The Other Witch; Heir to the Throne

"My sister say's that you're the legend himself, Old Cloak of..well, of old."  Emperor Toln the first had never been an especially awe-inspiring speaker, not even in public addresses or prepared speeches.  He was a great swordsman and powerful mage, and quite the looker, but he was just never going to be the sort of person who rallied the Empire to turn the tide in a war.  For all her faults, and there were many, his mother had been the sort of war-time orator the Empire needed.  Of course, none of his siblings were any better, and he was unquestionably the most level headed of them, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have liked someone who could deliver a punchline without laughing.
"I am."
"And rumor among my councilors is that you're here to request use of my army."
"This," Hack had this abrasive dominance about him that was clearly not helping the inexperienced Emperor.  "Is also true."
"Alright, then why are you talking to me?  The one's who run that sort of thing are the council, I'm still planning my coronation tour and mourning my mother's passing."
Salvia, and she suspected several of the Guards as well, had to fight every overly-dramatic, warrior, Nieldic instinct she had just to keep from rushing the throne and gutting the lazy cur where he sat.  The Imperial Guard captain, who looked to be fairly recently promoted himself, actually smacked him in the back of the head.
"Because it's your job Father."  Salvia spun to see where the voice had come from.  A lightly armored man of about her own age had come out of one of the side passages while they'd been speaking.  His cloak, a regal shade of blue, fluttered behind him, as much from his own speed than from the ages worth of overly-dramatic spells that lingered in the room.  Clearly, this was one of the Emperor's sons, a fact that could have been determined as easily from his bearing as from his clothing, but was most obvious in his bright blue eyes and the fact that he had just referred to the formentioned lazy cur as 'father'.
He was also, Salvia hoped no one would notice, at least as handsome as his father, and had managed to draw from her a rare blush with a gaze that lingered just long enough to be noticed, but not so long as to seem ungentlemanly 
"My son, Curt."
"We have war at hand already.  The Seclorans seek to end us for breaking the Non-Involvement Pact, and with the Empress dead they see us as weak.  You have to at least pretend you care about running the country.  It is exactly this sort of weakness that lead to their exodus in ages past."
"That won't be a problem."  Hack managed to break both of their concentration with a sharp tap of his sword against the faux-marble floor.  "I intend to convince them to join me as well."
"Work with the Seclorans?!"  Toln, it seemed, had at least one strong feelings regarding working with the enemy he had devoted much of his life to fighting, as had most all citizens above the age of sixteen.  Life proceeded as normal in most of the Empire only because so many were willing to serve and fight for the dead space and scattered star clusters that separated the two great Empires of the Nielda.  As a Witch, Salvia had been exempted from service, but Father Krell had spoken often of the trials the war subjected all Nielda to and he'd told many personal accounts of fighting.  He'd never hated the Seclorans the way many did, but he also seemed quite certain that he had fought on the right side when he had.
"Yes, the enemy we face wields nearly half the armies of Gravaga, it will take all the galaxy's legions to defeat her.  I know of your dispute, but it must be set aside for the greater good."
Toln launched into a blundering tirade about how he would never work with those monsters, no matter what the danger.  But while everyone else's attention was focused on the Emperor's ire, Salvia saw a roguish smile creep up the prince's cheek.  And as his father began to wind down, he stepped up and spoke his piece.
"I will speak with the councils.  My own men and I will join in your assault, and I will persuade those who I can to join me.  I do not relish the thought of fighting beside those cretins, but when my Great-Grandmother tells  her stories about facing down platoons of Gravagan soldiers, she tells them with the same voice as she speaks of facing dragons at the side of her friends.  My father and his generation may think her memory false and her stories nothing more, but I know enough to respect her wisdom.  Any enemy who would wield so much as a fraction of the Crystal Army, is an enemy worth guarding against by every means.  And so," he drew his sword and offered it towards Hack, Braga, James, and Salvia could feel the creeping blush once more, herself.  "You have my sword in the coming battle."
Toln spluttered about insolence and loyalty, but the Guards all nodded silent approval of the young prince.  Salvia couldn't blame them, he was half the age and twice the man, but that could have just been the blush talking.

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This was post 400! yaay!