“You have grown little boy”, Brizo ruffled my hair and sat down, to my discomfort, right next to my seat. The naiad looked less than a girl and more like a woman. Visible cues from certain areas. No Lucius, no, bad thoughts. Just an acquaintance which likes to tease people and her future sovereign?

“Yes, thank you. How was it to serve under Titania?”, I asked her and used the chance to move my chair a bit away from her. She just smiled at my move.

“It was interesting. I got used to the fights after a few months. Saw some things which I would like to forget”, she said and stared with empty eyes at the wall. She collected herself after a moment. “I have learned much about naval combat, fleet logistic and more. Titania is an impressive woman to be sure. The eastern navy could never catch us. We danced around them and sunk ship for ship.”

“How did you achieve that?”, I asked. Thirsty for more details on the war.

“We had lighter ships and less cargo. And the support of sea creatures. It were basically a lot of small factors combined to a big advantage. Titania had a fleet for combat and one for logistic. It was hard to hide the second one. Without it our fleet’s operation radius would be far smaller”, explained Brizo.

“How did you hide it?”, I inquired.

“Mist magic, some smaller illusions and good positioning. They found the fleet a few times, but we were always able to keep casualties to a minimum. Titania would also use those chances to attack them while the enemy is focussed on the logistic fleet”, said the naiad. She moved a hand through her hair, or was it water? It still was fascinating to see her hair behave like waves.

“My my, did you fall in love again young price?”, she smiled and I noticed that I stared at her again. I suppressed a groan and just returned the smile.

“I heard Titania has a Kraken?”, I changed the topic.

“Yes, she calls her Iulia. It pulls smaller vessels underwater or immobilized bigger ones”, she answered.

“How do you defend against something like a Kraken?”, I asked.

“To kill it you need a way to attack underwater. Mages, sea-folk, your own creature or harpoons. Iulia lost six of her tentacles in the battle against the eastern flagship at Apulia. It gave us enough time to hijack the ship”, the naiad said.

We continued our exchange and I told her about my ‘exploits’. She definitely wanted to visit the garden and the thermal bath. We talked until Statilia arrived.

“Hi Brizo, your majesty”, Statilia she made a bow, which made me more than uncomfortable. It was just strange to be called majesty for me. Her laugh told me, she achieved what she wanted with her action.

“And how was your time in Syracusa?”, I asked the fox girl.

“It was fine. I am learning under Silvestra. She leads a powerful house in the city and we serve her family. The only problem is the insufficient organisation. It's a mess to collect taxes or find out how many people live where. We could use reforms”, she said and I noted down the first supporter for reforms. Just hope she will support my kind of reforms.

They talked with each other until the two houses, which served my family the longest, arrived.

“Constantine, Valerius nice to see you again”, I said to them.

“Nice to see you as well”, they answered and continued their own conservation. I sighed in relief when Alaric arrived.

“Alaric”, I greeted.

“Lucius, you are not late today. An improvement”, he said and sat down to my left.

“I’m only late when you accompany me”, I countered his accusation.

“Small details. And something new to tell me?”, Alaric asked and I told him Brizo’s and Statilia’s stories.

“They both seem to show potential in their abilities. I will try to stand in good contact with them and try to recruit both”, he advised me and I just nodded. I already planned to do just that.

Duvira came next and brought the Oakenshields siblings with her. She greeted me and sat down next to Statilia. The siblings sat down on Alaric’s side and greeted me as well.

“How are is your education going?”, I asked them.

“Pretty well. We have learned the basic crafts in most areas and learned to supervise constructions and repairs in the city. Had also a few meetings and negotiations with the guilds. My brother Dartor helped in an excavation project in the mines”, Duvira explained her own and her siblings experience to me.

I decided, on base of her information, to appoint her as the master of construction, her sister Thovna as my spokeswoman for the guilds and Dartor as master for the mines and underground construction. Brizo would be the fleet admiral and Statilia my councillor or treasurer. I had yet to decide on that one.

Aellelorn and Anaitis came next with hand in hand. Were they dating? Had Aellelorn finally the courage to ask her out, or had she asked him out? Maybe a betrothal between the families? What a lucky guy! They greeted me and sat down as well.

Aellelorn as my master for agriculture affairs and Anaitis as the master for maritime economy.

There was also the matter to improve the sanitation in the cities and also villages. Anaitis and Duvira, if they decide to enter into my service, would have to make plans to reconstruct old and build new canalisation systems.

Juladia entered next, greeted me and sat down without showing many emotions. I asked her about the details of her training and hope to forget the answer. I noted her down as my future spymaster and royal assassin.

The only question would be if I wanted her to be my spymaster? How much can I trust her? I mean farther trusted her family, so I should probably be able to trust her too. Right?

We all told each other our experiences in the last months and the more I heard I was sure to assign certain positions to them if they accept them. Statilia told us a bit more and I decided to assign her as treasurer. She managed to force local lords to pay their taxes correctly. Somebody who can manage local lords would be a good fit for the position.

I also noticed how educated Alaric was in the conversations. Maybe a position as adviser would be better than just bodyguard. I should be able to defend myself alone. I still needed more people for certain positions, like councillor, marshal, warden and many more.

I should ask my family to keep an eye up for talented people and recruit capable folks from Alexandria. We continued our conservations and ate in between. We dissolved our reunion when it was dark. Anaitis and Aellelorn were overly intimate over the day.

Those two really seemed to have found their better part. I headed home with Alaric. His mansion was near ours. We separated shortly before I reached mine. The servants entered first and I followed, just then I heard a noise behind me.

There was a stone wrapped up in the paper on the ground. I looked for the person who threw and saw nobody. I activated mana sight and the only clue I got was the unnaturally high amount of darkness mana around. A mage perhaps? I picked up the stone and unwrapped the paper.

‘Come to the forest entrance at midnight

— Juladia Nightbringer’

A dark-elf mage. I pocked the message and headed directly to my room. I was intrigued by what she wanted from me.

Later that night, midnight.

I left the mansion as quietly as possible. I knew a way that was rarely patrolled by guards and headed to the gate secured with runes. The heavy iron lock could not be opened without the key. The rune would ring an alarm if somebody climbed over it.

There was however one trick to runes. You could always modify them if you have some affinity with the mana type, I did just that. Mana sight showed me that the two metres directly above the gate were secured with the alarm spell.

I used a steel bolt to scribble the height from two metres to zero and climbed over. The alarm didn’t trigger and the rune still shone with a white glow. Nobody could see from a distance that it had changed.

I donned a cloak and headed to the main street. I took my small crossbows with me, just in case.

I walked through the city. No one recognizes me or asked me a question. I exited through the western gate and headed to the edge of the forest. A look at the forest with mana sight showed me the mana flows from animals and plants. One mana flow stood out like a sore thumb. A pillar of darkness.

I recognized the mana flow of the person, Juladia. I slowed my tempo and looked at the tree she set upon. It would hard to find her with normal senses, but the spot of darkness magic stood out surrounded by nature attuned mana.

“I can see you, you know. Get down and tell me what you want”. I spoke up to the tree and nothing happened. I would doubt myself, that there is nothing up there if it were not for my sight. A bundle of shadow and darkness magic dropped shortly after.

“Hello Lucius, it is nice to see you decided to show up”, she said with her usual face, but I could tell from her eyes, that she was irritated about being spotted. It seemed to hurt her pride.

“What did you want from me?”, I asked her again.

“Hmmm. It didn’t quite work out as expected”, she looked around. “You were supposed to be surprised by me.” She didn’t add more details and I wouldn’t try to figure it out.

“Could you explain a bit more? I think you missed a few, just a few, tiny details”, I said again.

“To show my loyalty to you. Or to be correct your house. Mother told me to do it as she did it”, Juladia said and looked at me like I should figure out the rest by myself.

“And what did your mother do to gain father’s loyalty”, I tried to gain further details. Though the answer did interest me. You always want to be able to trust your spymaster.

“She held a knife to his throat and asked him if he trusts her”, she explained.

“Wait, your mother basically threatened father to trust here and you plan to do the same? How does that even work?”, I really needed to have a word with father, next time I see him.

“Mother showed her skills to him this way and if she wanted to kill him, she would have done that already. That was the point”, she finished and shrugged. Juladia got into a fighting position.

“You are kidding, right? Are you really gonna try to copy your mother here?”, I readied myself nonetheless. I equipped my crossbows and waited for her move. Mana gathered and she disappeared from my mana sight.

“Here goes nothing”, I whispered and turned around as fast as possible. Both arms outstretched and holding the crossbows. Juladia stood there rooted with one crossbow aimed at her heart and the other at her brain. A dagger in each hand.

I didn’t see her in front of me. So the only place she could have gone was behind me. And it seemed that my guess was correct. The dark-elf looked to think for a way out. I continued to stare at her. Why was she really doing this?

“Drop the daggers. You have lost”, I demanded and after a moment of hesitation both of them fell down. “Are you happy now?”

“You have not won”, she said and I just looked at her with amusement. I prepared myself for a possible counter-attack, but nothing happened. Something came loose and her top began to slide down. I turned my head up by instinct and cursed myself a second later for my rash action. Niloticus had told about many ways to distract an enemy.

The cold iron on my throat confirmed my guess and I looked down again into Juladia’s smiling face. It was my first time to see her smile. She looked beautiful with a smile, but also a bit unsettling and terrifying. Like I knew deep within me, that this is the smile of a predator.

“See, I could kill you right now and here”, the grey-skinned girl said and I noticed the rock-hard certainty in her statement. She really could kill me. How did father act when he was in my situation? I tried to act as calm as possible.

“That trick won't work again”, I stated and noticed how her top was again firmly on her upper body. ”But I do have to concede my defeat. I accept this token of loyalty or whatever it is supposed to be. Now put that thing down.”

She nodded and stepped back.

“It is nice to see my mission fulfilled. I think you will enjoy working with our house”, she claimed with a smile. Her sharp teeth showed though they were less impressive than Alaric’s. Am I filling my council with monsters? Well if it works it works.

“Yes, it would be nice to wake up every day with a potential dagger at my throat. Be as it may. Could you do me a favour as my future spymaster ...” I eyed the daggers. “… and personal assassin?”, I asked her. I could use her help with some things.

“Yes of course, but only if I have time between mother’s training”, she confirmed, and we exchanged the details.

She would collect information about local lords and capable people. It would allow me to check the loyalty of my future council, find capable aides for my government and get evidence and information for my future purges against the local lords. Information was and always will be a valuable resource.

We parted after talking out the details. I was happy at my success and the fact that m spymaster would be loyal to me. Or she kills me in my sleep, but then she would have already done right here and then. There is no reason for her to delay such actions.

I sneaked back to the mansion, changed the rune back to its former state and headed to bead. Nobody had noticed my leave.

I would depart Messana with Niloticus in two weeks. I spent the time I had left mostly with my friends and family. Most of the people present at our last meeting were already continuing their training and education. Only Alaric, the Oakenshields and my house were still in the city.

I had visited all of them yesterday and it really was an eye-opening meeting for me. The wife of Rulvir, Honiana, was a genius engineer. She had plans to improve the irrigation and the sewage system of Messana. Windmills would power pumps to move the water. It was interesting plans and I listened closely. Such things sounded useful. They should be used in every city.

The only problem of the family was the lack of funds and materials. The prototypes they did produce, were also quite faulty and only the ones with a lot of magic and runes worked properly, but their production and maintenance cost was far too high. I decided to invest funds into some of the more realistic projects. Provided I ever have my own funds.

I should also look out for more capable craftsmen and inventors. It should be possible to realize a lot of those projects if we have a professional crew and a lot of funds. It could also give us an edge over our neighbours. Something I was eager to achieve.

The reforms I wanted to implement were getting more far-reaching than I had thought. I made plans to improve the productivity of nearly all professions. The introduction of new tools and better materials would allow our economy to grow. And would strengthen the country as well.

There was still the problem of the funds, the lacking education in big parts of the state and the lack of certain professions in our state. I also lacked a position of power. Right now I could decide nothing and that irked me a lot. So many ideas and no real opportunities to try them out.

Mother and father had shot down all of my ideas. There was no time for them right now, or it wouldn’t work, were their answers.

Another problem was that Neapoli lacked some important raw resources. We had no iron or coal mines. Only one silver and a few copper mines. My plan was to organize our own trading company, which controlled trade between the east and the west. Italia lay in the middle and every merchant ship had to pass us on their way west.

If we controlled southern Italia, Sicillia and Carthage, then everybody has to pass our ports and coasts to get to the other side of the world. They could bypass us by land, but it should take them longer and cost them more ducats, than to just trade with us. A good trading income would allow me to implement more reforms.

I had a lot of plans and ideas for my future rule, but right now they were just that. Simple plans and ideas. I would need time, skill and a bit of luck if all of them should be implemented.

Another thing, that did happen was our visit to the bathhouse. We went there with five people shortly after the meeting. Alaric, Aellelorn, Anaitis, Brizo and me. It was not the best idea to visit the thermal bath with a couple.

I had sat across Alaric in the bath and tried to have a normal conservation with my friend. Alas, Aellelorn decided to have a magic tug of war against his girlfriend. He tried to move the steam away from Anaitis.

She did the same as well. The steam moved back and forth. They also cooled and heated up the water again and again. It really ruined the experience, but the couple just ignored us and had fun with themselves.

Their laughter and playful fighting only stopped when Brizo had enough. She materialized an Ice spike under both of them. They both shrieked and complained about the pain in their butt. It was the moment where I and Alaric had the most fun.

The rest of the time Brizo would wave me to her every time I looked in her direction. I also noticed that the steam was less dense where she was. My mana sight told me it was her doing. I tried to ignore the naiad, which behaved more like a siren in my eyes and talked with Alaric about his training.

My friend was trained with private tutors employed by his father. Besides close combats with all kinds of weapons, he learned a lot about politics and negotiations. He also learned the basics of others topics, statecraft and generalship amongst other things. It made me more sure to keep Alaric as my closest adviser instead of a simple bodyguard.

I also questioned myself, if Alaric’s father planned the education of his son so that he could become my adviser.

We left the thermal bath after a few hours.

I used the last week to prepare myself for Alexandria. I spent more time with the family and friends. Bought some useful items for my studies there. A few empty books, feathers and a lot of ink. And asked my teacher about all the thing he knew about the city and its library.

Soon my first journey in a foreign land would begin.