The Council was seated in the council chambers as they waited for the Valle to arrive. Emily was four days into her two week sleep, and everyone was anxious for her to wake up and fill in a lot of blanks from the Encala attack.
As the door opened, the Council looked toward the arriving Valle. All three of the Valle Elders walked in quietly with their entourage, and stood before the Equites.
Maleth stood, “We'll skip the pleasantries and ask right out, why have you summoned us?”
The tallest Valle Elder stepped forward, “Thank you for honoring us with your presence.”
Damon looked at Chevalier, and he shrugged.
“We have come to your beautiful home to ask for a treaty of peace,” the Valle said.
“Don't we need to be at war to require a peace treaty?” Maleth asked.
“No, no, we don't. We just want to ensure that what happened to the Encala… won't be in the plans for the Valle,” he said, smiling.
“We did not attack first,” Maleth said, his eyes narrowing.
“Oh of course not. We know you would never do that,” the Valle said quickly.
“Unless you are planning an attack, then there's no reason for you to fear us,” Damon said, not standing.
“We cannot help but fear you. The rumors from the Encala are terrifying… to any heku.”
“Rumors?” Maleth asked.
“Yes… we have heard what your army did to the Encala palace. We don't know the reasoning, but would like to see that kind of destruction avoided,” another Valle Elder said.
“Our army?” Leonid asked, smiling.
“Their path of annihilation was horrific, and the Encala are in ruins. We are not here to judge your actions, but to try to negotiate a treaty that will ensure that we are not next,” he said nervously.
“We have no plans on attacking the Valle… at this time,” Damon said, watching them carefully.
“Will you not sign a treaty then? Promise us that, in the future, we will handle things civilly, and not with wanton destruction?”
“We are a civilized faction,” Leonid said, irritated.
“I am so sorry. I was not implying that you are not,” the Valle Elder said, fidgeting nervously.
“I'm getting the impression that you are in a panic over something you've done, though I can't quite figure out what,” Chevalier leaned forward.
“N... Nothing… we assure you.”
“Have you been to the Encala palace?” Damon asked.
The Valle Elders glanced at each other uneasily.
“What... did you… do?” he asked them, and stood up.
“We... we just wanted to help,” the tallest Valle Elder said.
“Explain yourself,” Leonid growled.
“With that kind of mass death, it left them without any leadership, without even one heku among them that could revive any of those that were killed.”
“Let me guess, so you decided to do it for them,” Damon scowled.
“We had no choice!” he said, taking a step back. “We cannot have only two factions. It's never been done.”
“How many did you return?” Chevalier asked angrily.
“We were only able to revive one of the leaders, the rest were… well… not complete enough to do.”
Chevalier smiled as he thought of Emily's little leather pouch.
When the Equites did not respond, he continued, “We… we were… worried. The Encala were left with no leadership, no laws, or anyone to enforce them. The only reason we helped was to keep the Encala from turning feral.”
“Oh yes, I'm sure that's the only reason you did it,” Damon growled.
“Who did you revive?” Maleth asked them, frowning.
“It was their Chief Enforcer, that's all,” the Valle answered.
“Oh, so the one heku that could revive more,” Damon snapped.
“We didn't know who it was… we just saw one untouched… shall we say… set of remains, and revived him.”
“What other assistance have you given them?” Damon asked.
“That is all, we swear! They are still an opposing faction, after all.”
“I find it unacceptable that you went behind our backs, after our attack, and revived one of their leaders,” Chevalier said angrily.
“We don't see it as going behind your backs. What were we supposed to do? Allow the Encala faction to fall into ruins and leave all of their heku without any kind of direction?” The Valle Elder pulled at his collar nervously.
“Yes, that is exactly what you should have done,” Damon said, leaning toward them.
“You act as if the attack was unprovoked and out of line,” Chevalier hissed.
“I stress that we do not think that… We know you would never attack without reason. However…” the Valle said, glancing at the other Elders quickly.
“Yes?” Damon said.
“It seemed a bit... harsh, shall we say. The Encala are claiming over 1,800 deaths in their city. We do not judge, but that is the largest attack of our kind, ever.”
“Again, warranted,” Chevalier said to them.
“Then to… take…” the Valle Elder shuddered, “parts of them, so they could not be revived. We do not feel that was the proper thing to do.”
“Proper?” Damon asked, sitting back down.
“Yes, that also has never been done. Your punishment had been dealt. Something like that could take hundreds of years to recover from, but by taking what you did, it could be thousands before the Encala are stable again.”
“I see,” Maleth said, glaring. “We do see your point, but as you do not know the reasoning behind the attack, we feel you should not say that to us.”
“You are right, we apologize,” the Valle Elder said.
There was an awkward silence in the council chambers as the Valle looked at one another and nervously stood before their enemies.
“Was there something else you wanted?” Damon asked, after a few minutes of silence.
“We…” the smallest Valle Elder stepped forward