They arrived in the Legion’s headquarters, causing a minor stir that quickly resolved as the commander on duty reported the important news to the pair of them.
“Your Majesty, General, we have received visitors at the castle. Emissaries from the Ansky Empire and the Kingdom of Tannish have arrived to speak with the king.”
Duke sighed. “I guess I’ll have to receive them then. Thank you for letting me know.” He gave Aurelia a quick kiss and TELEPORTED himself to the Inn. Stepping inside, he immediately went up to his rooms. There, he changed into what he was calling his “king costume.” It bore the heraldry of the Kingdom of Stormstride and was what Duke had been assured was “proper attire for a king.” Naturally, he hated it.
I detest these political meetings, especially when I don’t know what the real history of these kingdoms and their relationship with Chopie or even his father entailed. There are the public records but that doesn’t ever tell the real story. I’m hitting the bar before I go deal with this.
Duke paused in his thoughts and decided to do one more thing before he went to deal with his visitors. He chose his boon from reaching Tier 4. After much internal debate, he had not come up with a new Ability that would suit him, so he decided to evolve TELEPORTATION.
Making his selection, Duke felt a lance of pain through his head, followed by a wash of new understanding and relief. He pulled up the notification and read it.
***
You have evolved your TELEPORTATION Ability. The range and precision of your Ability has been significantly increased. You now have the Ability to open Portals for others to use. You may make the Portals persistent or temporary. You may maintain a number of persistent Portals equal to your Psyche modifier. These persistent Portals will remain in place until you cancel them. They can be disrupted by sufficiently strong magic but otherwise will be inviolate. Finally, your TELEPORTATION can now cross dimensional barriers as long as you know the location you are targeting.
***
Duke smiled as he pulled up the details on his TELEPORTATION Ability and saw that the combination of his rank up to Master rank and his evolution had extended his range to a ridiculous level. He could TELEPORT almost 1.5 billion kilometers at its base level. With OVERCHANNEL, he wasn’t sure what his ultimate range was now but he guessed he might be able to reach a light year.
That’s absofuckingloutely amazing! I could reach anywhere in the solar system for sure. If I can find where I really am, I might be able to make it back to Earth on my own power. Maybe not now, but if I can rank this Ability up even higher to Grandmaster, then I think I could pull it off. That’s only another 640 levels in the Ability. Yeah, that’s not happening tomorrow. But this is amazing. I’ve got enough range to get to anywhere on this planet, easily. I could open Portals to distant lands and open trade and immigration and…have to deal with all the political bullshit involved. Good thing I have a minister for that.
Duke stopped at the bar, offering Calen a broad smile.
“You seem to be in a fine mood. What can I get for you? More whiskey?”
“Yes, please. Make it three shots. I have ‘kingly business’ to attend to.”
Calen smiled as he quickly poured three shots for Duke, and a fourth for himself. He raised his shot in salute as Duke picked up his first. “To successful kingly business.” He tossed his shot back and Duke did the same, his smile still glued to his face. The next two shots went down just as quickly.
Duke stepped away from the bar, feeling a bit fuzzy. Calen laughed in a friendly way and explained. “I’ve upped the potency of the drinks just for you. So, don’t go sharing your drinks with anyone else. You’re likely to kill them.”
Duke’s smile faded slightly as he felt his REGENERATION take over and clear the effects of the drinks from his system. His smile returned as he realized that this was how quickly his Ability reacted to poisons. Good to know that poisoning the king isn’t going to work.
“Thank you Calen. That was refreshing, if a bit too brief. Off I go to be a king or something.” Duke TELEPORTED to his Throne Room finding it empty save for his Royal Guards and Duke Madrigal.
“Your Majesty.” Madrigal started before Duke interrupted.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Madrigal, please. I’m going to have to be all formal for the next while with our guests arrival. Please keep it informal as long as possible until then.”
“As you wish. I take it you have heard that we have emissaries from two nations having arrived.”
“I have. But please tell me more. I know precious little of these two nations other than some military doctrine from the Ansky Empire.”
Madrigal handed Duke a book. Duke looked at it to discover it was a history text of the continent. Flipping through, he saw there were entries for both visitors and he offered Madrigal a smiling thanks. “This should help. Are there any special greetings or ceremonies I should be aware of before I meet with them?”
“Nothing that I am aware of. I have been imprisoned for quite some time though so there may have been changes. But, in the end, this is your kingdom. They can adapt to your customs. Just don’t do anything too crass or offensive.”
“Right. Keep it PG. Gotcha.”
“Um, yes, keep it civil and friendly.”
“When the emissaries are admitted, I would like to have both you and Lady Hargwaetch in attendance along with Archmage Baslin. I think I will greet them here and then have us move to a conference room to have our discussion. Does that break any protocols that I shouldn’t?”
“No, that fits custom fairly well. I’ll go fetch the Lady, but I have no idea where Archmage Baslin is right now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll fetch him.”
“Then I shall return with Lady Hargwaetch presently.” Madrigal left to seek the Lady out.
Duke used his Jewel of Whispers to contact Baslin. “Hey Baslin, you got your ears on?”
“Got my ears on? What on Teldin does that mean?” Baslin responded with his own jewel.
“It is just a phrase asking if you are listening. And clearly you are. I need you to join me in the Throne Room for some political bullshit. I’ve got people from Ansky and Tannish here and I want you here with me to meet them.”
“Give me some time to get into a proper outfit and I will join you in the Throne Room.”
While Duke waited, he flipped through the history book, noting that the histories of the two kingdoms were very different. He only was able to read a portion of their histories before his crew started to arrive. He pulled out “fancy chairs” from his INVENTORY that he had picked up somewhere along the way for them all to sit in. Once they were all seated and a short “strategy session” was complete, Duke indicated to his Guard to have the emissaries sent in.
Both emissaries entered side-by-side, looking somewhat uncomfortable at not being given individual audiences. They were each trailed by several individuals including their own guards. Duke, as was customary, greeted them.
“Greetings and welcome. The Kingdom of Stormstride is pleased by your arrival. Since you have both arrived so close together, I have determined that it would be a slight to choose one of you to meet with me first over the other. This may be a departure from tradition that you may be accustomed to, but I am not a ruler like any other you have dealt with. I will speak plainly and honestly with you. If you seek intrigue and deception, begone from my court. If you speak with truth and honor, you will be welcome here.”
I know that’s not what they expected to hear but fuck the political bullshit. I need a foreign minister and fast. I have too much shit to get done to sit in this bullshit all day. And if it causes a problem, I will fucking step on their necks until they see it my way. And now I sound like a goddamed tin pot dictator again. Fuck! I hate politics!
The emissaries looked at each other, trying to decide who should speak first. It seemed that they were vapor-locked on this decision, so Duke decided it for them. “Since you are to my right, you get to go first.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, The Ansky Empire greets King Duke and welcomes his reign over the Kingdom of Stormstride. Your neighbor, even if separated by some distance, is glad to see the ending of a mad king and wish to offer our support to you and your kingdom so that your people may prosper as ours have. Please accept this gift as a token of our friendship.” At these words, a pair of powerfully built servants stepped forward, placing a substantial chest before the throne.
When they stepped back, the other emissary spoke. “The Kingdom of Tannish also welcomes King Duke and the Kingdom of Stormstride to the continent. Since you have asked for honesty and honor in our dealings, I will say this. Chopie was a petty and frivolous ruler. We are pleased to see him removed from power and our spies have relayed your first few actions as a king and we find them to be worthy of respect. Our Kingdom is unlike most. We are a Jungle Kingdom, constantly beset by the terrifying monsters of the deep jungle. As such, we do not brook flowery political speech. We speak plainly and dislike politics. From what I have seen here, even today, our Kingdoms will be very like-minded and I see no reason for us not to be friendly. In fact, we open our borders to you and your people for hunting in the jungle. It is not for the inexperienced or the meek, but there is nothing quite like a jungle hunt. Additionally, we did bring a gift of friendship as well.”
A woman wearing a dress depicting flowering vines stepped forward. She placed a box that was nearly the size of her torso before Duke. With a bow, she stepped back, her raven hair flowing forward to cover her face.
Duke paused briefly as if weighing his words carefully before speaking. Madrigal picked up on Duke’s pause and spoke. “Your Majesty, I would ask that you open the gifts now so that anything that might be perishable be properly secured and not spoil.”
“A great suggestion, Duke Madrigal.” Duke stepped down from the throne and approached the gifts. As he approached the chest from the Ansky Empire, he received a whispered message.
“Your Majesty, I have a message from Sam. He says that he needs you here urgently. He would not relay what the matter was, but he seemed particularly agitated.”
Duke briefly hesitated but decided that he was going to get his loot first. He would deal with Sam’s issues later. He reached for the chest to open it.