James looked back and forth between Alan and Mitzi until he confirmed that they each looked around ten years younger.

“Congratulations on your excellent health,” he said as he reached the top of the stairs.

“Well, thank you for noticing,” Mitzi said, smiling broadly.

She looked very happy with her partially browned tresses.

James used Identify on both of them to confirm as best he could that they were the same people he knew, rather than some sort of sophisticated monster emulating Alan and Mitzi’s appearances.

So, it seems like it’s really them. Is the reverse aging a result of my blessing, or some sort of magic that they discovered?

“Thank you for the blessing, James,” Alan said. He pointed to a wooden dinner table that James guessed had been salvaged from one of the apartments. “Would you like to sit down?”

I guess that answers my question. Maybe.

James simply nodded, and the three of them moved over toward the table. It sat in a section of the room that was once again in relative shadow, making the changes to the old couple less noticeable than they had been a minute before.

I guess I need to start thinking about how we get electricity back, James thought. The idea of trying to build a power plant had been daunting back when he was still trying to figure out how to feed his people, but now that they had agriculture back, trying to rebuild industry was the logical next step. Even if James might have enjoyed cosplaying as a medieval king for a little while, he wouldn’t let his country fall behind the other powers that would doubtless be arising around the world.

He had those thoughts in the moment or two of silence before he took his seat at the table.

“So, you guys are aging backwards,” James said aloud, finally.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Mitzi asked. “I wouldn’t want you to think we don’t know hospitality here.”

“I’m all right, thank you,” James replied, smiling. “I just had breakfast and ate and drank a lot.”

Alan and Mitzi took the seats opposite James.

“Then what can we do for you today?” Alan asked.

James noticed for the first time that the two of them looked a bit nervous. He felt certain they had not been upset at seeing him earlier. It was as if Alan had just vocalized something they had been worrying about.

“I was mainly here to ask how Moishe is doing,” James said slowly, “but I also wanted to invite you both to be on my council. I’m sure I can find something for each of you to be in charge of that will justify your positions there. Alan could lead the other Healers in combat situations. He’s a veteran, and we don’t have someone else in charge of that yet. Mitzi could lead our magical artillery unit.”

Yeah, Mina won’t mind that. She’s busy anyway. She can’t do half my job and also be in charge of magical artillery.

“Oh.” Mitzi let out a long breath.

“Were you guys worried about something?” James asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It was my fault,” Alan said. “My instinct was to think that something like this—” He gestured at his hair—“doesn’t come without some sort of horrible penalty. That is, I figured that no one would reverse the aging process for someone else, even in a fantasy story, without asking some sort of terrible price in return. We both know who you are by now, but still…”

“Well, I’m not asking you guys anything more than what I ask from everyone else who lives here,” James said. “Loyalty to me personally and to the country in general. It’s my hope that eventually, I can bless everyone in the Kingdom. For now, it will probably be a reward for meritorious service, or a form of emergency medical care. But I’m glad you guys are enjoying the results.”

Alan and Mitzi looked at each other very lovingly, and James decided immediately that he did not want to ask any further questions about how much they were enjoying being effectively younger.

“I think we can say that we stand by the citizenship oath,” Alan said, smiling. “I certainly intend to stand by you. Hopefully, you won’t be a tyrant—” He lowered his voice—“but speaking purely selfishly, I think we would probably stick by you now even if you were a bit rougher around the edges than we thought.” He sounded slightly guilty as he spoke the words.

Mitzi nodded, but there was a slight expression of guilt on her face, too.

James felt like a Mafia boss who had just pulled two ordinary civilians into his orbit—it was a feeling at once slightly unclean and also exhilarating.

“I don’t intend to make the two of you violate your consciences anytime soon,” he said.

I’m very glad I didn’t bring you into the conversation about Cyrus, he thought.

“Is there anything specific we can do to say thank you?” Mitzi asked.

“Well, like I said, I could use some advice—and a situation report on Moishe, though that can wait.”

“What did you want to talk to us about?” Mitzi said.

Have to play this carefully, James thought. These were decent people who had yet to truly get their hands dirty in the post-System world in the way that James, Dave, and Rotter had.

“Are you guys aware that I exiled Cyrus from the Fisher Kingdom?” he asked.

“People have been talking about little else the last few days,” Alan replied.

“So you know the details?” He looked back and forth between them as he asked this.

“We heard that he was bleeding from the eyes, ears, and mouth, and we heard that you weren’t in great shape either,” Mitzi summarized quickly.

“We were praying for you,” Alan added.

Damn, I hoped that people hadn’t figured out that it had a backlash for me too. Well, I’ll make sure people see me walking around so they know I’m healthy again…

“Good,” James said. “Um, thank you. Okay, so let’s say, hypothetically, that although I sent Cyrus away from here, alive but crippled for life, I am fairly certain that my conflict with the monotheists isn’t over,” James said.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Why would it not be over?” Alan asked, raising an eyebrow. “And how? Are they planning to go after everyone in the world who doesn’t follow one of their religions? Their leader already lost to you and was crippled for life, you said…”

“Assume that I have a good reason to think that there’s more to it than that. Maybe a more personal reason for them to target us in future. For example, if I told you that the ability I used on Cyrus is something called Curse of the Fisher King—and that Skill functions in exactly the opposite way of Blessing of the Fisher King—meaning that while your condition has continued to improve as a result of my blessing, Cyrus’s condition will continue to deteriorate. Being blind, deaf, and dumb is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Alan stroked his chin thoughtfully, thinking in silence for a few seconds.

“Cyrus is a lot weaker than you,” Mitzi said bluntly. “Do you think your curse will kill him?”

James nodded. There we go. Now I’ll barely be lying to them. They’ll know that I killed Cyrus. Or at least that will be their understanding of the situation. It’s close enough that if some aspects of the truth are revealed later, they’ll assume the best.

This was the best way James could think of to keep Alan and Mitzi aligned with him regardless of what James might have done to the monotheists. No bodies would ever be discovered anyway. Alligators, wolves, wyverns, and magic had taken care of all the leftovers.

Still, the Ring of Lies began to warm his finger with its gentle heat as he continued speaking.

“I think Cyrus is a dead man,” James said. “And I know that he was in touch with a higher power of some sort. Not God, exactly. Let’s say an angel for now, although it’s impossible to be sure it’s not a demon or something pretending to be on the side of righteousness.”

He added this idea in as a way of poisoning the well in case any angel should ever try to steal Alan and Mitzi away from him.

Alan ran his hands over his scalp—and through his hair, with an expression of mild surprise as his hand touched hair where there used to be only pale white skin.

“That sounds like a pretty big problem,” he said finally.

“What is it exactly that you’re worried about?” asked Mitzi. “That Cyrus and his group will come back for revenge? Or that this higher—or lower—power will do something?”

“Yes,” James replied simply.

Mitzi snorted. Alan frowned.

“I don’t think Cyrus and his group coming back is a serious threat, if you’re worried that your curse will probably kill him,” Alan said. “If the group followed him, it probably means they were looking to him for strength as well as wisdom. You proved that you were stronger. And we have the numbers on our side. So I can’t imagine they’d be stupid enough to come back here on their own.”

“But you think this higher power might give you some trouble,” Mitzi said.

“That, and it’s possible that these people will turn out to have allies or sympathizers,” James said. “There are people all over the world who belong to one of the three Abrahamic religions.”

“You’re not planning to round up the Abrahamic religion worshipers, are you, James?” Alan asked with a wry smile. “If you are, I have to warn you that we’re Christians. You’d better lock us up.” He spoke those last words in a humorous tone that suggested he did not take the possibility entirely seriously, but James sensed a hint of uncertainty in the way Alan held his eyes.

“I would have to split my own family up,” James said after a moment, thinking of Yulia. “No, I’m not thinking of doing something like that. I’m not an F.D.R.”

The Japanese-Americans didn’t even do anything to justify what F.D.R. did, either. I’m better off just trying to keep my own monotheists loyal instead of punishing people for things they don’t really control. Just like what I’m doing with Alan and Mitzi right now.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Alan said.

“Not that we imagined you would do something like that,” Mitzi added. James could hear her lightly kick her husband under the table.

“Hopefully I continue to live up to your expectations,” James said, smiling lightly and keeping any trace of guilt from his voice.

They’re not particularly high expectations, but then again, they also don’t know that I killed Cyrus and his remaining followers…

“My question is, what would you do to head off this threat and prevent it from becoming a serious problem?” James asked.

He was both gauging their capacity to give practical advice for the present situation and actually looking for good advice to deal with anyone who might want to avenge Cyrus.

“I might kill Cyrus,” Mitzi said softly after only a moment. “If he’s the one with the tie to this higher power, maybe you’ll make the problem go away permanently.”

Alan’s eyes darted to her, slightly surprised. But he recovered quickly.

“I’m not opposed to the idea of killing Cyrus, per se, but you should understand, that makes a backlash more likely rather than less, given the likelihood of intervention by this other power,” Alan said. “Considering that your curse might kill him already, it seems like a waste of time and energy.”

It was a bit amusing to hear them debating what James had already done, without knowing that he had done it, but James was beginning to feel the limitations of advice given by people who did not know the full situation.

“Let’s assume that Cyrus dies for now,” James said. “We’ll forget about how it happens. Just assume I can easily do it without causing any casualties for our side. What then?”

“Then you would need to counter the narrative the survivors are going to spread about the evil Fisher King,” Alan said. “Otherwise, you could end up with a lot of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who have every reason to want to see you dead. They’ll frame it as religious persecution, and people don’t much appreciate that.”

“You don’t leave any witnesses if you kill Cyrus,” Mitzi said, looking off into the distance. “If you do it, try to make it look like a monster attack. If you say it’s something you can easily do—” She looked at James carefully—“then I imagine you also have the ability to make it look like something that it isn’t, with a little more effort.” She swallowed. “False flag operations are a time-honored tradition of governments trying to control what people think about what they’re doing.”

James looked at Alan, who seemed distinctly uncomfortable with this idea but was saying nothing.

“You’re forgetting about the higher power,” Alan said. “If there’s something watching over this person, then they’ll immediately tell everyone who was responsible for the murder.” He turned to face James. “It’s probably not possible to fool this angel or demon, right?”

“Probably not,” James admitted.

Now we’ve come to what my whole actual problem is.

“The people who live in the Kingdom already know that you’re the good guy,” Mitzi said. “You need to make sure that other people within reach of us know, as best you can. And spread the idea that this higher power is a demon or a fallen angel or something rather than something with a direct line to God.”

Alan was nodding. “Information warfare might be the key here. You’ll probably need to bring more of Florida under your control to achieve that. Information spreads faster than your territory-acquiring power, so you’re in a race against that.”

James sighed. “You’re making it sound impossible. The Skill is called Dominion, by the way.” What Alan had said was where James’s head was at right now, too. That was why he had wanted some advice.

“Not necessarily,” Alan said. “You’re forgetting that there’s more than one way to hold territory. You can use your Dominion thing on it, but there’s also the old-fashioned way. Boots on the ground. If you can establish a perimeter of control that’s beyond where Cyrus and his followers have gone, you can cage them in if you want to. Maybe detain them. Or if they're outside the perimeter, you can at least influence the people inside your perimeter. You’re restoring law and order, giving out blessings, providing all kinds of services for them. Just like the government did before the System.” Alan made direct eye contact with James and smiled. “You know the loyalty that can inspire already. You can’t necessarily control how far information spreads, but if you take over a larger area and govern it well, you can create a large population of people who have every reason to give you the benefit of the doubt—just like we would.”

James wondered for a moment if Alan and Mitzi knew that he had already killed off Cyrus and the members of his group—but no. They would have been up-front about it.

The two of them were just trying to give him their best advice.

I was planning on stepping back a little bit on taking more territory, he thought. Not totally stopping, just slowing down… But they’re right. This situation with Cyrus and the angel is the best reason possible for speeding up and doing more. Expanding my borders until I have a defensible area is the best way to minimize the damage that anyone can do to me in the future. The only way to survive is to grow.

It reminded James a little of the Roman Empire, unfortunately. Hopefully, he would not fall into the same trap of feeling that he needed to control the whole world to be secure.