Theodoric looked out at his council with lazy eyes. Throwing the letter down in front of him, the men all tried not to look at him too much, feeling awkward at how lightly he was dressed. It was obvious to them all that he had just woken up, and they couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t even get dressed.

But they had all gotten used to his behavior and were just happy he was a competent ruler despite all the other issues with him. "The Commonwealth wants a marriage." Yawning after he finished talking, Theodoric slumped down and lay on the table.

The oldest member of the council and the one closest to the king picked it up, looked at it with strange eyes, and sighed. "To marry the prince. He is yet an adult." The old man thought of Ada.

"It doesn’t matter. He will be an adult in a couple of years. Besides, the Princess has never been married." A second counsellor spoke up, but it made no one feel good. They all knew the situation in the Commonwealth. "Is it worth it? Making an enemy of the Empire will do us no good."

"It is not about if they will be our enemy. They give us no help with Nogrovod. I doubt the Kingdom will even survive the next few years." The old couciler spoke again, getting nods from the rest of the men.

"Maybe we can use this. Make the Commonwealth a tributary. Drain them and throw whatever remains to the Empire." Another replied quickly, but the old councillor shook his head.

"The Empire won’t wait for us. They still have a war with the church to prepare for. There’s a reason they are moving so quick." The men all looked toward their King, who nearly fell asleep on the table. The old councillor frowned and lightly kicked his leg.

"Why don’t I marry her?" Theodoric blurted the words out, making all the men groan. They could see the small hint of desire in his eyes.

"My King. It would be unwise." The old councillor answered for everyone, making him sigh.

"It doesn’t matter anyway. All I need to do is marry her and delay mobilisation. Maybe if I have a kid with her, we can use that as a reason to retake the Commonwealth lands when the Holy seat finally attacks." The men all fell into thought. It was possible, but they couldn’t help but think it was risky.

"What is our priority?" The old councillor asked the table, and everyone looked at one another.

"Nogrovod gold mine." One said cautiously, making the old man smile.

"Exactly. Our veins are slowly dwindling. We need that lifeline. The Commonwealth cannot help us."

"So, should we ignore them?" Another asked the old man, and he took a deep breath and looked at Theodoric.

"Your Grace." Theodoric looked at him from the corner of his eyes and shrugged.

"The gold mine is important. But I like the idea of making the Commonwealth a tributary." He leaned back into his chair, and an exshusted sigh came from his mouth. His mind slowly wandered to other things, but shaking it, he quickly reorganised his thoughts. "Let’s do it. We don’t actually need to commit troops. I just need a kid with the woman."

"Taking in another wife, Your grace. The Church has already made their intention clear on that front." The old conciler felt his lip twitch, wondering why the marriage changed from the crown prince to him.

"Let them complain. They won’t do anything." Theodoric stood up and yawned. "Send word to the Rpincess. Tell her I accept the marriage." Stretching his body, Theodoric stumbled out of the room back to his bed, leaving the councillors to look at one another with annoyance.

The Old man frowned but quickly followed. Alone, the councillors smiled. "The King is getting worse by the day." One said with contempt, getting nods from a couple. Others remained silent but watched with intrigue.

"I’ve heard whispering from some of the other nobility. The wars are draining them."

"Idiot the lot of them," one snapped in contempt. "It’s the one thing our liege is doing right. We need the gold mine." The rest gave knowing nods. Others may not have known, but they all did. The Kingdom was falling quickly. Each war drained their already meager coffers, but it was something they had to do. They needed the gold mine to survive.

"How is the Crown Prince? I haven’t seen him for a while."

"Better then his father." One chuckled happily. "He is a pious boy. Let’s hope it means something to the church when he takes the throne." The councilers all nodded happily and looked towards the seat at the head of the table. Whilst they may not have liked Theodoric, they could tolerate him. He was a strong enough ruler that the Kingdom wouldn’t collapse; they just couldn’t stand his attitude.

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"Your Grace." The Old man shouted across the corridor to Theodoric’s back, making him stop. Turning around, the tired look in his eyes was gone. "I think you should reconsider the marriage. We can’t keep justifying the wars to your vassals."

Theodoric shrugged but walked over to him. Opening a door into the side room, the servants quickly ran out, leaving the two alone. "They will do as I order," Theodoric said sternly, looking at the old man. The coldness in his eyes was chilling, but the old man didn’t budge.

"We may need to start telling them the state of our coffers. May..."

"You’re not an idiot, Athalaric. We tell them that, and it’s a matter of time they kill me."

"They already want to," Athalaric shouted in annoyance. "The wives, the wars. Everyhting is pissing them off Theodoric."

"I don’t care." Theodric didn’t budge. "Give it time, old man. You need to trust me." Athalaric looked at Theodoric with annoyance but sighed and gave up.

"We can’t send troops to the Commonwealth. It is one thing to fight a war for land, but to send help to a foreign nation is another. None of the nobles will pledge to that."

"I know. I never plan to anyway. I just want the marriage." Athalaric nodded in understanding and bowed towards Theodric’s departing back. In the room, he took a seat and clasped his hands together.

’Sol. Please have mercy on his soul. He is deserving of it despite how he acts.’ The old man sat motionless for near an hour in deep prayer.

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"Thank you for hosting me," Ivan said happily as he looked out at the entourage waiting to pick him up. Alfred softly smiled, looking out aswell.

"There is no need, Ivan. This has been a productive time for the both of us." Ivan laughed loudly at his words, which were obviously fake, but he didn’t disagree.

"When will you begin your invasion?" Alfred rubbed his mouth and let out a deep breath.

"Soon. When you get home, we should have begun or are about to. Make sure you speak to your Father. After all, we have a long future together, Prince."

Ivan slyly smiled and walked down the steps, giving Alfred a thumbs up. Alfred’s eyes went cold watching him leave, and he turned back around.

"Have Catherine move her ships to the tears of Gaia. We will go ahead with her plan."

"That will take a while," William replied quickly, but Alfred didn’t care and only shot a look at him. "I understand. Will we delay the invasion and wait for them?"

"No." Alfred replied, "I want Snowid to never have a rest. Make him think we are throwing everything at the western border. Also, have her equip a couple of ballistas for them. We need her to actually take a stronghold."

"I’ll get the order to Abu. He says he has some free manpower. It should free up what we need for the war." Alfred happily smiled and walked off. Walking down the hall, he entered his room and saw Isra calmly sleeping.

Going next to her, he gently grabbed he long black hair and gave it a small kiss. Watching her, her tired eyes opened, and Alfred gently leaned down. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No." It was obvious he had but seeing her lovely smile he couldn’t but not care. "Has he left?"

"Yes. It would have been better if you had come, but I understand you are tired." Isra pushed herself up and looked at Alfreed with soft eyes.

"I have been thinking. This war, we need to do something." Seeing Alfred’s confusion, Isra smiled. "We need to make it so the people won’t rebel as soon as we conquer them. We can’t have split focus when the church comes." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Ahh. That’s what you meant." Alfred smiled. "It’s fine. I have a plan."

"I think we should involve sister Alice." Isra continued, shocking Alfred. He knew the two had gotten closer but couldn’t help and wonder if it had anything to do with it.

"Why? You know how she makes me and the others on the council feel."

"Yet you still brought her in."

Seeing her smirk, Alfred couldn’t counter. "She is useful. I just wish she wouldn’t worship me. Anyway, why?"

"She has a way with words and knows how to appeal to the common people. Whilst we can deal with the nobility, we need them in check. Have her and her priests come in after we take a city and preach the word. As we conquer, we can have them keep the peace, freeing up manpower needed elsewhere."

Alfred squinted, but his smile grew. "It’s not bad. They will still need protection, but the people will trust them more than our soldiers." Alfred leaned forward and grabbed his mouth, hiding his growing smile. "No, it could be perfect. She has already proven herself to do things that need to be done."

"You must reward her if you make her do those things," Isra said slyly. Alfred looked at her and responded with an equally sly smile.

"I’ll reward her. She has been such a help after all." The two looked at one another with strange eyes but had a deep understanding of one another.