Kingdom of Galacia.

Shakra took a breath to steady herself. Well this is it. There's no turning back now.

Of course she knew that "turning back" hadn't been an option since she'd emerged from Lord Adora's office with a deal, but as she neared her destination it became so much more real what she had convinced the leader of her nation to do. She'd spent the next couple of days selecting the best route. The route, planned with the aide of some of the cartographers the Horde kept in service, saw them cling to the western shore and hope the Salinean fleet didn't notice them.

So it was that they'd departed from Rosewood. The former Plumerian port that served as the very first city the Horde had taken when it began its campaign against the Runestone Kingdoms. Fittingly it had for the longest time been one of their most important holdings -which its commanding officer Force Captain Octavia never tired of pointing out- however the combined efforts of the reinvigorated Salinean navy & the newest She Ra had reduced the Horde's own navy to an almost token force. Among other things, this had the effect of greatly reducing Rosewoods value. It was still an important shipping post & base to patrol their own coastline but nowhere near as prestigious as it had been just a few short years ago.

Lord Adora had called her trackerpad when she was prepared to depart. The Lord of the Horde had wished her well & revealed she had arranged to have a squad formed to accompany her for "protection". The leader of this squad -a tough-talking Satyr named Josephine who revealed herself to be a part of the exodus that had followed the Dragon from the Crimson Waste- had been even more on the nose when she'd said "the boss wants us to keep an eye on you" Fair enough Shakra supposed. The Horde had been absolutely hemorrhaging deserters for a period following Hodak's death, though that had slowed steadily (apparently thanks to the tireless work of a young man named Kyle. She hoped he was being duly rewarded for his service)

Their first hiccup had actually occurred not too long after departing. Their route involved setting sail from Rosewood which put them in range of ships deployed from Glass Lake. Both port formerly belonged to Plumeria with the falling to the Horde in the early phases of the war while the latter was captured not five years ago but had quickly been retaken by the Rebellion. Despite reports indicating the leaders of these Rebels to hail from Plumeria themselves, they'd made no move to return the city to their rightful ruler. Indeed the two had instead preferred to spend the last few years playing pirates.

(Though she recalled that those same reports that revealed the leaders to hail from Plumeria also revealed many of their followers to come from Bright Moon, which if Shakra was being fair, may have had something to do with the decision against returning the city)

They were still in the waters between the two cities when a vessel was spotted following them. Taking no chances the captain ordered the ship to turn and fire which scared their pursuers away. They immediately headed south hugging the coastline as to best avoid the "hammerhead" patrols of the Salinean fleet of the roaming privateers from Octopus Cove & Seaworthy. She allowed herself to relax slightly when the reached Crownless waters. No matter what Salineas told themselves they did not own the entirety of Etheria's waters & the western sea is the one place they could be considered somewhat weak do to the Crownless actively working to keep them out. Not always successfully but they did try. (Shakra filed that away for future negotiations)

By the time the captain had informed her they were in the waters of the citystate Darkspur which bordered Galalcia she allowed herself to believe that the danger had passed.

(Until it's time to go back a traitorous thought interjected before she swatted it away. She had enough to worry about as it was, she didn't need to be imaging more problems)

She was in her quarters rereading the -frustratingly little- information that was available on Galacia for what seemed the hundredth time since the journey began when she received word, they were pulling into port. She made her way to the deck alongside her "protection" just in time to get a view of the ring of short cliffs that nearly encircled the capital, protecting it from waves, stray glaciers & -theoretically at least- enemy vessels alike. It took some maneuvering on the captains part to get them past the cliffs and into the city proper.

The sole map of the city in her position -one of the few outside the kingdom- had portrayed a city designed in a almost circular design save for the harbor that, when she made the mistake of showing the map to Josephine, drew comparison to a pie that had a lice already removed. Shakra had been indignant when her bodyguard had said that through her chuckling, and was more ashamed for having to agree with such an immature thought. A crowd had gathered to watch them dock and she greeted them -particularly the few guards that had come rushing down- with as much courtesy as she could muster.

"Greeting good people of Galacia. I am Shakra of the Horde & i have come to discuss with your King peace between out two nations" Had that been too much? If it had none of the Selkies gathered said anything. Instead the guards, clearly taken aback at what they'd just heard, agreed to accompany her & her entourage to the royal palace. As they lead her through the city she took the opportunity to take in this city which had bee see by so few. Simple, practical building dominated the city, each one ending in a sloped roof to keep snow from gathering. indeed even in the very early days of summer snow was ever-present, a fact that came with living this far north, this far near the Kingdom of Snows. There was no grand architecture one would expect from a Kingdom's capital -especially if one had grown hearing stories of the splendor of Bright Moon as she had- and the thought occurred to hear that their designs would fit right in with the Horde. The only exception was the scrimshaw drawings that appeared on every surface they could be fitted. Great drawings of whalers subduing their prey, Captains at the helms of their ships, & various sealife was on everything from their doors to the trinkets on sale in the markets to the massive sides of the buildings.

And they were massive, The Selkies were a large people -to stand in excess of six feet was the average for them- and they built their city to scale. Shakra couldn't recall when she'd been so keenly aware of her own lack of stature then she was walking the streets of Giant's Roost, the Galacian capital. Despite their imposing frames, the Selkies proved to be friendly, welcoming people. The hostility one might've expected as a member of the Horde was reduced to the occasional glare. Instead she & her companions were greeted largely with looks of curiosity & interest both from the Selkies & the Snow Howlers they seemed to keep as pets. Thankfully they took after their masters in having a fierce look but rather reserved attitude.

Eventually they reached the royal palace. It was built on the same pragmatic lines as the rest of the city, being carved into the mountains surrounding the capital & served as a combination trading post & military fortress. She of course had asked as many questions as she could in route & it had been a good thing she did. For it was revealed that King Narwahl had in fact recently retired, citing his advanced age, and had already been replaced on the throne with decorated war veteran named Wesk. In a quirk of Galacian culture despite being female, Wesk was still styled as King. Good to know.

They settled her & her compatriots in what she guessed was a waiting room while King Wesk was informed of their visit.

-----

Wesk, King of Galacia, was deep in conversation with her chief advisor -and predecessor- Oldking Narwhal when the messenger burst in the room nearly tripping over himself calling out to them.

"For pity's sake lad, take a breath a calm down before you pass out" Narwhal began with a relaxing smile.

"Sorry, Oldking but there's an ambassador here to speak to King Wesk immediately" the young Selkie replied between pants.

"And what Kingdom thinks it can just send it's official by unannounced?" King Wesk asked with a slight grumble in her voice.

The messenger took a moment to respond, almost as if he wasn't sure he'd be believed. "The Horde your majesty"

They both stared at the young male for a bit, unsure if they'd heard him correctly, Wesk recovered first. "The Horde does not employ ambassadors" she said in a tone of shock & confusion.

"That's how the lady identified herself"

"And did she say what she's here to negotiate" Narwhal asked in a tone that reflected disbelief but also...curiosity?

"Well Oldking, she claims to be here...in search of peace" the messenger looked as if he couldn't believe he'd just said that.

"Where is she now?" Narwhal asked.

"In the waiting room sir"

"This has to be a trick" Wesk said almost to herself.

"But to what end?" Oldking rebutted "What could they possibly have to gain from sending someone all the way up here just to pull some kind of hoax?"

"What should i do" Wesk asked her advisor.

"It can't really hurt us to hear her out" Narwhal replied "At least it gives us a clearer picture of her intention"

Wesk nodded before addressing the messenger "Bring her to the throne room in ten minutes' she watched him run off before turning to Narwhal "let's round up the ministers. if the Horde wants to negotiate with the Galacian government then that's what'll happen.

------

Shakra's pov

"How much longer are they gonna keep us waiting?" Josephine asked not for the first time.

"They clearly said ten minutes" Shakra reminded her again "And they're nearly up so quit complaining. We didn't exactly give them a lot of time to prepare after all"

Her guard was about to respond when the door to the room opened & a servant beckoned them to follow. After a few minutes journey, they finally reached the throne room. They were lead inside where King Wesk as well as every minister they could grab awaited them. (Oldking Narwhal had bowed out allowing Wesk to handle this her way) Unlike the common Selkies who kept their tusks filed down out of the way, The nobles of the Court grew theirs out proudly & Shakra believed some had a distinctly polished look to them. After the formal introductions -in which she'd had to give Josephine a subtle whap with her cane to get the Satyr to bow- the servants were dismissed & the talks began in full.

King Wesk began "Well you've certainly come a long way Ms Shakra. You must have quite the important message"

"Indeed i do your majesty" She began in a respectful tone. "I am here to do something the Horde should've done a very long time ago. I am here....to apologize"

Wesk wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but is hadn't been that. "Apologize?"

"Yes your majesty. For the unwarranted attack committed against your nations citizens in the early days of this cursed war" She may as well be the one to bring it up.

Wesk visibly tensed & her voice carried a bit of acid that wasn't present before "Some might say you're twenty years to late to be apologizing"

"I completely agree" Shakra replied simply. She was relieved to see some of the tension leave the Galacian King's body "And i have no excuse as to why we didn't sooner. I can only come to you to now and state that the new Horde is willing to make up for our past transgression in the name of peace"

Now the king seemed slightly amused "And when has the Horde given a Snow Howler's fuzzy arse about peace?"

If i had my way we'd have made efforts long ago to bring this wretched conflict to a close. Alas i am not a leader of the Horde, merely its humble servant. Thankfully, the Fright Zone is under new leadership & our new Lord is open to new ideas that her fore-bearers weren't"

"And what does this have to do with us? Why start this drive for peace with us instead of someone a little closer to home?" Wesk asked her hostility replaced, for the moment at least, with genuine curiosity.

Shakra paused as she tried to discern the best way to answer that. "Your majesty, may i be completely frank with you?"

"I insist actually" The King replied

"Very well than" the Fight Zone diplomat paused to gather her thoughts before beginning "While the Runestone Kingdoms may look down their collective noses at the so-called Crownless, Many in the Fright Zone view them as kindred spirits. And while we have every intention of making peace with the elemental Princesses, we don't hold out much hope for establishing trade with them afterwards. No for that we need to make deals with the Crownless & for that we need your help"

King Wesk & several ran their fingers through their whiskers, which Shakra interpreted as a gesture of contemplation. "Go on"

"Ever since you defeated Snows you've been the apple of every proud Crownless eye. If you agree to make a deal with us it sends a signal to the rest. You could be our key to a great many doors that may otherwise remain closed to us. That oh King, is why we started with you" She paused to let that sink in before adding "And besides, why waste time quibbling with us when you have much more...shall we say, immediate concerns"

She didn't have to elaborate on that. There was only one Kingdom she could've been talking about after all, the Kingdom that had already stripped Galacia's independence away from it once & was known to be looking for a chance to do so again. The ministers of King Wesk's court muttered among themselves before one of them finally approached their King & whispered something into her ear. Wesk listened intently before waving them away

"First let me say that your honesty is appreciated. And i won't deny we have more important tasks to attend besides picking a fight with a nation so far from our shores." Shakra liked where this was going. "However. The fact remains that the Horde caused great damage in that attack you spoke of. Not only were two Galacian citizens assaulted, the tools of their trade, the method by which they provided for their families was stolen. I acknowledge your apology madam, but i can't accept it unless it comes with some form of compensation"

Shakra had known this was a possibility. She just hoped they were willing to be reasonable. "We understand that it's not enough to say we're sorry. We are of course prepared to make amends, What kind of compensation were you thinking of?"

"Food" Wesk stated simply taking Shakra back a bit.

"Food your majesty?"

"Food. Not much grows up here so we need every bit we can get. By attacking a whaling fleet, you set us back in how much we were able to bring in. You cost us food, You owe us food" Wesk said matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough" Shakra responded "How much food are we talking about though?" The Fright Zone didn't really produce any food. It didn't need to with Hordak creating the ration bars if it was too much...her line of thought was interrupted by Wesk signaling one of her ministers, who approached the Horde group & handed her a piece of paper with a number on it. "That is, roughly, how much one of our highest performing whaling vessels can bring in over the course of one year." The minister explained upon seeing her confused expression "You give us an amount equal to that" Wesk cut in "& you'll have your treaty"

Shakra read the number. Then she read it again, and a third time. By the fourth reading she could feel the smile crossing her face "Your majesty. I believe we can accommodate you"

The Fight Zone

Lord Adora was sitting in a meeting with her unofficial council (Lonnie, Kyle & Rogelio) when she received the message on her trackerpad. Seeing it was from Shakra she opened it at once. She was keen to see the results from this little experiment. She had to read the message twice before she could believe what she was reading.

"Hey Lonnie" she said while struggling to contain her laughter.

"Yeah Adora, what is it?

"Do you know how many ration bars we have left?"

Lonnie looked at her with a baffled expression "Ration bars why?"

"it's important"

Lonnie's look changed to one of skepticism "Well since you let us take food from the places we capture we haven't really needed them so i'm guessing a lot"

"We should probably stat thinking about a way to get rid of them" Kyle chimed in.

"No need Kyle, Shakra already took care of that for us" Adora could feel her laughter about to erupt.

"Shakra...you mean that old woman you said was talking about making peace with The Princesses? What about her?" Lonnie asked with a raised eyebrow. She had been the least impressed when Adora had relayed their conversation.

"The very same. And what about here is that she tried to make peace...and actually pulled it off!" At their shocked expressions Adora couldn't keep a grip on her laughter any longer. "By the time she returns we'll be at peace with Galacia' she said between bursts of giggling "And all it's going to cost us is our beloved ration bars!"

And with that, Lord Adora lost herself in her laughter....as did her friends.