Sitting on a fallen column of the derelict colosseum, Methodios comtemplates the uneasy silence that settled after the High Chancellor's words. Without raising, he finally breaks the silence.

My Lords,

None can deny that this war is nothing but de facto. I did not declare war on the Basileus, nor did he declare it on me, but I can understand that my decision to marry my daughter aginast his will was construed as an act of disobedience that bordered on irreverence and thus set us at odds.

All this could have been resolved if the Basileus was not so rash and inconsiderate of the well-being of his vassals, not so power-hungry that the end justifies the means.

While I do not deny that our law decrees that it is his power to decide upon the marriages of daughter of his line, it does not prevent him from seeking the consent of the party concerned before announcing to the whole Empire.

While I may have been considered the one who flaunted authority in this case, the actions of the Basileus in the instance of the marriage of my daughter Hypatia were like a slap in my face, a slap which he knew I would not ignore and thus hoped to get rid of me.

But he misjudged the fact that even faced with veiled threats many Senators would declare neutrality in this conflict, clamoring to the whole world the lack of power and control that Ioannis has upon his vassals.

For loyalty is not granted, it must be earned and Ioannis has not managed to do that. Most of the Senators that joined with him did so out of loyalty to the function of Basileus rather than for the man himself.

Rarely in our long history has a man in power garnered so much distrust and antipathy.

This whole business of war was nothing but a ploy born in Ioannis' mind, perhaps with some third party advisor, to bring to heel all Houses and destroy those that would resist.

Proof of this is clearly apparent in his declaration of war against the Order of Saint-John. The Order expressed no sympathy for my cause, nor did they declare neutrality but still they faced the Basileus' wrath, a wrath long contained from years of bickering with the former Grandmaster, noble Makedonios. Now Ioannis had found a way to vent his fury on false grounds.

I do not want to enter in a prolonged war with Ioannis. A war that would shed the blood of so many of our Greek brothers, and to no avail. I spent my whole life fighting to enlarge the Empire, from taking Durazzo to almost conquering Egypt in its entirety, with my men. I fought always to protect our Greek countrymen, be it by relieving Belgrade, keeping order in Cairo or using as few men as possible in my battles so that our blood should not be drunk thirstily by unforgiving sands.

With that in mind, do you truly think that I would seek to destroy Ioannis, bringing battle on Greek soil against Romans ? Have you seen any move made by me since that "declaration of war" that could be construed as a hostile move ? Even with the threat of all armies of Constantinople swooping down upon me, I managed to get rid of the Fatimids, capturing the holiest of Muslim cities in the same stroke.

Are these the actions of a rebel ? If so, I'm glad to be considered so.

I didn't want to launch myself into such a long rant but I had to let things out. I hope I didn't bore you and I am now willing to listen to Ioannis' answer and proposals towards the resolution of this conflict.