As King Valorian stepped off of his transport, he walked into the palace, ready to take a break from and rest from the amount of stress he was under. He had been up for hours, thinking about how his meeting with the Emperor was going to go.
And during the meeting, he felt that if he said something wrong, then his Kingdom would have been wiped out and its history erased.
Walking down the hall, Valorian was approached by his daughter and her husband. His daughter, Princess Seraphine, had been waiting anxiously for news of his return, and her relief was visible across her face.
"Father!" she said embracing him quickly before stepping back. "We heard you went to meet with the Emperor himself. Is it true? What happened?"
Valorian gestured for them to follow him toward his private chambers. "It's true. And we've surrendered."
Prince Consort Aldric stiffened. "Surrendered? Father-in-law, surely there were other options. Our fleet still numbers…."
"Our fleet would have been annihilated within days," Valorian interrupted. "I've seen the intelligence reports from the Theocratic Dominion. Their culture and religion are essentially gone. In a few centuries, their culture and religion will conform to that of the Imperium, replacing their history with a new one. I chose the survival of the Kingdom over a pointless war."
Prince Consort Aldric didn't say anything, but he did plan to report this to his father who was the second most powerful person in the Kingdom after the King.
They entered his chambers, and Valorian immediately poured himself a drink. His hands were steadier than he expected, though the weight of what he'd done still weighed heavily on his shoulders.
"What are the terms?" Seraphine asked.
"Better than we deserved," Valorian admitted. He explained the agreement: integration into the Imperium as a semi-autonomous province, preservation of cultural institutions, and his continued reign as monarch under Imperial oversight.
"You keep the throne?" Aldric asked, a bit skeptical of the agreement.
"We keep our lives and our culture," Valorian corrected. "The throne is secondary to those considerations. Emperor Daimon was surprisingly reasonable. He has no interest in destroying what we've built, only in ensuring we pose no further threat to his people."
"At least nothing happened to you," replied Seraphine. She didn't care what happened to the Kingdom, as long as her father was okay.
"We'll leave you alone now Father," she said, hugging him one more time before leaving his chambers. A few minutes after they left, he fell asleep. And for the first time in years, he had a good dream where he was playing with his grandchildren as they ran around the palace garden.
Elsewhere, once Seraphine drifted off to sleep, Prince Consort Aldric snuck out of their room and contacted his father, Duke Harmond.
"Father, I'm sure you have probably heard, but the King has surrendered to the Imperium." informed Aldric.
"I know son, I am already gathering up a bunch of nobles to fight against him. Did he say anything else." Duke Harmond asked. Aldric nodded and proceeded to tell him about the agreement that was proposed to the King by the Emperor.
Duke Harmond couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were effectively just giving up and then becoming a subject of the Imperium without even fighting. He was enraged at this moment and planned to take things into his own hands. "I will be there tomorrow, just don't tell the King."
"I won't father." said Aldric as he ended the call. From the sound of his father's voice, he knew that something big was about to happen tomorrow.
He went back to their room and climbed into bed which woke up Princess Seraphine. "Where were you?" she asked.
"Oh, I just took a little walk through the halls. Let's just go back to sleep dear." he said brushing her hair as she slowly fell back asleep. He was wondering how long he was going to have to keep this charade up for, but it looks like that time is coming.
In the morning, Valorian had got up early to write the formal declaration of their surrender and announce it to the public. But as he was writing it, one of the Royal Guards outside knocked on the door.
"My Lord, Duke Harmond has arrived with an entourage of nobles to speak with you." reported the Royal Guard.
Valorian sighed, "Let them in," he ordered. He knew this confrontation was inevitable as once Duke Harmond and his network of spies heard rumors about the surrender, he would not be happy with it.
Duke Harmond entered first, his face barely containing his anger. Behind him came a procession of lords and military officers, about twenty in total. All wore their formal house colors and carried themselves like they were righteous.
"Your Majesty," Harmond began, "We've come to discuss this…. unfortunate rumor regarding a surrender to the Imperium."
"It's not a rumor," Valorian replied as he remained seated. "I met with Emperor Daimon and negotiated terms that will preserve our people and culture."
"Preserve?" Lord Kethrin spat. "You mean subjugate! We are the Kingdom Ryloth, not some conquered territory to be absorbed!"
"NO! We are a Kingdom that foolishly entered a war we cannot win because of you the nobles." Valorian countered. "The Theocratic Dominion had twice our military strength. They're gone. Erased. Would you prefer that fate for our people?"
"I would prefer we die with honor rather than live as slaves!" Duke Harmond declared, and several nobles murmured agreement.
Valorian stood up slowly, his patience thinning. "Honor? You speak of honor while hiding behind palace walls? I looked Emperor Daimon in the eyes. I saw what he's capable of. This isn't about honor or pride; it's about survival."
"Then perhaps," Harmond began, "The Kingdom requires new leadership. Leadership with the courage to fight."
The threat hung in the air. "You're plotting treason," Valorian stated. "In my own palace."
"We're saving the Kingdom from a coward," Lord Kethrin replied, his hand moving toward his concealed weapon. The Royal Guards outside responded immediately, bursting through the doors with weapons drawn. But they found themselves facing armed retainers that the nobles had smuggled into the palace. Blaster fire erupted in the confined space of the royal chambers.
Valorian dove behind his desk as shots tore through where he'd been standing moments before. He drew his own sidearm from a hidden compartment, preparing to fight back.
"Seize him alive!" Harmond ordered. "We need him to formally abdicate before we can claim legitimacy!"
But the Royal Guards were better trained than the nobles' retainers. Within seconds, three of the attackers lay dead, and the advantage was lost.
Valorian fired twice, dropping Lord Kethrin with precise shots to the chest.
Alarms blared throughout the palace as more guards were responding, their footsteps echoing through the corridors as they got closer. Harmond realized that they had lost the advantage, so he moved on to Plan B.
"Retreat!" he shouted, and the surviving conspirators fled toward the palace's eastern wing where they'd prepared escape vessels.
Valorian emerged from behind his desk, surveying the scene. Four Royal Guards lay dead or dying, alongside six of the noble conspirators. He knelt beside one of his guards, checking for a pulse.
"Your Majesty, are you hurt?" Captain Morven rushed in, leading a dozen additional guards. "I'm fine," Valorian replied, though his hands shook slightly. "Duke Harmond and his co-conspirators are fleeing toward the eastern wing. Lock down the palace and apprehend everyone involved. I want them alive if possible. Also find my daughter."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Captain Morven dispatched half his force in pursuit while the rest secured the area. Another group went to make sure the Princess was safe. But after 2 hours, Duke Harmond and his group had escaped, while the Princess was missing.
What Valorian didn't know was that Prince Consort Aldric was in on his father's plans and had taken Princess Seraphine as a hostage and escaped with his father.
King Valorian eventually figured this out, but it was already too late. In response, he publicly denounced Duke Harmond and summoned every nobles and military officer that were loyal to him. Duke Harmond did the same and just like that, the Kingdom had split into two factions.
Daimon wasn't going to intervene as whatever would happen to the Kingdom was not a concern for him. They were out of the war and that was all that mattered.
Now he could move on to taking out the Coalition of Free Stars.