Marcus rode back into Redwater with Vess at his side, Xathar huffing at the guards and the unremarkable horse Vess was riding. None of the guards noticed his horse's demonic nature, or at the very least they didn't say anything. Demons were far from a common sight, but neither was there a law against having them.
There were plenty of laws about their behavior once summoned, but few about the act of summoning itself. There simply weren't that many people capable of it for it to be abused. Marcus aimed to change that.
"The Moderates are already here," Vess noted, nodding towards a pair of men. Both wore livery different from the city watch, the blooming flower of House Rose stamped on their chest plates. "Duke Hargraf got here quickly."
"Him and all his supporters, no doubt. That'll be fun to deal with."
She smirked, tone turning sarcastic. "Just remind them you are very much capable of riding to their castle and burning it all to ash."
"And if I act on such impulses there'll be a civil war before the week's end. I'll have to limit myself to vague threats and intimidating magical displays."
Vess gave a soft hum. "But you could, and I never said anything about being direct."
Marcus shrugged, giving Xathar directions as they travelled. Redwater was a big city, he'd known that since he was a child, but it still hit him at times. Almost half a million people called it home, from the poor and destitute to craftsmen to the rich and wealthy.
And in its rough center, on the somewhat steep hill, stood the castle. The place where he'd been born, grown up and did most of his experimentation. It could house dozens of visiting nobles, including their retinue, the guest wings seemed to stretch on forever and four hundred Royal Guards protected it from the outside world.
But not on the bridge leading to it. Not the first half. That honor went to the city watch, except there weren't any of them to be found. Instead more soldiers from house Rose stood guard there, almost two dozen of them. Double the usual amount.
"Halt!" one of them barked, hand falling to his sword. "The castle is closed for the day. Turn around and leave."
Marcus did not, in fact, leave. Nor did he slow at all, Xathar continuing his walk closer towards the closed gate. The other soldiers, mostly content to watch until now, sprung to attention. Weapons were grabbed, he was pretty sure he saw a few crossbowmen peek over the wall's edge, and Marcus continued walking anyway.
"One warning, citizen. The castle is closed."
Well, Marcus supposed he wasn't well known. Nor was he wearing royal colors, though the armor at least marked him as low nobility. He gave the guard a mild look. "This post is supposed to be held by the city watch, soldier. Now, while I don't quite all understand the subtleties of what's going on here, you belong to House Rose. A House which leads the Moderates, which are in political opposition to myself and my father. For the slow among you, I mean the King. So open that gate and hope your Duke has a very good reason for putting his men here."
None of the guards moved to obey, which was fair enough. They didn't know him, didn't know his face and he had not provided proof of anything he'd just said. If they'd crumbled at such bluster they would have been very poor guards indeed.
Marcus sighed, pulling up the chain on his neck. Vess had warned him to keep it close, though he hated wearing his Royal Signet. The guard stiffened as he held it out, their officer taking a step closer to inspect it.
"Ignorant slaves," Xathar grumbled, breathing a great plume of steam into the air. "We would have you flogged for disobeying your liege back home. Humans. So soft."
The officer jumped back when the horse spoke, Marcus grunting. "Ignore him. He won't attack unless I order it or you do something particularly foolish."
The man inspected the signet properly, his face slowly losing color as he did. The man barked at them to open the gate, clearly deciding this was way above his station. Smart of him.
Marcus continued on, finding Royal Guards exactly where they should be soon after. Good. If those had been replaced as well he would have had to resort to rather drastic measures. The squad snapped to attention, their sergeant stepping closer as Marcus beckoned the woman.
"Get two squads to replace the House Rose soldiers. If they resist, push. If they draw steel, kill them."
The guard saluted. "Yes, my Prince."
Ah, captain Yonas had told his soldiers about the new arrangement. Excellent. The man might not like him much, but he was competent.
Marcus dismounted, moving further into the castle. Vess still trailing behind him, though her riding dress had since been replaced with a set of armor. Armor and a long axe. She wouldn't need it, not with the Royal Guard here, but it did give him a certain presence.
Now, where to go? If Duke Hargraf was here, and the presence of his soldiers certainly hinted at it, the man would be here to talk to his father. And the King only entertained his political rivals in the throne room, so Marcus adjusted his course accordingly.
Yet more Royal Guards were stationed outside of it, alongside half a dozen House Rose soldiers. Those didn't even try to block his path, the Royal Guard opening the large doors wide at his approach.
The court was absent. Just as well. It meant he could act a little more freely. Yet inside the courtroom there were yet more House Rose soldiers - even in number to the Royal Guard. The Duke had even brought four mages with him, all arranged to stand before the throne.
Duke Hargraf half turned, eyebrow raising as Marcus walked inside. Marcus ignored the Duke, nodding to his father and noting the absence of Helios. He kept walking until the Duke had to move, which the man did with slightly narrowed eyes.
The Moderates were a powerful political force in the kingdom, but this was Redwater. The Duke was in the throne room. The man would bow, or the man would hang.
"Hail, Father," Marcus said, bowing lightly. Best to keep up the fiction that the royal family was unified. "I see the Duke has arrived, and with so many soldiers. I do hope the journey to Redwater was a safe one."
"Hail, my son. The Duke is always encouraged to ensure his own safety. He and I were just discussing the missive sent to him, and the ramifications it entails."
"Just so, my Prince," Duke Hargraf replied, smiling that perfect non-smile. "It is always an honor to visit Redwater, especially to prepare for a Royal wedding. Me and mine are at your disposal."
"And how proactive you have been, my steadfast Duke. An error must have occurred within the city to leave the outer bridgegate unmanned, an oversight you wasted no time in correcting. Rest assured we shall not burden your men a moment more than necessary. I have already dispatched the Royal Guard to take over the duty."
The King leaned forward, fixing the Duke with a cold stare that saw the man bow. "The Prince is as insightful as he is skilled, my King. It is as he says. Forgive any impertinence on my part. I wished only to ensure the castle remained secure."
"How dutiful of you, Duke Hargraf," the King rumbled. "Should an issue such as this occur in the future, however, do inform one of the guards. Or do you doubt our ability to secure the capital?"
The Duke sounded actually indignant as he spoke, which was a nice touch. "Of course not, my King. Everyone in the kingdom knows of your iron will, and the Prince himself is growing more worthy of your legacy by the day."
Marcus let the back-handed compliment slide, just this once. But a response had to be made, and honestly he was running out of ways to insult the Duke that didn't end up in a civil war. So instead of talking he flared his defenses, four spell matrices blazing to life.
The mages the Duke had brought snapped around to look, one stepping closer to the man himself and whispering in his ear. Hargraf narrowed his eyes, the calculating look vanishing behind his regular mask of geniality after a moment.
"I shall let the Prince speak with his father in peace," the man said, bowing first towards the King before nodding to Marcus. "A good day to you both."
"And to you, Duke Hargraf."
The Duke and his men left when the King nodded, the mages shooting him speculative looks all the while. Marcus ignored them, waving to the Royal Guards when the Duke was gone. "Leave us."
The throne room emptied, only the King, Vess and himself occupying the space before long. The King looked at the succubus curiously. "I wasn't aware my son had acquired another guard."
"That's Vess," Marcus introduced. "Father, Vess. I have a long-term contract with her. Vess, my Father the King."
"Ah, the succubus. A pleasure to meet you, my dear."
Vess bowed smoothly, helmet vanishing to give the King a winning smile. "And you, your Grace. It is an honor to meet the monarch of the only independent Kingdom left on the Abliosian continent."
"If I didn't know better I would be concerned about your presence in my son's life," the King said. Marcus was mostly content to let them get acquainted, inspecting the throne room. His throne room, soon enough. Vess would probably have some good advice on how to make it his own. "But I suspect that for all my faults, I did not raise a debauched heir."
"To my everlasting chagrin, your grace, you did not."
The King smiled, Marcus sighing. "Yes, Vess is charming. It's literally her thing. Can we talk about the Duke making a play here? I don't want to start a war by accident, but if he keeps pushing like this I'll have to respond in kind. It would turn into a whole thing."
"A question first, my son. Why did the mages startle? I assume you performed some invisible magical feat, but they seemed almost concerned."
Marcus shrugged. "Oh, that. I flared up the standard defence package. Learned it in the cube. It's a four-matrix spell combination that creates a very robust protective shell."
"Four? Simultaneously?"
Marcus enjoyed the somewhat surprised tone more than he probably should have. "Indeed. Of the mages I recruited during my travels, only Gretched and Kleph are capable of three. Both are among the most skilled in the Kingdom. It doesn't imply intelligence, not really, but it does directly translate to how much power a mage can employ at once."
"And what would the difference be, exactly?"
"The short version? With one matrix you can attack or defend. With two you can do both, but only that. Three allows you to add mobility, and with four it allows you to strengthen one of the other aspects. Or to summon a creature mid-fight, but you get the point."
"Why not use all four to attack?"
Shrugging, and seeing his Father was honestly curious, Marcus sighed. "You know this already."
"I do, but the Court Mages are only capable of two. There is much speculation and wishful daydreaming, but none have actually managed it."
"Fine, fine. You can use a matrix for whatever you want, but being able to create four matrices doesn't mean you can use them effectively. Using four different spells to attack with would mean the mage is left vulnerable, but worse it's hard to focus on and direct four attacks at once. It helps when they are aligned, or even identical, but the mind can only be so inventive."
"And thus using a matrix for different disciplines of combat. I do not see why this would scare the Duke's mages."
"Well, you can combine spells. Of a sort. It's the same principle of siege-magic, really. If I create four orbs of arcane fire, and manage to not kill myself combining them, the resulting explosion would be rather extreme."
"How extreme?"
"Wipe out a small town extreme," Marcus admitted. "Maybe bring down a medium sized-castle. Directly, I mean, not through a wildfire. The power is multiplicative, which also means it drains you dry like nothing else. Again, this has nothing to do with the Duke and his political manoeuvring."
The King shifted. "Mages are so strong? I was led to believe only Archmages commanded that sort of power."
"One mage counters another, though defending against an attack is usually harder than actually creating the attack in the first place. Archmages rarely find themselves fighting another Archmage. Considering I'm the only fourth-matrix mage in the Kingdom, let's not worry about it for now. The Duke, please."
"Hargraf wants more trade with the Empire, the Isolationists want to permanently close the border, the Loyalists will support you regardless but generally want to expand away from the capital. All of them will want to pressure you into passing decrees which aid their cause, some more insistently than others."
Well, that was a start. Marcus hummed, seeing Vess was inspecting herself using one of the armor stands. "And how would you advise me to deal with that?"
"My advice?" the King asked, leaning back. His face settled into a cold mask. "My advice is that they owe you their fealty, and you hold more personal power than any in our family have for a dozen generations. Try to reason with them, try to appease them, but if they won't bend, ensure that they break."
REPLACE WITH LINE BREAK p^o^q REPLACE WITH LINE BREAK
Marcus looked on as the main road of Redwater spread before him, the seemingly endless wagon train stretching back all the way to outside the city. They were fairly close to the gate, but even so there must have been at least fifty of the things. Thousands of people.
The Barons did enjoy their spectacles. The kid poked his side, Marcus looking at the little girl concentrating so very fiercely on her hands. He smiled at her.
"Keep them steady," Marcus murmured, commander Mirre turning to look at him. His smile turned into a grimace. "Just like that. No, more to the side. There. Good job, kid."
The orphan beamed up at him, Marcus ruffling her hair as she went off to show her friends the stacked blocks. The simple telekinesis spell, designed as a teaching aid for young children, destabilized as she did. He half smiled at her scowl, turning back to more important matters.
The Barons.
"The city watch answers to the Crown, commander. I want no more confusion about the chain of command."
Mirre nodded tightly, eyes raking over her men. Nearly four hundred of them were keeping control over the crowd, the Baron's train of wagons throwing food and more to the people. One even offered free beer to some lucky few, though thankfully there wasn't enough for anyone to get drunk.
It really was always a spectacle with the Barons. Political maneuvering, vying for favor and displays to prove they didn't need the Empire. How they didn't need trade or foreigners. Which they did—of course they did—but it was human nature to favor immediate gratification over long-term strategy.
He would be praising the Barons too, had he been a beggar eating fresh bread for the first time in a year.
That was an issue that needed to be fixed, one that he hoped his magical academy would help with, but that was for later. For now he had to deal with rich, somewhat divided Barons aiming to strangle the trade that kept the Kingdom moving forward.
Ah, there they were. In the third wagon from the front, seven of them. Always seven. There was technically supposed to be a Duke overseeing them, but his Father had given up years ago on trying to install one with enough power to govern them.
A royally appointed position was one thing, it was quite another when those you were supposed to govern held more actual power than any fresh Duke could. Another concession to keep the Kingdom stable.
The seven Barons exited their wagon, four women and three men. All finely dressed, all followed by their own guards. Marcus put a smile on his face, nodding as the seven lined up before him.
They bowed, though not quite as low as etiquette dictated. The central Baron spoke, the woman sounding positively bored as she did. "My Prince. We are honored to be in your care."
"And I am honored to provide it," he replied, scanning their faces. Three new ones since he'd last seen them, though back then he hadn't been paying much attention. It must have been almost four years now? "Your gift to the people is welcomed with open arms."
The woman smiled lifelessly. "It is good to remind them we have all we could need. Is your Father ill, Prince? It is customary for the ruling monarch to greet a delegation of our size."
"It is, yes. Please do enjoy your visit, all of you. The bay will turn soon, which is always a wonderful sight alongside the festival, and the Princess will arrive within the fortnight."
The Baron bowed lightly. "I shall anticipate her arrival, my Prince, though I question the need for a foreign bride. Nonetheless, I am sure we will speak more about this later. Honor and health."
Marcus watched the group leave, wondering what the Hells 'honor and health' was supposed to mean. He turned to the commander when they were gone, making sure to keep his tone low regardless.
"I want theirs and the Duke's soldiers watched. They don't go anywhere without you knowing about it, and I trust you to come to me should they act suitably suspicious."
"Of course."
The whole affair lasted another hour before he could slip away, greeting lesser nobles and smiling at subtle and unsubtle politics both. It was a long, long hour, but at the end of it he'd gotten a good overview of the political situation. A first hand overview, as his father would say.
Duke Hargraf and the Barons. Those were the most important ones to keep an eye on. Helios could counter Hargraf to a point, but Marcus didn't see any real way to unite them all. To turn them from political rivals to staunch allies.
Displaying overwhelming firepower might cow them, sure, but it wouldn't install loyalty. He sighed, resolving to think more on it later. Hopefully the Princess and her army, or what would be left of it after braving the sea, could help him shore up his military power.
"Ah, my Prince," Helios said, Marcus turning to face his father's childhood friend. He'd since entered the castle proper, his feet taking him back to his room automatically. The man walked up with a wide smile and tense shoulders. "There is an issue that needs your urgent attention."
"Of course there is. One second."
The Duke took a step back as Vess stepped through the portal, Marcus knowing her summoning seal so very well it was almost invisible. She hummed. "You need something."
"That I do. I'd like you to go into the city and surrounding area to find students for my academy. The clever, motivated kind. I don't care so much about their current level of education, though it would help if we got at least some literate students. I need a good first few classes, so your people-reading skills will be invaluable."
"My interpersonal perception ability, you mean. How many?"
"That, yes. Forty or so? With the druids Kleph is gathering and the soldiers sent by the commander, we'll end up with about a hundred students. That should make for a good start."
"I'll see what I can do."
Vess strode away, Marcus feeling glad he'd already introduced her to the Royal Guard. Having her come and go as needed was quite convenient. She must also be quite bored if he didn't even get a sarcastic eyebrow raise for sending her to run errands.
Well, it was to his fortune. He turned back to Helios, who started walking. "So what's the issue?"
"There is a group of Lords who feel quite strongly about your marriage to foreign nobility. Strongly enough to do something foolish. Specifically, they put forth a formal petition to the King to have it cancelled. They, naturally, proposed alternatives."
"Of course they did. Why is this urgent, exactly?"
"Because the King had the Royal Guard detain them pending your judgement. In his words, 'If you feel so strongly about my son's future, he shall decide yours.'."
"The Barons?"
"Not them," Helios replied. "At least we don't think so. Too clumsy, not the right people. I don't doubt they are watching, however, and neither do I doubt they knew exactly what the Lords were planning."
Marcus grunted, tone turning somewhat sharp. "Wonderful. See, this is the kind of thing that made me want to run away in the first place."
"And then me and the King did something stupid and drastic," Helios finished, waving him onwards towards a door. "They're in there."
"Not even an apology?"
The Duke sighed. "What good would it do? I've apologized, but it is hard to feel guilty when it turned out almost exactly like we hoped. I've sworn not to manipulate you again and I shall stand by my word. My actions will have to speak for me, alongside the fact that a greater rift between us will cripple the kingdom. If you can't trust in me, trust in that."
Well, that was annoying. Hating the Duke was a lot harder if the man refused to stop being so damned admirable. Marcus walked towards the room instead of answering, the two Royal Guard flanking the door opening it as he did.
Inside was, as Helios had said, a collection of Lords. Lesser nobility, those who each answered to a Baron. The fact there were eleven of them was somewhat alarming, though not as much the fact all of them looked positively drunk.
Marcus spotted eight empty wine bottles on the table, the kind he only drank once watered down. He felt what patience he had left evaporate, calling for the two guards outside. The group barely stirred.
"My Prince?"
"Who put them in a room with wine?" Marcus asked, gesturing to the Lords. The pair looked at each other, turning back to him with expressionless shrugs. "Great. Wonderful. Stay here and punch them if they act rashly."
He could almost read the question off their faces, the question as to why the Lords would act rashly, until Marcus weaved a simple elemental spell matrix. One that proceeded to spray the Lords with ice-cold water. The group spluttered and finally noticed someone had entered, and Marcus belatedly realized they must have been waiting here a while.
"Line up," Marcus barked, tone brokering no disobedience. The group scrambled, forming themselves into what could generously be called a line. One of them moved to talk, Marcus cutting the man off. "No speaking, only listening. First, none of you have any say in my future. None. Secondly, when you fuck up and annoy the King, who then puts you in time-out like the children you apparently are, you do not get drunk."
"We onl-"
"No speaking," Marcus snapped, waving a hand. The summoning seal imprinted itself into the air, hundreds of demonic hornets streaming out. He'd spent so long helping Nora with it he knew it almost as well as Vess' seal. "Let me put this in a way you can understand."
The hornets kept coming, hundreds and hundreds until they turned into thousands. Two thousand, to be exact, and demonic hornets did what they always did when their numbers got to that point.
They merged.
Marcus watched their horrified faces as the Hornet Lord assembled itself, the demons bonding together into a vaguely humanoid shape. It's not-quite skin stretched into a mouth, promptly turning to Marcus.
"We wish to build a nets," it said, voice sounding like the beating of wings. "A nest. We wish to build a nest."
"Maybe later."
He turned to the Lords, some of whom were looking particularly green. Marcus scanned their faces, the Hornet Lord taking an experimental step forward. Its contract was simple, and they actually ranked surprisingly lowly for all their potential danger. Domination was doable, if exhausting.
"W-We understand, my Prince," one of them said, eyes flickering to and from the demon. The man bowed low. "Please, forgive us."
Marcus didn't smile as the whole group mimicked the man. "Forgiveness? No. But I will let you off with a warning. Next time, be smarter."