Stephus arrived at the home of Titus, finding him curiously filled with elation. This was made obvious by his offering a cup of sweet wine as he poured his guest a very generous portion.
"To what event are we partaking in with great celebration?" a curious Stephus inquired.
“My friend, we are celebrating the wonderful gift that is, liberation."
"Liberation? From what?"
"Not from what, but rather, from whom."
Stephus puckered his forehead. "The province in the east? The queen has granted it to you?"
Titus nodded his head. "After a small matter is settled, I shall stand over it away from the insufferable hand of the queen."
"But, how? How were you able to force her hand?"
"I did not force her hand. It was just simple, persuasion."
"So what of this small matter that must be settled beforehand?"
With a glimmer in his eye, Titus presented Stephus with the document bearing the insignia of the queen.
His eyes feverishly scanned across the words of the document, his tension building as he read. "Titus, tell me that you did not agree to this?!"
But the overconfident Titus seemed oblivious to a hidden danger discovered by Stephus.
“Why wouldn’t I find this agreeable? It is only fair that if one shall stand over a province granted to him by the queen, one should negotiate on her behalf from time to time."
"That is precisely my point," Stephus said angrily, shoving the document into Titus's face.
"Have you truly grown ill? The moment you stand before the council of the Imperial Nation on behalf of the queen, they shall have your head."
But Titus made light of Stephus’ concern. "Stephus, you are allowing your paranoia to get the best of you."
"No! Titus, have you forgotten the code of the covenant that exists between them? 'No one is to stand in the place of the queen to negotiate with the members of the covenant. Neither any captains of her Armies nor members of council.
Anyone who stands himself in her place, shall be executed, where he stands.' How did you not know this?"
With the hundreds of laws presented and passed in a given day, it would be most difficult to have them ready for recall at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, Titus wasn't as savvy as Stephus on matters of the Imperial Nation. His hands trembled slightly as he perused the document anew. It was just one simple word with which the queen had beguiled him.
‘Present.’ The word she used in place of ‘negotiate.’ Fool! She had tricked him, feigning seduction to distract him. He imagined arguing the semantics before members of the council, hoping against hope that they would be sympathetic. But as his mouth went dry, he realized that even that would be mere fantasy.
"Titus, you must go to the queen at once and throw yourself at her mercy. Beg to be released from this document of death."
"I cannot," he seemed to whisper. He recalled watching her and the Army of the Crown leaving through the Castle’s gate.
"She has departed with the Army of the Crown to participate in battle games.”
“Then you have no other recourse than to leave Twells,” Stephus warned. Titus appeared to be in a fog.
“Leave Twells? This is my home. Where else shall I go?”
After some thought, Stephus had a land in mind. “Onus! It is farther to the north, and its King is not a member of the Imperial Nation. I understand it's a three day journey, however, if you leave by sunrise, you would have an advantage over the queen, who is not due to return for a couple of days.”
