The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 360 – The Wolf In The Den

The dose makes the poison. Rarely do I come across a statement that more true and correct than that. In the case of rulership and diplomacy, then it is even more so. Too little pressure and nothing will be gained and nothing will be achieved. Too much pressure and people will sense the need and desperation.

Confidence and certainty are built upon a foundation of reckless moderation. Vanity is not confidence, it is aloof and pretentious and demeaning, and it repulses the honest and those with any shred of worth and self-respect whilst instead attracting a type of leech that will move on as quickly as latches on. Likewise, desperation is not confidence either, as no one in their right mind will want to walk hand in hand with the desperate in any avenue of life. Whether this be something as meagre as employment or something as grand as love.

Yet confidence is certain. I use the term reckless moderation because confidence is in fact reckless and confidence does not slow down or look back at its steps to make sure its going the right way. Confidence does not need to stand out because it is confident in itself. And yet confidence does not need to be the best or to excel in any field to be assured of its own value.

There is a grand irony here, because it is only through that willingness to fit in and become part of a whole that the whole recognizes the individual value of one and brings them to the top. Those that choose to separate themselves are then cast out whether they are ready to survive by themselves or not.

It is this moderation that I try to instill in my daughters and my followers. Kassandora serves as one of the grandest examples, she is a genius in warfare and strategy. Yet she herself is not confident of her own abilities and always need to prove to everyone else why she is the Goddess of War, even though there isn’t a single soul on Arda that would dispute this title. Neneria has a similar issue, her age has detached her from the world, she makes herself incapable because she is not confident that the world of today is the same world that created her.

- Excerpt from Arascus’ Private Writings.

Sometimes, things really did work out and sometimes, they did not. Today though, things worked out perfectly for Malam. To think that Aliana had actually waltzed into her trap herself? Malam’s plan had been re-written entirely and immediately. The negotiation with Richard suddenly got moved to the end of the line, the slow takeover of Allia through economics and subversions and all those plans of assimilating them slowly went right out the window. Bringing Iliyal’s army piece by piece here? Why bother? Slowly convincing Aliana to join Arascus’ Empire? Who had the time for? Planning a month-long coup?! Who had the time for things like that!?

Malam always liked dealing in Allia. When she had learned that this tiny island kept up the traditions of inns and taverns, she had wanted to go to one again. It had been an unpleasant surprise that most of the old buildings had been removed and no longer served Divines. But then Aliana had invited her to one. A brilliant one, that kept up all those traditions she had enjoyed so much.

The White Lion stood in the middle of a field, on a country road, far located from any city. Its windows shone with light and lanterns had been put up to illuminate the place for the night. With white walls and a tall roof and tables outside that overlooked a lake. The door to the building was far too small for Malam to enter, but a waiter in casual clothes was waiting for the Goddess outside. Malam saw the impression she made, the young boy looked at her. His eyes raced up and down her body and he blushed. She wasn’t even revealing anything particularly revealing or sensual. It was simple professional clothes, a black coat, black boots, a cap, also black. It made her white hair stand out she knew and she didn’t want to look too pretty. With men, there was no limit, with women, looking too good could be competition. “This way please.” The boy said as he bowed to Malam.

The Goddess allowed herself to be walked around the building as the boy walked straight-backed and stiff, careful not to so much as trip. Behind the White Lion, only one grand table had not been left off to the side. It stood lonely, with a large silver candelabra all glowing with candles. Aliana was sitting there, in a dark uniform. Not the black Malam had seen her in before but a grey. No cap either. The woman managed to look out of place, nervous and terribly determined all at the same. Malam casually sat down without a word to the Goddess as the waiter gave her a menu. “Your menu, Goddess.”

“Bring me a whiskey.” Malam said. “A full bottle in fact.”

“Of course. Of course.” The boy replied. Malam opened her menu and inspected what they had as she smiled at Aliana. Food was good, but they weren’t here to eat dinner under the stars, were they?

“I’m surprised you invited me out.” Malam said, she made sure to pretend that Helenna had not told her anything. Some people liked to play fools, but if she came pretending she wasn’t Malam, then it would no doubt be even more suspicious than if she came in pretending to know everything. “Are we getting straight down to business or eating first?”

“That’s up to you.” Aliana as the waiter came back with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Malam ordered the ale pie, Aliana took some lake-fish. The whiskey was poured, Malam drank her own glass and poured herself another.

“Then we can do both at the same time.” Malam said. “I assume we’re here because of my meeting with Richard. Do you have anything to say about it? Or is it just that I was rude.”

Aliana smiled and shook her head. “You weren’t particularly rude. Firstly, I would like to apologize for the display you saw.”

Malam drank half her glass and laughed it off. “Do not worry Aliana, I’m the Empire’s diplomat, do you think I’ve not seen worse?” That was perfect, that would set Aliana in the right mood too. And it would make it seem like Malam wasn’t too invested in this.

“I’m sure you have.” Aliana replied as Malam finished her glass. The Goddess of Allia was still on her first as the Goddess of Hatred poured her third. Drinking was a good way to cover expressions too.

“So what would you like to discuss then? If you wanted to apologize, then you could have just sent me a bottle.” Self-awareness and depreciation was good too. It made a person trusting, or at it least it put off that idea.

“I wanted…” Aliana sighed. “Well, it’s the future of Allia.”

“Cheers to a bright a prosperous one.” Malam raised her glass, finished it and poured her fourth. She should slow down at this point, it was starting to warm up her stomach. “But what about it?”

“Well, I would like to discuss it with you.” Aliana said and Malam realised how right Helenna had been. This was a lamb wandering into the wolf-den. Worst of all, this lamb didn’t even have any instinct of self-preservation about herself. Malam leaned back and swirled her glass.

“Aliana, you served under Iliyal, did you not?” A spiderweb of a plan appeared in Malam’s mind. First, the woman would have to be convinced she wanted to take action. Going too quickly would simply scare her off. It wasn’t difficult to scare people off.

“I did.”

“Then you know we operate on the need-to-know basis. Father instilled it into us. There is nothing dirty about this, but especially with Divines, I don’t break the rule.”

“This is my country Malam.” Aliana and Malam smiled.

“It is.” There was no need to argue back. “Yet you’re irrelevant in this.”

Aliana’s eyebrows looked as if they were about to dart off her forehead. “Excuse me?” The Goddess said and Malam smiled smugly.

“You’re irrelevant Aliana. You don’t make decisions. I can discuss the future with you, it’ll be grand in fact, but I’m not going to discuss what I plan to say to Richard.” Malam topped it all off with bait. “Besides, if he sent you to scout me out, then tell him I’m offended.”

Aliana turned red. And Helenna’s profile had been correct again. The woman wanted to be relevant and important, and everyone had denied her. Even now, Malam so casually discarded Aliana’s individual agency. Although now, it was on purpose, to get the Goddess to declare the opposite. “I’m not here for Richard.”

“Then why are you here?”

“It’s my country. Shouldn’t I know?”

“You’re relevant to the scenario but you’re not a decision maker Aliana.” Malam said. “In the same way any of the men that were starving throughout the blockade were relevant, but none of them were decision makers.” And it was time for another hook. “And that’s if you’re not working for Richard.”

“I’m not.” Malam raised a doubtful eyebrow at Aliana’s answer.

“Then I apologize for my career as a diplomat, because it has made me untrusting.” Malam said and knew she caught Aliana when she saw the dismayed expression. Diplomacy was not about getting others to reveal secrets or tricking them into working for you, diplomacy was about making others want to those do. And she saw Aliana want to prove herself in that moment.

“I’m not working for Richard.” Aliana began slowly and coldly. “I can tell you that there’s a split in the Shadow Council. Elliot and Eleanor are on one side, against you. Then Lloyd, Maximilian and Bertrand are for joining the Empire. Or at least, they’re not against the idea.” Malam could almost laugh at the reveal of information. It was being unable couch lies in a veil of honesty that marked out amateurs and made them easy pickings.

“I see.” Malam said. Aliana knew what she just said, because she stared at Malam with a demanding expression. This is how amateurs usually built alliances. They revealed freely and then demanded just as much in return. “Well…” Malam leaned back and sighed. “Normally I wouldn’t, but since you said, I will share in return.” And the Goddess of Hatred chose a completely trivial detail that sounded important. “After Rancais, I will propose to move against the Pantheon again but the war department is Kassie’s, not mine. I can’t tell you what will happen because I myself don’t know.” That was one piece, now time for the other. “Rilia will join us soon. Locations are undecided as well, but we’re going to be expanding the Imperial Fleet with Alanktyda. Helenna and Iliyal are looking for base locations, two are going to start construction in Doschia soon.” Malam took a drink of her whiskey and smiled. “That fair?”

It was enough information to overload Aliana’s reasoning make her dig into the words, even though there was nothing of value actually said. “You’re going to ally with Rilia?”

“Rilia has even more to gain than you.” Malam subtly put the pressure on. This conversation wasn’t about Rilia, it was about making Aliana want to join. “They have a good location and they serve as the gateway into Epan from Arika. It’s a lot like how anyone travelling from the UNN to Epa has to sail by you.” There, that may have been on the nose, but Malam got across what she needed to say. If Allia joined, they would have opportunities open up for them. It didn’t sound desperate, and Aliana would feel smart for working it out herself.

“Ah.” Aliana said. Her lips quirked upwards for a moment as if she felt proud of herself for working out the world’s most obvious hint, and then she settled back down. “Thanks for that.”

“But that’s all I have to say.”

“Really?”

“Well it’s very simple though, isn’t it.” Malam said.

“What is?”

“I’m not going to discuss the future plans with something who has nothing to do with the situation at hand. I thank you for the information, but that’s it.”

Malam saw she had finally managed to break the woman and convince her that she needed to take a stand if anything good was going to happen. “Alright.” Aliana said. “Can I know what you’re planning to do with Allia?”

Malam liked whenever she got questions that answered themselves. “You have seen Lubska and Kirinyaa, have you not?”

“I meant individually, for Allia in specific.”

“The Empire has an open playbook. We come in and we build and we improve. What would it be for Allia?” Malam shrugged. “I don’t know, Arascus manages the economy. Most likely we would restart the Allian dockyards because Kirinyaa needs ships. That’s a short-term measure. Long term though? I don’t know.”

“But it would be like Lubska?”

“The best way to make people believe in us is to make them believe in us.” Malam said lightly as she watched the waiter come back with a plate of food. It was Aliana’s fish, still on the bone, with its head attached to the body and gleaming with silver scales. A side of salad was next to it, along with chips and sauce and lemon. “It sounds stupid when I say it, but it’s true. The success speaks for itself, people like being on the winning team.”

“I mean there won’t be a militarization of Allia? You won’t harm my people?” Aliana wanted to join. Malam could tell already, the Goddess simply needed to convince herself.

“There’ll be an Imperial force stationed here. Obviously you are in an important location for naval bases but you can see the other Epan nations. Why would you be different?”

“Well…” Aliana trailed off. The waiter brought Malam’s food. A large steaming pie with chips on the side and gravy. Malam cut into it and smelled the steam. It was good, as Aliana started on her fish.

“This is good.”

“I like this place.” Aliana answered as Malam poked her fork in the air, towards Aliana. Now, it was time to turn the pressure up on the woman, make her think she was missing out on the deal of a lifetime.

“But that is all I have to say. Allia is not part of the Empire yet, whatever comes of it is for Richard to decide.”

“And if he decides wrong?” Aliana asked and Malam had to take another bite of the tasty pie to cover up her smile. So now right and wrong were involved? And Richard could decide wrong? So Aliana had decided where she stood already, she just needed to formulate the words.

“Then he decides wrong.” Malam said. “We take a policy of non-interference. Alanktyda will not restart the blockade, but we’re not believers in helping others when our own need help.” Malam shrugged. “We have an Epa to rebuild, a Kirinyaa that is mostly lawless with the reclaimed land and a Rancais to save.”

“But if Allia joined?”

“Well that would change things, wouldn’t it?” Malam said. “Like I said, the Empire speaks through action and success. That’s why people don’t want to leave.” Aliana nodded and took another few bites of her fish as Malam let her think. There was no need to hurry up someone who was in the process of agreeing.

“But what if Richard doesn’t join?”

“Then Richard doesn’t join. I have enough dignity not to beg, we fought on the same side so I have enough respect not to threaten and I don’t have enough time to stay here. What we agree upon tomorrow, we agree upon. As long as I live or as long as the situation doesn’t change drastically, a long time either way.”

Malam saw the gears turn in Aliana’s head. “I don’t think he will.”

“Why not?”

“Because he loves Eleanor.”

“So he does.” Malam said. “But he is king of this country, it is his decision. No one else can make it for him.”

“But..”

“Aliana.” Malam said sternly.

“What?”

“You are the Goddess of this nation. I am not here to tell you how you should be running your own land. I will say one thing.”

“What is that?”

“I’m not asking now on whether you agree with me or not. On what you think of the Empire or whether you want to join. I am merely saying this as one Divine to another, because Arascus said it to me and I think it’s important knowledge to have.”

“And that is?” Aliana asked.

“We are ageless, we let time fly by. Every inaction we make, we lose another second of our lives. Yet even though we’re ageless, we’re not immortal. Eventually, we will die. And then that is when we really will be judged. Not by people who have emotional connections to us but by the cold analysis of legacy. It is that eternal legacy we are building and not anything else. If you truly believe in something, then the only way to be certain of it is to do it yourself.”

It was good knowledge to have, and Arascus had genuinely once said it to Malam. Yet whilst it was good advice, good advice depended on context just as much as it depended on its own value: try explaining the freedom to fail to someone on the street. Or the ability to take risks to a gambler. Or the value of self-determination and leadership to a Goddess who had always been sidelined? It was like giving wolves in a den a fresh steak, who could blame the wolves for self-determining that they were in fact hungry? “But…” Aliana said. “You know I can’t be certain of what Richard will do.”

“Then do it yourself.” Malam said coldly as she cut into her pie. It was excellent, far better than the military rations on the front.

“But that…” Aliana trailed off. Malam would need to give her the final push. Whilst the woman still had the will and simply lacked the confidence to take that first step.

“That would mean you seize power of your own nation, yes Aliana.” Malam spoke quickly. “What am I supposed to say? I’m not going to react with horror or look at you if you’re crazy. I’ve lived through the Great War; coups simply aren’t impressive to me.” And then, she thought of a coup-de-grace to add. “And besides, we’ve had a fair few recently, so it’s just part for the course.”

Aliana did not react in shock. “Do you think I can do it?”

“No Aliana.” Malam said sarcastically. “You’re only the damn incarnation of Allia. Are you able to coup yourself? That’s practically impossible. Unheard. No one has ever done it before. And would the people follow a war-veteran of a Goddess? Who stood up against the White Pantheon? No chance. None at all.”

Aliana laughed at that. “I understand.”

“Then it should be no problem. I’m not going to intervene in your internal politics.” Malam shrugged. “I don’t know if I can even promise refuge for you, that’d be more father’s decision. I suppose I could vouch for you.”

The other Goddess’ smile dropped. “I… No, I mean, I do think Allia should join.” Malam raised an eyebrow and forced Aliana to continue. “And… No, I mean, I am relevant. I am the Goddess here. It’s… well, it’s the correct decision, isn’t it?”

Malam shrugged. “I’m biased in this, you know I’ll say yes.” Holding back was the best policy sometimes.

“But I’ll want some help.”

“With what?”

“With making sure that Allia makes the right decision.”

“Well Aliana.” Malam leaned back and spread her arms out. “You called the right woman for this.”

The lamb that entered the wolf-den was devoured.