Chapter 19: Grave Import

In the end, I did what everyone kept whining at me to do and set up a basic bureaucracy. Not because I couldn’t handle it, but because I clearly had better uses for my time.

I’m sure future generations would come to curse me in triplicate, but for now, Ishanti, Rel, and I assembled a simple system to track resources and labor, to make sure everyone got paid and all of the projects had the materials they needed.

Then, we were off.

“All set, Boss?” Dee asked.

I stuck my head out the front of the wagon. “All set back here.” I grinned at Dee and Dum, the two practically falling off the driver’s seat. “Sure we don’t need a bigger wagon?”

“Can’t find one big enough for his fat ass,” Dee said.

“And if yah could, wouldn’t fit his fat head!” Dum replied

I laughed along with both of them at the simple joke. “Ah it’s good to have you too back, just like old times.”

“The best.”

“Hey!” Electra leaned out the front of the covered wagon, hands on my shoulders. “What am I, chopped liver?”

I sighed. “No, but we could certainly use some time apart.” I smirked up at her. “They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.”

She giggled. “The you better keep me close; wouldn’t want you catching icky feelings, Empress.”

“Please, I’d have to be deaf and blind.”

Normally, a jab like that got her all huffy, but this time Electra just smirked back at me. “I get it, I get it. I’m just not your type.”

I shrugged, sending her staggering back into the wagon. “Much better.” I turned my attention back to the boys. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

With a crack of the reins, the cart started down the road away from Lady’s Port. I’d considered doing some big sendoff; it would be good for morale, but I didn’t exactly want to advertise that I was going on a sabbatical.

I assumed Seneschal Hawkwright would learn about it soon enough, but I wanted him to think I was going after the remnants of the Adventurer’s Guild still hiding in the jungle.

I was going after them, but not personally. Efficient delegation is an important tool in any would-be Empress’s arsenal, after all. Rel would be leading our militia to stamp them out before they made any more trouble.

And before they could support that ‘golden-eyed’ individual the Seneschal sent after my head.

“What are things like in Silverwall?” I asked. “I heard they closed the Miner’s Gate, but not much else.”

“Not good, Boss,” Dum said. “The guard came down on the docks like sack of hammers. Weren’t too happy you slipped them the first time.”

“Curfews, patrols, random searches,” Dee added. “Deep hells, they’re not even taking bribes at the gate anymore!”

I frowned. “Will that be a problem?” Naturally, Electra and I planned to hide, but that wouldn't help if the wagon was thoroughly searched.

“Naw.” Dum shook his head. “We gots ourselves a friend in the guard. Eloncio is one of Mama’s. He’ll let us through, jus’ as long as we don’t make any more trouble for him.”

I chuckled at that. “I shall be the absolute soul of discretion,” I said. “And did you hear anything about the inner walls?” That was where the palace sat, along with my target.

“Like the rest of the city, just more guards.” Dum shrugged. “They don’t have enough bodies to cover all of Silverwall, but they have enough that gettin’ through the inner walls will be…”

I tapped my chin. “Random searches and patrols in the city proper. They’re using the uncertainty to make up for their lack of numbers. And with a secure fallback point behind the inner walls, no other group can easily strike back.”

Dee shrugged. “Seems like what they’re doin’. It’s not hard to move round the city once you get inside. Just never know when a bunch of silver spears gonna swing around the corner.

I nodded. “That’s all I need. Thanks Dee, Dum.”

“Heh.” Dee smirked. “She thanked me first.”

Dum snorted, shouldering his brother. The two of them started playfully jockeying in the driver’s seat. Though, I didn’t know if I could call it playful if they were rocking the wagon back and forth.

I gave them both a whack to the back of the head. “Don’t break our ride.”

“Sorry, boss!”

That taken care of, I ducked back into the wagon. It would be a day and a half ride back to Silverwall. We weren’t in a horse-drawn cart for speed. All that extra time meant I had ample time to begin refining my plans.

“Sure this is gonna work?” Electra asked. She tapped the lid of one of the coffins filling the back of the wagon. “Why would the people in that rich inner wall commune place want a bunch of fancy coffins?”

“Rich people want fancy everything.” I ran a hand over the lacquered wooden surface and ornate metal fastenings. Making all ten of these had taken some doing, but luckily, metal and wood were things we had in abundance. “It’s Dee’s plan, anyway. Supposedly he has a contact on the inside who works for a mortician.”

“Sure you want to trust Dee’s advice?” Electra giggled at the thought. “Those boys might have arms thick as tree stumps, but their brains are too!”

I rolled my eyes. “Dee has a good head on his shoulders. If he knows someone inside the wall, he knows someone inside the wall. All that matters is getting past the guards.”

“Yeah, well, if it were that easy, someone else would have done it by now.”

I sighed, nodding. “I’m worried about the inner wall, but as long as we have a way into the city, we’ll have options.” I reached into a belt pouch. I’d worn my power armor, freshly recharged, for this job, which meant I had my old utility belt, a standard for every hero and villain. “Plus, we have this!”

Electra giggled as I waved the long range communication mirror back and forth. “The old ones didn’t get good reception from Silverwall back before the enchantments started failing and we had to ditch them,” she said. “What makes you think that will do any better?”

“Why don’t we check right now?” I flipped it open.

I’d fashioned my last communication into a mirror compact because it felt more comfortable to carry. Now, that feature came standard, making it easy to turn the mirror ‘off’ when it was shut in order to save power. I didn’t really understand how the whole magical battery thing worked out, but fortunately, industry was built on the backs of delegation and distribution of labor.

When I opened the mirror itself, it reflected my face for a moment before going black. From experience, I knew that the paired mirror would be vibrating slightly to show that the paired enchantment was active.

Maarin was such a useful friend to have.

A few seconds later, the other mirror opened, darkness giving way to an image of Rel’s face reflected back at me. For some reason, the mirrors showed the images backwards, Rel’s bangs sweeping down towards the left side of her face, instead of the usual right.

Just an idiosyncrasy of magical communication.

When Rel saw me her face broke out into a smile. “Mistress!” she said. “I didn’t think you would check in so soon.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you haven’t had time to burn the place down yet. I just wanted to make sure the mirrors worked.”

“Of course, Mistress.” Her smile grew a bit sly. “Did you also…want to see me, maybe?”

I chuckled. “Of course, how could I resist checking in on my favorite minion?” I flicked my eyes to the side. “Especially now that I have this one to deal with.”

“Nyeeeh!” Electra stuck out her tongue.

“How have things been?” I asked Rel.

“It has only been a day, My Lady.” Rel tilted her head. “But the changes you made were well received. The new managers are all well liked, and they care about making sure their crews get the right materials.” She huffed. “And the right pay. Don’t worry though, Ishanti and I have them well in hand.”

I nodded slowly at that. Creating managers, along with a simple paperwork system, was necessary to keep things running while I was away. Of course, if I knew one thing about bureaucracy, it’s that it would be completely entrenched by the time I got back to Lady’s Port, and it would answer first to Rel and Ishanti, if only because they were the two actually managing it.

“That’s…good,” I said. “I trust you.”

Rel smiled wider. “I won’t let you down, Mistress.”

I laughed. “I know you won’t. I trust you.” I knew I’d just said that, but it bore repeating.

Especially when I was telling it to myself.

“In any case,” I continued, “I’m glad to hear that things are working well. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to contact you once we’re in Silverwall, but I’ll do my best to stay in touch.”

“You don’t have to call about just business, My Lady.” Rel bit her lip, looking to the side. “It would be nice just to hear from you.”

I smiled, and a knot of tension in my chest eased. “I’ll see about adding a…nightly call…to my schedule.”

“Thank you!”

I gave a little wave and a ‘goodbye’ before shutting the mirror with a flick of my wrist.

“Looks like you miss her already.”

I looked over to see Electra grinning at me.

I rubbed my face. “I’m worried.”

She blinked. “About what?”

“About giving them so much power.” I sighed. “They’ll be the ones running things now. By the time we get back, all of the reports will go to them. It would be trivially easy for them to control what I saw. Sure, I’d puzzle it out eventually, but…” I shook my head. “I think it’s why I didn’t want to share my workload before. I don’t play nice with others.”

Electra shrugged. “I mean, sure, but like, would either of them do that? Ishanti’s not gonna bite the hand that feeds her, and Rel is…”

“Is Rel,” I finished. “I know, it’s stupid and irrational, but I still worry, then I hate myself more for worrying.”

“Why?” Electra asked.

I leaned forward, resting my forehead against my palm. “Because…Because I used to think people trusted me, too, back when I worked at Aegis.” I saw Electra’s eyes widen before she schooled her expression. “Yes, I’m sure it was in my profile. I don’t like to talk about it much.” I’d worked for the heroes before I’d started down the path of supervillainy.

“You don’t talk about it much.” Electra twiddled her thumbs, looking up at the ceiling. “Kinda figured I didn’t wanna poke the elephant, you know?”

“I do.” I sighed. “In any case, I thought people trusted me, and then I realized that it’s not trust when one side holds all the power.” I turned the mirror over in my hands. “I’ve trusted Rel once before, and it worked out. I…I hate that I’m worried about trusting her again.”

“Or maybe you’re just worried?” Electra waved a hand. “In any case, we all worry about stuff, Em. One good choice doesn’t just erase a lifetime of issues.”

I huffed. “No, I guess it doesn’t.” I raised an eyebrow at the blonde. “And what else did your company-mandated therapist tell you when you were lost and full of doubt?”

But the hero just smiled at my dig, leaning back on the stack of coffins. “Keep trying to make the right choice, and eventually it’ll all work out.”

I looked back down at the mirror. I suppose it made a great deal of sense. Trust was not a single choice, after all.

“Yes,” I said at length. “Yes, I believe I can do that.”