Sakuya was certain that this had to be a nightmare. Funny, she thought she'd have grown used to that feeling after finding herself trapped within her avatar made flesh in a world where magic was real and deadly. But this was somehow worse. It was like all of her worst fears were beginning to unfold before her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

After Mortimer had offered his brutal assessment, the meeting room had grown completely silent. Sakuya could hear the birds singing in the trees outside. It had been Cardinal Mazarin who had been the first to respond.

"Your Majesty." The Cardinal said, turning to Queen Marianne. "What would you have me do?"

Queen Marianne seemed surprised by the question and hesitated to answer. "I . . . This is difficult to accept. That the commander of the Griffin Knights is a traitor to the Kingdom."

At the Queen's side, the Duchess Valliere shook her head, regaining some of her lost composure. "I must agree. So far we only have word carried by Faerie Magic."

"Are you implying something?" Alicia asked shortly, the normally chipper Cait Syth's personality had been worn thin by lack of sleep and stress and her tail lashed in open agitation as she faced off opposite the Duchess.

"Merely that we cannot entrust the fate of the Kingdom to a spell that we know so little about." The Duchess replied, looking down at the short Faerie Lord. "You Fae have been granted great leeway and trust by the Crown, surely you can accept that both have limits."

"Do you really believe that, Karin?" Queen Marianne asked.

Surprisingly, the Queen's softly asked question seemed to get a rise out of the Duchess, her face flushed faintly. "No. As you say, it is difficult to accept. But I believe them. Though if possible I would like to travel out with Lady Alicia and observe the spell being used for myself." The Duchess took a breath, and then, like the faithful at confession, she added. "Your Majesty, I am the one who originally sponsored the Viscount to join the Griffin Knights and who suggested he be sent on this mission. I did so acting as a Knight of Tristain and former member of the Manticore Corps, responsibility rests on my shoulders alone."

"Karin, what are you saying?" Queen Marianne asked. "This is no more your fault than it is mine or Cardinal Mazarin's. None of us could have expected this treachery."

"Be that as it may, your Majesty, I can offer only my humble services." The Duchess de la Valliere bowed deeply to her sovereign.

"Queen Marianne is right." Mazarin said. "You may have suggested Captain Wardes, but I also approved of the choice and would have put his name forward if you had not." With a shake of his head the Cardinal cast his eyes downward as if ashamed. "We believed that a member of the Griffin Knights would be above suspicion. We were mistaken. If even the Royal Guard is suspect, then who can we trust?"

Turning to her daughter's regent, the Duchess bowed her head deferentially. "Cardinal Mazarin, I'm afraid I must ask your services once more for the good of Tristain. Please lend us your experience and wisdome. As Queen, I will offer whatever aid I can to you and my daughter."

Mazarin bowed his own head in acceptance. The elderly man's lips began to move as if he were speaking to himself, or perhaps uttering a short prayer. "If that is the case, then first we must decide who we may trust. Captain Hammond, how many people outside of this room no about this?"

Sakuya looked over to the Manticore Knight. "In total, only the Knights in this room and the two guarding the door at this moment."

"There's also a couple of Cait Syth that were with me aboard the Navy Frigate and the ship's Captain. Oh and Mister Dragon Knight over here." Alicia added before letting out an long, involuntary yawn that seemed to defy the severity of the situation. "Ah, sorry!"

"The ship is the Wildhunt, her Captain is an old hand and in so much as he already knows, I am willing to trust that he is loyal. The same can be said for the Manticore Knights in this room right now." Cardinal Mazarin concluded. "Strangely, I believe that the people we can trust the most at this moment," he turned to look Mortimer and then Sakuya in the eyes, "Are the Fae."

"We have as much to lose as the Royal family if Tristain is invaded by Albion." Sakuya breathed softly. No, even more, the Royalty could at least flee and seek refuge in a foreign nation. Sakuya had learned that shelter had long been given by Romalia to the ruling lines of the various nations. The same could not be said for the former players. If the forces of Reconquista took control of Tristain, they would likely launch a purge to slaughter every Faerie they could get their hands on. She closed her eyes and nodded. "I understand. Please let us know if there is anything we can do."

Mazarin nodded his head as he thought. "For the time being, our highest priority must be to have the treaty signed before the convened nobility. This will mark into law the standing of the Fae and help stabilize Tristain internal situation."

"Then by all means, let us sign and be done with it." Mortimer offered. "All that is left are a few minor matters to resolve. They can be handled later through the amendment provisions."

"No." Cardinal Mazarine said quickly. "We must not be too hasty. There are factions within the nobility that will scent that something is amiss and try to delay. We will simply have to go forward with tomorrow's signing as planned. In that regard, this warning is something of a blessing. The Rebels will still think us ignorant. Doubtless we will soon receive an ultimatum from from one of their agents within Tristain. We must use the time until then wisely."

"Then you want us to help in this deception." Mortimer concluded.

"May we at least inform the other Leaders?" Sakuya asked, not missing a suspicious glance from the Duchess.

Cardinal Mazarin exchanged glances with Queen Marianne. "I see no way to avoid it. Regardless of what happens next, I believe we will be needing your help. For better or worse, the Fae are now involved in this matter. You became involved as soon as your agent departed in the company of Viscount Wardes."

"Kirito-kun sure has a knack for finding his way into trouble." Alicia observed, voice full of dark humor.

"He's also good at fighting his way out of it." Sakuya countered with a small shake of her head. Not that she could see how that would do them any good. Kirito was good, but he couldn't fight an army.

A distant chiming could be heard echoing down the hall, muffled by meeting room doors. Cardinal Mazarin seemed to stare through the would paneling in annoyance. "I believe that will have to be all for now. Until tomorrow, we must all dutifully play our parts to ensure the treaty signing is a success."

With that, the Cardinal had gestured to the door and the gathered Fae and Mages had begun to file out. "Alicia-chan, are you coming?" Sakuya asked, noticing the way that the smaller Faerie was dozing on her feet.

"Hmm?" Alicia blinked and shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm not really dressed for the occasion and Alden knows what I'd do." She gestured to her jacket and leotard combo. "Besides, I need to catch a bit of shut eye before I fly back out tonight. I told Kirito that I'd call back before dawn tomorrow." Alicia smile slipped a little as she saw the worry on Sakuya's face. "It'll be alright, Sakuya-chan. Just you wait."

Sakuya smiled at her friend. "Yes, I'm sure you're right." She said, before departing after the others. They were lead back to the House chamber, flanked on both sides by Manticore Knights.

Walking beside her mother, Princess Henrietta's eyes were downcast and her hands were clasped tightly before her. It must have been a sort of torture for the gentle, well meaning princess, to learn that her love letter could start a war. Good. A small, ugly part of Sakuya thought meanly. This was all Hernietta's fault, and a lots of people would end up suffering much more than her before all was said and done. She strangled that thought while it was still half formed. No, Henrietta wasn't to blame for this. It was more unfairness, that a Kingdoms fate could be sealed by the whims of a teenaged girl, it was cruel!

Sakuya wanted to reach out and reassure her, but then they were stepping out into noise of the House chamber once more and there was no more time to speak. Henrietta sat down beside her mother while Sakuya and Mortimer made their way back to sit with the other Faeries. The only one who seemed to pay their absence any mind was Morgiana who gave them both a questioning look as they sat down.

As the last Noblemen found their seats, Cardinal Mazarin climbed back up to the podium and brought the session back to order as if nothing had happened. What had followed could best be described as five hours of hell.

The minutes, that had seemed so fleeting before, had dragged on into infinity as Sakuya found herself glancing impatiently to the time piece built into the front of the chamber. At this point, the actual negotiations were all but over.

At the head of the room, a thick stack of papers sat before an assembled group representatives of the Tristain Legal College and the Fae's own legal representatives. Translating the treaty into both Tristanian and Japanese had proven a monumental task for the staff of lawyers, legal clerks, and amateur linguists who had volunteered for the task, but at last, after many readings, they were satisfied that the two versions were as closely matched as they could hope for.