Icelord Ryan strolled into the palace with nothing but a fancy robe and a charismatic smirk on his face. With a salutary hand to the butler, nothing stood in his way as he made haste to Queen Zul’s throne room. On the way, he saw a mural of himself painted on the wall, his name engraved in silver just below it. Should’ve picked gold. He rolled his eyes and entered the chamber. He found her reviewing a painting on a wall, deep in thought.
“Zul—” he cleared his throat and caught her attention, “oh, right, my lady.” He looked around to see the diamond-encrusted throne, where its back was a large window to the open sea. The waves crashed on the glass as if they, too, wanted to be inside—wanted to breathe the air in this marvelous palace, wanted to live in the home of the queen. All it needs is a little crack, and water rushes forward. He smiled. “A moment?”
“What is it, Ryan?”
“Well, you see, I’ve been training with Alexis for the past two days now, and…” Ryan couldn’t help himself; he summoned his glyph atop his palm so swiftly it looked like an accident. “Oh, you know, I still haven’t gotten the plans for the invasion of the Subcontinent. I’m sure Isabel’s working really hard on those, but maybe you should push her a bit more.”
“Actually,” Zul started, “you’ve been removed from the invasion.” She almost couldn’t contain her laughter, letting a small smile play upon her lips.
“Removed?” He nodded his head. “Re-moved,” he drawled. His eyes gravitated to a painting of Lady Trianite standing in front of a church. He walked toward it. “Is this new?”
“Just had it installed.”
“That’s funny.” Ryan reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. “You know, Trianite’s hair is a darker blue. Less of a cyan, more of a cobalt.” He handed Zul the envelope, to which she opened it as he continued, “I would know because I saw her yesterday, she was enjoying herself on vacation. I was worried that you’d take me out of the invasion, and so I made sure that wouldn’t happen.” Zul scowled at Lady Trianite’s signature at the end of the letter. “It was a beautiful beach that she’s staying at. Belvon is much better than those Gedredeli—”
“How’d you get from Belvon to Ra’Sasha in a day?”
Ryan displayed his glyph. “Icelords are fast.”
“That fast?” She raised a brow, but her mind quickly brought up Dante. She shivered.
“I’m the fastest,” Ryan whispered. His fingers tugged on the letter in Zul’s hands, “Can I keep this?” he asked before taking it. “Thank you.” He took one step, spun on his heel, and said, “Oh, and have those plans at Lake Triton by tomorrow.” His hand covered his mouth. “I’m learning water spells now!”
Zul crossed her arms. And here I thought Trianite was done with politics. God, he’s gonna be a headache.
Outside, Ryan met with Professor Alexis, who was sitting on the palace stairs. He was tense at first—going toe-to-toe with the nation’s queen wasn’t necessarily his forte. Realistically, he couldn’t imagine why the people elected her to be queen. If I was revived just a few weeks sooner. I would’ve won. His hands clenched on the paper, tense and full of emotion as he walked down the palace stairs, yet when he saw the Professor his expression suddenly changed. He’d completely forgotten what he was mad at.
“Did you get it done?” she asked, standing up to walk with him.
“All done.” He put his hand out, to which she grabbed it. Hers was soft and cold, and his was rough and quite warm from the recent stress. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” he glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot, “did Trianite know I was dead in your basement?”
Alexis gave it a moment. “No. Nobody knew.”
“And now you’re sending me away to die again?”
“No!” She jerked her hand within Ryan’s. “You know why!”
“I’m kidding.”
“How’d you even convince Zul, anyway?”
Ryan snickered, pulling out the letter. One quick glance at it, and Alexis gasped. “How did you—?”
“It’s not,” he shrugged, “you know.” Alexis’ face seemed to say that she didn’t know. Ryan took the letter from Alexis and tucked it back in his shirt. “As the first king of Trianite’s Kingdom, laws were once written with Trianite’s signature. Sometimes, she was too busy and couldn’t get to the city in time—and it was urgent. Sometimes, she was asleep, and I needed to write some decree because The Shadows were invading. A million times. I’ve done this a million amount of times.”
“Those times seem important, though.”
“Well, you’re important to me, so c’mon. I want to learn a new a water spell.”
~
Merchant Lordza’s footsteps were like that of a lion walking into a den of sheep. His employees: colonists, surveyors, and traders, all hastily resumed their jobs as he opened the glass doors to the main warehouse of the Sashan Free Traders. With him at the helm, the company had seen their numbers return to normal, and even with the loss of some of their property in the Subcontinent, Lordza found other ways to keep the business afloat.
“Sir, this is the final offer for Dagron’s shipment,” said his secretary. “It’s the best deal we can possibly get.”
“Fine.” Lordza swooped up the clipboard that was in the man’s hands, signed it with a straight line, and gave it back to him. “Get to New Terraville. Don’t you have a meeting with Jill in an hour?”
“I do. Yes, sir.” His secretary hastily left his side as Lordza jogged up the stairs to the CEO office room. He moved to the window of his office, where it perfectly mirrored his newly-tailored suit, gray tie, and ashen black slacks. He fixed his collar, breathing in and out as his eyes fixated on the ships doing laps in the bay of Ra’Sasha. A smile formed on his face.
The sounds of footsteps soon caught his ear, and he turned to see Waterlord Zul leaning on the doorframe. “Hi,” she said, “this place looks different.”
“You look different,” Lordza smiled. He’d never seen her in a slim, lapis blue dress before. “What can I do for you?”
“Can’t I just come here to chat?”
To chat. He huffed and turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk. Flipping a few of them over, he pretended like he was busy. “It’s been months.” He clicked his tongue. “Thought you forgot about me.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“So have I.” He raised his brows. “So, why are you here? Because, if you wanted to reply to my letters, I should be at a mailbox waiting for their return.”
“It’s not like that.” Zul squeezed her eyes shut. I completely forgot. She walked up to Lordza and grabbed his hands. She stared into his emerald-green eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve truly been busy.”
“But why are you here?”
Zul’s lips shifted to the left, and she looked off to the side. “I’m going to be landing in the Subcontinent again, and I need… information.”
“And how would I have that?”
“Please. You worked with Valdrec at Shellport, and this company has detailed plans for every port city across the Sashan Sea. You know which is a deepwater port, you know which can harbor however many troops, you probably even know things The Shadows don’t.”
“I probably do.” Lordza smiled and let go of Zul’s hands. He stepped away from her, walking behind his seat before leaning on it. “But weren’t you also in Shellport?” When you said I didn’t care about you. His face turned red—he couldn’t tell if it was anger or embarrassment.
She exhaled. “We never talked about that.”
Maybe it was both. Either way, he should have never told Valdrec Zul’s plans. His stomach tied up in a knot. “Never mind.” He straightened his back. “But why should I still help? I remember when you were in my shoes. When Trianite asked you to do something and you wouldn’t jeopardize the company. Do you remember that?”
“Vividly.” She nodded. “But this isn’t going to jeopardize anything.”
“And if it leaks and goes to my competitors? It can put a lot of things in jeopardy, actually.” His hands stroked his goatee, and he tilted his head. “I need something out of this.”
Isabel had asked Zul for any information she could get on the Subcontinent. The invasion hinged on it. Zul crossed her arms. “You’re a real businessman now, huh? What do you want?”
He pointed down below, where the bay of Ra’Sasha and the countless amounts of cargo were being unshipped. “Expand the port. Ten new commercial docks, five of which I get exclusive access to. Also, I want a new warehouse, let’s go with: 5,000 square feet.”
“I know a property that’s 4,000, and you get exclusive access to two.”
“Two, but all of my property that was on the Subcontinent is returned to me, and all of Valdrec’s old holdings.”
“Done.”
Lordza took out his hand, and the two shook on it. “You know, I’m impressed,” Zul smirked, “you did learn a few things while you were under me.”
“Kindness from you, ruthlessness from Valdrec.”
Zul rolled her eyes. “Just don’t get a smoking addiction.”
~
It was customary that the knight posted outside would open both doors to the palace, either for Lady Trianite or her queen. Waterlord Zul welcomed this treatment every time she entered, putting her in a good mood as she called the butler. Hastily, the man brought her pastries, leaning his back when he presented them.
“Not right now. I, um, have a question.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Can you summon the Goldmaster to the palace?”
“He’s upstairs, Your Highness. Third floor, sixth room on the left. Would you like me to walk you up there?”
“Oh.” What a surprise. “I can walk up there by myself, thank you.” For as long as she’d been running the kingdom, she hadn’t met many officials who worked in Trianite’s Palace. She’d been too busy with the war with The Shadows to pay any attention. She’d rebuilt a navy, reformed the army, and tried her best to keep the people under control. Of course, at the expense of her time, her sleep, and her relationships. No wonder Trianite could never meet with anybody. There is always something.
Zul was pleased to find the Goldmaster’s door open as she entered the office space. Brightly lit, it had a view to the front of the palace, overlooking the houses of the Sapphire Community. Many bookshelves and neatly stacked papers covered the man who was sitting at the desk. He briefly looked up, glanced back down, then realized who was at the door.
“By the gods!” He shouted before standing. “Your Highness. I wasn’t expecting you. Well, it’s good to see you again, Zul.”
Her expression changed to a sour smile. “Shareholder Yates,” she drawled.
“I believe it is, Goldmaster Yates, in this room, yes?” He chuckled, motioning to the seat. “Sit down, sit down. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Since you voted me off being CEO at the Board Meeting.” Zul’s eyes popped open. “Yes, there’s been some time.”
“Well, there was a better candidate,” he mumbled, “but it all worked out in the end, right?”
“Right.” Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t queen so it wouldn’t be a scandal to strangle someone. Yates boasted a squirrel-tail mustache and slicked-back white hair, so if the impression of a rich bastard didn’t hit anybody the first time, he made sure to bring up his yacht from time to time.
“What brings you here?” he asked.
“I need to fund construction at Waterfront. Ten new docks.”
“While also funding a war.” He sighed. “You’re expensive as queen.”
Zul eyed Yates. “Tell me, who appointed you to be the nation’s financier?”
“Valdrec.”
“You worked with him?”
“I partnered with him.” Yates smiled.
“What’s the difference?”
“When you partner with someone, you don’t go behind their back. Working with them is too vague for me—” he wiggled his finger, “I’m sure you know a few things about that.”
“Okay, you partnered with him: why?”
“Because he brought in profits. Multitudes of profits.”
“And are you still a board member at the Sashan Free Traders?”
He huffed, raising a brow, “Of course I am. Your little protege is making me rich.”
“Well, this port is for my little protege. The Sashan Free Traders are getting exclusive access. Does that sound like profit to you?”
“When you frame it like that.” He shrugged, looking off to the side. “I guess so.”
“Then find those funds.” I got up from my seat. “I want to see your partnership with this kingdom in action.”
“I only work for this kingdom.” He twitched a smile. “Good day, Zul.”