Mana Soul: Chapter 49 - The King - Markus

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Studying the dungeon core while Hilda and some of the mercenaries took a quick look through the dungeon portal, Markus tried his best to understand the enchantments that enabled the creation of the portal. If he could create portals of his own, it would make travel between distant locations a comparatively trivial affair.

Setting aside the potential benefits for trade and immigration, the portals would allow for rapid deployment of military forces behind enemy lines. With the fate of Cara’s people as a very real consideration, being able to instantly reinforce remote locations had now taken priority over his other projects.

With the enchantments controlling the portal's size and maintenance for reference, it was much easier to isolate which of the remaining enchantments would contain the information Markus needed. However, his increased familiarity with detection enchantments directed Markus’s attention to one of the larger enchantments. With segments bearing similarities to the two confirmed portal enchantments in addition to a detection enchantment, Markus was fairly confident that this particular enchantment was responsible for determining the portal's exit location and possibly its starting point as well.

Assuming that it was the enchantment he needed, and there was no guarantee that it was, Markus would still need to develop a means for replacing the original targeting component of the overall enchantment. Which meant even more testing.

Confirming that his tablet held a record of the enchantments he would need, Markus replaced the dungeon core on the ground and waited for Hilda to return.

After a couple of minutes, Hilda and the mercenaries returned through the portal at a light jog. After passing through, they hastily uprooted the bronze rods and brought them together before anchoring them in the ground again, effectively closing the portal.

With the portal closed, four of the five mercenaries all but fell to their knees, removing their helmets and taking deep breaths of fresh air.

Hilda was much the same, removing her helmet as she hurried over to explain what had happened. “Wyverns! A whole fucking flock of them!” Hilda swore, “No way of seeing them coming! It was dark as night on the other side! If we didn’t spot their mana, we wouldn’t have made it back!”

“Wyverns?!” Aela hissed angrily, “Can they come through the portal?”

“Hopefully not...” Hilda sighed as she took in some deep breaths.

“I don’t think they can. If monsters could traverse dungeons not their own, we would have seen them do it by now. Or at least that’s what I think anyway,” Markus observed warily, “But maybe it would be best if the rods were tied together, just in case.”

The enchanted bronze rods had reduced the portal’s dimensions to the point it was almost invisible to the human eye. All the same, knowing there were giant flying lizards capable of spewing flammable gas on the other side lent it a certain degree of danger.

With that in mind, Markus made a minor adjustment to his priorities for experimentation. If possible, he would try to create a variant of the dungeon core artifice that would close the portal outright.

Agreeing that they had done enough exploring for one day, they retreated back through the original portal and returned to the inner bailey.

Exiting the A`P, Markus gave his arms and legs a much-needed stretch before heading to the workshop for the supplies he would need to begin conducting his tests. With golems to perform the etching work and a number of brass spheres already prepared as a base for the original prototype, Markus was able to produce his own prototype within the hour.

Contrary to his expectations, Hilda was only too eager to head back through the portal again.

Leaving Hilda and Aela to figure out the particulars for themselves, Markus returned to the workshop so he could brainstorm some ideas to circumvent the human targeting element of the portal enchantments.

The most obvious solution was to try and establish a link to a paired enchantment, effectively creating two gateways that connect to one another. The limitation of such a setup would be the necessity of powering both ends of the gateway and creating a need to actively defend the other side at all times.

The alternative that first came to his mind would be developing a means to dictate a location by coordinates in a similar fashion to latitude and longitude. But that had problems as well. The most obvious was the relative height differences between the portal on this side and the other. Markus didn’t have nearly enough understanding of the enchantment to just assume it would make the correction on its own.

So, bearing that in mind, Markus was leaning more towards a third alternative that combined the two. Even though it would initially be far less time-efficient than Tina’s current airship enterprise, sending an airboat with a tracking beacon to the desired location would serve as a workable compromise. If Markus could get a working prototype up and running, he knew that it would make his domain the trading capital of the world.

Of course, that was assuming he could get the enchantments to work the way he wanted them to, and build a city worth a damn to trade out of.

Aela and Hilda returned with their trio of personal mercenaries in tow a couple of hours later and in good spirits.

“It worked!” Aela declared confidently, “We even removed it a few times just to make sure!”

“I still think we shouldn’t have done that...” Hilda interjected with a wry grin, “But I guess it all worked out fine.”

“So the portal disappeared entirely?” Markus pressed, “No traces of lingering mana or anything?”

“We couldn’t find anything,” Aela shrugged, “That’s why we did it a few times just to make sure.”

“Not a bad idea I suppose,” Markus admitted thoughtfully, “But if the monster mana detection enchantment didn’t find anything, then there isn’t really anything else to be done about it.”

Aela shrugged, “I just thought you would want us to do it a few times to make sure it works anyway. That’s what you do with new inventions right? Test them a bunch to make sure they work more than once?”

“True,” Markus agreed with a grin, “If you hadn’t done that, I probably would have sent you back with another one to try out on another core,” he admitted honestly.

“I know,” Aela flicked her tongue in Markus’s face before pecking his cheek.

“Um, ahem,” Hilda cleared her throat a little awkwardly, “Markus? I don’t suppose you have made more progress on the training artifice?” She asked hopefully.

“Oh, that,” Markus put down the crystal he was working on and began rummaging around in a wooden bin near his work desk. After finding the small wooden doll he was looking for, Markus held it out to Hilda with a painfully solemn expression. “Here it is.”

Hilda was visibly taken aback, “This...this is it?” Hilda asked uncertainly as she accepted the doll. Untying the leather cord binding the doll’s body, she almost groaned in disappointment as the matching key was revealed at the end of the cord.

“It will take me about a half-hour to link you to the key, but after that, it should be good to go,” Markus explained with a grin, “Once you become proficient with the doll, it is a rather simple matter to shift the key to a new Prosthetic Armour. So do your best.”

Hilda grimaced and did her best to try and smile, “R-Right...”

Binding the key and its enchantments to Hilda’s senses was a straightforward enough process that Markus was able to complete it in half the time he had originally estimated.

“C’mon, I’ll help you practice!” Aela snickered, taking Hilda’s hand and dragging her out the front door.

Chuckling lightly, Markus waved them off and returned to his work.

By the time he was prepared to call it a night, Markus had completed what he hoped would serve as a working prototype for the beacon. Despite the simple concept, the enchantments themselves proved trickier than he expected. However, Markus was happy with how it had turned out in the end. The prototype portal beacon was a single finger length rod of crystal, making it incredibly portable. Depending on how the tests played out, the final product might require a higher mana capacity in order to maintain a strong enough signal over the desired distances. If that turned out to be the case, then the final design might become as large as his whole arm.

Aela was still chuckling to herself when she joined Markus in bed that night. “Is the doll really going to teach Hilda how to use the Prosthetic Armour?” She asked wryly.

Markus shrugged, “It’s as good a method as I can think of,” he insisted a little defensively with an amused smile. “The whole point is to get her used to moving with prosthetics. Technically Hilda could practice in a Prosthetic Armour and get the same experience as training with the doll. But the doll-”

“Is smaller and uses less mana,” Aela nodded sagely and gave him a cheeky smirk, “That’s what I told her.” Stripping down to her tunic, Aela snuggled into the bed alongside Markus and rested her head on his shoulder. “Of course she didn’t believe me,” she snickered, “Hilda just kept asking when the real practice artifices would be ready.”

“Well, you can tell Hilda that unless she wants to have a limb amputated, this is her best option,” Markus chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes.

“Mmm, I’ll tell her that,” Aela mumbled tiredly before letting out a squeaky yawn and making herself comfortable.

Parting ways at breakfast, Aela went to offer Hilda moral support while she practised with the training artifice while Markus continued working on a portal generator prototype.

They spent the next week more or less repeating the same pattern. Sharing their mornings and evenings with one another and occasionally running into one another while taking a break for lunch.

“Hilda is actually making some progress,” Aela commented before biting into a chunk of salted ham and gulping it down, “She might be ready in about a week or two at the rate she is going.”

“That’s good to know,” Markus had been informed by the golems in the workshop that an increasing number of mercenaries had been making inquiries into participating in the Prosthetic Armour experiment. Markus had been holding off on making any solid decisions since he wanted to know if the doll training would actually work first.

“Phillipe is a little concerned about it though,” Aela stopped eating for a moment and then shrugged, “I can’t remember what he said specifically, but it was something to do with the doll being creepy.”

“There isn’t really much that can be done about that...” Markus sighed, “Unless...I wonder if Phillipe would want to give driving a Prosthetic Armour a try? He already has a prosthetic hand, so he might have the knack for it.”

Aela mulled it over before shaking her head, “I think it might undermine Hilda’s confidence. She is really trying to get ready before her mother arrives...OH! RIGHT! Hilda says her mother is coming to visit!”

Markus nearly choked as he tried to gasp while in the middle of swallowing a bite of potato. “What?” Markus croaked weakly after expelling his would-be tuber assassin.

Aela firmly patted his back to help dislodge any of the remaining fragments of potato, “Are you alright?”

Markus stifled another cough and nodded, “Hilda’s mother is coming?” He pressed.

Aela nodded, “Hilda didn’t say whether her mother would be joining you or not, just that she would be visiting in five days.”

“She probably wants to evaluate her options,” Markus croaked before downing a mug of cold water to soothe his throat.

Aela narrowed her eyes and released an irritated hiss from between her teeth, “Probably,” she agreed.

“Given her lack of options and declining influence, seeing the effectiveness of the artifices driving back the monsters will likely settle things in our favour,” Markus rationalised. Indeed, he would be seriously surprised if the P`As alone didn’t prove a sufficient enough motivation to shift loyalties from the Prince that had basically abandoned her family.

While Markus wouldn’t condone open war against the usurper of her lands and title, he had no compunctions against poaching able-bodied soldiers and workers to assist in colonising the deadlands.

With his thoughts turned towards colonisation, Markus only grew more excited by the prospect of the afternoon's prospective experiment. Overcoming, or more accurately, circumventing, the curious failsafe in the original enchantment that prevented a portal from opening within a certain distance of another portal had taken a few days of trial and error. The most interesting part of the process had been how the enchantment had outright shut down all attempts at even activating the greater enchantment in any form.

“Did you want to come to watch the latest experiment?” Markus asked eagerly, “I’m pretty sure I figured out all the problems this time.”

“Hrmmm...” Aela narrowed her eyes and made an exaggerated show of considering his offer, “Alright,” she grinned and pecked him on the cheek, “I haven’t seen enough of you lately anyway.”

Finishing up their lunch, Markus and Aela were joined by a protection detail of combat golems with Hector serving as their commander. The golems technically didn’t require commanders, more than capable of coordinating fluidly with one another in response to any threat. All the same, the other golems in the settlement deferred to Hector, Leona and even Dolly whenever they performed tasks together. It was an odd phenomenon to witness and something Markus couldn’t fully explain.

Hiking to the foot of the mountains to the south, Markus wanted to avoid prying eyes. Providing a safe haven to chimaeras had already won him some enemies from the fanatical or xenophobic southern nobility. Worse still, other nobles were using the hostility of those nobles to begin forming opportunistic factions. The last thing Markus wanted right now was to give those factions cause to openly attack him before he was ready.

For now, the nobles seemed content with attempting to interfere with his business interests, with minimal success. Peabody was proving a more devious and calculating adversary than they had expected. Combined with the fact that Markus had a near-monopoly on providing mana and recharging services gave Peabody considerable leverage to fight against the nobles trying to do his interests harm.

“Here should be fine,” Markus declared as he surveyed the immediate area. “Take this over there,” Markus ordered, handing one of the golems the beacon and then pointing to a rocky outcropping further up the mountain.

The golem obediently accepted the beacon and rushed off towards the designated location.

“Drive these into the ground, just a couple of feet apart is fine,” Markus handed Hector the pair of brass rods that would determine the size of the portal. Unlike those used on the dungeon world, the control rods for the prototype were only a couple of feet long and had spiked bottoms to make staking them into the ground a much simpler affair.

“I obey,” Hector declared in its gravelly voice, accepting the brass rods and driving the rods into the stony ground with ease.

With the golem bearing the beacon now in place, Markus tentatively established the link between the mana storage crystals in his pack and the prototype portal generator in his right hand. As the prototype began to charge, Markus handed Aela a key from inside his pocket. “Would you do the honours?” He asked with a nervous smile.

Aela accepted the key and chuckled as she twisted the two two halves in separate directions.

Markus could feel the mana beginning to build between the bronze control rods and he struggled to contain his excitement as a tiny speck the side of his finger began distorting the light around it.

After a few minutes, the tiny distortion grew until it filled out the roughly square dimensions afforded by the control rods.

“You did it!” Aela declared excitedly, giving Markus a tight hug around his shoulders with one arm while pointing at the portal with the other.

“It looks like it...” Markus agreed while doing his best to try and keep a cool head, “But we should test it first to make sure.”

“Right,” Aela agreed enthusiastically before giving him an uncertain look, “How are we going to do that? The hole is too small to send a golem through.”

“Just throw a rock?” Markus suggested with a shrug, “If the portal works, we should be able to find the rock over at the matching end of the portal.”

Aela nodded and knelt down to snatch up a nearby rock, “Should probably mark it,” she muttered as she carved a deep A of the northern Alphabet into the surface of the rock. “So, I just throw it through?” Aela asked uncertainly.

Markus nodded, “Just try not to throw it too hard, we need to be able to find it on the other side,” he warned.

“Right,” Aela agreed with a serious expression before lobbing the rock underarm through the portal.

Technically, they could have asked the golem holding the beacon artifice if the rock had passed through the other side of the portal. However, Markus was much more interested in confirming this experiment's success with his own eyes and Aela seemed to feel much the same.

“There it is!” Aela called out excitedly as they jogged over to the small shimmering portal hovering in the air. Pointing a short distance away from the portal, Aela rushed over and picked up the rock bearing her mark, “Hehe, it must have rolled down the mountain, I didn’t throw it that hard.”

Markus nodded and couldn’t help himself from smiling, “I think it’s because the rock came out of the wrong side,” he explained while pointing back to the portal, “Or more accurately, the portal is facing the opposite direction than I expected it to. Not a real problem, all things considered, but good to know.”

Aela tossed the rock back through the portal and then ran back to the other portal. “I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT!” She called back, waving her rock above her head before tossing it through the other portal and walking back over.

Sure enough, Aela’s rock tumbled out the rear of the portal and tumbled down the mountain.

When Aela returned, Markus ordered the golems to release the first rabbit through the portal. Markus had brought five rabbits for the test, four of which were unaltered while the last represented his best progress in infusing donated Warrior mana.

The unaltered rabbit rumbled out of the portal in front of him and was momentarily disoriented before leaping into motion and streaking away down the mountain. This process was repeated with the same degree of success until only the super-powered rabbit remained. Unwilling to have the rabbit rejoin the wild population, he had Hector on standby with the rabbit’s reinforced and enchanted cage.

It was a good thing too. The moment the enhanced rabbit passed through the portal, it immediately attempted to leap away. Unfortunately for the rabbit, Hector was much faster and swept the rabbit up in its cage mid-leap before sealing the cage shut.

Just by observing the difference between the normal rabbits and the enhanced rabbit, Markus felt like he could assume that the portal affected those without large volumes of mana differently. He added it to the list of things he would need to test with the next iteration of the prototype.

“What were the rabbits for?” Aela asked curiously, licking her lips and narrowing her eyes on the sole remaining rabbit.

“Making sure the portal does not kill or maim anyone that passes through it,” Markus admitted somewhat awkwardly, “Testing with rabbits seemed more prudent than mercenaries. Cheaper too.”

Aela snickered and gave Markus a wry smile, “You're too dark sometimes Markus,” she hissed in amusement.

Markus shrugged. “I need to check the mana levels and see how much mana the portals take to maintain, but I think we are pretty much done here.”

“Alright,” Aela agreed while hungrily eyeing the surprisingly defiant rabbit.

Much to his surprise, Markus found that the portals were mana neutral, neither consuming nor contributing to the mana stored inside of the portal generator or mana storage crystal. Similarly, the movement of the portal generator and beacon did not seem to influence the portals in any way at all. Markus had expected the containment rods to anchor the portal on that end, but it was still something of a surprise that the other end remained static despite the beacon being moved.

On the whole, Markus decided that it was a desirable feature and not a problem. Following his original intention for an airboat to deliver the beacon to the desired location, the current setup would allow the airship to immediately fly off again with the beacon after the portal was opened. In fact, Markus was beginning to rethink his implementation of the idea.

“What if I made sky portals instead?” Markus muttered thoughtfully. Keeping the portals in the sky would leave them out of reach of his potential enemies, and Tina’s airships and airboats could be used to ferry the goods back and forth through the portals. There would still be practical uses for ground-based portals, but limiting trade to the sky seemed prudent for the time being.

So long as golems were garrisoned on the airships, no one would be able to even attempt to seize control of an airship without Markus being alerted. This would give him ample opportunity to close the portals if absolutely necessary or deploy additional forces to drive off the thieves.

The general idea of casting the portals into the sky held a certain appeal from a logistics standpoint. If Markus could figure out how to make the portal the size he wanted without the bronze rods, and generate from the location he wanted, then he wouldn’t need a giant tower to generate the portal from.

With his next goal in mind, Markus packed everything up and returned to the inner bailey before parting ways with Aela.

Now confident that the portals weren’t dangerous, Markus reduced the scale of his experiments and limitted them to the large room he had commandeered on the fourth floor of the workshop.

Two days of utter failure gave way to an unanticipated breakthrough. Having accidentally linked one of the bronze control rods to the portal generator during another otherwise failed experiment. Markus accidentally succeeded in creating a portal three feet below the floor and in the workshop below.

Changing the design to a shield sized plate instead of a rod, Markus was ecstatic when he managed to replicate the feat intentionally. He was even happier when he found flipping the plate over first created the portal in the inverse direction, hovering immobile in the middle of the room. Having a second plate crafted and linked to the beacon in a similar fashion to the generator, Markus couldn’t stop smiling when he found that it had the intended effect of creating the connected portal at the same height as the first. Unfortunately, Markus wasn’t sure which part of the enchantments to change in order to make the portals appear higher off the ground.

Despite all his complaining, Aela kept her temper and helped Markus focus on the positives. After all, he hadn’t expected to make so much progress so quickly. Complaining about another breakthrough not falling into his lap was childish.

The armed procession of the former Jarl of Skalisberg, and Hilda’s mother, had been spotted by the golems on duty in the watchtowers and they were now expected to arrive within a couple of hours.

Markus could hear Phillipe and Hilda nervously arguing in their room, apparently debating which outfit Phillipe should wear to try and make a good impression.

Initially sympathetic and somewhat amused by Phillipe’s plight, Markus eventually realised that he should probably have paid more concern to his own appearance. Since it would be to his benefit to make a good first impression for a number of reasons, Markus rather hastily ran back upstairs to his room and began picking through his clothes to find the least worn or stained amongst them.

With time running out, Markus narrowly avoided panic by dressing in gambeson and surcoat instead. The former filled out his otherwise lanky frame, while the latter added a certain degree of respectability and implied status. Having Hector as his armed escort in a matching outfit gave Markus no small amount of peace of mind. Not because he expected Hilda’s mother to attack him, but because if they did, Markus was certain Hector could make them regret it in short order.

Hector wasn’t the only golem that would fill out their escort. Ten combat golems similarly dressed in armour and livery matching Markus’s own would serve as general crowd control to keep the workers and mercenaries at a distance. Or more accurately, keep the rank and file mercenaries at a distance while Claude, Linette and Boris served as a special honour guard to show off the P`As.

Convinced he was as dressed up as he could get without hating himself, Markus waited with Aela in a special pavilion that had been erected in the inner bailey for receiving Hilda’s mother. The special escort left alongside Hilda and Philipe a short time later.

“Nervous?” Aela asked supportively while patting down her military styled jacket and pants.

“A little,” Markus admitted honestly.

“As long as it’s only a little,” Aela gently brushed back his hair with her clawed fingers and then straightened his surcoat, “Remember, she may have been a Jarl, but you're a King and this is your kingdom!”

“King? Ehehe, I keep forgetting about that part.” While Markus never lost sight of the fact that the land he had claimed was his, he often forgot that his supreme authority and claim would carry a title. As supreme sovereign recognised by the Warrant of Crusade, Markus could bestow any title to himself, or others, that he felt appropriate. “I guess that makes Arlee a Princess? She is going to love that.”

“You already call her princess though?” Aela challenged, sounding a little confused.

“Only a few times,” Markus contested, feeling a little embarrassed, “It’s not the same thing.”

Aela frowned slightly and then shrugged, apparently not invested enough to desire arguing about it.

Soon enough, a procession of northern riders in travelling clothes arrived in the inner bailey alongside their honour guard and escorts.

Phillipe had settled for a similar style of dress as Markus, choosing to wear his armour. Hilda had chosen something far more practical, only wearing slightly finer clothes than her everyday wardrobe. The fact that Hilda was an only child and didn’t need to make much of an impression apparently gave her considerable leeway.

With Phillipe and Hilda matching pace beside the lead rider, a tall broad-shouldered older woman with thick pale golden braids and piercing grey eyes. Markus thought it a safe bet to assume that this woman was Hilda’s mother. Somewhat more imposing than Hilda herself, the woman was in peak physical condition and showed few signs to suggest her true age besides a collection of deep wrinkles around her eyes and mouth.

Rejecting an offered arm from Phillipe, Hilda’s mother dismounted her stocky horse and tossed the reins back to her now unprepared future son in law. Cool and collected, she ran a hand over her sleeveless gambeson to settle the fabric or clean the sweat from her hand, accomplishing both regardless of original intent.

“Welcome Jarl Sigrun!” Markus did his best to confidently smile and match the woman’s intense gaze as best he could. Although she had technically lost the title when her brother seized her lands, Markus wanted to use the title as a reminder of what she could gain if she joined his cause. “I am Markus Farus, King of the West, and this is my consort, Aela Svaladottir,” Markus rested his left on Aela’s back and didn’t flinch when the woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Welcome to our land,” Aela added somewhat smugly, making a noticeable emphasis on the word ‘our’.

Hilda’s mother Sigrun didn’t miss a step, apparently very well versed in court etiquette in spite of her rugged appearance. “I thank you for your greetings, your majesty. But I must regretfully inform you that I am no longer Prince Regar’s Jarl,” The slight narrowing of Sigrun’s eyes accompanying her words seemed to serve as a means of saying that they both already knew that.

“A shame,” Markus replied, “But perhaps Regar’s loss could serve as our mutual gain. I am sure your daughter Hilda has made my offer in certain terms already, so I won't waste both our time attempting to negotiate with you until you have had a chance to relax and see what I have to offer in exchange for your loyalty and service. Does this sound reasonable?” He meant every word of it and was truly hoping that Aela’s confidence in his chances of succeeding in winning the former Jarl over was well founded.

“A wise decision, your majesty, and I am gladdened by your concerns for my well being,” Sigrun bowed respectfully and then stood upright again, “I shall take your advice and take my rest, good day, your majesty.”

Markus watched Sigrun rejoin Hilda and Phillipe who were in the process of leading her personal escort to their own quarters in one of the recently constructed barracks in the inner bailey.

“I think that went well,” Hilda reassured him quietly.

Markus was inclined to agree.

“I feel a little silly for getting dressed up just to exchange so few words,” Aela admitted with an embarrassed grin. “Won’t it be a little strange when we have dinner later and everyone is dressed less fancy?”

“What?...Oh...Huh....” Markus hadn't thought of that. While first impressions were important, he had no real intentions with putting on royal airs for more than a handful of minutes on any given day. “Well, let’s just hope Hilda’s mother understands that things will be different here and that this was all just an observation of formalities.”

Aela shrugged and continued to smile, “Things will work out. After all, Hilda and Phillipe will be doing most of the talking for us, and I’ll bet Sigrun is just as eager to drive one of the Prosthetic Armours as Hilda!”

“Maybe,” Markus agreed hopefully, feeling much less worried.

“Besides, I think you should dress up like this more often. It suits you,” Aela teased playfully.

“I’ll consider it,” Markus chuckled. The surcoat with his house sigil on it was the most noticeable element of the outfit and wasn’t difficult to accommodate as part of his daily wardrobe. “Do you think I should get a crown or something?”

Aela seemed to seriously consider the question for a while before slowly shaking her head, “I don’t know,” she sighed apologetically, “Do you want a crown?”

“Not really,” Markus admitted honestly, “Although I should probably get a signet ring or something made at the very least. Nobles can get touchy about this sort of thing when they think new families aren’t taking things seriously. Add to that the fact that I’m a King and it’s really asking for trouble.”

Aela shrugged and looked over at Markus’s personal P`A and sighed with disappointment.

Following her gaze, Markus gave Aela a questioning look.

Aela’s cheeks flushed for a moment before she quickly regained her composure. “It’s just a little disappointing that I can’t drive one,” she admitted somewhat bitterly

“Well...” Markus had given it some thought since the original experiments had revealed the P`A’s penchant for leeching chimaera mana in addition to its originally intended mana supplies. “It might be doable,” Markus admitted tentatively, “But learning to use it will be far more difficult than what Hilda’s going through, probably...”

Aela’s eyes grew wide with anticipation, “Really?!” She exclaimed excitedly.

“I’m pretty sure...” Markus hedged. Theoretically, he just had to block the P`A from leeching chimaera mana. The problem was that the mana link would need to be heavily altered or dampened. Markus was quite sure he could do both of those things, but he wasn’t sure if the end result would be worth it.

Hilda hadn’t had her mana drained, and neither had the trio of mercs. Markus hadn’t either, not that he had considered the phenomenon all that strange before. “We could try something with one of the standard test A`Ps,” Markus suggested hesitantly, “But if you feel your mana dropping you need to cancel the connection right away, agreed?”

Aela grinned excitedly from ear to ear and nodded, “I promise I promise!”

Markus sighed and took Aela with him to the storage warehouse where they kept all A`Ps when they were not in use. Under constant guard by the golems, only those with personal clearance from him had permission to enter.

The workshop had produced a surplus of twenty A`Ps thus far and another three were due to be completed by the late evening. Markus had ordered so many of them to be constructed because he had been hoping that the wounded veterans of the wyvern attack would take him up on his offer and join his forces. Their military experience as soldiers and their somewhat limited but relevant experience with prosthetics would make them ideal candidates for driving the A`Ps.

Choosing one of the closer A`Ps, Markus reached inside and pulled out the unlinked key that was hanging off the chair. Concentrating deeply on the key Markus felt a familiar prickling pain begin to take shape beneath his skin. Knowing that Aela would feel bad if she realised her request was causing him pain, Markus did his best to keep it to himself, making the pain behind intense concentration. Altering the key and connecting it to Aela’s senses took nearly an hour. He could have completed the process sooner, but Markus was fairly certain this idea was going to work, so he spent close to three quarters of an hour tackling the challenge of mapping the incredibly unfamiliar senses of her tail into the key.

After taking a short break, Markus deactivated every single mana draining enchantment present in the A`P. The golems would be able to reactivate them later, but Markus had to be sure where the source of the problem was coming from.

Aela climbed into the seat, strapped herself in and then twisted the key. She deliberately left the front hatch open so Markus or the golems could quickly remove her in an emergency.

“So? How is it?” Markus asked anxiously.

The A`P shakily lurched upright and took a tentative step forward.

“It’s just as hard to move as before,” Aela replied, “But I don’t think it is trying to take my mana this time.”

“Alright. Well, we need to be sure, so I guess you better start doing laps,” Markus ordered with a sigh, “Keep the hatch open for now. Better to be safe than sorry.”

After ten minutes of Aela staggering the A`P around the warehouse, Markus removed two of its Mana Storage Crystals and then set Aela going again. After five more minutes with no noticeable changes Markus removed the final Mana Storage Crystal and was relieved when the A`P completely ceased functioning rather than attempting to take mana from Aela.

“So it works?” Aela asked with cautious optimism.

“Seems like it,” Markus replied with a smile.

“Yes!” Aela pumped her fists with excitement and looked slyly in the direction of the workshop, “Do you think the golems could make a Prosthetic Armour that looks like me?”

“The tail might be a little tricky, but I bet the tinkers probably have some ideas,” Markus agreed supportively, “And you will probably want a custom chair to better accommodate your tail too.”

“Definitely,” Aela agreed with a grin. She flicked her tail and hissed slightly in annoyance, “It was a little uncomfortable in there,” Aela admitted.

“Creator,” Hector stepped forwards and then pointed to the door of the warehouse, “Hilda has made a request for a meeting.”

“Hilda? What does she want?” Aela asked, a hint of worry in her eyes.

Hector turned his head to face Aela, “Unknown.”

“Pass the word along that we will meet with her soon,” Markus ordered, “Is Hilda still visiting her mother in the guests' accommodations?”

“Affirmative, Creator,” Hector rumbled obediently.

Markus set a work order so the golems in the workshop would replace the key now bound to Aela and reset the A`P’s enchantments.

Leaving the warehouse, Markus and Aela headed for the guest quarters with Hector obediently trailing behind them at a discreet distance. As they drew closer Markus could begin to make out the sounds of Hilda and Sigrun involved in a particularly loud argument.

“-can’t go back there! That traitor Dolf will have your head! Please! Listen to reason, mother!” Hilda demanded angrily.

“Hold your tongue daughter!” Sigrun growled, “I will not leave my loyal servants and subjects to languish in that prison a single moment more than is absolutely necessary! The Prince may not recognise my claim, but I swore an oath to protect our people! I WILL NOT BREAK THAT OATH! Am I clear?!”

Hilda said something in reply but was too quiet for Markus to make out what it was.

“Now, are you going to convince your sovereign to aid us, or not?!” Sigrun demanded coldly.

Figuring now was as good a time as any, Markus motioned for Hector to open the door.

As commanded, Hector stepped forward and opened the door, bringing a sudden end to the argument that had been taking place only moments before.

The ground floor of the guest quarters was a combination of waiting and dining room, featuring a large table down the far side and lounges hugging the walls closest to the front door. Hilda and Sigrun were just about butting heads in the middle of the room while Phillipe futilely tried holding Hilda back and one of Sigrun’s servants attempted the same with her.

Phillipe was the first to react, letting go of Hilda and hurrying towards Markus in an attempt to shepherd him away. “N-Now really isn’t a good time Markus,” he warned while glancing back towards the flushed faces of his future bride and mother in law.

“Majesty! I would have words with you!” Sigrun declared and began making her way forward and knocking aside Phillipe in the process.

“I’m listening,” Markus replied warily, stepping back a half step behind Hector.

Sigrun hadn’t missed his tactical retreat and narrowed her eyes determinedly, “You desire my loyalty and service as a leader to serve beneath your banner. I offer both in exchange for a boon of my choosing!”

Having heard mention of a prison, Markus was somewhat leery of agreeing to a poorly defined promise, “Name your price,” I insisted warily.

Sigrun made to step closer but was pushed back by Hector, but she didn’t seem to care, “The usurper of my title and lands has gathered those believed to be sympathetic to my claim and has imprisoned them pending trial and execution!”

“And you want the services of my mercenaries to help free them?” Markus asked warily, believing that the former Jarl needed more men to stage a prison break.

Sigrun shook her head and attempted to move closer, but she was pressed back by Hector for a second time, “Majesty...” Sigrun looked like she was struggling to keep her composure, grey eyes flashing with intensity, “I don’t need hired swords, I need someone who can defeat enchanted locks without need for the keys they are bound to,” Sigrun’s eyes bored directly into his with a near manic intensity, “I need YOU.” She attempted to push forward for a third time and got thrown back into the room. Sigrun would have fallen if one of her followers hadn’t caught her.

Hector released an audible and unmistakably aggressive growl in warning, the golems subtle shift in body language mirroring its shift from defensive warden to barely restrained murderous automaton.

Hector’s behaviour seemed to shock everyone but Aela and Markus.

“You, have, been, warned,” Hector growled dangerously, the golem's voice carrying an aggressive finality.

Glancing around the inner bailey, Markus could see dozens of golems had stopped what they had been doing and were looking pointedly in his direction. Their stillness held an air of the same imminent violence demonstrated by Hector, although not nearly as intense, as if reacting to the larger golem’s energy and following its lead.

“Peace, I apologise. I should not have-” Sigrun’s apology was interrupted by her daughter.

“-Mother! You can’t just try and grab Markus like that! He’s the King!” Hilda exclaimed in horror.

Markus wasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying, his attention still fixed on the golems that were now returning to work as if nothing had even happened.

“Markus, are you alright?” Aela asked quietly.

“Mmh? Oh, I’m fine,” Markus reassured her, “It’s just the way the golems were behaving, I found it interesting is all.”

Aela gave him a strange look but then shrugged and turned her attention to the mother daughter spat reigniting inside the guest quarters.

“Just so we are clear,” Markus had waited for Hilda and Sigrun to stop arguing before returning to the subject at hand, “If I agree to free the prisoners, you will swear fealty to me?”

Sigrun nodded determinedly, pressing her hand over her heart and bowing her head in deference, “I swear!”

“Then I agree to these terms,” Markus stated confidently, “We will hold a formal, public investment and fealty ceremony later. For now, what can you tell me about the prison? Where is it? How many people are imprisoned there?”

Despite Markus’s very specific phrasing, there was something of a misunderstanding before Sigrun caught on to his meaning.

“You want to free thousands of prisoners?!” Sigrun demanded incredulously, “That is too many! Even freeing just those I had requested puts us at extreme risk.”

“I thought you said you had a duty to all of your people?” Markus asked dryly.

Sigrun looked truly conflicted, “I did, and I do. But I can’t free everyone at once. Even if you chose to commit those mercenaries, they won't stand a chance against all the traitors and mercenaries siding with the usurper. Many civilians would die before making it to the safety of your walls...”

“And if I have a way of saving them all?” Markus countered.

Sigrun still looked conflicted, “My daughter told me about your flying ship, but I don’t think-”

“It isn’t the ship,” Markus interjected curtly, “But I will ask again. If I have a way of saving them all, would you do what is necessary to make the plan work?”

Sigrun remained silent for the better part of a minute. “Yes. I will do what is required of me if it would mean liberating all those who have been unjustly imprisoned by the usurper.”

“Good,” Markus felt relieved. Performing a rescue for so many people at once was something of a perfect test for the upscaled portal generator and beacon. Having Sigrun on hand to convince the superstitious commonfolk that the portal was only an artifice and not a dungeon would make things go much smoother.

Markus wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of the portal just yet, but he was reasonably confident that Aela had already guessed what he intended.

Unlike the prison in Endem, which was a large brick building for incarcerating offenders of minor crimes and those who failed to repay their debts, Skalisberg had a different philosophy. The northern princedoms made use of otherwise unused fortifications to serve as both prison and work camp. Repurposing old fortifications had the added benefit of isolating prisoners from the eyes of the people and allowing their guards something akin to free rein in their disciplinary methods.

The older fortifications were also rumoured to hold vast dungeons in their depths for throwing away the worst prisoners. Ancient powerful enchantments rendered the dungeon all but indestructible, and by extension inescapable. Somehow, the ancient Artificers had been able to render their enchantments permanent, or so the rumours claimed.

The possibility of studying those enchantments was tempting. All the same, Markus felt a shiver run down his spine each time he considered going to the prison in person. It also brought back unpleasant memories Markus would very much prefer remained buried in the depths of his subconscious.

“Are you sure about this?” Aela asked quietly while they walked back to their room, “About the uh...the prison I mean?” She sounded worried and gave Markus the impression that she was looking at him like a baby bird with a broken wing.

Markus shook his head and took a deep breath to calm his nerves, “The golems should be able to handle it,” he replied a little shakily, “And if not...I’ll push through it...”

Even though he hadn’t noticed it straight away, Markus had the distinct impression that Hector was staring at him.