New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The day crept by slowly for Alex and Kary, as they apprehended how they would deal with the diplomatic situation they were thrust into. Especially Alex, who knew this was partially his fault.

He felt guilty for not asking the man to leave as soon as their meeting was done. He could have taken a small backlash for their hospitality, over the shit-storm that was bound to come their way after beating the man into submission.

Kary could see this turmoil on Alex's face, and tried telling him a few times it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't have predicted this outcome. But somehow, he knew he was bad news when he saw the look Gerald had directed at the maid that served them tea.

Beating himself up mentally for his lack of decisiveness, Alex felt droopy all day. By the time dinner came around, he wasn't sure he wanted to log in at all.

But he also knew he had to face the music.

The couple ate in silence, after ordering in, and Kary tried thinking of a way to get Alex's mind back on track before they went back to New Eden. If they went in there with a defeated mindset, there was no way they would salvage the situation.

Opening her mouth to talk, Alex looked at her, shaking his head.

"Don't say it. I know what you are thinking. But it's much simpler to assume this was my fault and live with the consequences. I'm not saying we won't fight back. But I need to own up to my mistake and face this head on…"

Kary closed her mouth. She wasn't going to say it wasn't his fault, but she intended to tell him he needed to steel his resolve.

However, seeing he had already done so, even if it was by taking the blame, she decided to let him deal with this how he saw fit. In the end, she would have his back, no matter the situation.

After finishing their meal and cleaning up a bit, Alex and Kary stepped into the room. Alex looked at his pod with a bit of apprehension, but knew what had to be done.

As for Kary, she climbed into hers wordlessly, already thinking of ways to smooth things over and avoid conflict with the biggest and oldest kingdom in New Eden.

She already had a few ideas, but she would wait to see how the situation develops, before making any moves.

Once both of them had closed their pod doors, they logged in simultaneously.

"Log in."

*Launching New Eden*

*Logging in*

*Welcome back player Astaroth/Phoenix*

With the familiar feeling of weightlessness and swirl of colours, both of them reopened their eyes to the royal room's ceiling.

Phoenix heard Astaroth sigh loudly next to her before jumping out of bed.

"Alright. Let's see what I have to deal with. I hope nothing else happened while I was out."

Phoenix let him go talk to Rodney as she curved her path toward the cells on the third floor. Astaroth saw her changing paths and wondered what she wanted to do, but he was too preoccupied to ask.

Reaching Rodney's office again, he knocked on the door, which was closed at the moment.

"Come in," Astaroth heard through the door.

Commander Levine's voice sounded tired, and as Astaroth opened the door, he saw the black bags under the man's eyes, and knew it wasn't just his voice.

"God, you look like shit. You didn't get to rest much, did you?" Astaroth said, the words escaping him.

"You look like shit too, Your Highness. Are your actions weighing on your mind?" Rodney replied, unbothered by the comment.

"Eh. You could say that," Astaroth said, trying to downplay it.

"Come in. Sit. We can have the discussion I wanted to have last night. And then I will be getting some much-needed sleep."

Astaroth nodded his head, sitting across from his commander. Rodney looked and sounded tired, but his eyes still showed acuity, meaning he was not completely drained yet.

"As I wanted to say last night, before you dropped everything on my lap and disappeared, the kingdom of Themiscus is bound to know what happened.

"They always have items on their officials that record everything that happens to them. So they will already know what is going on."

Astaroth heard those words and gulped. How would they interpret the situation if they saw what happened?

"Now. I spoke with Coral while you were away. The girl is devastated, and her betrothed, Castien, is furious beyond words. He tried getting to the cells four times since you captured Gerald Stinson and two of those times, he barged in, forcing us to resort to violence.

"I don't like having to knock around a fellow soldier, especially since his mother is now hounding me for wounding her soldier and son. But I obeyed your order, and neither of them were allowed to see the prisoner."

Astaroth nodded his head, glad this had at least been achieved. He didn't know how much trouble they would be in if Alena or Castien had laid hands on the man.

"Have we received any message, missive, or report from Themisca since?" Astaroth asked, starting to sweat.

Rodney sighed deeply at the question, accentuating Astaroth's stress.

"Unfortunately, we have. And it's not good news."

Swallowing nervously, Astaroth asked what it contained.

"We received a magic message, which appeared directly on my desk, which in itself is worrying. The Matriarch Council wants to meet you to discuss further actions. They are saying to leave the prisoner in his cell for now, as unharmed as possible, until they talk with you and the queen."

Astaroth's heart dropped at the words. Somehow, he wasn't sure his words would even hold weight in front of a council of women.

He felt that if women ruled their society for so long, the men wouldn't hold much sway. Which is why, he assumed, they wanted Phoenix to be there as well.

"And when do they want to meet?" Astaroth asked, his palms becoming clammy.

"Today."