home

search

Chapter 340: Pieces in Place

  There were a few perks to being an honored guest in the city of Iliucin, regardless of the suspicions Tim had regarding their actual motives and actions. If he could swallow his discomfort and tension and pretend to go along blithely, simply concerned about forgoing a new alliance with the locals, he could take advantage of it. At the moment, he was enjoying access to their library.

  There were actually several libraries in the city, he understood, but the one he was in right now was the biggest and directly sponsored by the high council of Iliucin. Which didn’t mean it was open to every citizen of the city, but at least they had some volumes designed for showing off.

  While he didn’t have much time to read, he’d decided not to waste the opportunity. In particular, it provided him with a bit of privacy. And the ability to look some things up. Besides, checking out what sort of knowledge they had access to was a worthwhile goal on its own, anyway.

  If there was one thing the Hive and the Empire still lacked, it was a large collection of books. They had some, of course, and the Hive was producing new books with information you couldn’t find anywhere else in this day and age, but they simply hadn’t been around long enough to accumulate a collection of considerable size.

  Right now, he was reading up on some more specific information, though. At least he was, until some shuffling and the thump of the door interrupted him.

  “Tim?” Tirias asked, leaning in. “They’re ready now.”

  Tim nodded. He closed his book, making sure it was level and that there was no indication which page he’d been on more out of habit than because he really thought anyone would care to check, then carefully placed it back on its place in the bookshelf. Then he straightened his jacket and went to join the elf.

  They didn’t speak much as they walked through the building, conscious of the fact that others might be listening in. The library was its own structure, but not far from the main palace of the city that served as seat of its high council and also housed guests, at least for the time being. In fact, the simplest way to their destination was entering a side wing of that complex and then traversing the corridors. In the short time they’d been here, Tim had made the effort of learning his surroundings and was confident he could navigate it reasonably well, at least in broad strokes. He still didn’t know where everything was, and the itch to track all of their guards and fighters made the situation even more tense.

  He’d been wondering whether they would even allow his party to leave. How could he not? It would be a direct insult to the Empire — it wasn’t like his people didn’t know where he was, so there was no hiding it — but they might think themselves safe enough anyway. If their goal was control of the base, taking Tim hostage would provide them a lot of leverage.

  In the end, if they really tried, there might not be much he could do about it. All he could do was try to make it harder for them and offer incentives not to.

  They finally reached the other side of the building. Tim went by the rooms they’d been in to check that everything was packed and ready, checking in with a few other members of his party. With Zephyr now gone, it felt like his people were dwindling more and more, and he felt uncomfortably exposed. It was about time to get out of this city. He made sure his clothes were left behind — all gifts from the lords to ensure he had ‘appropriate attire’ during his stay, but taking it along would just slow them down. Instead, Tim quickly made his way past this wing and toward the outside.

  Unfortunately, his gathered party members weren’t alone. He didn’t allow his steps to slow, but walked right up to the group standing by the back entrance of the hall, Tirias in step and slightly behind him. There were a suspicious amount of armed soldiers present, although he supposed they were ostensibly an honor guard, and, honestly, they didn’t look that well equipped for an actual fight.

  “Lord Nerani,” he said, inclining his head slightly. “It is an honor for you to see us off personally.”

  “Yes, quite,” the human man responded, his lips pursed. “Prince Tim, we really would be delighted for you to extend your stay. Surely you’re not needed back so soon? We haven’t even discussed an alliance properly.”

  Tim shook his head lightly. “I’m afraid we do have to leave, My Lord. I have not spoken to the rest of my forces in too long as it is.”

  He put slight emphasis on the ‘rest of my forces’, and watched as Nerani’s eyes narrowed slightly. One of the officers of the guard behind him shifted, tensing slightly. No one else acted.

  “Besides, Zephyr is going to be grumpy if he doesn’t get to share his travels with Prince Tim soon,” Tirias said jokingly.

  “That too,” he agreed with a grateful smile. “And there’s the rest of the Empress’ envoy to worry about. We really do need to resume our journey.”

  Nerani sighed theatrically. “You will not stay, even if I insist?”

  “I’m afraid insistence is futile, my friend, I’m bound and determined,” Tim replied, trying to sound friendly without coming off as too humorous.

  “I see. Then I will bid you farewell, Your Highness.”

  They exchanged a few more words, polite farewells this time. None of them reacted to Tim calling him ‘friend’, even if it was clearly a rhetorical gesture. The fact that Nerani couldn’t object and maintain his facade had to irritate him. At least Tim hoped so.

  Finally, the goodbyes drew to a close and they turned and walked out. Tim felt a prickling on his neck the entire time and had to resist the impulse to turn and look back a dozen times, but nothing actually happened. Well, that was tenser than it should have been. He breathed a little easier once they had turned a few corners and moved well past the palace deeper into the city, still sticking to the main roads.

  Tim’s tension dissipated enough for him to pay more attention to the city and their walk. Their party still drew attention, but not as much as they had at first; clearly, word of their presence had spread and at least a few people had gotten used to it. It probably helped that the city did house quite a few different races, from what he could see. At least no one accosted them.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Once they passed into the outer reaches of the city, it wasn’t long until they got to the gate. Tim glanced up at it. They’d decided to take the less traveled eastern gate, which meant they’d had to turn south later, but it was worth it considering how few people were using it currently.

  “Prince Tim!” A man in the formal armor of the city’s military greeted him, walking up to them with a broad smile. Another captain stood by the gate, watching them both, then shrugged and turned back to his men, who straightened up at whatever he said to them.

  “Captain Blaird,” Tim returned with a smile. “A pleasure to see you again.”

  “All mine, Imperial Highness. Come, I’ll escort you out of the city, if you please?”

  He acquiesced easily and maneuvered so the captain escorted him out of the city through the gate while the other guards stood something resembling honor guard but kept his party in between them. Once they were on the other side, and out of easy hearing range, the man slowed, and Tim matched his pace.

  “I see your task in the city was accomplished,” Blaird said. It might have helped if he didn’t give Tim a significant look, enough to translate the sentence to what he really wanted to say.

  Tim reached into his jacket and drew out a prepared bag, pressing it into the man’s hands while angled so the rest of the guards didn’t have a clear view. “Thank you for your consideration.”

  “I am always at your service, My Prince,” he smiled and saluted before turning, the bag having vanished with astounding speed.

  At least he wasn’t stupid enough to check it out here. Tim maintained his smile and walked off with his party, unhurried and casual. The gold and minor gemstones in the bag had cost his mages a bit of mana to Conjure, but he couldn’t afford to rely on a small bribe. At least he was sure the captain wouldn’t betray their dealings; he’d be incriminating himself for a serious crime (probably treason) if he did.

  "What was that about?” Ash muttered quietly.

  Tim only shrugged, not bothering to answer the question. He was sure the others could manage to draw their own conclusions, and honestly the captain’s behavior was the least of his worries right now. Instead, he had to consider how to proceed.

  By now, the others should be gathering around the hidden base, prepared for a push. He was confident they could take it with low casualties. Their reinforcements aside, Zephyr was a powerful enough mage to be a significant factor, and he should have recovered from his travels by now. The soldiers sent as their reinforcements were also some of the best the Empire had to offer. No, they could take the base — and then hold it. Not indefinitely, perhaps, but long enough.

  At the same time, Iliucin should start to get problems with the other cities soon, if they didn’t already. Their conflict with Iliyan had already been smoldering, but Tim was sure he’d fanned it. It shouldn’t be too hard to at least talk to that city, and hopefully come to some kind of agreement, if necessary. The real question mark was Veragles. Tim was also confident there was enough existing tension between the two ostensible allies which he could leverage, but he still wasn’t entirely sure whether Veragles, or a subfaction in the city, had known or been involved in what Iliucin was doing.

  If they did, it would be more complicated; although they might still pretend they didn’t and wash their hands of it, if he applied enough pressure. He had already sown suspicion between them, he was confident of that. Getting Veragles to drop their investment should be feasible. Especially if they thought they got something from Tim in turn. If they didn’t know, of course, it was also something he could exploit, and at least make sure they wouldn’t support his enemies in the future.

  At this point, the pieces were mostly in place, but he’d have to decide how to approach it; perhaps visit the city again personally, or otherwise handle some communication …

  "Tim?” Tirias’ voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Are we going in the right direction?”

  Tim blinked and looked around. They’d made their way out of the city and went south-east, as expected. His messages had also included a rendezvous point where they could be picked up, but he hadn’t described it in detail to the rest of his party. He thought back to the maps he’d seen, then nodded. “Just over there,” he said.

  The area around here was kind of weird, to him. It wasn’t mountainous or even hilly, really, but it was marked by crags and sudden differences in elevation. It was also carpeted in a mix of rough grasses, brushland and small copses of trees. That made it hard to navigate in general, but having the city as a reference point along with the roads, as well as his innate sense of direction, helped him find the right spot. It was just behind an abandoned village that had probably been sacked and then given up during the fighting this part of the south saw so often. His group steered clear of it, but in a small dip a few hundred meters further, they found what they’d been looking for. Specifically, a group of Winged Drones.

  Two of them were sapient drones, and they greeted him and the others excitedly. Tim took a minute to catch up, noticing that he was relaxing a bit while talking to other drones he had not expected. He hadn’t spoken much with these two before, but that didn’t matter. One of them offered to give him a ride, even though Wing wasn’t really a flying mount, but they didn’t have many of those. Most of the rest of his party would have to make do with regular flying drones as well. For a short flight, it should be fine.

  Tim let them navigate, since they knew the way better than he did. He did take the opportunity to assess the landscape from above, noticing the positions of landmarks, and trying to spot the base. It was surprisingly easy, after a while, because there were still golems guarding the outside.

  “Everything worked out fine so far,” Wing reported as they flew. “Zephyr said he can take any other golems they capture and make them operational for us. We’re also ready to assault the base, if you decide to do it.”

  “Thank you, brother,” Tim murmured, absently patting his shoulder. “Take me to the other commanders, please?”

  It didn’t take long. They set down far enough away that their arrival wouldn’t be immediately obvious, then hiked the last few meters. Tim paused as he approached their current camp, his steps slowing down a bit. In part, it was because it looked rather exposed; maybe they’d run out of good hiding spots. This one was little more than a dip in the ground flanked by some scraggly bushes.

  More importantly, there was an uninvited guest waiting for them. At least, he better well hoped they hadn’t invited him. Judging by the confrontational stances of his people, it didn’t seem like it.

  Everyone turned when he and his companions arrived, and Tim narrowed his eyes, marching up to their visitor. He recognized him, of course. He’d spent enough time being his guest in Veragles.

  “Archmage Lucian,” he greeted him tightly. “How did you find us?”

  Lucian finally shifted his gaze from the others — mostly Zephyr, it looked like they’d had a lengthy staring match, actually — to face him fully and smiled. “Prince Tim, my friend. You didn’t think I keep track of my allies — or my people?” His eyes cut to Tony, who straightened up a little in the mids of Tim’s group, clearly defensive. “From there, it wasn’t too hard to find this location.”

  Tim suppressed a sigh. This wasn’t how he’d wanted to do this. He’d love to ask Tony a few pointed questions, but unfortunately, now wasn’t the time. “I assume there’s a reason you visited us personally,” he said instead, drily, refusing to be pushed.

  “Certainly, we have much to discuss.”

  Tim looked past him at the gathered officers of the various groups who’d come together for this mission, greeting them with a nod and a smile, and watching their reactions. They all seemed pleased to see him, even under the circumstances. Hopefully not because dealing with Lucian was now his problem.

  “We do indeed,” he agreed. Deliberately, he set his pack down and then lounged on one of the overturned tree stumps they’d clearly been using for seats before, staring the human down.

  At least he’d be able to answer some of his other questions now.

Recommended Popular Novels