Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

EXP, skill points, and some recurring income, so that I can buy more materials and we can invent more stuff!”

“Huh.” Suri gripped my arm as the elevator—and our stomachs—lifted sharply. “Always wondered how crafters levelled without much or any combat. Selling new inventions… makes sense.”

“That’s the mana economy for you.” Rin wagged her head happily. “Invent, patent, license, then reap the royalties. Rinse and repeat until you’re rich!”

At the top floor of the tower, the sound of arguing drifted to our ears from behind the fine double doors leading into the War Room. Simeon knocked, waited until the voices stopped, and then ushered us inside.

Ignas stood at the end of a great mahogany table, his hands planted down on a pile of notes and maps. There were four others gathered around, but I recognized only two: Ebisa, his bodyguard and unofficial assassin, was seated to Ignas’ left. My fellow Voivode, Janos Lanz of Czongrad, was standing to his right. Ebisa wiggled her long fingers at us, the other arm folded over her thin, flat chest. Count Lanz flashed us a look of borderline disgust, like someone had just farted under the table and he’d caught a whiff.

“Voivode, Voivodzina. Karalti.” Ignas came around the table, shook my hand, and drew me into a brief hug. Suri got a firm soldier’s handshake. Karalti smiled and extended her fingers to him. He took them gently, and briefly pressed his forehead to the back of her knuckles before turning to Rin. “And Journeyman Rin Lu: A pleasure to see you again, as always.”

“Th-thank you.” Rin stammered as he politely kissed the back of her hand and guided her to a seat.

When Rin was situated, Ignas turned back. He regarded Nethres with cool interest. “And who is this?”

“Nethres. She’s a partisan with the Kingsmen,” I said. “Ilian resistance. She claims she has useful information for the war effort.”

“I see. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Nethres, but I must ask you to wait downstairs while we discuss matters of national security. I will, however, grant you a private audience after we are done.” Ignas was polite, but crisp: Nethres clearly didn’t have any Renown in Vlachia to lean on. “Simeon, please take her to the reading room and make sure she is comfortable. We may be here for some time.”

“Of course, your Majesty.” Simeon bowed, then looked to Nethres. “Please, my lady: follow me.”

“Sure.” Nethres shrugged, and obediently followed him back out into the hall.

“Did you check her background before bringing her here?” Ignas asked me.

“No. I figured you’d want to do that yourself, Your Majesty,” I said. “She’s someone I’ve known for a while. I met Nethres back in the first round of Trials for entry to the Order of St. Grigori. She didn’t pass, but she fought honorably and did not deceive us to gain any advantage. I don’t have any reason to think she’s lying about being a part of the Resistance. We know for a fact that she has every excuse to hate Hyland and Hart.”

“Very well. I will have Ebisa and Rutha look into her,” Ignas said. “Until then, she shall remain a closely supervised guest at the castle.”

Suri chuffed. “You mean a prisoner.”

“The gentlest form of house arrest, more like it. If she is a member of the Kingsmen, Rutha will vouch for her.” Ignas regarded her with calm, hard eyes. “We cannot be too cautious. Any leak of intelligence could jeopardize our counter-invasion.”

“Understood, sir.” I momentarily had the urge to salute, but squashed the feeling down.

“Anyway, thank you all for promptly replying to my summons.” He moved back to his place at the head of the table. “This is Count Kopecs, one of the commanders in the Black Army, and Admiral Hartz, the commander of the 2nd Fleet. Voivode Lanz of Czongrad is also a Black Army officer and currently serves as my principal military advisor.”

Suri and I inclined our heads to all three of them. Lanz’s return bow was barely a fraction of a nod.

“The 2nd Company returned yesterday, just in time to integrate back into the reserve.” Ignas gestured to the empty chairs. “Please, take your seats. There is much to discuss.”

I studied the centerpiece of the table as I plopped down. One look told me exactly why he was so concerned. Last time we’d been briefed about a mass combat situation in this room, the great table had displayed a diorama of Myszno. Now, it displayed one of Central and Eastern Revala. They’d marked cities and major towns with game pieces, while army positions and controlled settlements were pinned with paper flags of the appropriate color. There were a lot of dark blue and gold flags in the west. They stretched from the Ilian border and formed a salient about two-thirds of the way to Revala’s capital city, Lovi. Blue and gold were the colors of the Ilian Empire.

“Baldr’s already made it that far?” Suri exclaimed in disbelief, moving to her seat. She didn’t sit, leaning on the table to survey the battlefield. “In a month?”

“Yes. Between Revala’s excellent system of roads and the dragons and airships at his command, Hyland’s forces are already preparing for a push toward Queen Aslan’s capital,” Ignas said heavily, shaking his head. “We cannot let him advance a single step closer to Lovi, and not only because Revala is close to our own borders. In addition to being one of the breadbaskets of Artana, the region around the capital is also a key site for bluecrystal mining.”

Karalti began to fidget with a pair of spare toothpick flags. “Ooh. That’s not good.”

“It really isn’t.” My mind began to tick over as I stared at the crowd of Ilian flags on the map. “My question is, how did all these positions get taken? What is Ororgael’s goal? What are his tactics?”

“Those are three separate questions,”