Spear of Destiny

by James Osiris Baldwin

  “How good to ssssee you again, Your Grace,” Taethawn purred, sweeping into a bow in front of the dais. He had the thick musical accent common to Meewfolk who had emigrated from their island homeland to the mainland of Artana. “I had heard rumorsss of your untimely demise. Those tales were exaggerated, I see.”

  “Just a little bit. I was out hunting down your pay,” I said. “According to Mr. Kingdom Management System here, we owe you two weeks of back pay after clearing out Vyeshniki for us. Good work, and thanks.”

  “Oh, believe me, it was our pleasure.” He gave me a slow-eyed squint, just like a pleased cat. “It is not often we can engage an enemy that is so dessserving of punissshment. My men were able to make a fitting example out of the bandit leader, to the delight of the Alderman of Vyessshniki.”

  “Good to hear. Do you have enough men to rotate out for a second house-cleaning campaign?” I asked. “We need to retake Bas County, also in the south of the province.”

  The Meewfolk made a show of thinking about it, pacing back and forth with his tail lashing. “It dependsss how many men you require. We have been campaigning for monthsss. My infantry and light cavalry are exhausted, and require at least another week of rest to heal injuriesss and regain energy and morale. I have little more than specialist unitsss available for deployment: a few hundred elite infantry, some heavy cavalry, bombardiersss.”

  “How many all up?”

  He shrugged. “Perhapsss eight hundred.”

  I frowned, tapping my lip. The Royal troops Ignas had sent with us were still relatively fresh, but that still only gave us just three thousand soldiers.

  “Eight hundred might be all we need. We’re hoping the scouts that Suri sent return tonight. Solonovka isn’t too far by air, so we should know within a day or two. I’ll tell you what: I’ll pay your back pay and cover the Company for another two weeks regardless of how many you can field, but keep those eight hundred soldiers ready to deploy. Suit you?”

  Vash, who had taken position to the left of the throne, shot me a curious glance.

  “Cover... the Company?” Taethawn arched his tail into a curious question-mark shape. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly, your Grace. You mean the entire company?”

  “Yup. We’ll pay the soldiers for their leave,” I said.

  Taethawn blinked at me. “You would... pay them while they rest? Not just for the ones you plan to use in battle?”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “Well, yeah,” I said. “I’m not going to stiff your soldiers for needing to take some downtime. They get full pay while they recover. Why?”

  One of Taethawn’s ears flicked. I heard him sniff the air a couple of times before he cocked his head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Why?” I repeated. “Is that a problem?”

  His eyes widened, and he held his hands up, claws sheathed. “No, not at all, Your Grace. You are simply the first human lord to have ever made such an offer, without trying to... ahh... how shall I say...?”

  “Nickel and dime you?” I asked.

  “Yesss, Your Grace,” he said, sweeping into a low bow. “It is exceedingly generousss for you to pay my Company while they are on leave. Normally, we are sssimply ordered to leave the territory which we served, and we retreat to Sathbar and ressst. If the lord is feeling charitable, he flies us there... at our expenssse.”

  “Well, screw that,” I said, leaning back into my chair. “I’ll brawl with merchants over the price of wheat, but not the health of your men. Your soldiers will get their full wage during rotation. They’ve earned it.”

  He bowed again. “I thank you for this mossst benevolent offer, my lord.”

  [You have gained +350 Renown: The Orphans Company.]

  “My pleasure.” I gave him a short nod. “Once we have more money, I’ll loop you in on my plans for Myszno’s military. There might be a role for you moving forward.”

  “Your plansss?” Taethawn stood up, blinking. “A role?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’m only just starting to put the ideas together, but I think this province has the potential to train the best army this world has ever seen. With what’s coming, we’re going to need it. I want to modernize the structure of Myszno’s military. A defined Army and Airforce, a code of military law, and a structured system of merit-based command.”

  Vash, who had said nothing throughout the entire exchange, coughed a cloud of smoke around the stem of his pipe.

  The Meewfolk laughed, a nearly-silent hissing peal of mirth. “My lord... with all ressspect, if you do such a thing, you will need to hire me for the rest of your daysss—as your bodyguard.” He paused to grin at me, bearing two-inch long fangs. “You propose nothing ssshort of a revolution. War is naught but politicsss by a different name, and were you to remove military command from your fellow noblesss, they would become but pompous landlordsss. They would seek to kill you, or maneuver to have you disssgraced and exiled. You would make many enemiesss very quickly. Perhaps even your king, the Volod.”

  “Too bad,” I said. “I don’t think the Volod will be a problem: Ignas knows as well as I do that the Drachan are coming, and they’re going to make what happened here with the Demon look like a kindergarten slap-fight. We need to unify, we need to modernize, and if the nobility doesn’t understand that, the nobility can suck my dick.”

  Taethawn began to laugh again, harder. He held up a hand, shaking his head, and bent down to rest his palms on his knees.

  “I like you, Your Grace,” he gasped. “You are a breath of fresh air in thisss stuffy backwater. Should you do thisss, I shhhall support you on principle. But you will do well to watch your neck in the aftermath. There shall be many eager to lay their blade upon your throat, should you try and place the power of the military into common handsss.”

  “I’m basically immortal. So like I said: they can blow me.” I queried the KMS with a thought: ‘Pay The Orphans Company 25,730 olbia.’

  [You have paid 25,730 olbia to the Orphans Company.]

  [You have gained +150 Renown: The Orphans Company.]

  “There’s your pay for the last period, and the next two weeks,” I continued. “I’ll call you back once the scouts return from Bas.”

  “A thousand thanks, Your Grace.” The Meewfolk pressed his palms together and bowed deeply from the waist. “While my troops ressst, by all means feel free to call on this one’s services as an officer and ssstrategist. Your Vlachian troopsss are disinclined to obey a ‘cat-man’, but I can both see and smell your personal sincerity. For you, our fee is inclussssive of my experience, mrah?”

  “I’ll be sure to do that.” I smiled back at him and tried the slow happy cat squint he’d given me earlier in the meeting. He squinted back, tail lashing. “Let’s call it here. I’d like a written report on Vyeshniki. They’re not far from the border of Bas; it might be useful for review to plan the mission there.”

  “A report?” He cocked his hip and played with his whiskers, stroking them thoughtfully. “Another new concept. Very well. I shhhall do this thing.”

  “Thanks. That’ll be all, Commander.”

  “By your leave, my lord.” Taethawn had a noticeable bounce in his step as he sauntered off, slipping through a crack in the door.

  “What do you think?” I asked Vash. “Is he right? About my idea?”

  “Absolutely. You’re crazier than I thought if you think the satraps will accept a word of what you just proposed. Or the Volod, for that matter.” Vash replied. He leaned back against one of the pillars behind the throne, arms crossed. “With the exception of Lord Soma, the nobility of Myszno, no matter how well-padded their bottoms may be, are the descendants of conquerors. The entire system of rule here is based on might: the might of lords at every level to defend their holdings. If you take that privilege away from them, you might as well piss in their mouths, too.”

  I hadn’t thought of it that way. Frowning, I rubbed a hand over my chin. “But the system of vassalage i
s so fucking inefficient. Once the Dragon Gates are open, we’re looking at fighting the Drachan and their minions on a global scale. How the fuck am I supposed to ‘unite the peoples of Archemi’ if the lords of one nation can’t commit to forming a standardized military? Maybe I could win them over? If we have high enough Renown-”

  “Renown works differently for nobility,” Vash said, cutting me off. “Your popularity with your soldiers and the people is one thing. Your peers have to be wooed as individuals, otherwise, Lord Soma would be simpering after both of us based on your popularity with the people you rescued from the Demon’s rampage.”

  Damn. I’d forgotten that.

  “Politics is a rotten game, Hector. You may gain Renown with one Lord, and alienate another as your enemy in the process,” he continued. “Let us say you restore Lady Hussar to her seat, and she declares she shall support you. The Hussar family is loathed by House Vargan, in the county next door. The Vargans, however, are fond of the Turok family of Boros, with whom they have intermarried several times. Do you see what I am saying?”

  “Yeah.” I tapped the arm of my chair. “But the lords can vote on things. All I need is a majority of lords to vote for my plans, once they’re ready. Preferably two-thirds majority, to avoid conflict.”

  “There will be conflict no matter what you do. Those who refuse to join this revolution of yours will become your enemies,” Vash said. “So if you go through with this idea, you had best install bars on your windows and those of everyone you care about. Taethawn is wiser than he seems. Your life will be in danger, perhaps even from the Volod himself.”

  I sighed. “Of course it couldn’t be easy.”

  “Nothing worth having is ever easy,” Vash replied. “Except whores. And even then, the more expensive they are, the better they-”

  I held up a hand. “Not right now, dude. I do not need the mental image of you in a brothel full of women.”

  “Who said anything about women?” Vash beamed at me.

  Groaning, I slumped back into my chair. “Just go get the mayor.”

  Five minutes later, I faced the acting mayor of Karhad as he doffed his plain woolen cap and bowed deeply. He was a great big ham of a guy, built wide and solid. Vlachians were normally a swarthy people, but Alan Bubek was pale and pinkish, with a balding thatch of honey-blond curls that clung to the sides of his head like lamb’s wool.

  “Good to see you again, Bubek,” I said, once he stood up. “I’m guessing this isn’t a social call.”

  “I’m afraid not, Your Grace.” The Mayor wrung his hat nervously in his hands. “I am here because the Hospitalers of Veela have isolated a woman with a case of Thornlung Plague.”

  Chapter 11

  “Plague?” I unconsciously gripped the armrests of my throne. “Just the one case?”

  “Yes, my lord.” The Mayor bobbed his head. “The Hospitalers are trying to find out if she had contact with anyone other than her family, but with half the city in ruins and many still living in tents as the cleanup continues, it is impossible to know for certain.”

  Vash rumbled and shook his head. My blood ran cold. I didn’t know what Thornlung was, but I knew from intimate personal experience how terrifyingly fast and deadly an outbreak of disease could be. The HEX virus had torn my world apart in the space of three months.

  “Was our Patient Zero a refugee in the camps?” I demanded.

  “No, Your Grace. She is a tailor’s daughter, who lives and works at the cloth mill in the Riverside District with her family. It was left relatively unscathed by the Demon.”

  “Is the hospital in Riverside?”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “How is Thornlung spread? Air? Water?”

  “I... do not know, in truth.” The Mayor shifted from foot to foot. “I am no healer, Your Grace.”

  “Air,” Vash said. “It spreads from person to person inside of houses and other closed, dank spaces.”

  “Great.” I leaned in toward the Mayor. “Okay, Bubek: Here’s what’s going to happen. We shut down the entire Riverside District for two weeks. The only things allowed in or out are essential deliveries and wagons carrying medical staff. I want the district gates closed and guards posted on every street, in and out.”

  “Guards?” The Mayor squeaked.

  “Yes. I’ll send a couple of platoons to fill out your staff. Their job is to control traffic, stop people trying to enter or leave, and to issue cloth masks to people in the Riverside District and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods. Everyone entering or doing business in the Riverside half of the city MUST wear a mask covering their mouth and nose,” I said. “Man, woman, and child. Do you understand me?”

  The Mayor’s mouth opened and closed a few times. “Those are... very strict measures for one sick woman, Your Grace. They will be expensive, and will most definitely not lend me popular-”

  “Which makes it even more important that the District is closed NOW. Because you know what will make you less popular? Letting our citizens die of Thornlung.” I scowled at him. “And one other thing: the miller’s entire family, their staff, and the doctors who treated this lady? They’re to be confined to their homes for the quarantine period, starting immediately.”

  “And... if they protest...?”

  “Then they can serve out their two weeks quarantine in jail, and if they do have Thornlung, they get the best medical treatment we can offer. Once they recover, they can dig graves for the people who die because they couldn’t be bothered to stay home,” I said. “I’m not joking. I’ve seen what happens when people drag their feet over stuff like this. We crush this outbreak early, and we crush it hard. The Duchy will compensate workers in Riverside who can prove they lost wages due to the lockdown.”

  “Yes, Your Grace. There is wisdom in what you say. Hard, somewhat brutal wisdom, but wisdom nonetheless.” Mayor Bubek bowed uncomfortably. “But if the worst happens, and the plague spreads...?”

  “Is it treatable?” I asked Vash.

  He nodded. “Yes, if caught early.”

  I turned back to Bubek. “Then we set up an early screening system and arrange to have the medicines made and held in reserve.”

  “A screening service will be difficult without help from the university,” Mayor Bubek admitted. “The brightest minds of Myszno lived and worked there. Now, it’s full of prowlers and other riff-raff. People swear they’ve seen monsters inside.”

  “Believe me, fixing the University is on my Top Five Things to Do when it comes to Myszno. Until then, we’re just going to have to make do.” I slumped back into my chair. “Can you issue these as quests?”

  “Yes, Your Grace. One moment.”

  [Alan Bubek would like to issue you two new Kingdom Quests: Supply and Demand and the Vaunted Halls of Karhad University.]

  I brought up the HUD, and let the system narrator read the quests to me:

  New Kingdom Quest: Supply and Demand

  As the province of Myszno continues to recover from the invasion of Ashur of Napath, the cracks are starting to show. The capital city of Karhad is running low on food and medical supplies, and even worse, a woman has been isolated with a case of Thornlung, a contagious and often fatal disease that mostly affects young people. Thornlung is treatable, provided it is caught early and the right medicines are available.

  The de-facto Mayor of Karhad has requested that you obtain the following staff and medical supplies for the city:

  ● Healers [B-Grade or above] x 5

  ● Green Moss x 1500

  ● Valerian x 500

  ● Concentrated Oil of Garlic x 500

  ● Hyssop x 1000

  ● Iguanodon Bile Salts x 200

  Oof. Some of those ingredients were expensive. Still—I nodded, accepted, and reviewed the second quest:

  The Vaunted Halls of Karhad University

  Karhad University, one of the oldest institutions of learning in Vlachia, was an early target of the Demon in his hunt for the Dragon Gate of Endless
Night. When this city-within-a-city was breached, many staff were killed or captured, while others were tortured for information. Now, it is a ruined blight in the center of the city, walled off with barricades and full of criminals, feral animals, and worse.

  Enter the university, clear out the rabble, and salvage what you can. Not only will you restore the heart of Karhad’s economy, you may discover long-lost knowledge that can be used to help your people in the present day.

  Reward: 1249 EXP, 25 Build Points, Renown, Artifacts.

  Bonus: Rebuild the University (168,000 olbia) to gain more rewards and renown, and unlock special facilities.

  Sure. I’ll just rustle up nearly a quarter million olbia out of thin air. Nothing to it. I drew a deep, steadying breath, accepted that quest as well, and put the KMS away. “Alright. Is that all?”

  “Well, Your Grace. There is the question of my position,” Bubek said. “With the city in the state it’s still in, an election is not yet possible-”

  “Right. And you’re still acting Mayor until it IS possible,” I replied. “Emphasis on ‘acting’. You proposed an election, and I’m willing to go ahead with one after things are more stable. But we’ve got to get Karhad back on its feet first. Then we can put a call out, identify who wants to run, and you can compete against them based on merit.”

  He deflated slightly. “Ah. But-”

  “No buts. Handle yourself well and stop that plague from breaking out into the city, and you’re almost guaranteed to win,” I said briskly. “You can expect the herbs you need soon. Now, sorry to break this off, but I need to wrap up.”

  “Indeed, Your Grace. Thank you.” He swept into another awkward, but genuine bow, and toddled off toward the door. Once he had left, Vash stepped forward again.