HS3 - Ch2

The city of Tartus hadn’t changed much since joining the Empire. It had been the capital of its province in the Federation. Now it was the capital of its duchy in the Empire.

Nathan and Fei navigated through the dense urban sprawl of the city. Marble, granite, and wooden buildings stood side by side in a manner that should appear ramshackle, but somehow appeared normal. Local guards swapped out their Federation crests for Anna’s emblem.

Markets ran day and night in the city, and a throng of people filled the streets. Nathan kept his hands free to bat away pickpockets who got too close. Not that he needed to bother. Everybody recognized him. The crowds cleared a path as he rode.

A beastkin made a pass, but froze the moment before he was going to stop him. He stared up at Nathan, his horse ears drooping. Waving him off, Nathan continued riding ahead.

Nathan arrived at Tartus’s palace. It was a squat marble building formed of columns, with a series of steps to gain access to the building itself. Guards patrolled around the base of the building.

At the top of the steps was something that had changed drastically since the city had joined the Empire, however.

Heavily armed and armored beastkin knights stood guard. They wore the same uniforms as Fei’s knights, except that they also had Anna’s emblem on their armor. As Nathan approached, they slammed their fists into their breastplates. A deafening boom echoed off the marble structure.

Other knights heard the salute and repeated it. The noise continued for over a minute.

Nathan walked past them and entered the palace. Long ago, this building had been the gathering hall for village chiefs and nobles. Over time, as Tartus grew in size, it became a palace.

Its former occupant had been High Lord Torneus, who was now in the custody of the dark elves of the Aurelian Spires. Nathan had personally seen to that.

Clerks and servants wandered the halls of the palace. Nathan recognized some, but far from all of them. A senior servant told Nathan that Anna was lurking in her study, so that was where he and Fei went.

“Everybody here is wearing your crest,” Fei said, poking Nathan in the side.

He frowned at that. While Anna had been encouraging the emblem among the beastkin, she had stopped short of doing so among her personal guards. She was new here, and Tartus had been on the verge of riots before Nathan swept in.

“More than beastkin are wearing them here,” Nathan said as they stopped in front of Anna’s study.

“Of course they are,” a new voice chirped next to them. “You and Anna are together. We can show our support for the Liberator and support our duchess at the same time, Lord Nathan.”

He suppressed a grimace and turned to face the newcomer. An attractive woman only a few years older than Fei beamed at him. She had long blonde hair and pricked horse ears, a long silken horse tail, and wore the same uniform that Fei did. Two garnets gleamed from her collarbone.

“Fyre, was it?” Nathan asked, trying to remember her name. “We met in passing when you first arrived here with Duke Terrius.”

Fyre’s eyes lit up and her ears shot bolt upright. “Yes, milord! But I don’t have anything to do with any of the other dukes anymore. Although I may be a Champion in service to one of Duke Terrius’s Bastions, I serve you and Duchess Anna in every conceivable way.”

Fei scowled at Fyre. Before the catgirl did anything foolish, Nathan gave her a push. Rolling her eyes, Fei went ahead.

Fyre followed Fei with her eyes for a few seconds, before turning back to Nathan with a more subdued gaze. “Is there anything wrong with showing you our support, Liberator?”

Drumming his fingers on his leg, Nathan wondered how open he should be with this Champion.

He knew very little about her. One of his other Champions, Narime, had recommended her. Fyre had become a duogem Champion in the Federation while slavery was still practiced, which spoke well of her abilities. Surely, she knew of the dangerous political situation?

“It’s not your support that’s the problem, Fyre,” Nathan said, half-lying. Truthfully, he found it deeply uncomfortable. “But what do you think everybody else sees? The Empire just arrived. The merchants and villagers will see division when we need to be presenting a united front.”

A frown initially formed on Fyre’s face as he spoke. Slowly, it vanished and she smiled brightly at him. She snapped off a salute.

“I get it, milord,” she chirped, her eyes practically glowing. “I’ll talk to the others about being less obvious.”

He wasn’t sure she did get it, but he’d take what he could get. Fyre was a beastkin Champion from the Federation, so she was bound to be influential here.

After returning the salute, Nathan stepped into Anna’s study. Fyre watched his every move.

“Getting to know your latest Champion?” Anna greeted him when he entered, her voice dry.

Nathan closed the door and pretended that he hadn’t heard Fyre whine in response to his action. The study was warded against eavesdropping, and the horsegirl had clearly intended to do exactly that.

Despite the name, Anna’s study was closer to a lounge. A few black sofas with plush upholstery dominated the room. A large desk in the corner allowed the room to technically be called a study. The architecture itself was dated, with tiny, claustrophobic windows, vaulted ceilings, and huge cornices. But the furnishings and paint gave the room a sleek feeling.

Nathan froze when he saw a large black door at the far end. It looked incredibly out of place, and nobody else paid any attention to it.

Probably because they couldn’t see it. The black door was a doorway to another world that only Nathan could see. It belonged to the Messenger he had made his dark deal with.

He chose to ignore it.

A petite woman with dirty blonde hair done up in curls lounged on one sofa. Anna had been letting her hair grow out since she met Nathan. Her hair had once been shoulder length, and was stretching further and further down her back every time he found time to be with her.

She wore a ruffled black dress that had slits in all the right places, and the way she moved her legs gave Nathan tantalizing glimpses of what he had to look forward to tonight.

“Hungry, are we? Did you hold back while you were staying with Vera?” Anna asked with a smile.

She rose from her seat and approached Nathan. He swept her in his arms and drew her into a kiss. His hands quickly wandered and investigated what he’d spied earlier. Anna moaned into his mouth. She rubbed his back, surrendering to him.

A stare bore into Nathan. The catgirl responsible didn’t make a noise, but she made her presence known.

Nathan pulled away from Anna, who gasped for air when he released her.

“Wow. I don’t see you for a couple of weeks and you try to kill me with a kiss,” Anna said with wide eyes. “Please don’t tell me that’s what tonight’s going to be like? I’ve heard from the others that you can sometimes be a little more impressive down there.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen it?” Fei crooned, her voice oozing with superiority. The smirk on her face spoke volumes. “Nathan’s best at his biggest.”

“Fei, enough,” Nathan said, rolling his eyes. “Be a good kitty.”

She clicked her tongue. “Fiiiine.” Her smirk didn’t vanish. “But I wasn’t lying. He’s totally better like that.”

“I’d believe you, but you also told me that he tasted great. Your opinions in the bedroom are a little lopsided, Fei,” Anna said.

Nathan and Anna dropped onto the sofas. As Fei had been cattier lately, Nathan avoided sitting next to either woman. He sat opposite Fei instead.

Not that it mattered. Fei jumped over the coffee table and sat next to him. Her tail curled around his back and she purred.

Anna rolled her eyes. “So, what do you think of Fyre?”

“I’ve met her twice. It’s hard to have an opinion of her,” Nathan said.

“Really? Because you seemed to form an opinion of Fei and the others pretty quickly.” Anna narrowed her eyes at him.

Damn, good catch.

Nathan had known Fei and most of his Champions from his original world. But to everybody else, his ability to judge people’s characters was uncannily good.

“I had reports on Fei from her meisters in the academy. Plus, she’s a young girl from the beastkin enclave near Gharrick. Fyre has fought for the Federation her entire life. She has… baggage here.” Nathan frowned. “I trusted her because Narime did. Have you gotten along with her?”

“Better than I expected,” Anna said. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to trust a Champion that isn’t yours but she’s so starry-eyed about you it’s adorable.”

“Adorable,” Nathan said flatly.

Fei pouted.

“Yes, adorable,” Anna repeated. “There’s something different about her, compared to the other beastkin. Fyre seems almost pure when she talks about you.” She shrugged in response to his look. “I can’t put it in words, but it makes her easy to trust. She’s been reliable and a huge help as I try to settle in.”

Nathan winced. “I take it that’s been rough?”

“Rough doesn’t begin to cover it.” Anna huffed. “The desk in my office is piled this high with paperwork.” She raised a hand as high as she could for effect. “My calendar fills with meetings if I don’t fill it first. The only reason I eat with other people is because Fyre joins me for meals, because otherwise I’m eating while working.”

“What’s this, then?” Nathan asked, gesturing to the study that was noticeably empty of any work.

Anna coughed. Her cheeks reddened, and she looked away. She mumbled something under her breath.

Given Fei’s ears pricked up and the catgirl smiled, Nathan assumed it was something cute.

“I’m afraid I didn’t catch that,” he asked innocently.

“Are you going to make me say it?” Anna grumbled.

“Yes.”

“Bastard.”

He waited patiently, while Fei giggled next to him.

“I cleared my calendar when I found out you were coming,” Anna said, face red as a cherry. “Fyre helped a lot. Shooed away courtiers, rearranged meetings, and ensured my clerks were dealing with any important paperwork today and tomorrow. I should be able to spend some time with you, given I haven’t seen you for weeks, right?”

Well, that certainly explained some of Anna’s appreciation of Fyre. Nathan felt some in turn.

“We should probably discuss the situation despite that,” Nathan said. “But I’m glad we have some time to ourselves for… fun.”

Fei prodded him in the side.

“Can I get him to myself for a night, first?” Anna suggested, her eyes narrowing at Fei’s unsubtle attempt to inject herself into the situation.

“For a night,” Fei declared, taking a mile when offered an inch.

“Have you finished the move?” Nathan asked.

“I don’t think I’ll ever finish the move,” Anna said. “I’m beginning to realize how silly this whole duchy is. I spent my life being raised to take care of a little county, and everything I learned related to it and the Diet. Voting procedures, committees, laws, and fairly minor procedural matters. Now I’m the most powerful and wealthiest noble, other than the archdukes.”

Both Nathan and Anna sighed.

Before he had invaded the Federation, Anna had been the countess he worked with as Bastion. She governed a moderately sized county called Gharrick County. It had been a border county that ran along the Gharrick Mountains, which separated the Federation and Empire.

When the Federation joined the Empire and the regents were converted into dukes, the question had been what to do with High Lord Torneus’s former province. Rather than carve it up, it had been given to Anna, who had been promoted to duchess.

“Regretting your decision to become a duchess, rather than stay countess?” Nathan asked.

“Never,” Anna snapped, glaring at Nathan. She bit her lip. “You were right to call me out on that. It’s not like things would be better. Milgar gave me all this land anyway. The only difference is that…” she trailed off.

Neither of them needed to say more. They’d already confronted each other about this a month ago, when Anna had been conflicted over her role in Nathan’s life. Ultimately, she had chosen to accept it. Hence why he was going to be hearing her sweet moans in bed tonight, and she was a duchess, rather than a countess.

“Has Archduke von Milgar given you a hand in anything?” Nathan asked, changing the topic. “If you’re so overwhelmed, surely he’d help a noble allied with him and the Emperor.”

“He’s handling a lot of the political bullshit. There are eleven new dukes, the Diet has been in a constant state of chaos since the Emperor announced all the new nobles in the Federation, and—oh, right—there’s a war on.” Anna scowled. “I think I get a dozen threatening letters a day from Nationalist-aligned nobles about why I’m not sending you and all of my knights up to Trafaumh.”

“Fucking hell,” Nathan muttered.

The Nationalists were a powerful faction of nobles in the Empire that believed in Imperial supremacy over the rest of the world. Nathan’s father was a powerful member of the faction. They had been implicated in a lot of problems last year, and were the cause of a war with the Empire’s northern neighbor, Trafaumh.

“The letters get screened, so you don’t need to worry about any of them killing me. Fyre did bodyguard duty for Terrius and was in charge of protecting a portal, so she’s experienced.” Anna smiled. “I miss Kuda’s coffee, but there’s something nice about a knight who openly lusts for the man you’re sleeping with.”

Something told Nathan that most women wouldn’t share Anna’s opinion. Then again, most women weren’t in a relationship like Anna’s. Fei was far from the only woman that she had to share Nathan with, after all.

“Speaking of coffee, why don’t we have something to drink?” Nathan suggested.

Anna and Fei nodded in response. For some reason, he half-expected Fyre to burst through the door with a tray of drinks, but nothing happened. She either hadn’t penetrated the room’s wards or was smart enough not to give herself away.

He rose and found a table with refreshments. While he used the magic-powered percolator to prepare coffee for himself and Anna, he poured a glass of milk for Fei. While she’d drink coffee and tea, her preferences were for cold drinks. Given her alcohol tolerance, he added a glug of cream liqueur to the milk.

“Is the land the problem?” Fei asked while his back was turned.

How rare. Fei rarely spoke up during discussions like these. Usually, she dutifully listened and asked Nathan questions later.

“Not the land itself, but the variety,” Anna said. “I rule three distinct regions now. Gharrick County, Tartus, and the beastkin enclave that you grew up in. The enclave takes care of itself, but I’m split between Gharrick and Tartus.”

“Isn’t that normally why you have other nobles?” Fei asked.

Nathan chuckled. “Yes, that’s exactly why.”

“That’s easier said than done. My family ran Gharrick for years. It’s a tiny place in the boonies. Finding somebody to run the county is difficult,” Anna said. “Whereas Tartus is just chaotic. The removal of slavery has thrown the economy into chaos.”

“I thought you said that lots of beastkin were coming here from the rest of the Federation?” Nathan said, remembering another conversation.

“They are, but they want to be paid, Nathan. Or to work for you. Or me.” Anna laughed. “I think I understand why Torneus wanted to invade my county. I’ve been looking at farmland for the beastkin, only to find out that half of the land on this side of the mountains isn’t arable. You can’t grow a damn thing without huge irrigation projects. But Gharrick is mostly wilderness. An untapped place that the rest of the Empire looked down on.”

Nathan blinked. He carried the tray of drinks to the sofas, careful not to spill any. Grinning at him, Fei snatched up her liquored-up drink. Nathan and Anna enjoyed their coffees at a more sedate pace.

“That figures. So there are lots of beastkin, but the local manufacturers and merchants don’t want to pay them,” Nathan summarized.

“Can’t pay them, they claim,” Anna corrected. “Practically the entire manufacturing and transport industry of Tartus ran on slave labor. Food seems to be unaffected, because the beastkin were kept in the cities.”

“The land belongs to the people. Being able to raise a family in a village is the right of citizens,” Nathan said automatically, remembering lessons drilled into him from childhood. “That’s a problem.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re talking about giving the beastkin farmland. How many of them even know how to farm?”

Anna stared at him.

“Eh? Even I can till a field, Nathan?” Fei said with a silly smile.

“Do you know how to farm, Anna?” Nathan asked.

She continued to stare at him. “Shit.”

“You’re dealing with a huge population of urban slaves, Anna. The first time most of them left the cities they were born in was when the Empire freed them. I doubt many of them have even seen a field in their lives.”

“Well, that’s a new headache to deal with,” Anna muttered. She drained her coffee, then immediately rose and poured a new one from the batch prepared by Nathan.

“I hate to say this now, but given these problems, is it really smart to encourage the beastkin to wear those damn patches?” Nathan probed, feeling that he had enough leverage to bring up the topic.

“Oh, goddess, of course you raise this,” Anna said. He imagined that she rolled her eyes, as her back was turned to him. “Those are the one thing I’m not worried about. Half the damn Empire hates us, Nathan. Hates me. The beastkin call you Liberator.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” he drawled.

“Don’t be a dick,” she snapped. “Your father has a reputation as a violent warmonger who hates non-humans. Beastkin treat you as the literal opposite to him. Like it or not, the Empire is squaring off. We’re in the Emperor’s corner, along with Milgar. We should be making it clear that we have support among the people.”

“Some people,” Nathan said. “Look, Anna, how many people give a shit about the arguments in the Diet? Emperor Gorthal isn’t about to drop dead. All this does is scare some farmers and merchants.”

“The Nationalists aren’t going to wait for the Emperor to die of natural causes, Nathan,” Anna said. “There’s no rightful heir to the Arangar dynasty. All the Emperor’s children except Alice will be opposed by the Diet for one reason or another. And Alice is Milgar’s granddaughter, so the constitution forbids her from taking the throne. If we don’t prepare for civil war—”

“Anna,” Nathan said gently, and she stopped.

She grimaced and looked away.

After several long moments, she looked back at him. “I do think you’re right that the patches are antagonistic. But so is everything your stupid father is doing. We need to be preparing, Nathan. You are going to help me, right? I know you have some personal hangups over this, but please.”

Part of him wanted to say no. The internal problems of the Empire frustrated him. The entire system seemed inherently broken, and ready to collapse at a moment’s notice. Ever since he had arrived in this world, he had been trying to reach his home nation, the Kingdom of Falmir, so that he could instead focus on its problems.

But for some reason, he felt differently about the Empire now. He cared for Anna, who considered the Empire her home. Earlier this year, he had met Princess Alice Arangar, the Emperor’s granddaughter, and become attached to her. And, of course, Nathan cared about all of his Champions and the people he protected.

“Yes, I will help you. We’ll need to spend the next couple of years building support within your duchy and preparing my Champions and military for the worst. But that means not pissing people off early, simply because that Nationalists are swinging their dicks at us,” Nathan said.

Fei giggled at the image.

“I guess you’re right,” Anna said. “A couple of years, huh? That seems like a lot of time to prepare, but compared to how long the Nationalists have been trying to oust Emperor Gorthal…”

“It’s enough time to train Vera, get new gems for Fei and the others, and deal with any political issues,” Nathan said. “Our position is unstable right now.”

“Ah, right, Vera.” Anna nodded, then narrowed her eyes. “So, when are you going to break it to Fyre that you plan to assign her to Vera, instead of taking her on as your own Champion?”

Nathan winced. “I have no idea. She’s so smitten with me.”

“Honestly, just bed her and let Vera find a new Champion. There’s plenty of beastkin you can find, including in the castle,” Anna said. “Where are you going to find a cute, loyal horsegirl like her?”

Nathan stared at the wall and didn’t reply.

He did, after all, already know of one such horsegirl. While he’d been avoiding thinking of her too much, she was still firmly rooted in his mind.

Ciana. The young unicorn beastkin training under Leopold, and who was currently in the Empire’s capital of Aleich. Compared to Fyre, Nathan found Ciana far more attractive. He had spent many years with Ciana.

A dark memory came to Nathan’s mind. He banished the thoughts, and remembered why he hadn’t been thinking of Ciana since the war with the Federation started.

“That look tells me it’s time to change the subject,” Anna said. “Why don’t we talk about what’s been happening in the capital lately? I bet you’re interested in what Alice has been up to. She tells me things that she doesn’t tell you.”