Eastern Expansion

by Randi Darren

  At that, Vince laughed and kissed her firmly. “So? Son, daughter, doesn’t matter. You know first hand I’ve never put any care into gender. Why are you?”

  Blinking, the Orc woman looked away for a second, then back to him. “You’re happy we had a daughter?”

  “Of course I am, she’s our daughter. I get to see what a little Berenga might have been like. I’m curious if she’ll be as ferocious as you are,” Vince said with a laugh.

  Fes grinned and gave her head a small shake. “I love you, Vince.”

  “I love you too, silly Orc.”

  Vince could see the wheels in her head turning as she turned her thoughts to other concerns. Fes was always no nonsense.

  “What are your plans for the day? Elysia and Leila spoke last night. They already went through your packs and found the trade agreement. It isn’t enough. We’ll be three months short in the dead of winter,” Fes said, staring up at him.

  “Yeah. I thought it might be something like that. I wasn’t sure… but I knew it wasn’t enough. That really only leaves me with one option. Going to see the emperor of the West,” Vince said with a lopsided grin. “But that’s for later.”

  Kissing his Orc wife again, he drew his knees up against her thighs.

  “Right now, I want to play in bed with my beautiful Fes, but I might ask a Dryad to make sure you don’t get pregnant just yet,” said Vince.

  The time he spent alone with Fes was short, but meaningful. It’d been a while since they’d had a chance to be intimate.

  It was invigorating. Fes was always a struggle to see who got on top.

  After that he spent some time just holding his children one by one.

  By the time he’d arranged a meeting with the envoy for the Emperor, he even felt like he could get through the day without complaining.

  For whatever reason, the nursery was a soothing place to him.

  Elysia and Leila had joined him for the meeting. Thera and Eva were lurking in the corners. Otherwise, there was no one else present in the room.

  Not even Red.

  Before Vince could even begin to wonder if the envoy would be late, the door was knocked on twice, then opened. The ambassador who Vince had seen previously stepped inside the room. He looked as ordinary as he had before.

  Unremarkable and plain, an everyday man of middle age.

  “Good afternoon, lord Vince. I appreciate you giving me an indicator as to the topic of this discussion. It allowed me to prepare adequately,” said the envoy, bowing his head slightly to Vince.

  “I hoped it would. Please, sit,” Vince said, gesturing to the other side of the table directly across from himself.

  Ducking his head, the ambassador sat down and laid a messenger bag down in front of him. He opened it up and started to withdraw a sheaf of paper.

  Pulling off the binding clip he peeled it in half and tucked one part back into his bag.

  “This is a formal welcome from the emperor himself, signed, and without a date. It will convey you safely to and from his lands.

  “In addition, it also lays out what he considers to be a sufficient amount of honor guards for you to take with you. The short version of that is no more than fifty, but any races of your choosing,” the ambassador explained.

  Vince felt his eyebrows bunch up at that.

  The number felt like something that was debated over, but the fact that races were left open, and pointed out, felt deliberate.

  “The emperor understands perfectly well that you might have a few minor difficulties reaching him. The number wasn’t something he could affect, but the composition of the group was,” the envoy admitted, as if reading Vince’s mind.

  “I see. May I ask, does the emperor know of Yosemite’s situation?” Vince asked directly.

  “Yes.”

  “And did he prepare anything in advance for that?”

  “No, Lord Vince. He wanted to speak with you in person in regards to this matter. He gave me nothing to offer you. My apologies.”

  So the emperor wants to speak with me personally. He prepared the invitation and the path, but not the conversation.

  “I formally accept. My escort and I will depart within a day. You’re welcome to travel with us if you so choose,” Vince said, holding out a hand towards the ambassador.

  “Ah, no. I’ll remain here but I’ll send one of my deputies. Forgive me, but Yosemite is comfortable for me and traveling disagrees with me. I will also be sending out a pigeon with your answer, however. That should arrive rather quickly in Benicia.”

  “I understand completely,” Vince said, standing up. “I thank you for your time.”

  The envoy smiled and stood up. “I hope you have a successful trip, Lord.”

  Gathering up his bag, the envoy left quietly.

  “Eva, can you get everyone in here? We need to figure out who’s going and who’s staying here to defend,” Vince asked.

  The Wood Elf bobbed her head and slipped out the door without a sound.

  Leila sighed and rubbed a hand across her temple. “I don’t want to head into the human lands. There are a number of humans with… bad tastes that prey on Gnome women.”

  Vince couldn’t help but laugh at that, turning his head to eye the gnome. “You’re the only Gnome woman I’ve met actually. Are you normal for your race?”

  “Normal?” Leila asked, a dangerous note in her voice.

  “Well, you’re actually rather pretty. I’m not sure of what the standards of beauty are for Gnomes,” Vince said sincerely.

  The Gnome’s big eyes closed once in a slow blink, then she turned her face away to stare at the door. Her lack of a response was odd, but he wouldn’t press her.

  Then again, have you asked the same question of anyone else? For all you know, Fes is the ugliest Orc that ever lived.

  The door opened, interrupting his thoughts.

  In trooped Fes, Petra, Red, Meliae, Daphne, Karya, Blue, Red, Ramona, Eva, and Felicity.

  Everyone filled the room, taking seats or standing near the sides.

  “I’ve accepted the emperor’s invitation. I’ll be leaving tomorrow with an honor guard of fifty. I asked you all here to figure out who’s going, and who’s staying behind,” Vince said, turning his eyes on each person in turn to make sure they understood.

  Meliae frowned prettily and tapped a finger to her lips. “Almost everyone should be fine to go, though I’d prefer it if Blue and Green remained here. They’re struggling against your rather powerful seed to keep their daughters as Dryads. How long will this trip be?”

  “A month, give or take a few weeks. We’ll be running herd on supplies coming back this way I hope,” Vince answered.

  “I’d prefer neither Daphne nor Karya left either then. They’ll be far enough along at that point that it’ll be much harder to move around,” Meliae said, turning her face to Fes.

  Vince glanced at Daphne and Karya, only now noticing they were wearing much looser clothing than they had previously. Staring at each of their stomachs, he found that they were indeed now showing signs of their pregnancies.

  “I agree,” Fes said. “Blue, Daphne, Karya, Felicity, and Ramona will remain here. Everyone else is going.”

  “I admit I’m not the smartest man in the world but… won’t the children need you here to feed?” Vince asked carefully.

  Meliae shook her head and gave him a lovely smile. “No, Sweetling. All those Dryads you seeded have pushed their clock ahead. They’re all producing breast-milk already. They’re acting as wet-nurses in shifts so that everyone gets time to rest.

  “And speaking of Dryads. Mother sent six over to us. Two are my sisters, the other four are cousins. She included a note,” Meliae reached into her clothes and pulled a small folded piece of paper free. Setting it down on the table she slid it across to him.

  “You’ll need to have another night of seeding with the new ones. I figure once a month we can hold the ceremony. That way it doesn’t take over your calendar,” Meliae said,
her eyes flickering a faint glow from their depths.

  Picking up the paper, he flipped it open and began to read:

  Son-in-law,

  Thank you for the most recent group of Dryads. We haven’t ever had that many join us over twenty years, let alone just one year.

  I’ve sent over the first group of Wooden Heart’s daughters into your hands as well. It would seem that this will be a very beneficial relationship.

  I think it would be good for us to meet and discuss the matter of formally tying Wooden Heart to Yosemite on your next visit.

  Please bring my daughter and grandchildren with you. It’ll be so nice to actually see my offspring.

  Be well, son-in-law,

  Mila

  “How many Dryads did we send over?” Vince asked, glancing up from the letter.

  “Forty-two. There was a particularly large group that came over en masse from the far north. You should also know, the road will be done by the end of this month. We used the volunteers who wanted to be stationed there to help with the road,” Meliae said, grinning.

  “In other words… the faster they went, the sooner they get to sit in a grove full of Nymphs,” Vince clarified.

  Meliae nodded her head, folding her hands in front of her.

  “Right. Pack your stuff up, folks, we’ll be leaving sooner than you think. I need to go talk to Kitch about taking twenty of her people with us. I want fifteen magicians and five scouts beyond that. I’ll rely on you for picking out the mages, Elysia,” Vince said, turning his head to the High Elf.

  “I’ll make it happen, my liege,” said Elysia, flipping open her ledger to another page, scribbling in it quickly.

  “I suppose that’s it. This is our last chance to make this work. Everything up to this point has been a failure. We can’t afford another,” Vince said softly.

  The only other option is to exile people to spare the rest, and that’s the very last thing I want to consider.

  The very last.

  Vince had barely been given a chance to spend more than a week or two at home since his children had been born. The needs of his people were ever-present in his mind and prevented him from sitting idle.

  So much so, that he left the very next morning with his honor guard.

  Kitch had joined him personally, and had taken up position directly next to him. Her nineteen soldiers were four to a side, with the other three amongst the mages and scouts.

  Everyone was tense and high strung; there was little in the way of conversation.

  In truth, this would be more dangerous than heading into the deepest parts of the Wastes. In the Wastes, you were as likely to be avoided as attacked.

  The route they’d taken would put them along the north end of Modesto, and out west towards the coast. Benicia was southwest of old Sacramento.

  Moving ever deeper into the heart of the human lands of the west really was only going to get one general response.

  Fear and hate.

  Fortunately, the deputy ambassador was good at ranging out ahead of them whenever trouble presented itself. He had all the right seals, documents, and names to give them safe passage.

  There’d been several close calls with various patrols of the local leaders, and even patrols from the emperor himself. Everyone in the empire had gone on a high alert after it had been revealed how deep Al had penetrated into the heart of the empire.

  As tense as it was, it was surprising nonetheless to have reached Benicia without even a hint of trouble several days later.

  On arrival they’d been stopped miles and miles out from the emperor’s Citadel.

  It was a hump of stone, iron, and whatever else had been put together to form that incredible monstrosity in the distance.

  The emperor had a vast array of weapons that were pointed out in every direction from that ugly tombstone of death. Surprisingly enough, the newest emperor had only added a single layer all the way around of new fortifications. With each emperor, the Citadel grew larger, with more defenses, and more pre-Waste weapons sprouting out of it. Early in the empire’s history, there had been an attack from the Wastes in response to the crusades. After that, the emperor practiced a doctrine of being a turtle.

  After a security scan of each individual found nothing but traditional weaponry, Vince and his group were allowed to proceed.

  The last thing for them to do was to walk the road to hell.

  So named because it was the only paved boulevard to the Citadel.

  Chapter 24

  Vince’s honor guard had been forced to remain in an interior courtyard on the inside of the Citadel. The emperor was a cautious man and didn’t want to allow too many people in to see him at the same time.

  Especially armed guards that didn’t report to him

  It was something Vince could understand completely.

  Only Elysia and Leila had been allowed to accompany him, and that was because he insisted they were his chamberlain and his minister.

  He’d claimed, and accurately so, that without them he wouldn’t have the figures needed to hammer out a trade deal. Their expertise would be needed to ensure that the deal was made fairly and accurately.

  After that, he, Elysia, and Leila were led ever deeper into the Citadel. As they went they encountered countless guards and checkpoints. Each was armed with pre-Waste guns that had clearly been modified into something new and different.

  Have they begun to resurrect the tech? Most people aren’t even willing to consider working in the gun trade because making ammo is so expensive.

  Does the emperor actually have the resources to dig into that? Where does he get them? Or is it a cache, leftover from the pre-Waste?

  Why even have a talk with me about a trade agreement then? If he can retrofit and make progress, why worry about conventional arms?

  If the war escalates, all the emperor has to do is roll north and squash everyone.

  Vince couldn’t help but worry and fret over this whole scenario. Something didn’t add up for him and he was starting to feel itchy between his shoulder blades.

  There was no reason for the emperor to show a personal interest in him at this level. Not to the point where he wanted to see him personally for a simple trade agreement.

  “Calm down. There’s no reason to have let us this far in if he simply wanted to end us. They’ve had multiple opportunities,” Elysia whispered so softly, that it was almost as if she hadn’t spoken.

  Vince heard it though, as she knew he would.

  How closely did she watch him? How much did she know about what he could do?

  Or am I just that obviously ill at ease. I’ll need to ask her later.

  Finally, after enough twists and turns to confuse anyone without a map, they were led to a large arched doorway that led into a massive throne room.

  It had a distant ceiling that had been painstakingly painted. Banners and drapery hung on every wall. Weapons and knick-knacks were laid out all over the place in glass cases.

  It was a miniature museum, or someone showing off what they felt was worth showing off.

  Vince couldn’t help but appraise the whole thing and disregard the vast majority of it. The weapons were something he’d be interested in, but all the frilly fabric and pre-Waste souvenirs were worthless to him. Vince favored function over form in almost all things. This room was full of things of no value to him.

  Scattered throughout the throne room were guards armed with high powered rifles, all staring in his direction. On each side of the emperor were several women, all lacking in clothes.

  Everything had been placed just so. Even the women who were clearly pleasure-servants were probably chosen to capture the eye.

  He’s a very vain man who needs others to see his worth. Validation through others.

  Does he have that little self-confidence?

  A thick carpet that had led Vince onward towards the emperor eventually ended some thirty feet from the throne as it sat on its raised dais.

  Taking
that as the point he should stop, Vince did so, and got to one knee and bowed his head.

  Vince had no illusions about who had power right now. He could swallow some of his pride to get a better deal for his people.

  Pride was a fickle thing that could easily be brought back with time.

  His life? Not so much.

  “Emperor,” Vince said, keeping his eyes glued to the point where the dais went up two steps.

  “Lord Vince, I appreciate the respect. Stand, please. I wanted to speak with you shortly before you began to make arrangements with my ministers,” the emperor said in a high-pitched voice.

  Lifting his head, Vince stood up and met the emperor’s eyes directly.

  He was a small man. With small eyes and a smirk. Black hair and dark eyes and a thin face.

  Personally, Vince had no value for this man. His power was established on what his forebears had done before him, and he only held control through what everyone agreed was the promise of violence.

  “I wanted to thank you for your service in the north. Apparently, we have you to thank for revealing the whole thing before it happened. You even turned an army back on itself at Yosemite. You have our thanks,” the emperor said.

  There was a careful, casual caress that slid over his mind. It was almost so subtle as to be one of Vince’s own thoughts.

  Realizing what it was, Vince blanked his surface thoughts to only what he had been thinking of the Citadel earlier, and how the emperor had no need of him.

  That ever so gentle pressure flowed over and around his surface thoughts like water moving through sand. Sifting, burbling, sinking ever deeper.

  As quickly as it had come, it fled as soon as it had gone as deep as it could without becoming obvious.

  Vince felt his eyebrow twitch, and quickly bowed his head to the emperor. “Not a problem. I am of course a Ranger, and serve to protect the citizens. What was happening in the north was believed to be an attack by the wastelands.”

  He couldn’t even begin to think about what had just happened as he wasn’t sure what would and wouldn’t be hidden. Forcing himself, he pushed his mind back to the trade agreement at hand, and how he desperately needed to make this work for his people.