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Tanya's Third Life as a Barbarian Queen, Chapter XXV
🕑 Added 2025-03-29 18:54:52 +0000 UTCI will have the chapter as links to download at the bottom of the post. As well as a link to the Google Document page.
Kontia
Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi.
I brought the mallet down on the wooden post and glanced over to Motoko as she did the same roughly thirty metres or so away from me. When both of the posts were secured Rei and Katia, of the Pomi tribe, tied a rope to each of the posts so it only had a small amount of give in it.
There were a few onlookers, a dozen or so since we were outside of the city walls in a field sitting fallow. Mostly just soldiers returning from the fort line and slaves who had finished their duties in the fields, curious as to what I was doing. I did not feel any need to see them off as long as they did not interrupt.
“The rules are quite simple, you cannot move past the rope and the ball cannot go under it.” I began. “Your goal is to hit the ball onto the other team's side of the rope and have it touch the floor. But it has to be within the marked area. If you hit the ball and it lands outside of the box you lose a point.” Considering the strength of my people. I made the square a bit larger than I remembered.
With the first stage of the fortifications almost complete the bulk of the physical labour would be done. Refinements, maintenance and improvements would be made of course and backup lines would be dug but it was unnecessary and counterproductive to maintain the workload I had established since we had arrived at Kontia almost a week ago. The Ninth Legion had not arrived, nor had the scouts detected them yet.
But if they were going to arrive I wanted the majority of my army to be well rested as well as having good morale. That meant that they had to have something to do for fun besides fighting each other and patronising a rather enterprising brothel that had rapidly shifted its product line to something more appealing to the occupying force.
I needed something that would keep people occupied, would keep them active, would help develop an appreciation for teamwork and most importantly. Something that was no contact. Lepus were very durable, but we were fundamentally, a lot stronger then we were durable. Injuries during training were common and often treated rather casually but they would still sap the fighting capacity of my army if I introduced a pastime that led to broken and fractured bones regularly.
The only sport I could think of that met my criteria was volleyball.
I picked up one of the many pre-prepared balls. They were made from cow bladders wrapped in cured leather and inflated with air using one of the stones I had recovered from the Wyvern Knights that had proven to be a rather effective pump. We had an overabundance of animal products due to my generous meat rations offered to the migration during the march so making twenty ‘windballs’ as the Saderans called it had been trivial.
I bounced the ball in the air, testing it for a while as I stood on one side of the ‘net’ and looked at the fourteen assembled cadets. “I will be writing all the rules down for you but pay attention, you will be demonstrating this game to others after this. If you hit the ball and it breaks, that is a point to the other team.” I quickly added that rule in case any of the girls got carried away. “Now, we are just going to pass the ball to each other for a while so you can get used to this. I will call out a name and when I call your name you have to hit the ball back to me. Are you ready? Do not let the ball hit the ground. Katia!” I called out, hopping into the air and slapping the side of the ball as the girl in question let out a shout of surprise that I singled her out first and rushed to hit the ball back in my direction.
“Motoko!” I called out as I moved to direct the ball back to the side of the quickly scattering squad of girls. I made sure to hit the ball away from where Motoko had been moving, causing her to throw herself to hit the ball back over the net.
“Rei!” I shouted, with a smile as I sent the ball back again, the Cadet Corporal almost bumping into one of her squadmates in her effort to send the ball back.
“Asuka. You seem to be getting the hang of this. Keep inside of the lines Motoko!” I continued until I had served the ball to each member of the oversized squad.
“Lilly!” I called out for the third time and rather than send the ball back the girl managed to bump into Asuka sending the pair of them to the ground in a tangle of limbs as the ball hit the ground with a chorus of frustrated groans. “Great work everyone!” I called out to forestall any complaints. “Now that we are warmed up I will split you into teams and we can have some practice games. Pay attention because you will be showing this to the other cadet squads.” And hopefully I would be able to get the rest of the army interested in the sport too.
I was going to need a lot more balls.
I needed a lot more of everything.
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Kontia
Furea, First Husband of the Tanaoi.
Things were quiet in the city now that most of the rubble had been cleared. Many of the damaged buildings had been pulled down completely and the rubble had been taken out of the city for my wife’s ‘fort network’. With so much to do miles from the city and the slaves finally being given work shifts in the fields the only people left were Kontian citizens who were expected to justify leaving their homes and cadet patrols.
I made my way towards the school, flanked by two guards that were kept sweet by Enna and loyal by Tanya. They were colossal brutes of women who considered social grace to be more of a suggestion than a requirement. But they were also women of few words so I did not mind them too much.
Wherever I went, I drew attention. From women going about their business to young cadets pointing and staring until one of the guards glared hard enough that the group would scatter. Even the humans or orcs who saw me would stare ignorant of what exactly I was, what I represented.
I took a winding route, just to see the city my love had conquered. The people who had become her subjects, I wondered if they knew how little she thought of them. How she did not even think to take from them their petty treasures. Perhaps she was displaying her mercy and benevolence, for she was certainly merciful and benevolent. But I thought instead that she simply had greater ambitions than this city at the edge of the empire.
If only she would share her plans beyond just a few months in the future. She spoke often of options she had at her disposal. Some more sane than others. She would encourage anyone to speak of what they thought about future designs for our migration.
But rarely would she commit to a single course of action in the long term. Her sudden shift from flight to a vast defensive construction had been decided the moment she saw the damaged bridge and decided that it would be too troublesome to traverse the miles wide river in the scant few fishing boats at our disposal.
I thought to test my bodyguards and turned to make my way down an alleyway that was unusually narrow. Only for a hand to grasp my arm and to tug me back towards the middle of the street. I pouted and glared up at the woman and with a look promised a reprisal for this. But her expression was resolute and unflinching.
Annoying... with that my freedom was once more restricted. I was marched between the pair to my destination without a word.
The school itself was a rather unassuming building, it was placed in the middle of a residential district made up of insulae apartments. But was slightly more squat then the surrounding buildings being only two stories tall even if it had a much larger footprint. It was made up of a local dull stone and red brick. A clear focus on making the building long lasting but without any real adornments or desire to make it visually appealing.
Tanya would call it ‘cost effective’ and I supposed that was a polite way of calling it cheap. Hardly a surprise since it was a college for slaves. I shook my head and let out a sigh of amusement. The Saderans had become so dependent upon their slaves that they required entire institutions that spanned their empire to provide them with necessary skills.
Tanya was perhaps too reflexive to believe that slavery itself was the cause of most of Sadera’s problems, but she was quite right that the institution needed to be curtailed. But I had not been able to travel the world with her, to see everything she had seen.
I unclenched my fists as I stood before the school and put that thought aside.
The school was inadequate, that had become clear the moment I had read the reports from Cato. He did not have enough teachers to meet Tanya’s standards of education and loathe as I was to admit it. This time it was not his fault.
The school was a series of lecture halls with a few small offices dotted around the building. Each of the halls was filled to capacity with Cadets of all the tribes as freed slave scribes gave lectures on Saderan writing or mathematics. Waiting in the wings of the lecture halls were the older cadet corperals. Cadets selected for command over a cadet squad and who were ready to punish anyone who was not paying attention to the Humans.
It was inelegant but I could not think of a better way of teaching the fundamentals of writing. I was taught as other men were taught, by the males of the tribe over many years. Now and then we would help teach one of the queen's companions, mostly so they could read letters sent between the tribes. But that was rare.
I paused as I reminisced. Tanya had known how to read before she was expelled from the Tanaoi but I don’t remember who taught her...
“Ah, Master Furea. Welcome to the Academy.” I turned about as Cato approached, one of his hands rubbing the small of his back as he had a friendly smile. “I was not expecting you quite so soon.” He said pointedly.
“I wanted to get this over with.” I grossed, glancing over at the door to one of the lecture halls. “I am meant to look at something?”
“Oh, yes, it’s in the courtyard. Please follow me.” The human offered, nodding to my bodyguards that turned to look expectantly at me. I buried my frustration and walked alongside Cato. I would not stand in his wake.
“I wanted to visit you, all of you. And apologise.” Cato began, the old man made a performance of thinking though what he wanted to say, but I doubted there was a single word he had not considered long before my arrival.
“What would you be apologising for?” I asked cautiously.
“You are right to be suspicious of my motives.” He said plainly. “I am a Human, a Saderan, and proudly so, and I know what that means, I know what that has cost your people. And that there are many things aside that I do not know.”
“You mean to persuade me to your side.” I sighed.
“Yes. Is that such a terrible thing? That is what creatures of wisdom do. They communicate.” He chided.
“Is that how you gained Tanya’s favour? You would call it rhetoric.” I replied.
“No, if you would believe it. She collected me, turned me. I had... different ideas of the Lepus, of your people. I believed that you were barbarians of the worst sort. A plague upon the lands that sought only to rape and pillage and bring more of yourself into the world.” He admitted as one of my bodyguards let out a gruff laugh.
“And now?” At my question he shook his head.
“Now I see I had committed myself to a great evil. The company I kept, the plans we devised, we believed ourselves to be so... righteous.” He finished. He was not telling me something, there was far more to his story then he was willing to let on and what trust have I for a human that so desperately wished to be my friend?
“You never explained why you are serving us so... ‘faithfully’.” I said, stepping before the man and stopping him in his tracks as the Human was suddenly surrounded, but seemed unbothered by that fact.
“I did.” He replied, before glancing to the side and shuffling over to a stone bench. “I told you exactly why I was following our Queen.” He spoke with a frustrating surety.
“You said she had a vision, you did not explain what that vision was.” I countered. “Nor can I be sure that you understand her intentions, what she intends. If you believe one thing and it is utterly divorced from what is good for my people then you do not serve her but are instead an enemy.” I explained. Cato looked at me for a long while as I shifted in the heavy, concealing clothes I had no choice but to don when I walked among my people.
I was only safe when my form was concealed, I was only accepted when my form was concealed. Except by Tanya, who was possessed of lust of that there was no doubt, but in her eyes, her words, her very being. Offered so much more than that.
“How do I...” Cato sighed before he continued. “Predicting the weather, in its most basic form, is trivial. You see the weather tomorrow is most likely to resemble the weather today, depending on what time of year it is the weather will get hotter or colder, wetter or dryer, but only a small amount and in the day to day little changes.” Cato paused and I nodded for him to continue. “But at times there are vast changes, sudden storms and wild weather that is utterly divorced from the normal process of weather over the year. Such things cannot be predicted, they come as the Gods will and that is that. If we were to apply this wisdom to the passage of, in this case, your Queens we can argue that a Lepus Queen is very likely to be like the previous Queen, perhaps some small changes that only over several successions make a meaningful difference. But at times the predictability of the traits of a Lepus Queen is upturned by a storm, a sudden change that could never have been foreseen.”
“And you believe Tanya is that storm?” I prompted
“Exactly, Tanya is a tempest, a force of nature that, as much as it pains me to say, will one day slow, calm and eventually pass into memory. When she is gone the weather will return to its normal predictable nature and we cannot predict when a paradigm shift shall happen again. So we must take this one opportunity, this one chance to make a permanent change. For both of our peoples.”
“And what would that permanent change be?” I demanded.
Cato smiled and got to his feet with a groan. “We are close to the courtyard now. Just this way.” He offered in a jovial tone.” I looked to one of the bodyguards who simply shrugged at me as I stalked behind the maddening human.
I was led out into a well tended cobbled space overlooked on all sides by thickly frosted glass windows. There was an overwhelming smell of... something emanating from a series of large wooden basins filled with pale water. Off to the side were many thin wooden frames hung from a line and a fruit press with several large pieces of rubble left atop it.
Cato led me to a fair sized wooden storage shed at one end of the courtyard and produced a key for the door from his toga. He glanced back and nodded to me. “You can inspect the result here.” His eyes flicked to the bodyguards. “If you would excuse us.” One of the bodyguards stepped forwards before I could speak, only for Cato to roll his eyes theatrically.
“Oh come on now!” He snapped. “What do you think is going to happen? He could snap me in half, woman!” The bodyguard seemed taken aback by Cato’s words so I took the opportunity to stride past her.
“Wait outside. Keep anyone away.” I ordered, stepping besides Cato as the pair of them glared at us.
“As you say.” Came the stiff response at last after the twin giants shared a look. I did not wait for them to reconsider and made my way into the storage area with Cato.
“It’s a remarkably high grade.” He said as he closed the door behind us and secured it with a flimsy looking latch. “Rondal grade actually, and they are very careful to keep their methods a secret.”
“Obviously, not secret enough.” I said as I picked up the off white sheet of paper to bring it up to the scant light pooling into the room from a window with more of the thick frosted glass. “Tanya has been mentioning making paper for some time...” I muttered.
“Well, I don’t think I did it justice, but even my first attempt produced a fine result. Of course we will still need more, always more.” Cato said wistfully.
“I think she would find it acceptable. I will be taking back some for our work.” I told the man.
“Of course.” Cato replied, pulling out a stool and settling down.
“Now, what don’t you want them to hear?” I demanded.
“The change.” Cato said with a grin I did not share. He held it for a moment as I stood over the human but eventually relented. “It’s more of a change to the Empire than a change to your people honestly. That is what I hope Tanya can offer. I am not quite so selfless that I would do all of this just for your people. Not when so many lives are being consumed at every moment.”
“Will you get to the point!” I hissed. Careful not to draw the attention of the guards who I suspected were quite capable of eavesdropping on us if they wanted to.
“The poor, the Plebian, the Slaves.” Cato began. “They hate the Merchants, the Bureaucrats, the Aristocrats, the Senators, the Equites, the Legionaries. They hate them all, but they don’t hate Molt Augustas. They don’t hate Pina or Zorzal. To the most deprived people of the Empire, they hold the Emperor, or at least the idea of him, and his children. As a precious thing, as they would their Gods. The most lowly slave would turn upon their master with tooth and nail should they blasphemy the Gods or the Emperor. Madness I tell you.” Cato lamented.
I rolled my eyes as the Human had once more decided to answer a direct question with a lecture. “If I was the most powerful person in the Empire I would not exactly be worried about the Slaves or the Plebs. The people who would be worried about them are the sort of people I would want to keep in line. Your Plebs and your Emperor are not natural enemies.” Cato regarded me before nodding.
“Bread, games, the execution of criminals. This is all done at the behest of the Augustus Line.” Cato agreed. “I once watched as Molt Augustus himself walked through the slums of Sadera on a whim and the people rushed to throw flowers under his feet as he did so.” Cato shook his head. “Populism robs people of any sense, the entire rotten system exists at the behest of Molt and his ilk.” He waited for a moment for me to reply and I felt the need to accommodate the annoying old man.
“You see how the half-bloods treat Queens. They adore them, they champion them. If they turn to hate them then they begin to support another pureblood who they think will be a better replacement.” I waved a hand. “This is the natural order of things.”
“But should it be? Are the males of the Lepus not the most well read? You are expected to write and read messages between tribes, you control who is considered a pureblood and who is not. It should not be the masses who decide what brute leads nor should it be the whims of unthinking unfeeling fate deciding who is born into power. That pure might might be a factor is preposterous! No, the rulers should be decided by the wise, by the educated.” As he finished, it clicked.
“The Saderan Emperor... that’s why you're here?”
“Exactly.” Cato said stiffly. “The Augustas line, it must end.” He said with total resolve.
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lE_94fxem_DA8JSvEHb2B5Zrv9LV68fdiGfvuDRYOXE/edit?tab=t.0
Comments
Emdee Kay
Interesting, Tanya didn't forbid the use of feet. We might get to see the Bnnuy Volley be played with their feet as well, with Bicicle kicks.
Tony
Cato's ideas are so forward, that in my opinion are bound to fail badly, not because they are bad, but because the Saderan empire and its people aren't ready for it. Sadly this is a time were the might makes right it's still prevalent, and to change that you would need to change the people's mindset and values. The current Saderan empire main issue is the Huge size, corruption and mot of the power being wielded by few, there's probably almost no middle class nor many small and medium sized farmers. And that's part of what broke the Roman Empire IRL, The best thing it could happen, if the Emperor and its line falls would be for the empire to break in a couple smaller empires and they have to focus more on being manageable, competitive and remove a lot of the bloat. We can see from the story that even the Emperor cant get rid of the corrupt Senate easily and he hates them, if they lose the emperor you can bet they will have a lot of infighting from different factions to setup their new emperor, why will most likely be under his own faction thumb. Good for them that Tanya's-Khan is in their future to kick them in the curb and help be actually worried of something for first time in decades, and work together to get rid of this danger to their empire. I'm sure the Gods will be giddy with the incoming developments for their Long running Soap-opera that was getting stale for the last few years.
