From Olympus Katja made her way north, skipping the two southern packs currently in conflict. What would be the point of coming to an agreement with one regime only to have the pack change hands the next day and void that agreement? She would wait until they were settled before she visited them. There were, however, these two northern packs to visit before she made her way back toward Ebony and the other packs.
The first she would visit would be the one called Glaciem. She knew little of it, other than Raisa's distaste for it's self-styled king. She must know more, yet Raisa was gone and Raisa's second in command had long been absent and Katja had been unable to meet with him to learn what he knew of Ebony's relations with this pack. She would need to walk carefully.
Pausing a respectful distance from the border, she lifted her head in a call for the leader of Glaciem to appear.
Athena was enjoying all of the visitors that her pack had gotten recently. First the red woman Viridiana and then of course her unknown sibling Sibelle. When she heard yet another call rise up from the borders she rose to her paws and headed toward the visitor with eager paws. She may be young, but she was proud of her pack and wanted it to strive. She believed that part of doing that was having all the right friends.
As she approached the dark female that had called for her, the silvery princess gave her a faint smile before settling on her haunches. Her tail curled around her haunches as she sat neatly, her bracelets clinking softly together. "Hello there," she greeted smoothly, "I am Athena, Glaciem's Queen. Who might you be and what brings you here?" Athena wasn't too interested in small talk. Instead, she wanted to get straight to the point to know why this woman wished to speak with her.
A silver-pelted female bearing golden armlets approached, and immediately introduced herself and asked her business. Katja's eyes narrowed in appreciation - no small talk, no beating around any bushes, just straight to the point. Good. "I do be Katja Finnvi, ruler of the empire of Ebony," she returned, her stance relaxed but the set of her head and tail speaking of her confidence and putting her on equal footing with the Glaciem queen. "I do come on a diplomatic mission among the packs, treaties and alliances do I seek." She spoke bluntly as the Glaciem queen had, but one thing had her concerned, thinking back to her meeting at Covari, and she cocked her head to the side as she regarded the young wolf. Was she as temporary as the boy Crucifix, or had the king in Glaciem fallen? She must be sure, before she could trust any possible treaties. "Under the impression, I was, that a king ruled in Glaciem. Should I be expecting your rule to be lasting or is it this king shall return and any agreements between us be void?" Her tone was not accusing or insulting, but rather serious and grave.
Athena was interested to hear the woman's title and status. She liked that several queens had come seeking alliances, though it did make her wonder if she should be doing the same for the packs that had yet to come visit. That would be something she could ponder later.
Katja's concerns were valid ones and with the darker female's serious tone she took the questions as what they were, serious questions, and not as any form of insult. "My father passed his rule onto me permanently. I was the heir and when he decided he wanted to turn his attention elsewhere I stepped into the role. There is no worries of me leaving anytime soon, should I have any say in it, and any agreements we come to shall be honored as long as the Armada family rules Glaciem," she replied, wanting to dash any uncertainties the woman had in her rule immediately.
Moving on, Athena added, "I am always happy to form alliances with like-minded packs. I don't ask for much, only that if we need your assistance you will be there for us and we shall do the same for you, weather it be in a case such as the epidemic we just recovered from or in a time of war."
Katja nodded slowly to acknowledge Athena's words as the girl assured her that she was queen in truth, not just a placeholder. Her confidence and self-assured words convinced Katja that the girl would make certain her family honored her agreements, or that the girl believed she would anyway which was as good as the other as far as Katja was concerned right now.
She held her silence for a moment as she considered the queen's offer. "We will do as you ask in return for your oath of the same, but if war is to come between Glaciem and another of Ebony's allies, we will not interfere on either side. I will not pick and chose which of my allies is more deserving than the other; Ebony will stay neutral. But war between Glaciem and an unallied pack yes, Ebony would aid you."
She continued to regard the young queen calmly as she gave her a moment to consider Katja's counter offer.
It seemed her reassurances of her position in Glaciem put the other queen's mind at ease, at least enough that she offered an addendum to their proposed alliance. Athena considered it and couldn't see a flaw in this proposal. "That seems like a fair compromise to me. I shall follow the same rule then. Should you attack one of my allies I will not offer my help, but should you fight a pack I hold no favoritism toward you will have my help if you want it." She smiled slightly, happy to see that this meeting had been seemingly successful.
Athena was glad to have a slowly growing list of Alliances. The more friends she had the more likely it was that she would have others at her back should someone threaten her pack. The safety of her pack was the most important thing to her, nothing else mattered. "So," she added with a smirk, "have we come to an agreement?"
The Armada woman was certainly a reasonable one but thoughtful, considering carefully Katja's words before she agreed to them. There would be a lot of potential in this alliance, Katja could see. Finally the other alpha did agree. Katja nodded firmly. "Agreed we are, Athena Armada. I foresee this alliance benefiting both Glaciem and Ebony greatly. If you will excuse me, however, continuing on my journey I must be. Far from my pack, I am, and I do wish to return to them swiftly. Fare you well."
With a final nod of respect to the queen, Katja's dark legs stretched to carry her away from the border before heading off in the direction of the next pack at a lope. Tortuga.
