“Two seasons?”
“At the very least, sire.” Melren shook his head. “To attempt to do it more quickly is to invite disaster.”
Matt grimaced. “Let me guess. We’d create some kind of explosion? Maybe big enough to level the city or something?”
“Not precisely, but there have been worse problems.” When Matt gave him an incredulous look, Melren shrugged. “There have been multiple portal attempts that ended in failure. Unless the pathway is well controlled, then it has a risk of reaching a world very much unlike our own. There are millions of worlds throughout the cosmos. Worlds where the air is poison, where the sky itself is alight with fire. There can be shifts in time or voids that can rip the magic from every person nearby a place. The only way to avoid such disasters would be to tread carefully.”
Grimacing, Matt shook his head. “How did the Circle of Echoes manage to get to Earth in the first place, then? The Red Sorceress didn’t seem to have any problems getting there, either.”
“The Circle of Echoes is somewhat famous for their knowledge of the pathways between worlds. Their ancestors often explored the cosmos during times of peace, and their caution in doing so has led to them having many such worlds they can travel to. I imagine that your ‘Earth’ is simply a world they visited sometime in the distant past, which they already knew how to reach.”
Melren leaned back in his seat, clearly unhappy. “As for the Red Sorceress… she was close enough to see the portal made. It is a far easier task to follow someone marked by your magic than it is to forge a pathway yourself. She merely chased the fools to your world, much the same way that Gorfeld followed the beacon of your Divine Right to bring you here. Even then, she risked death in doing so.” Then the former nobleman grinned. “Though I suppose her luck did run short eventually, did it not?”
It was hard for Matt to see the humor in the situation. Two seasons meant something close to six months, and he doubted Tanya was willing to wait that long before she went home. For that matter, he wasn’t sure he wanted to wait that long, but his situation was a bit different.
All the same, he’d believed, at least in the back of his mind, that he’d have the option of simply running back to Earth if things went badly in the Kingdom. He’d even surrender the throne to someone else first, if only to keep the others from hunting him down. Now that he knew that he didn’t have that option, it made dealing with the remaining threats to his Kingdom that much more important. His back really was to a wall now; there could be no real retreat.
Still, he couldn’t exactly ignore Tanya’s presence for the next twenty-six weeks. Even if he officially hadn’t accepted her as a Consort, people were probably going to see two Humans in the castle and make… assumptions. Having a King that was suspected to be a philanderer was bad, but combined with the supposed prophecy that had instructed him not to take a Consort, it would be bad enough to actually start shaking morale across the Kingdom. He could not afford to lose the confidence of his people over a rumor like that, not with the Alliance gathering in the south, Suluth still trying to kill him, and Teblas still in active rebellion.
He'd worked too hard to save this Kingdom just to let it slip away over one person.
Matt looked up from the table. He idly tapped it with a finger. “All right. I want you to find the best available experts in portal knowledge. Have them search for a way to return her home, as carefully as they need to. In the meantime, is there a way to help her be able to understand your language? If she is here for some time, it will only get worse if she can’t speak to anyone but me.”
Melren blinked, and then nodded. “There are a few spells that may help the situation. I can attempt to find a few mages that can act as… attendants for your guest. They should be able to help her speak with the rest of us.”
“Thank you.” Matt rubbed at his forehead for a moment. There was an ache there that threatened to grow into a migraine soon. If the Western Coalition had meant to weaken and distract him, even while they sought the protection of a peace treaty, then they had definitely succeeded. “I would search for that spell myself, but I am so close to completing my first foundation. I don’t want to abandon it now.”
His advisor looked briefly uncomfortable. “About that, sire. I know that you have been making excellent progress with your foundation, but I wonder if we shouldn’t be more careful about completing it. We don’t even have any real Spell Chants available for you to use once it is finished.”
Matt waved Melren’s concerns away with one hand. “Oh, I managed to get quite a few of them out of the Gnomes when I visited Summerhall. Once I finally finish the last of the foundation, I should be good to start actually practicing things.”
The Imp looked a little disturbed at that response. He shifted slightly on his chair. “From the Gnomes? I suppose they might have some small amount of magecraft in that area, but still…” Melren shifted again, as if hesitant. “It is always wise to use some caution when you are exploring a new—”
The doors to the throne room opened, admitting a messenger who made a beeline straight for Matt. She handed over a small scroll, and Matt read over it quickly and sighed. “The Great Council is requesting my attention. Apparently, someone has already told them about Tanya and the Western Coalition’s offer. I need to make sure that they don’t think that I am ruining our future by allying with an enemy.”
Melren paused. Then he gave Matt a crooked smile. “We aren’t allying with an enemy, are we, sire?”
Matt snorted. “No. They aren’t exactly friends, but I think they’re going to be relying on petty tricks and pretty words to fight us rather than magic and swords. Given everything else we are facing, I’d say that’s a better fight, wouldn’t you?”
“As you say, sire.” Melren’s nod wasn’t as certain as it could have been, but Matt guessed that might have been because the Imp didn’t have a lot of experience with the word ‘peace’ in any meaningful sense. Maybe it would be a difficulty that much of his Kingdom would have with the new state of affairs. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
He stood up from the table and Melren rose along with him. “Is there anything else you need from me to help Tanya?”
Melren hesitated and then shook his head. “No, sire. I will see to what is needed.”
Matt nodded and shook Melren’s hand. Then he started for the doors. There were going to be more problems waiting for him, but at least he’d have some people helping him with the whole ‘kidnapped woman’ one.
He just wished that he could convince himself that he wouldn’t have more headaches from her than he would from Teblas and the Alliance.
Gorfeld stepped into the study and bowed when Matt looked up. “Ambassador Paralus is here, sire.”
“Oh. Good.” Matt set down the quill he’d been using and sat back in his seat. “Please send him in.”
The steward nodded and stepped out. A moment later, the ambassador from the Western Coalition came in.
Paralus had definitely seen better days. The young Wizard seemed a little disheveled, even more than he had the day before. He still didn’t seem to be getting any sleep, and his eyes darted nervously around the room to look at the lifeguards that were standing at the ready.
He probably didn’t enjoy meeting with Matt alone, but the rest of his supposed compatriots were speaking with the Great Council at the moment, hashing out the details of the future peace treaty. Matt had attended the morning session to put his approval on the process, but other than that, he had little interest in the incessant haggling. The Council members would do a better job than he would at hammering out any vulnerabilities, and the Kingdom needed him for other tasks.
Like sending a message to a supposedly peaceful nation that had decided to tamper with his people.
Matt stood, placing his hands on the desk in front of him. Paralus’ attention locked back onto him, and Matt gave him a level look. “Ambassador.”
Paralus gulped a little and inclined his head. “King Matthew.”
“Thank you for coming to meet with me.” Matt paused. “I am glad the rest of your countrymen could spare you from the negotiations.”
The young Wizard managed a shaky version of a wry smile. “I believe they felt they were more than experienced enough with the art of negotiation to achieve success without my contributions. They felt their wisdom was… sufficient for the task.”
There was a subtle hint in those words, and Matt returned Paralus’ smile. “They do seem rather confident of their plans, don’t they? Are you?”
The smile abruptly vanished from Paralus’ face. He looked around at the lifeguards again. “I’m not sure what you mean, my lord.”
“I’m sure you do.” Matt walked around to plant himself on the front of the desk. He did not invite the ambassador to sit. “I’m sure that you are supportive of the peace treaty they are currently negotiating. I am not as sure that you are interested in their other plan. The one where your people conveniently found a Consort for me.”
Paralus’ face went a bit pale, but he did an admirable job of standing his ground—even if he had suddenly developed a rather intense interest in the ceiling behind Matt’s head. “The companion we found for you was presented in the interest of our continued friendship and support for your reign.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “It definitely didn’t have anything to do with a prophecy or a hope of distracting me when it appeared we were starting to make progress here. Certainly nothing of the sort. Right?”
When the Wizard didn’t respond, Matt shook his head. “I’m not going to hold you personally responsible for what happened, Paralus. I’ve had an experience or two when I had to handle someone else’s bad idea, so I know where you are right now. Here’s the problem. Just because I won’t hold you personally responsible doesn’t mean someone else won’t.”
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Paralus finally made eye contact. He seemed confused now, almost as much as he was terrified. “What do you—I mean, may I ask who you speak of, my lord?”
Matt smiled. “I’m going to trust you with a few secrets, Paralus. I hope you do not hold them in confidence. In fact, share them with as many people as you can back home. Can you do that?”
The Wizard’s confusion seemed to grow a little worse, and Matt shrugged. “When I first met Alerios, when I killed the Red Sorceress, I told him something about my home. Did he ever tell you what it was?”
Paralus shook his head, and Matt continued in an even voice. “It was when he told me I was going to be King of the Crimson Peaks. My answer was that my home didn’t have kings. We’re freeholders, or something close to it. All of us.”
A look of sheer astonishment spread across Paralus’ face for a moment. Just as quickly, it was swallowed by a fascinated kind of calculation. “No kings? How are you governed then? Does each person stand for themselves? But no, it would be chaos…”
“We choose our leaders. Similar to the way my freeholders now choose Voices.” There was a jerk of motion from the lifeguards, and Matt gave them a quick glance. Even if he was quiet about it, he was sure Tanya was going to start spreading it around soon enough. “Those leaders are committed to defending our people and their rights, the same way that I am committed to defending the people of this Kingdom.”
“Now, Paralus, what would happen if a neighboring nation captured one of my freeholders? What would happen if tomorrow I woke up and found out that someone had snuck into the work camps and taken Parufeth away, for example?”
The Wizard blinked. He’d become fairly friendly with the Gnome during his visits to the various worksites around the city. His response carried a hint of heat from the idea of his friend being taken. “I imagine you would seek his freedom, my lord. That you would set your armies after them until they surrendered your freeholder or were destroyed.”
Matt nodded. “Even if I were callous enough to ignore it, the Voices would demand action, wouldn’t they? After all, they were chosen by the very people who are being carried off.” Paralus nodded, his expression growing a little concerned now. “Now, I want to ask you something else. How many people live in the Western Coalition?”
Paralus blinked again, as if thrown by the non sequitur. “We represent something close to seven hundred thousand people, my lord.”
He nodded easily. “That’s about what I thought. My Kingdom is a little smaller, even if you count the parts in rebellion.” Matt pushed off the desk and walked around it, gesturing to the map. “The Alliance of Light has something like six hundred thousand, and the Noble Races are, like your Coalition, closer to seven hundred thousand.”
The Wizard nodded, as if mystified by the numbers and how they related to the topic at hand. “So I understand, my lord.”
“Now, the second secret. How many people do you believe are in the nation I call home?”
Paralus paused, calculations running through his eyes. “I cannot say, my lord. I would need to know how your people support themselves, how they live…”
The Wizard trailed off as Matt held up a hand. “Let me help you, then. The largest city close to where I lived held well over seven hundred thousand people.” An absolute silence fell, and Matt smiled as he continued. “If you count the surrounding towns within a day’s travel, there were more people in that one spot than in the Coalition, the Alliance, the Noble Races, and my Kingdom combined.”
Matt leaned forward over the desk. “And it isn’t even close to being our biggest city. Your people number in the thousands, Paralus. The people of my home number in the millions. Their soldiers alone outnumber every serf, noble, and peasant in your lands.”
He let the silence hang in the air for a moment longer. Paralus was staring at him, speechless, with eyes so wide they actually showed the whites now. Unless Matt was imagining things, the man was shaking a little.
Matt waited a moment longer, and then he continued. “Now, for the last secret. I killed the Red Sorceress, Paralus. It wasn’t even hard. She was one of the mightiest mages in your world. I understand few could challenge her, and when she came with her Grim Hounds for your leader, all Alerios and the others could hope to do was run.”
Paralus nodded, licking his lips as if he was trying to work some moisture back into them. Matt paused one more time for dramatic effect and then spoke again. “Now, Paralus, was I even one of our soldiers?”
The reaction this time was rather gratifying. Paralus frowned, as if in shocked denial. “O-of course you were. I mean, you—you…”
He saw the horror steal across Paralus’ face, and Matt nodded slowly. “I was just a freeholder, Paralus. The same as a town watchman, I suppose. Not trained as a soldier at all.”
Paralus reached out with a trembling hand to take hold of the chair. It appeared he needed to brace himself slightly.
Matt pushed onward, trying to keep his voice light as he walked around the table again. “So, to reiterate. My old home had more than enough power to wipe your whole people off the map without trying. They might not even send more than a banner or two to do it, and they would still win.” Then he stepped right up to Paralus and stared down into the Wizard’s face. “And you just kidnapped one of their freeholders. To distract me. Do you have any idea what kind of disaster you almost caused?”
It took a long time for Paralus to answer. When the Wizard managed it, he spoke with a shaking voice. “I-I understand now, my lord.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Matt smiled. “Now, can I trust you can emphasize to your friends back home that this little game needs to never be played again?”
“You can, my lord.” Paralus gave him a firm nod. His fingers on the back of the chair clenched. “I will make every effort to explain the… situation you’ve described. You have my thanks.”
“And you have mine.” Matt gave him a clap on the shoulder that almost collapsed the poor Wizard. “Of course, if you could pass along any knowledge that would help me return the poor woman home, that would also be… appreciated. By everyone involved.”
Paralus nodded again, his lips working for a moment in silence. It was clear the ambassador was slowly breaking through the disbelief and shock. Anger—hopefully at whatever idiots had conceived of the plan—was starting to simmer at the edges of his overlarge eyes. “I will do my best, my lord. Again, thank you for your concern.”
Then he paused and stuck out a hand. “I look forward to peace between our peoples.”
Matt shook his hand wordlessly, and Paralus bowed slightly. Then he left the room, his legs looking steadier with each step. He watched the Wizard go for a moment and then gestured for Gorfeld to come in and close the door. As the steward obeyed, Matt went back to his seat behind the desk and half-collapsed into it.
Gorfeld was sober and quiet as he crossed over the desk. “My liege, are we at risk?”
Matt looked up in surprise. Not that he was shocked that the steward had been eavesdropping; he more or less suspected that Gorfeld was aware of every conversation that happened in his study. Instead, it was the apparent worry on Gorfeld’s face that had caught him off guard. “No more than we have been before. Why do you ask?”
“The way you described your home… I did not know what I had risked by demanding you come with me. You’ve already done so much for us. If you wished to return…”
He cut Gorfeld off with a wave. “I went with you willingly, Gorfeld. It wasn’t the same situation.” Then he hesitated. “Besides, I might not have told our dear friend the whole truth. As powerful as my people are, they have no idea about how to travel between worlds. At least, not through portals. They’d have to figure out that part first before they came after anyone.”
Gorfeld raised an eyebrow. “And if they do figure it out, sire?”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure they talk instead of attack.” Matt shook his head, picturing the United States military marching on Redspire. “But I don’t think that will be necessary. As long as we get Tanya back home quickly, we shouldn’t have to worry at all about any of that stuff—especially since I’ve hopefully convinced our dear friends to the west that it is practically suicide to keep going back there.”
The steward nodded, and Matt went back to the documents in front of him. He’d have to go visit Tanya later, to make sure she wasn’t fitting in too badly. If he could just keep her calm for the next few weeks and put enough pressure on the Western Coalition, he was sure he could get her back home safely. Then he could worry about all the rest of his problems.
“Oh! Thanks, but no. I think I’m going to stay here.”
Matt stared at Tanya, not quite believing his ears. “What?”
She paused mid-brush through her dark hair and fixed him with a surprised look. “I said I’m going to stay here. Do you not hear very well?”
He stared at her for a moment longer and then looked around the room for any evidence that his grip on reality had slipped somehow. Maybe Suluth had managed to get some kind of illusion mage into the castle to mess with him.
His inspection of the chamber failed to turn up anything suspicious, though. It was a small antechamber for one of the ‘guest’ rooms in the castle. It had been empty since the Red Sorceress had thrown out the remnants of the Obsidian King’s collection of concubines; Matt had been silently praying that Tanya wouldn’t discover the sordid past behind the room once he’d realized where the palace staff had put her.
Not that it looked like she was overly concerned about anything at the moment. The antechamber had been furnished with a red cushioned couch, with four matching chairs set up in a semi-circle in front of it. Tanya was lounging and combing her hair on the couch, while a couple of Goblin servants from the castle were standing by at attention, ready to see to her needs. There was a desk set up in front of a broad window that looked out over the rest of Redspire, giving her a fairly good view of the city all the way to Victory Square. If he wanted to squint, he could probably see the damn statue, fist still raised in victory.
Thinking about that statue wasn’t doing him any favors, so he tried to focus back on Tanya. She had started moving the brush again, humming to herself softly. Matt tried to sound reasonably calm. “I don’t understand. You asked me to get you back home. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Tanya shrugged. “Yeah. I changed my mind.”
Matt stared at her a couple of seconds longer before he managed to grind out a response. “Why?”
“Why not?” Tanya gestured. “Look, it’s not a problem, right? People disappear all the time back home. It’s not like anyone’s going to think it’s that big a deal if I stay here a few years, right?”
“A few—!” Matt tried to reel himself back in. “You can’t stay here. You have to go home.”
“Why can’t I stay? Aren’t you the King? I mean, you’re the one in charge, right?” She waved a dismissive hand. “Just tell them I’ll be staying as long as you are.”
“Tanya. It’s dangerous here.” Matt was speaking through gritted teeth at this point. She couldn’t be this oblivious, right? “There are assassins after me, and they might try to strike at you if they can’t get to me. Even if that doesn’t happen, there’s at least two wars going on, and an army could come after us any day now. You’re not safe if you stay.”
Tanya frowned at him. She swung her feet off of the couch and stood up, handing the comb to one of the Goblin servants. “It seems like you are handling that whole situation just fine. I mean, isn’t one of the people you are fighting about to surrender to you today? Just keep doing that and everything will be fine.”
“Tanya, there isn’t even any indoor plumbing here. Don’t you want to go back home where it’s safe and comfortable?”
She shrugged. “It’s not that much better there. I mean, have you seen how most people have to live? I’m pretty sure this room is bigger than my whole apartment back home.” She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Besides, you’re already working on the plumbing thing, right? Just hurry it up a little.”
The piercing headache was starting to form between his eyes again. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to focus on breathing. “It’s not that simple. Besides, you realize that if you’re here, people will assume we are sleeping together, right? That’s why the Coalition kidnapped you in the first place. Staying here will only make those rumors worse.”
“Oh? Do you want to, then?” She laughed a little when his eyes snapped open, and then looked him up and down. “I think you’re going to have to clean up a little before we talk about that anymore, though. Just because you’re a King doesn’t mean you can let yourself go like that and still expect some action. Not from me, at least.”
Matt reflexively looked down at the uniform he was wearing. By the time he looked back up at her, she was already walking off towards her desk. “That’s not—you can’t just—”
“Listen, I’m not going to try and usurp your throne or whatever. I just want to stay here and enjoy the art and the scenery, okay? It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Besides, have you heard that they have magic here? How could I pass that up?”
She sat down at her desk and stared out the window, apparently forgetting he was there entirely. Matt kept staring at her until the view blurred a little as the burgeoning migraine started to pound away behind his eyes.
He risked a glance at the servants, who seemed to be torn between being scandalized by the lack of respect in her words, and admiration at how tongue-tied she’d left him. The lifeguards both gave him a sympathetic look that stung somehow.
Finally, he stomped out of her chambers, heading for the corridor that would take him towards the garrison. He suddenly felt the severe need to smash something, and Sergeant Nikles had been unwise enough to offer another training session that day.