Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 4

“We need more space for the Model S, m’lady.”

In the western wagon lot of Corelyn Harbour’s harbour district, Liane turned to find a man in a labourer’s outfit holding a clipboard behind her.

“The Model S?” Liane frowned, “Space where?”

“The off-road track.”

“Tch. Of all the…”

It wasn’t something that they could fix with time as short as it was.

“What about an old highway? A big rural road?”

“We can ask the administration about that, but I doubt it.”

The man walked away. Liane turned to gaze at some far-off unknown beyond the gantry cranes of the waterfront.

Stupid crappy roads and their crappy crappiness…

The Model S was the newest wagon rolled out of House Wagner’s workshops. Unlike the other vehicles produced thus far, which were simply older models tweaked and adjusted for the new realities brought by the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Model S was built from the ground up to take full advantage of the country’s new infrastructure.

It was designed to be drawn by two Soul Eaters, which also meant that it was designed to take full advantage of the motive force that two Soul Eaters could produce. Compared to the wagons of yore, it was twice as wide, twice as long, haul eight times as much and could sustain twice the speed. The Model S was meant to keep land logistics in step with their advances in water-based transport, and it did…with one major caveat.

The new wagon needed the new roads to run on. It wasn’t as if it would explode if it didn’t – it was simply a matter of space. A horse-drawn wagon was small and that meant the old roads of the region were small. This also meant that the streets of towns and cities were small and their gates and bridges were small. Too small for the Model S. The new vehicle was supposed to act as a compelling case for new, unified infrastructure standards across the Sorcerous Kingdom and the members of its growing hegemony.

As one of the technology demonstrations for the upcoming visits from imperial nobility, the Model S would bring its passengers on a ride along the new highways of the Sorcerous Kingdom. It would load its cargo in Corelyn Harbour, travel to Liane’s town on the imperial border, and then head north from there to the Lizardman Alliance Village in the Great Forest of Tob. After that, they would travel up the new highway through the Azerlisia Mountains to Feoh Berkana where the Mountain Dwarves would take a day or two to show them their stuff.

After that, they would return to Corelyn Harbour. Liane would then humbly receive money from the suitably impressed imperial aristocrats on behalf of all of the hard-working people who made the Model S a reality.

I wonder if we can use the test track…probably not.

House Wagner’s production methods were considered an industrial secret by the Sorcerous Kingdom, so she couldn’t just bring them to the vehicle trial area for a demonstration of the wagon’s off-road performance. It felt a bit stupid that they didn’t have a road that was crappy enough to use with all of the old highways paved over. Maybe they could just go for a spin around the Katze Plains instead.

Would that be good marketing? They could run down countless Skeletons and Zombies to show how secure and sturdy the wagons were.

“Hmm…”

“What are you plotting?”

“Huh?” Liane jerked at the sound of Clara’s voice, “I’m not plotting anything…well, maybe I am but it’s not the evil plot that you think it is!”

“Ah,” Clara said, “so it’s an evil plot.”

“No, it’s not!” Liane held out her hands innocently, “It’s not as if I was thinking of running over hundreds of people-like things as a marketing stunt.”

“Right. Need I remind you that most foreigners assume the worst of us? People still think that eating our grain will transform them into Zombies or something equally silly.”

“You have to wonder at what point we should stop caring about that,” Liane pouted. “We don’t even need to care.”

“You sound like one of those preposterously characterised Nobles that end up getting eaten in the Bards’ tales,” Clara told her. “You should follow His Majesty’s example. He’s always reserved and dignified, and so too should his Nobles be.”

Like Ludmila, Clara favoured the Sorcerer King far more than she rationally should. Unlike Ludmila, Clara wasn’t Undead so Liane was still trying to figure out why she acted that way. To be certain, things were going great in the Sorcerous Kingdom and Lady Shalltear praised His Majesty at every opportunity, but something still wasn’t quite right.

“I wonder how ‘reserved and dignified’ our guests will be,” Liane said.

“The first delegation is from the Imperial Dynasty,” Clara said, “so I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t be. That’s not a challenge, by the way.”

“Is Ludmila sticking around?”

“She won’t be there for the negotiations, but she’ll be present to welcome Frianne’s party.”

“I don’t know why she’s so worried.”

Every Noble in the Sorcerous Kingdom was participating in the reception of the trade delegations from the Empire except for Ludmila, who was worried that she would ‘ruin everything’ by being present.

“It’s as I said before, isn’t it?” Clara said, “Foreigners tend to assume the worst of us and Imperials love making something out of nothing. We saw enough of that on our trip to the Empire.”

“I still say that we shouldn’t coddle ‘em,” Liane said. “Why are we the ones who are always bending over backwards for others?”

“Because we are the exception to the rule, Liane,” Clara told her. “It is up to us to provide proof of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s benign nature and the truth of its intentions. The world will not simply give us the benefit of the doubt.”

“Meh.”

Liane still didn’t think it would be a bad thing to one-sidedly overwhelm someone once in a while. They were bound to eventually encounter a country that wouldn’t see reason no matter how nice the Sorcerous Kingdom was and ignore all of the benefits of a mutually profitable arrangement. People like that even existed within the Sorcerous Kingdom’s borders.

“My lady,” Rose said behind her shoulder, “it’s about time.”

She dug into her pocket and pulled out her watch. Where did her morning go? Fortunately, someone they knew was among the first people arriving.

They boarded the nearby carriage – it looked like Clara had come to pick her up – and returned to Castle Corelyn. The castle’s household staff could be seen everywhere making a last-minute inspection of everything. Mixed in amongst them were disguised members of Ijaniya and four or five Hanzos were lurking about unseen. The security arrangements were overkill, but everyone insisted on participating and they were allowed to because it was good ‘practice’.

Liane wasn’t sure if such practice was necessary. They looked like they were having way too much fun doing it.

Upon entering Clara’s apartments on the third floor of her palace, their maids split up to begin their preparations. Liane looked around, but saw neither Ludmila nor Aemilia.

“Where’s Ludmila?” She asked.

“Where else?” Clara said, “Practising on the roof.”

“It’s not like she could have done anything about that,” Liane said.

“Perhaps not at that moment,” Clara replied, “but that doesn’t mean she can’t prevent it from happening again.”

After returning from the Draconic Kingdom, Ludmila became obsessed with improving her capabilities in personal combat. She practised at every opportunity outside of work and practise was a part of her work. Even Lady Shalltear started to avoid her. Whenever their liege came over to have some fun, Ludmila put on her equipment and doggedly tried to convince the Vampire to have ‘fun’ honing their combat skills.

It was particularly bad for Lady Shalltear, as she was far stronger than Ludmila. According to their friend, she couldn’t do a thing against the Beastman who had killed her. Upon encountering insurmountable challenges, most sane people would just say that it couldn’t be helped and settle for their lot in life. Ludmila, however, decided that it meant she should face insurmountable challenges at every opportunity in order to eventually overcome them all.

Though Liane knew about the Job Class System and rationally understood that Ludmila’s thinking was probably correct, she couldn’t help but react in the way that most people would.

Ludmila appeared a few minutes later, dressed in her ‘civilian’ garb and not looking at all like she had been practising nonstop for however many hours. Being Undead was cheating in countless ways.

“Anything new that I should know about?” Ludmila asked.

“Nothing that you’ll have to worry about,” Clara answered. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for longer?”

“I’m completely out of my element, here,” Ludmila replied. “I’d rather not interfere with your work. My mere existence in the vicinity might cause problems.”

“Just to be certain,” Liane said, “you don’t have any dark secrets that you’ve been keeping from us, do you?”

The Frontier Noble silently looked at Liane for a good, long moment. Did that mean she did?

“Not that I know of,” Ludmila said.

“Don’t make meaningful pauses like that!”

“It isn’t as if I do it on purpose. That’s why I shouldn’t be around for your talks.”

“You know, you’re lucky that Clara’s willing to negotiate on your behalf.”

“It’s not like I’ll perish without trade,” Ludmila said.

“And it’s thinking like that that gets you Frontier Nobles in trouble so often,” Liane replied.

Ludmila never seemed to learn. Never mind that, it was as if she regressed. She relied on trade to stimulate the development of her demesne, but, as her demesne developed, its liege grew more stubbornly independent in the way that Frontier Nobles were wont to do. That attitude, of course, extended to her land and people and Liane could only scratch her head in vexed frustration at the sight.

Clara should have been the one to advise Ludmila on her folly, but she simply smiled and went along with it, all too happy to help. Love did funny things to otherwise rational people.

Liane fiddled with her hair, trying to find something less annoying to think about. As she did, she furrowed her brow at what she saw.

“Not that I mean to sound overly vain,” she said, “but isn’t my hair super awesome these days?”

“You’re exactly right, my lady,” Rose said as she ran a brush through said hair. “I must admit I’ve grown envious.”

“What’s so different about it?” Ludmila asked.

“What isn’t?” Liane answered, “I haven’t seen a split end for months. Everything’s so smooth and shiny.”

“There was that one time we tried to curl it,” Rose noted. “Nothing changed no matter what we tried.”

“Ah, yeah. I can live with that, though. I don’t think I’m doing anything different…”

“You are.”

She and Rose looked over at Ludmila, who was leaning her hip on the couch where Clara was seated.

“I am?” Liane asked, “Or is Rose doing something?”

“I haven’t done anything, my lady.”

“It’s the items that Lady Shalltear granted you,” Ludmila said. “You have an item that confers physical damage reduction, and that naturally includes any damage to your hair. Similarly, you have another item that confers elemental resistance, and that’s what’s preventing you from curling your hair. Your skin and nails should be in excellent condition, as well.”

Was that a product opportunity? Pretty much every woman would pay out the nose for perfect hair, skin, and nails. The problem was that she didn’t know of anyone who could replicate the enchantments on the outfits that Lady Shalltear had given them. Dwarven Runecraft had something similar which they used to prevent wear and tear on equipment, but one could hardly stamp a rune on a person. Or could they?

“Wait a minute,” Liane frowned. “Didn’t you start a cosmetics line recently?”

“It’s more that Miss LeNez restarted her cosmetics line as a company under House Zahradnik’s umbrella. Oh, if you’re wondering whether we’re producing something to replicate the effect, my artificers have been looking into it. I have supernatural damage reduction, so it’s something that I noticed not long after everything happened.”

Ugh, not fair!

Ludmila’s magic item industry was incomprehensibly far ahead of everyone else’s. She didn’t expressly plan for it to be, either – she just thought it was a good idea at the time as an ‘advanced industry’. No one could hope to compete, as she had sucked up all of the free magical artisans in the Sorcerous Kingdom and a bunch from beyond their borders somehow. She had even gone so far as to lay the foundations for raising successive generations of new magic casters out of her small population, which was easily subsidised by her ridiculously huge territory.

Liane’s expression soured, and she launched into a tirade of tittering falsetto.

“Look at me, I’m the Warden of the Vale. I will be youthful and tireless for all eternity; I can eat as much as I want and never get fat. My hair and skin are always perfect and I don’t fart or poop! Unless I feel like it.”

“Did you have to include that last part?”

“Yes.”

As usual, Ludmila wouldn’t take the bait. The only way to get her mad was to make her seriously mad, and angry Ludmila wasn’t very fun.

“Speaking of magical products,” Ludmila said, “were you able to purchase any from the Draconic Kingdom, Clara?”

“No,” Clara replied. “This requisition request is quite confusing overall.”

“What requisition request?” Liane asked.

“After we got back,” Clara said, “Lady Albedo asked for samples of the Draconic Kingdom’s magical artifice. I asked what she was looking for, and she said that it was a request from His Majesty and nothing in particular was specified.”

“Magic item production is the last thing on the Draconic Kingdom’s list of priorities right now,” Liane said. “Almost all of their magic casters got eaten anyway.”

“I mentioned as much, but Lady Albedo said that His Majesty couldn’t possibly submit any frivolous requests. The Elder Liches working in the Draconic Kingdom have been instructed to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.”

“…but they always keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.”

“I know.”

The fact that the Sorcerous Kingdom considered magic ‘ordinary’ in the first place was out of the ordinary.

“Could His Majesty be investigating the special draconic magic that Queen Oriculous wields?” Ludmila asked.

“Logically speaking,” Clara said, “that doesn’t make sense and Lady Albedo agrees. As far as I know, Queen Oriculus isn’t in the habit of creating magic items. Also, if His Majesty wanted to know about that draconic magic, then why not ask her directly? It isn’t as if she would chase him away.”

“Maybe His Majesty is being cautious,” Liane said. “He could be investigating magic items in the Draconic Kingdom to dig up some clues about Queen Oriculous’ magic.”

“Don’t be silly,” Clara told her. “Those have nothing to do with her magic. His Majesty isn’t an idiot.”

Liane cringed internally as the inflexion of Clara’s voice subtly gained an undertone of reprimand. In a perfect world, the aristocratic establishment did their part in maintaining the dignity of the crown and the kingdom, but, once again, Liane sensed that there was something more to how Clara behaved in regard to the Sorcerer King.

“Then I hope that Lady Albedo doesn’t hound you over those magic items because it’s going to be a long time before you get your hands on any.”

“Lady Albedo doesn’t hound people,” Clara said. “She expects people to do what they’re supposed to.”

“Lady Shalltear mentioned something to that effect,” Ludmila said. “She also mentioned that not delivering on her expectations or surprising her in some manner that she considers unpleasant won’t end well.”

“We see each other all the time,” Clara said. “She knows exactly what to expect and I don’t plan on surprising her any time soon.”

“Is she still going to observe the negotiations?” Ludmila asked.

“She probably won’t be present for all of it, but yes. How we conduct the talks is something of a curiosity to her.”

“That’s weird.”

“It is?” Ludmila looked at her.

“Yeah,” Liane nodded. “She’s usually completely disinterested in anything we mere mortals have to offer. It’s all beneath her.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Clara said. “She occasionally vents her frustrations about her Human agents over tea.”

Liane wondered what sort of people would be idiotic enough to ‘frustrate’ the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The Nobles of E-Rantel irked her over various things once in a while, but the most she ever did was straighten them out in her classically condescending manner.

“I didn’t know she has Human agents,” Liane said. “Did you know?”

“Yes,” Ludmila replied.

“How? I don’t think you’ve even seen the Prime Minister.”

“Just because I haven’t doesn’t mean I haven’t encountered her agents.”

“Yeah? What were they doing?”

“Helping to test and update judicial and administrative procedures.”

“Booooooring.”

It was in line with the sort of thing that Lady Albedo would do, but it was still disappointing. Couldn’t she do something demonic for once? Were the horns just for show? Maybe she took them off before going to bed at night.

A half-hour before the imperial delegation was scheduled to arrive, they went down to wait at the steps of Clara’s palace. Liane’s hands kept moving as she fidgeted nervously over her appearance.

“Your ulterior motives are showing,” Clara said.

“They’re not ulterior motives,” Liane shot back. “Hell, I’d put them right up front if I thought it would help.”

“The Imperial House is first,” Clara noted.

“And I’m perfectly fine with bagging myself an imperial prince,” Liane said. “The third or fourth son of a Duke will do.”

“They wouldn’t allow even that. Especially when it means a potential pretender backed up by the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

Liane sighed.

“Just let me dream! You don’t know my pain. It isn’t often that Florine and her massive distractions aren’t around.”

“I’ll never understand how you can say things like that about your best friend,” Clara said.

“Because it’s true?” Liane replied, “And you don’t understand because you don’t understand what she’s actually like. She’s just the nice, fluffy little sister to you two, but I grew up with her. Florine is just like Ludmila.”

Everyone turned their gazes upon Ludmila. Ludmila covered her chest.

“No, she’s not,” Clara said.

“That’s not what I meant!” Liane said, “Florine was born and bred to be a weapon. Except she’s a sexual one. You know her mother is from Karnassus, right?”

“Yes…”

“Well, the old Lady Gagnier trained the current Lady Gagnier in everything that she knows. And Human women in Karnassus are every bit as carnivorous as their Demihuman buddies. She knows how to please men, women, and every Demihuman race that makes up the population of that country. It’s wild.”

“How do you even know this?” Ludmila frowned.

“Because, uh, Florine’s mother invited me for that same training. Friends are also teammates, apparently.”

“And you went?” Clara frowned alongside Ludmila.

“I was twelve!” Liane turned defensive, “I thought I was going over for cake.”

She supposed that there was cake, but it wasn’t the cake that she expected.

“In other words,” Ludmila said, “you’re lewd.”

“No! Why is that your first takeaway? What I’m saying is that whenever I bug her about it, it’s only the teensiest bit of her full, uh, ‘capabilities’.”

“I don’t believe you,” Clara said.

“Just ask Florine, then.”

“Why would I say any of that to someone as sweet as that girl?”

The game was well and truly rigged. Never mind all of the cheating that Florine was capable of, everyone gave her the benefit of the doubt by default.

An ornate carriage mounted on a Model S frame appeared at the entrance to the palace grounds, drawn by a single Soul Eater. Liane leaned forward slightly, peering past the vehicle. It didn’t seem that there were any others following it.

“The delegation from the imperial house is more than one carriage, right?”

“It should be…”

Clara seemed just as clueless as to what was going on. Their eyes followed the incoming vehicle as it took the lane around the garden's perimeter to the palace entrance. One of Clara’s footmen came forward to open the carriage door as there didn’t seem to be a single imperial footman riding or walking alongside it.

A familiar figure emerged. Clara stepped forward with a warm smile.

“Lady Frianne. Welcome to Castle Corelyn.”

“Dimoiya is here, too!”

The bespectacled woman popped out from behind Frianne.

“I gotta wonder where everyone else is,” Liane said.

Frianne lightly scratched her cheek with an embarrassed look.

“They…couldn’t make it past the border,” she said. “We had a carriage from each of the ducal houses, but even House Gushmond’s party declined to complete the journey.”

“Maybe we should have made ‘em come the slow way,” Liane muttered.

“That was crazy fast,” Dimoiya enthused. “We must have travelled three days’ worth in less than three hours!”

“It was meant to be a demonstration of what we talked about last winter,” Liane said. “I guess a demonstration isn’t a very effective one when everyone refuses to experience it.”

“I have no words to excuse the behaviour of my relatives,” Frianne lowered her head solemnly.

“Bah, it’s their loss,” Liane said.

Clara gestured for her household staff to handle their guests’ luggage. Liane eyed Frianne’s rounded belly.

“So they left a pregnant woman to her fate, huh,” Liane said.

“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” Frianne sighed. “I can only imagine what will happen when word of what happened gets out.”

“Speaking of leaving pregnant women to their fates,” Ludmila said, “where’s Lord Frosct?”

“He never came in the first place,” Frianne shrugged. “His research has always been his primary wife. I suspect he’s doing something in his laboratory right at this very moment. Either that, or he’s sleeping under his desk.”

“You never mentioned you were expecting in our correspondence,” Clara said. “How many months in are you?”

“It should be around five. Please don’t go out of your way for my sake, however – I’m still perfectly functional.”

“Can I touch?”

“Liane!”

“It’s alright,” Frianne smiled. “Dimoiya does it four or five times a day.”

With a broad grin, Liane reached out to press her palm to the imperial princess’ belly.

“Erm, how hard was it?” Liane asked.

“Hard?”

“Conceiving, I mean.”

“Oh,” Frianne said. “Not long at all. It was far more difficult getting Frosch away from his studies.”

“Are all Wizards like that?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re all like that,” Frianne replied. “I’m certainly not. I attribute that behaviour to the legacy of the former Head Court Wizard. He pursued the ‘abyss of magic’ – often to the exclusion of all else – and he encouraged that same obsession in his disciples. It’s something that has led to the alienation of mages from the rest of imperial society and I fully intend to change that.”

After some visible agonising, Clara reached out and touched Frianne’s belly, too. Then, Ludmila came forward.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Liane said.

Ludmila’s hand stopped just short of Frianne, her fingers curling slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno,” Liane said. “I thought the baby might jump out in fright or something.”

Ludmila withdrew her hand. Frianne and Dimoiya’s faces turned ashen grey. Then, Frianne started when Clara bumped Ludmila forward with her hip.

“Nothing of the sort will happen,” Clara said. “Liane, there are certain things that you shouldn’t say.”

The footmen finished unloading their guests’ baggage and the carriage rolled away. Clara led their party up the wide palace steps.

“You mentioned ‘former Head Court Wizard’,” Ludmila said. “What happened to him?”

“I’m sure you’d have at least caught wind of it,” Frianne replied. “Since before your visit to the Empire, Fluder Paradyne has been slowly fading from court life. That’s why his titles were redistributed to his disciples. He was officially retired not long ago.”

“Why did it happen?” Ludmila asked, “He has served the Baharuth Empire for its entire existence.”

“Some say that he simply grew tired of it,” Frianne answered. “As long-lived as he might be, he’s still Human. Most Human affairs are relatively short-lived, so no one would begrudge him the fact that he had an exceptional tenure.”

That was just a bit of an understatement. For someone like Fluder Paradyne, the Empire could be considered a ‘project’ and most only maintained their interest in any particular project for a few years. Liane pretty much couldn’t wait for the next new thing to go into development.

“In that case,” Ludmila said, “who is the new Head Imperial Court Mage?”

“Me,” Frianne smiled sheepishly.

“Uh, you’re a bit young to be the Head Imperial Court Mage, aren’t you?” Liane said, “You’re also missing the beard.”

“You can’t imagine how many times I’ve heard something to that tune,” the Imperial Head Court Mage rolled her eyes. “I was lucky to be appointed after I conceived or I’m sure all sorts of nastiness would have happened behind my back about women getting pregnant after getting their jobs. My cousin probably did that on purpose.”

“That sounds like an interesting story,” Clara said. “How did you end up with the position?”

“It wasn’t anything exciting, to be perfectly honest. My cousin simply couldn’t stand the other candidates.”

“Because of what you mentioned just now? Their single-minded obsession with magic?”

“That’s what turned him off from them, yes,” Frianne replied. “Fluder Paradyne’s disciples coveted the office because of the prestige that it represented to members of the arcane community. They would hold the purse strings of the Imperial Ministry of Magic and dictate its policies. My cousin never tolerated Nobles who abused their positions in a similar manner, so he wouldn’t tolerate a Head Imperial Court Mage who didn’t earn their position of privilege.

“Perhaps just as important is the fact that very few professional Wizards in the Empire care much, if at all, for statecraft. I can count the number of them on two hands and more than half of them are from my generation. Absurd as it may sound from the country famed across the region for its integration of magic into society, I was the most qualified individual for the position. No one who considers themselves a Wizard can deny it after I published that treatise. My cousin was so desperate to fill the position that he just threw up his hands and overlooked the fact that I’m a woman.”

Talk about all the pieces falling into place…

It was both a stroke of genius and a remarkable stroke of luck. Both Liane and Clara shared similar stories in the Sorcerous Kingdom, though in their respective fields of expertise.

“Does that mean imperial culture will become less heedless?” Ludmila asked.

“I am a product of that culture,” Frianne said, “so what you and I consider heedless may differ greatly. I do agree that the practical nature of imperial reforms over the generations has resulted in many important aspects of the Empire being neglected or damaged severely. The extent of my influence is limited, however – my cousin is still who he is.”

“Mmh…we can drop all that weighty stuff for now, yeah?” Liane said, “Since it’s just us, let’s have some fun while we do our thing!”

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