Empires of Ashes Reboot

"Yes, our alliance is not firm, far from it."

she smirks a little
"There is no balance if all the weight is on one side."

"At present, it very much is, but more men march from the empire's borders. Another three thousand will join us presently from the Dracian border, and another nine from the west."

"And he has over a hundred thousand."

"Fifteen thousand Immortals are no force to dismiss. I much doubt Trajan would wish to fight us and the Grand Army at the same time."

"they outnumber you nearly ten to one. And while your immortals are legendary... the Dracian legionarries are... rightly infamous aswell"

"With knowledge of the patterns of the desert, I am confident in our ability to outmanuver any force. He would loose more men to thirst than blades."

"You think if he wanted you and your men dead, he'd give you the chance to leave camp n set up for battle?"

"I do not think he could stop me."

"I do not think he would give you the oppertunity to. I know I wouldn't. If I was him and I wanted you dead, you'd be dead before you'd strapped on your armour.

"With all his men drunk and stumbling in the streets, now would be a perfect time to betray him." He adds with a certain tone of whimsy

she laughs at that
"With over a hundred thousand men, and situated in enemy territory, do you really think most of his men are like that?"

"No... but perhaps enough."

"Are you that Naive?"

He comes slowly from his reverie. "No, certainly not. I imagine that my men could account for perhaps, three legionaries each, five with present advantage. Not enough, certainly."

she chuckles at that
"Do not take this as criticism or warning, prince. I'm impressed. A consul of the most powerful and bloodthirsty nation in our world is in a position where he could have you and your men killed with relative ease if he wanted to.... and he has not."

"Because I am carving joints of my land off to satiate the slavering beast's hunger. I do not count it as a great victory."

"There's more to it than that."

"I do not pretend to know a dracians mind. But I have certainly offered a tantalising agreement."

"I'm sure many other nations once offered such. The empire does not have a history of compromise and diplomacy, but of conquest. Never before has a dracian seemed to be 'content' with not taking an entire nation in one go."

"Dracia has been attempting to cross the vein for decades, brute force has failed."

"Never stopped them before and you know it. This Trajan is..certainly different"

"He has expressed to me, desires of becoming dictator. To satisfy tradition of exceeding ones ancestors, so he would tell it. Perhaps in this, we could Devine his motive."

"And going against cultural tradition to do it?"

"Apparently... Though i would not like to assume."

"Do you believe him earnest?"

"No. I don't."

"Then what *do* you think of him?"

"I think he has something to prove. People expect great things from him, and he is eager to supply. He simply wants glory."

she laughs at that

Ket simply raises an eyebrow.

"I've known many glory hogs in my day, prince. Killed a good few of them. They don't behave like he does."

"He leads his legion without thinking of the danger he puts them in. Only his own gain."

"Does he?"

"How, without our assistance, would he have marched through the sand sea?"

"How did I do it without your help? Knowing how to cross a desert isn't exclusive to you, and I doubt his fellow consul in the east is having trouble without you."

"The Dracians march burdened like mules, and do not know the oases. How could they cross it alone?"

"you have far too much doubt in them. You are aware that such an underestimation is very dangerous?"

"No doubt some contraption could be created by their... i forget the name, the ones who design their devices."

"ah yes...Them"

"Yes... Now i am afraid, i really must go. But i shall remember your skill as a conversationalist."

she grins "I hope to continue this some time. Farewell, prince."

"Farewell." He replaces his helmet, and walks in the direction of the city centre.

meanwhile, in the IV legion's camp, it seems there is a bit of a commotion going on

A number of immortals are hovering, but another camp is not really their jurisdiction, so they stay clear.

Diana groans, sitting up and sending a bottle skittering across the floor as she does so.

Justin is lying fast asleep beside her. It seems they were cuddling a little in their sleep, as his arm was still around her before she sat up.

She shakes his shoulder a little

he groans groggily as his eyes begin to open

"Morning."

"oh...hey" *he smiles as he starts to sit up "If that's not the perfect thing to see when waking up I don't know what is"