DF231 - I'm Still Standing (Patreon)

It would normally take twelve weeks—at a minimum—to plan for a royal wedding. Some corners had to be cut, others were mislaid entirely.

It helped that all of the possible guests were either inside Kirido or just outside the gates. Most of the nobles had been appalled at Elara’s idea of inviting Prince Jiro, “and his entourage”. Kelsey had cackled and called it a power move. The nobles were not convinced

“How can you even think about conducting diplomatic relations with the Tiatians after that cowardly assault?” Count Brankil protested.

“We invited such an attack when we destroyed their command fortification,” Duke Ariman countered.

“I regret nothing!” Kelsey declared. “It’s not our fault that your wizard was too pants to stop their wizard.”

Tyla wasn’t a part of this discussion, but she had earlier apologised for not having set up some kind of defences against magical attack on the castle. Both Anton and Kelsey had assured her that her efforts had been better used protecting the town and the Whiskerwind.

Many of the nobles would have preferred that Kelsey not be a part of this discussion, but both Anton and Elara felt that she needed to be here. A few of them were confused by her turn of phrase, but most of them just powered through, sure that it was an insult of some sort.

“I must protest!” Count Hartwell objected. “Magister Killian—”

“Will be better prepared the next time,” Elara cut in. “The mage assassin was driven off. I doubt that they will try anything in daylight.”

“And they should be fresh out of regular assassins,” Kelsey put in.

“I would never assume that,” Elara muttered darkly. “But we will be inviting my brother-in-law. Doing so will allow us to hold the ceremony under truce.”

They had completed the funeral ceremony this morning. There had been a procession along the inside of the walls so the defenders could pay their last respects to the queen they had fought for. Thus far, the besiegers had refrained from attacking—not because of respect, Anton thought, but because they were still in disorder from Kelsey’s brash attack.

That disarray couldn’t last forever, though. A truce would let them hold a proper ceremony and celebration. His last two weddings had involved the whole town; this one would be—needed to be—much bigger.

“With that settled,” Elara said firmly, “Let us move on and consider the planning for the feast.”

*

“I must say, dear sister,” Mazir Jiro said, “Holding a feast whilst under siege is a courageous choice.”

“I can hardly let my wedding go uncelebrated,” Elara said. Her face showed no sign of the strain that Anton knew she must be feeling. The wedding ceremony had been… elaborate.

Anton’s first two weddings had been relatively simple affairs, overseen by Therin Jaal, the local priest of Tiait, God of Humanity. For a royal wedding, it seemed, they had to seek the blessing of as many gods as possible, so the town and the army had been scoured for every priest or cleric, be they ever so humble. Even the Kabimen had contributed a priest. The local cleric of Yil had looked confused and out of place, but he was there to beseech his god.

The Voice of Giann had led the ceremony, both because Maqur Sehra was the highest-ranking priest and because the God of Ruling was the most appropriate patron for a royal couple. Therin was right next to him, but there was a whole procession of others.

The only one missing out of the known priests was the Pallbearer of Istin, Goddess of Death. She had been following the army for obvious reasons and had presided over Queen Syrelle’s funeral, but her presence wasn’t desired at a wedding. The army also contained a few priests of Butin and, surprisingly, an acolyte of the Goddess of Music, Adelm. An acolyte of Music’s duties was to wander the land as a travelling musician, so his was probably the most welcome contribution to the wedding ceremony.

The town was too small to host actual temples for them, but the Agriculture, Husbandry, and Crafting gods all had representatives who served the people of the town. And there were clerics of Denem and Orvor, the Gods of Trade and Exploration, among the adventurers.

With all of these participants, the ceremony had been long and wearying. Not as long as it would have been in Bures, where all of the high temples were gathered. In Bures, there would have been as many as two dozen High Priests, full of their own dignity, adding to the pomp and circumstances.

But then, such a ceremony wouldn’t have come immediately after the deaths of two of Elara’s family members. She didn’t dare show the strain, but Anton knew she was feeling it.

“And also, dear brother, I wanted to show you that we are well supplied. This feast might not be much by the standards of Bures, or that of your own home, but you must admit the food is plentiful.”

“I’m not going to be fooled by you beggaring yourself to impress me,” Prince Jiro claimed. “Your reinforcements may have brought in supplies, but they are also extra mouths to feed. This extravagance cuts away at your finite stock.”

“Guess again, Prince,” Kelsey said. She had been seated at the high table mainly because she would discomfit Prince Jiro in a way that he could not object to. “Most of this is from my farms.”

“A dungeon… with farms?”

“Yep! I started feeding Kirido after the Elitrans carried off all the food, and the recent influx of… fertiliser has allowed me to expand.”

It was a shame that Kelsey’s ability to accelerate growth only worked on plants. Much of the food here was based around her grain fields. The finest breads and pastries that Aris’s parents could bake, and… beer. The servers were being very free with the beer. Anton was glad there was a truce on.

“I fear that it is your side that is limited by supplies,” Elara said. “The surrounding villages were stripped bare long before you arrived, so all you have is what you brought with you.”

Prince Jiro’s smile became a little more thin. “Thank you for your concern, dear sister, but you forget we have a fleet. Additional supplies can be shipped in.”

“I think, dear brother, that you are forgetting about the Elitrans. How long do you think they will tolerate your intrusion into their raiding territory?”

“We are not afraid of the Elitrans,” Jiro stated.

“Arrogant, to think you can fight a war on two fronts,” Elara murmured.

“It is not arrogance, just a realistic understanding of the situation,” Jiro insisted. “The Elitrans are not here. No doubt they have seen reports of our presence and are fuming about the insult. But the small raiding fleets they send here are no match for us in ship-to-ship combat. It will take them time to assemble a proper fleet, and by then, we will be emplaced.”

“You think to take this town so easily, do you?”

Prince Jiro grimaced. “You may have had some success so far with your strange weapons and underhanded tactics—”

“I prefer to call them undergrounded tactics!” Kelsey interjected.

“—but you have not yet faced our full force.” Jiro glared at Kelsey.

“Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but the hole is actually a secret shortcut into the town!” she said unrepentantly.

“Your full force is now missing Samira bint Kareth,” Suliel said. “As well as     Banner-Captain Haru Ren, Banner-Master Takeshi Vor, Akemi Sai and General Daichi Koren. All of them over level 25.”

“Samira was not our only Tier Four,” Jiro claimed. “And the Tiatian Empire is not short of higher-level troops. It ill-behoves me to threaten my sister on her wedding day, but nothing has changed. Your upstart force will be wiped out, and this town reclaimed for the Empire.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “I am in danger of losing my composure,” he said. “I should leave before I say something we all regret.”

“Aw, don’t go yet,” Kelsey said with a sly smile. “You need to stay for the gift giving.”

Jiro stared at Kelsey, his eyes narrowing. “If I must,” he said through gritted teeth. “Permit me to start.”

At a signal to the servers, two Zamarran soldiers brought forward a large chest, decorated with carvings.

“Please forgive the generic nature of the gift,” Jiro said. “The late notice did not give us much time to prepare.” He gestured, and the soldiers opened the chest to reveal the contents.

“Garments of the finest silk, A lacquered dish set, a selection of teas and spices,” Jiro explained as each item was brought out. “All of the finest quality. I don’t think you would be able to find comparable items in this country.”

“Indeed not, and I thank you profusely for your generosity,” Elara said. Her words were perfectly proper, but Anton could hear the lack of emotion behind them. Not spite or anger, both Elara and the prince were just going through the motions, letting trained habits carry them through this confrontation.

The rest of the gift-giving was uneventful. Many of the guests apologised for the paucity of their offerings. There had been no time to send for something from their estates, so they were limited to what they had with them or what they could buy in town. Elara thanked them all graciously and let them know that their circumstances were understood.

“Standing with me now, in this difficult time, is the greatest gift you could have possibly given me,” was a phrase she repeated often.

Prince Jiro watched it all impassively. Occasionally, he would glance at Kelsey, as if speculating on what her smug smile meant. Anton was wondering that as well. When he heard a disturbance start down in the town square, he knew that whatever Kelsey had planned was about to start.

He glanced at Suliel for reassurance. She had just the faintest of smiles on her face, which suggested this was one of the rare Kelsey surprises that didn’t involve mass death.

The noise grew louder as whatever it was made its way to the front gate of the castle. The feast had been held in the main courtyard to fit more guests in, so everyone got a good look as they entered.

Skeletons, but not the ones that Kelsey usually produced. These were black and gleaming in the torchlight. Anton used Delver’s Discernment.

Black Obsidian Skeleton, Level 8, S: 15 T: 15 A: 13 D: 13 P: 4 W: 4 C: 5

Eight of them marched in, two abreast, carrying a large crate between each pair. Made of some black material that Anton was unfamiliar with, they were too short to be coffins, but they managed to resemble them somehow.

Kelsey leaned across and stage-whispered to Anton.

“Suliel actually has control of these ones. So there’s no danger of them going berserk.”

Jiro was staring at the skeletons fixedly, and Anton wondered if the prince had a trait that revealed their nature. Kelsey had said that the new skeletons had all the same classes as before, just raised a Tier and correspondingly tougher.

“What is this?” Prince Jiro finally asked. “Monsters out of a dungeon?”

“My gift,” Kelsey said smugly. The skeletons placed their boxes in front of Elara and saluted. Then they opened the cases.

Anton wasn’t sure of what to make of them at first, so he used his Trait again.

Maximator, Weapon, Perfect Quality, Tier 4

For each box, one skeleton lifted the gun out of its case, while the other one closed it up again. Then the gun, a complex assemblage of steel, was carefully set down again on its carrying case. The gun included a small stand that kept it in position.

“Queen Syrelle was understandably reticent about using the weapons I could provide,” Kelsey said. “Just as I had concerns about giving them to a stranger. But Queen Elara—and King Anton, of course—are family.”

“Why does it have six barrels?” Anton asked.

“Glad you asked!” Kelsey said brightly. “The barrels rotate into firing position, so each one gets a chance to cool down between shots. The bullets are fed in by a belt using the same mechanism. Ingenious, if I do say so myself.”

She grinned wolfishly at Prince Jiro. “My tests with skeleton crews managed to fire 350 rounds in one minute. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they do in field trials.”