Once the innkeeper was informed that the castle was picking up the tab for their rooms, the service became much more generous. Delta was glad that Gwen didn’t drink, and Zipper couldn’t hold her liquor, given how solicitous the staff became. It was good, however, after all that time on the road, to just take it easy in a real bed with clean linen, very pleasant food, frequent baths, and a laundry service.

Gwen was not all that comfortable in the city. She was tolerated in the inn’s lounge, but she was very reluctant to set foot outside the door. Zipper and Delta ventured out occasionally, to see some sights and do some quick shopping. But they didn’t want to stay out too long since they were being paid to be available.

In the end, the councilors didn’t call them back, but Lady Exentine did invite them around the next night. She specifically requested that Gwen also attend and timed it for dusk to make it easier. Gwen was very nervous, as she understood this was someone of high status, and didn’t trust her manners. She also resented the idea of being treated as a curiosity.

But her concerns were quickly put to rest. In her own apartment, Lady Exentine put aside all of the trappings of ranks and was open and straightforward with them. She provided Gwen with a large, plush, armchair with plenty of cushions to prop herself up on, and a plate of bones and scraps for Johnson. The last went a long way to put her at ease.

“I must apologize for my colleagues, they can be quite trite and boring”, she said. “Prancing around in their plumage with more thoughts to themselves than the Kingdom.”

Taking a risk, Delta said, “May I ask a question?”

Exentine grinned. “Please do.” She held Delta’s gaze. It was a trait shared by most people trained in combat. That sort of direct stare, looking straight at you and adsorbing the totality of your actions in one glance. It was very important on the battlefield, and hard to turn off when off it. “I value frankness.”

“I understand the councilor’s competition between themselves for the King’s good grace. But what about you? Different rules seem to apply to you. Who are you?” asked Delta, returning her direct glance.

Exentine laughed loudly and genuinely. Then she waved her finger. “I see Athanasius’s lessons in you. Strategic thinking.” She bowed. “I am an indirect blood relation to the King. Forty-seventh in line to the throne or something. Too far to be an active plotter, but near enough that my position is secure.” She clasped her hands behind her back and paced up and down. “Instead I see to the King’s business and the King’s interest at home and abroad. Right now, mostly, I see to strategy. I take the long view amid those who are only concerned with tomorrow. So, indeed, this matter concerns me more than my colleagues. They know that, so their views are superficial.”

“What will you advise the King”, asked Delta.

“What would you do?” she asked with a wry grin.

Delta sighed and thought. “This general would not offer to fight you in such a straightforward manner unless he felt there was advantage to it. But I cannot see what advantage it would give. I would think it would be better for him to pick you off one by one. So, given his history of strategic thinking, it may be he is only offering that so that you will refuse and do what he wants.” She made a dismissive wave of her hand. “But you can try to second guess him forever. Simply, there appears to be more of an advantage fighting him in the open field than one by one in each stronghold. So that is what I would do.”

Exentine nodded. “Good points. I’m extremely dubious about the quality of levies we would get from our vassals, and I can’t claim our own troops are the well trained cream of the crop. The Marlborough campaign was some time ago. And you report that his troops are, maybe not good and experienced, but of high morale and excellent leadership. That makes it more complicated. She then turned to Zipper. “What about you?”

Zipper looked a little surprised, and then self-deprecating. “I normally leave the strategic thinking to Delta. She’s much better at it. But here’s an idea for you: join him!” The Lady looked surprised but motioned for her to elucidate. “If he wants to be Emperor and take over the world, it means he doesn’t want to take over Avenio. So, your King can swear fealty to him without perturbing any of the rest of his feudal kowtowing. Once he has that, he’s done here. Send him on his way and wish him well conquering everyone else.”

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“That is certainly an interesting idea”, conceded Exentine.

“I’m not saying it is a good idea!” said Zipper.

“It has its points”, said Exentine. “And, if nothing else, it presents a contrasting alternative.” Next, she turned to Gwen. “What are your thoughts? I think they could be insightful. You won’t make the assumptions we will.”

Gwen looked very dubious. She looked to Delta, who nodded encouragingly. Gwen met her gaze. “Magic”, she said. Delta and Zipper covered their grins. Gwen rolled her eyes. “They laugh. I always say ‘magic’. But now I serious. Magic.” She leaned forward. “Goblins have no magic. So, we be very cautious with humans. We not know what their magic does. You have magic. But this tribe has different magic. Be like goblins. Be very cautious. You no know what their magic does.”

“You do not disappoint”, said Exentine, her eyes flashing. “I don’t think we’ve really addressed that at all in our discussions. You are right. It is an important point that should not be missed.” She walked up and down a bit more, considering.

“So, what will you advise the King?” asked Delta, smiling.

Exentine waved her hand. “Oh, I’ll come up with something. The more important question is what the King will do. I just said that I’m the one who does most of the long-range planning. I didn’t say anyone pays attention to it.”

She picked a hassock and sat heavily on it, put her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand. “He won’t go out and meet him in the field. If there was a chance that he might lose, which there is, that would look really bad. He won’t risk that.”

She rubbed her forehead. “He certainly won’t join them. From his perspective that would be even worse. And he’s unlikely to make any decision based on their magic.” With a deep sigh, she spread her hands. “Most likely he’ll just deign to not notice them. He’ll sit here and let these upstarts come to him, and batter themselves senseless against his big, beautiful walls.”

There was silence for a while. “There is some merit in that”, said Delta. Exentine raised an eyebrow. “This town will be hard to take. And it’s mostly invulnerable to a siege. All he can do is bottle you up here while he does what he wishes in the countryside. But that would require him to split his forces. Odds are he would just ignore you and pick off the rest of the country one at a time.”

“Which would suit the King”, said Exentine. “I think he’d like them to better appreciate how much they need him. Having to capitulate to a foreigner and then be rescued by him would reinforce that.”

“But he’d actually have to go and rescue them”, said Zipper.

“The world’s a big place. If they really want to conquer the world, their attention will eventually move on from Avenio. That would be his time to strike. They’ll probably be more than willing to turn on their new liege and go back to old ties rather than support a foreign war.”

“Magic”, muttered Gwen.

Exentine laughed, then rubbed her hands together. “But let’s game some of this out. You are the best whetstone I’ve had in years to sharpen my stratagem upon.” She summoned some staff to clear the table to the side boards, and to dismount a large map of Avenio she had mounted in the hall. She sent another to bring up a chest from some storeroom from which she started unearthing a large number of lead figures.

“It’s been ages since I’ve used these”, she said. “Did Athanasius ever use these with you?”

“No”, said Delta, shaking her head. “We just drew lines in the sand with sticks.”

“Oh, it’s not much different”, said Exentine, pulling bits of straw from one and looking at it nostalgically. “But I had these made back when I had money and ambition, fresh off the Marlborough campaign. We were all quite the military strategists back then. Reading the classics. Re-enacting the storming of Bavel, the Romitu civil wars, or other canonical battles from history.” She put it down and picked up another. “But, as no new glorious campaign emerged, people slowly lost interest and these all got packed up after gathering dust for several years.”

Delta scratched her chin, contemplating the map. “They currently hold these regions here”, she said, placing stylized shields on cities of the north.

“How many companies?” asked Exentine, passing more soldiers over.

Zipper tried to explain things to Gwen in goblin. She found maps difficult to understand at the best of times. Using figures to represent bodies of troops was equally difficult. What she settled for was for Zipper to look at the map and the setup and describe it in words to Gwen. She could then visualize it in her head and make suggestions based on that.

So, they set up the field with their best guess at current troop strengths. They would then take sides, and plot out their moves, their responses, and the outcomes. When things reached a conclusion, they would consider who managed the best. Then they reset the pieces and started again.

It was a very late night.