by Eric Vall
“Are you ready, my lady?” I turned back to my future bride and held out an arm.
Alyona linked her arm through mine and smiled. “Of course, my lord.”
We made our way downstairs to the palace library, and I looked around the room and was surprised to see the dryads had not been exaggerating. Each House leader had brought quite a few entourage members to the meeting, though I wasn’t sure why.
The various Demi-Humans mingled in separate areas, and each group had its nobles, an accompanying lady, an advisor or two, and a handful of warriors.
I watched their interactions, but I didn’t greet anyone until I saw Nike enter the room.
“Looks like everyone is expecting a fight,” I muttered as I clasped his forearm. “Did I miss something?”
“I’m not sure,” he answered with a glance around the room. “I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at the party … well, other than the obvious, of course.”
I smirked at the reminder.
“Well, I guess we will see what’s going on.” I turned to the crowd and cleared my throat. “Lords and ladies, thank you for coming.”
The crowd hushed and turned to look at me.
“I would tell everyone to have a seat, but I don’t think there are enough chairs to go around.” I moved to the head of the table and gestured to the seat at my right hand for Alyona.
We both sat down, and the noblemen of the Houses followed suit. Then Laika slipped in the doorway and positioned herself behind Alyona’s chair.
“Where are Ravi and the dryads?” I asked her under my breath.
“I saw them in the hallway on the way here,” my wolf-girl lover whispered. “They didn’t feel comfortable being involved in politics, so they decided to train this morning.”
I nodded to her and turned back to the leaders. “I know this seems like a daunting task, but I guarantee if we work together, we can help get Tikal back on its feet and flourishing, just as we have done in Hatra.”
With that, the dam broke.
“How are we going to work with these--”
“They cannot see reason!”
“--idiots that--”
“Who are you calling idiots?”
“So full of themselves!”
“Enough!” I roared and slammed my hand down with a thud. This little meeting had already pissed me off.
The room came to a hush.
“How do you expect to get anywhere while acting like whiny little children?” I growled with disgust. “Everyone has fucked up over the last hundred years, so moving forward is really the only way to get anything done.”
“What Lord Evan is trying to say is that acknowledging the wrongdoings of all the Houses at this very moment is counterproductive,” Alyona cut in as she put her hand on my arm. “The goal, and the goal of King Rodion, is to help unite your people, so we can all work together instead of falling apart and allowing the Breach to consume all the broken pieces.”
I felt waves of calmness as she purified some of my anger. I knew she was right, and I nodded my appreciation to her. The princess was much better at this diplomacy shit than I was.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “Before we really dig in, we need to cut to the chase on some things here. We will walk to each area of the city to discuss these issues, and I don’t believe we need a sixty-person train to follow us on that trip. Does anyone disagree?”
The Demi-Humans looked among their groups, but no one answered.
“To be clear, I will work with the House leader, the lady of the house, and an advisor,” I stated plainly. “There is no need to walk around with all these warriors. We need to show the city that we trust each other. If you’re worried about outside forces, well, you’ll have a dragon lord and the Divine Maiden with you. I’m sure you’ll be safe.”
The nobles began murmuring again to their groups before Jai stood up.
“I agree, Lord Evan,” the jaguar announced. “I will be accompanied only by my advisors Raed and Jamir.”
Not to be outdone, Kinba pushed his chair back and cleared his throat. “I will only need my daughter, Aaliyah, and my advisor Kalem.”
Chax was still leaning over to Imani when he finally looked up. “Yes, Imani and Chidi will be accompanying me.”
I nodded in satisfaction. I’d suspected the lords didn’t trust each other, but we were going to have to get that shit out of the way now. We had too much to accomplish to worry about old fights.
“Great, gather up your smaller groups, and we will meet at the Palenque Temple in an hour,” I advised.
Then I stood up from the table and gestured for Nike, Alyona, and Laika to follow me to the hallway.
“Well … that was enlightening,” Nike chuckled.
“I think the actual fixing stuff will be fine, but we will have to keep a close eye on the emotional crap,” I muttered.
Alyona and Laika nodded.
“I think you were right to get rid of the extra chaff though,” Nike added. “It will make it easier to defuse any hostile situations.”
“Most definitely,” Laika agreed with a nod. “The more, the merrier is not a phrase I would apply to these people just yet.”
We followed the hallway out the front doors of the palace and were almost immediately drenched in sweat. The humidity in this jungle palace was ridiculous.
I stepped far enough away from the entrance to give myself room to transform as I shifted into my black, strong dragon body, and I almost shook with relief. I hated how much time we’d spent indoors lately. My dragon form was starting to feel claustrophobic.
“Can we ride?” Alyona called up to me.
I laughed out loud, and it boomed through the small clearing. “Of course, princess.”
Alyona and Laika hopped on my back with delight, and each grabbed one of my spikes to hold.
“I think we might do a little flying today, so care to join, Nike?” I asked.
“Nope, you go right ahead,” he responded with a laugh. “I’ll meet you at the fountain.”
“Suit yourself.” I shrugged, and then I took off with a jump and let my wings take us above the trees.
The two women on my back laughed, and I craned my neck around as I watched the wind blow Laika’s wolf ears back, and Alyona’s braid was almost straight behind her head.
It was nice to see two of my women relaxing, especially the two who did the most work for me and the kingdom we were building.
I soared above the jungle and then took them over each section of Tikal, from the grasslands of the cheetahs to the deserts of the lions. Each area had its own sections for agriculture and livestock, hunting and cooking, living and relaxing. Yet, each of those sections was similar to each other in design. The Houses probably had no idea how much alike they were, despite their feuds.
Once we’d hovered over most of the city, I worked our way back toward the fountain in the center. I floated down slowly, though, so I wouldn’t land on anyone dumb enough to walk under the giant dragon.
When I landed, the girls slid off my back and clapped.
“That was amazing, Evan!” Alyona cheered. “I enjoyed flying much better than walking!”
“I feel the same way,” I snickered as I transformed my body back into its human form.
Nike strode over to us and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Quite an entrance, brother,” he chuckled and gestured to the small crowd of Demi-Humans that had gathered as I landed.
I noticed they were whispering to each other, so I used my dragon senses to listen in.
“He really is a dragon.”
“Did you know they were so big in real life?”
“I’ve never seen one before, but I heard they hated people.”
I raised a hand and called out to the crowd. “For anyone who has yet to meet me, I am Lord Evan of Hatra el Shamash. I am a dragon, and I don’t hate people.”
“You’ll just have to let them see for themselves,” Laika snorted and shook her head as
the Demi-Humans continued to look unconvinced.
We continued to the fountain, where the three leaders and their much smaller entourages were waiting.
“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. We will start with House Jubatus and work our way around the main roads of the city. Sound good?” I looked around with an eyebrow up. None of them should argue with me after their little stunt this morning.
The three noble Demi-Humans nodded, and I gestured toward Chax to lead the way. Then we turned south and walked toward the main area of House Jubatus.
“As you can see, our territory is grassland, so we have some dry plants that we can harvest such as oats, as well as small animals we can hunt,” Chax pointed out.
“What about the harvest issues you brought up the other day?” I asked.
Chax stumbled and looked to Chidi for advice.
“It was just a misunderstanding, that’s all,” Chidi replied quickly, and he and Chax looked at each other before they glanced toward the other two House leaders.
“Oh, boy,” I muttered and held up a hand. “Stop the train.”
The group stopped to stare at me.
“Is everything alright, Lord Evan?” Chax asked as his ears twitched nervously atop his head.
“Imani.” I directed my attention to Chax’s sister, who’d been pretty straightforward since we met. “Which is it? You had a rough time harvesting, or everything is fine?”
Imani looked at her brother then stared back at me. “We have struggled with harvest. The edges of the grasslands are starting to erode to a more desert-like climate. Our herbalists say we have not been tending the fields properly for the amount of rain we have.”
“Thank you for your honesty, Imani.” I dipped my head, and then I turned back toward the rest of the group. “I expect nothing but honesty moving forward. I know it’s a struggle to reveal these issues in front of people who you used to consider your enemies, but they are no longer enemies.”
“Of course, easy for you to say,” Kinba huffed and pursed his lips. “You have the king of Rahma to support you. We haven’t had support in decades.”
Jai and Chax nodded their agreement.
“Lord Evan has succeeded in rebuilding Hatra from literal ruins, and that was before the great King made his appearance in their city,” Nike declared with a frown. “So, you will respect the work he has done and will continue to do for Rahma.”
Alyona bowed her head to Nike. “Lord Nikolaus is right. King Rodion did not know the work we’d done in Hatra prior to his appearance. In fact, it was because he saw how hard Lord Evan had worked that he sent us to travel Rahma and help other cities rebuild in the same way. He wants the best for the kingdom, and we have to work through the worst things to get the best done.”
“I think you have made some good points, Your Highness.” Aaliyah clasped her clawed fingers in front of her chest and looked pointedly at her father.
“Yes, I can certainly improve on the outlook I have presented for House Oel,” Kinba sighed.
I looked at Jai, who dipped his head but stayed silent.
“Perfect,” I said with a smile. Then I resumed walking and turned back to Chax. “Now, it sounds like we need to figure out some kind of solution for your agriculture problems. We may be better suited to discuss it with the dryads and the herbalists. My uncle Moskal is back in Hatra, and he is an herbalist as well, so I may seek some additional advice from him.”
“Ah, yes, we will open our minds to new ideas on how to better grow our crops,” Chax agreed.
We reached a side street and turned back toward the desert of House Oel, and then I motioned for Kinba and Aaliyah to walk closer to the front of the group and take the lead.
Kinba walked with his head held high and shoulders out as far as they could go. His golden robes were long and draped through the sand pockets as we got closer to the territory he dominated.
“Now, we obviously have been able to survive under our conditions--”
“Cut to it, Kinba,” I interrupted his noble speech.
Kinba cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. “Ah, we have struggled with keeping a steady food supply, Lord Evan. Sometimes we can hunt enough to last for months, sometimes we eat nothing but cacti and prickly pears for a few weeks.”
“This is nothing to be ashamed of, Lord Kinba,” Alyona said in a soothing tone. “These are the reasons we are here. The last thing we want is for Tikal citizens to starve because of pride or inconvenience.”
Kinba nodded his head but continued to look away from the group.
“Listen, we can’t grow anything good in the desert,” Aaliyah announced and rolled her eyes. “That’s just the way it goes. So, when we can’t grow good crops, the people hunt more animals. When they hunt more than usual, the animal population depletes for a while, and we have to wait for it to build back up. I’m not sure how you can help, but that’s the issue.”
She crossed her arms over her ample breasts and waited for my response.
I was momentarily distracted by her ferocity, but I shook my head and looked back at her. “I actually have an idea in mind that I believe would help with both the problems mentioned so far, but I want to wait until we hear from Lord Jai to announce anything just yet. Okay?”
“You don’t have to play games about it, Lord Evan,” Aaliyah grunted in response.
“Oh, I’m not playing games,” I laughed, and then I winked at the lion Demi-Human. “I’m more into hunting anyway.”
“I thought you might be,” she murmured, and her tail flicked around behind her.
My mind was filled with images of the lioness and her claws digging into my back when Alyona squeezed my arm.
“Jai, I believe you were ready to lead us to House Onca?” she prodded.
“Yes, Milady,” he agreed.
We turned from the sandy desert to head back into the humid jungle.
“We haven’t had a problem with having a supply of something to eat like Lord Chax and Lord Kinba,” Jai began, “but we have had an issue with one of our main supplies. I believe the river we were using has become polluted. No one can seem to cleanse it, not even the mages, and the water makes people sick.”
Alyona perked up. She was the best of us with magic. “You think it’s a magical pollution or perhaps something in the environment itself?”
Jai shrugged. “We can’t be sure, but it seems magical in nature.”
“I would like to see this river for myself,” the princess continued. “If we can purify the water, that would help with any issues stemming from water supply.”
I nodded to her. “I agree, if you can take care of that water, we may be able to use it for my other idea.”
We stopped at the fountain outside the Palenque Temple.
“Many of these issues are aggravated by how separate your factions are,” I began. “If Onca was low on water, they should have been able to ask Oel or Jubatus to help for a time while they figured out the pollution issue. If Oel or Jubatus were low on plants and crops, they should have been able to request them from Onca. Does that make sense?”
The leaders grumbled, but I heard some yeses in there, too.
“So, I think moving forward, the city of Tikal should host a bazaar day here,” I continued as I walked toward the temple. “We’ve already discovered it is big enough to host most of the citizens of Tikal, so it should support various tables and booths for trading items.”
“Ah, that is an interesting idea,” Jai murmured.
“Here, the jaguars can set up tables to trade plants and crops that have grown well in your jungle, despite the water supply.” I gestured to the north wall.
“Hmm,” Aaliyah hummed, but her eyes were intrigued.
I moved over to the west wall. “The cheetahs can bring meat from the smaller animals you hunt since the supply seems steady.”
“Not a bad idea, sir,” Chidi muttered.
“And here.” I pointed to the south wall. “The lions can bring cactus juice
and fruits that thrive even when your hunting supply runs low.”
“That could work,” Kinba grumbled as he twisted his mane with a finger.
Alyona grinned and threw her arms around me. “Oh, Lord Evan! What a fantastic idea!” She turned back to the group. “The trades shouldn’t be limited to food and crops either. If a citizen is great with the smithy or herbs or basket weaving, then they should be able to bring their wares as well!”
Her excitement was contagious, and I watched as the leaders’ faces began to light up with ideas.
“Great idea, brother,” Nike said with fervor as he clasped my forearm. “I think this will be a great start to rebuilding Tikal.”
Laika nodded her approval.
Jai stepped forward and took my clawed hand in his. “Lord Evan, I am excited to get this started.”
“I think this might actually work,” Chax agreed and dipped his head.
Everyone turned to Kinba to await the lion’s response, and after a few moments, he took a bow.
“Lord Evan,” Kinba rumbled, “I believe you have proven me wrong. House Oel will be happy to contribute to this bazaar.”
I grinned and saluted.
Now, to go talk to the dryad sisters and figure out what the hell to do about all these crops.
Chapter 4
I looked around the temple and congratulated myself.
The nobles were finally talking to each other in real conversations. The jaguar advisors were bent over a plant talking with the cheetah advisor, and the lion Demi-Humans compared their big game to the small game that Imani’s group had hunted the week before.
It was visible progress.
“I’m going to head back to House Onca and talk with the dryads about some agriculture solutions,” I announced to the group. “We’ll meet with each of you this afternoon with ideas.”
“I’d like to join you,” Aaliyah cut in as she stepped toward me. “I’m very interested in what these sisters can figure out.”
“That is fine.” Her father nodded his approval at the idea.
“Of course,” I agreed and held out my arm. “You know the land.”
Aaliyah looped her arm through mine, and then we walked outside with Alyona, Laika, and Nike following close behind.