DF239 - Eric B. Is President (Aris) (Patreon)

“Ain’t you heard, lady? There ain’t no King, we’re just provincials now!” Aris could hear bitterness in the voice that spoke. It was the same tone that had flavoured the words of the dead Prince Driecht. It gave Aris hope.

“There is a King, a true King,” she insisted. She’d never had much cause to use it, but her Charisma was twenty-five now, more than enough to impress a low-ranking soldier.

“Kalond was a usurper! His older sister never died!” She told them how Queen Syrelle was succeeded by her niece, the death of Prince Driecht and Elara’s marriage to Anton. “Now there is a real King, who will take back Zamarra from the Tiatians!”

“It’s too late for that,” the man on the wall said. “Going against the Empire is suicide.”

“We already fought them off,” Aris said. “Drove them back over the Avel.”

That wasn’t strictly true, since they didn’t know where the combined army had regrouped, nor was that location outside of Zamarra. Travelling up the Avel River got you to Bures, so the argument could be made that the enemy was closer—at least in travel time—to Bures than Aris was.

But it still hit the mark. Aris could see the effect it had on the faces above her.

“Are you going to let a false King hand over the country to the Empire? Do you not have any pride as a Zamarran?”

“We have orders,” the man said, but he was wavering.

“Orders from a dead man,” Aris replied coolly. Would it have helped to bring Prince Driecht? He seemed so much more cooperative now, and these men would certainly have obeyed him.

On the other hand, Aris had been told that if she had brought him, he would be trying to eat her face right now. She would have to do without his help.

“You know that, if he’d lived, Prince Driecht wouldn’t have stood for selling your kingdom off to the Empire,” Aris said, taking a gamble. While the new Prince Driecht had opposed the sell-off, she had no idea whether these men knew his views on the matter.

The man didn’t reply, so Aris pressed on. “King Nos needs these supplies, and he sent me to take them. Are you going to take a stand against the Tiatian Empire? Or are you going to die in defence of them?”

She relaxed Erase Presence again and felt the fear wash over them as they grasped the threat she posed.

Aris knew that her speech had worked before they did. She felt the experience rush into her.

You have reached Level 14.

Only then did someone—not the man in charge—shout, “For the King!”

He was joined by one other… and then half the wall took up the chant. Aris looked at the man in charge, who bowed his head.

“Guess we’re surrendering, then,” he said. Aris could barely hear him over the cheers. She accepted her level.

Applying Benefits for Level 14

Toughness + 1Agility + 2Dexterity + 2Perception + 2Charisma  + 1

Assign free points:

Aris chose Strength. It was her weakest Ability, and everything else was ridiculously high.

Strength + 1 selectedPlease select a new Trait:Voice of the Crown | Final Decree | Aura of Fear

Aris selected Voice of the Crown, just because it sounded like the system knew about Anton. And the other two sounded scary.

Level Fourteen, she thought. Does this mean I’m ahead of Anton?

Unaware of her momentary distraction, the soldiers inside the fort were opening the gate. Aris signalled for the rest of her troops to come forward.

*

After the surrender was formalised, they decided to make camp outside the fort. “They” was mostly Knight-Captain Alaric, but Aris insisted on discussing the options between them. Not that there were many. The fort had been built just big enough to hold the wagons, the oxen and the defenders that remained. The other option was to let the oxen graze outside the fort and have her soldiers sleep where the animals had been kept for half a week.

Aris agreed that would be the more pungent option.

“We should send a squad back to let the King know we succeeded,” Alaric said when the arrangements had all been made. Aris looked at him.

“The Elitrans are probably attacking right now,” she said.

“Elitrans?” the fort commander asked. Darian Vesh was only a regular captain, so Alaric outranked him. But Aris had insisted that he be included in the command discussions. Two teachers were better than one, after all.

“It was an Elitran fleet that scared off the Tiatian one,” Aris explained. “They hadn’t made contact when I left, but we’re pretty sure that they’re going to attack.”

“You didn’t mention this when you were declaring King Nos would unify the country,” Darian said sourly.

Aris shrugged. “Anton can take care of them,” she said confidently. “But if you send someone back, they’ll be smack dab in the middle of whatever fight that is.”

“Those are the risks a soldier takes,” Alaric told her. “I’ll instruct them to approach the town cautiously.”

He looked over at Darian. “I was going to put the captain in charge of the squad to give him a chance to swear allegiance personally. But with the situation that… fluid, it might be a bad idea to send someone of untested loyalty.”

“My loyalty is being tested right now, sir,” Darian growled. Alaric just sneered in response.

“Stop that. Alaric, you’re being very rude. How are we going to win people over if you treat them like garbage?”

“He’s just a commoner, My Lady; he doesn’t—”

“I’m a commoner, remember? Some girl who happened to be the King’s mistress? Does that sound familiar?”

Alaric winced, and then lowered his head. “Sorry, My Lady.”

“You already apologised to me. It’s Darian that you need to apologise to.”

Alaric didn’t like the idea, but he forced a smile and turned to Darian.

“I apologise. I shouldn’t have disparaged your loyalty.”

Aris cleared her throat. Alaric’s smile became a little more strained.

“Nor… should I have discounted your value because of your birth.”

Darian stared for a second before clapping Alaric on the shoulder. “I can see that this new army has some differences that will take getting used to. For both of us.”

“Indeed,” Alaric said through gritted teeth.

“All of that said,” Aris added, “I don’t think we should send Darian. If there’s trouble back in Kirido, we should send locals who know the land, right? I think there were some in the group.”

“Company,” Alaric corrected, “And yes, there were. I’ll arrange a squad in the morning.”

“Unless you want to go,” Aris said. “Your horse could get there faster, and you’d have a better chance of getting away if there’s danger.”

“You want me to ride into a raid… alone?”

“Those are the risks a soldier takes,” Aris quoted. “But it was just a suggestion.”

Another thin smile flickered into existence. “I’ll have to decline. I’m needed here. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use my own words against me.”

“Maybe you should stop using words that are so… double-edged,” Aris suggested. She stood up. “You seem to have everything well in hand. I’m going to talk with Zaphar.”

Aris tried not to let on how keen her senses were. Nobody did; that was just common sense if you wanted to know who was gossiping about you. She didn’t go out of her way to hide them, though. Like, right now, she could have searched the camp for Zaphar to hide the fact that she knew where he was—sitting on an isolated part of the palisade, having shooed off the soldiers that were on watch.

So she didn’t react when the officers started talking about her, well out of the range where you might expect a keen-eared listener to eavesdrop. She would have tuned it out if Darian hadn’t said her name.

“This Lady Aris, do you know her Class?”

“I don’t, but those weapons she carries, and the way she can turn her presence on and off at will… there’s only one Class it could be.”

“Assassin… how terrifying. When we were on the wall, and she pulled back her shroud… she could have killed us all. I’ve heard that the new weapons are deadly, but I never imagined they could be that bad.”

“I heard stories, but I discounted them until I felt it for myself.”

“And she’s the King’s mistress?”

“Wife. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

“Eeyuh… no wonder you’ve been tiptoeing around her. I guess even the heroic golden King casts a dark shadow, huh?”

Aris felt the blood rush to her face, and she started stomping as she walked. With his Trait of Keen Ears, Zaphar might be the only one in camp with better hearing than her, but he didn’t need any of it to hear her coming.

He didn’t react at all to her approach, though, waiting patiently for her to sit down next to him with a huff.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “They think I’m an assassin!”

“Do they, now? It must be because you associate with me.”

“What are you talking about? You’re the farthest thing there is from an assassin.”

Zaphar smiled. “You are letting my clothes fool you. I am a rogue, which is just a thief in fancy clothes. And a thief is just a few steps away from an assassin. The differences… you need a fancy weapon.”

He tapped the rapier at his side.

“And you deliver gifts instead of taking them. The skill set is the same.”

“But… but… you’re wearing teal,” Aris countered. “Assassins don’t wear teal!”

“My clever disguise has fooled you,” Zaphar said gravely. “Another skill common in both thieves and assassins.”

“Ugh, fine, I’m not going to argue it anymore. But still, how do I stop them from thinking I’m an assassin?”

“You could stop dealing swift and merciless deaths to Anton’s enemies?”

“That’s… a bit unfair.”

“A bit?”

“You make it sound like they aren’t our enemies,” Aris complained. “Mine and Anton’s and the whole kingdom’s besides. Even yours.”

“And I’m grateful for your efficiency, but you do see how it looks, yes? Perhaps you could wear more teal.”

“I thought we established that doesn’t prove anything.”

“Ah, yes. That is true. Perhaps if you take the Guard Captain job, people will see the danger you present as something normal. Guard Captains are supposed to be dangerous.”

Aris thought about it, looking down at the soldiers below. One of her duties as Guard Captain would be selecting Anton’s royal guard… but she didn’t know the first thing about judging a soldier.

“Do you think I should take the job?”

“Why would you not?” Zaphar replied.

“I’m a baker’s daughter! When Anton married Suliel, I knew I was going to be some kind of a… lady, but the royal court is something else! I don’t know how to behave when I’m hiding in the back. Becoming an important court functuary—”

“Functionary,” Zaphar corrected.

“That! I don’t even know how to say it!”

“The things you are worried about can be taught,” Zaphar said. “Quickly, with some effort—I recommend taking your time with lessons. And what you don’t realise is, in a new court, with Anton at your side as king, you ladies will determine what is and isn’t etiquette in court.”

Aris tried to process the idea that all the noble ladies would be taking direction from her, and failed. She couldn’t argue with the statement, so she just moved on.

“Another reason is that Anton won’t let me do the job after I start to show,” she grumbled. “He’s already trying to lock me up in a luxurious boudoir.”

“He worries for his first child, as is normal,” Zaphar dismissed. “And the position does not require its holder to fight off enemies, especially when the King is a heroic warrior like Anton. You only need to stand and give orders—or sit, if your feet are swollen.”

That might be a decent compromise,” Aris admitted. “But my feet aren’t swollen yet. Will you be ready to go in the morning?”

“Go where? I thought that we were to wait until the army came our way?”

“The soldiers can stay here,” Aris clarified. “The two of us, though, are going to push forward, into Bures.”

“I distinctly remember not hearing any orders that said that,” Zaphar said carefully.

“I want to show Anton that he doesn’t need to protect me,” Aris stated. “And I need to do what my Class is urging me to do. I need to tell Bures he is coming.”

Zaphar sighed as Aris turned towards him.

“And you need to get me into the city.”