"Please, come inside, it's late and I'll have a room made up and some food sent up as well. I'll send a squad out immediately to ride east down to the coast and back, to see what intelligence they can gather and I'll warn my commanders to prepare for a deployment, once we have an idea of what's going on. Sound good?"
I nodded to Duke Eklin as he led us inside, "It sounds very good. I doubt we're going to be forced into anything right away, but Rachel is worried about refugees, as well as just what Stivik's reaction is going to be."
"How big is the army marching on him?"
"We believe it to be about eighty thousand, with two champions."
"I don't know what kind of reaction he could have," Eklin said thinking about it a moment. "Stivik's army is smaller than that, however, I doubt eighty thousand is enough to more than sit outside the walls and throw insults. With Barassa having a port, they really can't starve them out."
"What if they were to block the port?" I asked, curious.
"Well, if they could do that, it would be a huge problem for Stivik, but I don't see how anyone could do it. The river is too wide, and the port too well shielded.
"Where is the army coming from? I didn't think any of Barassa's neighbors could put together that large of a force."
I gave him the run down of the forces then.
"So, Stivik just needs to sit tight until the fall, when they'll probably all give up and go home."
I nodded, "Probably, but the whole time Stivik's bottled up inside his walls, they'll be wreaking havoc on the rest of his kingdom, and probably cutting pieces of it off for themselves. So he has to do something."
Duke Eklin shrugged as we stopped outside of a doorway to what looked like a guest room. It was late and the idea of bed after riding all day was rather attractive.
"His last chance to do something was after he lost the war," Duke Eklin said. "I think he's out of options at this point. Other than putting his family on a ship and sailing off across the sea and never coming back, I don't really see any options for him that don't involve his head on a pike."
"Agreed," I said nodding. "But better safe than sorry."
"I'll let you eat and get some rest. I'll send for you in the morning and you can discuss it with my commanders and me."
"Thanks, Eklin," I said and touched palms with him. I then I escorted Laria in to the room. Servants were already bringing in food, so we settled down and had dinner.
"I think I've been spoiled traveling back in your home world," Laria said to me sitting down a little gingerly. Several long days in the saddle was something she wasn't exactly used to.
"It does have its benefits," I admitted. "But I like the women here more," I smirked and leaned over to give her a kiss.
"So what do you think this King Stivik is going to do?" She asked. Up until this moment, I don't think she'd really heard anything about why we were even coming here.
I shook my head, "I have no idea. Like Eklin said, I don't think he really has any options. Personally I think he's an arrogant self-centered jerk, but he must have had something going for him to have been king this long."
"Obviously, Rachel thinks so," Laria pointed out.
I nodded, "Obviously."
"Then he does," Laria declared, "Rachel is very wise and she understands all of the other rulers around here very well. If she thinks he's going to do something, then you can count on him doing something unexpected."
"You think so?" I asked looking at her.
Laria smiled, "Well, she is smarter than the both of us. So yes."
"Smarter than the both of us?" I asked with a smile.
"Oh, surely you realize that she doesn't keep you around for your brains!" Laria said smirking.
"Oh really, now..." I started to reply when the door suddenly flew open
"Will!"
I looked up and tried not to face-palm. It was Goth.
"Is that anyway to refer to your father?" Laria said without missing a beat, bringing Goth up short.
"Who are you?" She said looking from me to Laria.
"Goth," I said standing up. "This is Laria. Laria, as you guessed correctly, this is my daughter, Goth."
Laria smiled and gave a little nod; Goth looked at her and bristled just a little bit, but then turned back to me and gave me a rather strong hug.
"I just found out you were here, Will, and I..."
"Goth," I stopped her, "I'm your father, and you will address me as such."
"But...."
"No buts," I warned her, letting my voice drop down an octave.
Goth "Harrumphed", but released me from the hug and took a step back. I hadn't seen her since just after the war, when I'd spent a few days visiting with her. With everything that happened after that, well I'd not had a lot of free time. Fel had spent over a month 'putting me back together' as I liked to think about it, thought really it was just more of a breathing space.
When I'd finished with that, I owed both Darlene and Rachel a fair bit of my time. Then there was Laria, Narasamman and even Tareassa. So, unfortunately Goth had gotten the short end of that arrangement.
"Where have you been, Father?" She said and looked at me rather imploringly. "You said you'd visit."
"I was very busy, Goth. I've been away from the kingdom for quite a bit of time, and when I was here, I was off to the west, taking care of tasks that Feliogustus had assigned to me."
"And, who is this?" Goth said looking over at Laria, "Where did she come from?"
I looked over Goth, again, I had to admit she'd turned into a good-looking young woman, and she'd dressed rather attractively, no doubt hoping to attract the kind of attention she wasn't going to get from me.
But for as good looking as she was, Laria was better looking. Laria's whole life had been based on her being attractive, and as she had started with rather impressive looks, even after a few days of travel sitting at the table she looked better than Goth did right now. Because looking pretty was really her job when you got down to it.
"I said, this is Laria."
"I'm his concubine," Laria purred, smiling up at Goth.
"His what!" Goth exclaimed, looking both shocked and angry.
"I was his reward for one of the tasks he was sent to do, of course," Laria said smiling. "Your father really is such an impressive male, so they felt they had to reward him with the best, you see."
Laria then just leaned back in her chair and smiled rather beautifully.
I grabbed Goth as she lunged forward growling.
"Does your wife know about this?" Goth said angrily.
"Yes, Goth. Rachel knows about Laria, she lives with us after all."
"What?" Goth looked at me shocked, and I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. "She, she let you have this, this tart and she wouldn't let me have you?"
I sighed and pulled her into a hug. "Goth, you're my daughter, I've told you that before. It doesn't matter that I adopted you, to me you're my daughter."
I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back a bit and looked her in the eyes, "Now apologize to Laria for what you called her."
"What?"
I just gave her a hard stare to make it clear I was serious.
"I'm, I'm sorry for calling you a tart, Laria," She said looking at Laria, and then looking back at me when she was done.
Goth sniffed then, and started to cry softly. "I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry."
I hugged her close again and patted her on the back.
"I'm sorry I've been away, hon. Life has been hard on me the last few years. Now, sit down, and you can tell me about everything while I eat."
Goth sniffed and nodded, then sat down on one of the chairs in the room while I sat back down next to Laria, who leaned up against me as I started to eat again.
It was a little strained at first, Laria was clearly staking out her territory and I don't think Goth missed the fact that Laria was younger than her. But after a while Goth seemed to accept the situation.
"So, any men in
your life?" I asked Goth.
"Umm, well," she blushed.
"You were going to cheat on your boyfriend with your father?" Laria giggled and Goth's ears went flat and all the fur on her face bushed out.
I was surprised; I don't think I'd ever seen Goth that embarrassed.
"Well you can introduce him to me tomorrow," I said to Goth. "I'm going to be here for at least a day or two, maybe more. Are you staying at the temple?"
"I'm in the building next door, with the other acolytes," she said, still embarrassed.
Finishing dinner, I stood up and went and gave Goth another hug as she got up and then escorted her out the door.
"I'll try to come by around lunch time. Say hello to Felecia for me, and Jane too if you see her. Goodnight, Goth."
"Night, Dad," Goth said and looking down at her feet she left.
I closed the door again and made sure it was locked this time, leaning back against it and sighing rather loudly.
"She's a nice girl, why didn't you just sleep with her?" Laria asked.
I looked at her, a bit surprised. "She's my daughter."
"She's your adopted daughter; she's not really your daughter."
"Did they do that back in Hidden Vale?"
She nodded, "She's not really from your family, so no one would really care all that much."
I shook my head, "Where I come from, an adopted daughter is the same thing as a real daughter. You don't sleep with them."
"I gathered from Rachel that it's frowned on in Hiland as well. And to think Rachel says you can't resist attractive women."
I grumbled a little at her, "The idea of sleeping with Goth really does not sit well with me. Maybe if I'd never had kids I wouldn't have made the strong association that I did with her being my daughter, but in any case, I'm definitely not interested."
"Well, then how about coming over here with someone with whom you are interested?" Laria purred, giving me a wink as she stood up and walked over to the bed, swaying rather seductively.
I smiled at her, "Now that I can do."
Four
Saladin - Marland Castle
"So there you have it," I said to the small cadre of officers that Duke Eklin had assembled. I'd told them everything that we knew about the army coming to attack Barassa, what we estimated Barassa's strength to be, and most of Queen Rachel's concerns.
"If I may, William?" One of Duke Eklin's senior officers asked. I didn't know his name, though I recalled seeing him during the war. I hadn't worked with Eklin's staff much back then, so I really didn't know many of them, except for Third Adams, who was now a second.
I nodded, "Go ahead."
"It seems to me that the real concern right now is dealing with any refugees that might make it across the river. I don't think Barassa has the will, nor the army, to come at us again. Further for the northern army to try it, they'd be splitting their forces rather dangerously and thus allowing the Barassan forces to sally out and destroy them."
"I agree that seems to be the case. However, by making a show of force on our side of the river, it should discourage any ideas anyone might be entertaining of future adventures.
"Plus," I continued, "as you noted, if we see a major flow of refugees, we'll probably need quite a few soldiers down there to corral them and keep them from flooding into the city."
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.
"There is however, one thing that worries our queen, and that is plain and simple that Barassa is in a desperate situation, and she is worried that they will act on that desperation and do something that may affect us."
"What could they do?" The same officer asked.
I shrugged, "I have no idea at all. Militarily and economically they're still smarting and still recovering. But there are two things I have learned in life: The first is to never second guess your queen, and the second is to never ever, ever second guess your wife."
I smiled as everyone got a chuckle out of that, while bringing the point home that it didn't matter what I believed, or even what they believed; I had my orders and we would all work to carry them out.
"So, what are your orders?" Duke Eklin asked, causing everyone to quiet back down.
"Tomorrow I'm going to ride down to that city we ran Barassa out of at the end of the war, what is its name?"
"Edgemire."
I nodded, "I'm going to set up there for a while, and see what I can learn. I'd like for a couple of companies to be sent down there as well. I'm not sure how big a force General Holse is going to send, but we should scout out some suitable encampment sites, not just for his men, but to deal with any refugees that we end up with."
"Second Adams, take your men down there, you'll be in charge of all our forces in the area," Duke Eklin said.
"Yes, Sir!" Second Adams replied.
"How long will it take you to get the men there?" I asked him.
"It's about a two day march from here, to the garrison there."
I nodded, "How big is the garrison?"
"We have a small company stationed down there," Duke Eklin said. "With Adams's battalion, that would give you over a thousand men."
"Good, I think that should be enough to start with. When the rest of the troops get here, I'm sure they'll have new orders for us." I looked around the table. "I don't really have anything else, Duke Eklin, would you like to add anything?"
Duke Eklin shook his head, "Other than to tell everyone to keep an eye on the situation, just in case something does happen? No. Thank you, William."
I nodded, "In that case, I'll see you in the morning, Adams. Have a good day, everyone."
"So now what?" Laria asked me as I came back to our room.
"We need to run over to the temple, so I can visit with Fordessa, check in with Jane if she's around, and spend some time with Goth so I'm not breaking my promise to visit with her."
"And after that?"
"After that I think we're just going to re-supply so we can leave in the morning."
Laria nodded and accompanied me out of the room.
"So, where are we headed next?"
"Further east, to a town on this side of the river across from Barassa that has a good view of it."
"And after that?"
I shook my head, "I have no idea what comes after that. I really don't want to spend all summer watching Barassa," I sighed.
"Oh, I don't know. That doesn't sound all that bad." Laria smiled.
"Trust me, when it starts getting hot and humid, and the insects are buzzing all around you, you'll be thinking it's pretty bad."
The walk to the temple wasn't a very long one; Fordessa's temple had been set up here long enough ago that her followers had been able to procure a building in the old walled section of town. Unlike the Tantrus one we'd trashed years ago.
"Greetings, Fordessa," I said when we walked inside and bowed to the altar. Fordessa may be the junior member of the pantheon she had joined with Fel, but this was her main temple, so I felt it only fair that I pay my respects.
"Greetings, William!" her voice replied, causing Laria to give a slight start. She was still far from used to the casual way I had with the gods.
"Felecia and Jane are in Felecia's office waiting for you; they would hear your plans."
"Thanks," I said and bowed to her altar again, "So just how bad has my daughter been behaving?" I asked in a much quieter voice, "I know Felecia and Jane would never tell me the truth!"
Fordessa's laughed, "She's only trouble when you're around. Otherwise she's well behaved and rather talented."
"That's a surprise," I admitted. "But a good one I admit."
"Well, after Jane had a few words with her, she became quite the model student."
"I don't think I want to know what happened," I sighed.
"Which is for the best," Fordessa agreed.
I took Laria's hand and led her back to Felecia's office. She'd already met Jane, so introductions were brief, and then we all sat down to discuss th
e situation once again.
"So, is there anything new that we know?" I asked after we'd all sat down.
"The army should be outside of Barassa's walls within the week," Felecia said. "They've been dealing rather carefully with the towns and villages they've come across. Bronsard and Yamland are expanding their borders into what is no longer Barassan territory, so they're trying to sow as much good will as they can."
"I wonder how well that's going to work?" I asked.
Felecia shrugged. "It's hard to say, all of these nations used to be on very good terms, which didn't get rocky until Barassa was forced to turn its eyes to the north in its search for new slaves for its markets. While King Stivik still maintains that the raiding parties that were hitting Bronsard's southern towns and villages had nothing to do with him, it's obvious that Bronsard didn't believe his denunciations.
"And seeing as he never did return any of the kidnapped people to their homes but instead allowed them to be sold off in his markets, it did make his words rather hollow. So the rest all decided they didn't want to be next and joined forces."
"I think it's more the prospects of easy pickings," Jane said. "Plus they're probably afraid that Rachel will send you down there to take it for her before they can take it themselves."
I nodded, "It would be nice. But from what Holse tells me, and from what I've learned over the years, it will be a while yet before we can take that city on."
"Do you think they'll succeed?" Felecia asked.
I shrugged, "No one I've talked to thinks they have a chance. Everyone thinks this is just an attempt to takeover some of the outlying lands."
"Then why even bother?" Laria asked.
"Because it will weaken Barassa further, especially if they can't regain the lands that they're losing this year. Barassa is on a downward spiral, if nothing happens to alter that, eventually they will fall."
"And if these attacks keep up every year or two," Jane added, "It will fall sooner than later. A lot sooner."
"Which is why Rachel is worried," I replied. "Stivik is a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. He has to know that if things go badly this year, eventually he's done."
Portals of Infinity: Kaiju Page 3