Ca'lea Vail Bloodclaw, who was the first of that group, would lose against her in single combat, even if she was outnumbered. She hadn't been the personal guard of Prince Toraes for nothing. What DID surprise me, however, was how she and her husband did not enter the room together, side by side, but even through different doors. This was uncommon in the Kingdoms and would have caused countless gossip regarding their personal relationship, yet it was only us, the guests from the kingdoms, who seemed to be irritated by this. I assumed that this was another Zyaise custom we were not used to.
Like her husband, Ca'lea Vail was accompanied by powerful and high-ranking servants of Zyainor. First and foremost among them was High Lord Birram, ruler of the Duchy of Isalmur and patron of the new academy in Isalmur which had been named after him. A mysterious man, hardly anything was known about him - unlike the other two companions of the Ca'lea!
Lord Daskor the Dragonheart was a sight to behold, the armor he wore must have been made from the very skin of a red dragon. He was a high-ranking Ca'Rach - that's what the Zyaise call their "Dragon Knights" that dedicated their lives to Zyainor and the dragons. The Ca'rach were the most numerous order of Zyainor, I had been told. Apparently, every larger army of "regular" Zyaise troops was led by at least one of them, as many officers, both low and high-ranking, were Ca'rachs - or "rakes" as some prefered to call them.
There were some rumors, of course, that Lord Daskor was a black dragon in disguise, just like High Lord Thanok, yet there were many rumors about many things, I am sure if I'd be wasting enough of my time like that, I could find someone telling rumors about ME being a dragon in disguise. As much as I'd like to spit fire as easily as they do, the truth would be rather disappointing. The last companion of the Ca'lea caused quite some murmurs in the ranks of the nobles of Kerrel, let me tell you! It was Duke Taron of Angas! The Dukedom of Angas around Castle Angas used to be part of Kerrel, a rich and proud province which had the misfortune of being turned into a massive battlefield during the Second Voidwar. When the duke died several months after the end of war and his three children separated the lands amongst themselves, they declared themselves independent from Kerrel and instead joined the reborn nation of Zyainor. They had considered King Dorten incompetent and wanted to follow strong leaders instead. Along with them, many knights of Kerrel had joined them. As a reward for their decision, Ca'lea Vail not only granted them help in rebuilding their lands, she also gave each of the three siblings a sword which had been forged by both humans and dragons. Along with the knights who had followed them, the three founded the Order of the Three Swords, with the three being its grandmasters. Duke Taron, the eldest of the thre, was mostly the one who would represent the order in public and leading its forces into battle. It always puzzled me that, despite the fact he could have taken over both the order and the lands, being the eldest of the three, he had instead shared it with them.

The Ca'laer and the Ca'lea sat upon their thrones and greeted the guests. They declared that this would be a day to celebrate not only the defeat of the Demons but also of the rebirth of Zyainor. During his speech, one of my noble colleagues approched me. "Have you seen the guards in this room?" he asked me, whispering. I took a look around. The guards looked different from the ones that had led us to the banquet room. Their armors were dark, their horned helmets hid their face and their entire bodies were embodied in their armor. "Those are no regular guards, that much is for sure. But who are they?" I wondered, whispering just like my colleague was. He looked at me, his face deadly serious. "Do you see the fist they have on their banners? They must have come here from the Black Keep. They must be the Blackguards." he explained. I took another look at the grim guards and slowly nodded. The Blackguards of the Order of the Black Fist. We had first heard about them five years ago, when some nobles had tried to rebel against the rulers of Zyainor. While it was said that the rebellious nobles had been caught and executed without any bloodshed by the Blackguards, there were hints that they instead had destroyed the entire mansions with the use of dark magic, darker than even necromancy. They would have done so in order to completely wipe out the "treacherous weed". Surely not the kind of people whom you would want to guard a festivity like this. Then, as I was turning around, looking at the guards, I came to realize it. I realized why we had been invited to this place, why so many high-ranking personalities of Zyainor really were here. We were surrounded by the best of the best of Zyainor - and probably not even all of them - and they weren't here to kill us. They were showcased. We were shown that, while we had struggled to replace the paladins with new knight orders, Zyainor had already succeeded long before we had even begun. The invitation, this banquet, it all was part of the cold war. Without openly boasting about it, Gardon and Vail showed us the power of their elite that we would have to face in a war. This would intimidate the nobles of Rengar to stay neutral in a possible conflict while also showing us, the nobles of Kerrel, what we would have to face in a possible conflict. It was a subtle, yet unequivocally message: Mess with us and you will pay for it. I am sure that Princess Felicia too understood the true meaning of this invitation. She was one of the first who left when she had a chance too. I didn't stay much longer than her and only a few of our nobles actually stayed to the end. I am not sure if my eyes were tricking me but I could have sworn that, in the moment when the princess left, a short smile had scurried over the faces of our hosts.