“I just don’t understand why we can’t just make everything a representative democracy. It seems like it would work a lot better, you know?”

  Matt started rubbing at the bridge of his nose. It had been a… difficult couple of days.

  The prisoners had left the day after he’d spoken with them. About half of them had decided on exile, trusting their fellow Knights more than either their own Oath-sworn rulers or whatever promises they believed the Kingdom would make them. Matt had sent the members of the Westguard and War Reapers, along with the Irregular banners, to escort them to the western border, where they would cross into first Wuranis, and then the Order of the Bear’s territory, hopefully to live out their lives there in peace.

  About fifteen banners’ worth had decided on parole, clearly hoping that the madness of the Oath wouldn’t be able to cause trouble for them when they went home. Matt’s scribes had prepared about fifty sheets of magically enforced contracts, which the prisoners had signed in groups of thirty. Now bound by magic and their own honor, Matt had asked the banners of the Crown Guard to escort them back to Bridgeton, where they could return home. He hoped that they actually managed to find peace there, and that the Crown Guard could be enough to watch for any strikes from the Alliance against the Sortenmoors now.

  The remaining ten banners of troops had been divided. Around five of them had chosen imprisonment, clearly believing that the war would be over soon. They joined the remainder of the Alliance prisoners in the Tower of Penance, which was looking more and more crowded now. The other five banners had all chosen to make the pact to become freeholders in the Kingdom instead. Matt had asked Melren to take charge of them, and quietly instruct them the way he was doing with Horsend’s group. His advisor had seemed a bit stressed by the request, but he’d calmed down when Matt had pointed out that Horsend’s group would likely be able to help with the instruction, at least at first.

  Unfortunately, not all of the former Alliance assets were so easy to deal with.

  He looked up and sighed. Jessica was still staring at him, waiting for his response. “We can’t just go from one version of the society to the other that quickly. If you try to make too many changes at once, you’re going to end up with rebellion, and we’ve already got enough challenges to deal with.”

  She didn’t seem convinced. “If you’re already making changes, though, isn’t it better to do them all at once? Instead of dripping them in a little at a time?”

  Riley looked up from where she was lying on a couch nearby, reading a book he didn’t recognize. Matt made a mental note to find whatever servants had pulled so many chairs and couches into his antechamber and… encourage them not to do it again. “I don’t know, it seems fine to me. Like little updates to a game we’re playing.”

  “It’s not a game, Riley.” Jessica shook her head. “All I’m saying is that we still have slaves and serfs and stuff. That’s not the kind of Kingdom we should be aiming for.”

  For a moment, Matt wished he’d appreciated Jessica’s earlier shy behavior. He’d been encouraging her to speak up more often, and now this was the result. “I’m doing what I can, but until the wars are done, my ability to change things is limited. Too many of my allies are attached to the old ways of doing things for me to be too radical.”

  She didn’t seem satisfied with that answer either, but Alicia spoke up from where she was poring over a stack of parchments that Gorfeld had given her. The nurse had asked his steward for information on any ongoing health issues in the Kingdom, and Gorfeld had been more than happy to provide it to her. “You know, installing those water systems was a really good idea, Matthew. You’ve cut down illness in Redspire by an awful lot. Have you considered building something like a hospital or some public baths to keep improving things?”

  Matt turned to her, glad to have another person backing him up. “I don’t have the resources to do that yet, but I’m working on it. Has the improvement been that much?”

  “I’d say so, yeah.” Alicia turned over one parchment and scribbled a note on another. She bit the end of her thumb as she thought things over. “I’d still like to address the Council about some health and safety measures. You said they might be able to hear me next week?”

  He nodded, though he still felt a little reluctance about it. The city was still adjusting to the sudden arrival of more Humans, as if they weren’t certain about what to think about them. Alicia, Jessica, and Riley had automatically been labeled as more Maidens, but Jordan and Miguel had caused a bit of confusion. Matt was still trying to come up with some title that would make it seem less like he was assembling some kind of harem, but he wasn’t having much success. Gorfeld’s attempts to be sly about it weren’t helping.

  “It might be doing well for public health, but your finances really are a mess, Matt.” Jordan was looking over another set of parchments, this time representing the Kingdom’s finances. “What’s your plan going to be when you just straight up run out of money in a couple of months? At this rate, the public granaries are going to be near empty when winter comes.”

  Matt gave the other man a steady look. “I was mostly hoping the wars would be over by then, so I could start standing down some of my military. Even better, I might be able to negotiate some more tribute out of whoever loses.”

  Jordan looked back at the parchment and nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense. Still seems like it would only paper over the cracks, though. You’re still going to have a long-term financial issue unless you bring in a lot more cash, and it’s not like anyone is going to let you build up a national debt like they do back in the States.”

  He grunted. “Yeah, I know. Things would have been easier if a certain someone hadn’t just decided to raze part of the city for her museum.”

  Tanya, who’d been lounging on another couch, waved away the critique. “People need more than just water and houses to live for, right? My museum’s going to start bringing in some income anyway, just as soon as we open up that first wing.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. Her plan for the museum’s entrance fees were nice, but they weren’t going to bring in even a quarter of what they’d paid for the building, to say nothing of the cost of guarding it and expanding her ever-growing collection of donations from the various noble houses. She already had half a dragon’s horde in the vaults of the castle, waiting to be displayed. Matt just knew that by the end of the first week, a Magistrate was going to have to lock someone up for Redspire’s first attempted art theft.

  “You really should have canceled that project.” Jessica shook her head. “A public arts program is nice, but when things are as precarious as they are now, you can’t afford to have niceties. We have to be wise about what we invest in.”

  It was getting a little tiresome to hear about all the things he was doing wrong, especially from someone who hadn’t even been stabbed once yet. “The museum was endorsed by the Council and the Voices. Preemptively shutting it down would damage public trust in both, which means even though I would have liked the money to be spent elsewhere, I had to let it happen.” Matt shook his head. “Everything is still too new here. Keep in mind, six months ago, their entire political system was ‘do what I say or get eaten by a werewolf’.”

  “Okay, seriously, you have to tell me about the werewolves.” Riley swung her legs around and sat up. She looked like she was beaming. “The podcast I listened to was sure they were some kind of government experiment, cause the skeletons and everything didn’t make any sense. A few people just thought they were dogs you burnt and mixed up with human corpses. Were they some kind of race that exists here, or something else?”

  Matt blinked. He was starting to wonder what kind of reputation he had waiting for him back on Earth. “The Red Sorceress apparently used her magic to mutate people into them. She called them Grim Hounds.”

  Riley made a face. “Ech. That sounds terrible. She’s the one you shot, right? Sounds like she definitely earned it.”

  Jessica grimaced. “I’m sure she had her reasons. Not every ruler can make ideal choices.”

  Was she really going to try to make excuses for the person he had to kill to get his job? “They were mostly Consorts that had disappointed her or political rivals, from what I’ve heard.”

  “Oh.” Jessica sighed. “That’s… not good.”

  “I’d say.” Tanya cackled. “Good thing Matt here doesn’t have that magic, or half of us would already be barking at the moon, right?”

  Matt gave her a glare. “None of you are my Consorts. I’m not going to have any of those.”

  She just grinned back at him and went back to lounging. Somehow, she made it an almost flaunting gesture. “Oh, don’t act like you wouldn’t be interested. You really should work on yourself a bit more if you want any of that. Maybe a beard?”

  Riley flipped another page on her book. “Nah, I don’t think it would work on his face. Besides, it might hide some of the badass scars.”

  Jessica exchanged a look with Jordan. At least he didn’t have to worry about any of this nonsense from her; it had become abundantly clear that she and Jordan had been involved since they’d met in the Alliance’s territory. They were still rarely seen apart, even walking around Redspire, and they’d stayed in the same room every night since they’d arrived. “I do think it might be useful to take a Consort, even if it is just for image’s sake. A lot of the societies around here are apparently matriarchies, and people like Voice Cholia might work better with you if they could persuade themselves there was a woman behind the throne making at least some of the decisions.”

  She looked at the others. “I’m not sure if they would approve of Tanya, given the whole museum debacle, and Riley might be a bit too young, but…”

  Alicia straightened up a little as Jessica looked at her. “Sorry, sister, but he’s not my type. Though you’re free to give him a ride if you want.”

  Jessica turned a bright red and gave Jordan a desperate look. Matt raised an eyebrow at him, and the guy finally spoke up. “I’m sure Matt has a reason for not taking a Consort. He’s gotten a lot done without one already, so maybe we shouldn’t force things.”

  “Not forcing things is pretty much why I’m never going to do that, yeah.” Matt shuffled through the parchment on his own desk. He was looking at crude maps of the fighting between his forces and the Alliance in the Copper Hills, trying to find a spot where he could punch through the maze of canyons and ridges to reach the Leaffall Orcs. It wasn’t going very well. “You are all depending on me to get home, and I’m King. It wouldn’t be right.”

  Jessica shrugged her shoulders, looking a little miserable in her chair now. “I was just trying to help. It didn’t need to be an actual Consort, just one that would satisfy people.”

  Matt shook his head. He was about to try to reassure her when the door swung open and Miguel walked in. He smiled as the other man flopped into a nearby chair with a sigh. The big man had quickly gone from a hostile pain in the ass to a relief lately. “How’s Parufeth doing?”

  Miguel gave him a frank look. “He’s feeling a little neglected, actually. Apparently, you usually visit him at least a couple times a day, but you’ve been ignoring him.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  He winced. “Yeah, it’s been busy lately.” Then he shook his head. “I’ll make sure to go by this afternoon after my training. How close are they to finishing?”

  “They’re putting the finishing touches on the towers now, actually. He says the Arsenal should be ready for your soldiers to use starting next week.” He pulled out a scrap of parchment, one that looked like dirt had been scrubbed over it. “He did have a few questions about the new project. Demolition’s already started with the crews that aren’t needed for the towers, but he wants to be sure of the dimensions.”

  Matt nodded and stood up from his desk. He walked over as Miguel spread the parchment over the table that Alicia was using—drawing a short squawk of protest as she was forced to shift her own pile of work—and peered over the man’s shoulder.

  The parchment showed a rough sketch of a cluster of buildings in a rectangle about twice as long as it was wide. There were two rows of buildings along the long sides, with a five meter wide alley separating them. Each row was divided into twenty buildings, and each building had four floors, with the fifth floor being turned into a peaked roof that contained water storage tanks and other oddities. On the ground floor, the space had been left open for furnishings and such, while the floors sandwiched between were sectioned off into rooms.

  Miguel smoothed the page out with his fingers. “All right, so the basic idea is some mixed-use housing, right? People live on the middle floors, utilities up top, and the bottom floors are used for shops?”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah. I was thinking that at least thirty people could fit into each building. With forty buildings per block…”

  “That’d give you over a thousand per block, give or take.” Miguel nodded. “You’d be packing the people into a lot less space, but still giving them more living room. Given what housing looks like right now, that’s a pretty good plan.”

  “Glad you approve.” Matt tried not to sound sarcastic, but Miguel still gave him a look. He sighed. “So what is Parufeth worried about?”

  Miguel grinned. “Well, first he wanted to know how many of these things he should plan on building. He’s a little worried about their supply of brick, though I think he was also concerned about being able to find work for his men.”

  Matt nodded. Rumors about the vanishing treasury were apparently working their way out into the population. It wasn’t a good sign, but he couldn’t have expected to keep a secret forever. “Tell him I want as many of these things as I can get. I originally planned on having at least thirty-six blocks, at least to start out with.”

  The other man paused, his eyebrows raising. “Hijole. That’d be enough to house the whole city, right?”

  “That’s the plan, yeah.” Matt grimaced. “Obviously, that’s a long-term goal.”

  “I’d say.” Miguel drummed his fingers on the table. “He’s thinking he’ll be able to finish maybe six of them this year. If he’s lucky.”

  Matt winced. Six years to rebuild the face of the city. It seemed like a reasonable enough time… unless the funding was going to disappear in less than two months. “I see.”

  Miguel laughed. He shook his head. “Don’t lose hope yet, gringo. I think he’s selling those crews of his short. They’re good teams, and they are pretty highly motivated for what they are doing. I’ll bet we could put up ten, maybe twelve blocks of those things before winter hits.”

  He blinked. “That much?”

  “Oh yeah. Definitely.” Miguel laced his fingers together and stretched. The joints popped like firecrackers. “Just gotta motivate them properly and provide some direction. I told him to focus on just two blocks at a time, to make sure we get people out of their tents as quick as we can. If you don’t mind, of course.”

  Matt grinned. “Not at all, actually. Thank you.”

  Tanya stretched and yawned. “If only you were able to do the same with my museum. They came to me just yesterday and said it would take another week for the first building to be done!”

  Miguel looked at her. “It’s going to be two, actually. I spoke with Ikpesh today.”

  She sat upright and glared. “What? Why?”

  “Because it was going to be four weeks, once some ‘unexpected’ problems popped up.” Miguel shook his head. “I’m telling you, you have to stay on top of crews like these, or else everything’s always going to get thrown off.”

  Tanya paused and then smiled. “And you’re the man to stay on top of things for me, huh?”

  Matt almost wanted to groan, but Miguel just smiled and put his hands behind his head. “Ma’am, I can stay on top of whatever you want for however long I’m interested.”

  Tanya’s eyebrows shot all the way up to her scalp, but before she could respond, there was another knock at the door. Matt felt an indescribable sense of relief and then cleared his throat. “Come in!”

  Gorfeld poked his head through the door. “My liege, Ambassador Paralus will be here in a few minutes. You had asked me to warn you.”

  Matt nodded. “Thanks, Gorfeld.” He looked at the others. “And thanks to all of you. I’ll see you later tonight.”

  They nodded and gathered up their pages. Jessica and Jordan went out first, talking in low voices over something that Jordan had found. Alicia went out right after them, her arms overflowing with parchment and a determined expression on her face. Tanya brushed past Miguel as he stood and gave him a look that Matt didn’t really want to interpret. Miguel, for his part, just smiled. At least, he did until she walked out. Then he turned to Matt, pointed at Tanya’s retreating form, and gave him a questioning look.

  Matt rolled his eyes and made a shooing gesture. Miguel gave him a broad smile and an ‘okay’ sign, and then sauntered out to catch up to Tanya. Still shaking his head, Matt turned to head back to his desk and came to a sudden halt as Riley stepped in front of him.

  She pushed her face in close to his, an intense look on her face as she studied him. Then she frowned and pulled back. “No, probably not. I’m so not too young, though.”

  Matt watched her go for a moment, utterly mystified. He turned to Gorfeld, who just shrugged at him. Then he went back to his desk. Hopefully, whatever Ambassador Paralus had for him, it would be less baffling than his own people.

  Fortunately, Gorfeld had given him a few minutes to pull himself together before the Wizard arrived, so Matt felt a lot more composed when the door opened to admit the man.

  Paralus stepped into the chamber, and his expression was more determined than Matt had ever remembered. The Wizard paused long enough to bow deeply. “King Matthew, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

  “It is no problem at all, Ambassador. Please, take a seat.”

  The Wizard stepped over to the chair and sat. Matt followed suit and gestured for the man to speak. Paralus paused for a moment and then nodded to himself. “King Matthew, I have a number of messages to convey to you. First, the Order of the Bear has extended its thanks to you for allowing them to take in the prisoners you took from the Order of Lion’s Roar. They were glad that you offered them a chance at honorable service rather than… other options.”

  Matt nodded easily. “I was grateful that they could provide that opportunity, so they merit my thanks in return.”

  Paralus smiled. “The Elves of Wuranis and Simarenal have also extended their thanks. Since your intervention, they have suffered no more raids on their borders, and they are happy things were resolved and the truth was discovered.”

  He returned the Wizard’s smile. “I imagine the Alterian Princedom is a bit less happy about it.”

  “Ah, yes.” Paralus shook his head. “Unfortunately, the Princedom has continued to break ranks with the rest of the Coalition. Their aid to the Alliance, and their permission for the Alliance to strike from their territory, has caused significant conflict within the Coalition. There are some that believe the Princedom will soon withdraw from our partnership.”

  Matt blinked. “What does that mean for our peace treaty?”

  “The treaty was signed both by the Coalition as a whole, and by each of the member nations as well. It will hold even if the Princedom withdraws.” Paralus shook his head. “All the same, I apologize for our inability to restrain their behavior. We believed ourselves better than such things.”

  He nodded, thinking over the situation. The Princedom by itself wouldn’t be such a large problem, especially if it was forced to abide by the treaty or pay a severe penalty. Just one more thing to keep an eye on. “Apology accepted, Paralus. You do not need to feel that I hold the entire Coalition responsible for the misbehavior of a single nation.”

  Paralus nodded. “All the same, we feel it important to make things right, both to compensate for the damage the Alterians have caused, and to thank you for your other efforts on our behalf.”

  The Wizard paused and then muttered something. Gorfeld stiffened for a moment, and then relaxed. When Matt glanced at his steward, the Imp made a calming gesture. “Only a sound-muting spell, sire. We are safe.”

  Matt looked back at Paralus. “I would have appreciated a warning, Paralus.”

  The Ambassador nodded. “Perhaps next time, but the Magistrix was very specific that I should say nothing until we were secure.” He glanced at Gorfeld, and then nodded. “I suppose that we can trust your steward with everything?”

  When Matt nodded, the Wizard continued. “In that case, the Magistrix wishes to once again thank you, this time for revealing the location of Alerios, my missing mentor. We knew the Alliance had captured him, but our agents had not been able to find his location until now.”

  Matt tapped the table with a finger. “He’s in Greyhenge, then?”

  “Yes, along with much of the remaining royalty of Ponthuul, Greymark, and the Circle of Heavens. They have gathered another grand army there, though it has been much better organized and prepared than the Army of Heroes. Apparently, they wish to conduct another great summoning before they set out.”

  He gritted his teeth. “More kidnappings, you mean. They’re going to steal more people from my world.”

  Paralus nodded. “We are already aware of how devastating that action might be, and we have no desire to allow them the chance to do so. For that reason, we are assembling a force to rescue Master Alerios before the summoning can take place. We would like for you to be a part of it.”

  Gorfeld stirred, but Matt simply tilted his head to the side. “As in me personally, or the warriors of my Kingdom?”

  “Both, ideally.” Paralus shook his head. “I understand that you might be cautious, but we do not intend to attack the entire capital. We do not have the means to overcome hundreds of banners of troops, and neither, we believe, do you.”

  Matt simply watched him, neither confirming nor denying the situation. He’d been fortunate with the first massive army. If a second attacked him now, while his troops were still recovering… “Then what are you proposing?”

  “Our agents have been able to secure a portal site within Greyhenge Castle.” Paralus glanced at Gorfeld before he continued. “We would send a small team of assassins, together with you and your best warriors, directly into their most secure citadel. Once there, we would be able to recover Alerios and return home.”

  He felt his eyes narrow. “You don’t exactly need me for that, do you? Your nation should have plenty of resourceful warriors yourself.” Paralus remained silent, and Matt smiled. “Oh, I see. This isn’t just about Alerios, is it?”

  Gorfeld cleared his throat. “Sire?”

  Matt turned to look at his steward. “The Circle of Echoes was attacked when Alerios was taken. I assume there were casualties.” Paralus nodded, and Matt continued. “So this attack isn’t only going to be a rescue. They want us to do as much damage to the Alliance leadership as possible before we leave, but they want it to be blamed on us, not them.”

  “I see.” Gorfeld turned to look at the Wizard. “It would still put you in considerable risk, sire. Especially since you are still healing.”

  Paralus glanced at Matt before answering. “The strike will not happen immediately. We will need time to bring our agents here for the portal, and the summoning will likely not happen until just before summer. Their great army should not march before then either; we believe your success in the Broken Hills and the Sortenmoors has forced them to be more careful with their resources.”

  Matt tapped the table again as he thought over the proposition. From anyone else, it would have seemed like an obvious trap, but the Circle of Echoes had been nothing but honest in their dealings until now. They didn’t even share a border with the Kingdom directly, and it seemed unlikely that they would have cooperated so consistently before just to betray him now.

  At the same time, the best time for treachery would be when an enemy felt secure and safe. What if, instead of taking him to Greyhenge, they brought him to their own nation and killed him? Or if they just abandoned him in Greyhenge once the enemy was closing in? The operation was already risky enough; the opportunities to make it just that much worse for him and whoever he brought with him would be boundless.

  He shifted a little in his seat, feeling the movement pull at his wounds. In just a few weeks, there would be more human beings dragged from Earth and into this war. Could he afford to ignore the chance to stop it? Even more than that, if he killed enough of the enemy leaders, it might be enough to force one of them to either abandon the Oath, or do something desperate enough that their plans fell through. It was even possible that their Heirs might not have sworn the Oath, and they could surrender without being driven mad.

  His only other options would be to fight another catastrophic battle, against forces that were better prepared and more wary of his tricks. How many more people would die on both sides? How much worse would the war get if that massive army showed up in the east to grind away at his defenses there?

  A pang of agony rang through his skull, and Matt put a hand to his head. His own Oath would be a problem as well. How long before he was forced into some idiotic maneuver just because he had to stop his own head from exploding in pain? He pictured himself throwing his own soldiers’ lives away for a fragile hope of liberating the Copper Hills and shook his head.

  Trap or not, betrayal or not, he needed to take the risk. Every other option would be worse, at this point. He looked up. “How many can go?”

  Paralus licked his lips. “Only a maximum of fifty, King Matthew. Enough for our agents, and for at least two dozen of your own.”

  Matt nodded. “Tell the Magistrix that we are ready to help her in her efforts. Remind her that betrayal would cost her dearly… and that if she can help me end this war, I will be in her debt.” He smiled half-heartedly. “I would like to be able to prove how good of a friend I can be, given the chance.”

  The Ambassador hesitated. Then he nodded. “I will tell her, King Matthew. We will not fail you. Our agents will be here within two weeks.”

  He nodded and then stood. The Ambassador followed suit and extended his hand. They shook and then the Wizard left.

  Gorfeld walked over to stand beside Matt’s desk. His expression was conflicted. “Sire, if this is a trap…”

  “I know, Gorfeld.” Matt looked at him and smiled. “Which is why we have two weeks to make it all work. We’d better get ready.”