“No one told me that the Countess had taken the Ogre Temple!”

  It was not, I felt, an unreasonable complaint. Ogre Temple, the other dungeon near to Talnier was bigger than the Forbidden Laboratory that I’d mainly been working in. Getting down to the bottom level and bonding with the core would have taken either a small team of high-level adventurers, or a larger one of soldiers. Either one should have been noticed.

  “Well don’t look at me,” Janie said. “I’ve been stuck in your dungeon all this time.”

  She looked around at all the others gathered around the conference table. My council of war, as it were.

  “True,” I said. “You’re off the hook for this one. In fact, out of all the people here that were in town, you were the only one that managed to achieve something. You managed to protect Rhis from… whatever it was the Countess had planned for him. So thank you.”

  I let my gaze sweep across the rest of them. Most of them looked a little ashamed.

  “The rest of you were either captured, controlled or politically outmanoeuvred,” I said.

  A couple of them looked like they wanted to respond, but it was Cheney Labelle, the carpenter turned Councillor who spoke up.

  “We failed you, Councillor.”

  “No, you failed Talnier,” I told him. “I’m not in charge here, you don’t owe me anything that you don’t owe to ever citizen of this town.”

  That wasn’t a lie, exactly, though it did ignore the fact that I was lecturing every town counciller, including the Mayor. I may not have been in charge, but there was a strong propensity for everyone in this room to do as I said.

  If that seemed like a contridiction, then one of the things that I said was that I wasn’t in charge.

  “Yeah, you’re all—”

  I cut Janie off before she could aggravate half the people in the room. I wanted them mad at themselves, not each other.

  “Don’t be so smug, Janie. I did notice that you weren’t able to protect my money.”

  I wasn’t mad about that. Really. I had a dungeon, I could make money from mana. I imagine the Countess was the same way. She didn’t need my money. She’d just wanted it taken away because it was a tool that I could use to unseat her. Getting my bank robbed had cost me reputation with the town. I could rebuild both my hoard and their trust, but it would take time.

  Time that we were wasting. We had mostly taken the town back. The leadership had been purge of false memories and had shamefacedly admitted me back onto the council. The false charges had been dropped.

  My bank was still shuttered. Janie and Rhis had managed to shelter two of my staff, but others were still dead or missing. The attack had come after dark, with only those two left inside. The intent seemed to be to make off with the money and close the business, making it look like I’d fled with the cash.

  That wouldn’t have worked under ordinary circumstances, but when the investigators had their memories changed a lot of things became possible.

  Unfortunately, after clensing the reliable adventurers and some key government officals, our priestesses were out of charge. They had a bit left in the tank for emergencies, but we hadn’t been able to do a full sweep of the town, or even the guard.

  For the most part, the town guard seemed fine. They’d believed the stories about me, and they believed the corrections when they came down the line. The Countess had been under a similar restriction to us. She couldn’t manipulate everyone. So she’d manipulated trusted people who then told people lies. All it took to undo the damage was to have those same people admit that their memories had been changed.

  The reason the town was only mostly under control was the defence force. They were recieving orders from people they trusted, telling them that I was a criminal that had suborned the government. They had pulled back to the wall, fortifying the front gatehouse and the tower, but also keeping any townsfolk from getting up on the wall.

  I still didn’t have my [Settlement Status] back, but I doubt Lady Rankin had access to it any more.

  It was a standoff so far. The only thing stopping violence from breaking out was that neither side had tried to do anything. Our plans had been stymied by my failure to capture the Baroness, and while she’d gotten away, it had kept her from giving orders to her men.

  At least for now.

  “We need to storm the tower,” I said. “I broke the portal so she couldn’t return, but all—or at least most—of her luteniants are there. If we capture then, we nip this coup in the bud.”

  “Can’t she just take the long way around?” Kyle asked.

  “Koenig has got scouts looking for her,” I said. I pinched the bridge of my nose as a thought occured to me. “Koenig, they are going to keep their distance and not get mind-controled, aren’t they?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I kicked myself for not confirming this sooner.

  “Aye, they’re sneaky bastards and they know what to look out for,” Koenig said. “They’ll be fine.”

  “So we should have some warning if she makes a break for it,” I concluded. “We still don’t know how she made it here from the capital—” I gave the room another look, irked at that intelligence failure. “—so she might have a flying device or something. We’ll still see that, but we’d get less warning if that’s the case.”

  “Unless she has an invisible flying device,” Cloridan pointed out—helpfully—“Or another portal.”

  “Yes.” I glared at him. “If she has something we don’t know about we’ll be taken off-guard by it. Happy?”

  “Not until I can have drink,” Cloridan said mournfully.

  “On the topic of things we don’t know about, she mentioned a contingincy plan, and I’m not prepared to assume she was bluffing. Does anyone have any idea of what it could be?”

  “You’re sure it involves the deaths of beastkin?” Tonet asked me.

  “I don’t see what else ‘furry friends’ could refer to,” I told her.

  “Then, it must mean an attack on Trade Town,” she said firmly. “That’s the place with the highest concentration of beast-kin.”

  “Ah… about those recent policy changes,” Mayor Michaud said apologetically. “Those were initiated by the Countess, and didn’t have broad support from the Council as a whole, but…”

  “Yes, yes,” Tonet said briskly. “I look forward to them being repealed, yes?”

  “Of course, yes, once this business is settled—”

  Tonet cut him off. “The important part is that beast-kin have been discouraged from staying within the walls. That makes Trade Town the most attractive target.”

  “They have access to Trade Town from the front gate,” Koenig pointed out. “Do you think it’s as simple as an attack from her soldiers?”

  “Do we need to assault the front gate at the same time as the tower?” I wondered. We’d be coming in from behind, so it would be a bit easier. “That does sound too simple for the Countess, though.”

  “We know she likes using alchemy,” Felicia said. “Expensive alchemy. Maybe poisoning the water supply?”

  “Does anyone know where Trade Town gets its water?” I asked the room.

  “There’s a river right there,” Cloridan said with a shrug.

  “And water-stones are cheap for what they do, and probably even more useful for a nomadic people,” I said. “Does anyone know?”

  “It would be a little of both,” Tonet said. “Most families would have a water-stone for drinking and cooking water, but they’d save washing for when there’s a nearby supply.”

  “So they’d be washing in it, but not drinking from it,” I mused. “Are there any poisons that work through the skin—” I slapped my forehead, remembering my own recent experience. “Of course there are,” I castigated myself. “Can any of them work if they’re diluted in a river?”

  “I mean… some?” Felicia said doubtfully. “I wouldn’t normally say it depends on how much she has, but she had a lot of serpentwine. I can test for a broad range of things if I go down there.”

  “All right, sounds like a plan.” It wasn’t much but at least we’d started doing something. “Kyle…”

  “Always,” he assured me.

  “Great. Tonet, can you send word to let people know what she’s doing? I wouldn’t want people accosting her, thinking she’s the one poisoning people.”

  Tonet gave me an unreadable look, before bowing her head. “I’ll send an acolyte with her,” she said.

  “Great. Now, who’s in on the assault? And is it one force or two?”

  “Aaahhh…” Koenig said. He pulled on his ear and failed to meet my gaze. “The Adventurers’ Guild… we can’t go attacking the King’s men.”

  “They’re not exactly following his orders, though, are they?” I asked. “Surely there are exemptions for units that turn traitor and the like.”

  “I suppose… if there was some kind of legal judgement in our favour beforehand? I’d have to ask Nadine.”

  “That reminds me,” I said with a sour face. “What happend to our judiciary? It rather looked like the Countess planned to hold the trial herself.”

  “Yes…” Mayor Michaud looked very much like he’d rather not be here, but he gamely struggled on. “The Countess was of the… strong opinion that as she was on the Council and empowered to dispense the King’s justice, that Judges were unnecessary. So they were dismissed.”

  “Are they still in town?” I asked. “Because that was obviously unlawful, so they’re still judges. Can you find one of them?”

  “I suppose so…” Michaud turned to leave, and then stopped. “Oh, wait! What should I tell them to do when I find them?”

  “Have them make a declaration that their dismissal was unlawful,” I said patiently. “Then have them declare that forces in the town that do not answer to the town authority are in breech of the King’s Law.”

  “Oh, I see,” the mayor replied and started to leave. For one step before he turned back again.

  “This declaration, do they just read it on the street, or do we have to deliver it to the enemy forces?”

  “Hopefuly he’ll know what to do,” I said through teeth that were carefully not grinding. “If not, then he needs to write it down and enter it into the court records. Then bring a copy here.”

  “Right!” the mayor said. This time he made it out the door.

  “Will that suffice?” I asked Koenig. He scowled and rubbed his hand over his face.

  “I think so,” he admitted. “I’ll need to see the declaration first, but I can start organising. We probably won’t be ready until nightfall, do you want to do a night attack or wait until morning?”

  “Captain?” I asked, looking at Captain Guertin. He shrugged.

  “We’re attacking the wall from inside the town,” he said. “There’s going to be plenty of light.”

  “Then let’s not wait,” I suggested. “For all we know, her contingincy is set to go off overnight.”

  “Very well ma’am,” the captain said. “Then I suggest we first assult the gatehouse.”

  “Not the tower?”

  “From what you’ve said, we need to have forces near the gatehouse, in case they launch an attack.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  “Then firstly, we aren’t in a position to split our forces. Secondly, a force near the gate will be seen as a provacation and may trigger an assault.”

  “So better to go in strong from the start,” I guessed.

  “Yes, ma’am. And thirdly, taking the tower will be easier if we hold the walls. We’ll have positions for our archers, and we won’t be taking fire on our flanks.”

  I looked at Koenig.

  “I’m more of a run at the enemy sort, myself,” Koenig confessed. “He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.”

  “Fine,” I said to Captain Guertin. “The adventurers won’t listen to anybody but Keonig, so I’m putting you in charge of him.”

  “Very good, ma’am.”

  “And I’ll be joining in the assault.”

  The captain wince. “With all due respect…”

  “I know, you hate it when the civilian leadership gets involved. But these are partly Talnier people, Alain. I might be able to convice them to stand down without bloodshed.”

  He shook his head. “You’re the person they’ve been hearing all these rumours about, ma’am. Social skills are all very well, but you can’t use them if they shoot you before you open your mouth.”

  I looked at him. He gave me a very put-upon look back.

  “I also have large scale illusions that might be of use in the battle,” I said.

  His face worked as he looked for a rejoinder.

  “Let’s talk about additional non-lethal methods we can use,” I said. “And I’m going.”

  “Very good, ma’am”

  Oh Gosh More Names!

  Tyler Webster, Noah Cunningham, Cheney Labelle, Delmar Balend - These guys are pretty interchangeable council members. Kandis can tell them apart, but I’m not sure I can.

  André Michaud - is the mayor, so pretty interchangable except for his gold medalion.

  Captain Alain Guertin - Captain of the Town Guard, so on Kandis’s side. They go a way back and Kandis considers herself on a first name basis with him, but this situation was a bit more formal at first so last name felt right.

  Priestess Tonet - Partisan priestess of Naldyna. Human, so some might regard her as a race traitor. Surprisingly, she is one of those people.

  Kandis’s staff - I might be able to dig up some names, but they’re just here to take some money and write in ledgers. They don’t want to be on any lists.

  Martin Koenig - Guild Master, man-mountain.

  Janie Baker - Hasn’t set anything on fire for two chapters. That you know about.

  Nadine Lagacé - Deputy Guildmaster. Not actually in the meeting since she’s out organising forces.

  Captain Brice Boivin - Not in this chapter, but I’m adding him in to prove I didn’t forget about the griffin force. I just don’t have room for a fourth military force! So they are staying neutral. They’ve just boarded up the Academy and are closed for business.