“This is about Panos’s challenge, yes?”
Hasvik and Lysar, the Generals of External Affairs and Hidden External Affairs, both nodded.
“Both of you think my accepting of Panos’s challenge is a bad move, yes?”
Both Generals nodded again.
“And you think I should have just let that minute long insult slide?”
Hasvik nodded, but Lysar hesitated. Hasvik noticed that hesitation and turned to Lysar.
“You do not think they should have ignored the insult? We regularly ignore insults all the time. We are above the naive mutterings of the Torr.”
“Well… Prime Minister Panos did insult Rethais to their face. We should react in some way, but I believe this could have been a chance to get something out of the Torr. Panos will want to save face and most likely does not want to actually fight Rethais, so we could, I do not know, ask for something nice. Maybe we could get those damn ancient mining treaties revoked or something.”
Hasvik grunted. “Hah. That is asking the impossible. Rethais accepting the challenge is more realistic…” Hasvik paused, then turned to Rethais. “Please do not accept the bait. The universe does not want to see you lose to the Torr Prime Minister.”
Lysar frowned. “That is the problem. I think the universe wants to see this fight. Ritlir did some testing. Fake information leaks in small areas among both races and among Temthans, Spasts and Lanex too. Vok want to see this.”
Rethais leaned back in their chair, smiling. “Which is why I want to do this fight. After all, I am the challenged, I can set the rules. And Panos can see those rules, make a decision on whether they want to commit to the challenge or not and, either way, we win. Either Panos caves and offers something nice to counter his stupid challenge, or I get to beat a Torr up in front of an audience.”
Hasvik growled, not liking Rethais’s words. “You are too certain about this.”
“You believe I am too poorly skilled to fight a Torr in hand to hand combat?” Rethais’s smile had vanished. “Are you agreeing with that damn Torr politician? Am I weak, in your eyes?”
“Uh, no.”
“But you have little confidence in me.”
“That… is not what I am concerned about.”
Rethais snarled, then stood up and leaned on their dead. “What are you concerned about then? Because the way you are talking suggests you do not think I can fight a Torr in a fair fight.”
“That right there is the problem!” Hasvik exclaimed. “A FAIR fight. You can easily win a fair fight! When you are wearing armour, you are 200kg of Rethan purity. If a Temthan or a Vrekan or any other race had challenged you, even a damn Banikan or Thraki, I would actually think you would have a high chance of coming out on top. But we are talking about the Torr here. They are cheating bastards. The ONLY Torr I vaguely trust is the one that got deified… Somewhat related, I heard rumours that Panos wished to nominate Aesop to fight in his place Would you consider nominating Litvir if they do nominate a literal deity?”
Rethais shook their head. “I spoke to Lysar, Tessar and Relkir about this already. We do not need to worry about that. Litvir already informed us that Aesop refuses to fight Litvir. Both out of fear and respect, apparently. I would not accept such a move anyway. Panos is the person who challenged me, I want Panos to either live up to that challenge or back down. And it seems Panos does not want to back down, at least not openly.”
Hasvik sighed. “You are dead set on doing this.”
“My entire existence was insulted. I could have assaulted Panos right there and then, but I did not. I want vengeance. I want Panos to eat his own words. And I know you are trying to convince me that I should be the better person, but I do not want to be the better person. Not this time.”
“This is insane.”
Rethais tutted. “Am I really that insane for taking this opportunity to punch an asshole? It is not like I am going into this blind either! I have been studying matches of Rethans versus Torr, as well as researching Torr mech suits. I am pretty sure, if I stipulate that Panos has to wear the most basic of suits-”
“He should not wear a suit at all…” Lysar interrupted. “He should fight you as he is.”
“Panos is somewhat old, and he will stonewall and refuse to do anything, not even apologise. I want to prove Rethan superiority over a lot of things, including the Torr’s reliance on their stupid mech suit things. I will stipulate that this fight will be a hand-to-hand combat match, I will make it so all gear must be checked over by both parties and by both of our deities and I AM going to punch Panos in the face. As he deserves.”
Hasvik closed their eyes and sighed. “Lysar, your poten-partner is insane. Please tell them they are insane.”
“Hasvik, my poten-partner is the High General.”
“They are still insane.”
Lysar shrugged. “Maybe this is a little insane? But I understand where Rethais is coming from. As long as we minimise any opportunities for the Torr to cheat, well… pretty much everyone wants to punch Prime Minister Panos in the face. I would bet money that even some Torr want to do so. As much as this plan of Rethais’s is insane… I think you should do it. BUT! Before you do anything, I want you to take a trip to the Great Arenas and arrange a meeting with a bunch of Rethan gladiators. Do some training before you finalise things.”
Rethais went back to smiling. “That, Lysar, is a very good idea. Alright, Hasvik, you are dismissed. Lysar, I would like a word with you before you leave.”
Hasvik sighed, bowed, then left the room. Lysar did as they were told, waiting for Rethais to speak.
“So… would you like to accompany me on my trip to Portalia?” Rethais asked.
“Why?”
“Because you are my poten-partner? It is a little last minute, but I think a holiday together, just you and me, over Macromera, would be nice.”
Lysar’s confusion turned into a smile. “Oh. I would like that. I would like that a lot…”