The journey from their main camp up to the designated meeting site would be another two days -- cut by half if they chose to push their chocobos to their limits. While he knew that Eleftherios would be more than willing to oblige a request to hasten their speed, the young Archduke would not put his retinue of Shields and soldiers -- or their mounts -- through such undue stress.
Not when the atmosphere surrounding their mission was already so uncertain and tense.
For a mercy, the freeze of winter had already begun giving way to the first signs of spring. Even in this place, so far to the North of Storm, the wind that nipped at their half-covered faces and stung their exposed eyes wasn't quite as biting as it normally was. The last time he had stepped foot this far into King Warrick's lands to treat with the great "Silvermane" himself, it had been at the side of his father, and the weather had been harsh and unforgiving then.
Much like the former Archduke had done, Elwin rode onward with head held high and not a drop of trepidation exuded through his posture nor body language. No -- everything about him bespoke of a ruler undaunted. And so it should have been, and so it would be; yet on the inside, within his mind and resounding within his heart, was a well of anxiety and self-doubt.
When Silvermane's men had marched upon Rosarian soil, they had arrived knowing full well that they had Rosaria at a heavy disadvantage for not just one, but multiple reasons. But their invasion was not driven by love of bloodshed, of that Elwin was sure; it was driven by desperation, of a will and want to survive despite the heavy hand that sought to strangle the life from their land and their people. The death of their Mothercrystal and the devastation wrought by the Blight's progression had left them with few options, he surmised.
In that respect, the Archduke could not fault them -- especially King Warrick. As rulers, their duty was to their people; part of that duty meant doing whatever it took to ensure their survival, even if it meant going to war for the acquisition of hospitable land.
Despite that sympathy, however, Elwin's own duty to his people and the duchy meant that he too needed to do whatever was necessary. And in this case, it meant fighting back. It meant meeting Silvermane's troops on the battlefield with steel in hand and fire in their hearts.
Now that they had forced their age-old enemies back and had them on the back foot, the decision of what to do with them had become a subject of great division within the war room. The insisted route by many advisors was to crush them once and for all, that they would no longer prove a threat. This was their chance to end a long-standing conflict with the Northern Territories. Why falter, why hesitate? The solution was obvious: remove King Warrick's head and force his people to bend the knee to Rosaria. Though their land had naught of value to offer the duchy, the subjugation of their people and loss of guidance and military power meant they would never again be a threat.
This proposal was one that Elwin Rosfield adamantly objected. That same sympathy for the North's inhabitants, along with compassion for King Warrick's plight, urged him to demand an alternative method of ending this war with finality. While he and their men would fight against the North's troops with no less ferocity, and in doing so show them why they were fools for underestimating them, the reigning monarch was hellbent on a far more forgiving solution than death of the neighboring ruler.
The terms of surrender that Elwin had penned under the (eventual, but begrudging) acceptance of the other High House council members were not unconditional. In exchange for a full withdrawal of the opposing forces from Rosarian territory, and agreement of peace between the two nations, Archduke Elwin Rosfield would ensure that resources and aid were provided to the North.
Now that the time had come for both rulers to meet and sign the accord for the North's surrender, the Archduke found himself questioning: am I doing the right thing?
He knew what his father would have done. But he was not his father, and he refused to rule in the same manner that his father had. Of the many things his mother had taught him, it was the value of a human life; if there was a more peaceable solution than simply bringing an iron fist down upon their enemies, a means that minimized the number of casualties for all parties, then he would find it -- and take it.
