Chapter 30
Preparation
Unlike members of the animal kingdom, the monsters of the Abyss are either herbivores or carnivores that only eat crystalize mana or other monsters. None eat both. This makes the Abyss a place of chaos, violence, and fear unless you’re in ant territory. Unlike the other carnivores, ants can survive without prey, happily consuming the unfertilised eggs the feeder ants lay as they consume the crystalised mana the workers bring them. This unique quirk makes them completely different from every other monster in the Abyss and allows them to strip their territory of every other species, leaving their crystal gardens to grow.
Sir Trent was barking orders as I stepped out of the Deadlands and scanned the mana-crystal-filled tunnel for threats. A dozen dead hunter ants, all now as strong as second-floor bosses, lay near the tunnel mouth where we’d entered to the third floor of the Abyss.
Davina and the Undead Enhancement Club were performing ritual spells to raise six of them as zombies, to provide additional security for when we pushed forward, while Gorgath was stuffing his face with the meat from the ones they didn’t need, taking the choices pieces to recover and grow his strength.
I found no threats obvious or hidden, so I turned to Sir Trent. He was dressed head to two in grimy plate armour, crusted over with entrails and blood. Our progress through the ant’s territory on the second floor and my travels through the fourth floor had substantially raised his level, causing him to be someone I had to take seriously.
Sir Trent finished shouting and turned and spat. “What did you see?”
Like every other monster, ants changed as they descended lower. Just because we’d faced them on the second floor, didn’t mean we knew what we were getting into on the third. Scouting ahead through the Deadlands was entirely necessary.
I pointed to the pile of ant corpses “There are groups like this one at every intersection between here and the first chamber. They seem to be leaving the crystals in these tunnels to grow, so we won’t have to deal with workers until we reach their nest.”
“That’s good news. Now what’s the bad news?”
“There are now two varieties of workers. The regular ones from the floor above have grown bigger and tougher, while a second variety has developed the ability to fly. The fliers are as tough as dungeon bosses.”
“Are they rare?”
“One in twenty.”
Sir Trent gritted his teeth and growled, immediately comprehending the threat they posed. I couldn’t spare the time necessary for him to come to his own conclusions, so I pushed ahead with my plan.
“Do you have a good second in command who can take over leading Carolyn’s guards?”
“Several. Why?”
“There are just as many hunters in these nests as there were in the ones on the second floor. The difference being, I can’t kill these ones as easily as I killed the others. I need anyone who can survive moving among the ant to push forward and cripple the hunters' legs, so they don’t overwhelm Davina’s zombies and reach the convoy while I’m trying to kill them.”
Getting through the third floor with the survivors would take everything we had, and it still might not be enough. The threats I’d seen were not easily overcome.
“What about Gorgath?” Sir Trent asked trying to change the subject to buy him time to think. “He took down that hunter he was wrestling with. He could help.”
Sir Trent seemed to believe his statement, which was a problem, because he was wrong.
“What you witnessed was an act of arrogance and desperation. The kid thought he was tougher than he is and was about to cut him in half by the hunter’s mandibles. The lightning bolt he spat in its face cost him most of his mana while injuring him in the process. He still hasn’t recovered.”
Seeing the kid change his acid spitting spell into an acid lightning spitting spell on the fly had been rather impressive. A human wouldn’t have been able to do it, mainly because they wouldn’t have been able to survive the backlash. He’d half cooking himself to pull it off, but it had worked and sometimes that was all that mattered, when you were fighting for your life.
“What’s he going to do then?”
“You mean besides guiding the way?”
Sir Trent snorted. “Yes, besides that.”
“He’ll be helping with the worker ants, covering for those we send after the hunters.”
“They’re going to be that big of a problem?”
“Everything is going to be that big of a problem. The workers are nearly as strong as dungeon bosses, the fliers are stronger, the hunters’ chitin prevents anything less than an expert tier spell from causing any damage, and the vast majority of our highest-level defenders fight with swords. On top of that, our sorcerers are going to have their hands full with keeping the fliers away from the convoy, so those on the ground aren’t going to have any support, and this is all after having already lost one in five of our sorcerers to mana exhaustion. And once we get through this chamber, we have to do it six more times.”
Sir Trent smirked. “It’s almost enough to make me want to turn around and try to fight our way out.”
“The key word there being almost.”
Sir Trent gave weary grin. “I’ll go out into the chaos to help slow down the hunters, but I’m not sending my people out to be slaughtered.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Just you?”
“I know we’re good, but we’re not that good.”
His reply made me realise he didn’t know.
I chuckled.
“What’s so amusing?” He asked.
“Seventeen of Carolyn’s guards have taken my oath since we entered the Abyss.”
His face lost all emotion. “When?”
“During my visit to the field hospital on the second floor. Nothing like dying to make you reevaluate whether or not you’re willing to accept power that might save your life. They’re on the cusp of reaching level 200. Not as strong as you, but still strong enough to survive out there.”
My visit to the field hospital, only lasted a few seconds as I confirmed whether Davina would be ready to move on after I killed the first queen, but it had been enough time for them to spot me and offer their oaths. My ability to help those who took my oath to level was an open secret and the fresh memories of death or dismemberment had made the decision for them.
Sir Trent disappeared in a blur. He knew whom I was talking about because he was a good enough leader to keep track of his peoples’ injuries. They were undoubtedly about to receive a demotion and reprimand. Sir Trent had been asked to take my oath by Rupert and Carolyn for security reasons. The others had not. And any guard who would accept any power that was offered by a vampire couldn’t be trusted with the princess security.
I left Sir Trent to deal with his people and went to find my own. On the other side of the stationary convoy, Gregory was watching over his wife, Helen, as she examined their people for injuries. Other members of my guard were handing over their sweaty and dirty clothes and armour to sorcerers for cleaning. Everyone else worked on repairing equipment.
They were once again working with equipment far below their level and the wear and tear from all the fighting was leaving it all in a sorry state. There was no way to fix this issue in the short term, but if the problem grew too great, Davina would summon bone armour for them.
I stopped beside Gregory and gave him the same update I’d given Sir Trent while we followed his wife around the temporary camp. Gregory listened with folded arms, nodding when I got to the end.
“I’m seeing more variation in everyone’s levels from all this fighting, so there’s maybe a dozen of us who are fast enough to survive alone in this environment. I’ll get them prepped for dealing with the hunters, but I need to stay back.”
The entire time I’d been updating him, Gregory smelled worried. The way he was throwing glances at his wife, didn’t make it hard to understand why. She wasn’t a warrior. She was healer, so despite all the fighting, she had barely leveled since we’d met. This place was a death trap for someone like her and his concern for her was distracting him.
Gregory was the head of my personal guards, and his role was too important for me to let this distractions continue. Until now, I had no interest in whether or not his wife took my oath. She wasn’t necessary to any of my plan. Now, she was.”
In the middle of our conversation, I turned to his wife. She was crouched beside a guard name Philip, dealing with a broken finger. She noticed me looking and removed her hand from her patient’s forehead. “What do you want?”
“Take my oath.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
“That’s not a reason. That’s a stance you take because you have a reason. So, what’s the reason?”
Helen scowled. “My reasons are my own.”
“Not when it’s causing me problems.”
“Why is this suddenly important to you?”
I pointed at Gregory who had chosen to stay quiet. “Your husband is terrified for your safety, and it’s interfering with his ability to focus and do his job. If I don’t do anything, he’s going begin making mistakes. And if he makes mistakes here, a lot of people will die. Right now, I can’t stop him from making those mistakes without stripping him of his free will or compelling him to love and care for you less than he currently does, so I’m starting with the least invasive option which is making you stronger through my oath.”
Disbelief turned to horror as Helen went through a range of emotions while I stated my position. She didn’t trust me or my judgement, but she accepted everything I said as the truth. The real truth was, even though I’d be willing to compel Gregory to love and care for her less if he allowed it, I hadn’t practiced compelling people enough to make good on my claims.
Helen threw a holy bolt at my head, only to sigh as it did nothing. She then turned to her husband. “Are you just going to stand there?”
Gregory gave his wife a sad smile. “I don’t want to take his side against you, so I’m staying quiet.”
“You’re taking his side!”
Gregory nodded. “I’ve listened to your arguments against him and his methods and raised every complaint you’ve asked me too, but none of your concerns have come to pass. Whether it is taking a child into the Abyss or teaching young necromancers how to fight, everything you’re worried about has resulted in harmless consequences or a positive situation. I no longer believe you’re objective in these matters, my love.”
Helen opened her mouth to retort, when Daylin shot out of the sky and landed in front of her.
The head of the infirmary whipped his head back and forth frowning. “I’m sorry for my intrusion, but I just had a feeling that I was supposed to be here.”
Helen blinked at the other cleric. “Heaven speaks to you?”
Dalin shook his head as he continued to search. “I’m not so blessed. I just get feelings and impressions when they need me. I’ve had quite a few of them recently, but this is the first one that isn’t obvious to me. No one seems to be injured.”
He closed his eyes, muttering a silent prayer. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and shrugged. “I guess I was wrong. Sorry for the intrusion.”
Helen raised her hand and threw a holy bolt at Dalin’s back, for reasons only she knew. The bright orb of light slammed into his body with a dull thud.
Horror once again transformed her features as a rope of holy light, extended from her hand to Dalin’s back, draining her of her holy power. The power flowed into Dalin like water into a full cup, overflowing his limits, and causing his eyes to widen as his power surged. The energy swirled around his body saturated his clothing, changing his food-stained robe to one made from the purest cottons and silks, infused with magic, and layered with enchantments.
Dalin turned to Helen as her power continued to surround him and light engulfed him, causing the power within him to settle into its new home. “What have you done, child” he whispered, filled with sorrow for her.
Her connection to the power above was a mere shadow of its former self, no stronger than a newly appointed acolyte. “You…you walk in the light.”
His face fell, realising her doubt. “Always.”
“Yet, I could not see.”
“That is no reason for you to offer heaven your past, present, and future to beg summary judgement, instead of beseeching heaven on heaven’s terms.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I had to know.”
Dalin stepped closer, placed his hand on her head, and close his eyes. “Do you accept heaven’s answer, child?”
The tears began to flow faster. “Yes, archbishop.”
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“Then rise paladin and return with me to the light.”
Power and holy light flashed through his body and into her eyes. They glowed for several second as new power flowed into her, before returning to their normal brown. Shock replaced tears as Dalin placed a new path before her.
Gregory leaned over. “Did I just see what I think I saw?”
“If you think you just saw the birth of an archbishop and a new order of the church, along with your wife losing her cleric class and becoming a paladin, then yes. You saw what you think you saw.”
Helen turned to me while I spoke to her husband and took my oath. “I pledge my life and my soul to the Hero. Let his path be my path and his fate be my fate.”
She spoke the words to me, but anyone could tell they were not for me or for her. They were simply part of their new path. Holy light enveloped her from above, as the bond between us formed, cementing our connection.
Dalin removed his hand from her head. “Welcome to the Soul Guardian’s Order, Sister. Our only tenet is to protect the righteous souls from the thieves of Hell.”
I knew heroes weren’t the only one with a class that could produce a call, but it was rare for an archbishop to have one. Normally, you needed to be someone like Mother and Father and follow a saint. Unless I’d missed something, Dalin walked his own path.
The other clerics who worked with Helen seemed to have heard the archbishops call, because they were all rushing towards him. Gregory and I took a few steps back as they fell to their knees before him and kissed the hem of his robe, accepting the only tenet they needed to follow him, before taking my oath. Why they took my oath only after accepting his tenet, I had no idea.
Gregory leaned over again but chuckled this time. “I see weirdest things while working for you, Boss.”
“I had nothing to do with this.”
“You sure? To me it kind of seems like the clerics you saved from soul reapers have now founded a religious order whose purpose is devoted to combating people like that, essentially copying what you’ve already done and giving their heroes oath a direction that they believe in.”
When phrase that way, one could assume I had something to do with it. “I’m sure I had nothing to do with this.”
“I notice none of the people that worked with Dalin are racing over here to take the oath. You would think one of them would hear his call having known him for so long.”
“Maybe I had something to do with it.”
Gregory’s chuckle turned into a laugh. “I’ll go get our people ready to face the hunters.”
“Make it quick. I plan to let you all use the ones guarding the intersections for practice.”
“Good idea.”
Gregory turned and raced off as Dalin turned his heaven’s blessed gaze on me and dismissed the clerics who had just joined his order. Dalin had been close to level 100 before he took my oath. Now, his level was significantly higher. Very soon, people would be calling him an Old Monster.
He closed the distance. “You must be wondering why I took your oath back at the fortress.”
“Not particularly.”
“You’re not curious?”
“No. But you’re going to tell me anyway, so make it quick.”
Dalin smiled. “The Necrosaint once told me that she stays by your side because those who should help you, do not. I didn’t understand what she meant until I floated before that crowd of survivors. You’re a man who is forced to walk in darkness without letting it consume him and yet you bring light to those who find themselves lost and surrounded by the same darkness you face. You’re a man trying desperately not to fall from grace and no one but those who accept your oath can help lift the burden you carry and reduce the risk that you will stray from the light.”
He wasn’t wrong. The more people that were trying to make the world safe for their children, the less likely it was that I would need to cross any lines to protect mine.
His explanation raised my curiosity. “How did that led to becoming an archbishop?”
“When I took your oath, I promised heaven I would devote myself to keeping your soul in the light and protecting the innocent from your nature.” Dalin turned and nodded to Helen. “Heaven intended this to be her responsibility, but she denied your call for help time and time again. When she offered heaven all she was to learn if I still walked in the light after taking your oath, she offered heaven the responsibility she could have bared, and heaven chose to hand it to me instead.”
“So now you’re an archbishop.”
“Yes, and I’m heaven mandate to walk beside you and keep you in the light.” He patted my shoulder with a small smile on his lips. “Do you happen to need any moral guidance at the moment, your Dark Eminence?”
I chuckled. “No.”
“Then my work here is done. Please continue with whatever insanity you were planning to drag us through next.”
***
Davina and the Undead Enhancement Club had successful raised five of the hunters as zombies through ritual raise zombie spells. Angelica had used the control undead ability her Crypt Keeper set gave her to control the first four, leaving Professor Fergus to contend with the fifth.
He was currently alone in another ritual circle, wrestling with will of a gargantuan undead ant and he was seriously struggling to keep it under control. It was shuddering and swaying, trying to get to its feet to tear everything around it apart. If no one intervened soon, it would cause serious problems.
“Need any help?” I asked as I stopped at the edge of the ritual circle.
Fergus gave me bloodshot side-eye in response.
I glanced at the runes on the ground that were designed to boost his control over the undead and wove the appropriate spell form, before stepping in. The zombies undead will slammed into my mind, trying to crush my consciousness, entirely unaware that its efforts were like a toddler trying to fight an adults knee.
I patted Fergus on the shoulder as I began tearing the zombie’s will apart, dissecting its consciousness to strip away its aggression. “The key to breaking the willpower of powerful undead is violence. Weaker undead you overpower. Powerful undead, you tear apart, removing any part of their consciousness that tries to fight you. Once you finish tearing them apart, you build them back up.”
The undead hunter ant froze as the last of the pressure in my head disappeared. It was big and it was powerful, but an ancient vampire’s control over the undead was second only to a lich king. It stood no chance.
Fergus suddenly gasped, sucking in his first breath in several minutes. “How did you do that?”
“Violence.”
I raised my hand and cast a complex program undead spell to restore the damaged areas of its consciousness with something that was easier to control. The size of the hunter ant required me to pour in all of my mana while pulling more from the air around me.
Fergus gritted his teeth as he fought for breath. “I took your hero’s oath Vincent, so no more lies. Who are you really?”
I took a step back to the edge of the circle and gave an exaggerated bow, flicking the edge of my coat. “I’m the vampire Vincent. Hero. Father. And only ancient vampire with a soul.”
He glanced at Davina, where she was preparing to raise the sixth undead, before turning his gaze to Angelica. Angelica was off to the side with the other four, practicing directing undead hunter ants together.
Fergus returned his attention to me and straightened his back, before returning my bow. “It’s a pleasure to formally meet you, Vincent.”
I saw where this was going. “I’m not making you my familiar.”
Fergus winced. “Don’t be so hasty my friend. If you think about it, you’ll realised I’ll make a great familiar. I mean I did take several months to replicate your living dead project, but I’m a lot higher level now, so I’m sure I could do it in half the time. Also, if I stay in Murdell the parents of the kids who didn’t survive will have me assassinated. They’ll have all the faculty assassinated.”
I rolled my eyes and his truly terrible reasons for why I should make him my familiar. “We’re leaving Murdell the moment we reach the surface. You’re welcome to come.”
Fergus perked up. “What about the rest of the faculty.”
“They can come too, but you have to tell them what I am. Now stop talking and cast a control undead on this zombie so I can move onto my next problem.”
Fergus nodded and turned back to the zombie raising his hand and muttering the incantation for an expert tier control undead spell.
The slight pressure that remained, vanished as Fergus took full control. I wove another spell form to exit the ritual circle and stepped outside, making my way to the other ritual circle that held all the students who were helping Davina power the spell to raise such massive undead. It wasn’t more than twenty feet.
There were a lot of nervous faces as I stopped at the edge of ritual circle, but almost as many looked pleased to see me, pushing forward to speak.
I’d overheard that the Undead Enhancement Club had all been fast asleep when the attack went down, which meant they were all surrounded by at least four undead experiments, which exceeded Undead Fight Clubs guidelines and were capable of defending them. Many had a lot more than four, focusing on training the skills their subclasses offered. With that distractions, they were able to escape with their lives intact.
A few even still had some of their undead with them.
Lidia held up her hand as she pushed her way to the front of the circle, having overheard my conversation with Fergus, and now even more terrified of speaking out of turn. Mr Bity sat on her shoulders snapping at everyone nearby, giving her more room.
Lida was one of the students who had taken my hero’s oath. She had probably leveled drastically during the time, but she hadn’t spent any of her attributes.
I nodded to her to let her know she could speak.
“Sir, are you really an ancient vampire?”
“Yes.”
She pressed her lips together. “Does that make me your familiar?”
I chuckled. “No. That is an entirely different bond. I have no power over you, only the bond we share does.”
“Do you know why I’m leveling so fast?”
“I don’t gain experience from fighting evil or killing monsters. The experience I gain seems to transfer to those who share a bond with me.
Several dozen of the students who shared a bond with me grinned, elbowing those next to them who hadn’t made the oath. Dozens of students who had heard the call and done nothing gave the oath despite having learned what I was. They were bathed in holy light from above as out connection formed.
Lidia cleared her throat. “On behalf of the entire Undead Enhancement Club, I would like to thank you for teaching us the skills we needed to save ourselves. Most of us wouldn’t have made it out of the academy alive without you.”
Their gratitude meant nothing to me. But it was best to be polite with what I was about to ask them to do. “You’re welcome.”
Baris stepped forward, smelling angry. It showed through when he didn’t raise his hand. “You’ve been manipulating us for months. What were you planning to do with us?”
He was a good young man.
“Nothing. My daughter was attending Darksmith and teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts and the Undead Enhancement Club was my method for staying without drawing attention.”
“Why should we believe you?”
I laughed in his face, partly because I knew it would weaken his argument, and partly because his concern was ridiculous. “Baris, you’ve seen what I’m capable of in the Abyss. Do you honestly think I need any of you to do anything?” I pointed to Davina. “That’s the level of talent and skill I need. You’ve all come far, but none of you are at a level of skill where I need you for anything.”
Baris opened his mouth to object, but then glanced at Davina and close it again. He nodded a second later, agreeing with my point. His anger quickly faded as reason took over.
I cast a basic levitation spell and rose into the air so everyone could all see me. “Many of you have taken my hero’s oath. Many of you have leveled. None of you have spent more than a few attribute points. That is a mistake. Where we are going, you’re going to need every advantage you can get.”
Baris looked up and raised his voice. “We’ll go into attribute shock, Sir.”
“Clerics can postpone attribute shock.”
“That eventually makes it worse.”
“Only if you live long enough to experience it.”
Lidia raised her hand. “Is it going to be that bad?”
I nodded. “Some of you might have seen how much longer it took me to kill these hunters compared to the ones of the floor above. That extra time means they will have a chance to swarm the convoy and overwhelm the undead guards you’re raising. There is also a new threat from worker ants that can fly. You’re going to have to engage significantly more aerial attacks.”
Lidia raised her hand again. “Sir, do you know why we’re not succumbing to mana exhaustion?”
“That’s another benefit of my oath. You get some of my regenerative ability when you’re desperate enough.”
Gregory’s sorcerers had never dropped from mana exhaustion during a battle, but they had many times during training. If they were here, it would be much easier to move forward.
Lidia raised her hand again. “Are there any other benefits of your oath?”
“Yes, but none of them will help you today. Now, those you that have attributes to spend, I want you to invest them using the kingmaker distribution, starting with recovery. Those who know what the kingmaker distribution is, please confirm what I say to those who don’t.”
Baris raise his hand this time. “Sir, the archsorcerer distributions is more appropriate for necromancers. We should focus on what we know how to do.”
“If any of you were capable of throwing expert tier spells I’d agree with you, but what you know won’t save you where we’re going. Being able to leap out of the way and bounce back to your feet could. Also considering what we’re facing, you’re likely going to move past the kingmaker distribution by the time we leave the third floor.”
Those who knew what the distribution required were openly shocked. To go beyond the kingmaker distribution would require them to pass level 120. That meant tripling their level in a single day. For those who had already taken my oath, the news was less shocking, many of them were likely already at that level considering my weakest guards were all over level 150 with many being significantly higher than that. The number of powerful and boss tier monsters I’d killed on our way here would take those sections of the Abyss generations to recover from.
Baris sighed as he raised his hand. “Sir, could you please remind me what the exact distribution is.”
I did as he asked, projecting my voice to everyone as I shared the numbers for kingmaker distribution.
Once, I was done here, I needed to track down the rest of the people who had taken my oath and convince them to do the same. We were going to need every advantage to get through this without the majority of the survivors dying, so I wasn’t going to let anyone slip through the cracks.
***
Walking across a flying carpet is not like walking across a solid floor I discovered. Each step causes your foot to sink as the carpet deforms under your weight. It’s similar to walking across a trampoline, only without the bounce.
Cid, the alchemist who I used to run into while making master tier skeletons, continued you to stare off into space as I paced back and forth bouncing his baby boy on my shoulder. His wife sitting on the carpet and stroked their sleeping children’s hair with trembling hands, crying softly over the horrors she had seen, and her fear for what was to come.
Cid and the others were still working all hours of the day, to provide enchanting material for Gorgath, so Gregory had known where to send his people to save them when the vampires attacked. My guards had helped them round up their families in the middle of the night, ushering them through the town, ahead of everyone else.
Cid’s aura swelled as his attributes came into effect, pushing his capabilities to new heights. I motioned for the cleric to come forward and stop him from passing out. His alchemist class might have not made him particularly skilled at combat, but he was still a sorcerer and could throw spells with enough skill to help.
Cid turned to me as the cleric began buffing him. “I never suspected you were a hero.”
I shrugged as his fussy baby played with my hair and continued to pace. “I’m not sure why a room full of deathlords wearing cultist robes would fail to give you the impression that I’m a hero.”
Cid smiled, too stressed to laugh. “It might have been the lighting. Anyway, I’ll tell the other alchemist who took your oath how to invest their attributes.”
I lifted his baby from my shoulder and passed him back. “Thank you.”
“I think I’m the one who should be saying that?”
“You’re contribution matters.”
“Not as much as yours.”
“That doesn’t mean you should go without thanks.”
Cid gave a single nod in reply.
I turned and made my way to the front of the mobile palace. Finding everyone who had taken my oath was a simple matter, convincing some of them to listen to my advice was much harder. Anyone who was too disagreeable, I left their own devices. I couldn’t spare the time to convince them, so I’d been sending those who were more agreeable to talk them into. Hopefully, they would listen, because we needed them.
When I reached the front of the mobile palace, the wall of archsorcerers parted, letting me through to speak with Princess Carolyn. Amelia stood nearby guarding her mother and stepfather. She had a wand in one hand and powerfully enchanted medallion in the other. She also wore an enchanted robe that was much too big for her, but provided numerous buffs.
She gave me a grin as she waved, tossing about her too big sleeve. “Hi, Vincent.” She didn’t smell stressed or afraid, only extremely happy to see me.
I smiled and waved back, before stopped before Carolyn’s back. “We need to talk.”
She didn’t turn, playing the part of the heir to Arcadia receiving a petition. “I don’t agree. I’ve already prepared my people to abandon the mobile palace if the worst should happen. They will rendezvous with your guards before pushing on. I trust you and my guards will make sure this contingency does not come to pass.”
She still had a long way to go before she would make a good queen. “Preparing for the worst while hoping for the best is always wise, Princess. But cutting off an advisor as knowledgeable as myself when they come to you during a crisis may prevent you from learning something you need to know. Yes, it gives you an air of authority, but authority is useless if your ignorance leads to you marching your people to failure.”
Carolyn glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll remember. Now what did you wish to speak to me about?”
I nodded to Gorgath. He was sitting in the middle of the remaining dead ants, tossing aside the too hard to eat chitin that he’d emptied of meat. The valuable third floor material sat in massive piles, ready for the taking. And it would be the first of many such piles.
“Only the most important of subjects, Princess.”
Carolyn raised an eyebrow intrigued. “And that would be?”
“Loot.”