The Undying Emperor [Grand Conquest Fantasy]

Lucius was welcomed like a king to his settlement in the south. Though it had been funded charitably by the king's treasury, it was no mere orphanage for the forgotten victims of war. Workmen hired by the Wavefront Corporation had been hard at work transforming the neglected plot of land into a utilitarian complex. It had little by way of beauty, but that was only because of its newness. The ground was flattened mud and the walls unpainted mud and timber, yet children did play.

The incoming wave of soldiers had only begun when Lucius arrived, but already travelling merchants had come from Rackvidd and the Solhart estate. Goods and coins flowed like ale in a tavern, bringing to Scholar's Fort–for that was the name already stuck to it–the many little things that transform a building into a home. To the dismay of the women in the caravan, very little of those amenities had made their way to the small manor prepared for them. The very first thing Aisha and Lupa set about doing was to scour the settlement for anyone willing to sell additional sets of bedding for the great troupe of allies Lucius had brought down from Forum. Kajsa offered her assistance, though she was primarily interested in determining what alchemical reagents were available and to her dismay only medicinal goods could be found.

Leomund had the task of squaring away the prisoners and to Lucius fell the difficult task of bringing Felicia around to the reality of the situation. With Rackvidd so near, one wrong word might send her fleeing for the illusion of safety among the people supposedly loyal to her. Without having seen the port city herself, there was the possibility that it wasn't half so riotous as the capital(1). Scholar's Fort was the first place of respite they could feel safe however. Lucius knew that he had at least that evening to convince her to stay.

They met in a room intended to be a study, but barren of any proper furnishings. Bookshelves were empty and the writing desk had no supplies. The chairs didn't even have cushions yet and the odor of sawdust still pervaded the air. The only items in the room were a carafe of water beside a platter of food, and the selection of food showed the peculiar taste of a wastelander(2).

"I think it's time we talked," Lucius said, cautiously taking a seat in the room with her.

"Are you going to tell me who you really are?" she asked, making it clear that at some point during their travels she had gotten her hands upon a knife and kept it hidden within the billowing folds of her dress.

"The only one most likely to keep you alive."

She set her goblet of wine down. Evidently, she wasn't afraid of being poisoned. "I suppose we can speak candidly?"

He made a show of looking around the barren room. "If there are spies here, there is no one of consequence they can report to."

"You assume the king is as good as deposed."

"He is."

"By a bunch of lowborn rabble?"

"By Austin Feugard: the most powerful man in the kingdom to have not been in attendance at the coup. Curious how there was no suspicion on him for his absence. Some even saw him in the capital."

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth worked through half a dozen questions before she sat forward in her chair. "Are you his collaborator?"

"Not directly. Not even my closest allies have worked with him. We simply have parallel aims."

"And those are? If you're fighting for the throne, isn't he a problem?"

He smiled, but she didn't guess the extent of our aims. "There won't be a throne. If I had to wager, I'd guess there would be something like a round table whose only distinction among men is the order they get served. Political power is not the current aim. Deposing the king will change nothing about the realities of Vassermark. There's a food shortage. People have been displaced into cities and they drain the granaries. The Misty Isles have proven productive, but Giordana is a waste. They are a mining people. These little communities in the mountains you've seen? They are the exception, not the rule. By annexing the southern kingdom, we have taken on a duty of food in exchange for their metals and, had the former king lived longer, ley. Given twenty years, even if there isn't catastrophic war with Skaldheim–"

"For a man who travels with a northern berserker, I never took you for fearful of the north."

"It's not the jarls I'm afraid of, it's the legions of troll hunters who grow tired of cold winters and dark nights. It's the strength of Vassermark that keeps war at bay. If we collapse, they will sweep upon us like a storm. Vassermark is already a kingdom in decay and has been for centuries. Did you ever look at the old maps in the library at Forum?"

She shrugged. "I happened upon them a few times when I visited Aisha."

"They're big, aren't they?"

"I didn't see the point in mapping lands inhabited only by monsters."

He leaned forward with a grin. "They used to be inhabited by men. There used to be twice as many great kingdoms, and uncountable more lesser kingdoms. The monsters of the dark gnawed at our edges. A loss of a road here. A fire there. Civilization had to contract on itself and leave behind the survivors. We don't even know if they still live. If they live, they might be as savage as the wastelanders of the sunless desert."

Her nose wrinkled. "Are you trying to manipulate me?" she asked. "Or do you still call Lupa a savage even when you love her?"

The words knocked Lucius off balance. To explain the nature of the wastelanders was an immense project, rife with a thousand questions he didn't have the time to explain, not without losing her. "They can change. Lupa is… you've only ever seen her composed."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Felicia laughed. "Composed? I watched her threaten to cut out Rey Montisferro's eye and eat it in front of her!"

Lucius' face colored. "Keeping prisoners is a difficult matter."

Thankfully, she held her tongue about Theo Montem. The girl rightfully suspected that she would have been killed alongside Lucius had the knight had his way. "That was wrong of me. I'd apologize to her if she were here. Call it a woman's indignation."

Lucius cleared his throat. "Mountains have formed natural barriers and the greater disasters, like those Acheliah tasked me with, have been kept at bay for centuries now. The population is too great to be supported by this stretch of land we call the world. The borders must be expanded. That is what I aim to do. No matter how this revolution ends, I mean to be the only choice to lead the armies of Vassermark."

"And if it's put down? If the king has every revolutionary hanged? You're a lowborn liar. You are not Lucius von Solhart!"

"No, I'm not. But it's a good thing I was the personal servant of Fredericka vi Ashe. I saved her life once. That has to be good for something, to have a favor with the queen herself."

He grinned as shock robbed Felicia of speech. "You two-faced bastard!" she erupted, leaping to her face.

Lucius couldn't help but laugh as she fumed at him. "Felicia, please… before we met at the capital, when was the last time you had met the true Lucius? It was when you were children, no? And he left no true impression upon you."

She crossed her arms and sulked. "That's not fair. I only told you that because I thought you had changed."

"I want you to realize this has not been some back and forth. I have not been interspersed with the real, no. With the original Lucius. You've known me for years now. You thought war had changed me, but I was simply someone else. I fought for your honor because I wanted to. To see you insulted by a whelp of a prince galled me."

"Gabriel has changed."

"By force," he conceded. "At the time, however, he was a fool. Think of me as a stray knight, one who rose up through the ranks because of dire circumstances. You may not believe me, but your father knew I was an imposter from the very day I stopped the siege of Rackvidd. He vouched for me nonetheless. I have been his ally since then, and by extension I have been your ally."

Shock turned to rage as her hands balled to fists and she stomped toward him. "Then why did you let him die?"

Lucius had no need of his actor skills. His loss of mirth was entirely real as he dropped his gaze. "Felicia, there was nothing I could have done. More to the point, his request of me was to keep you safe, and I have."

He had no way of knowing what Lord Raymi had told his daughter over the years. Lucius could only gamble on a father's love for his only child, but it was a gamble that paid off. "And just what did you do to fool my father?" she asked, retreating to her seat.

"Nothing at all," he said. "In fact, we never talked quite honestly with one another. It was an alliance of interests. Your father was aware of the growing discontent. I was his insurance policy to protect you and I mean to keep my word. Felicia vi Raymi, even if you hate me for lying to you, I will do all that I can to protect you as I will protect Aisha, Lupa, and Kajsa from this war."

"You've lied for years and now you expect me to believe you're not lying now?"

He sighed. "Felicia, if I didn't trust you, would I have let you anywhere near my son?"

"You mean your bastard?"

"We're married, actually. Aisha and I. I'd have married Lupa too, but she refused the idea of Golden officiating."

That caught her off guard. "The drunk priest?"

"Former angel, actually. You weren't there when Acheliah met him, or you'd believe me."

Emotions continuing to jerk back and forth, her disdain became open mouthed shock. "There is no such thing as a former angel!"

Lucius shrugged. "There is, but that's rather beside the point. Angels are magic constructs, defined by having enough magic that they can reshape their own bodies. It's why they don't age and are impervious to most wounds. Take that magic away though, for example by making them fight for too long, and they become no better than mortals. You may not realize this, but our world isn't exactly teeming with spare magic. The only good way of getting more is to kill a demon, but that typically requires more magic than you get in return. That's the reason Acheliah doesn't do particularly much but have tea and talk. That spell she cast at the coup? I'd wager she still hasn't recouped the loss, but I'm a poor judge. Well, aside from the reaping blade."

Felicia's gaze unfocused as she slumped in her chair. "And now you're blaspheming."

He laughed. "You've met Acheliah. She's not exactly dogmatic. There's good reason she lets humans run the church."

"What world are you from?" Felicia demanded, gripping the bottle of wine like she was ready to throw it at him.

"Jarnmark, remember?" he answered quietly. "But I've travelled across the world. I've fought demons, bartered with angels, and slain warriors of every kingdom and tribe. Give me time and I can prove this all to you. Aisha may even be able to teach you a bit of magic. But, I need you to trust me. Trust that I will protect you."

She set the bottle back down and slumped in the chair. "Ever since the day you volunteered to be my champion I was prepared to love you. How am I supposed to accept that was the very first time we had met? Did you only do that for political posturing?"

Lucius rose and crossed the room to crouch in front of her, putting himself where she was looking. "Posturing makes it sound like I didn't want to do it. I won't deny it helped me. It led to me being made the governor of the Misty Isles. But the thing I was always taught was that it's one thing to act like a good man. It's far better to be a good man. I have always been true to myself, even if my name was fraudulent."

"Does it even matter? How can you protect me? Are you going to flee to the central kingdoms or something?"

"Of course not. I'm going to bring peace to the kingdom," he said, and that time he did put on a mask of bravado. It was, at last, enough to convince Felicia to stay, and only because she didn't truly imagine what he was going to the capital to do.

Technically, it wasn't nearly as violent as the capital. Without a noble in charge of the city, there was no focus for discontent. Additionally, the effects of the famine were barely felt in Rackvidd. They were the first stop from the lush plantations of the Misty Isles and they had active trade routes across Giordana, even if the pirates made such trips hazardous. This is merely a note of statistical analysis however. It should be remembered that her own father had already fallen victim to the scheming of the rebellion, and this fact should ground her motivation to stay with Lucius.

This is not to say that the food was something akin to cacti branches and scorpions. Most, if not all, of the southerners had taken to proper food with childlike zeal. They delighted in the sweetest of fruits, but only some had accustomed themselves to cheeses. The dried meats were of an adventurous sort, but the moment Felicia identified one of the sausages as a bitter slice of liver she found them all suspect.