[40th Year of Foresai, Middle Wind Month, Day 29]

Breakfast the next morning was atypically light, and although Renner had avoided eating as much as the other guests in attendance last night, she appreciated the consideration made for her stomach. Ramposa was there with Gazef in tow, as well as a pair of maids for the purpose of doting on them both. Valencia Palace befitted the size of Re-Estize, a decadent structure sent inside the castle of Ro-Lente, it was the culminating work of a multi-decade construction effort conducted by the earlier members of the Vaiself Bloodline. It thus had its own room dedicated for the purpose of breakfast. Large windows poured the easterly light of the waxing day into the room. Despite the table having ten seats, Renner and her father had no intention of spreading out, and they sat around one of its corners. After swallowing what was in his mouth, the king turned to her, and in a voice long since sapped of its strength with age, spoke.

“So dear, how are things going with Climb?”

Renner’s father had never been bothered by his daughter’s obsession with Climb. Although the nature of their relationship was different, he held a close friendship with Gazef, who like Climb was also a commoner. In this way, he held a sympathy for Renner, and the shared grievances they received from nobles about their associations with low-blood.

“Mm! He’s recently been experimenting with a new sword technique, one where he imbues ephemera along its edge. He called it… oh what was the word. ‘Slash’ I believe. He trains so hard at it. He told me he’s able to do it up to a dozen times a day.”

Ramposa quickly gained a joyous look on his face, and a fire burned in Gazef’s eyes. What Renner had said was remarkable. This was a world of the ephemeral. Magics dominated the thoughts of most who pondered at its nature, but many other ethereal forces lurked in the edges of existence. For a person like Climb, who possessed no arcane aptitudes, he was still not limited from the hidden traits of reality. As a warrior, his physical ability and psychic willpower had become such that he could - to a degree - control the flows of his energies, and cultivate more. There were many expressions of such things, a monk hardening their fists or a fighter bearing great blows unmoving, and they could be manifested in any number of ways. Many of the specifics were lost to those like Climb, with words like “Aura” or “Ki” melting into an interchangeable stew of termanology and superstition. For someone who had trained as long and as young an age as Climb, he could even cause parts of his ephemera to flow out from his body. Although making a dozen dumb swings with a sword a day was no accomplishment of note, Climb was embuing his energy in the blade itself, magnifying its cutting power and the strength of its steel.

Considering the mental and physical control required, this concentration was a thing beyond the vast majority of people and beings in this world, be they human or otherwise. Further, once the blade was swung, only a fraction of the energy that had flowed in could be recovered by the warrior; it was exhausting. Although there had been countless warriors who could exceed Climb in this, he was simply a teenager. The willpower he possessed was simply unbelievable for his age.

“Oh? That’s quite impressive. He’s always seemed fit to be your honor guard, but that ought to quiet those dissenters.”

If only. They find cause to complain about Gazef, and he’s the strongest living warrior to grace the lands of Re-Estize; no, of all the domains of man. He has one foot in the realm of heroes and they still insist on that demanding title of “Warrior-Captain”. To think my Climb would be granted any leniency is a farce.

Renner gave a warm smile, successfully masking the hate simmering deep in her chest. They continued to eat in silence. Ramposa slowly grew a slight smirk on his face, and Renner gave him a silent que to speak. Ramposa turned to the maids behind him.

“I’m of a mind to have some of the wines that were left unfinished last night. You two please go and get the Chateau Devant, as well as a glass for my daughter.”

King Ramposa was always polite to his servants, especially when he wanted them to leave. These two maids were more well composed around him then they would be around Renner, and they gave unflinching visages of respect as they bowed and found their exit. When the door closed, Ramposa turned back to his daughter, and after suppressing a small chuckle, spoke again.

“You know, if it wouldn’t cause an uproar, I would give that sword Barbro gifted me to Climb”

Renner gave a giggle, presenting the face of a daughter amused by her father’s antics. Renner may not have truly loved her father - a not uncommon occurrence among the progeny of royalty - but she did hold an appreciation for him. At heart, he was a kind man. He had loved his wife, Queen Nunia, then later Queen Etsana, and even after both of their passings, gave true affection to his children. His big heart was his weakness, and even as king, he found time to dismiss his underlings so he could tell a joke in private. Although she found it genuinely humorous, it was darkly so; Climb would never receive a gift like that from anyone of status. Still, she enjoyed Ramposa's wit.

“I’m sure Climb would be happy to hear that!”

Thank you father.

After finishing their little joke, that nagging voice crept back into Renner’s mind.

Gazef has that look on his face. Something is wrong with that sword. Was it not a real blade? Did Barbro simply have it made by a village blacksmith and then claim he got it in battle? No, Gazef would have borne a look of annoyance or perhaps resigned amusement. This is the look he gives in war council meetings when the enemy forces are assessed. Is he concerned with matters of country? Why would Imperial probes into the borderlands shake him so much? It's routine for them.

Concern grew in Renner’s heart. She was not a warrior, so she had to rely on people like Gazef to understand such matters. Normally, she could simply keep tabs on him out of the corner of her eye to evaluate the martial soundness of noble’s military schemes; but now, the body language she could so easily divine the content of the Warrior-Captain’s thoughts with was untenably vague. She didn’t have enough information to give deductions, and this bothered her. She would have to gain it, and this would mean putting herself in an uncertain place. Asking of military matters was unbefitting for a princess, but Gazef’s concern looked deep, and he was by her reckoning unwilling to share his thoughts around anyone but his guarded associates. She thought the next words out of her mouth carefully.

“Do you think he could wield a sword like that?”

Climb is my path forward here. As long as I frame my curiosity as something borne from a girlish obsession with the interests of my darling climb, I can successfully draw out answers from him.

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“Hm, well. He’s still a bit young, and I’m not sure he bears the strength for a sword like that yet?”

Nothing, I need to push.

“Huh, but he’s trained with blades like that before? Uh, the term is shortsword right?”

“Well, yes, but that blade was somewhat heavier than what he would be used to. Imperial blades have different construction.”

“Ooh, thank you Captain Gazef”

“Of course, Your Highness”

He said the blade was heavier, but that makes no sense. The steel that emerges from Imperial forges is lighter and stronger then what we make. It’s the same length as Climb’s sword, so it shouldn’t be more massive. The blade must not be stock imperial, but why would Gazef lie about it? It clearly had a degree of customization, or perhaps retrieved from a monster or lichkin. He wouldn’t need to hide if it was a magical blade, indeed that would elevate the status of the gift and Gazef isn’t politically determined enough to willingly hide such a thing from the king. He’s hiding something. Or, rather, he’s afraid of the consequences of revealing what he knows about that blade. Why? He would tell father if Barbro had lied about it; indeed, Barbro, although he was appropriating the accomplishment of his men as his own, did seem to be truthful of its origin.

Renner turned and looked out the window at the steadily ascending sun. A slow chill began to roil at the base of her spine.

He’s afraid of the consequences of revealing its origin. That wouldn’t make sense if it was imperial, kingdom made, borne by monstrous hand, or created from the necromantic magics of Zurrernorn. It’s from the Theocracy.

In the portion of the world known to the Kingdom, there were three other countries of men. To the south west existed the Holy Kingdom; a fraction of the size and strength of Re-Estize, and constantly beset by beastman invasion, it was of little concern to the Re-Estize Kingdom as anything but a trading partner. To the east was the Baharuth Empire, a country that found itself at the height of a new golden age in its history, and the main accursed rival of the Kingdom. Since El Nix’s ascendancy to the throne, the Empire had begun to launch annual wars on the hinterlands to the east of E-Rantel, the border fortress-city that protected the Kingdom from the undead of the Katze plane.

These wars were not fought for territory, nor for the glory of the Baharuth and its remaining nobles, but simply for the purpose of wearing down Re-Estize. The Empire maintained professional soldiers, and had an effective and unified military command that allowed for unsurpassed unit cohesion and effectiveness. In addition, the arcane arts of the Empire blossomed under a head mage of the imperial academy by the name of Flueder Parodyne, “The Monster of the East”. In this way, when Baharuth deployed its armies to the field - between training, equipment, and magical support - the fighting strength of each unit was nearly threefold that of the peasant armies of Re-Estize. Thus, for battlefield parity, the Kingdom was forced to expend triple the amount of food, and nearly double in associated logistic costs due to an ineffective and ununited military. Thus, for the past nine years, the Empire slowly whittled at its foe, forcing them to spend money and grain that could not be easily replaced.

For the highbloods of the Kingdom, the Empire was a true and dangerous enemy, and they let themselves be consumed in fear, anger, and hatred at its expense. However, the remaining human country was no less a threat, and stranger too. The Slane Theocracy sat to the south east of the border between Re-Estize and the Baharuth; the deep histories of the world taught that the Theocracy was the oldest of the human countries, having survived for the last six centuries.

If the scriptures beheld by the Theocracy were to be believed, then it was founded when the Six Gods descended from heaven itself and gave mankind providence over all the land. The Gods taught that mankind bore an inherent supremacy to all other life, and that he needn’t suffer the orc, the witch, or the demon among him. When the Gods finished their conquests, they founded a nation to rule the lands, they built a church to rule the nation, and they wrote holy scripture to rule the church. Thus, when the Gods left their corporeal forms and returned to their palaces betwixt the stars, they had left a theocracy with total devotion to the tenants of human supremacy.

This was the nature of the cascade of thoughts that overran Renner in this moment.

This is problematic. They’ve always seen the Kingdom and Empire as lands of unbelievers, doubly so with the schism of the church of the four; Ah, what’s their fanciful name for it, the “heresy of the four?” Some phrasing to that effect. No matter, the animosity is carried the same none-the-less. We’re all heretics in their eyes - though both us and Baharuth are secular - even those lost brethren of their faith. Still, to think they’re actually attempting to court conflict between us is interesting. How isolated that nation is.

Renner made a humorous connection in that moment, and inwardly chuckled.

Actually, this interference may have been caused by me. When I had lead the push to ban slavery, there were some nobles who held out that Elves should remain chained. Because of my insistence on freeing all enslaved peoples, not just humans, I probably caught their attention as an especially problematic heretic. Now that they can no longer sell the fruits of their southern conquests to the people of the kingdom, I have become a threat to the Theocracy’s business. Even so, they don’t seem to be doing much but stirring trouble, and it isn’t like us and the Empire aren’t going to fight otherwise.

Having put that uncertainty to rest, Renner let herself relax.

—

Renner found herself back in her sitting room, with the sunlight of waning noon beaming through the window. Dust again found itself caught in the brilliance, effulgent and glittering. This was her routine, an experience Renner would live out again and again. She found her hands back on her teapot, but this time she was pouring into two cups. Across from her was the love of her life, her puppy, her Climb.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Of course Climb!”

His cheeks reddened. As he took a sip of tea, they reddened deeper.

“Is it better than last time? I had this tea imported from the Holy Kingdom after their last delegation arrived here. It should be closer to your taste. Do you like it?”

Climb’s cheeks dove straight into crimson.

“I-its wonderful.”

No dearest, you are wonderful.

Renner inhaled sharply and her face lit up in joy.

“Really? That’s great!”

Renner leaned forward and quickly grabbed Climb’s free hand. His face was nearly maroon.

“Your Highness?”

“Yes?”

“ahh… um, uh, nothing.”

His hands felt wonderful. They had long since been roughened by years of hard training, calloused and tough. They were in sharp contrast to the softness of hers, and in that moment Renner craved nothing but the worn touch of her lover. They shared that moment for a few minutes. Climb’s face slowly cleared of his embarrassment, and he slowly smiled. As distant as her internal world was from the average person, she still knew teenage love.

“Say, Climb?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“I was thinking about the armor you use when you guard me. That steel plate you wear.”

“Yes, it is what I was provided from the palace armory.”

“I was thinking about that. There are things stronger than steel right?”

“Y-yes. Uh, mithril, orihachulm-”

“Adamantite.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’m worried, what if you need to protect me from an assassin and they are bearing a blade harder than your armor? Will it break through?”

“It- it might.”

“Well, I was talking with Lakyus and-”

At that moment, the door to the room was slung open and Renner was interrupted by the entrance of her eldest brother.