The Government Palace
Ghish, Ghant
Leonor Bozagua hardly ever saw Nymun in an irritated mood, but today was one such time, it seemed. It was a meeting with just the two of them, and Nymun had his head in his hands, laughing sarcastically and tapping a finger compulsively on the glass pitcher of tea.
“I should have known that Izolde and the Ice lords would have pulled a fast one on this Nekulturnya business.” Nymun lamented. “Now I have a fire lit under my ass about it, thanks to Nikolai Zetsky-Orlov.”
“We have no choice but to act. The die has been cast.” Leonor said. “What are you going to do?”
“Do I really have a choice in the matter, Leonor?” Nymun asked, although it sounded like a statement. “We have to support the Tsar. It is the only way to preserve our interests. If we do nothing, we concede to that bloc forming in Acheron and just let them have hegemony. We can’t sit back and let that happen, especially since they do not have our best interests at heart.”
“...And Nikolai does?” Leonor asked. She looked around the office. It had come a long way since Nymun took it over from the Yellow Dragon Yula Zimya. There were neat bookshelves with new books, an arcade, a ping pong table that was triangled with a foosball table and a table hockey table, as well as a pinball machine. And a wall clock that had an owl pop out and hoot once for every hour. One reason why I don’t particularly care for noon meetings, Leonor thought.
“Nikolai is the lesser of two evils. If we could turn a pro-Vyrsarian state into a pro-Ghantish state, why wouldn’t we do that? The Tsar can achieve that for us.” Nymun mused.
“But would it be worth the trouble to achieve?” Leonor wondered aloud. She suspected that such a move could put Ghant at great risk.
“Think of it like poker. When you are low on chips, you go all in on a hand that you have the possibility of winning with.” Nymun explained. “It might not be the best hand, but sometimes you have to play it when you get it in order to stay in the game. Think about it for a minute why don’t you. Do you have any idea how fucked we would be if Vyrsar, Nekulturnya, Macureus and Deadora were all on the same team, one that isn’t fond of Ghant? The writing would be on the all, Leonor. Time to make a move now while we still have chips.”
“I thought Ghant didn’t make a move unless it knew it could win.” Leonor sagely repeated the old addage from history class.
“It can win, if we play our cards right. The Chancellor already shot herself in the foot by going out of her way to publicly compare the situation in Nekulturnya to Dengali. If we appeal to our allies, like Adiron, Laudine, Garza, Wielkilas, Valik, New Edom, Rome and the Shrailleeni Empire, we might be able to make something happen.”
“Sounds like wishful thinking, Nymun.” Leonor responded, skeptically.
“The first step is talking to the Edomites. I received a communique from Levi Dathan, and I plan on responding to it as soon as possible, hoping to get their feedback. Consider it putting feelers out. We are going to find out very fast who our friends are and who are not. We stuck out necks out for the Edomites over Dengali, so hopefully they return the favor and do the same for us in regards to Nekulturnya. For if what the Chancellor said is to be believed, then the situation between the two is hardly that much different.”
“...As you say, Nymun.” Lenor said, nodding her head. “But be careful, for this is a very dangerous game that is being played right now. Games of politics and power. In many ways a zeo-sum game. I can’t say I am a fan of those.”
Nymun sighed. “Neither am I. But sometimes, there is hardly a choice in the matter.”