Machiavillainess

Not for the first time, her work reminded her that it often made more sense to think of distances in terms of time. Of course, it was not simply that a certain distance could be replaced with a certain time, or even that a specific route could be replaced with a known time. A caravan could only move so fast. On the other hand, for urgent messages, a messenger could ride a horse to exhaustion, then pass on the message to another messenger with a fresh horse.

This had a queer result: she relied on the past to anticipate the future. Not only could it be that it took a month for a letter to be delivered, she then had to put together a response that could take much longer to reach its destination.

The vastness of the world could not be understated. Her county, well-developed with a focus on roads, still took many days to traverse. Yet that was a tiny journey compared to one required to reach her husband, such a journey better counted in weeks.

She knew this all very well—and not just because she had personally travelled great distances.

"Mr Schütz, my thanks for attending this meeting. This is Sir Ludwig."

The library of her home, while not quite as grand as the one in Georgsdorf, was still a sight to behold. She sat in the centre with the early spring's sunlight surrounding her. Her hand loosely gestured to the side—to the distant side—where her knight now stood from his seat.

Meanwhile, her guest stood just as far away after being shown in by her butler. Even at such a distance, though, her voice arrived at the perfect level, neither too quiet nor loud.

He gave a polite bow, one hand keeping his hat on his head as he did. "It is my honour to receive such an invitation," he said, his low voice carrying across the room. Middle-aged, his face wore a few wrinkles, some weight settled in his jowls, while of a taller height, the comfortable fit of his clothes smoothing out his appearance.

From her seat, she beckoned him over and he dutifully strode until a few steps away. "I apologise, that I have been advised to rest," she said, pausing for a silent sigh. "Recent circumstances have made it preferable for me to travel. Alas, without my husband, these efforts have taken more out of me than I expected."

"What reason has Ma'am to even explain herself? I am but a humble servant, eager to serve," he said, giving a shallow bow as he did.

Her hand came up to cover her mouth as a few chuckles of laughter left her lips. "Humble, or humbled? I jest. As marvellous as your cousin is, your talents are much preferable to my rule. Many have a grasp of numbers and many have a grasp of reality. Those who may grasp both, that is something altogether… unique."

He gave no reaction, his head still that little bowed. "Ma'am has no reason to flatter me either."

"Indeed, yet I do. I think it important that those who provide great services to the county know they are appreciated. In the past, I have relied on people for this same role, and they did admirable work. However, the scale of such work is only growing and to have found someone who may grow with it is a great boon."

"Is this why Ma'am requested a meeting?" he asked. A quieter voice.

She waved him off, her hand giving a few gentle flicks. "Pray understand that, for all we have written to one another, this is our first meeting and I would put a certain weight on that. I know you are not one for flowery words, but this is my duty as ruler. One should make peace with this as I cannot compromise. Of course, I shall be mindful and shan't needlessly bring you in for praise you have no desire to hear. Know that, if I do issue a summons, it is with purpose."

He stood rather still as she spoke, his face blank. Only after she finished and a moment passed did he reply. "Yes, Ma'am."

A single note of laughter escaped her as she adjusted her position. While she had faced him before, she now turned a little to the side, her gaze on the flowering shrub that brought some fresher colours to this otherwise dull room.

"To continue, then, I did wish to… reiterate the situation," she said, her hand gesturing along. "Certain arrangements are too sensitive to be put into letters and should be handled with an awareness of this."

After a second, he said, "Understood, Ma'am."

Her smile broadened. "At present, our focus should be on the supplies for my husband. From my most recent correspondences, there have been clashes; however, his strategy has proven dominant and so they continue to withdraw at a measured pace. We had needed to consider what to provide if his army collapsed. Since that did not happen upon these first meetings, we are looking to anticipate two situations.

"The first is if my husband takes heavy losses in the coming month or two. For that, our priority would be to immediately send firearms and such for our Bohemian allies to use. The second is if my husband is able to withdraw to the border with minimal losses. For that, we may additionally send field cannons.

"While the first situation would require urgency, the second is better served with attention to detail. My husband's position at the border should be secure enough to frustrate the Polish army for a while. Our supplies, then, are to be more than sufficient for a defence. Rather, we should provide my husband the supplies to, if he believes it favourable, bring about a decisive battle."

Her speech came out smooth, a touch slow to be better understood. For as much as she spoke, though, she did not lack breath, those natural pauses enough for her to breathe.

As for her guest, he barely even blinked through it all. "So I am to be prepared for the first while I arrange for the second, Ma'am?" he asked, quiet.

"Yes."

His lips pursed, yet eyes remained unchanged. After a breath, he asked, "What of other supplies, Ma'am?"

"In both cases, we shall also be sending some half a thousand soldiers we have been training to replace losses. There are also a hundred-odd nurses. The particulars of their provisions have been set by my husband and I will have those details for you to take with you. There are nursing supplies, bandages and such, which are also included in the notes."

He bowed his head, bringing up a hand to his chin. "Food, Ma'am?" he asked, still quiet.

"There is no need beyond that which the caravan itself needs. Grain has been stockpiled in Bohemia, and we have the capability to both mill and bake it. However, we shall be bringing oats for the army's horses, and I have made arrangements to pick up coal on the way. I fear there would be no trees left by the war's end otherwise and soldiers do rather like having warm food."

In the moment of silence which followed, his hand moved from his chin to cover his mouth, then he held his cheek, gaze further downcast.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"What does Ma'am have at her disposal? How many carts, horses, mules?" he asked, softer.

Still, she heard. "It is rather that I am asking you what you need at your disposal. Horses, although not something which may be grown in a day, are something which I may acquire. Mules are less easily acquired, so I would rather you do not plan a route which requires the kind of roads that need mules. As for carts, we have quite an amount which we already make use of, and workshops set up to produce more."

His lips silently moved before pursing once more. After a few seconds, he asked, "Ma'am mentioned picking up coal—is it that she has places along the route where some supplies could be sent ahead?"

Her hand moved in a small gesture. "Of note, we have a warehouse in Austria along the Danube. It would require a different route, yet I need not state the benefits of moving by boat, do I? Well, these locations are also included in a separate note. This note cannot be taken with you as these locations are somewhat sensitive."

He gave a small nod, then fell into a brief silence before asking, "These supplies are so valuable, Ma'am intends for the soldiers to be the guards?"

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Indeed, that is the case."

Silence followed, a different silence, thicker. He barely moved at all while she seemed to flow, always moving, yet having never moved, little sways and the natural rise and fall of steady breaths.

Eventually, he cleared his throat. "It rather seems Ma'am is already aware of all these things. I'm not sure why she would need me," he said, still in a quiet voice that didn't so much fill the room, instead more of a spill.

She heard him, though. "Have I not already said? This situation is not one which can be reached haphazardly, so of course I have had people in your position and I do not make a habit of keeping incompetent people in my employ.

"What they lack, then, is that last bit of expertise that comes from a polished talent. Of course I do not require your assistance to be able to move supplies to my husband. However, consider what situations I spoke of. If we are to send supplies urgently, then to have someone who understands precisely what that requires, it allows us to send the most supplies with as little delay. In the other situation, to have someone who knows when best to leave also means bringing the most supplies for when they are needed."

For a moment, he stood with his lips pursed, then said, "What Ma'am requires of me is not how to move the supplies, but how to do so most efficiently."

With a small smile, she turned her head enough to find his gaze. "Indeed." After that word, she turned back to look at the shrub. "I have heard good things of your work. To have had so much responsibility in such a large company, quite possibly the largest company in the empire, it is no small achievement. One cannot imagine how many boats had to be kept from going idle, never mind carts."

His hands tensed as she spoke, but relaxed by the end. He let out a long sigh before giving a reply. "It is no achievement. What I did followed from the numbers given to me, nothing more."

"Which is why, once given the wrong numbers, what followed was failure."

Her tone remained as level as it had all along, no softer nor harsher. Despite that, he took such words as chiding, a prickling anger in his veins. "Yes."

"Well, I imagine that is to be expected in companies. A den of merchants, of course each would look out for oneself first, that one only gains a sliver from the growth of the company while one's own efforts enrich one alone."

Still, her tone remain neutral. In that pause, then, she turned to him, her small smile holding a hint of something, her eyes a little narrowed. What that meant, he couldn't say.

"You need not worry of such a thing in my employ. You will be given the correct numbers; if not, then it is someone else who shall be… disciplined. I do not take kindly to dishonest behaviour. After all, if I should fire those who are honest and keep those who are dishonest—what good would such a cabinet be?"

A knot in his chest loosened at her words. That she had validated him and, perhaps as important, put into words a frustration he had long held in his work. All he wanted to do—all he had wanted to do—was his job. A job which had become ever more complicated, not because what he was supposed to do was any more difficult, but because everything became impossibly uncertain to the point he practically had to make it up, relying on instincts he couldn't even test.

"Mr Schütz, I have high hopes for you. This situation is only one part of what I, as the county, oversee. There are countless building projects, canals to be dug, roads to be laid, and there are trade agreements, horse farms, cart workshops. So many things which shall benefit from your experience and talents."

He bowed his head with a touch of shyness. "I worry Ma'am might expect too much from me," he whispered.

"I expect from each what they may provide. At the least, I know merchants shall not provide me with enough, so I would find those who may."

His lips had parted after her first sentence, only for him to be silenced by the second. After a long moment, he asked, "What does Ma'am mean by that?"

She flicked her wrist in a rather sharp gesture. "The city, that is Augstadt, relies on imports of grain. To ensure that merchants bring grain to sell, I have had to provide a certain influence on the price. While I wish prices would be lower so that less go hungry, it is the case that merchants do not merely charge for the cost of moving goods, that there must be a profit. Given how much the city needs to import, it must be a generous profit."

Although she only said that much, he heard much more. "So Ma'am wants to move goods to sell at cost or even at a loss."

"Indeed," she said, her lips curled in a smile as she still looked at the shrub. "For example, I have tools and oxen to assist in farming. Few peasants are willing to buy them even without a merchant making a profit."

"Which makes it all the more important to build the correct canals and roads so that the cost to deliver is reduced," he said, then brought up his hand to his chin again.

A gentle chuckle fell from her lips, hand over her mouth. "Perhaps I should expect even more from you." After a slight pause, she added, "That is but a joke. Rather, this insight is exactly what I expected. I have much capital at my disposal; however, it is by reducing these… frictions that I may make even better use of it. It is these frictions which you are most familiar with. What you are unfamiliar with, if I may be so candid, is the extent to which these frictions may be influenced."

He let out a long breath. "Can Ma'am give an example?" he asked.

"Yes. Once you have viewed those notes which cannot be taken away, a carriage shall be arranged for you. I believe that, after seeing the library, you will understand what I am capable of."

It was not a question. "Yes, Ma'am."

So the meeting was wrapped up, her butler to handle those matters afterwards, which left her alone in the library with her knight. He had stood far off to the side the entire time, yet sound travelled well in the room. In the silence—a thick silence, the once-empty bookshelves now a quarter-filled with books, which soaked up the ambient sounds—he walked over to her.

"Not that I am doubting Ma'am, but I wonder if it was necessary to meet with him. He is only a commoner, after all," he said, his tone a touch light.

Although she smiled, it didn't reach her eyes. "Sir knows well the power of cannons. However, without gunpowder, without shot, they are merely decoration. They are not horses which carry themselves and may be fed from local farms. There is a reason few have adopted even firearms as thoroughly as I, which is that they are… incapable."

Pausing there, she closed her eyes and tilted back her head. The gentle sunlight fell over her face.

"Whether commoner or not, all that matters is that his efforts will help my husband win this war. Of course such a man deserves to meet his ruler. Of course I would wish to inspire such a man."

Her knight bowed his head, mouth thin. "When Ma'am puts it so clearly, I feel foolish for asking," he said.

She tittered with a hand over her mouth, then let it fall back down to her lap. "I am glad sir still wishes to learn at his age. Many become… stubborn. Still, I would encourage sir to be more accepting of commoners," she said.

He frowned. "What does Ma'am mean by that?" he asked.

"I require people of skill and talent and the nobility simply cannot supply enough of them. While I have made do for now, my husband has expressed a need for more officers and such, and there is the mayor's office and bank, and yet more projects which cannot begin until suitable workers are found."

He went to speak, only to stop himself, stuck with a frown for a handful of seconds. "Does that not mean this is the natural size of those things? To bring in more and more commoners, I fear it is inviting a rot."

"God did not build any of this, so to say there is a natural size is nonsense," she said, her level tone taking the sting out of her words. "Inviting rot, no. It is instead natural that, as something grows bigger, it has more points where rot can manifest and spread unnoticed. The answer to such is to be more diligent in checking for rot."

Slowly, she reached up high, her eyes flickering open as her hand cast a shadow over her face.

"My ambitions shan't be constrained by anyone but myself."