It was a very nice day. Quite warm for spring, with sunlight only broken up occasionally for a few minutes by hazy clouds. The kind of day that made you want to be outside, basking in the sun.

Instead, Janis was currently in a dark room deep inside a building, with Swarm Drones all around, to provide security, mostly against anyone listening in. She was going through their last notes and plans, even though they'd already discussed all of this before.

"And don't forget that you should insist on getting the proper deference due to your rank," Jay reminded her. "That means they should not sit before you do and if drinks are served, you should be first."

"I know," Janis muttered. "It's not like I've never done this before."

"You're sure your guests are appropriate choices for this?"

Janis straightened, flexing her fingers from where she'd been writing. "Jay, I really don't care about their manners," she said bluntly. "I want the common people of this province to be represented in some capacity. I have nothing to hide from them. And if the Western envoys are reminded of their existence, so much the better."

Several of the other people in the room looked up, but didn't comment. They were mostly drones, those of the army's leadership who she trusted unquestioningly.

"I know." Jay inclined his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to question your authority or anything."

"Question away," she said, "but maybe not right now. We should still meet them outside."

What Janis would have preferred to do was throw the Confederation envoys off the nearest wall; there were several to choose from here. Instead, she met them outside in the plaza before the estate. It wasn't quite meeting them at the gate, but also not just staying and letting them come to her. She'd already overseen the deployment of Imperial troops for this occasion, sending people to double-check that all of their artillery, ammunitions and other special equipment were well-hidden. They would be guarded during these talks.

She was still surprised when Lily stiffened noticeably, before she stepped closer to murmur into her ear. "That's another psychic, Princess. A strong one. It must be Sazatore."

Janis tensed, too, sending a meaningful look at Jay, who she knew had been close enough to hear. He turned to give orders to his subordinates; not that there was much they could do. They barely had any agreements with the Westerners to make this negotiation possible in the first place, there was certainly no prohibition on bringing psychics.

The envoy from the Western Confederation entered with a bit of pomp and pageantry. There were men with banners, colorful tabards and cloth fluttering from lances. It made their escort seem a bit larger than it really was. A few of the actual diplomats were also dressed as knights or generals. It was a big group, around ten people. They were mostly men, with only who she could guess was Sazatore and one other woman. As they came closer, checking their System notification confirmed it. The envoys were relatively high-leveled, though she could see most of their levels. A few of them might be Champions.

Janis had to admit she was curious about Sazatore, though. The older psychic looked distinguished, in a dress that must have been a bit impractical for the situation, wearing enough jewelry to be tasteful without being overdone. She was in the center of the group, and managed to make it seem like they were all just there to escort her, even though this obviously wasn't the case.

Janis glanced at the white flag waving in the breeze from a pole jammed into the earth a few meters away from her. At least they probably wouldn't be fighting her today.

The Confederation envoys approached, until both sides snapped to attention. One of the men stepped forward slightly. Janis recognized the name from her intelligence briefings, but she knew he wasn't anyone too important.

"Princess Janis, Imperial officers," he greeted, inclining his head. "We have come to parlay."

"Be welcome here, representatives of the Western Confederation," she answered. "As agreed, there will be no violence on this day. You will not be harmed or prevented from leaving, although I must insist that you only go where you are allowed with an Imperial escort. We cannot risk a bad actor misusing this parley for sabotage. That aside, I am glad to meet you. Please do come closer."

They exchanged a few more words, introducing everyone and settling a few details of the coming negotiations. Janis watched them carefully. As expected, Sazatore seemed calm and almost unconcerned. She said little and watched everyone keenly. The other Westerner envoys were more boisterous.

Janis also watched her own people. She noted the uncomfortable shifting of the soldiers that had come to watch the proceedings. Luckily, they were disciplined and kept quiet, standing around more like this was an official review than in a disorganized mob. She almost smiled with pride at the sight. These were her people, and after the recent fighting, she would have trusted any of them with watching her back. It was reassuring to know that they trusted her to lead them through this.

And then there were her guests. A small group of locals were watching keenly, too. Janis hadn't met with all of those she found interesting in her people's reports. Due to the short timespan, she'd been restricted to the people in this town and the immediate surroundings. Many of them had hesitantly declined to meet her, which, of course, she'd accepted. But she had met and talked with a few others. It had given her a bit of deeper insight into the state of this country, which might be useful for negotiations, but it would have been worth it even without that angle.

After a few minutes, the whole group retired to the pavilion that had been set up. This was another compromise, though she wasn't sure exactly who it was meant for. One of the soldiers pulled out her chair (the most gilded one), and Janis sat down before one of the other people could be rude enough to do it first. At least these Westerners seemed to have some manners, or whatever their take on manners was. Janis still knew too little about their culture; every time she learned something new, it was like there were two new things she'd overlooked or still didn't know.

"These talks are to determine the fate of one city, not the nation," the man who'd spoken first, a Lord Letermain, said right away. "We are not empowered to discuss terms for the end of the war, not even if we wished to."

"I understand," Janis nodded. "While it would be good to have peace talks, we expected that you would not wish to commit to something like that."

"Bold words considering it is the Empire that is the attacker, Princess Janis," Sazatore murmured. "Would you be interested in peace talks at all, I wonder?"

Janis gave her what she hoped was a firm look. "The Empire is always interested in looking for a peaceful solution. Ask the gnomes if you'd like testimony. If you were serious about it and not simply trying to play for time, we would be happy to talk out our differences."

A few of the Westerners grimaced, and she didn't need to be a psychic to see that they were a bit uncomfortable. Good, she would be happy to call their bluff.

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Not that anyone would really expect both sides to just make peace. Nothing was even decided yet.

"I sincerely doubt that," the man scoffed lightly. "But we are not here to argue about this. You are threatening to lay siege to my city, and I would warn you that it will be hard-fought conquest if you attempt it. Turn back before we must paint our walls with your blood."

Janis paused, just looking at them, to let his words echo awkwardly in the room for a second. "Colorful word choice, my lord," she said lightly. "Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt that you can back it up. Of course I am aware the Confederation has gathered a lot of soldiers in your city, but you are still outnumbered. We can hardly leave you sitting there to cut our supply lines at will if we attempted to move. So, why should we do that?"

"Pesiten will resist every step of the way," Sazatore said. "Throw your soldiers against it and watch them die if you like. It is one way to stop your campaign, I suppose."

Janis smiled lightly. "Does that mean you are not willing to surrender the city?"

"Would that we could," Letermain said. "Many people will die if it comes to a battle. Many of our soldiers, and more of yours. Many of our civilians, innocents who have done no wrong. Their blood would be on your hands should you persist."

Janis nodded in acknowledgment. "For the sake of your innocent civilians, who bear little blame for their lords' intransigence and aggression that has led to this war, I am willing to offer you generous terms. Surrender the city and no one will be harmed; we will give you guarantees of safety and broad amnesty."

"Oh?" he asked, leaning forward a bit. "Please do go on."

"Any soldiers currently in the city and within ten kilometers of it must surrender to Imperial custody. We will take their weapons and either send them home or house them in secure locations where their needs will be provided for. They will have food, shelter and other necessities and will not be forced to fight or die, or even to work. I daresay it is a better fate than many soldiers in active service see. But if the city opens its gates to the Empire, no one else will be affected. Nobles and city officials, such as yourself, will remain free, as well. They may be assigned Imperial observers to ensure they do not agitate against our occupation. We will institute an occupation government, which will handle administrative tasks and ensure law and order are upheld. Your property will be secured, there will be no looting of any kind. Any soldiers outside the specified radius may withdraw in peace, uncontested by our forces. The same goes for Champions."

They were generous terms, actually, or at least Janis thought so. Not completely generous, but she could tell the others agreed with the description, given the looks from her 'guests', and even Jay and the others' subtle signs of discontent. Letermain paused for a moment, seemingly genuinely surprised.

"Unfortunately, we must refuse," he finally said. His tone was flat, but she could tell he was just trying to hide a reaction. "We have terms of our own to offer. Withdraw, and we will not pursue you. We will guarantee safe passage back to the Binnen River. That should be about fifty of your kilometers. If you are short on supplies for this trek, we will even contribute some food from our stores, to discourage desperate moves or looting. We may also negotiate an exchange of prisoners."

Janis raised an eyebrow, making sure she gave no other reaction. "Typically, in these kinds of talks, one negotiates the surrender of a city, Lord Letermain," she said. "I understand and sympathize that it is not an easy thing to do, to give up control, or custody of those you are in charge of. However, I implore you to think of their lives and best interests. Neither of us truly want this battle to happen, do we? Must it, then? We are here to talk, after all."

"Truly, you are not the brute I had expected, Princess Janis," he said, sounding honestly emotional. "You seem like a woman of honor, and I would indeed like to come to terms, if it was possible."

That was a rather double-edged compliment, but Janis only smiled and inclined her head slightly.

"Edgar's personal feelings aside," one of the other men spoke up, "we do not have any reason to trust you. It is nothing personal, but you do not even respect the gods, Your Highness. I hope you understand it is difficult to trust a heathen's word of honor."

"And yet here you are." Janis suppressed a sigh and a more biting comment, leaning back as Ada spoke up. With Lily chiming in, they discussed some proposals they'd come up with for diplomatic guarantees.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the Westerners were very interested. Their participation seemed cursory, and she didn't miss the slight frown on the apparent leader's face, or the way he looked at Sazatore, who mostly kept quiet but occasionally spoke up with a cutting remark.

Diplomatic guarantees were one thing, but it didn't seem like they would come to terms on the rest of it, either. Fundamentally, their positions were too incompatible. Her opponents demanded things Janis was just not willing to give to even consider surrendering the city, such as several high-ranking hostages. They discussed prisoner exchanges for a bit, but in the end, she wouldn't simply release basically all the Western soldiers they'd caught — not in addition to the generous terms she had already given them for surrender. She also couldn't just let all of their soldiers withdraw peacefully to positions where they could easily cut her off and flank her, that would just make taking the city completely meaningless.

"Is this where the threats come in?" Sazatore finally said, smiling wrily. "No stone left unturned, or whatever that saying was?"

Janis shook her head. "I will not commit atrocities regardless, and there is little point in such threats. Also, I believe you were thinking of a different saying."

"Then we have nothing further to discuss," Sazatore declared. "We must regretfully reject your terms."

Letermain sighed, but nodded. "I choose to believe this peaceful negotiation was a good sign, Your Highness. Perhaps we may build on it in the future. But we simply cannot surrender the city as it stands."

"I understand," Janis replied. She felt a bit disappointed, but not very surprised. "If you change your mind, I am always willing to listen, although you may receive less generous terms in the future."

"How inspiring," the psychic said drolly. "Will you not escort us out, Princess?"

They left, and Janis could sense the tension in the gathered group. It had receded somewhat, but was now coming back.

Once they had made it to the unofficial dividing line, she watched as the Westerners prepared to leave. Sazatore turned back once. She smiled at Janis and tapped her heart, then turned and strode away, the others stepping out of her way. Janis wasn't sure what to make of the gesture.

"Well," she finally said, speaking quietly since there were still a lot of people watching. "That was that."

"He seemed like a decent enough man, for a Westerner," Lily commented with a shrug. "I'm not sure how much I can rely on what I sensed, but it seems to me like at least a few of them really wanted to come to terms. They were just completely pessimistic about it, so they hardly gave it a real chance."

Janis sighed. Yeah, that just figures.

Then she turned to speak to the others. She wanted to hear people's opinions, and they had an assault to plan. Or rather, plans to finalize.

Unfortunately, she had barely made it back to the building before she started coughing.

"Are you quite alright, Janis?" Lily asked, looking at her worriedly.

Jay pulled a handkerchief from a pocket and passed it to her. "I think you've been working too hard. You should take a break sometime."

"There's too much to do," Janis shook her head. "I'll drop by the healers later, maybe, but I'm sure it's just a cold."

"You still should be careful with your health. What did you think of Sazatore, Lily?"

They kept speaking, but Janis barely listened. She'd wanted to reassure the two of them that she was fine and didn't feel out of the ordinary. Except now that she'd checked, that wasn't quite true. Her mana was … acting oddly? Not quite. She closed her eyes, probing deeper.

"Janis?" Jay said. She felt him yank on her hand, and blinked her eyes open, looking up in confusion. Which cleared up once she noticed the spots of blood on the white cloth of his handkerchief.

"What's going on?" Lily sounded concerned.

Janis shook her head, focusing on her body again. Was that foreign mana? Yes, just very finely spread throughout my body, she realized. Is it in my bloodstream? How the hell did it get there? It seemed like small drops, barely perceptible on their own, but they were starting to pervade her body and agitate her own mana.

Jay bundled her off to the healers right away, of course, but Janis barely paid attention, too busy trying to track what was happening and send her own magic in trying to stop it. Unfortunately, she had little luck.

She hardly needed the healers' confirmation when they suggested she'd been cursed.

"Cursed?" Jay exclaimed. "Those double-dealing bastards! We should never have trusted them. I bet it was that bitch Sazatore. Wait till we get our hands on her …"

"You'd have to catch her first," Janis muttered, staring at a one of her hands, which was holding a new handkerchief where she'd coughed up blood once more and shaking. I did make a mistake.

"This is bad," Lily muttered, her own hands shaking slightly. "We have good healers, but I don't know anything about curses. What if it was a Champion and divine magic is involved?"

Janis had a sinking feeling that she was probably right.

Well, so much for peaceful signs.

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