The Uprising

Enemies Approaching

Hi guys!

So thank you all so much for your incredibly lovely reviews. It was so nice for me to read all of your supportive reviews and hear your feedback. It really meant the world to me and reading all of your support was so lovely! So a huge thank you to everyone who has replied and reviewed!

Disclaimer - There are parts copied directly from the text as I think the description was too good. In those parts, the story is not mine, nor is it my work.

I've done a lot of work this week and I think the crazy hectic work period will soon be over, so there shouldn't be any more problems with updates. There will be regular updates from now on (especially as it's getting to a good part of the story).

So thank you all so much and please read on and enjoy!

Adam

I'm feeling on a high. I didn't think I would actually be able to manage a possible agreement or truce with the mogs, let alone a treaty. I especially didn't ever imagine the mogs being the ones to offer a treaty, and then draw one up with terms and agreements. The contract itself is pretty official, but then I shouldn't have expected anything else. If there's one thing mogs are good at, it's bureaucracy and contracts. I scan the thick, white paper, the neat clauses and proclamations, with the page of signatures at the end. There are over ten at least, a hefty number considering how against it some of the council were, but Augusta must have found more mogs of some importance in the camp to sign it. I flip to the very last page, where there are two blank spaces for signatures: Commander Marsh's and mine.

"Well?" I look up to see Augusta raise her eyebrow at me, looking impatient. "Why don't you sign it?" she demands. With her arms crossed and her foot tapping, she looks almost nervous.

"I'm just making sure that I agree with all the terms," I reply. "I was taught better than to sign something without reading everything," I remind her, trying to be nice. She scowls, looking around the tent once again, eyeing up the guards. I guess it's not exactly her natural habitat here in the Loric's command tent, especially with Commander Marsh watching with interest nearby.

I flip through the sheets, admitting that Augusta has included everything we agreed on. I'm surprised and pleased; I thought they would try to add in a few clauses to support the mogs and take out a few that were good for the Loric. But she's been true to her word and there's everything in here that we agreed on. I guess it's far more than I could possibly have asked for at the start of this process, when I thought the mogs hated the Loric beyond repair. Maybe the mogs can change. Maybe even I have underestimated my own race.

I won't make that mistake again.

"It's all good," I offer it to Marsh. "You want to read it?" She purses her lips and then takes it from me, flicking through the papers quickly. Augusta shifts on her feet, sighing audibly.

"I really don't think you need to check so much," she mutters. "Everything we agreed on is in there," she huffs. Normally I'd be suspicious of her urgency, but I know she just hates being around Loric. It's unnatural to her, even despite the agreement we're drawing up right now.

"Well," Marsh closes the contract. She looks at Augusta, and there's a tiny bit of respect on her face.

"This is a fair treaty," Marsh says. "We'll sign it," Augusta looks almost taken aback, as if she expected the Loric to be more difficult. But Marsh simply holds her hand out, one of her advisors placing the pen in her open palm. She signs her name quickly, deftly, and then slides the papers over to me.

"We can only provide two signatures," Marsh straightens up. I take up my own pen, my hand shaking slightly with the enormity of this moment. "But we will be listened to, particularly Adam. He has the Elder's trust," she explains and Augusta nods, still kind of expecting us to refuse and throw away the papers.