*closed to glowygreendeath

[soldier_blade]

The second war against the Netherrealm was less than a week ago, but so far, very few had time to relax. Outworld finally agreed to assist Earthrealm against the impending invasion, but only after a tense stand off and some smooth talking for the recently promoted Jacqueline Briggs. When it was over, Sonya thought she'd be able to break away and spend time with her family-as it turned out, Outworld had other plans. After the defeat of Shinnok, the Outworld Emperor had begun to think: while the realms would remain un-merged, it couldn't be denied that they were stronger as allies then when they stood alone.

And the sad thing was, Sonya found herself agreeing. Much as she hated to admit it, against other realm forces, they were stronger when they fought together.

That still didn't make this any less surreal. The emperor wasn't just proposing an alliance, but marriage-a political marriage, with her; one that would bind their armies and realms as allies. At fifty-one years old, and having already been married once, Sonya had stopped seeing marriage as pure romance, and if she were honest, the thought of one less enemy for Earth realm was too tempting not  to take up.

Which was what lead them all here, a party/conference room in a high scale Japanese restaurant, their party consisting of Secretary Blake and other high military leaders, while the Outworld party was of Ermac and others on Kotal Kahn's council. There was no denying that they all wanted some stability between the two realms, especially after so much conflict, but Outworld did threaten Earth. There had to be negotiations, compensations and assurances.

Dressed in her army dress greens, Sonya toyed with a piece of tuna with her chopsticks. In the near thirty years of military service, her years battling against Outworld, she never thought she'd live to see something like this. However way this meeting went, Sonya knew her own life would be changed: the implications killing whatever appetite she had left.

Comments

[glowygreendeath]

Ermac, as chance would have it, had been seated directly across from Sonya. He could remember more than a few negotiations surrounding political marriages, but this one was...different. More important than all the others. This wasn't over some valued piece of land; if all went well, it would mean an end to the centuries-long feud between their realms. It would be the closest thing that Outworld had ever had to peace, as far as he knew.

The construct had been dressed in a regal robe of silk, with intricate gold and silver embroidery that caught the restaurant's light. He didn't much care for this impractical outfit, but given that he was expected to act as more of an ambassador, his Kahn had insisted that he look more like a diplomat than a bodyguard. The tailor he'd been sent had even dared to try removing the ragged wrappings from his face, but fortunately had a strong enough survival instinct to stop when he'd glared at him.

At least the food was good. He'd been surprised at how inexpensive fish and fresh the fish was here. But then, the seat of Outworld's power was in the middle of a desert, and given that he'd lived most of his life there, he'd always thought of fish as a rare delicacy that had to be eaten as soon as it arrived or it would spoil. He took a moment to savour a piece of tako sashimi before addressing Sonya.

"The Kahn wishes to know if he is expected to send gifts to his future bride's family."