Chapter Fifty-Six

  “Do you know how many humans your son slew…?” Dominic seethed, the words hissed out like steam from a boiling kettle.

  “I don’t. I wasn’t here, and I have never been to the Holy Kingdom. I only learned of it from my oldest friend, who had to be the one to kill him. My son was a monster, but that does not mean I was not still his father.” Ulbert put as much sadness into his voice as he could, attempting to sound like the anguished, grieving father who had learned how far his son had fallen.

  Whether it was his charisma level or the fact that he called on his own real grief for his lost parents, Ulbert’s act brought the court out of his shock and into a state of sympathy, though he reflected that it likely didn’t hurt that they’d just been informed of the beastmen’s defeat.

  The somber moment hung there like a sword of Damocles over the ever more tenuous peace between the two Kingdoms, ready to fall and cut the thread and draw both nations into a war.

  Ulbert did not wait for Dominic to make it worse. “Given what my son did, I do feel some responsibility, even if it was not my will, therefore I will cooperate with the Sorcerous Kingdom in supplying aid to them, just as soon as our new lands are settled. By next season, I should be able to provide abundant resources in food, building materials, and within a season of that, money. A gesture of goodwill from my country to theirs.”

  “Your country…?” Dominic asked, a sinking feeling in his gut already forming as he asked the question.

  “Yes,” the Queen reached up and took his hand, “I have chosen him as my husband, he will sire a long line of mighty Emperors that will prove equally mighty vassals under a united Sorcerous Empire, once we formally apply for vassalization. After the wedding, of course.”

  Dominic began to sputter and shake, and even Cenna’s face grew grave. ‘The Kingdom is near collapse, the Holy Kingdom is dependent and is already calling the Sorcerer King a God… Baharuth has already yielded, if there’s a Draconic Empire too? Then we are utterly surrounded, even if we defeat the elves and enslave them all to the last infant, all that means is we have an absurdly long lived workforce that hates us while we are surrounded by hostile powers outside of us… that is not good.’ Cenna was calm enough to not form a lump in his throat that needed swallowing, but Dominic was dismayed enough that at least he couldn’t form proper words.

  “That will be the same day we also officially deify my husband as the… well I suppose he would be the eighth God, after the Sorcerer King.” Draudillon’s words were clearly targeted at Dominic, and the vein in the center of his forehead began to throb as he threatened to die of a heart attack right in front of the future Emperor and Empress.

  “That however, brings us to something else.” Ulbert leveled one of his knife tipped fingers at Dominic, “You and your companion killed a cluster of our soldiers, and you tried to kill a friend of mine. Perhaps you did kill him, but he got better… I don’t know how that works here yet… but either way, you have some explaining to do if you want to leave this hall alive.”

  “Cenna, guard me!” Dominic cried and went into a combat posture all at once, “Get me out of here!”

  Raymond looked at the cluster of children at his doorstep, listened to the ridiculous promise that could only have come from that damn boy… and despite himself he was about to turn them away. But that desperate hopelessness as if they could read his mind was so obvious on their faces…

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  He let out a deep sigh and his shoulders slumped in defeat. ‘Even so, it is out of the blue… maybe he sent a letter to his own home instead of mine… that is the sort of thing he would do.’ He turned to look at his newest acquisition, she who had answered the door and told him of the unexpected visitors.

  “Calen… ready the carriage, I have to pay a visit to the Tachoni estate.” Raymond said, and the elf woman bobbed briefly at the knees.

  “At once, master.” She answered, her face had the calm neutrality that typified elves, but she was brisk, efficient, and if there was a task in his house that she didn’t know how to do, it was because it didn’t need doing.

  Within a few weeks she’d taken to commanding and organizing all the elven staff of his household, and even the humans would not argue with her after her knowledge of impromptu poultices and alchemy saved five of their lives after a horrible case of food poisoning.

  All in all, the Cardinal counted himself a lucky man to have acquired her, but she was a curious mystery in her own right, with very little on her biography despite being at least two hundred and fifty years old.

  That however, was something that could be answered with time.

  Within minutes they were gone, the carriage rattling and rocking on the cobblestone road and six little faces stared up at him with silent expectation, at least their clothing wasn’t bad, it actually looked fairly new, and while they were obviously underfed, it was also obvious that they’d been eating ‘more’ lately and were filling out.

  What to say to them… well, if he were honest, Raymond had no idea. So he watched the scenery of the city roll past and struggled to think of something. “How did you end up with Cenna… the spearman.” He added after their faces showed no sign of understanding.

  That brightened them up a little, and the eldest male of the group explained what happened and how they were found, giving him a fair idea of what might have gone on, although the Cardinal had to read between the lines a fair bit to get the picture.

  ‘That is the sort of man he is.’ Raymond admitted to himself, full of boyish heroic ambitions as a child, and he had a weak spot for certain types, those with ‘the right face’ as he’d put it. ‘Whatever that meant.’ He shrugged it off as the carriage slowed to a halt.

  He exited the carriage and without prompting, the six small ones followed after him in a little knot of spindly bodies, limbs, and somewhat frightened faces, unsure of whether to get farther from him, or closer, they hovered just out of reach, but never too far away either.

  Raymond pounded on the door of the estate, it, like all the homes of the elites, was a sizable place, towering three stories above Raymond’s head, all the Godkin and elite scripture members were provided estates like these, along with a full staff of servants both human and elven alike… all to encourage the strongest of the strong to have many, many children. The servants were needed to attend to the brood the godkin produced, as the mothers were not there afterward to do it themselves.

  “Aye, what can ah do fer ye?” The bumpkin accent hit his ear wholly unexpectedly before the door even opened.

  ‘What kind of maid…?’ His thought trailed off as the buxom blonde girl with the bright green eyes in peasant dress, a laced top that didn’t do much to conceal her bosom, and a loose skirt slit up the thigh stood in front of him. “You’re not a maid.” Raymond said at once.

  “Nope, and yer not a giggilo, if we’re list’n things we ain’t.” She gave a bawdy laugh that turned Raymond’s face bright red.

  “Are you Cenna’s… mistress or…?” Raymond looked past her to see that indeed there were other servants working, some of them looked amused like they were trying to hold back laughter, it was a relief in a way, whatever the woman’s reason for being there, it was good enough for the servant staff.

  “If’n that’s a fancy word for whore, kinda.” She shrugged, “Listen, neighbor, I’m guess’n from yer looks an the fact that ye got them wee ones with ye,” she pointed to the little faces and Raymond looked down to see that they had sparks of recognition on their faces when they looked at the blonde woman, “that yer the one Cenna tole me to ‘xpect. So come on in, set yerself down, I’ll have some tea served an fill ye in on what goins on are goin on… what ye do after that, it’s up to you, it’s no never mind o’mine.”

  She then stepped aside and waved him into the house, “Name’s Vanysa.” She said.

  “Raymond.” He answered as he stepped inside the estate and the door closed at his back. ‘This is going to be quite an interesting day, at least.’ He thought, and watched the sashay of the blonde woman as she walked ahead of him toward the parlor.