Nua was alone in her office, resting her left palm upturned on the surface of her desk. She closed her eyes and the world around her was gone. In place of her office was the great outdoors of Yersin’s realm, a breeze blew that would haunt Nua forever with its caress, she felt her short hair sway behind her, and reached back reflexively to touch the black strands woven into the center. ‘Sobella, is that your blessing… does some part of you live on in this place…?’ Nua wondered as the slight wind flowed over Nua’s sharp elven features.

She approached Yersin’s cottage and lightly rapped on the door.

‘Enter!’ She heard the enthusiastic voice call from within.

The smiling happy face of the gaunt man of dark hair greeted her immediately. He stood beside his table and gestured to the chess set laid down where they would sit.

Nua managed a bemused look, ‘I never cease to be amazed at how happy a death loving gem can be.’

‘I love my work, why wouldn’t I be happy?’ Yersin replied and went immediately to take the tea he’d prepared and lay it out for them to share. Nua aided him as his second in the elven tea ceremony. During that time, they did not speak, all was tranquil within the home as they shared a common bond over the ritual. Their hands moved in sync as small treats were laid out just as the last drop fell into the waiting cup. Then together they sat at the same moment, drawing the chairs in toward the table, and lifting their cups together.

Nua inhaled the scent, and sipped as she thought, ‘You perform as admirably as ever, and your tea never ceases to please me, my friend.’

‘Thank you, my wielder, you’ve been generous to me in the spreading of death. From the sound of things, you’ll be spreading a great deal more fairly soon.’ Yersin commented.

‘I plan to, and yes, I will be doing at least some of it personally, I have to ensure my reputation is beyond question, it will erase uncomfortable questions and awkward situations later. Plus I have to build the loyalty of my many slaves. Thanks to those fools who took Priceless, I built a reputation among the city slaves as a mistress who takes risks to protect her own. Turning the city upside down, skinning that orc, the rescue of Lenah and Straen, not to mention Number Four…?’ Nua set her cup down and reached for a lemon flavored bar of toasted bread. ‘Now I need a reputation in real warfare. They’ll fight for me, but I need to show every single slave that I was born to stand above them. I want them grateful to be behind me, and dread being in front of me.’ Nua stirred the bread in her tea and took a slow bite, the rich full lemony flavor spread over her tongue. ‘Mmmmhmmm… this is amazing.’

‘Thank you, but you didn’t come here to compliment my food.’ Yersin said and he took up a pawn and moved it.

Nua reflexively moved a pawn of her own. Their moves began to alternate at a brisk pace as they traded words. ‘You’re right, you heard their words, what do you think they will do?’

‘Slander.’ Yersin replied, ‘If these were noblemen, or if they were warriors, I would expect assassination or a challenge to a duel. But these are merchants, they will try to destroy your reputation using anything they can. When your reputation suffers, that leaves you vulnerable to other things. Court disputes, petitions to the Prince, even the possibility of a coalition of nobles opposing you, seeking to strip you of honors or wealth.’ Yersin took Nua’s knight, and she immediately took his rook.

‘I admit, I hadn’t thought about that, I was thinking of assassination but… that is just professional bias on my part, isn’t it?’ Nua asked reflexively as her rook was taken by Yersin’s queen, and she in turn took the queen with her other rook.

‘I would say yes, if you want to counter negative rumors, you only have so many weapons. You may deny rumors, but from what I have seen, people today are the same as people back when I was various people. They take denial as proof of guilt. You may ignore them, but pretending to be above rumors only inflames jealousy.’ Yersin took one of her bishops and then immediately did a double take when he lost it in turn to an unforeseen move of her knight.

‘So what would you advise?’ Nua asked, pausing briefly to sip more of her tea.

‘Get out in front of them, set people listening in taverns, if rumors are that you torture slaves, then let it be known and seen how well you treat them. If they set rumors that your peasants are being taxed into oblivion, then ensure peasants from your villages come to the city with obvious wealth relative to their Pas’enian residential counterparts. Whatever people hear, you want them to ‘see’ the opposite. Most especially though, you want them to benefit from not believing it. There is a sick pleasure in believing the worst about people. But people will believe a truth that profits them over a rumor that pleasures them. Most of the time at least.’ Yersin suggested. ‘Checkmate in three moves.’ He said proudly.

You’ve played before.’ Nua accused, and Yersin nodded with guilty bemusement.

He replied, ‘The game has appeared before, though it was forgotten, I still remember enough about it to win more than I lose.’

‘We will finish this next time then, call that the penalty for sneaking in a win, I’ll remember this one, partner.’ She winked at him, leaving him standing there at first annoyed, then laughing as the door closed and she vanished.

She opened her eyes in her office, and found Number Four sitting patiently on the floor in front of her desk.

She was picking at her clothing, which was soaked with sweat, and otherwise paying no real attention.

“Have you been waiting long?” Nua asked as her eyes fluttered and readjusted to the light of the world outside the gem.

Number Four shook her head, “No, no it’s fine, not long.”

Nua looked the girl over, she seemed very ordinary in most respects, a little ‘fitter’ from the increased activity, but otherwise ordinary, her blue hair hung down on both front and back, and her green eyes shone with intense observation, but with little real concern.

‘Just jump into it.’ Nua resolved, “Tell me, Number Four. Have you thought about hurting anyone here, outside of training I mean?”

Number Four looked up at her with wide innocent eyes, “No, because you always feed me before I get hungry. But that’s what killing people is for, right? There’s other foods n’stuff but… like this one time, the girl next to me, Number Three, choked on somethin and died. So Crawlmaker, he just cut her up and tossed parts to all of us, said to eat that. One’a the breed’n pair across from me, he taught me bout numbers from that, then Crawlmaker found out, ‘n the breeder man was gone. Anyway nope. Since your my new Crawlmaker’n all, I gotta wait till you say I can have one of’em.”

The words solidified Nua’s answer. But still she pushed, “Did anyone ever tell you not to hurt anyone else?”

Number Four looked down and thought carefully, “Nah, ‘cept to say not to fight with the close numbers. I been real good here, no fightin except when yer monster says so. I’m learnin a lot here now, but I still can’t get used ta wearing these…” She curled her lower lip in annoyance and picked at the expensive outfit.

“You’ll get used to it, but… that isn’t why I called you here, Number Four. We need to give you a proper name, and…” Nua took out a child sized iron collar, “I need to ensure you know where you stand.”

“Kay.” She said with a shrug and came over, she casually took the iron, put it around her neck, and Nua moved aside her hair, then closed a small lock into place at the back. Nua felt a distant part of herself shriek, and the distant sound was gone almost as fast as it began.

“Now, turn around.” Nua said gently, “You know what to do, you’ve seen the others do it.”

Number Four nodded, turned around, and went down to both knees. Nua cupped Number Four’s face, “One day you may resent this, but understand this is for the best.” She said, and thought, ‘You will be far, far too dangerous to leave uncontrolled.’

Number Four shrugged, “Now,” Nua added, “from this day forward, you can refer to me as ‘Mistress’ or, ‘Lady Aiwenor,’ do you understand… slave?”

“Yes, Lady Aiwenor.” Number Four answered.

“Now, as far as a name… is there one you like, or should I choose one for you?” Nua asked calmly.

“Shi.” Number Four replied instantly.

“Shi?” Nua asked, locking at her curiously.

“Yup, er, yes Mistress. It’s what the guy I stabbed called me, when I was about to stab him. I dunno know why, but… I like how it sounds. Can I be ‘Shi’ from now on, Mistress?” The little blue haired girl asked.

“I think it suits you, it suits you very well.” Nua said and laid a hand on Shi’s thick blue hair at the top of the girl’s head. “Go on now, Shi, return to work with Lady Solution, do everything she says, and I will be pleased… and proud of you.” Nua said with the sweetest smile she could manage.

The wide eyed blue haired girl looked back without blinking, “Yes, mistress. I will be good.” She licked her lips hungrily, and then left Nua alone in her office, missing Nua’s shudder when the door closed behind her.

‘I brought back a real natural, with that one. It was stupid to expect that I was saving a sweet little girl… I brought back a predator just waiting to grow up.’ Nua thought as the odd dichotomy of adorably cute and utterly indifferent to pain or death in the same body, set her to shifting uncomfortably in her chair for a few seconds.

Yanlim made his way to the fort with ease. ‘The boy didn’t betray me, that is for certain. If he had… if he had then I’d be dead already, or hunted. Still, to think my own cousin would try to poison me…’ He shook his head in disgust while he hiked the last few feet up to the gate.

The fort was wooden, not intended for siege warfare, it was simple logs chopped with sharp points at the top. The gate was flanked by two wooden towers and always kept water handy to douse the wood in an emergency. Most of the time, like this one, the fort was open, allowing travelers to stop and rest on their way in or out of Hanak’sen. It looked sturdy enough, but it was really just a bivouac position meant for a field army to operate from. Stone was far too costly to be used frivolously on small forts that might never see a full blown war.

He was instantly recognized by the soldier on duty. The young man held his halberd a little more tightly and stood a little more stiffly. His fresh young face in awe of who stood before him. Yanlim did not mince words. “Go to the commander of this fort, tell him to assemble his soldiers, I need to address him, and them, it is of the utmost importance.”

“Suh, ah, yessir!” He whirled and ran within, the other guard was just staring dumbly, as tense and awestruck as his companion, and Yanlim simply stood and waited patiently to be acknowledged.

He did not wait long, within minutes he found himself ushered into the log building that served as the headquarters for the local captain. He was a slender man, with thicker arms than you normally found on men like that, and a heavy two handed sword on his back with a custom sheath that allowed it to be easily drawn by sweeping it out to the side and overhead.

“I’ll be blunt, Captain.” Yanlim said without waiting for so much as a salute, let alone a kneeling posture. “You have a choice, you can arrest me and kill me now, or you can swear your loyalty to me. One or the other, but there is no third choice.”

The captain stammered in confusion for a moment, but Yanlim allowed no time for questions either. “My cousin tried to have me killed. Over a slave woman no less. I can barely believe it myself but…” Yanlim ran his hands through his hair and let out a heavy sigh before he yanked a simple crude field chair back and sat down with a heavy thud. “It is a civil war. You’re my first stop, Captain Prosporo, you could end the war here before it begins by claiming my head. Or you can offer me your loyalty, and that of your soldiers, and send word to all the other forts in the area. Now, what will it be?”

Captain Prosporo didn’t need a moment to think of what choice to make, he had only to recall which of the members of the Royal family he saw visiting the wounded soldiers and actually paying attention to them.

“I am your man, my Prince.” Captain Prosporo said in a deep, sonorous voice, and went to one knee with his head bowed and a hand over his heart. “I will have the soldiers assembled, and… I will send birds to the other forts, I am sure most of them will flock to your banner. Not all…” He said and spat into the dirt, “But most.”

“The way you say that, suggests you think it is possible to lose?” Yanlim asked.

Captain Prosporo’s chiseled features tensed as he replied, “Anything is possible, my Prince. Your cousin has considerable wealth, he could hire far more mercenaries than you, and their experience makes each of them worth three regular militia and at least one to one for the loyal veterans who will follow you. This will not be an easy war, Prince Yanlim.”

“Can we besiege the city and take it quickly?” Yanlim asked hopefully.

“We can try… but… it would be difficult, and by now I’m sure your cousin is on high alert. He is no fool, he’ll look for a sneak attack or double the guard or more at the walls.” Captain Prosporo said with a furrowed, thoughtful brow. “Our best bet is to seize the roadways and stop anyone from coming into the city, force him out of it, and cut him off from mercenary reinforcements and food shipments. He’ll have to send the army out to face you, and… if we can get mercenaries to our side first, we have a good chance of winning.”

“Sensible… we have fewer to feed than he does, alright, gather the troops and send the birds, arrange for all loyal soldiers to assemble at the town of Tripoint, we can split from there.” Yanlim said decisively and laid a hand on the shoulder of his captain. “I knew I could count on you, Prosporo. I knew I could.”

“Until I die, My Prince.” Prosporo said loyally, and slowly stood up to go and carry out the will of the man who would be Prince.