Weeks passed like falling leaves.
After intense discussions with the ministers, the Queen formally sent out marriage proposals across the seas and mountains—to the Kingdom of Scandovnia in the North, to the rich fields of Nubia in the south, and the stone cities of Baltica in the East.
Surprisingly, the answers came back quicker than anyone expected, although none of them are positive.
Each one carried a polite refusal but with a strong hint of an insult to the Prince.
"We respect Athens' superiority, but Prince Alector is not a fitting match for my daughter," the King of Scandovnia had written, his words cold as northern ice.
"We apologize, but we will not wed our daughters to a drunkard and a molester," the Queen of Nubia added, sharper than a dagger.
Baltica was cruelest of all: "The heaven has already abandoned Athens, with the able prince renouncing marital affairs, leaving behind an unqualified prince that will one day bring down the Kingdom to ruins. It is not in our interests to establish any such alliances by marriage with a kingdom that is bound to become extinct in the near future."
The letters were read aloud in the court by respective messengers, one after another. Each word was like a slap across Athenian pride.
As the third one also left the court, the ministers went amok.
"How dare they insult our future King?" "Your Majesty, they should pay the consequences." "We should burn their cities to the ground." "Your Majesty, let's go to the war." "Yes, let's go to the war."
The ministers, one after another, the ones who usually slander each other's work on a daily basis, put their differences aside and called for the war.
The Queen sat silent afterward, her face unreadable. Then she folded the scrolls neatly, placed them aside, and turned to Lycandros, who was already clenching his fists. The Anger was also evident on his face, and his gaze was on her, waiting for the command.
"Lycandros, I want them to kneel before our throne. I want all three of them as my daughters-in-law, not one of them, this time. If peace doesn't work, then war it is."
The court gasped, but everyone nodded in agreement. And then, chants followed up. "All Hail Queen Callidora." "All Hail Queen Callidora." "All Hail Queen Callidora."
Lycandros simply nodded, gripping his bow tightly. "That shall be done."
In a matter of days, the first strike came in the south. Nubia's sun-scorched walls fell to Lycandros's soldiers, their shields gleaming like molten gold. The fields of grain bowed not just to the wind, but to Athens.
Then, to the north, Scandovnia, fierce with its longboats and warriors, was conquered in a storm of strategy and sleepless battles. Their king knelt in the snow, sword laid at Lycandros's feet.
Finally, Baltica to the east. Balkan's cities fell one after another, their proud towers flying the gold and blue banners of Athens.
There are different units of the army sent to each kingdom, but all of those wars had one thing in common. Lycandros was in every war. As he led the army and fought with the Nubian kingdom, the other two armies just campaigned. Then, he joined the army campaign on the borders of Scandovian, finished the war there, and then mounted the pegasus to fly to the east and ended the war with Baltica, too.
And so, three princesses, daughters of kingdoms, now bowed to Athens, were sent to the palace, in just 76 days since the insulting replies, less than three months.
The great hall buzzed with nervous excitement the day they arrived, The three princesses were brought to the Queen.
The first two princesses, from Scandovnia and Nubia, curtsied low before the Queen as they carried the letters of acceptance from their respective fathers. Due to the large distances between each kingdom, no grand wedding processions were held. The Princesses were merely sent to Athens with respective letters and dowries, mostly the boxes filled with gold and jewelry.
But the third princess stood stiff and proud, her dark hair braided with threads of green, the colors of her homeland. She refused to bow before the Queen, after them. Instead, she surprises everyone by conjuring a white flame and burning down the letter sent by her father to the Queen.
As Queen Callidora furrowed her brows, almost moving to the edge of the seat in anger while the entire court went silent, the princess of Baltica opened her mouth, her hatred evident in her eyes.
"I have no intentions of honoring my father's agreement, Queen Callidora," she said firmly, her voice echoing against the marble walls of the court. "My heart already belongs to another—the Prince of Dacoria. I have accepted him in my soul as my husband. Your son can have my body, but not my soul, Queen Callidora. So, whether you burn this body or wed this body for your prince to use it for pleasure, I don't care anymore."
The court fell into uneasy silence for a moment as Princess Vesna's roar sounded like thunder. The Queen looked quite displeased. She is on the verge of giving an execution order.
Lycandros, standing beside the Queen's throne, studied her for a long moment. Then he stepped forward and said, before the Queen could say anything else, out of anger. "Athens will not chain the honor of a woman, Princess."
He turned to the Queen for permission to speak further. Callidora knows what her stepson was going to say. She let out an inward sigh and responded with a small nod, though her eyes were heavy with disappointment, feeling that she should have forced Baltica to be a vassal state. Unfortunately, Athens' policies forced her not to do it. Athens cannot have a vassal state that is not touching its border. If she has to make Baltica a vassal state, she has to occupy the tiny kingdoms in between them, but she could not, because they are allies.
"Return home," Lycandros said gently to the Baltica princess. "Marry whom your heart has chosen. You leave with our blessing."
Tears shimmered in the girl's eyes, but she smiled—a real, grateful smile—and bowed low before leaving in silence, considering herself lucky.
As she disappeared behind the doors, Callidora couldn't help but sigh. "If only the King replied to our proposal with such a fact, they wouldn't have faced a war, either. Because of that arrogance, thousands ended up as widows."
The hall stayed silent, everyone thinking the same thing that she is the one who is too arrogant for her own good, despite her humble origins.
Lycandros, on the other hand, could only sigh inwardly. His thoughts remain unclear to everyone.