AO 6 Ch 4

Gwen Aldis sat next to her father and Anadonis. Her new anchors were standing not too far behind her, leaning against the wall politely. At the moment Gwen had an audience with one of the king's top advisors.

It had been mostly small talk, testing the waters and softening each other up, though she could tell it was winding down to the actual purpose. Sadly, she couldn’t be Arden and throw away all decorum to get to the meat at the first bite.

"It's critical we understand the full situation of the war as winter fully thaws. Just like you we need to understand entirely what we're dealing with. I'm sure you've been getting messages from your son. I hear he's on Garrish territory at present and might have a unique perspective," the advisor fished for information.

The man was not being very subtle, but he also did not have much to offer.

Meanwhile, the king was doing everything possible to get her son killed, which made Gwen not want to give much information. In fact, it made her want to spit on the advisor for even thinking she would help him. But for the moment, she would play nice.

"I'm afraid we don't know," Gwen gave him a tight smile. "He is in a precarious situation and also working with high ranked Zenovian assets. Keeping information tight is important for him to be able to continue on his course." She gave a helpless shrug. As if she’d tell him if she knew.

"Yes, well, you're talking to your own countrymen. Do you not trust me?" the advisor asked.

Gwen did not trust the man as far as she could throw him. But she was not new to the life and politics of the nobility. "Of course I do, which is why I have to unfortunately inform you that I do truly have no information. You don't know this, but Ard is a rebellious one." 

Anadonis groaned. "That is the understatement of the year. That child will be the death of me."

"Oh, he's not that bad. He’s probably off living some commoner fantasy about being a spy," Gwen said, pursing her lips to keep from laughing.

Ard would love the way that his grandfather endearingly groaned over his antics everyday.

"Are you certain?" the advisor leveled a look at both of them. "I find it hard to believe that, given your mage's fantastical capabilities, he can't get you a message or that you wouldn’t have a firm pulse on his every move."

"Not that he can't, just that he won't," Anadonis sighed. "He spent an entire winter in the mountains and we did not receive a single bird. He was a three days’ trip from the closest city. But no, he didn't even spare his old man five minutes to confirm that he was alive." He was actually bitter about that one and he hadn’t needed to fake it for the advisor.

"Well, that is unfortunate," the advisor pulled a sealed letter from within his sleeve. "The king has ordered me to deliver this set of orders for you then."

Gwen plucked the letter out of the man’s hand, there was probably a second letter in his other sleeve, for if the conversation had gone another way.

Her father was still here, participating in all of this as a senior member of the family. But in truth, within the year, everything would fall on Gwen. Once upon a time, she dreamed of heading House Aldis.

Now it seemed like a massive weight burdened on her shoulder. She’d much rather trade places with Arden.

She peeled open the letter and gave it a quick glance before frowning and reading again.

"Unfortunately, we've had massive losses. Currently, Elder Trevis is stopping any leaks by personally manning Chilwin Pass.” He said trying to explain away the horrid task proposed to them.

 “This is old news," she said, waving the letter, "but it's certainly bold of you to ask me to throw away the lives of my forces."

"Come now, you aren't throwing them away," the man gave a slimy smile that Gwen desperately wished to forcefully remove from his face. 

"Ah, of course, we wouldn't phrase it that way, now would we?" She gave him a fake smile that soured quickly, Arden would have just killed this man, wouldn’t he have? "But the entire desert region is getting harassed with ambushes and guerrilla tactics as they try to stop us from refortifying on our side of the desert, pushing the battle line back. And you want me to throw," she checked the letter again, "all of my available mages at that fight? Why not let me line them up for the hangman's noose outside the palace?" She mocked, smacking the letter down on the table. "Does the king not understand that this is the sort of tactic that leads a house to rebel?"

"Rebellion?" the advisor gasped, though he was a poor actor. 

"Me? Never," Gwen shook her head. "The lower levels of my house that you're trying to send to their death? Absolutely. If I give this order, there is no doubt a fraction of them will try to go and live as bandits, rather than live as part of a noble house. After all, being a bandit is better than being dead."

"It is war. There will be some death, you must know that, Gwen," the advisor smiled. "I'll take note that you have some rebellious members of your house. It would be best for you to get them in line before they cause misunderstandings."

"Misunderstandings," Gwen resisted rolling her eyes. "Of course. And that will then take me more time to complete than given on this notice. I would like an additional three weeks before they have to report for duty. Of course, we'll move them up to..." She hesitated and turned back to Anadonis. Though, in fact, the ask was all part of the act. "House Strathmore has reasonable accommodations on the west side of Crater Lake."

"But can they support this many?" Anadonis asked.

"Of course," Gwen replied. "House Strathmore is nothing if not hospitable. They have the resources. And if they don't, then we'll just need an extra two weeks to make sure we're traveling with enough. After all, it's getting more and more difficult to move everything around. Especially with mageforged bleeding into our country from the broken front."

The advisor pointed to the letter. "Unfortunately, the king has likely taken account of all of these needs in the timeline provided."

Gwen scoffed. "How can he? He's too busy with his eyes on Garrish land. He's not looking back here and understanding the situation as well as we have. House Aldis is running a fair portion of the carriages that are carrying even the King's grain. So yes, we have a good measure of how long it will take. He says two weeks. We need at least two months. Of course, if you want us mobilized sooner, we can likely get set up at Crater Lake alongside House Strathmore in two to three weeks. From there, we can begin to push in as we get the necessary supplies."

She sat back in her chair, wanting to destroy the man in front of her for risking her people. "I'm afraid anything faster than that is simply unreasonable." As she finished her statement, she let the pressure of her magic fill the air with a chill that would go straight to the mere anchor's bones. After all, Gwen was the newly minted elder of the Enclave. She wasn't some sniveling noble that the advisor could push around.

"Of course," he said, adjusting his collar. "I will return to the king with your proposal."

"Wonderful. Then, if we are to meet these deadlines, I'm afraid we must go." She patted the table, only for one of her anchors to step up behind her and begin to wheel her out.

Anadonis fell into step with her, something he seemed to be getting a better hang of lately. “He didn't have to be so aggressive.”

"They're trying to push us into the maw of war and grind our entire house to dust," she said.

As they wheeled her down the palace halls, she didn't care about the eavesdropping maids. Heck, a few of them probably reported to other houses. She did not mind them knowing what the King was up to. The houses all kept each other in check, and in doing so, protected the King.

Anadonis gave her a droll glance. "Don't be a petulant child. You're going to be leading House Aldis sooner than you would like."

Gwen only grunted. "I didn't know Strathmore would take us quite so nicely. I thought we'd end up a few days north with House Trevis.”

“The alliances must be made and mended. We're friendly with all of the houses. Besides, at war, there's no enemy more important than the one pointing his sword at you. The petty games being played around the Houses, need to be put to rest while we have a greater foe to unite against."

Now it was Gwen's turn to give him her amusement. "Really?"

"It sounds good for the ears," he said, as they stepped out and away from the maids and out of the palace. "In truth, recent actions have caused some slight dissent amongst Strathmore. It is important we go and see how amenable it would be to a change in leadership."

Gwen did a double-take. "Really? Strathmore is combatively one of the weakest houses.”

“However their farms and plantations are the core, beating heart of our kingdom. What they want more than anything else is stability, and if our king cannot deliver that, then Strathmore will seek shelter under the greatest buff that it can." Her father instructed.

She of course could put that same thing together, but it was important the two of them were working off the same script.

"On the rise of our faction, we'll be the one to give them shade," Gwen said, nodding along. "After all, between the oppressive might of the Virel elders, House Aldis now having two, and Travis's military might, we are looking quite powerful. Especially after Ard killed two other elders. Or perhaps they're seeking our aid to try and get one of their own on the Elder Council?”

Her father didn't discount that, instead shrugging. 'Whoever is the most powerful mage deserves those spots. I care not which house they come from.' Though it would be wonderful if they weren't so dedicated to the king."

She could read between the lines. "But without Carmilla, the first prince isn't sinister enough to pick up the reins of her organization. The third prince is dead, though he didn't have the brains for it anyway. And the second prince is kept at arm's length down in Hidavente, where he won't be able to interfere. Are any of the other princes and princesses trying to pick up the scraps?”

“The sister of the second prince… Bianca, is it?" Anadonis hesitated on the name as they stepped into the carriage.

One of Gwen's anchors scooped her up out of her seat, picked up her wheeled chair, and slid her in where the bench had been removed on a handful of the Aldis carriages.

"That's right, Bianca. She had a small fling with Ard. It might be beneficial if he can reignite that," Anadonis said, only for Gwen to shake her head.

"No, I think he'd better not. I think he called her nothing more than the shadow of the second prince. That she wasn't her own person." Gwen recalled. It was a rather savage way to break a woman’s heart. Though, he probably wasn’t wrong from what she’d heard about the princess.

Anadonis closed his eyes almost painfully. "That boy needs to learn when talking is no longer advantageous."

Gwen couldn't help but smile. "I'm fairly certain he doesn't know how to keep his mouth closed, father. It would be better to point him at a target he can talk to death than tell him he's going to have to keep quiet for a minute." 

Anadonis shook his head. "I would ask where we went wrong raising him, but the reality is that we didn't raise him. And we do owe him for that."

The carriage pulled forward, the horse's hooves clopping on the road.

"Speaking of what we owe…” She started. “Do you remember I said that there was going to be a debt paid soon? We've already gotten word from Faylin that the pirate we made a deal with was on her way back. I'm not quite sure what the deal will entail. I expect another letter today or tomorrow.” She briefed him.

“I accept that there's some part of this deal that I don't need to understand, but please don't sell the whole house for this." He shook his head, suddenly looking older.

"It's being taken care of, father. Don't you worry. And ultimately, this will not only help Ard, but our house as well. I'm sure if it's too costly, we can put Sienna on the issue.” Gwen said.

“That woman is the best thing to come out of my grandson," Anadonis said quickly. "Good in business. Sharp, attentive. Really everything I wish my grandson could be."

"Well, she joined the house because of him, so why don't you just take that as his contribution?" Gwen chuckled. She wasn’t going to say anything, but she was fairly certain her father saw the child swelling in her belly as an opportunity to make up for where he’d failed with Arden.

As they rolled up to the house in the carriage, they saw the woman already waiting for them. Sienna's belly had begun to show, but only if you’d known her well enough to notice.

Gwen hoped the new baby would be at least more like its mother, but it would be a shame not to experience the little tyrant that Arden must have been. Squinting, she noticed Sienna held a letter. She briefly wondered if it was the letter they were waiting to receive.

“Patriarch.” Sienna dipped her head in greeting the two of them. Gwen’s title had yet to officially change.

"Please, Grandfather or Anadonis is fine," he said, though Gwen knew secretly he was likely cheering inside that she showed him an ounce of respect, unlike his grandson. 

"As you wish, Grandfather," she replied.

They both knew she would go back to calling him Patriarch the next time they talked. The two did this dance often. Sienna did it because she clearly knew that Anadonis enjoyed the little game.

"I thought I would come and present the letter that I think you've been waiting for," Sienna said, holding it out.

Gwen moved around the two, grabbing the letter and opening it quickly. "Simple enough. We have to build a few shrines and churches." 

Sienna nodded, not being surprised. The woman obviously knew about some of Arden’s secrets, which made Gwen a touch nervous. The more people that knew, the greater the risk to Arden. 

But he already had a king after his head. She could only hope that Ard wouldn't piss off a bunch of gods. Though as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she banished it, afraid to curse her son.

Of course, if he interacted with a few gods, he was bound to piss at least one off. It seemed the inevitable result of meeting her son ended one of two ways. Everybody either loved him or hated him, and there didn't seem to be many who landed anywhere in between. 

"If you'll take care of it, then?" Gwen asked, knowing she could trust the woman to execute most things.

"Happily," Sienna replied. “And has there been any word of Ard’s whereabouts?”

"Well, that is the question of the day.” Gwen said with a smile. "I have no clue, genuinely. However, if you put that question into the universe, perhaps at one of our new patron goddesses’ shrines, perhaps you'll get an answer whispered in your ear." 

The patriarch frowned. "You can just tell her you don't know. You don't have to be theatrical about it." 

Gwen smiled at him, and then she and Sienna shared another smile, the two of them both knowing that, in fact, Gwen was giving her real advice. After all, a goddess was in play. 

"I think I'll do just that," Sienna said, bowing before stepping away. As to the new temples, she hesitated. "I'll need some locations to break ground, otherwise I do think it'll be easy enough for me to handle myself." 

"Find some spots you'd like," Gwen said, "and then send me a list. I'll have someone review and get you a few options." 

Sienna then bowed and this time took her leave.

Gwen couldn't help staring into the distance, wondering what her son had gotten himself into now. After all, it seemed a second goddess was looking for him, and a newly infamous pirate made for an incredibly odd ambassador.