Rayleen says “What would that be?”

  “The longer the nobles are allowed to fight, the more the people will suffer.”

  As soon as I finish speaking, Rayleen gets a stunned look on her face. It looks like she hadn’t thought of the effect the war would have on her people. Not that I blame her, as sheltered as she was she probably only met her people recently.

  Rayleen says “Forgive me, I was wrong. I am ashamed that I did not think of the people first!”

  “It’s alright. Now that you have thought about it, what do you think I should do?”

  Rayleen says “I don’t know. This is the kind of thing I would ask the priests. I wish the temple hadn’t fallen apart.”

  “Um, about that. I am afraid that most, if not all, of what you were told was lies. Holos is from a pantheon in the southern empire and only spread his religion here because he wasn’t happy being under a goddess.”

  Rayleen says “What?! Southern Empire?! What are you talking about? Gundar is the only empire!”

  “Gundar is the only empire on the peninsula. Across the land bridge lies the demon’s territory and on the other side of that are two empires on the main continent. They probably have proper names, but I just call them the northern and southern empires.”

  Rayleen says “Two empires?! Main continent? How does no one know about this?! How do you know about this?!”

  “I explored some of the main continent when I was on an adventure.”

  Lin says “What he means is he went through an unknown portal and had to find his way back. Not that I am complaining since that is where he met me.”

  Rayleen says “You are from the main continent?! Ugh, this is all a little much to take in.”

  “Yeah, it is probably too much information at once. Sorry. Why don’t you sit down and relax until dinner. Emperor Amn, the ruler of the southern empire, will be at the dinner. You can chat with him and ask him to verify these things.”

  Rayleen says “Thank you, I will do that.”

  Lin says “I will rearrange the seating and put you next to Emperor Amn.”

  “What is the seating for my table?”

  Lin says “You are in the middle, of course, with Amn on your left and Mercy on your right. I will put Rayleen on the other side of Amn and Ambassador Undeen on the other side of Mercy. Their kingdoms have been allies for a long time, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

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  Mercy says “That’s fine by me. If I get to be by Ash’ side, then I don’t care who else I have to sit with.”

  Lin says “That's what I figured. I’ll put Ambrose on the other side of him, he can help if needed.”

  “Sounds good.”

  We relax and chat for the remaining time before our guests arrive, mainly about the plans for tomorrow. The girls are obviously excited about the wedding and I am not about to do anything to ruin that. Luckily, I get saved from the wedding talk by the first of our guests arriving.

  The first ones to arrive are Amn and Atesh, which isn’t all that surprising since they don’t know anyone else really. In fact, I am rather surprised that they managed to show up before the actual wedding. I figured they would be too busy to leave the empire until the last possible minute.

  I greet the both of them and then Amn joins me while Atesh heads over next to Lin. Amn immediately starts talking about how the trade through the gate has been going. I haven’t paid any attention to it since I opened the gate, if there was a problem someone would have let me know.

  However, Amn seems to have been paying a lot of attention to everything about the gate. Just from how he is talking, I can tell that the trade is going well and making us both money. Not that I am worried about money, but that is because of Pol, money isn’t something I think about much.

  For instance, I am sure that the wedding is costing an absolute fortune, but it doesn’t bother me. I don’t even really care how much the girls have spent, we can always make more. Besides, if it makes them happy then I don’t care if they bankrupt me, I can always go steal more gold.

  I soon have to greet the rest of the guests as they arrive and soon everyone is seated. As soon as the last person is seated, the appetizers are served and I am happy to see mine is portioned to my size. The talk dies down to light chatter as everyone starts enjoying their food.

  The meal is absolutely delicious and is enough to keep the serious talk at bay until it is over. I noticed Rayleen talking to Amn during the meal, but I intentionally did not listen. I could hear every single conversation in the room if I wanted to, but I have no interest.

  I have also noticed that Myria and Ambrose have been working at keeping the ambassador busy. They have been keeping him from talking to me and the poor man looks about ready to burst. So, I decide to take pity on him and lean a little around Mercy to address him.

  “So, ambassador, you look like you have something you want to say to me?”

  Ambassador Undeen says “Well, my original mission was to convey an invitation for you to come visit and have a talk with our president. However, just before I arrived a messenger caught up to me and handed me a dozen requests from some of our merchants. Well, they were closer to demands, but they all say the same thing. They want me to secure them access to this gate you apparently set up in your trade city, but only for them, not the others.”

  “My trade city is open to all and they will have to pay the same fees and tariffs that everyone pays. I do think a visit to talk to your president is a good idea, but it will have to wait until after my honeymoon.”

  Ambassador Undeen says “Completely understandable. I will inform my president and he will be ready to receive you whenever you find the time to visit.”

  “Sounds good. Now, try to enjoy the rest of the meal.”

  Ambassador Undeen says “I will, thank you.”

  Now that the ambassador is calmer, Mercy has more time to chat with me. It goes fine until the dessert is served and she decides to try and feed me. She probably meant it to be cute, but it is kind of ruined by her throwing entire plates of sweets into my mouth.

  Still, it is an amusing attempt and I will give her credit for trying, even if it didn’t work out. Luckily, no one laughs at her, so the failed attempt is allowed to pass without any awkwardness. Once the desserts are finished the talk turns a little more serious at the other tables.