Chapter 105: A Deration Of War


    "You what?" Al asked in a deadly tone.


    As soon as we got back from visiting his family we approached Franz to talk about potentially starting the reconstruction efforts in the spring. A stricken expression crossed his face when he exined that he couldn''t just give away money andnd without consulting the court first.


    "My hands are tied! I thought I would be able to do things like this on my own but apparently I''m notthe archduke has been very clear on what is and is not allowed," he finished sourly.


    I scowled. The archduke had been one of the biggest viins in the novel but hadn''t been a major yer up until this point. It seemed like he was finally making his move, no doubt wanting to continue exploiting the mountains for Annias''s benefit like the former king.


    "Who''s the king here, you or the archduke?! Shouldn''t you have more power than this?" I demanded.


    Even presidents back in good old America were allowed to dere executive orders now and then as a bypass for going through Congress. This was ridiculous.


    I had thought bing king would allow him to do whatever he saw fit to govern his country. Returningnds to a people your predecessor killed off and giving financial restitution to help rebuild should be within his jurisdiction.


    Franz sighed. "Sometimes I wonder. But he has served as an advisor to the crown since before my father''s time. I cannot dismiss him so easily."


    "If you back out on our deal now that you got what you wanted I will personally tie you to a chair and drop you in the ocean," I threatened.


    With my size and how many guards there would be to stop me, this wouldn''t be possible. But I wanted him to know how pissed off I was and it was the first thing I coulde up with. He seemed to get my message.


    "Katie, there should be nothing to worry about. All we have to do is wait until court reconvenes in the fall. The majority is on my side now so if I phrase the proposal correctly"


    Al cut him off angrily, his hands balled into fists. "No. Your father destroyed my people without the permission of the court and you will fix it the same way. The archduke can go jump off a cliff for all I care."


    A lightbulb flickered over my head and I smiled smugly. "Diplomatic rtions are not subject to the court, correct?"


    "Yes" Franz said warily. "Where are you going with this?"


    "The Kanta region was never formally considered a country before and was left to its own devices because no one else dared live there. That changes now. You are now speaking to n Leader mar de Kanta and Madam n Leader Katie de Kanta of the Independent Nation of Kanta. If you do not give us what we want we shall dere war."


    Al snorted before covering his mouth to muffle hisughter and Franz looked at me like I was crazy. "You don''t have an army! How can a nation be made up of two people?"


    "Our nation has more than two people," I sniffed. Technically speaking, right now it had sixty-two even if that was only in writing. "We may not have a formal army but we have enough people to wreak some serious havoc in the towns they live in without anyone being the wiser.


    "Make your choice, Your Majesty. Give us what we want or we will give you an awful lot of headaches. Do you really want to deal with repairs and infrastructure problems so soon in your reign?"


    My husband was no longer able to control hisughter and was doubled over with glee. I red at him. He was ruining my dramatic moment.


    Franz looked helpless for a moment before cracking a disbelieving smile. "You make a very convincing argument, Madam n Leader. I will begin making arrangements so you can begin rebuilding in the spring."


    I gave my best curtsy, acting like the diplomat I was pretending to be. "We thank you for your generosity."


    I had to pull Al out of the throne room in a rather undignified manner because he was still cackling. He didn''t stop until we made it back to our quarters and grinned at me widely. I was a bit put out with him for finding this so amusing.


    "What is it?" I demanded.


    "You just decided to form a country, gave yourself a title that doesn''t exist, and dered war on the biggest country on this continentpletely on a whim. How is that not funny? Madam n Leader," he snickered.


    I punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up, Al! I''m not creative and I was improvising. Where I''m from the leaders are called President and First Lady instead of King and Queen. I honestly couldn''t think of anything better on the spot. You already had a title so I matched yours."


    "I never said I didn''t like it. And I must admit, I can imagine Jasper leading an army quite effectively. They would throw rocks at every window and probably set something on fire," he said before dissolving intoughter again.


    I sighed. He waspletely hopeless.


    At least that was one problem out of the way. Now all we had to do was get rid of Sigmund on a permanent basis and we could rest assured that the peace treaty we would be signing wouldn''t be ignored during our lifetimes.


    But the only way to get rid of a royal without resorting to murder is catching themmitting treason. I was willing to bet Sigmund was cooking up something treasonous right now but the hard part would be proving it.