32 – Diplomacy
When Victor stepped out of his portal, into the workshop located in his private quarters, he paused there, contemplating the vault-like door to his cultivation chamber. His treasures were still there, and he wondered if he ought to take them with him. The thought was random, but it brought to mind the vessel containing the fear geist. He hadn’t thought of it in a long while, not since Dar had sealed it away and told Victor that he’d be ready to deal with the spirit when he was able to unlock the seal. Was he ready?
Frowning, Victor started toward the chamber, but he stopped after a step. Was this something he wanted to pursue at the moment? Sure, the spirit might know a secret or two, and it might help him advance in power to some degree, but he had his hands full. Even so… Sighing with resignation at his stubbornness, Victor opened the vault and approached the sealed container built into the chamber’s spherical wall where the bone was stored.
“I’ll just take it with me. Maybe I’ll have some downtime…” He pressed his finger against the sealed aperture and trickled some Energy into it. It clicked and slid open, and he reached inside to grasp the cold length of rune-etched bone. He could feel the resonance of Dar’s Energy overtop the dense miasma of fear radiating from it. He almost started to examine the layers of Dar’s enchantment, but he caught himself and sent the bone into his spirit space. “Later.”
With that, Victor left his cultivation chamber and made his way out to the front parlor. His quarters were perfectly clean; a fresh flower arrangement sat at the center of his table, and the curtains had been thrown wide, letting in the morning sun. His staff had continued with their duties despite his absence.
He walked out to the balcony, smiling and inhaling deeply at the fresh air. The vista, dominated by Iron Mountain, always made him feel good. He wasn’t sure why, but he supposed it was just the culmination of good memories with good friends he had from that place, especially his months with Tes when she’d come to visit.
Thinking of Tes, he clicked his tongue, smiling ruefully. She was clever, he’d give her that much; her absence had done nothing to cool his desire for her, which was strange, because he and Valla had definitely cooled to some degree. He supposed it was the nature of it; Tes hadn’t explicitly broken things off with him. She’d had an unmistakable aura of regret when she’d left, and she’d even offered to alienate her family and colleagues—the people who might judge their relationship harshly—in order to stay with him. Whereas Valla had almost acted like it was Victor’s fault that they weren’t working out—that he’d climbed too far, too fast. In all honesty, that was fair.
“What am I doing?” he asked the empty air, chuckling again. “Standing here thinking about love? I’ve got an army to raise!”
When he left his quarters, no guard was on duty; why would there be? He took the elevator down, and it wasn’t until he reached the great central hall of his palace that a servant recognized him and raised the alarm, scurrying off to announce his presence to the staff. In minutes, Victor was surrounded by pages and retainers, one of whom insisted that Lord Haveshi was “coming with all haste.”
Victor looked around at the cluster of servants wearing the colors of Iron Mountain and said, “What about Lady Arona? Lady Bryn?”
Most of the attendants looked at each other's eyes, questioning, but one spoke up clearly, “They’re working in the addition, milord! Near the encampment.”
“The addition?” Victor frowned, but he connected the dots quickly. “Oh, the transport hall?” He’d asked Arona to prepare a space that would allow easy transport of the troops and supplies through his new portal.
Bryn noticed him approaching first, and she nudged Arona’s shoulder before stepping forward and saluting. “Welcome home, Your Grace!”
Victor smiled and lifted an arm, beckoning her in for a friendly hug, squeezing her against his side. “I missed your teasing, Bryn.”
“Teasing? Me?” She giggled as she pulled away, then it was Arona’s turn to approach. He’d learned that she wasn’t one to enjoy a hug, so Victor took her hand and lifted it delicately as she performed a graceful curtsey, lifting her gray, silken robes to expose shiny black boots.
When he let go of her hand, Arona said, “You’re earlier than I expected. I thought for sure your travels through the System stones would be fraught with delays and troubles.”
“Things were relatively smooth. I think I’ll be able to get Florent through in one piece.”
Florent looked away from the notes he was studying and glared at him. “You think?”
Victor winked. “Good to see you, Florent. How are things with the gates?”
Arona groaned. “He’s been done for three days, yet he insists on checking his calculations a dozen times a day.”
“One mistake—” Florent started to say, but Bryn cut him off, laughing as she finished the line.
“And you’ll wind up floating through space in a million pieces.”
“How’s the recruiting going, Bryn?” Victor asked, turning the spotlight away from the red-faced Spatial Mage.
“Wonderfully. Twelve hundred as of this morning’s muster.”
“All high-tier?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
She nodded. “None below level seventy.”
Victor’s grin widened as he bared his teeth. “Excellent! Any steel seekers?”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. “Was I supposed to be recruiting steel seekers?”
“I didn’t say so explicitly, but it would have—”
Bryn laughed again, clapping her hands gleefully. “I’m teasing! I have seven steel seekers eager to join you.” She began holding up one finger after another, naming off the steel seekers. “Ramus Coyte, Sheffra Lumess, Art Sevanc, Moira Bell, Lora Thrandal, Offandria Mayliss, and Gorsk Wosk.”
Victor pondered the names a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t recognize any of those.”
Bryn shook her head. “You wouldn’t; they’re not champions. Most of them are second or third children with a need to make a name for themselves. Still, they’re true steel seekers, and they’re ready to do battle.”
Victor turned toward the arched opening that provided a view of the field outside. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the temperate air and the sense of satisfaction that things were going well. “Well done, Bryn. I’m very pleased.”
“While you’re in a good mood,” Arona said, stepping back and folding her delicate hands before her. “I have a request of you.”
Victor turned to face her direction, arching an eyebrow. “A request?”
“Yes. As you know, I’ve been counseling the empress, and, well, Victor, she’s a bit hurt that you haven’t communicated with her at all. I promised her that I’d see if I could convince you to join her for dinner before you left again.”
“She’s hurt?” Victor groaned. “I mean, isn’t she busy being empress? Why does she care about what I’m—”
“Victor!” Bryn said, uncharacteristically using his name in front of Florent’s assistants. “She thinks of you as a friend.”
Victor looked outside again, gauging the sun. “Is she available now?” Arona snorted a laugh, and Bryn was quick to join in. “What?”
“Are you in such a hurry?” Arona asked.
“I mean, kind of! The people I left behind were thralls a week ago, and they’re trying to hold a burgeoning kingdom together. If one of the neighboring Death Caster lords decides to come and poke around, nothing is stopping them from killing everyone!”
As he spoke, Arona’s smile fell away, and she slowly began to nod. “If you’d communicate more, Kynna would understand the stakes.” She glanced at Bryn. “We all would.”
“So, you think she’s avail—”
Arona shook her head. “No. She’s hosting a summit, trying to head off a conflict between a handful of the southern nations.” She smiled and stepped closer. “Just go. Help Florent establish his gateway, and when you return, save an evening for a meeting with her. Will that work for you?”
Victor nodded. “Yeah. Hell, of course that’ll work. I’ll set aside some time to visit with everyone who’s not coming back with us to Dark Ember. There are people on Fanwath I should visit with, too.”
“I’d go with you now,” Arona said, “but it seems a colossal waste of resources to pay the System for another person’s transit.”
“Yeah, and if all goes well, Florent and I will be back in a couple of days.”
“More like a week, I’d think,” Florent said over his shoulder. “Each gateway will take me some time to put together and activate.” He closed his notebook and turned to face Victor. “I’m assuming you’re here to spirit me away to the first world—Fanwath, yes?”
Victor folded his arms. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll say goodbye to my wife. Will twenty minutes be all right?”
Victor chuckled. “Yes, Florent. I can wait twenty minutes.”
The mage smiled, then snapped his fingers. A crackling, rending sound erupted in Victor’s ears, and then he saw why: a slender, jagged tear in the universe had appeared in the air beside Florent, and it slowly widened until he could comfortably step through. As he did so, the tear snapped shut with an audible pop.
“Pretty cool,” Victor said, blinking at the spot where the portal had been.
Bryn chuckled. “I must admit some jealousy when I see the things one can do with an exotic affinity like that.”
Arona smiled at her. “I’m working on a portal spell. I can already do short-range teleports.”
Bryn folded her arms. “Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?”
“Better! There’s always a way. Look!” She pointed to Victor as he began to retrieve the pieces of his portal array from storage. “Even that great brute can create gateways.”
Bryn tilted her head to the side, watching Victor place the first stone. “I suppose that’s true. I just need a fortune, then.”
Victor pulled out the next stone. “Stick with me. If things go well on Dark Ember, we’ll be making a few fortunes.”
“Ahem, speaking of fortunes,” Arona said, nodding toward the archway through which he’d arrived. Victor straightened up and looked over to the gaggle of retainers and pages waiting there. As though he’d summoned him, Draj Haveshi came striding through the little crowd.
Victor winced, bracing himself for what was no doubt going to be a bit of an uncomfortable conversation. Several of the retainers had followed Draj in, but they held back a polite distance as the nobleman approached Victor. He bowed expansively. “Welcome home, Your Grace.”
Victor stepped forward, offering a hand. “It’s good to see you, Draj. I understand you’ve been doing an amazing job running things.”
Draj took his hand and bowed his head. “It means a great deal to hear such high praise.” He glanced around the big space, his gaze lingering on Arona for a moment before he turned back to Victor. “Quite a production getting this building erected so rapidly. I suppose your presence means that its purpose is coming to fruition?”
Victor took a moment to look around as well. The hall was more than well-made, it was artful and elegant—sweeping stone supports that stretched through the air from one graceful column to another, filigreed stonework, and inlaid murals depicting immense nature scenes, one of which was Iron Mountain, another that reminded him of the beach near his holdings on Fanwath, and a third that portrayed a deep, fog-filled valley—
Victor jerked his gaze to Arona. “Hey! Are those murals representing the three worlds we’re connecting with these gateways?”
She smiled almost slyly. “I was wondering if you’d notice.”
“No expense was spared…” Draj added, letting the comment hang, perhaps hoping Victor would take the opportunity to bring up a sensitive subject.
Victor chuckled and clapped the slender man on the shoulder. “Okay, Draj, let’s hear the grim news. Is the duchy bankrupt?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Hardly! I’m a better steward than that! Still, Your Grace, the expense of this project has been immense, primarily due to the cost of the gateway materials. Empress Dar offered to support your efforts, but I thought you’d rather not be indebted—”
“She did?” Victor looked from Draj to Arona. She just shrugged.
Draj nodded. “She did, milord. Should I have accepted?”
Victor shook his head. “Not if we had the funds available. You made the right decision.” Draj visibly swelled at the praise. “Listen, I understand this has been nerve-wracking for you, considering your duties to keep the duchy operating smoothly, but the time is almost upon us when some profits will begin to flow back into the coffers. I’ll be setting up a system similar to how the Empire on Fanwath operates its legions.”
Draj rubbed his chin. “Might I inquire as to how that works?”
“Yeah, of course. Each cohort will have a tithe master—someone who examines the treasure looted by the soldiers and then doles it out in even proportions. A third for the empire, or in this case, the duchy, and from the other two-thirds, even shares for the officers and a smaller share for the soldiers. Anyway, I conquered one small city, and I’m certain I gained several million beads worth of precious metals and jewels. There will be much bigger prizes from the bigger cities and, Draj, we’re talking about a whole world—hundreds, or maybe thousands of cities.”
“Good, good.” He nodded, turning toward the archway that gave the widest view of the field of tents. “And you’ll be embarking soon?”
Victor grinned. “Tired of the troops outside the walls?”
He shrugged. “Well, they’re good for the local economy, but they're a bit of a strain on the peace.”
Victor looked at Bryn. “We’re going to start marching through the gateway as soon as it’s completed—no more than a week.”
Draj nodded, still rubbing his chin and frowning. “And the first influx of conquered treasure? Do you think we can expect it before year’s end?”
Victor tilted his head and held up a finger. “I mean, to answer that, Draj, I’d need to know how long that is. I don’t even know what month—”
“That’s in seven months, Your Grace,” Arona interjected.
Victor smiled, once again putting his hand on Draj’s shoulder. “If I haven’t conquered another city before the end of this Ruhn year, then I’ll make a payment out of my own pocket toward the debt Iron Mountain is owed.”
Draj started to protest, but Victor held up a hand, cutting him off. “No, listen, this is a nation of people who work hard and pay taxes, expecting their money to be used for certain things. The treasury is not my personal bank. I’ve made use of those funds, yes, but that’s because I intend to make our nation wealthier for it.”
Draj looked him in the eyes for a minute, then jerked his chin in a curt nod. “Very good, Your Grace.”
“All right, Draj. As always, it was good to see you, but I need to set up this array now.” Victor gestured to the stones he’d already put down. “Florent will be here soon, and then we’re going to get these portals established.”
“Of course, Your Grace. I won't bother inviting you for dinner, though my mother is going to be sorely vexed.”
Victor winced at the mention of the Haveshi matron. She was a clever politician, and he wondered if he’d pay a price for failing to give her a little face time. As he considered his reply, he watched his next visit to Iron Mountain grow longer by a day in his mind’s eye. “When I return with the portal’s completion, I’ll be sure to hold a state dinner for your clan and the other nobles who’ve been hard at work keeping the duchy running smoothly. Will you please pass that along to your mother with my regrets?”
Draj’s smile looked a little too predatory as he bowed. “It will be my pleasure. Until then, milord.” With that, he turned sharply on his boot heel and strode toward his waiting attendants.
Victor sighed as he pulled out the next stone for his portal array. Arona stepped closer, her hands still folded before her as she asked, her voice devoid of any hint of amusement, “Is something bothering you, milord? Does the diplomacy grow vexing?” Her stress on the honorific was enough for Victor to realize she was, indeed, messing with him.
He looked up, arching an eyebrow at her. “Maybe I should send you to the dinner tonight, hmm? Would you like to sit down with Lady Haveshi?”
“No, thank you, milord.” She curtseyed again, and Bryn snickered.