Regina had previously had the thought that the gnomes seemed further advanced than the human kingdoms she’d gotten to know, like they were a civilization plucked out of a later epoch of history compared to them. As she learned more about the situation in the Gnomish Confederation of the East during this war, the impression kind of stuck with her.
She wasn’t a historian, of course, so she was probably just confusing things and missing cues for a deeper understanding. But some things she did see did remind her of later, more modern times than the medieval or Rennaissance-like world of the other countries. The propaganda, the control the government exerted, the war effort and its logistics. Maybe she was just underestimating the past and misrepresenting earlier times, but it didn’t really matter, since the inferences she drew were still useful.
The ruling faction, the Historicals, had consolidated their power starting before the beginning of the war. Opposition politicians had regularly found themselves tripping over scandals, booted out of office or even accused of treason and executed. And it wasn’t confined to politicians, their crackdown had gradually broadened to the whole of their society, with people coming under suspicion for their political allegiances or because they belonged to a group the regime didn’t like.
The next major election was being delayed indefinitely because of the war. Regina had her suspicions of what that meant — although to be fair, going through with it under the conditions of the war wouldn’t exactly be easy. It was a bit of a shame, an election like this could have provided a good lever for her. Maybe a chance to get some opposition candidates into power or at least get their voices heard. But that probably wasn’t very realistic at the present moment … at least not if you played by the Historicals’ rules.
Their propaganda was clearly effective. Just looking at the number of soldiers the gnomes fielded and the discipline with which they usually fought would tell her as much. But it wasn’t completely accepted, either. The people knew what the war was costing them, not just in people being sent to the front and returning in body bags or not at all, but in quality of life, too. And they had little to show for it. Even if the truth about the start of the war was probably mostly unknown to the people and covered by the Historicals’ propaganda, they couldn’t lie about all of the facts.
Some of the interviews her people had conducted had revealed that rarest and most valuable of findings: hints that there was active resistance to the gnomes’ regime in the Confederation. Maybe even unrest.
Neralt had thrown himself into his self-appointed task (mostly) with enthusiasm and made good progress, according to the reports Regina had received. She’d also sent some Keepers and a few other drones to further that effort and gather what useful intelligence they could. The first results had come in, and Regina appreciated what she learned. Even if she felt rather conflicted about the news.
She would have liked to travel to the city herself and get a picture of the situation personally, but that just wasn’t feasible right now. So instead, she left it to Janis and the others, as well as Neralt and the people he was recruiting for it. Not that she just let him do what he wanted in that regard, at least.
“I need more detailed reports about the people you are involving in this effort, including your reasoning for involving them,” she said when they met one afternoon, after he’d come back to the capital for a visit. She’d allowed him the use of a Winged Drone Mount for major trips, considering the importance of his work, and, frankly, she probably owed him some consideration after everything.
He frowned slightly, but nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty. I understand.”
“Good,” she said. “I hope you understand the need for caution as well. I don’t think the gnomes have spies in Cernlia’s court or nobility, but I can’t rule it out, and I wouldn’t put it past certain people to sell information. There are other parties we wouldn’t want to know what we’re doing or if we make any plans, either. Keeping this quiet is going to be important. I can’t have any of them betraying us for other reasons, either — I’m sure there are some vested interests in drawing out this war.”
His frown deepened, but he nodded gravely again. “That’s very wise, My Empress. Would it help if I offered any assurances? Is there anything I can do?”
Regina tugged on her mandible. “I may want to check their intentions and honesty with my psychic abilities,” she said slowly. “It would certainly offer an assurance of their trustworthiness. If you’re ready to undergo this yourself, it could only help.”
Neralt smiled slightly, as if he was amused by some private thought. “Of course,” he readily agreed. “I have no secrets from my empress, after all. Do you wish to do this right now?”
“If you’re ready.” Regina sat deeper in her chair, taking a deep breath and focusing her mind. “Please relax,” she requested.
Neralt’s mind was hardly relaxed, but that was to be expected. He did grow a bit calmer, which would do. Regina concentrated on it once more, trying not to get drawn into the psychic link but wholly focused on what her psychic senses were telling her outside it, before she slowly got a bit deeper in.
She’d been able to read his surface emotions before, although he had quite good control over them. Now, she took a deeper scan of them. She’d already checked if people were lying to her, even without their active cooperation, and this didn’t really need much more than that, so it shouldn’t be too hard.
“Are you lying to or deceiving me in any way?” she asked softly.
“No, My Empress.”
That was mostly the truth. At hearing the question, his mind couldn’t help but wonder and go to all the places where he might be deceiving her depending on how one interpreted the question. He was presenting his plans and results with a bit of a spin to get favorable results; not exactly dishonest, just the normal way of trying to put things into the best light. She could have figured that one out. He seemed mostly honest in his intentions and what he actually wanted to do.
“Talk about the gnomes and your ideas,” she ordered calmly.
He did. She listened closely, following along with the associations his words called up as well as his meaning and the emotion coloring his speech. It almost gave her more information than if she’d just read the same words written somewhere, although her concentration also wasn’t entirely on the content of his report. Still, it was easy to see he had considered what he was doing and knew what he was talking about. He also wasn’t hiding anything she would have found objectionable. Anger at the Gnomish Confederation was to be expected and certainly justified, but he’d hardly lost himself in a blind rage. Well, he wouldn’t have taken this on if he had, she supposed.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Then, the contents of what he was saying distracted her a bit from trying to delve deeper into his state of mind. “You think there were, what, community leaders among those we have talked to?” she asked.
Neralt shifted slightly. “Well, there are bound to be some figures of notable influence, or political leaders in a less well-known capacity, among those remaining in the city,” he said carefully. “We have been trying to look for them, of course; it doesn’t seem shocking that we would have succeeded in a few cases.”
Regina watched him quietly for a bit, then sat back in her chair. She withdrew her mind somewhat, still keeping enough focus on him to tell if he was lying, but easing off the pressure. “I assume you’re familiar with the political factions of the gnomes. How are those represented?”
“Indeed. The Moderates were the most powerful faction against the Historicals, but I am not so certain that is still true. There are a few others who might line up with them ideologically. I would assume more of those we have marked are members of political factions than have said so, as some wish to keep affiliations like that hidden.”
“And of those people you consider important, what are their affiliations?”
“Well,” he straightened up slightly, “the man I would find most promising actually seems to be a member of the Moderate, unless I miss my guess. There is also a woman who might be in a leadership position of some kind among one of the other factions, although I am not certain of the name yet. She’s been a bit cagey.”
Regina tapped her fingers on the armrest of her chair as she thought. “If you have interviewed them and questioned them in detail on the political landscape and their own views, they will know we are up to something, and at least have a rough idea of what we are doing,” she noted.
“We have been very careful to restrict communications going out of Ins,” he protested.
Regina waved a hand irritably. “Yes, but I wouldn’t bet that we manage to stop all communications. Anyway, we might want them to communicate something.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I see. I believe that can be arranged, Your Majesty.”
“Good. Don’t be hasty, but you should prepare the groundwork. We’ll need to cooperate with the gnomes we want to work with, not just toss them behind barricades and use them when we think it suits.” She paused. “That said, make sure not to give up sensitive military intel.” Not that Neralt should know a lot of critical military information, but it was the kind of thing one better made sure of.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” he murmured with a short bow.
“Good. I’ve allocated additional funds for your efforts; talk to Via about further support. Is there something else?”
There wasn’t. Neralt took the hint and quickly took his leave, while Regina checked in on the other people associated with their efforts to understand and potentially manipulate the political situation among the gnomes.
She would give the baron a bit of time to get his head together and plan before getting back to him about the … interviews with other people. Obviously, she didn’t need to do that with the Hivekind, but it might be prudent to do it with everyone else, and maybe even make a point of how her psychic link let her ensure the drones’ trustworthiness, too.
And it wasn’t limited to Neralt and his associates, was it? Regina could at least do spot checks of everyone in her court, or schedule meetings with her advisors and officials. Maybe I should be doing that, she thought, grimacing but trying to consider it dispassionately. At least the most important ones. Those whose loyalty I’m not sure of. Although it wouldn’t do to single them out, I guess.
She sighed, leaned back and rubbed her forehead. That would be a pain, and the ethical implications weren’t exactly a field of roses, either. But maybe she really would have to do that; could she afford giving up a tool like this? Well, knowing she could check them might provide people some incentive not to entertain betrayal or deception, but it might also discourage people from trying to work for her. No one liked having their minds read, after all.
The obvious move would be to do it secretly, without letting on that she was. Regina refused to entertain that possibility, though. Not because she couldn’t do it, she was fairly sure she could or at least would be able to check them unobtrusively. But she needed to build trust with those working with her, and trust needed to be a two-way street. Otherwise, if it came out she was peeking into their heads, her working relationships with all of her advisors and government officials would be destroyed. She also just really didn’t want to.
Maybe with the gnomes … it would be somewhat expected … but Regina still didn’t really like the idea.
Shaking her head to herself, she went and sought out Madris.
The dark elf psychic had actually stuck around, despite Regina’s suspicions that the arrival of others of her people might make her leave. She wasn’t sure why, but to be fair, while Madris and their ambassador seemed to have a complicated relationship, it clearly wasn’t entirely hostile — especially if they’d been family at one point — and she must have gone years without speaking to other dark elves. Still, Madris hadn’t changed the rooms she occupied to be closer to them, even though it would have been trivial to get them reassigned, and didn’t exactly spend all day hanging around them.
Regina found her in a sitting room in the palace’s western wing that had been turned into an unofficial common area for the Delvers, although it was pretty deserted right now. Madris was looking into what Regina immediately recognized as a magical device, and clearly a pretty complicated one too. She was frowning deeply, not looking up as Regina joined her.
“Is that from one of your delves?” she finally asked, breaking the silence after Madris blinked.
Her teacher looked up calmly. “No, but it has been recently found by some allies of mine.”
Regina glanced down at the device. It was a mess of copper and silver wires, at least as far as she could tell at a glance, with a few glass or crystal parts, a bit bigger than a baseball but with several wires winding around outside to break the outline. “Is there any point asking what it does?”
“I might let you know once I’ve figured it out,” Madris said drily.
Regina leaned back into the chair she’d pulled up, wondering if Madris was just feeling nostalgic or if she had a deeper purpose. “Do you miss going out on adventures?”
The other woman paused for a moment, then shrugged. “A little, I suppose. But this is certainly an exciting change.” She laid a hand on the device and looked up at Regina. “So, what brings you here?”
“I was considering interrogating the people at court, making sure of their loyalty and trustworthiness,” Regina admitted.
Madris stilled. “I hope you’re not intending to violate their minds on the regular.”
“No,” Regina waved a hand, “I would ask their permission if I did, of course.”
Madris examined her for a moment, then nodded. “And you wanted my opinion?”
“You would know how best to go about it,” Regina said lightly. She had also come to Madris for her opinion in a more philosophical sense, she supposed, but for some reason, she felt reluctant to admit that.
“I suppose it’s about time I teach you some practical skills for purposes like these,” Madris mused. “Then again, it would be easier to learn in conjunction with counterbalancing methods … And I should tell you more about the theory and circles of practitioners.”
Regina nodded, feeling eager. “Gladly.”
“Well, if you have time for it, I suppose there’s no point doing it halfway. We will visit Ins-On-A-Rock.”
Regina blinked. “Really? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not objecting, but you just expect me to drop everything and go with you?”
“Don’t pretend you weren’t considering a visit to the city yourself, Your Majesty. Besides, you may be an empress — my Empress, yes — but in these matters, I am your teacher. Isn’t that how you see it?”
Regina sighed lightly and rolled her shoulders. “Yes. Alright. I’ll make arrangements.”
“Good. In the meantime, get Galatea to give you some exercises on mana sensitivity and expand on the theory behind it. You should take advantage while she’s still here.”
Regina nodded again, silently wondering if joint teaching sessions would be a great opportunity or an utter disaster.