Tanya's Third Life as a Barbarian Queen, Chapter XXII

I will have the chapter as links to download at the bottom of the post. As well as a link to the Google Document page.

Kontia

Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi

Kontia had fallen before I had reached the city. That had become clear when the vanguard of the migratory camp reached the City and reported that the gates were open and the populace of the city had been subdued. 

It was a remarkably impressive feat, Enya had managed to take a city of roughly fifty thousand with barely a thousand soldiers and had suffered just under one hundred casualties total. I could not overstate her achievement and word of Enya’s accomplishment had spread like wildfire throughout the migratory population. 

When the city appeared on the horizon the migration approached with the disposition of a grand parade. Many of the more accomplished Lepus or women with some wealth to their name donned bright clothes and jewels while marching ahead of the main body of the migration to be one of the first to enter Kontia.

We stretched up the wide Imperial road, thousands of wagons and carriages and countless people. The tall walls of Kontia held thousands of Lepus who had been taken as slaves and they cheered and waved as we approached. I was not the first to enter the city and instead walked ahead of a pair of wagons holding not only my husbands but the few males too young, in my estimation, to be husbands and my father.

Around me I had a host of bodyguards with Major Lucia marching to my left and Vera of the Mora to my right. Both stood a full head and shoulders above me at the least. I put that thought out of my mind as we passed into the city into a wide thoroughfare with Enya’s companies she had used to take the city standing at ease as the bulk of the Migration made way into the city.

Humans, Orcs and the occasional Felis made up the bulk of the subjugated inhabitants of Kontia and they looked on at our procession with mixed expressions. Some cheered for us to curry favour but most merely awaited their fate with stoic expressions. Only a few chose to protest our occupation and the ones who did were quickly restrained and taken to be flogged. I had forbidden any pointless killing for such petty resistance.

Such resistance seemed to vanish as Wyvern Heads mounted upon wagons were pulled into the city. With greater speed than our procession it seems word of such trophies radiated outwards into the city and the mood changed from despair and resentment to resignation. 

We came to the palace and forum at the heart of Kontia where the remaining important citizens in the city as well as the many priests were standing. Several dozen humans surrounded by a company of Lepus with Enya herself looking over them.

There was no established protocol for taking a city such as this. No traditions to draw upon, so as I stood before the assembly all of them knelt before me and swore upon the Gods that they would not resist our occupation and acknowledged me as a conquering Queen. 

“In consideration of your surrender and in the interest of preventing undue harm from being inflicted upon the good people of Kontia I shall ensure that our occupation shall observe the dignity of the subjugated. You shall be granted leave to petition me in rulership over Kontia and the surrounding environs and I shall not inflict involuntary slavery upon the freemen of the city. Nor shall you have property expropriated without good cause.” I looked at the men assembled before me who looked surprised that I was granting them such leniency. “In return for these privileges the people of Kontia shall be subjected to a temporary curfew that shall extend from the moment of dusk till dawn. The people of Kontia shall be subjected to restrictions on the use of the city gates and finally, the private ownership of slaves is now illegal. All slaves are to be considered property of the state.” At my final proclamation the men assembled before me appeared stunned but despite sharing concerned looks none dared to argue against such conditions.

If I had waited some time before implementing that particular law there would undoubtedly be pushback. But at the hight of our power and with the total subjugation of the people of Kontia it was time to establish this first step upon the road of eliminating that abhorrent practice.

I had to normalise the expropriation of slaves from private hands as a condition of surrender to me. It had to become an expected outcome. It was also a way for me to generate wealth. If I had a monopoly on slave labour I could sell that labour on the market generating funding for my fledgling state while I worked in the future to eliminate the need for slave labour all together. 

This funding would be vital as direct taxation could only provide so much before it became intolerable. 

With the people of Kontia addressed I turned to the Lepus and offered praise for Enya’s triumph, for the people of all tribes that had followed me. I did not merely promise vengeance but a future for my people. 

With the speeches concluded the real work began. The migration had to be settled for the night, supplies needed to be tallied, tens of thousands of tasks needed to be delegated all the while we were surrounded by people who could not be trusted to obey. It would take time to extract what we needed from Kontia and we had to use that time as efficiently as possible.

“My Queen.” I turned about as Enya marched towards me, clad in silks and bangles as she basked in her role of a victorious general. “It is good to see you well Tanya.” She said with a touch of sentiment colouring her tone and I offered her a warm smile.

“It is good to see you too, Enya.” I replied, clasping her offered wrist. “Do you have something to report, Brigadier?” I shifted to a more professional tone as she nodded.

“You must come with me at once, it is a grave concern.” I raised an eyebrow as she spoke but nodded and fell into step at her side as we made our way out of the city.

---------------------------------------------------

I clasped my hands at the small of my back as I stood at the edge of the intact section of the bridge. Perhaps a few hundred feet from the far side of the river. Escaping Imperials had managed to undermine one of the supports buttressing the colossal structure unopposed and had sent an entire section into the deep water below.

Enya for her part had the grace to look downcast even if I could not blame her fully for the sabotage. 

“This is frustrating.” I said at last. The supports were so large and the bridge so long that repairing a small section would be a monumental architectural feat that I doubted anyone I had at my disposal could accomplish. A frame would need to be built, stone would need to be cut from a quarry and brought to the bridge, masons and architects would need to work in concert to rebuild the destroyed section and all of that would take months at best.

“I did not want to fight the Ninth Legion, it would have been unnecessary.” I confided in Enya as she frowned. She knew that Zorzal and one of the legions he had used to invade the Lepus was weeks away to the north, with their supply road cut it would make sense for them to withdraw from this side of the great wetlands by traveling north and back west but I doubted the Saderans would be able to resist marching upon us.

If the bridge had not been destroyed it would be time and distance that crippled the ninth Legion without the need for battle.

“We have many boats still, Delilah’s force captured them as humans attempted to use them to flee across the river, there are still some on the far shore we could take.” I shook my head at Enya’s suggestion. The boats arrayed at tiny wooden docks or pulled up on the bank of the river were tiny fishing boats and were utterly unsuited to moving the colossal amount of material and persons that the migration represented.

“No, such an operation would take longer than we have and limit the material we could bring with us.” I sighed as I was forced to change my long term plans. Who could have predicted that the Saderans would sabotage a bridge this massive? Or that Enya would neglect to prevent it. “Nevermind, this is only a minor setback.” I rounded upon Enya, the pair of us alone with my bodyguards at a distance where they could not eavesdrop on our conversation. While the sabotage of the bridge was a problem that narrowed what options we had available we still held a strong position despite a Legion to the north that outnumbered us by a considerable margin.

“What is the condition of the city?” I asked. After arriving Enya had prioritised showing me the state of the walls and the bridge with her full report not yet finished. I had taken priority in setting up many tents just outside of the city rather than fully establishing ourselves inside. I would have to inspect Kontia before I determined what value she had.

“The walls are intact and the damaged gate will be repaired in a few days time. Kontia itself has suffered some damage from the fires but she is still ripe with food and plunder. The population has been subdued and disarmed with the cooperation of the priests of the city that have observed our rule. As I have said, during our attack on the palace as many as five thousand people fled the city with some supplies but the bulk of their exodus was prevented by Delilah’s sally from the city.” I nodded, what Enya did not mention was how when Delilah secured the entrance to the bridge many hundreds of people tried to flee across the river and drowned en mass. 

A terrible waste but not unexpected.

“We must do a full accounting of what we have gained here as well as a census of the people still inside of the city. Since our migration south has been cut short by this sabotage we will have plenty of time to get that done...” I hummed, turning about to look at the other end of the ruined bridge, so close yet, for an army, impossibly far. 

“There are many who have distinguished themselves in service to you my Queen.” Enya said at last, as a light drizzle began to fall upon us.

“...Yes.” I acknowledged. “We will observe the glory of our people before anything else. It has been a long march and we must boost morale.” I looked over to Enya with a smile. “You have done well Enya.”

“I feel like I have failed.” She admitted. “You praise me too much.” 

“Indeed your command had flaws, setbacks and of course, failures.” Each word caused the older woman’s lips to thin. “But in other ways you have exceeded expectations, so long as you seek to correct your errors and do not allow yourself to become arrogant you should be proud of what you have accomplished.” She mused on my words for a while.

“You have not yet read my report.” She pointed out and I nodded.

“True, we will review your performance once I have read your report and discuss any shortcomings and ways to mitigate them in the future. But for now you are to be celebrated for your victory over the Saderans. You must be publicly rewarded so your subordinates respect your accomplishments. I will not undermine your authority by chastising you for...” I looked out at the destroyed bridge. “Operational blindspots. At least not publicly.” 

“Thank you Tanya.” She said at last and I felt my ears twitch.

“Who would you honour in this victory?” I asked, changing the subject. A victory ceremony involved the leader of a warband, or several warbands, offering commendation to their direct subordinates who were of particular note in a recent battle or raid in front of the tribe. Said subordinates would then offer commendation to their direct subordinates and so on. 

Such ceremonies were vital for establishing one's reputation and for acquiring wealth as you were entitled a larger proportion of the loot for being singled out as particularly capable or important.

“Nalia of the Yutoi, Lieutenant of the hundred fifteenth Company. And Delilah of the Pomi, also a Lieutenant of the hundred eleventh. Both have proven themselves fine warriors and capable commanders.” With Delilah having prevented more people from Kontia from escaping with supplies from the city it was unsurprising that she would be named for commendation. 

“Very well, we will hold the ceremony tomorrow after the migration has settled in. In the meantime, have your women cross the river to recover the boats. I will have need of them. If there is nothing else?” She shook her head. I relaxed, now that we had addressed the most pressing matters of our occupation of Kontia. “I have to ask.” I began casually. “How did you bypass the walls? I know it will be in your report...” She grinned at my question.

“In truth they surrendered them to me. During the battle a number of the defenders attempted to slay Lepus slaves using fire only for the slaves to break their bondage and rally against them.” I frowned at her explanation.

“So the defenders abandoned the walls to quell the uprising?”

“Exactly.” Enya confirmed. “With the walls abandoned we simply climbed over them and made way through the gate.” 

“Why would they kill the Lepus slaves?” I mused aloud. “Did they assume that they would be a liability in a siege?” 

“I believe it was in retaliation for my burning alive of an Orcish messenger from the city.” Enya explained.

“You WHAT?!” My voice carried across the pinkish sky as Enya’s ears flattened against her head and she shrank back from my fury.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BFcuql18CXubX0uHp6CjOyklSGykTvKBYxftZiGiE1I/edit?tab=t.0