Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (room on the broom read aloud txt) 📗

“Fuckin’ hell.” Suri sighed, leaning back against the sofa. “Remind me again why I put up with you?”

“I’m a savant. I found and implemented the clitoris despite never having attended the training course.” I nodded.

“There is that,” she replied dryly. “I’ll have to design an award. We can pin it to your forehead next to the dick.”

I beamed at her. “The Pink Pearl Badge.”

“Pffft.” She chuckled as she drank, shaking her head. “Anyway... you reckon we’re gonna be able to finish the quest on time?”

“Yeah. I think so.” I straightened up and cracked my back, then my hands. “We won’t know exactly what we’re dealing with until your scouts return. Has Kitti been able to fill you in on any details?”

“A few,” she replied. “Namely that Zoltan isn’t exactly popular in Solonovka. Like most knights, he had his own little patch of land with a few tenants to farm it. He treated them like shit, and it seems likely he’s treating everyone down there the same way.”

“That’s helpful,” I said. “If we can break his hold over the populace, they’ll turn on him.”

“Assuming we can get to him, yeah.” Suri swirled her glass. “Solonovka is probably the best-defended town in Myszno. The Demon was the first invader to take it by land or air since it was built, and he only did that by tricking his way in past the first two layers of walls.”

“Sure. But from what I remember of Kitti’s description of events, there’s only so many people who could be working with Zoltan. The problem with big, heavily entrenched positions is that they take a lot of manpower to maintain. Towers have to be guarded, posts staffed, weapons made and repaired. If he doesn’t have the boots on the ground, it’s free chicken.”

“Right. And I think it’s safe to assume he’s relying on air defense,” Suri added. “He knows the new Voivode has a dragon. He has to know.”

“Right.” I said. “In a place like Solonovka, he’ll be worried about airships, dragons, and cannons.”

“Mhhm.” Suri drained her glass and relaxed back into her seat. I did the same, then sidled over onto the sofa. Suri promptly rested both her feet in my lap.

“Sooo...” I began to absently rub her toes, settling back against the armrest. “Before I can wind down for the day, I need to see the recording on the Heart of Memory. I don’t know if I can share the feed with you or not. If I can, do you want to see it?”

She groaned, and tipped her head back against the cushions. “Sure. I was just taking a break, to be honest. And I was hoping I could ask for a favor.”

“Go ahead.”

“I want to get my gear back as soon as we can. Tonight, if possible. When I died in Withering Rose’s cockpit, my Inventory dropped there.” Suri said, looking over her chest at me. “I feel naked without my bloody armor. This guard equipment doesn’t even have half the rating of the full-plate Rin made me.”

I nodded. “Consider it done. Karalti needs to finish eating, but after that, I’ll see if she’s up to it.”

“Thanks. Hopefully we can just teleport in, grab the bag, and teleport out.” Suri gave me a wan smile. “I missed you. Being a titled Lady in a big castle wasn’t nearly as much fun without you and Special-K around.”

“Don’t enjoy Voivoding?” I let go of her foot and took the Heart of Memory from my Inventory. I sent off a quick party message to Rin: “Hey, sorry to bug you: is there any way to stream the information on the Heart so Suri can see it?”

“Y’know, I enjoy ruling more than I thought I would,” she said. “Only thing that pisses me off is how inefficient everything is. Lords and ladies and knights and vassalage and shit... it’d be so much fucking easier if there was a proper chain of command, people earning the right to lead based on merit. I’m not a big fan of this top-down feudalist bullshit. Not with a big war on the horizon.”

“I knew there was a reason I loved you.” I chuckled. “I’ve been thinking the exact same thing. Things won’t change overnight here, but I have a feeling they will change. I’m planning to fight for it.”

“Huh. Well, if we’re gonna be lording over the place for a while, we really need to get a new throne, though. Your skinny Tuun arse fits in it alright, but I’ve got hips. It pinches the shit out of me.”

“We kind of need to get a new everything,” I said, turning the Heart over in my hands. The ruby mana core pulsed softly, radiating warmth against my palms. “I like green things, like plants and shit, but I’m not too big on the green brontosaurus decor. We’ll hopefully be able to fix the castle soon, but the province comes first. I’d live in a mud hut before I let anyone in Karhad starve or freeze to death.”

“You know some people are gonna die no matter how well we do, right?” Suri said. “That’s how that goes.”

I wasn’t sure why what she said pissed me off as it did—but it did. “Willingly, Suri. I know I can’t save everyone, but I won’t willingly let them starve.”

She paused for a moment, realized she’d hit a nerve, and reached out to squeeze my arm. “Right. I get what you mean. And I agree. I saw enough of that in prison.”

“So did I,” I blurted. Then paused, blinking, as it occurred to me what I’d just said.

“You served time?” Suri cocked her head. “You never told me. When?”

“I... uhh... haven’t. Been in prison. I mean, I was born in an internment camp in Orange County, but, I was like... one year old when we were released.