XVII

Sins of the Father

Rafael walked up the spiraling blue staircase of the Tower of Unity- the click and hum of his footsteps setting him at ease just as mystically as it had last time. As the sunlight pouring through the hole in the ceiling crept ever closer- as the tower itself invited its King further with each step, he almost forgot his troubles entirely. Though, his nerves wouldn't seem to completely leave him be, even now.

The Ambassadors had called for another meeting. That was to be expected at this point. If he had to guess, this was because they had noticed the mobilization of his battalion, and the occupation of the southernmost cities. It stands to reason they would not be happy with this- but he had to stand his ground against them. If he let the Water District continue to play nice, it was inevitable that Rey would soon take the first step, and claim the advantage on a war he declared. What was about to happen was an inevitability- all he was doing was changing the inevitable in his favor.

More personally, his daughter had been much more shut off from him since she returned from her expedition. His little girl had gone from a bright, eager- occasionally annoying- young woman, to a cold, avoidant teenager in just a few nights. He knew at least the partial cause of her frigidness, but he hopes it was the only cause. Had she gotten hurt, sneaking out of home into the forest? Alexander told him no such thing, but if he shared in that trauma… it was foolish of him to let her leave with so little protection. He had to prove his goodness to his daughter today- that she might let him in on any wounds a father’s warmth could heal.

Andrus had also recently gone missing without so much as a word of warning. That was perhaps the most alarming part of it all. If a terrorist, or political opponent, got a hold of one of his mages, the consequences would be catastrophic. A search party investigated his whereabouts as he spoke, but that did little to soothe him. All he could do was pray they found him quickly.

Rafael reached the roof of the tower. To his surprise, Rey and The Ambassadors had both beaten him here. Though the Ambassadors were a smaller group than before- one of them was missing. By the noticeably grimmer spirits the party were showing, he didn't have much faith it was for a good reason. Rey's son was also here… Men, was it? They both seemed just as gloomy as the others, it was like they were both pretending the other wasn't there.

The three groups reached the center of the tower, and exchanged greetings. Without much delay, the meeting began in earnest.

"Unusual that you would be the ones requesting this meeting, Ambassadors." Rafael began. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I think you know very well what you owe it to." One Ambassador frowned. "What you both owe this to."

Rafael considered playing dumb, but decided against it. "My occupation of the southwest. I understand your concern, Ambassadors, but I assure you, I'm doing that with your best interests in mind. I think you would agree that a friend's extra protection would be beneficial in the face of any 'unexpected' crises."

Rafael looked at Rey, as did the Ambassadors. Another Ambassador nodded. "Rey Za-Hel, Clearbrooke was recently attacked by the Red Dragon sworn under your legal supervision. That attack… has cost us dearly. What's worse, we've received word that Agria yet lives. The implications do not escape you, I trust."

Rey shook his head. "They do not. But we will not be punishing Agria for that attack, nor will we claim responsibility for it."

The Ambassadors nearly broke out in a frenzy at the comment. "After failing your protection- you would abandon us so blatantly!?"

"We have abandoned no one." Rey responded. "Agria is innocent."

Rafael tensed up. The Ambassadors scoffed. "What!?"

"It would be near impossible for Agria to escape the Sky District without my knowledge or blessing, which I did not give. What's more, your people's accounts claim Agria was severely wounded during the attack, but we see no such wounds on his person."

"That's absurd." Rafael argued. "He's a Dragon- a creature practically created for combat. The witnesses must have exaggerated, in their mania."

"Even if they did-" Rey responded, "There still wasn't enough evidence on his body to link him to any major conflict on that night."

"You must hear how this sounds." An Ambassador condescended. "Are we supposed to believe such a convenient account? Our people aren't going to just accept that a phantom razed their forest."

"Then we'll do everything we can to find out who our culprit really is." Rey claimed. "Our nation has as much to gain from it as yours."

"Our nation seeks justice for the lives we lost, and the advantage taken by the man who benefits most from our weakness!" The Ambassador shouted. "We aren't going to let you lead us down a wisp chase for your innocence- while you continue to impress and imperialize our people!"

"Saying it wasn't you isn't enough." Another Ambassador interjected. "You'll give us a full answer, or you will cease all interaction with our nation! We will not cooperate with you on this! It's one thing to fail your duty, it's another to profit from it!"

"You'd do well to heed their words, General." Rafael said, stepping forward beside the Ambassadors. "The Water District stands ready to defend the Land Dwellers from any further injustices. Unless-" He brandished the long, glowing handle of the golden trident in his possession. "You seek to push the issue."

Rey glared at Rafael, defensively taking a step back. Men watched his father nervously from behind.

"I would sooner resolve the conflict with Agria and lay this distrust to rest." Rey assured them. "But my people will not accept such casualty when they know it is for naught!"

"Then you will stand down." Rafael commanded. "And this time, you will focus on ensuring your own nation is secure enough to-"

"Your Majesty!" An Aquatic soldier rushed onto the roof- interrupting his king, and stepping aside to clear the stairway. "Her Highness, Genevieve III, has demanded entry!

"Genevieve!?" Rafael turned around, everyone on the roof surprised by this interruption. "What is she doing here!?"

"I rented a carriage not far behind yours." Genevieve answered, walking up the staircase, onto the roof. She bowed to the group, none of whom knew quite how to react.

"Darling, you can't be here!" Rafael fussed. "If you want to accompany me for this meeting, you need to ask me beforehand!"

"I'm not here for a negotiation." Genevieve mumbled, staring her father dead in the eyes, approaching closer.

"I'm here for you, Father."

Rafael stared worriedly at his daughter. "What do you mean?"

Genevieve planted one foot in front of the other, facing all of the world leaders directly- who watched her intently.

"Regent King Rafael Carretero," she began, "You are under arrest on the charges of genocide, conspiracy against the sky, and numerous inhumanities against the land!"

The room froze. Rafael scoffed, and started to protest, but Genevieve did not let him speak.

"Through use of your mage circle, you impersonated an ancient dragon- slaughtered hundreds of land dwellers- and framed the Sky District for your crimes! What's more, you plan to further slight the land dwellers by occupying their land and impressing upon their people while the Sky District is too busy to push against you. What you've done is nothing less than an act of war, and by decree of the royal family, you WILL submit yourself for sentencing in the palace."

Rafael looked at his daughter in utter disbelief. Unable to fully process what was happening, he turned back to Rey, who was glaring at him with all of Hell's fury in his eyes. Men's eyes widened in utter shock, and the Ambassadors were in a stunned frenzy.

Rafael turned back to his daughter, and spoke through gritted teeth, his fists shaking with rage.

"Would you not think it wise to have done this in private… or ANYWHERE else… that isn't in front of the one man who CANNOT hear those words!?"

Genevieve's determined glare did not waver.

"You will submit, Rafael."

Rafael looked around, totally unsure of what he could possibly do to remedy this. Did he deny the accusations? The ones his own daughter was making against him? Looking at Rey now, he knew that would not end well at all. The way his feathers stood on end, the terrible arch his wings had picked up… oh gods, Genevieve had doomed them all! His idiot of a daughter had just condemned them to a full-scale war! What was she possibly thinking- doing this NOW, of ALL TIMES!?

Rafael nearly screamed those thoughts out loud. He was unfathomably infuriated and confused. He felt as if the gods themselves had pulled some cruel joke on him. To think that this was how Solevi fell into terrible, bloody conflict. All because of Genevieve, of all people.

And yet… What could he do? He had no choice. Disgraceful as it was, he had no choice but to submit himself to arrest. It would do him no good to fight her here.

Rafael silently walked past his daughter, and allowed his soldier to take his trident, hand it to Genevieve, and pin his arms behind his back. The Ambassadors gasped, seeing this as some seal of fate. An admission of guilt.

Without missing a beat, Genevieve stepped forward, stopping where her father had just stood.

"Ambassadors." She spoke- soft, yet just as firm. "General. I offer you two things. The first, my deepest and sincerest apologies for the terrible sins our kingdom has inflicted upon you both. The second- more importantly- a promise. A promise that not only will my father be met with swift, and apt punishment- not only that he will never again be given the opportunity to hurt you or your nations ever again..."

Rafael's heart sank in terrible realization. The cruel depths his daughter had sunk to to best him had become immediately clear. Her timing was no mistake, no folly of recklessness. The choice to expose him in front of his enemy was intently to force him to surrender. To keep him from having any chance to cover this up. So that she could use his downfall to her advantage- steal his power and step above him. In one simple act, his own daughter had usurped him, and risked everything in the process.

Genevieve continued. 

"...But that I will, in his place, commit myself entirely to the slow and honest redemption of our nation- and the repair of our relationships in the years to come. I pray that these offers will be enough to forgive our heinous misdeeds."

Rey watched this young woman bow in front of him, daring to show the gall to ask his forgiveness- after all the treachery and evil she had just revealed her nation to be guilty of. His hands shook uncontrollably, he resisted the urge to attack this insufferable brat there and then. He heard her offer, and he spat on it.

"You have lost your damned mind, girl!" He growled. "You are a deluded slime to believe I would forgive such treasonous filth so quickly!"

Rey turned his back to Genevieve, whose confidence was waning to panic. Refusing to lose her composure, she kept her head down, and her face obscured.

"Mark my words, Carretero- the Water District will pay in kind for its transgressions against us! An act of war can only be met-"

Rey was stopped in his tracks by a palm against his chest. Stepping to his father's side, Men Za-Hel pleaded for Rey to reconsider.

"Father, please." He began. "We have no reason not to forgive them- have we not already lost enough?"

"The Water District has just proven itself a considerable threat." Rey responded. "You would ask me to let them continue their assault of our nations, unresisted?"

"The Princess has just disarmed any weapons they might have had at our necks. There is no threat."

"Do you know that for certain!?" Rey grumbled. "Do you know that this isn't another ploy- a trick to escape the situation unscathed?"

Men paused. "...No. I do not."

"Then we will take appropriate action." Rey brushed his son's hand aside, and kept walking. Men stood still, and faced Genevieve directly.

"...No."

"What was that?" Rey turned his head.

"The Sky District will accept your terms." Men Za-Hel told Genevieve, who slowly stood up to meet his eyes. "So long as Rafael never again holds power over any of our nations, we will walk the path towards harmony with you once more."

Genevieve smiled. Men gently smiled back. The Ambassadors watched in captivated silence. Rey marched back to his son, and yanked him by the shoulder, forcing eye contact. His hand curled back up into a trembling fist.

"You aren't the General, boy." He seethed through gritted teeth. "I think it's high time I reminded you of that."

"Or it's time for that to change." He returned his father's gaze. Unflinching.

Rey stepped back, almost impressed by the audacity of his son to so blatantly challenge him- in front of the leaders of the outside world. He paused, and considered his son's words, neither one of them breaking eye contact. A grin just barely cracked through his scowl.

"All right, then." He whispered. "I'll see you at the Coliseum tomorrow morning."

Rey took flight, and briefly turned to look at Genevieve. "The Sky District's response remains to be seen, princess. See to it you can uphold your end of the deal."

Rey took off. His son watched him disappear, his fear finally showing in his face. Similarly, Genevieve turned around to look her father in the eyes, the uncertainty of what she'd be doing next truly setting in.