Generals Yifat, Benroy, Lazar, Jader and Field Marshal Mordechai were sitting around the table. A map was spread out before them. The northern region of the map was painted gold, the rest was largely colourless, much of it was left blank. “My Lords, my Lady, today we’ve gathered for a joyous occasion. Today we establish her majesty’s first foothold in this new world.” Mordechai’s tone was soft, his eyes empty. It was pissing Benroy off, then again, most things Mordechai did pissed him off.

“Now is the time who will rule these lands in her majesty’s name. I’m certain you’ve all thought about this at length. I would hear your nominations.” General Jader immediately rose up. “Who other can guide these new lands to a promising and civilized future than honourable Lord Mordechai mon Kerach. His bloodline is pure and ancient and he led us here to begin with.” The general looked around the table, clearly pleased with himself. Benroy was about to ruin that.

“With all due respect generals, field marshal, there is only one bloodline pure and great enough to hold both sway over the entire army as well as such a great territory and she doesn’t hail from Kerach.” Benroy looked at Mordechai, waiting for him to respond.

“Lord Benroy mon Tarabash is right, although old and pure, my bloodline can’t content with her majesty’s, neither do I desire to test that. I know where that road ends. Who would you propose to take the viceroyalty, now that my uncle and I?” Benroy feigned ignorance. “Lady Yifat would no doubt be a fine ruler, but her noble status is new, her bloodline lacks depth, the court would not accept her.” Lazar’s lips were curled into an amused smile. “That would leave only you, Lord Benroy and Lord Jader.” Jader’s frustration was clearly readable in his eyes.

“Indeed, it would Lord Jader, would you be willing to relinquish your right to the viceroyalty.” Red lights blazed in Jader’s eyes; his hatred clear for all to see. “And increase your influence, I would think not!” Benroy’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “We will put it to a vote.” Lazar walked to the corner of the room, filling a glass with water. “As a member of Lord Mordechai’s bloodline, I will refrain from voting.” The remaining four lords didn’t voice any opposition.

“I cast my vote for Lord Jader.” Mordechai calmly said. “I cast my vote for myself, of course.” Benroy nodded. “I do the same.” The tent’s attention focussed on Yifat. She looked at Benroy and he nodded in confirmation. “I vote for Lord Benroy.” She said, igniting golden lights in Benroy’s eyes. “I call upon the laws of progress and challenge you, Lord Jader, to a duel. Let this matter be decided by the sword.” A bead of sweat rolled down Jader’s face, it wasn’t his sword skills that had helped him rise to prominence.

“If I may intervene?” Mordechai asked nonchalantly. “No, my lord, you may not. The laws of progress supersede your authority.” Benroy barked as he rose from his chair. Mordechai held up his hand’s palms turned outwards. “Peace my lord. I will not deny you your duel. I just wish to limit its damaging potential. I will need both you and General Jader in the wars to come. As such I ask you both to refrain from striking a killing blow. This shouldn’t be a problem for a swordsman of your calibre, no?” Benroy wanted to dismiss the words immediately, but the general inside of him withheld him. Jader was one of, if not the finest, defensive General to have been trained since the great conquest. It would be a terrible waste of resources to discard the man outright.

“This is acceptable. Lord Jader I expect to see you at last light.” With a dramatic sweep of his cape, which he considered appropriate given the drama of the moment, Benroy turned around and stalked out of the building.

Ɏ

Anna was a happy woman. With a happy smile she held the ring up for her friends to see. “He made it himself.” Her friends made the appropriate approving noises. They were sitting by the well, near the centre of the village, enjoying the sun. “I wish Will would finally propose.” Mindy sullenly said. “Sometimes I think he’s still a boy. The way he behaves….” Mindy trailed off, clearly frustrated. “Maybe Thomas will be an example to him.” Anna said, pity in her voice. “Maybe, I’m not going to count on it.” Jenna gave Mindy a look which was somewhere in between compassionate and contemptuous.

“Perhaps you should pressure him a little harder, make clear what you want from him. How’s he supposed to find out when you don’t tell him?” Mindy gave Jenna an incredulous look. “I’ve been dropping hints; it isn’t my fault he has yet to pick them up. He’s supposed to be smart after all. If he can learn three different languages, he should be able to tell that it is the right time to propose. I mean Thomas knew what to do and Anna never told him, did you Anna?”

Anna who had stopped listening looked up at the sound of her own name. “Hmm, totally yes.” By the annoyed look on Mindy’s face that was the wrong answer. Anna coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. “What about your mysterious lover Jenna? Have you met him yet?” Jenna shook her head. “He’s supposedly coming with the traders this year. He’s sent a sketch of himself ahead though.” The tall girl retrieved a piece of paper from her pocket and showed it to the other girls.

“Oh, he’s quite handsome, in that frail poet kind of way.” Mindy said. “Because Will is such a burly, muscled type?” Anna asked with raised eyebrows. “We can’t all fall for the first farm boy we ran across, can we?” Mindy replied just as smoothly. “The letter he send along was very polite and kind.” Jenna said dreamily. “You’re sure Will didn’t just made it sound like that. He has a tendency to present things a little bit sunnier than they really are. You should have heard him speak about Thomas the first we met.” Anna smiled. “If I had taken his word for it, I would have agreed to marrying a hero of legend.”

“Because you have totally not bought into that.” Mindy put her hand against her forehead. “Oh, he is so gallant and strong.” She said in a mocking imitation of Anna’s voice. Jenna immediately jumped in a low growling voice. “Would you shine your light on my path forever?” Anna frowned. “Okay, that’s enough. You both wish somebody had said those words to you.” Mindy was about to say something when the three of them were disturbed by the noise of a group of riders passing by. By now they had gotten used to the strange foreigners which had set up camp next to the village. The group that was currently passing them by was larger than the ones that usually came and went.

The riders were talking loudly with each other over the sound of their animals. They seemed excited, but it was hard to tell if it was a good or bad excitement. “They still frighten me.” Jenna whispered as the group disappeared from sight. “It would have helped if they didn’t dress like villains. What’s wrong with a few spots of blue or green?” Anna added. “Will says that his dad thinks that they’re evil.” Mindy bit her lip. “He doesn’t like that Thomas is spending so much time with them. Says that he might learn something he shouldn’t.”

Anna gave Mindy an annoyed look. “It is true! Will says that at the university there are entire sections of the library where they keep forbidden knowledge that nobody is allowed to read.” Mindy replied defensively. “And how many times has Will been to the university? Never, what a surprise. He’s just spinning tales to impress you Mindy, that’s all.” Mindy grumbled something about Will’s dad having been, but Anna was no longer listening. “I think it is good that Thomas is trying to befriend them. His dad has profited well from the trade with the foreigners. They are rich and their silver is as good as the trader’s.”

“Okay, but I need your opinion and yours as well Mindy. When Steven comes with the traders shall I wear the green or the blue dress to greet him?” Jenna asked, changing the subject to something more interesting. “The blue one is bolder, but the green one brings out your eyes better. I would go with green one.” Mindy shook her head contemptuously. “Don’t listen to Anna, she knows little about these things. If you follow my guidance you will have that boy wrapped around your finger in no time.” The three girls walked off, happily chatting about the approaching spring and the prospects that came with it.

Ɏ

Captain Sada was sitting behind her desk, dresses being the furthest thing from her mind. When she had been promoted, she hadn’t quite expected to spend so much time behind a desk instead of being out in the field. Dozens of reports were lying in front of her and from those she distilled what high command needed to know. She was working her way through an excessively detailed report from Scout Jared about the cultural practices of the natives that lived in this region. So far it had largely annoyed her. It wasn’t that Jared was a bad writer, he was clear in his descriptions and his reporting was immaculate. No, her problems were with the natives themselves.

Apparently, they kept their women mostly locked up in their houses, which was an incredible waste of manpower. What exactly they were supposed to do in said houses Scout Jared hadn’t been able to see for himself, but his guess was that they produced goods like clothing and did general housework. Sada shook her head. “So inefficient.” She muttered. She failed too understand why they didn’t just create workshops for production. When everybody created a part of the product the whole process became much quicker than individuals toiling away in suboptimal working circumstances. It was even more frustrating that they seemed to have figured this out for other branches of industry, such as their treatment of fish.

Not that there wasn’t room for improvement there as well. Jared had calculated that if the population grew with another thirty percent, they would risk overfishing the local river, decimating the fish population. The reason they hadn’t done so yet seemed to have something to do with their diet, which included a large amount of plants. Apparently, the soil here was soft enough to grow these plants. No wonder these people weren’t warrior, their diets lacked healthy amounts of fish. She shook her head and started making a list of improvements that would have to be made to make the town attractive for settlers.

Bathing houses, sewers, proper production centres, a courier station, distribution centres, watch houses, walls, the list seemed to grow of its own accord, each new addition inspiring her to add another. When she was done, she gave the list a long look, before crossing through all those that weren’t strictly necessary. The remainder she copied neatly into her report. General Yifat would probably reach out to some entrepreneurs back home who would come to bring civilisation to these poor people.

She was interrupted from her work by a knock. “Enter.” She distractedly called out. Amon entered, a sealed scroll in his right hand. “This just came in from high command, the messenger said that it was urgent.” Sada looked up with interest as Amon handed her the scroll. She broke the seal and started reading. After she had reread carefully once again, she stood up. “Congratulations Lieutenant Amon the empire has successfully established its foothold in this world. Viceroy Benroy has urged all generals to expand this foothold as quickly as possible. To that end he has allowed the members of noble blood to raise their personal banners and seize territory. Inform Lieutenant Lapidos and the soldiers. Raise Lady Yifat’s personal banner.”

Amon nodded. “Should we move to occupy the village?” He asked. Sada shook her head. “No, apparently we are to wait for reinforcements, the general herself is coming with the army.” Amon saluted and hurried out the yurt. Sada looked at her desk and the reports that were lying on them. She had the feeling that those would be multiplying in the coming weeks.

Ɏ

Viceroy Benroy stood quietly in the temporary palace that had been raised for him. Even after a month he was still relishing his victory. He had crawled out from under the northern traitor’s thumb and had risen so far in station that few lords back home would be able to call themselves his peers. He was but a single step beneath her majesty herself now. It ignited old ambitions within him. Her majesty would soon need to start thinking about a successor, someone to carry on the purest of all bloodlines. She would need a partner for that, a permanent coupling. Who better than her loyal right hand, who governed the empire this side of the gate?

He drank from the crystal glass filled with quality kepach. “Who better indeed?” He muttered; his lips curled into a smile. But it didn’t do to only think of tomorrow’s goals, one had to stand still by the victories of the past from time to time. Indeed, one had to enjoy the good moments. He savoured the memory of the duel, his first one in three years. He had met Jader at last light on a snowy field that had been cleared for just such purposes.

Jader had fought with shield and spear, the weapons of a coward. He had of course chosen for a broadsword, the weapon of victors. It hadn’t been a long fight. After he had ripped the shield from Jader’s feeble grasp he had bludgeoned the man into submission. It had been laughably one sided. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have enjoyed such a pathetic match, but there was a level of satisfaction to putting a Northern traitor back in his place. He took another sip of the kepach. Many condemned the drink, but when cooled to a certain temperature it was rather pleasant. Then again it was a cut above the swill the rank and file drank.

He downed the drink. One should celebrate yesterday’s victories from time to time, but it didn’t hurt to think about the future. Thrones had to be passed on after all.