Chapter 6
The war room hadn’t changed since last time. Sofas and bookshelves lined the walls. One side of the room was dominated by a massive table, which was covered by a map. Figures, notes, and recording crystals sat on top of it.
The other side of the room was for relaxing. Refreshments were laid out, and both Vallis and Tyrisa made use of them. The two of them had been in here all morning.
Grigor towered over the map in his human form, his glowing eyes staring down at it. Rys entered the room with Fara and noticed that neither Maria nor Alsia had arrived yet.
The moment he sat down, Mina popped her head out of a ceiling duct. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. She deftly swung down and landed directly in his lap, and he did his best not to react to over 100 pounds of fox slamming into his thighs. Although he did react to the way it caused her breasts to bounce around.
“Are you going to keep acting like you still have three tails?” Fara asked, exasperation evident in her tone.
“Does being an adult mean no fun is allowed?” Mina retorted. “Rys doesn’t mind. Do you, Rys?”
“That will depend on what your report is like,” he said.
“Don’t worry. My report will justify all of my playfulness.” Her confidence showed on both her face and in her voice. “Although I do hope you give me a more interesting mission after this. Some of the stuff I dug up in my spare time is pretty interesting.”
“Have you been that free?” Fara asked.
“I mean, part of the interrogation required me to let the prisoners stew.” Mina shrugged, and her tails began to curl around Rys.
He resisted the urge to stroke them. If he started, he didn’t know if he could stop, and he didn’t want to claim this little ball of fluffy excitement just yet.
“So, yeah, I had a bit of time to look into some stuff. I think it will help, especially with this letter that just came in,” she continued.
“Letter?” Fara asked.
Before he could answer, Maria and Alsia arrived. They were together for once, which was a rarity.
Both duchesses were demihumans and had horns, but that was where the similarities ended. Alsia was true Kinadain, for one thing. Where Maria was curvy, plump, and relied on her full figure, cute face, and very ample breasts for her beauty, Alsia had a well-balanced, lithe, and angelic beauty.
Maria had mid-length curly silver hair that required a significant amount of maintenance—Rys knew this because he had seen her take care of it in the morning. By contrast, Alsia was a warrior and rather utilitarian, so her blonde hair was straight, long, and untamed. She had been growing it out since becoming a duchess.
If Rys was forced to describe them simply, he would describe Maria as a cute woman with immense assets, and Alsia as a beautiful princess who could raise an army simply by standing in a field.
“Have we already started?” Maria asked as she entered, looking at the group assembled on one side of the room.
“Nay, Lady Maria, we have not,” Grigor said. He didn’t look up and continued glaring at the table.
“If we’re all here, then it’s as good a time as any,” Rys said.
He gave Mina a gentle touch around her hips. She giggled in response, but yielded and jumped off. Now free, he joined Grigor at the table. The others followed.
This assembly formed Rys’s cabinet. Grigor was his trusted general; Vallis, Maria, and Alsia his administrators; Fara provided trusted input; and Tyrisa took notes.
What role Mina might play was still to be decided, but she seemed promising.
“Let’s start with a status report. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve all gotten together,” Rys said. “Grigor, start us off.”
“Little has changed. The Malus League continue to reinforce their borders, but otherwise they pretend we do not exist.” The demon prince reached out and tapped Gravuskeep on the map, which was the fortress that protected the League’s northern border. “Taras reports an increased buildup in Gravuskeep, as well as additional construction taking place along the mountains. They are mustering for war.”
“What about our defenses?” Fara asked.
“We lack the resources to improve them,” Grigor said. “Our infernals are few, we lack mages to rapidly construct or upgrade castles, and we have no standing army. The closest we have are the professional guards of Anceston, under Lady Maria, and the elite Kinadain hunters that defended Fort Foret last time.”
“So why hasn’t the League crushed us like an ant?” Alsia asked, frowning.
“Because we spooked them with how rapidly we crushed Compagnon,” Rys replied. “The stories are far worse than reality, and nobody outside this room has a good picture of our true strength. To Archwarlock Maliah, I’m a powerful infernalist with an unknown number of demons, unknown magical associates, and the allegiance of the locals. Not to mention that if he attacks us, other nations will invade the League.”
Rys hated to admit it, but the only thing keeping his kingdom intact right now was an invisible stalemate in the archipelago.
The Malus League was a nation of pariahs. Formed by mages who wanted the freedom to do whatever they wanted, without regard to the morals of lesser mortals in Gauron, they had fled here. But they faced constant problems with trade as a result of international pressure and had attempted to invade other nearby nations to break the blockade.
“I can give you some good news,” Vallis said. “We’ve established very strong trade relations with Tarmouth and a number of major trading companies. The ruling council is very keen to keep us onside, so long as we remain an enemy of the Malus League and show no aggression toward Tarmouth. I, uh, think they learned their lesson from pissing off Maliah Jyarvic and nearly getting conquered a decade ago.”
“It’s a fair lesson. If Tarmouth had reacted negatively to my demons, I’d have to rethink my approach,” Rys said. “Unlike the Malus League, I don’t need to worry about the Gorgrians going on a quick holiday across the channel to sack my capital.”
The Royal Gorgrian Kingdom—known as the RGK—was easily the most powerful nation in the archipelago, save possibly for an odd little place in the north-west. Queen Faeris ruled the RGK, and her connections to Gauron enabled her to lavish wealth and prosperity on her people.
When the League had attacked Tarmouth a decade ago, Faeris had intervened to stop them. In retribution, the League had attacked the RGK a few years ago. The result had been the near destruction of Torfunburg, a major port city on the northern tip of the island of Gorgria. Faeris had fought off the League in the end, however.
“At least you’re honest about that,” Fara said.
“We don’t need to worry about it,” Vallis said, continuing with her report. “We’re still small, but the connections mean we can guarantee supplies and trade with Gauron and Pharos. Which is important, as we’re far from self-sufficient.”
“We grow more than enough food,” Maria protested.
“Are we going to defeat the Malus League by drowning them in food?” Vallis grinned. “I’m kidding. Don’t glare at me. The people are self-sufficient, but the kingdom isn’t. We don’t produce most of the crap that Rys wants. Magitech, magical catalysts, mages, weapons—I could go on, but I think you get it.”
“One of those things wasn’t like the others,” Alsia pointed out. “Are you thinking of importing mages?”
“No,” Rys said, intervening. “It’s too risky, given they would have strong connections to Gauron and might raise the alarm about me. But Vallis is right that we lack mages, along with basically anything magical. Most of our talented magic users are Kinadain, but almost all of them are hunters or similar.”
“People earn their living in the dains according to what they produce. Magic allows hunters to hunt better, and sometimes to craft better tools and weapons, but is otherwise of little use if you’re not a Sage or elder.” Alsia shrugged. “Even I was taught how to fight, despite being raised to become a Sage from youth.”
“I couldn’t disagree more with that idea, but I’ve seen the simple huts your people happily live in. Mages who can build fifty-story towers will need to come from elsewhere,” Rys said. “Anything else, Vallis?”
“Mostly a point of interest: I’ve noticed that we capture a lot of trade from Avolar,” she answered. “They have fairly specialized exports, and they import a lot of food, but I guess Tarmouth doesn’t have time for a small fish like them. Their artifact trade is tiny, and they lack any major trading companies—it’s just a lot of smaller merchants trading stuff through Port Mayfield.”
Rys’s eyes narrowed, while everyone else looked confused. Except Grigor, who nodded at Vallis.
“You’ve learned a bit from dealing with Compagnon,” Rys said.
“Mostly from listening to how you analyze and break down problems.” She rubbed the back of her neck and placed her other arm underneath her sizeable chest. “But yeah, you’re interested in Avolar, and this looks like a huge weakness. They’re a Kinadain-heavy nation, and their location means they’re not self-sufficient. We could cripple them with trade.”
The others finally realized why Vallis had pointed this out.
“Avolar has been friendly toward us, so far,” Maria said.
“Grudgingly,” Alsia said. She closed her eyes. “I suppose this is where I must speak up. There is growing discontent over my position, my relation to you, and your status as king. I feel that it is not genuine, but fomented.”
“It relates to Avolar?” Rys asked.
“It relates to the Kinadain at large.” A long pause, before Alsia chose to continue, “There are powers in Dalyros that dislike you. I am not well connected enough to know if it is the Federation or the Circle of Brethren that is responsible.”
“I can’t really say I care,” Rys said. “At least, not right now. But noted. If they’re stirring up trouble in Avolar, and the local elders, we’ll need to deal with the symptoms for now. We don’t have the resources to tear apart the entire archipelago.”
The Circle of Brethren were the spiritual representatives and governance structure of the Kinadain. Rys wanted nothing to do with them right now. One step at a time.
“Do you expect rebellion, or…?” he asked.
“No. But they need to be confronted, especially if we are to go to war with Avolar. In fact, I believe war with Avolar would be good. It would provide a distraction.” Alsia shrugged at the looks she received. “The hunters and warriors are bored, which makes it easy to rile them up. And a larger network of dains would increase the status of loyal elders, especially now that we’re granting land to individual Kinadain.”
“At least I can rely on you to coldly assess how to deal with a problem,” Vallis said drily. “That’s a good point about land grants, though.”
“Let’s stay focused,” Rys said. “Maria?”
“You know how the duchy is going. People are happy. The rumors and worries about demons have already died down, as nothing bad has happened. The tax changes have been well-received by the people who matter.” Maria smiled brightly. “Further abroad, I spoke with Queen Faeris last week. She does want to meet with you—or at least speak with you in person. I expect she’s interested in an ally against the League.”
“Anything from Kina Stag?” Rys asked, hopeful.
“Still nothing,” Maria said with a shrug. “Tenno Morai has always ignored any nation run by humans. If she is going to reach out to anyone, it will be Alsia.”
Everyone looked at Alsia, who shook her head.
A shame. Morai was the only person in the archipelago that Rys felt had the power to threaten him, even once he had his full power back. He wanted some idea of how she felt about him, before he accidentally stepped in shit with her.
But this was far from the first time in his life that he had flown blind while risking the wrath of extremely powerful beings. He’d cope.
Finally, Rys turned to the surprisingly quiet fox beside him. Mina had kept to herself, and the only sign that she was an anxious ball of energy ready to explode was that her tails were whirring behind her at twice the speed of Fara’s.
“Mina? It’s time for your report,” he said.
She nodded once, then licked her lips.
“I’ll start with the guild officers,” she said, her voice shaking with nervousness.
“Take your time,” Rys said. “I’m judging you on what you say, not how you say it. You’ll learn presentation with experience.”
Rys could groom a talented and sharp spy into a useful tool, but he wasn’t in a position to train her from scratch. He wanted someone who knew what they were doing, rather than someone who could bullshit.
After nodding several more times, Mina continued, “Almost all of Compagnon’s artifacts were coming from the League. They were selling them to some sort of cult back in Gauron that they had connections to. One of the officers was a believer and thought that the Labyrinth had a connection to the angels.”
She threw Rys a questioning look, and he shook his head.
“I’m fluent and literate in angelic, plus I’m heavily exposed to their magic. The Labyrinth has nothing to do with them, although the angels do have a fortress on the island of Malovik. It’s possible the cult got confused, but I’m certain that the two aren’t connected,” he said.
But it was curious. Compagnon appeared to have been drawn here by a divine connection, rather than mere greed.
“It’s useful info. Especially as the League would need a reliable source of artifacts,” he told Mina. “Keep going.”
“Compagnon were also forming connections up in Avolar,” she said. “They were basically a Malus League front, and there are probably League agents still active. But that’s not the worst part. I did some digging once I found out about Avolar, and it lines up with that message you got.”
Rys raised his hand to stop her, and briefly explained to the others about the cryptic message he received. Then he told Mina to continue.
“My home village is right near the city of Avolar, tucked away in the mountains,” she explained. “They know about us, and we buy food and supplies. But we’re not formally part of Avolar and don’t do jobs for them.”
“I’m sensing a problem here,” Rys said.
Fara rolled her eyes. “Quite a few of the local foxes do some work in the city.”
“It’s not that,” Mina protested. “I’m certain that there’s a Gold Clan handler in the city, but if that’s the case, why are they allowing the Malus League to operate there?”
Fara’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s… a damn good point.”
“Pharos disapproves of the Malus League?” Rys asked.
“Absolutely. And the Six-Star Alliance disapproves more strongly. Nobody can give me crap about working for you if the Alliance is supporting the League,” Fara said sharply. “Are you certain, Mina?”
“Ninety percent,” the younger fox said. “I checked with Auntie Nia.”
Fara swore. “Did you have to ask her something so damn obvious? Now I’m going to have to explain why we’re interested in Avolar.”
“I’m not that dumb, Fara.” Mina rolled her eyes, but her tails tensed up. “Remember, I just got drafted into the Gold Clan intelligence network. I bullshitted that I’m poking around for a new handler, because my one is a fucking asshole. Nia sympathized, because she loves her adorable niece, and maybe let slip some stuff she shouldn’t have.”
“Huh. That’s actually pretty devious. And here I had you pinned as ditzy,” Vallis said, tilting her head.
“What?” Mina spat.
“No fighting in the war room,” Rys said.
“Yeah, only sex is allowed in here,” Vallis joked.
He rolled his eyes. “More to the point, how did you find the time to run all the way to Avolar and back to talk to your aunt, Mina?”
She blinked at him, her ears drooping in confusion. “Uh, I didn’t? I used code to communicate using sendings and proxies. It’s fairly standard stuff, as the message canisters are rare. The village has preestablished lines of communication, although the codes and proxies change every month or so.”
“Canisters?” he asked.
“Mmm. For important communications, we use paired canisters to communicate. You put a message in, and it appears in the other canister. They’re one-use only, however. The magic burns out in the process. They’re about this big.” Mina drew a cylinder along her wrist. “They’re mostly used for priority communications. I was told that it’s often cheaper to replace a fox than to make a new message canister, which is pretty cold.”
“Honest, though,” Fara said. “Last I heard, they measure the total stock in the thousands, on a continent with millions of foxes. Ariko could replace you without much effort, especially with Rys around.”
“Oh, I reckon he could replace me even without Ariko. Right, Rys?” Mina’s eyes twinkled, and she pressed her arms under her tits, emphasizing her cleavage.
He sighed. “What did I say earlier about focus?”
“Right.” Surprisingly, Mina shot back to full alert. “The other thing I heard on the grapevine is that Avolar is advancing south. Something about a town called Lapisloch?”
Vallis’s eyes widened. “Oh. I don’t like the sound of that. I’ve heard rumblings, but nothing serious.”
“Okay, I think the status report is over,” Rys said. “Before we talk about Avolar’s intentions, allow me to make it clear that my next objective is to conquer Avolar. Any objections?”
Nobody said anything. Then Mina raised her hand.
“Um, do I even get to object, if I wanted to?” she asked.
Rys stared at her. “You said you wanted to be something. Tell me, Mina, what do you think you’ve been doing this last week or so?”
“Spying.”
“Is that it?”
She bit her lip. Then gave him a cheeky smile. “I’ve been trying to give you a well-rounded intelligence report, but it’s been difficult. Your Malakin are fairly limited, and you lack anything else. I don’t really think I can say I’ve done anything other than spy. But I want to say that.”
Rys looked the young fox up and down. What he saw in her was the raw desire to prove herself to him. She had done nothing but that since arriving here.
Right now, Mina made an excellent candidate for his spymaster. He needed a talented spy that he could trust. She had done everything he had asked for, and was begging to be molded by him.
At the same time, she was young, nervous, and inexperienced. While she had the talent, she would be prone to mistakes. In the near future, he knew he’d be able to replace her with someone who was technically better.
But on the other hand, couldn’t the same have been said about him in the past? Couldn’t Duar or Lacrissa, or basically anyone have replaced him? Hell, Rys didn’t need to give Grigor a chance, back when he was a baby demon trying to prove himself in a war.
While Rys could summon experience, he couldn’t do the same for loyalty. Most of his candidates for spymaster had problems, or might not be viable for years. He didn’t know how long it would be before he could summon Asa.
Taking risks was half the fun in life. Why not take this one?
“Alright. You’re my new spymaster. So, yes, you do get an objection. Do you have one?”
Mina froze. Her eyes bulged. Rys worried she had gone so long without breathing that she had passed out.
Then she let out a silly giggle and shook her head.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. “You won’t regret this.”
“See that I don’t.”
He looked back at Vallis. “Lapisloch. Explain.”
“Huge food hub and processor. They’re independent of Avolar and everyone else. Whatever food Avolar doesn’t buy from us, they buy from Lapisloch. The rest is exported to Port Mayfield,” she said. “Avolar have been trying to annex them for years now. This sounds like an invasion, though.”
“Makes sense if they’re worried about us. They must know they’re not self-sufficient when it comes to food,” Rys mused. “This all sets an interesting scene.”
The League prepared for war, but also meddled with Avolar in an attempt to pincer Rys. At the same time, the other nations of the archipelago wanted to work with Rys to crush the League.
The longer Rys took, the worse his own situation got. He lacked the resources and power to oppose the League. What he did have were powerful demons and his own magical ability.
Waiting and building his strength was unwise, at least regarding Avolar. The Malus League was a different matter. He wondered if the sender of that letter had known that fact, because it aligned neatly with his own goals.
“We don’t have the resources or time to build a proper army to stop Avolar,” he said. “But we don’t need to wait. What I need to do is gain more power, so that I can summon more infernals and handle the situation directly. Before I can do that, we need to deal with the undead dragon in the Labyrinth.”
Grigor nodded grimly, and the meeting broke up. Mina swiftly vanished into the ducts, while the administrator trio sauntered away together, chatting about some problem that Rys hoped wouldn’t land in his lap. As always, Tyrisa tidied up her paperwork.
A bundle of soft fluffiness tickled Rys’s back, and he looked to his left to see Fara hovering next to him.
“I take it you’re not too busy?” she asked with a welcoming smile.