Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Eighteen)
Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.
Chapter Eighteen: Pressure
After achieving victory, Aeneas and Lavinia returned to Caius Palace. For his part, Aeneas was glad that he could return to dry land.
At the moment, Aeneas was sitting at the hallway of Pacifica’s ducal castle. The Inquisitor absentmindedly watched a fish swimming by the window of the palace. After that bloody battle, he was glad to see a fish not being torn to shreds. But his fish watching was interrupted by a feminine voice.
“How are you doing, Captain? No pressure sickness, I hope.”
Aeneas knew that it was Giulia who greeted him, though he turned to face her just to be polite. It was a good thing that he did, as the Venetian girl was with Pep.
“I’m fine, there’s none that,” Aeneas said. “What are you two doing together?”
At this point, Pep and Giulia looked at each other nervously. But it was clear to Aeneas that there was a look of understanding between them. It was Pep who chose to speak up.
“I’ve asked Giulia to marry me,” Pep said with all seriousness.
“And I accepted,” Giulia finished.
Aeneas could hardly believe himself. The Inquisitor had been working to make sure that the two of them were matched up together. To think that this plan had finally come to fruition.
“That’s great!” Aeneas exclaimed, his face beaming with joy. “Congratulations!”
“No need to sell yourself short, Captain,” Giulia said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Your hand was clearly behind this!”
“Right,” Aeneas said sheepishly. “I’m glad that it worked out, though.”
“That is why, Aeneas,” Pep interjected. “I wish for you to be our best man, or something like that.”
Aeneas raised his eyes. “Something like that?”
“We don’t have best men in our weddings. Lektros weddings only need the man, the woman, and the brahmin,” Pep explained. “But Giulia insisted for one and I could think of no one better to take on this role.”
Aeneas was both flattered and happy. His Giulia problem was no more. But he knew that he was not out of the woods yet; Lavinia and Omaha remained. But the Inquisitor put them aside.
One problem at a time.
“Pep, Giulia, it would be my honor.”
Of course, that wedding would have to wait. Most likely until the Grey Globe situation had been resolved.
For now, Aeneas needed to talk to Nineveh. After the Inquisitor shot his harpoon at the Swarm King’s face, his avatar was mobbed by Lavinia’s swarm until it expired. It was a gruesome sight, even for Aeneas who was no stranger to war.
The body of that avatar was promptly taken back to the Great Tunnel at the outskirts of Simona R’leh. There, it would be brought deep underground to the Transitional Zone of Earth where the swarms under Nineveh had made their home; known colloquially as ‘Swarm Country’.
Back at the Pacifica Under-Ocean, Nineveh had brought in another avatar. This time it was a much smaller swarm creature, about the size of Lavinia’s swarmlings. Once more, Aeneas and Nineveh found themselves face to face with one another. This time in the Duchy’s throne room.
“I have severely underestimated you, Lord Inquisitor,” Nineveh said. “You are very much like your ancestor, the Patriarch Caius, in his resourcefulness.”
Aeneas nodded and said nothing. But inside, he was happy that he had earned the respect of the Swarm King.
“Therefore,” Nineveh continued on. “I will support you in your fight against the Grey Globe.”
Aeneas smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“I do have a question, Lord Inquisitor,” Nineveh said.
“Go on.”
“Do you intend to wed Lady Lavinia?” Nineveh asked. “The two of you very much reminded me of the founders Caius and Simona.”
Aeneas paused to consider his words. He hated having to disappoint the Swarm King just after gaining his respect, but he had to tell the truth.
“I do not,” Aeneas admitted. “I have someone else that I love.”
Aeneas could already feel how the Swarm King would react to this. He was preparing himself for the worst of it.
“This was disappointing, to say the least,” Nineveh said. “You should reconsider. This marriage with reunify House Aquilanus. This will also bring the Church to our side, and we can bring back the vision of Caius and Simona that was cruelly destroyed in the days of Ulysses.”
“I’ve heard this argument before, Nineveh,” Aeneas said. “Believe me, I hear your plea. Even though I do not wish to wed Lavinia, your goal of racial harmony is a worthy one.”
“I cannot say I understand you, Lord Inquisitor. And furthermore, what do you intend to do with Lavinia?” the Swarm King asked. “She is obviously in love with you.”
“I wish to find her another man, one worthy of her,” Aeneas answered.
“You won’t find one,” Nineveh said flatly. “Not one that she will accept. Remember her promise?”
Aeneas cringed; he had almost forgotten. The promise Lavinia made so Nineveh would agree to help the Holy League.
Nineveh continued on with his point. “It’s either you or me, Sir Inquisitor. Do you wish for her to be my queen?”
“No,” Aeneas said honestly. “If she became the Swarm Queen, I’ll never see her again. Not truly. It would only be her avatar.”
For so long, Lavinia had been a constant presence in Aeneas’ life. Ever since his mother’s death, she always worked to ensure that he smiled.
“If you wish to avoid that, then you must marry her,” Nineveh said. “It is as simple as that.”
Aeneas knew the undeniable truth of what the Swarm King had said. It was as simple as that.
And that was the extent of the conversation as the two of them soon bade each other farewell. But Nineveh’s words continued to ring in the Inquisitor’s mind.
Aeneas soon found himself in the bedroom that Duke Caius had given him to stay. The Inquisitor kept working through his mind thinking of a way to resolve his Lavinia problem, but he kept drawing a blank. He decided to put this issue to the side, Lavinia could wait.
The Inquisitor thought of his other issue, Princess Omaha. This should be a much simpler issue to solve.
Aeneas activated his nav-comm and called Tsar Nikolai. The two of them had been corresponding for quite some time. Nikolai had returned home to Slavia after parting ways with Aeneas. The Tsar had been tireless in unifying his realm, but it had been a difficult task. The Cossacks of Eastern Slavia had long been a contentious bunch, and the events of Castle Aquila had only worsened the divide within the Tsardom.
Aeneas knew full well that the end goal for Nikolai was the Crusade that would conquer the breakaway Azov. A client state of the Holy League, the Azov Autonomous Zone had been granted to be the paradise of the dark felinids. Though these black-haired cat-men had remained outside of the Faith, the Church out of charity had allowed them to live in their own communities provided that they wouldn’t do harm to the Christian peoples that surround them.
But when the Holy League started to decay, the dark felinids were emboldened to undermine Christendom from within. Their latest move was to declare their stronghold Azov to be independent of the Holy League.
While the Pope found this turn of events to be unacceptable, he was in no position to do anything about it given the chaos in the Holy League and the Grey Globe problem. Thus, the task of bringing the Azov back to the Holy League fell to Tsar Nikolai and Slavia. But the Autonomous Zone would be heavily defended, and the black cats would have some dangerous weaponry on their side.
Aeneas knew Nikolai to be a busy man. The Inquisitor hoped that the Tsar would be willing to humor him one more time. After all, his next destination was the Zaibatsu, another paradise of the black cats.
It took Aeneas some tries, but Aeneas was finally able to reach Nikolai over the brick.
“Sir Aeneas? What is it?”
“Your Highness, I’m hoping that we can join forces once more,” Aeneas said.
“This better be good, Inquisitor,” the Tsar said rather gruffly. “Spare time is not something that I have in abundance.”
“I understand, Your Highness,” Aeneas acknowledged. “But our next destination will be Tokio.”
“Tokio? The capital city of the Zaibatsu?”
“The very same.”
“Count me in.”