Chapter 29
The next week passed rapidly.
From one perspective, nothing of interest happened. The kingdom trundled along. The cold of fall settled in as winter approached. Rys’s subordinates progressed their plans, but no fireworks went off and nothing public happened to give away what was to come.
At the same time, it was an eventful week for Rys. He spent a lot of time inside with Alsia, and a lot of time inside Alsia. Despite her lack of experience, she was nothing if not enthusiastic.
Given the chance, she’d ride him all day long.
The only reason she hadn’t was that Maria tended to physically drag Alsia out of the bedroom. Neither she nor Fara made any effort to hide their jealousy, as they lacked access to Rys while he continued to take the conception medicine. He had been serious when he said he didn’t want a litter of children just yet.
Although he noted the depth of the jealousy on show. Perhaps his ladies hadn’t been completely honest when he had asked them about pregnancy earlier.
But now it was time for a break, for several reasons.
“Are you certain it worked?” Alsia asked, rubbing her belly as they walked toward the war room.
“No. The magic of the drug allows me to control many parameters of my seed, but I don’t have any magical way to make your body bear a child. Terrible things tend to happen when magic is used to directly alter somebody’s body, let alone using it for reproduction,” he explained.
“I’ve heard a little about the dangers of human enchantment,” she said. “What about your body? Is that why you need magical assistance?”
He chuckled and paused, staring out one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the corridor. “No. Lacrissa didn’t enchant my old body. She rebuilt me from scratch. It’s a lost art of devils these days—known as fleshcrafting. I doubt there are more than a handful of devils capable of it.”
Ariel, Malusian, Lacrissa, and likely Darus. Asa had never bothered to learn it. Rys didn’t count the Archdevil Kauros, given the creepy bastard was supposedly sealed away.
Of those four devils, Rys knew that Malusian was pretty awful at it. Fleshcrafting was more about art than raw ability and power.
Lacrissa had sculpted Rys’s new body over the course of decades, patiently controlling mental side-effects and breakdowns as they happened.
For that reason, he barely remembered any of his memories from when he had his old body. The process was akin to reincarnation. Lacrissa had come close to destroying his mind utterly too many times, and she was likely the most talented fleshsculptor he had met.
“Your face suggests it is not pleasant,” Alsia said. She placed a hand against his cheek.
“Power comes at a price. I gained a lot due to this body—I don’t age, can channel more magical power, am physically stronger and tougher, and of course I didn’t look this good before. But the price is, ironically, something I can’t truly remember.” His eyes hardened.
Alsia brushed his cheek again. In response, he held her hand.
“You don’t need to worry,” he said with a smirk. “We’re talking about ancient history. I was like this when the world nearly ended.”
“But the drug you created can undo some of the negative effects?” she asked.
“It’s more accurate to say that I’m altering my body with it. My flesh is magical in nature, so it responds well to spells, unlike normal human bodies.” He peeled her hand off him. “You should get that daughter you want, but we’ll try again later.”
The two of them resumed their walk.
“You seem rather knowledgeable about this for someone who hasn’t done it before,” Alsia noted.
“I had to research all of this from scratch,” he said. “Although I get the feeling I knew more about my body before.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing good, I imagine. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m something of a homunculus.” He laughed at the shocked face she made. “I’m a human given an artificial body, with a soul full of holes and a magical essence corrupted by infernal energies.”
Not to mention Azrael’s interference with his soul and emotions. When people talked about wearing masks to hide their true selves, Rys couldn’t help but laugh.
Did he even have a true self, when his mind and emotions had been warped beyond recognition by magic?
He did have desires, and he defined himself with those. Duar had been willing to give Rys his blessing when they had spoken in that recreation of Ruathym, after all.
That was enough for Rys.
The doors to the war room stood before them. Rys pushed them open while Alsia dwelled on his words.
Inside, the rest of his cabinet busied themselves. As always, refreshments had been laid out on one side of the room.
Unlike usual, people actually picked at the food. Mina and Vallis stood next to each other, picking at the bite-sized morsels in front of them while chatting.
Grigor and Fara stood beside the map table, which was covered in figures. Tyrisa scribbled in a tome in one corner of the room. Presumably, she had already handed out notes and recording crystals.
“We’re just waiting on Maria?” Rys asked as he entered.
“I’m here,” came an out-of-breath voice from behind them.
Maria held her hands against her knees as she caught her breath in the doorway. She smiled at Rys before slipping inside and closing the door. After stealing a kiss, she dragged him toward the food.
Alsia followed with a placid expression. The duo already at the table shuffled over, Mina’s tails rubbing against Rys. Fara shot him a glance, but nothing more.
“The food’s improved,” he noted.
Before, most of the food had been simple sandwiches, boiled eggs, and a variety of meats. Hearty stuff, but very boring.
Today, the spread looked like genuine canapes for nobles. Vol-au-vents with a variety of meaty, saucy fillings; nearly perfect finger sandwiches; various aged cheeses and gamey meats; and what looked like trimmed slices of pork belly and apple sauce.
“Some of the newest servants worked in the Federation,” Alsia explained.
Mina paused, a vol-au-vent loaded with smoked fish halfway to her mouth. Her eyes darted between everyone.
“They’ve been vetted,” Vallis said drily. “Also, the Lilim test the food we eat.”
“But not Rys’s food?” Mina asked.
“Mary said something about how she’ll start when he asks her to.” Vallis gave him a look. “Will you ask?”
“If I find a poison that affects me, that just means I need to develop a proper countermeasure. I don’t like relying on others for my personal safety,” Rys said, hoeing into the pork belly.
The crackling was the best part, and he made a note to request more difficult dishes in the future. He had servants who could cook now.
After they ate their fill, each of them tottered over to the map table with cups of coffee. Tyrisa finally joined them.
“The crystals have images of Avolar’s forces, what we know of their planning, and even of some League mages,” Tyrisa explained.
Mina shot the knowledge devil a look. “My agents gathered the information. I can explain it.”
The two glared at each other, causing Vallis to rub the bridge of her nose. “It’s background info, right? Avolar’s preparing to march south during winter and we need to be ready to stop them.”
“More or less,” Mina said, hiding her pout. “Avolar has reinforced their standing army with green recruits, rushed large amounts of shitty weapons from untrained smiths, and are pushing their food supplies to the limits. Hyrie—my succubus—doesn’t think they’ll even have the food to last winter if we cut them off completely.”
“Have we cut them off?” Fara asked.
Vallis shook her head. “No. We’ve increased fees and tariffs, as well as offered better prices for food from Lapisloch. Avolar have been slow to upgrade their port, and the Federation haven’t stepped in to help. Running the numbers, they’ve imported half the food they did last year.”
“The Federation must be pressuring them to join,” Alsia noted. “The fact that Avolar hasn’t in the fact of destruction must be what Hanna alluded to. The Circle of Brethren must be suspicious.”
“Are there signs of the League exporting food?” Rys asked.
“They’ve refused to, arguing that they’re running lean as well due to the trade embargo,” Mina said.
“And?”
She smirked. “It’s not true. The Haunts have confirmed that the League have significant food supplies. Although they haven’t been able to find out how they’re transporting other supplies north.”
“Have they found out anything?” Vallis asked, frustration leaking into her voice.
“Chief Enforcer Mave appears to be assisting Avolar now. I’ve heightened awareness of his intelligence network, but it’s difficult to openly act against Gorgria.” Mina frowned. “Until we know how the League are moving around, we should assume the worst.”
“That they’re either using an extensive smuggling network, or have some means we can’t observe,” Fara said. “Any word from Nia?”
Mina shook her head.
“Let’s step back for a moment,” Rys said. “The political situation is complicated. I think we need to make sure everyone is on the same page.”
All eyes turned to him, as if waiting for him to explain it.
Of course.
“The Malus League are the real threat, but are wary of moving against me because they don’t know how powerful I am,” he explained. “The archipelago blocks trade from them, so they need a patsy to launder everything through.”
Vallis nodded. “Tarmouth is the only port large enough to service the massive ships that sail between the continents. Smaller ones stop at the Royal Gorgrian Kingdom, but nothing big likes to enter the archipelago itself.”
She drew a line across the narrow channels that barred entrance to the central islands. Then her hand moved east, to the desert islands.
“They also don’t like going east, due to the wind that destroys life and ships,” she continued. “And the far north tends to have more dangerous bays and seas. So Kavolara ended up being the natural port, and Tarmouth controls all trade in and out of the archipelago.”
“And the League want to conquer Tarmouth,” Rys said. “This pits the rest of the archipelago against them. For whatever reason, Avolar have decided to work with the League, however. Maybe out of fear. Or perhaps just a desire for power. Unfortunately, we don’t know why Pharos is supporting the League.”
“The Gold Clan, not Pharos,” Mina corrected. “Only one clan of foxes is probably working with them. I can’t imagine Imira openly intervening in regional politics like this.”
“The Archon of the Imperial Court of Pharos, right?” Vallis asked.
“Yes. She’s…” Mina hesitated.
“An incredibly powerful fox who forsook her clan, the Six-Star Alliance, and has represented the Imperial Court ever since. Her portfolio includes all foreign matters. She enforces the Emperor’s decree to keep Pharos remain isolated from the rest of the world, while ensuring they are not caught unprepared,” Fara said.
Everybody looked at each other.
“I thought you said she wasn’t a fox?” Rys asked.
“She’s what is known as a havoc fox,” she explained.
What a strange term. Rys checked on the translation that his Gift provided and froze.
“I can’t say I like that name,” he said. “Is that really what she’s called in your own language?”
Fara and Mina stared at him with wide eyes.
“I thought so,” he muttered. “I guessed she used astral power, but this only confirms it. We’ll talk about this later, so that I can determine what sort of threat she is.”
“Why is she a threat?” Fara blurted out.
“Because a divine being called a ‘chaos fox’ sounds far too much like something from Pandemonium for my liking,” he said flatly. “I’ve fought the panoleth before, and this is potentially more evidence that they’ve somehow survived the Cataclysm. But like I said, it’s not important right now.”
Harrium had survived the last couple of millennia with whatever was going on. It could survive a little longer without him poking the hornet’s nest that might be whatever the archangels did to end the Cataclysm.
“So there’s a triangle to draw between the Malus League, Avolar, and the Gold Clan,” Rys said, continuing the explanation. “That gives us a lot of enemies and fewer allies than I’d like.”
“Avolar’s forces are too weak to truly threaten us,” Grigor said, finally intervening in the conversation.
“Maybe. But what happens if the League attacks from the south while we’re busy?” Rys pressed.
“Would they have the freedom to do so?” Grigor tapped the Royal Gorgrian Kingdom to the south. “They fight through proxies precisely because the RGK will destroy them if they over-commit themselves. This is like the Eternal Game—no player can act decisively, out of fear of being eliminated while their back is showing.”
A good comparison. Ariel and Malusian had avoided open confrontation for millennia because even any victory would be a Pyrrhic one. In the aftermath, another infernal could easily slay the victor and take the crown for themselves.
The same applied here. Nobody wanted to act openly, out of fear of being crushed when weakened.
If the League attacked Rys, then the other powers in the archipelago might seize the opportunity to erase them from existence. Avolar couldn’t fight Rys openly, because even if they won, the Federation could swoop in and crush them.
Which was a genuine problem.
“We’ve overlooked the Federation,” he said suddenly.
Alsia shook her head. “They are tied up in multiple wars and are unlikely to attack us openly.”
“Why? If they’re willing to invade Avolar, why not us?” Vallis asked.
“The Circle of Brethren has shown their hand.” Alsia paused for a moment. “As odd it sounds, they have backed us in this conflict. Without their support, my dains could never have recovered from the corruption. But they also have refused to support Avolar or request that I halt the war.”
“I’m not sure I could imagine a situation more mired in politics,” Fara muttered.
“Nations are often held in equilibrium,” Rys noted. “But what it truly means is that we are free to fight Avolar. If the League moves against us, we can seek external support.”
“The fight will be the easy part,” Grigor said.
He waved a hand over the figures on the map. There were a lot more than Rys expected, although Avolar significantly outnumbered his army.
“I can’t help but notice that we have fewer troops,” Maria said with a wry smile. “Is there something you’re hiding, Grigor?”
“No.” The demon prince snorted. “We have talent and ability, where they have numbers. Their standing army is strong, but no match for our infernals. But their green recruits? Peasants who barely know how to hold a spear.”
“We haven’t been recruiting much,” Vallis said.
“I have favored sustainable training and high quality equipment over numbers, at least for now,” Grigor explained. “Once we have a core of veteran soldiers, we can use them to train and support a larger base of recruits. My time in the Empire taught me that armies of recruits shatter like poorly crafted glass.”
“Just remember that this isn’t the Empire,” Rys said. “The League will have significantly greater resources, especially with those mass-produced mage-knights of theirs.”
Mage-knights were soldiers in magical equipment produced en masse by magitech. Rys had run into them in their battle against the League, and they had been far more dangerous than others had told him they would be.
“True. But that is what strategy is about.” Grigor grinned.
“I take it you have something in mind,” Rys said. “I can always rely on you as general.”
The demon prince paused, then lowered his head. “You are the general, Rys. But yes, I have a plan. Move our forces into Lapisloch now, before the route is cut off. Then we shall lure in Avolar’s force, who are desperate for the food stores there.”
A vicious grin crossed Grigor’s maw. “With a single blow, we will strike from behind and remove their head. They will be unable to retreat, and their supply lines will be severed. It shall be a simple victory, but a glorious one.”