c h a p t e r F O U R | | Valdus Alaric

"Valdus, a messenger has been sent by the Kavynier empire requesting to host a meeting with the other kingdoms in 3 days. Our messenger has yet to deliver the message due to the heavy downpour in the West Region. The Region has been shut down since yesterday and he is unable to travel to the capital." Safdar announced to his Alpha King as he barged into the office. Unlike its owner, the office was warm and cozy. The wooden interior and slight sandalwood scent was a huge contrast to its owner and had definitely helped fight off the coldness that seemed to continuously seep out of its owner.

Usually, the delivery of messages to the other kingdoms were fast and efficient. However, after the last war, the Kavynier Empire had imposed strict regulations regarding the entry and exit of Verenata.

After the war, the Kavynier Empire had shut its nation from the rest of the world. Verenata had simply vanished off the maps and the face of the world. Many kingdoms have tried sending their explorer troops to find Verenata. But the familiar routes taken were only met with a vast of endless calm waters as its destination.

Soon, Verenata had slowly become a myth, a folklore that people told children as bedtime stories; Until recent years, when Verenata finally opened her borders for travel. Even so, to travel to The Great Land of Magic, was no easy task. One could not just travel by air, sea or teleportation. One would have to first get a visa approved before going to the Teleportation Point, built in each kingdom, and take the Teleportation Portal to Verenata. To make matters even more difficult, each kingdom was only allowed to build one Teleportation Portal.

When the Verenata borders had first opened, it was much more of a hassle to travel to Verenata as only one Teleportation Point had been built outside of Verenata, located at Edrueria. Only through diplomatic relations were each kingdom then granted the permission to start building a Teleportation Point to Verenata.

As Zaptana was located to the west of Verenata, it was only natural that those traveling from there would be teleported to the West Region of Verenata.

"Let the messenger know that there is no need to deliver that message anymore and to come back when he can." Valdus ordered.

Safdar's gray eyes were blank as he relayed the order telepathically to the messenger. He bowed in respect to The Alpha King before exiting once he was done.

With this new found information, Valdus took off his reading glasses and chucked them to the side. He leaned back into his chair. A dark smirk formed on his lips. He had always thought that the ruler of Kavynier was an unfit emperor. For he had always used his Chancellor whenever there were diplomatic meetings with the other rulers. He simply had no respect for someone whose face was simply a mystery. Furthermore, how could he respect a ruler who has no respect for the others with the same level of authority?

'Let's see what kind of emperor Kavynier is. Surely he will attend the meeting he has called for.'

**

After the war, the Peace Treaty was signed by the rulers of the 7 kingdoms. The Peace Treaty states that Edrueria was to be neutral territory and no kingdom shall hold jurisdiction over her. Discussions on diplomatic matters will be hosted in Edrueria to ensure that no foul play was involved in the decision making process to diplomatic matters. Till this day, no kingdom had dared lay claim to Edrueria as the repercussions of war was just too much for the rulers to bear.

Since Edrueria had no laws, many outlaws turned to her for shelter. Knowing that no law could touch them there, many rich and noble beings have gone over to act out their deepest, darkest, twisted desires. Business minded beings saw a market in investing in Edrueria which granted her the reputation of The Great Land of Sins; Attracting more tourists than any other kingdom.

**

The ride from the harbor to the Ermensinde Manor had been filled with comfortable silence. The Alpha King had his eyes shut the entire way while his Beta finished the remaining work needed to be done before the meeting. Safdar was glad that his Alpha was finally able to get some shut eye in. These few days Valdus had seemed to be much more irritable than usual, and the fact that his Alpha had not been sleeping did not seem to help that much.

It took half a day for the pair to travel from the Edrueria harbor to the Ermensinde Manor. The driver, who had been sent to fetch the pair of Alpha King and Beta, came to a stop in front of the huge golden gates to the Ermensinde Manor. He rolled down his window as a guard from the guard post, by the gate, approached the vehicle.

"The Alpha King and his Beta." the driver spoke to the guard as he flashed a tag with the Ermensinde crest to the guards. With the nod of the guard, the golden gates to the manor opened as the driver rolled his window up and began the 10 minute drive through the private path, lined with trees.

As they neared the end of the 10 minute drive, the manor's extravagant driveway came into view. Precious rare white stone made up the flooring to the driveway as support to the equally glorious fountain in the middle of the driveway. Surrounding the fountain were 8 tall golden flag poles with the flags of the different kingdoms and the flag of the Ermensinde administration, which represents the peace of the 7 kingdoms. The building to the driveway stood tall and proud, in all its white holy glory; The Ermensinde administration building.

The Ermensinde Manor took up the entire east of Edrueria as it contained 8 buildings; An official administration building and 7 mansions for the ambassadors of the 7 kingdoms. After the war, the 7 kingdoms came together to build a place for them to host their meetings seeing as Edrueria was just a piece of land with no form of development. Overtime, more and more ambassadors had been sent over to maintain the manor, as it expanded, to look after the businesses that had made claim in Edrueria. Even though no kingdom held claim to Edrueria, a relations department had been set up in the Ermensinde Administration to ensure that peace was maintained between the Ermensinde Administrator and the business owners that had grown their wealth from Edreueria.

The Ermensinde Manor was surrounded by tall white walls with 8 guard towers at each wall. Inside the walls, the layout of the administration office and the 7 kingdoms formed a circle, displaying the unity that each kingdom had to one another. The administration office was the "face building" visitors would face when they first entered the manor, as the administration office was located at the 6 o'clock of the circle. In the middle of the mansion was a greenhouse that hosted many different exotic plants from the different kingdoms.

As if sensing that they had reached their final destination, Valdus opened his eyes just as the head butler to the Ermensinde Administration opened the door and bowed in greeting.

"May the blessings of Ermensinde be upon you and the Alaric Kingdom, Alpha King Valdus. Beta Safdar. The others are already waiting for you in the Ermensinde meeting room."

"You may lead the way, Abbington." Safdar replied as the pair got out of their ride.

Following the order, the old butler led the pair through the thick wooden doors of the administration office. As usual, the sounds of beings buzzing came to a halt when they noticed the notorious Alpha King. Even though they were protected by the Ermensinde Administration, he was still one of the "bosses'' of the administration.

After that first incident, the Ermensinde Administration had cast an invisible spell over its workers so that there seemed like there was no unnecessary staff in the presence of The Alpha King. However, he could still smell the fear emitting off each and everyone of them.

'How annoying.' Valdus thought even though his face was as impassive as ever.

Feeling his Alpha King's irritation rising, the Beta subtly urge the head butler to speed up the pace they were moving at. "Ah, have the others been waiting long?" Safdar asked Abbington.

Taking the hint, Abbington replied professionally as he quickened his pace up the grandiose white stairs that were decorated with golden banisters. "They have also just arrived, Beta Safdar."

They reach the top of the stairs in half the time it usually takes. The wooden door in front of them stood tall and proud as a golden plate that read Ermensinde Meeting Room hung brightly on the door.

Giving the door 3 firm knocks, Abbington opened the door and announced "The Alpha King Valdus and his Beta Safdar."