Eternal
Maybe Brenda’s got a point; maybe you need to let go of your control a bit. Edgar has certainly proven to be a more capable leader than when you last knew him, and he seems to genuinely want you and Brenda to have an equal partnership. You’re still a little skeptical of that, but you’ll see how it goes.
There’s also your unresolved situation with Brenda. She has feelings for you and you realize you do have them for her. If there is the potential for something deeper here, maybe it would be better if the pressures of potential war with the Eternal Dominion were eliminated. Plus she wants to join, and you feel as if trusting in her judgment would be a positive step in your relationship.
“Okay Brenda. I agree. Let’s join the Eternal Dominion.” You say.
Brenda smiles and gives you a hug added with a kiss, which startles you a little. You both very nearly make out in the hallway, but then you remember Edgar is still waiting for you.
You and Brenda return to the room where Edgar looks a bit on edge. You decide to let Brenda break the news to him.
“Edgar, we’ve talked it over and we accept your offer.”
Edgar looks incredibly relieved and leaps out of his seat to shake both of your hands.
“Great! That’s great! Whew! For a moment I thought you weren’t going to go for it, but I should’ve known you’d see the wisdom in this! This is going to be the best thing for all of us! You’ll see!”
“You realize, there’s going to be a lot of things to sort out Edgar.” You say.
“Oh yeah! I know we’ll hammer out the details and we’ll be equals in this. You don’t know what this means to me! The rest of our family united again, nothing can stop us! Not even that traitor Warrick!”
“Warrick?” you and Brenda ask in unison.
“Yeah, he joined the Felkan Kingdom didn’t you know? He joined a former enemy of the Empire! I guess you two probably wouldn’t know being so far away from it and all. Oh well, doesn’t matter we’ll take him down like with did with Kane! Eh? Remember that?” Edgar says nudging you.
“Yeah I remember Edgar.” You reply.
Edgar is so happy right now, you think he’s almost about to cry. It’s definitely not a side you’ve ever seen of him before.
“Ah, well I wish I could stick around longer to celebrate, but I have to return. Got some things to take care of and prepare before the great merging of our territories! But we’ll be seeing a lot of each other soon enough!”
Edgar leaves in good spirits and biding you both goodbye. As you and Brenda see him ride off, you shake your head in almost disbelief after all that’s happened today.
“It’s been an overly emotionally day for you today I imagine.” Brenda says.
“You’re not joking. I guess I am an emotionless golem compared to the rest of you.”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that. You handled everything very well, for a golem.”
“Heh. I just hope this is the right decision.”
“You still think you and Edgar will clash?”
“After today, it’s not really Edgar that I’m concerned about, there’s still all those newer generation of Eternals to deal with. I hope Edgar really does have them under control.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine. Odd news about Warrick though, thought he was dead.”
“Yeah, that was just one of the many surprises today.”
“Well enough about them, I think we’ve got us to discuss.”
You and Brenda retire to your quarters at Fort Glory. After an hour or so of talking, you both decide that it’s time to take it to the more physical side of things. The night of passion you spend with Brenda is just one of many you hope in the years to come.
Year 53
You and Brenda now oversee the Nalin territory as a married couple. The transition hasn’t been a completely easy one, there was a lot of outright dissent when the announcement that Nalin was going to be annexed by the Eternal Dominion. Many of the citizens saw you and Brenda as their protectors against the ED, and then you went and joined it, and they had no say in the matter.
Multiple rebellions had to be put down, Edgar wanted to send in Eternals to take care of the problem, but you and Brenda disagreed with that idea as it would just reinforce the fears of the less rebellious population. You instead resorted to more traditional means using normal Nalin troops, though your soldiers weren’t exactly happy about it as they felt betrayed as well.
While things in Nalin eventually settled down, the area feels like it could erupt with another rebellion at any time. You and Brenda haven’t really been able to enjoy your newfound relationship with all the problems cropping up, though you do make the time when you can.
In the meantime Edgar has suggested that you and Brenda move into the royal palace and live there instead. He’s wanted you to do that for some time. He’s also been hinting and letting the Eternals go in and reinforce law and order at Nalin once and for all.
“We’ve already joined the Eternal Dominion why not leave and live in the palace? It is the capital after all and we are partial rulers.” Brenda asks.
“Because there’s still problems here and I’d like to fix them before traipsing off to some cushy palace.” You reply.
“You’re just stalling. We’ve done the best we can to get this place to assimilate, and at this point it really would be for the best to let the Eternals come in and maintain the order now. We’ve moved beyond this, and we deserve spending some downtime together. Besides, I would’ve at least thought you’d want to talk with Edgar about his battle plans to invade the Felkan Kingdom. Best way you can do that is to be at the palace.”
“Because…ah shit. You’re right. I am stalling. It’s still hard to let go of personally managing this place I suppose. There’s also the fact that I still don’t like the idea of having to deal with those second gen Eternals on a daily basis.”
“Oh come on, you’ve spoken with some of them when we visited the palace before. They all seem pretty respectful.” Brenda says.
“Yeah, I suppose, I dunno…okay let’s move to the palace. I suppose we do deserve the break of living on the edge of dirty peasants possibly storming the gates.”
Brenda moves closer and hugs you in a loving way and kisses you. Despite all the shit you’ve had to deal with concerning Nalin, you’ve never felt happier than you have with Brenda. It is still weird to you that you can even feel this way. You never thought it was possible to feel so comfortable with another person on this sort of level, not even with another Eternal. Brenda has a way about her that manages to make you feel like everything is going to be okay. Safe even.
You and Brenda send word to Edgar that you’re both making your preparations to move and he sends a letter back stating how pleased he is and will send one of his personal royal carriages to come pick you. You accept, what the hell, why not ride in needless luxury?
You both pack what you can and intend on sending for the rest of your things later. The pair of you board the carriage when it arrives and settle in for a long ride.
“See, told you the new Eternals respect us, you saw how polite our drivers are.” Brenda says.
“Well these ones seem to be anyway. But I have been thinking more about it and I’m starting to accept the idea of making this change. I’ve been thinking of some ideas about Edgar’s plans for the Felkan Kingdom invasion.”
“I figured you’d see a bright side to it.”
“Yeah, he’s going to need my direct help on that plan. I’m just glad I managed to talk him out of invading Rask. That would’ve been a disaster.”
You excitedly tell Brenda what you plan to tell Edgar for the Felkan Kingdom invasion, and she listens intently, but also gives her own input on some things. You take some of her ideas into consideration and generally enjoy this time you have. Later the pair of you begin to drift off together, not exactly the easiest thing to do in a carriage, but you’ve always been a light sleeper any way.
Times passes and then suddenly…
“SHIT! ATTACK!” you hear one of the Eternal drivers shout followed by the sound of a pistol shot.
You instantly wake up and Brenda does likewise. You look out the window on your side and see several people armed with bows firing at the carriage. You then hear a loud crash that sounds like it came from in front of you, then the carriage screeches to a halt. The sounds of dying whinnies of horses soon follow.
You grab your own flintlock and fire off a shot from inside the carriage; Brenda meanwhile loads up her bow and fires off arrows from her side. You can hear the two Eternal drivers jumping off and yelling about getting to cover and closing the gap on these attackers. That’s exactly what you had in mind; you never did get the hang of these gunpowder weapons.
You step out of the carriage and head for the nearest tree to get some cover. You look over at the other two Eternals ducked behind a large rock and motion them to run around the other way to help Brenda, They seem to understand.
In the meantime you manage to dodge arrows by ducking tree to tree and when you finally close the gap, you cleave one of your attackers’ heads clean off. The rest of them draw their own swords and axes to attack, but in close combat it’s no contest. You dispatch all of them with ease. They don’t appear to be the unwashed rabble you’ve been pissing off lately, they’re too well armed and armored. You doubt if they’re simple bandits either. These are probably mercenaries, but you don’t have time to figure out right now who hired them, you turn around to go help Brenda.
By the time you get to the half destroyed carriage again, you don’t hear anymore sounds of battle. When you see the Brenda’s side of the carriage has been opened and some blood stain you begin to worry. Running over to the other side, you see several bodies of the attackers and then a few feet away, you see Brenda lying face down on the ground. Your heart sinks.
You run over to her and turn her over and your worst fears are confirmed, her eyes show no signs of life. Your eyes begin to water and a mixture of rage and sorrow causes you to cry out. As you hold her body you don’t see any arrow or sword wounds, you do notice two gunshots to her chest though…
Upon the realization of who killed your beloved Brenda, you don’t even get to face the treacherous dogs. The two Eternal drivers blast you from afar, one shot to your back and one to your head, killing you instantly.
Your deaths are blamed on an ambush by some of the disgruntled population of Nalin. To his credit, Edgar doesn’t believe the story and has the two Eternals executed for suspicion and incompetence.
It’s of minor consequence though, the real conspirators of this assassination remain uncaught and you’re still dead.
There’s also your unresolved situation with Brenda. She has feelings for you and you realize you do have them for her. If there is the potential for something deeper here, maybe it would be better if the pressures of potential war with the Eternal Dominion were eliminated. Plus she wants to join, and you feel as if trusting in her judgment would be a positive step in your relationship.
“Okay Brenda. I agree. Let’s join the Eternal Dominion.” You say.
Brenda smiles and gives you a hug added with a kiss, which startles you a little. You both very nearly make out in the hallway, but then you remember Edgar is still waiting for you.
You and Brenda return to the room where Edgar looks a bit on edge. You decide to let Brenda break the news to him.
“Edgar, we’ve talked it over and we accept your offer.”
Edgar looks incredibly relieved and leaps out of his seat to shake both of your hands.
“Great! That’s great! Whew! For a moment I thought you weren’t going to go for it, but I should’ve known you’d see the wisdom in this! This is going to be the best thing for all of us! You’ll see!”
“You realize, there’s going to be a lot of things to sort out Edgar.” You say.
“Oh yeah! I know we’ll hammer out the details and we’ll be equals in this. You don’t know what this means to me! The rest of our family united again, nothing can stop us! Not even that traitor Warrick!”
“Warrick?” you and Brenda ask in unison.
“Yeah, he joined the Felkan Kingdom didn’t you know? He joined a former enemy of the Empire! I guess you two probably wouldn’t know being so far away from it and all. Oh well, doesn’t matter we’ll take him down like with did with Kane! Eh? Remember that?” Edgar says nudging you.
“Yeah I remember Edgar.” You reply.
Edgar is so happy right now, you think he’s almost about to cry. It’s definitely not a side you’ve ever seen of him before.
“Ah, well I wish I could stick around longer to celebrate, but I have to return. Got some things to take care of and prepare before the great merging of our territories! But we’ll be seeing a lot of each other soon enough!”
Edgar leaves in good spirits and biding you both goodbye. As you and Brenda see him ride off, you shake your head in almost disbelief after all that’s happened today.
“It’s been an overly emotionally day for you today I imagine.” Brenda says.
“You’re not joking. I guess I am an emotionless golem compared to the rest of you.”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that. You handled everything very well, for a golem.”
“Heh. I just hope this is the right decision.”
“You still think you and Edgar will clash?”
“After today, it’s not really Edgar that I’m concerned about, there’s still all those newer generation of Eternals to deal with. I hope Edgar really does have them under control.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine. Odd news about Warrick though, thought he was dead.”
“Yeah, that was just one of the many surprises today.”
“Well enough about them, I think we’ve got us to discuss.”
You and Brenda retire to your quarters at Fort Glory. After an hour or so of talking, you both decide that it’s time to take it to the more physical side of things. The night of passion you spend with Brenda is just one of many you hope in the years to come.
Year 53
You and Brenda now oversee the Nalin territory as a married couple. The transition hasn’t been a completely easy one, there was a lot of outright dissent when the announcement that Nalin was going to be annexed by the Eternal Dominion. Many of the citizens saw you and Brenda as their protectors against the ED, and then you went and joined it, and they had no say in the matter.
Multiple rebellions had to be put down, Edgar wanted to send in Eternals to take care of the problem, but you and Brenda disagreed with that idea as it would just reinforce the fears of the less rebellious population. You instead resorted to more traditional means using normal Nalin troops, though your soldiers weren’t exactly happy about it as they felt betrayed as well.
While things in Nalin eventually settled down, the area feels like it could erupt with another rebellion at any time. You and Brenda haven’t really been able to enjoy your newfound relationship with all the problems cropping up, though you do make the time when you can.
In the meantime Edgar has suggested that you and Brenda move into the royal palace and live there instead. He’s wanted you to do that for some time. He’s also been hinting and letting the Eternals go in and reinforce law and order at Nalin once and for all.
“We’ve already joined the Eternal Dominion why not leave and live in the palace? It is the capital after all and we are partial rulers.” Brenda asks.
“Because there’s still problems here and I’d like to fix them before traipsing off to some cushy palace.” You reply.
“You’re just stalling. We’ve done the best we can to get this place to assimilate, and at this point it really would be for the best to let the Eternals come in and maintain the order now. We’ve moved beyond this, and we deserve spending some downtime together. Besides, I would’ve at least thought you’d want to talk with Edgar about his battle plans to invade the Felkan Kingdom. Best way you can do that is to be at the palace.”
“Because…ah shit. You’re right. I am stalling. It’s still hard to let go of personally managing this place I suppose. There’s also the fact that I still don’t like the idea of having to deal with those second gen Eternals on a daily basis.”
“Oh come on, you’ve spoken with some of them when we visited the palace before. They all seem pretty respectful.” Brenda says.
“Yeah, I suppose, I dunno…okay let’s move to the palace. I suppose we do deserve the break of living on the edge of dirty peasants possibly storming the gates.”
Brenda moves closer and hugs you in a loving way and kisses you. Despite all the shit you’ve had to deal with concerning Nalin, you’ve never felt happier than you have with Brenda. It is still weird to you that you can even feel this way. You never thought it was possible to feel so comfortable with another person on this sort of level, not even with another Eternal. Brenda has a way about her that manages to make you feel like everything is going to be okay. Safe even.
You and Brenda send word to Edgar that you’re both making your preparations to move and he sends a letter back stating how pleased he is and will send one of his personal royal carriages to come pick you. You accept, what the hell, why not ride in needless luxury?
You both pack what you can and intend on sending for the rest of your things later. The pair of you board the carriage when it arrives and settle in for a long ride.
“See, told you the new Eternals respect us, you saw how polite our drivers are.” Brenda says.
“Well these ones seem to be anyway. But I have been thinking more about it and I’m starting to accept the idea of making this change. I’ve been thinking of some ideas about Edgar’s plans for the Felkan Kingdom invasion.”
“I figured you’d see a bright side to it.”
“Yeah, he’s going to need my direct help on that plan. I’m just glad I managed to talk him out of invading Rask. That would’ve been a disaster.”
You excitedly tell Brenda what you plan to tell Edgar for the Felkan Kingdom invasion, and she listens intently, but also gives her own input on some things. You take some of her ideas into consideration and generally enjoy this time you have. Later the pair of you begin to drift off together, not exactly the easiest thing to do in a carriage, but you’ve always been a light sleeper any way.
Times passes and then suddenly…
“SHIT! ATTACK!” you hear one of the Eternal drivers shout followed by the sound of a pistol shot.
You instantly wake up and Brenda does likewise. You look out the window on your side and see several people armed with bows firing at the carriage. You then hear a loud crash that sounds like it came from in front of you, then the carriage screeches to a halt. The sounds of dying whinnies of horses soon follow.
You grab your own flintlock and fire off a shot from inside the carriage; Brenda meanwhile loads up her bow and fires off arrows from her side. You can hear the two Eternal drivers jumping off and yelling about getting to cover and closing the gap on these attackers. That’s exactly what you had in mind; you never did get the hang of these gunpowder weapons.
You step out of the carriage and head for the nearest tree to get some cover. You look over at the other two Eternals ducked behind a large rock and motion them to run around the other way to help Brenda, They seem to understand.
In the meantime you manage to dodge arrows by ducking tree to tree and when you finally close the gap, you cleave one of your attackers’ heads clean off. The rest of them draw their own swords and axes to attack, but in close combat it’s no contest. You dispatch all of them with ease. They don’t appear to be the unwashed rabble you’ve been pissing off lately, they’re too well armed and armored. You doubt if they’re simple bandits either. These are probably mercenaries, but you don’t have time to figure out right now who hired them, you turn around to go help Brenda.
By the time you get to the half destroyed carriage again, you don’t hear anymore sounds of battle. When you see the Brenda’s side of the carriage has been opened and some blood stain you begin to worry. Running over to the other side, you see several bodies of the attackers and then a few feet away, you see Brenda lying face down on the ground. Your heart sinks.
You run over to her and turn her over and your worst fears are confirmed, her eyes show no signs of life. Your eyes begin to water and a mixture of rage and sorrow causes you to cry out. As you hold her body you don’t see any arrow or sword wounds, you do notice two gunshots to her chest though…
Upon the realization of who killed your beloved Brenda, you don’t even get to face the treacherous dogs. The two Eternal drivers blast you from afar, one shot to your back and one to your head, killing you instantly.
Your deaths are blamed on an ambush by some of the disgruntled population of Nalin. To his credit, Edgar doesn’t believe the story and has the two Eternals executed for suspicion and incompetence.
It’s of minor consequence though, the real conspirators of this assassination remain uncaught and you’re still dead.
