His long black traveling cloak fluttered as Rex stepped through the door, looking around with interest. He hadn’t visited this side of the border since the reign of the previous king, but small villages such as Treva took a long time to change. Settling himself at a table, he tuned in to the surrounding conversations, trying to discover what all the buzz was about. The waitress came over. “What’ll it be for ya tonight, sir?”

“A mug of ale and a plate of whatever’s cooking, if you please. Tell me, what is everyone talking about tonight?”

The waitress shot him a puzzled look. “Th’ Queen’s latest ‘nouncemen’, o’course. A right wonder, she is. Been changin’ laws an’ low’rin’ taxes left an’ right. Th’ nobles’re in a right fit ov’r it, I ‘ear, but it ‘elps us poor folk summat fierce.”

“She sounds like a wonderful queen to have.”

“Aye, sir.” She smiled widely. “I be gettin’ ya tha’ food now.”

He nodded as she made her way across the room, collecting empty dishes as she went. He returned to his perusal of the tavern’s clientele, noting that despite the conditions of their clothing and the clear lack of wealth in the community, there were very few without a smile.

After finishing a meal that was as enjoyable as it was simple and securing himself a room for the night, Rex slipped out and strolled around the town, greeting the local merchants as he went. Eventually he returned to his room to sleep.

The next morning, Rex stepped outside to find the town already up and working. Having decided to stay for a day or two out of curiosity, he wandered the shops. As high noon neared, he was strolling through the working district when he overheard a discussion between two men.

“At this rate, we’ll need anoth’r barn befo’ winter comes o’ we’ll not ‘ave a place fo’ all the animals,” one man said worriedly.

“Aye, but we need mo’ lumb’r ta build it. Our supplies’re precious thin righ’ now, and wi’ the monsters in th’ woods, we cannae get ‘ny more,” the other responded.

“Wasn’ th’ Queen sendin’ troops?” The first man asked. “When’re they goin’ ta get ‘ere?”

“I ‘ear they’re on’y three towns away, but they got ‘eld up ‘elpin’ t’other villages on the way ‘ere. We aren’ t’only town strugglin’ wi’ monsters righ’ now,” the second answered tiredly. It seemed as if they’d had this conversation many times before.

“Well, I cannae argue wi’ that,” the first man admitted. “It’d be awful if they ‘urried an’ t’other towns were destroyed ’cause o’ us, o’course. We can wait a bit longer.”

Rex paused at those words, startled to hear such acceptance when they were suffering such a severe lumber shortage. “Pardon me, sirs, but I’m surprised to hear you say that. Does it not bother you that they are taking so long?”

The second man squinted, taking in the gentleman’s countenance carefully. “You ain’t from ‘round ‘ere, are ya, stranger?”

“No, sir,” he responded cordially. “I meant no disrespect. It has been a long time since I’ve visited Carania and longer since I’ve come to Treva. I’m curious to see how things have changed since I’ve been gone.”

“Ahh, tha’ explains it. See, we know t’other villages ‘ave monsters too, an’ we know th’ Queen would ne’er forgive ‘erself or ‘er knights if they passed on by wi’out doin’ nothin’. They’ll get ‘ere b’fore summer’s past an’ tha’s all tha’ matters. S’long as th’ monsters’re gone in time to build th’ barn for winter, we don’ mind a bit o’ waitin’.”

“That’s a wonderful way to look at things,” Rex said, smiling. “I apologize if I may seem presumptuous, but I take it that the sooner the monsters are gone, the better?”

“Well, o’course,” the first man said. “Are ya saying ya can take care o’ them?”

“I do have some measure of experience with a sword, if that’s what you’re asking. I would be more than willing to clear them out if you’ll only show me where.” He offers a wry grin. “I was wondering what I would do with the rest of my day, anyway.”

All three men chuckle. “Arrigh’, we’ll take ya there aft’r lunch,” the first man says. “Th’ ‘nouncements’ll be comin’ on soon an’ we don’ wanna miss it.”

They were gone almost before they finished speaking, headed toward the village square before Rex could ask the question forming in his mind. “Announcements? What announcements?”

His answer didn’t come in the form he had expected. Not only was the entire town too excited to hear his question, but there was no town crier climbing up on the fountain in the center. Though Rex was confused, he waited patiently as the crowd settled down a bit and before startling when a large image appeared, hovering over the fountain. He was so surprised that it took him a moment to realize that the people in the image were Queen Tyra and her advisors.

“Greetings, everyone,” the Queen said cheerfully. “I hope you’ve all had a pleasant morning. Today we have some good news, some bad news, and some strange news from one of the neighboring countries. What would you like to hear first?”

He was so distracted by her appearance that he barely heard what she asked. Queen Tyra was famous for having unified several small countries, several of which had been under the control of despots and dictators. It was said that she had begun her life as a mere knight from a common background, but had been unable to merely stand by and watch as the people were oppressed. The first country she freed had been her own, masterminding a rebellion that removed the tyrannical royal family from the throne. Though she had initially tried to cede the crown to one of her co-leaders, a duke’s son, he had refused. The people had voiced their opinions and demanded that she be the new ruler, saying they wouldn’t accept anyone else, and she had acquiesced to their wishes.

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But she wasn’t content with merely protecting her own people from exploitation and soon liberated the surrounding nations as well, standing on the front lines of each battle herself. Each time, she attempted to hand power over that region to one of the local rebel leaders, and each time, the people rose up and chose to become a territory of Carania. There was one very famous story about a country whose soldiers had all laid down their weapons and refused to fight, leaving their nobles to fend for themselves against the oncoming Caranian army. The other rebel leaders were later awarded noble titles and territories according to their contributions to the liberation, defense, and recovery of the people in their respective regions. 

After clearing out the dictators of all of the small countries surrounding Carania, she had halted her expansion and chosen to turn her focus inward, restructuring the government and rebuilding the infrastructure and the economy. She had made many changes to the laws and improved quality of life for nearly all of her citizens. She was a hero in the hearts of her people and even in the stories told in other countries on every continent. They often focused on her journeys out to the remote corners of her country, in which it was said that she visited every town, village, and homestead that she could find. Her deeds on those trips were legendary - everything from rocking babies and helping on the farms to participating in construction work and gathering up orphans to take back to the capital for a better education.

Despite knowing all of this, Rex had not expected the highly-esteemed Queen of Carania to appear in what seemed to be a magic public broadcast dressed in an outfit clearly designed for swordsmanship. Based on the sheen of sweat still visible on her face and the messy state of her hair, she had most likely come to the broadcast room straight from training, a state few royals and fewer noblewomen would ever have even imagined being seen in.

More importantly, he thought with considerable surprise, is this what they meant by announcements? Has she been speaking to her people on a daily basis? His own country had a magical broadcast system as well, but over two decades had passed since it had last been used. It was a network of magical devices that permitted whomever was near the core to be seen and heard by anyone near any of the branch devices, and in return, for those within hearing distance of the branches to be seen and heard by whomever was near the core whenever it was activated. He shook himself back into the present as the crowd around him yelled their answers, requesting as a whole that she share the bad news first.

“I seem to be hearing overwhelming support for the bad news, so I’ll start there,” Queen Tyra said, wiping sweat off her forehead tiredly. “We have some major snowstorms headed for the northeastern region, so everyone between Glacia and Frigus needs to prepare themselves to be buried in snow for a while.” She held her hands up, seemingly in response to something said by the citizens in the north, saying, “I know, I know, you’re perfectly capable of surviving snowstorms without me reminding you. I can’t help it - I worry, you know? Anyway, we have similar news for the south - there’s a huge sandstorm brewing out near the mountains, so anyone who lives in the desert needs to be ready for a wild week or two. The middle regions should be okay for a while, but you all know the weather can be around here - nothing one day and thunderstorms the next - so keep an eye out.” She sighed with clear concern, then offered up a smile. “I know you can survive this. You’ve done it before and you can do it again. But I can’t help being concerned, so there are supply shipments already headed towards everyone in the paths of either the snow or the sand. Please be safe, all of you.” One of her advisors stepped forward to say something to her, but she waved the man off and returned her attention to the people. “Would you rather hear the good news next, or the really strange news from the country next door?” She asked with a laugh.

Murmurs swept through the crowd about how tired the Queen looked and how they hoped the other villages were okay, but they soon subsided as people began calling out that they wanted to know about this strange thing that had her so amused. Rex narrowed his eyes in suspicion, hoping the news wasn’t what he thought it was…

“I hear a lot of people saying they want to know what’s so strange. Well, it’s not every day that we get a message from the Tacaran Empire asking us to find their missing Emperor. If anyone happens to notice someone with a royal bearing who may or may not be followed by Tacaran knights, make sure to point him out… although since descriptions of the Emperor are rather scarce, we’re not entirely certain what he looks like. It seems he’s naturally tall and broad-shouldered with red hair and blue eyes, but he’s a mage, so there’s no telling what he looks like right now. When I asked the messenger how anyone is supposed to find him with such a vague and untrustworthy description, his only response was ‘good luck’. Now tell me that doesn’t sound weird to you?”

By then the crowd was laughing so hard Rex wasn’t sure they could even hear her anymore. He was laughing with them, but in his head he was thanking his foresight that he had indeed used magic to change both his build and his coloring before entering Carania. His laughter was more at his subordinates’ attempt to find him by using another country’s government when they didn’t know what his glamour looked like and only a mage would be able to sense, much less break, his disguise - although that would be problematic in its own right. Few people were magically disguised to begin with and now that people would be looking, anyone noticing his mirage would become suspicious of him. He groaned internally and turned his attention back to the broadcast.

“Glad to see that amused you,” Queen Tyra said with an amused smile of her own. “Now, it seems we’ve saved the best for last. The Griffin and Dragon Knights have finally finished training, which means we can take care of urgent matters with haste. No more waiting three months for the knights to show up and take care of something that needed to be dealt with within two weeks.” She paused long enough for the cheering to die down. “We also managed to convince the Continental Mage Order to spread some of their members out to help with monster attacks, disease outbreaks, and natural disasters.”

This time when the cheering started up, it took a long time to calm. It was clear to Rex that this had been something they’d been wanting for quite some time. The Queen watched it all with a happy smile on her lips, and it occurred to Rex that unlike most rulers her smile was sincere. She wasn’t faking joy for the sake of public opinion, she was genuinely glad that she had succeeded and her people were happy. The realization startled him. How long has it been… since I saw a sovereign truly care for their citizens? How long… since I asked my people what they wanted, what they needed? Since I tried to understand them? How long has it been since I lost my concern for the people I swore to protect and care for? At this rate, I’ll become a dictator and be the first one she targets after her own nation is stabilized. He was surprised to find that the thought didn’t bother him as much as he’d expected. She would be a good leader for his people; they would appreciate her concern for them. Perhaps when he reached the capital he should hand her his country. If he truly considered what was best for his people…

He shook himself. He could ponder such considerations on the road. For now, he had questions to ask.