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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Book One - Epilogue - Part One
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 12:45:48 +0000 UTCWilliam certainly didn’t remember a dining table being present the last time he was in Griffith’s office.
Hell, how did they even get it through the door? He thought idly as he reached for a buttered scone.
As he did, his eyes briefly passed over the third member of their little post-match meeting.
Griffith was staring at him, as she’d been doing from the moment he’d been escorted in here. Her eyes peered at him like he was some kind of puzzle she couldn’t quite put together.
Which, while understandable, was more than a little eerie.
Still, that was at least a step up from the other person at the table.
Queen Yelena Lindholm was looking at him like a particularly juicy cut of meat. Which he supposed was also understandable, given that he’d effectively just saved her nation from a rather messy civil war.
For a time at least…
The loss of him and the Summerfield duchy by proxy was a rather large setback to the Blackstone’s plans for an easy coup, but they weren’t quite a deathblow.
Access to the Summerfield duchy would have simply made it a sure thing. Now the results of such a conflict were more… hazy.
“How long do you think I’ve managed to buy us?” he asked casually.
Griffith twitched at the casualness of his words, but in his defence, there was a reason this particular meeting was being kept under wraps. It allowed him a certain sort of glibness he’d never be allowed in a more public venue.
This was a negotiation after all.
Certainly, Yelena could have picked a more public venue to browbeat him into accepting her demands without too much trouble – but that would be a short term victory for her, one that would sour their relationship beyond repair.
And given that the woman had just been given a front row seat to watch what happened to those who tried to force him into arrangements he didn’t much care for...
No, this was about as close to a negotiation of equals as the two could possibly have.
The queen’s smile was all teeth. “A few years, perhaps. Any attempt to declare war now would be seen less as your ex-fiance’s mother championing the cause of her traditionalists and more a petulant attempt to soothe the pride of her heir.”
She shrugged. “Few enough ladies, even those deep in her camp, would be willing to pledge ships to such a flimsy cause. Not least of all because the humiliating defeat of the woman’s heir will have shaken their faith in the competency of Blackstone leadership.”
William nodded absently. “As planned. After all, if the own woman’s heir is so incompetent that she could be defeated by a mere first year boy, what must the state of her other forces be?”
“Exactly,” Yelena stated with excitement. “Never mind that your ex-fiancé was a talented mage-knight, one with a long list of victories to her name prior to her most recent loss. The opinion of high society is a fickle beast with a decidedly short memory.”
She paused, sobering slightly. “Today that is to our benefit, but tomorrow it will serve to aid our enemies.”
William nodded. Indeed, he could already see the narrative forming. Tala would be pulled out of her classes and sent either North or West for a year or more. There she’d achieve a few ‘crushing victories’ against either orcs or sky pirates and return a conquering hero ‘redeemed’ through a baptism by fire. Her most recent loss would in turn be blamed on the incompetence of the Academy’s teaching staff.
…Still, that gave them time.
“Two years at least then,” he said.
Yelena nodded. “Ignoring any other unexpected upsets, that seems a reasonable timeframe.”
“Not a lot of time to bring our own forces up to a standard where they could match the New Haven and Blackstone fleets,” Griffith said. “The temporary perception of incompetence on the part of our enemies will not make it so.”
Neither he nor Yelena could argue that point.
In theory the South held a numbers advantage, at two duchies to three, but that wasn’t strictly two in practice given the Northern Duchesses’ positions as marcher ladies.
Given the constant threat of ‘pirates’ to the West or orc rebels to the North East, both Northern duchies maintained navies in excess of their southern counterparts.
Indeed, they were required to as part of their liege levy.
In turn, the combined weight of both the Southern duchesses and the Crown was supposed to act as a counter-weight to that power. Plus the historical enmity between the pro-Elvish House New Haven and the pro-Human Blackstones.
No one ever expected the pair to find common cause in maintaining the slave trade.
Nor the fact that the ongoing conflicts with their disparate enemies would strengthen them over time rather than weaken them.
As evidenced by House Blackstone’s performance in the last two conflicts against the Solites and Lunites.
Rather than showing up a tired and wary force, their sailors and marine-knights – hardened by generations of conflict against the mountain orcs of their home – acted as the vanguard in both counter-assaults.
To devastating effect.
It was no exaggeration to say that the House Blackstone won the war near singlehandedly. Burgeoning their reputation to previously unseen heights. To the extent that William couldn’t help but wonder if said victories were what ultimately gave Eleanor Blackstone the confidence to challenge the crown on the issue of slavery but a few years later.
He certainly knew his current opinion on the disparity in military power between the North and South was borne of its performance in that conflict.
“Perhaps not under normal circumstances,” Yelena said, drawing his thoughts back to the conversation at hand. “Even with access to a veritable bounty of mithril cores provided by William’s invention, the fact of the matter is that the royal hangers currently only have three empty hulls ready for restoration into full airships.”
Which would bring the Royal Navy up to thirty-five airships from thirty-two.
Sixteen in the hands of Crownland countesses.
Nineteen in the royal navy.
…Though that assumed all three of those hulls were slated for the royal navy and one wasn’t being set aside for him. Which was unlikely given his contributions to the Crown.
Just forming a new noble house and elevating him to a count in his own right wasn’t nearly enough of a reward for gaining Lindholm access to dozens of mithril cores.
So, he thought. Seventeen vassal airships, eighteen royal navy ships and… assuming a standard loadout, somewhere around seventy or eighty shards.
He frowned.
A not insignificant short term number change, but hardly game changing.
Especially given that both Northern houses would each have perhaps a little less than thirty ships to their name between their vassal houses and ducal fleets.
“A tonnage increase of just under a tenth. Less than a twentieth if we include the Summerfield and Southshore fleets,” he muttered.
“Short term,” Yelena reminded him. “Those are just the ships I could have put into service within a week if provided the appropriate cores. More than that, there are at least four other hulls dotted across Lindholm that I know of that belong to houses that have… fallen onto hard times. Houses that could certainly be convinced to join our cause by providing them a lease to new cores.”
Three, William mentally corrected as he had little doubt Marline’s family’s ship was included in that number.
“A fifth or a tenth increase in tonnage then,” William acknowledged. “Do you think that’ll be enough to make a difference?”
“Not reliably,” the Queen admitted. “Even prior to your… intervention, the loyalist faction already had a numbers advantage. The sad reality is that the current dichotomy in our forces is more an issue of skill than tonnage.”
Griffith’s face twitched indignantly, but Yelena cut her friend off before she could speak. “Make no mistake, while I’d happily place my Royal Navy up against either the Blackstone or New Haven fleets, I wouldn’t wager it against both simultaneously. And whichever we left unmolested would likely to cut through my ducal vassals like a hot knife through butter.”
The woman leaned back, blowing out a breath in a distinctly unladylike fashion. “For ancestor’s sake, some of their countesses still have wooden hulled ships. Wooden hulls! The damn things are more showpieces than weapons of war.”
William acknowledged the point. Certainly, in order for a house to remain a noble house in good standing, they needed to possess an airship powered by an aether core. That was written into law. What wasn’t written into law was the exact level of combat readiness of said ship relative to its peers.
With that in mind, more than a few of the South’s more inland houses – protected from pirates by their coastal neighbours and orcs by their northern ones – had allowed their warships to fall behind somewhat.
After all, the upgrading of a wooden galley into a true ironclad was neither a fast nor a cheap process. And it wasn’t like wooden galleys were suddenly useless.
Upgrades could wait.
…Right up until they couldn’t.
That was the issue with military equipment. It had an unfortunate tendency towards being useless right up until it became absolutely vital.
Unless you’ve got a constant low-level war going on, William thought.
Which the North did. Attrition alone meant that there ships were newer on average, as craft were brought down, had their cores recovered, and were then provided and given a fresh hull.
Nominally a ruinously expensive process, but the continued growth of the North’s slave trading practices had made the war… almost profitable.
Plus there’s the royal subsidies both duchesses received for being Sunland houses, William thought.
Hell, the royal hanger’s strategic reserve of hulls existed to be slated for the Northern fleets prior to the recent rise in tensions.
Yelena sat up. “We can and will build more hulls. The treasury can afford it now that I’m not paying my enemies to build a fleet to oppose me.
“But that requires time,” William said.
“We could see about sourcing hulls from overseas,” Griffith said quietly.
Though as she did, William couldn’t help but think about just how far this conversation had deviated from his initial question. Nominally the whole thing was so over his head it wasn’t funny.
Had Yelena simply allowed herself to be swept up into it? Or was this some sort of negotiation tactic on her part?
By showing him just how dire the strategic situation still was, was she hoping to force some kind of concession from him that he might otherwise balk at.
He didn’t know.
“It’s worth a shot,” the Queen said, giving him no clue as to her true motives. “But doubt we’ll have much luck. My people tell me the Solites and Lunites are gearing up for another go at each other. I figure we’ve got a few months at most.”
William could believe that. It’d been long enough that a new generation would be just about ready to be thrown into the meatgrinder.
That was generally how the continental conflict had gone for the last eight hundred years. A constant ebb and flow.
At this point it was almost like clockwork.
I actually wouldn’t be too surprised if Blackstones were planning to wait for the next bout to kick off in earnest before they launched their originally planned coup, William thought. Perhaps with the duchess of Summerfield suffering an unfortunate accident to kick off the Summerfield succession crisis.
The Blackstones were ambitious, not stupid after all. There was no point in them overthrowing the Crown, only to be invaded by Lunites or Solites in turn.
“Dwarf holds?” Griffith queried.
“Same problem,” Yelena scoffed. “I checked. The waiting list for hulls is measured in years. And don’t even mention Old Growth.”
This time it was Griffith who scoffed.
And William could understand why. The wood elves were dangerous enough on their home turf, but the less said about the druid’s abilities outside it the better.
With that said, he did have an idea. “A few mithril cores might change minds.”
Both women still, a look of confusion slipping over their features. A state that remained the case for Griffith, while Yelena actually turned contemplative.
“Trade mithril for steel hulls,” the woman said, as if tasting the words. “That’s insane. Truly deeply insane.” She smiled. “I’ll consider it.
Griffith looked momentarily affronted as she glanced at her friend, before shaking her head.
Then, though, a change seemed to come over the room as Yelena turned towards him – and William suddenly knew with bone deep certainty that they’d finally reached the true reason for him being here.
“That said, as novel as a suggestion as you’ve just provided, I can’t help but be curious as to what other ‘short term’ advantages I might be able to eke out of you, William.”
“Short term?” he asked.
“Short term,” the woman repeated as she tapped a nearby crystal orb.
A crystal orb that flared to life to reveal a birds-eye-view of yesterday’s match. The beginning specifically, the one in which he’d effectively jury-rigged an impromptu radio-speaker system from a spare dagger.
On the orb he watched his actions with a vague sense of disinterest.
He’d had three spell slots available to him and he’d used them all.
One slot had been an earth spell, intended to provide him with stone-skin. He’d used that to create a string of ear-beads connected by a thin wire.
They’d needed to be connected so he could enchant them all at once.
The next, a fire spell, intended to provide the propulsion for his spell-bolts. Instead, he’d used it to enchant the connected beads with the ability to receive and then repeat vibrations.
In short, a simple speaker system.
Finally, he’d had a lightning spell, either intended to be used for flashbangs or another type of spell-bolt propulsion.
Those he’d used to make the beads propagate electromagnetic radio waves to both trigger and respond to the aforementioned vibrations.
In short, a simple radio receiver and transmitter system.
Finally he snapped the connected buds from each other, weakening the enchantment in the process. That was fine. The buds didn’t need much transmission power nor ability to create noise. The arena was only so big and the buds would be right in his teammate’s ears.
And sure, by shattering the object into five pieces he’d made it so the enchantment would fade into nothing within the hour, but he didn’t need an hour.
He didn’t even need half that long.
“I don’t recognize the rest of it, but breaking an enchanted object is almost considered heresy in some circles,” Yelena observed.
Of course it was. The whole point of enchanting an object was to provide some means for a mage to cast ‘more spells’ than their daily allotment allowed. Something that was rendered moot by breaking the enchanted object as it made the spell within start to fade.
And that was ignoring the fact that physical material made for a shoddy medium for magic. Just by attempting to imbue physical matter with magical properties, the spell could weakened by more than a third.
What was once a devastating fireball would instead become little more than a flash of fire.
Mages got around that limitation by piling spells on-top of one another as best they could, but that meant you were effectively spending three times as many spells slots to attain to attain a result similar to what you could achieve with just one if you cast ‘in person’.
It was slow and inefficient in the extreme… while still being incredibly valuable.
It was no exaggeration to say that a house’s supply of enchanted cannonballs was in many ways more valuable than its treasury.
To that end, enchanting an object… just to break it?
Well, he could well understand why that might seem a little confusing from the outside looking in.
“I’ve never been much for tradition,” William said slowly, allowing the dance to play out.
Yelena nodded. “I suppose not, but surely you know that outside of earth-magic, there are rules against bringing enchanted items into the arena?”
He shook his head. “As you said. Bringing them in. I enchanted the item while inside the arena.”
In the starting area admittedly, but it counted.
“Hmmm.”
“I’d also point out that by that standard, supplying enchanted ammunition would be against the rules,” William said.
Yelena waved her hand dismissively. “Earth magic. Most cadets have enchanted armor to that effect and the rules allow for it. Me enchanting your ammunition to be more… effective in its role was simply an extension of that ruling.”
Now William had to wonder just who was playing hard and fast with the rules?
“Are the Blackstones not accepting that?” he asked.
The Queen quirked an eyebrow at him at the obvious change of topic from his radio, before she decided to magnanimously allow it.
“Not at all, they’re crying foul play on both the wax front and your new weapon. Fortunately for us, I acquired my permissions for the wax in advance and have ample means to prove your new weapon isn’t enchanted. Mostly through the Instructors who were sworn in on it prior to the bout.”
“None of whom are from House Blackstone,” William pointed out.
The high elf shrugged. “I don’t care or need to convince them. Just everyone else.”
Yeah, William could understand that. His attack on the Blackstone’s reputation was about hurting them in the eyes of other houses more than anything else.
“How long do you think we have before the Spell-Bolt’s design leaks or they figure it out on their own?” he asked.
Yelena glanced over at Griffith who sat up. “It will happen sooner rather than later. It was always a risk given the simplicity of the design. Such is simply the nature of the beast. At the very least, our foes will not be able to replicate the design openly which gives us the edge in manufacturing for now.”
Once more she was peering at him like he was a puzzle to be solved and it was all he could do not to puff up smugly at her expression. Oh, she’d certainly not tried to hide her disdain at him choosing to unveil said weapon in an academy match – and now she was undoubtedly rethinking that disdain as she realized just how deep his plans went.
“…And that assumes you don’t have other toys to show us,” the Queen said, drawing his attention back to the conversation at hand. “Like whatever you did to be able to instantly communicate with your team from across the arena with just three spells. Or the particular means you used to kill a beast that is almost entirely immune to magic, deep underwater… and the size of a galleon – by yourself.”
…And whether that method could in turn be applied to other things.
Like enemy warships.
Or fortresses.
Still, this was it.
The meat of the conversation.
And for just a moment William had to wonder just how many invisible guardswomen were in the room with him.
He’d be offended if it was less than six.
Because there was no way he was going to be allowed to walk out of this room without giving away a lot of information.
“I have conditions,” he said.
Once more Griffith frowned at his glibness – it probably offended her that he wasn’t just performing his patriotic duty and handing the methods over while hoping for a reward for such leal service.
She was a loyal idealist that way.
Yelena had no such expectation. “Of course.”
“I already have a mithril core in my possession, so it goes without saying that I want to be elevated into my own house.”
“Of course,” Yelena said easily.
“I also want one of those ship hulls you were just talking about.”
At that the woman hesitated, but only for a second. “Agreed.”
“Land, of course. Somewhere near the capital while I finish my schooling,” he said.
The woman twitched. “You still intend to complete your education?”
“It’s useful to me,” he said entirely truthfully.
As a testing ground for his designs, if nothing else. The fact of the matter was that the Academy and the capital in general had some of the best facilities in the country.
He’d need that.
More to the point, he wanted the contacts provided by continuing to attend with other nobles.
“Easily done,” Yelena said with a slightly quirked eyebrow.
“An introduction to the alchemists guild.”
“The alchemist’s guild?” The woman said, no doubt thinking about the positively decrepit organization – and why he might be interested in it.
And in turn if that related to how he’d killed Al’Hundra.
Even if common logic said otherwise. The homeopathic potions created by alchemy might not have used ‘fae magic’, but they were still magic.
Which meant any kind of explosive or poison would fail if one attempted to use it on a kraken.
Still, it was a clue he was sure his nation’s sovereign was storing away.
“Done,” she said finally. “Out of curiosity, would this in any way be related to the recent destruction of an alchemy lab and the death of two academy servants who definitely shouldn’t have been there?”
William shrugged. “Not at all. As I understand, it was an old building and alchemy materials have a tendency to be volatile. To me that whole thing sounds like an unfortunate accident resulting from people playing with things they really didn’t understand.”
“Quite,” Yelena didn’t quite snort.
He nodded, content, before he moved onto his most contentious ‘request’. “Finally, I’d like you to give up on whatever plans you have to tie me into your powerbase via marriage.”
“Impossible.” Her reply was instantanious. “At this point in time you’re too valuable. I literally cannot afford to leave you as a free agent.” Her tone turned commiserating. “Rest assured though, it will be a beneficial match.”
She raised a finger. “All the funds you could want. The ears of the city’s greatest guilds. Fuck, given what I’ve heard of your early years, as many lovers of as many types as you might wish for. Admittedly, whichever of my daughters I match you to might be less pleased about that last item, but they’d understand.” She paused. “It’s clear to me you have a love of invention. Accept my offer and I will give you the means to see that dream fulfilled in its entirety.”
All under her thumb. Likely ensconced within the Palace somewhere. His words conveyed through the servants there. Whatever resources he created or cultivated ultimately answering to the crown.
…As would any organization he created.
And he couldn’t have that.
Sure, his goals aligned with the Crown for now, but that wouldn’t always be the case.
Slavery was but one problem he intended to solve after all.
So no, he needed to cultivate his own power base.
One that truly answered to him.
To that end, he needed his own house. As free and independent as possible.
“I recall my mother saying much the same thing,” William said dryly. “Admittedly not the lovers part, or the inventions bit, but about her wanting the best for me. And I believed her when she said it. Marrying Tala Blackstone would have seen me set for life. Able to live in great comfort until my dying day.”
He eyed the high-elf opposite him. “Yet I declined regardless. As I am declining now.”
“I’m afraid that’s not an option,” Yelena said, and to her credit she sounded truly regretful.
He smiled. “As I recall she said much the same. And how did that work out for her?”
Something dangerous flashed across the queen’s eyes, the military woman within coming to the fore. “That almost sounded like a threat, William.”
He stared back. “Take it as you will.”
The elf sighed. “And here I thought we understood each other. Yet now I am reminded that for all your brilliance, you’re still just a young man. Likely high on your recent, admittedly well earned, successes.”
She raised a finger and ten palace guardswomen shimmered into existence around the room.
“I am not your mother, William.” Yelena said. “I am indebted to you. Grateful to you. I have a duty to reward you for services rendered. Yet, before all of that, I have a duty to my nation. A duty that requires me to place you into my power. Because, unlike your mother, I understand not just the opportunity you represent, but the threat as well.”
He was unbothered. “I assume that’s a polite way of saying that without the counterbalance of the Blackstone’s protecting me any longer, there’s nothing stopping you from simply… disappearing me if I don’t play ball?”
Across from him, Griffith shifted uncomfortably as Yelena looked solemnly regretful. “You know the threat we’re up against here William. One way or another, I’ll have what’s in your head. Just as I’ll deny that information to my enemies. To that end, as much as I’d much rather use the carrot, the fact of the matter is that my duty to my country requires me to use the whip if you refuse to accept it.”
He understood that. Truly he did. He could give the woman all the assurances in the world that he was on her side, but this situation was simply beyond trust. His autonomy was simply a variable that she couldn’t afford with the stakes so high.
She would not and could not let him leave this room without a guarantee that he’d soon be encloistered within the palace – either in a guest room or the dungeon.
And that was now.
He wondered how bad she’d be when he really got to work?
…Fortunately, he had a means of cutting this little power play off at the pass.
“Then let me save you a little heartache,” he said slowly. “There’s no possible way of you getting total control over my autonomy without also seeing your opponents gain access to the same weapons you’re hoping will give you the means of triumphing over them.”
Yelena eyed him. “And why’s that? Because let me assure you, I have a few dungeons in my palace that, while quite nice to live in, wouldn’t allow for even an errant whisper to escape.”
“Because said errant whisper is already out,” he said slowly. “And while it’s contained in a little hidey-hole, it will only continue to do so just so long as I continue to make public appearances.”
A sudden chill crept into the air.
“You provided the means to someone else,” Griffith said slowly.
“Not quite,” he said. “Just a package to a third party, with some instructions to open should I… disappear.”
“Who!?”
William felt himself shoved down into his seat by the two palace guard beside him as Yelena stood up.
“Truth be told,” he grunted. “I don’t remember the organization’s name. Bonnlyn probably would. Her family set up the meeting.”
“The Mecant girl.” Yelena sagged at his words. “One of the banking clans.”
Indeed. One of the banking clans. Based out of the Western Dwarf holds.
And with that knowledge he knew there was not a hint of a doubt in the Queen’s mind that William’s words would come true if he didn’t continue to be seen in public.
More to the point, it wasn’t a group she could bully into coughing up whatever he’d provided them.
Ignoring the natural stubbornness of dwarves, the banking clans were oath-sworn to protect their client’s contracts.
“Release him,” Yelena said tiredly – and instantly the pressure on his shoulders relented as the two guards stepped back professionally.
Drawing himself up, as he patted down his uniform, William had to resist the urge not to smirk as the two elves stared warily at him.
Finally, after allowing the silence to drag a bit longer, he spoke.
“So? Is it safe to say that marriage is no longer on the table?” He paused. “Oh, and as an addendum, one of my other conditions is that I’d like to use that orb there.” He pointed to the object on the table, one that was still repeating his radio-creating actions on repeat. “I imagine my mother is rather upset with me right now, and if I don’t speak to my younger sister soon, I can’t help but think of what our mother might tell her.”
The two elves – and the palace guard for that matter – continued to simply stare at him.
“You can even listen in if you want,” he said. “I promise not to drop any information that might see our entire nation destroyed by civil war.”
Yelena sagged in her seat. “Just… do it, you madman.” She leaned backward, staring at the ceiling. “Blackmailed by an eighteen year old. Gods above, my ancestors are probably spinning in their graves. I can only pray you’re as much of a headache for our enemies as you are for me.”
William said nothing, just smiling, as he leaned over the table to pull the communication orb closer – though he did send an errant wink in Griffith’s direction.
Eliciting a fiery blush.
“And quit flirting with one of my instructors,” Yelena groused. “Seeing as you apparently don’t want to get married to anyone connected to me.”
William resisted the urge to chuckle.
It was nice to know that under all the audacity and agelessness of his nation’s queen, she was apparently also a sore loser.
It was… humanising.
So much so that he wasn’t even all that sore about the threat of being kidnapped.
That was just how the game was played after all.
Comments
Cullen M Brewer
Any chance we can check what is available? The final chapter went live on reddit, but I still cannot view it here.
DMR1
The 870 Fieldmaster came out in 1987, didn't it?
Floplays
is that the 9€ one?
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D (4.8k)
Dankenobi1
Bro that's one step too far, do you want blue to cry himself to sleep
MarakEvans
Words for the Word Count!
Floplays
IT HAS BEEN 2 HOURS NOOOOO
Random Information
So are we going to see William talking to Mum and Sis, the Blackstones' reaction or some toilet humor?
Blue Fishcake
Steady on you crack addicts, it's nearly here :D I figure another two hours or so for me to finish up this last section. (Just be thankful it was all mostly complete *before* whatever flu this is had me start coughing up a lung :P )
John
i'm not disappointed, i'm just mad
mike wade
😢 Do you feel the guilt blue?
Finn Ryan
sadly no. Flowers and chocolates will be accepted in this time of grief.
mike wade
Is blue alive?
mike wade
Just get a Reddit account. That’ll cure any urge you have for being a decent human being.
RaccoonBuffoon
Tuesday, 2:02am Greenwich Mean Time. Printed out, ground up and snorted Blue’s previous works to get by. The rush was strong, but fleeting. Tried ice baths and hitting self in face with hammer to distract from cravings, no effect. If present circumstances continue I may be forced to touch grass and speak with other human beings. Hopefully relief arrives in time to save me from these horrors.
mike wade
Blue, if you post this at 11:59…. I’ll send you a sad emoji. Then you’ll feel guilty.
Harrison F
(Mr. Incredible voice) “We get there, WHEN WE GET THERE”
mike wade
The wait… it burnnnnssss.
Floplays
now that i have written this i will get a notification every time someone likes it and i will come here in euphoria that a new chapter came out and will be soooo disappointed
Floplays
wheeeeeenn new chapterrrrrr
mike wade
psst... here's some Crack cocain. It's not as good as signature blue, but it'll get you through.
Groinfist
*Scratches neck. Need my fix man, just a little taste.
Jay
The logical assumption that everyone immediately jumped to was that Will killed Al'Hundra, and the logical conclusion off of that assumption is that Will could do it again and therefore now has access to however many cores he wants rather than just the one (Griffith and the Queen certainly made that assumption). If anything it would give her aunts an explanation as to how Marline obtained a core even before she graduated and became a saboteur. Marline wasn't sure whether her family believed her before, but they certainly would do so now.
MarakEvans
In Ch24, Marline notified her family to retrieve a core for their skyship. Did she ever specify the it wouldn't be wagered in a schoolyard fight about an arranged marriage? Her aunts simmering would be... some interesting drama.
Blue Fishcake
I'm looking at either today or tomorrow, leaning towards tomorrow :D (Currently suffering a flu for *daring* to venture out on Friday. My throat feels like sandpaper :P)
MarakEvans
He has the right to remain silent. Anytime he says can and will be used to dunk on him in the court of the internet.
Conrad34xdsa
Although I would like to know what the estimated word count for part two and three are. If they are each going to be 5k in length that can give us an idea for how long to wait.
The Fire Piper
I was thinking the same thing. Imagine if his mother mentioned the Blackthorn conspiracy with the queen just off screen.
mike wade
It would be hilarious if to fuck with his mother and sister if he asked yelena to come on screen. I’d imagine her saying in between the lines that her son is a madman, and that she as the sovereign ruler is now unfortunately attached to this lunatic by the hip now. That would be some mind melting shit for his poor mother.
MarakEvans
Indeed. I'm sure an elf can appreciate a clever little ruse that takes decades to play out. But then that begs the question, he didn't plan this out the time of his siblings birth... did he? Edit: Speaking of his sister... does she have any royal blood in her? That would be awkward to explain to the queen.
MarakEvans
But that also gives him time to develop his own power base and mitigate such attempts. He will need to convince Griffith to, effectively, elope from the queen's influence or otherwise convince the Queen herself to let her be.
MarakEvans
Huh... now that you mentioned it... Are we going to have "sister-wives" situations like in Space Babes?
Ollie Fairweather
It would be a shame if one or two bombs went "missing" near the Free Orks especially with that shiny new carrier heading towords them.
cyrgon
The wooden ships could be great base material for conversion into flattops too.
mike wade
I hope we get to see Williams call with his sister through the queens or Griffiths perspective. It would do double duty of revealing their new opinions of William and dive home how fucking dangerous he is as an individual, and move the plot along with the call itself.
Hue Man
I can never get enough of reading these stories, the mind games at play. I am excited to see where the story will go from here.
Void Vagabond
Should we expect a break in in the schedule after the second half of the epilogue is posted, or are you continuing right on with book 2?
Blue Fishcake
1. The conflict is strengthening the Northern Houses, not the Kingdom itself, as the Sunlands receive supplies from the other houses at a much reduced tariff. This is mentioned when William thinks of the fact that the once empty hulls were originally slated for the North. I.E. The rest of the nation is weakening itself keeping the North 'topped up'. That combined with the growth of the Slave Trade has ironically made the North wealthier than it should be - even as the Crown now realizes this and moves to reduce the aid it's sending (which is hard to do given how provocative such a move could be seen as being, as it quite literally 'weakens' the nations defenses against the orcs). The North is essentially enjoying a bit of a military industrial complex which empowers it at the expense of the rest of Lindholm. 2. On the Solite/Lunite front, it's a bit like Germany pushing for Stalingrad over Moscow. Just because that's now the aim of the new campaign doesn't mean that Moscow (and thus Russia) isn't the ultimate objective. Hope that helps :D
Random Information
It's hard to create a coherent political scene in any fanasy novel setting. So there seemed to be some discrepancies from this chapter and the current one on Royal Road. -the kingdom could ill afford to keep feeding people and iron into the meatgrinder that was the Sunlands. (i.e. conflict with the Orcs is weakening them) VS -[...] the ongoing conflicts with their disparate enemies would strengthen them over time rather than weaken them. AND -[...] the continued growth of the North’s slave trading practices had made the war… almost profitable. (i.e. conflict with the Orcs is strengthening them) Also there's the Lunite/Solite position:- -With each passing year, the Homeland’s view of Lindholm grew ever more covetous. More and more the Sun Empress and Desert Khan’s rhetoric centred less on their ongoing deadlock with each other and more on the idea of ‘recovering wayward territories’. VS -My people tell me the Solites and Lunites are gearing up for another go at each other.
Blue Fishcake
The last epilogue will most assuredly not be coming after a break. I am planning to have it out soon, but refuse to say when, as I have a habit of over-promising and under-delivering :D
mike wade
So, I'd love to see the gun scene from the non-canon chapter 19 be reworked for the queen. Why tell the queen what gunpowder is when he can SHOW her?
Conrad34xdsa
So a few predictions for how the story can go. 1. William refuses to inform the queen on how exactly he performed the kraken slaying, citing her attempt to kidnap him as a loss in confidence. Instead he promises her to give her the remaining 18 cores from the shipwreck graveyard. 2. William is able to acquire through strong-arming the queen into giving him an island. Specifically, one with a large cave system with a mouth that leads to the open ocean, U-boat submarine pen style. William commissions a rudimentary submersible to steal the cores from shipwrecks in The other empires territorial waters. Considering how often they seem to be fighting, there would be available cores. This would technically turn this Part of the story into Sexy Submarine Babes but it would be an interesting change of pace. Plus it would explain why he is able to keep his methods hidden from the rest of the world, Queen included. 3. With the extra cores, William contacts the other remaining houses without cores but still possess a sky-ship. He gives them the core on the condition to swear fealty similar to how the dark elf had previously done. This gives him a power base from which he can use to take the Summerfield Duchy after everyone starts that succession crisis. William keeps talking about causing chaos and Destruction and this could be the first step. 4. With William as a Duke, he can openly field a larger force from which he can wage war on a much larger scale and have the resources necessary for inventing whatever he wished. This would be the time that the Blackstones would start the coup with The knowledge that someone who is not only anti-slavery, but also a man who had publicly embarrassed their house is now in a position of power to turn the tide of their war. They would try to prevent him from re-organizing after the Succession crisis in hopes of succeeding before it’s too late. All-in-all, a wonderful story. How many parts are we expecting from you for the epilogue? Will they be coming soon or will this be the start of the 2 week break?
The Fire Piper
And come to think of it, I think William has enough to pull off at least a crude form of radar... that by itself could turn the tide of a war. Like hiding in clouds while you know exactly where your enemy is I would assume is quite the advantage.
The Fire Piper
Hmm... in the future view of things, the queen should turn some of those outdated wood ships into shard carriers if they are so crunched for time. I would think doing that and doubling or tripling the shard force would be a winning strategy. Maybe add some larger shard bombers seeing the future payload of bombs that might be coming.
forgottenliquid
one of the most major shifts in naval doctrine could be switching to full steel construction of airships instead of Iron as ironclad era ships such as the French Gloire came in at a displacement of 5,618 tons at 256 ft in length while a ww2 era Gearing class destroyer at full combat load had a displacement of only 3,520 tons but at a length of 390.5 ft. now while ww2 era destroyers tended to sacrifice armor they still had enough to most likely deal with old school cannons and all that extra carrying capacity could be used to bolt on additional guns or armor or left as is more increased maneuverability. and this isn't even including the fact that there appears to be different levels of cores as William promised Marline at LEAST a core capable of powering a frigate. now I tried to base this off ships at least roughly comparable to frigates do the aforementioned thing, but it's entirely possible that a first rate ship of the line core going off this could power something around the 10,000 ton Pensacola class heavy cruiser from ww2. also trying to use older ships for this comparison as they wouldn't have any crazy space age materials in them.
Random Information
No, Bonnlyn's surname is Mecant. “Well I’m Bonnlyn Mecant. Craftswoman and trader by nature, soldier by obligation.” (Chapter 5)
Morpheus
Mecant you misspelled merchant I think.
Jay
Why didn't anyone suggest equipping the mothballed hulls with two or more cores? In the past it wouldn't have made sense since the availability of mithril would have been the limiting factor, and more ships offer more strategic and tactical choices. However with a surplus of cores compared to hulls, it makes sense to consider. A ship with double the aether (or more) would be able to fire more guns more often at higher pressure, and have a faster cruising speed. Combined with sandwiched layers of kraken scales and steel for armor and you'd have the steampunk version of a super battleship. It's surely much faster and easier to add some extra plumbing and armor to a ship than it is to build one from scratch, and the benefit for that one ship would be enormous. At the very least it would give House Blackstone and New Haven pause to consider how to handle a new naval paradigm. They would likely have to dip heavily into their stockpiles of enchanted cannonballs to bring one down and/or redesign their shards to carry more firepower.
Blue Fishcake
Soon. I'm not saying exactly when because I have a history of failing miserably.
Blue Fishcake
When you play the game of introducing lizards to eat the pigeons you don't immediately leap to the gorillas. If that metaphor makes sense to any of you, well done :D
Jeremy Grundy
More airships would be nice but shards seem to be the future. In a civil war they would be fighting over land which means you can break the cores down to make shards (easier to produce in numbers) and station them at air bases. The shards have vtol so you could theoretically station them anywhere. The older wooden ships could be used as logistics ships resupplying the shards on the ground as they move forward.
Borisoff72
William should just hurry up and invent effective anti-air guns already. Once those exist, the airships are done as a military factor (for direct combat purposes, they may still have some niche logistics role); just nice fat targets that any real-world AA crew would have wet dreams about. Of course, that means that you have to give the Queen artillery and somewhat advanced riflery as well; but it seems dumb to try to play a game of who has more and better sky ships where the enemy has advantage (or at least parity) when you could instead play a game of, "who has the better artillery, oh, you barely understand the concept? sucks to be you."
Rex Regun
You probably already answered this, but I’ll ask anyway…. If this is Part 1, when will we see Part 2? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?
Blue Fishcake
Huh, thanks for pointing that out. I literally have no idea how that mistake was made six times without being caught.
Random Information
There still seems to be a lot of "Willaim"s rather than "William". Or "William"s rather than "Willaim" if you wanted a more unusual name. Throughout the book I'm not quite sure which is the one you want.
Random Information
I disagree - it should show that William is not just in it for himself and that he cares about others. A schemer without compassion for others is much more dangerous.
Oreo-belt25
I think a constitutional monarchy is better. Especially considering elves live thousands of years, a good leader can do incredible things for a nation.
Oreo-belt25
With the ability to down krakens, I think it'd be cool if he made a conventional Sea-based aircraft carrier.
mike wade
It might soothe her bruised ego after she has a existential crisis.
Kiryln
If she ever finds out he is almost 100 years old, and from a civilization leagues ahead of hers, she is gonna have a conniption.
MarakEvans
Could be a running joke. Marline making tactfully snide remarks here and there.
MarakEvans
Yelena is defo gonna think about wrapping William up using Joana. The Lindholm Queen is just ruthless like that.
Vonbaron
If our boy doesn't make a supercarrier I'm going to be disappointed :P I am very glad he's staying in school though as that's the smart move for many reasons.
James Ryan Bell
I was mad about the delay at first but this was a chef's kiss and a half to read.
Househut21
That just might get him killed out of hand. The Queen should already have enough hints and clues that if she wasn't so distracted by the brewing civil war she could put it together herself after interviewing his peer group. William isn't thinking or acting like a "child". He's made long range plans and prepared several fall back positions much like a high reasoning mature adult would. Right now he's an inventor that had a couple of good ideas and with luck and forethought has found a way through a complex situation after being forced to roll the dice in a confrontation with a more experienced opponent. If I were to discover that he's a ancient human from another dimension with a head stuffed with esoteric knowledge and an deep understanding of physics. After determining he does not want to ally himself with me (because I'm awesome and why wouldn't you want to be my friend unless you're going to oppose me eventually?) I would grab him and begin to extract the knowledge from him and hope I can pull even more inventions from him in captivity than he could have written in his info dump to my enemies.
Andrew Huang
Can we see the core be fished out of the latrines please? Two dark elf aunties redeeming their generation by going through literal shit lives rent free in my head.
Jacob
I'm guessing his plans that require him to eventually oppose the queen is a goal to replace the monarchy & species-based class system with an egalitarian democracy.
Jacob
Glad to read this. I was really curious how William was going to keep himself from being tied too closely to the crown, since he had to know the Queen wouldn't/couldn't afford for him to stay a free agent at this point.
Jacob
I think it's more like renewing the spell contracts in their dreams is like sitting down with a restaurant chef to agree on the day's menu and what it says, and the incantations during the day is like placing the actual food order for one of the menu items
mike wade
Just to be clear, when the spell contracts are renewed at night, the spell element is determined not the specific spell correct? Because I thought that if he assigned a spell slot to stone skin, he’d only get stone skin. Not get a general use earth spell slot.
MarakEvans
!
John
just thought of something. william is definitely going to be given control of the land that verity's family lives in right? that way she'll be serving aboard his airship. narratively speaking that makes perfect sense
Jay
It occurs to me that William is now single, and the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom. Head of his own house, a military genius, a scientific/magical prodigy, a political virtuoso, unfathomably wealthy, and powerful enough at 18 that entire houses are pledged to him and sovereign rulers of nations have to court his favor. He's going to have every woman in the country throwing themselves at him crotch first. Verity and Marline are going to have full time jobs acting as his bodyguard.
Jay
Forget the sister, I want to see the conversation with his mother. Especially if the Queen is in the background.
mike wade
I’m pretty certain that at this point William can do whatever the fuck he wants.
Borisoff72
The Queen has basically already told Griffith to seduce William. As nobility herself already in a matriarchal society Griffith probably has the power to betroth their offspring into the Royal house with or without William's consent. The Queen saw his refusal coming and had a backup plan ready. That's why Griffith was staring at him so intently and also why the Queen told him to stop flirting with her, she thinks her telling him not to makes it more likely that he will. Anyway, as this sort of game goes, marrying one of his kids into the royal house is probably a decent move in the future anyway.
Jesse Gilbert
Thank you for the chapter. Is William allowed to demand patrilineal control over his hold where able? Obviously it's a matriarchal society, but surely there's provisions for if he produces a male heir being allowed to pass down heirship to his sons.
Borisoff72
William has made a bit of a mistake by showing the Queen that he cares a lot about his sister. Before that, she probably thought he was writing off all members of his family. This is leverage the Queen now has over him, I'm not sure why he did it. EDIT: Perhaps he wants the Queen's help to get her out of his Mom's clutches and into his and put his sister, now his ally (and nominally the Crown's), onto the Summerfield ducal seat. Basically, bring his mother's and the Blackstone's plan to fruition but for the other side.
zefur
Love the political landscape exploration in this, usually don't enjoy politics in fiction but this is ALL focused on fictional politics. Hope we get more soon. Could see this being published as a book.
mike wade
I REALLY want to see this conversation between William and his family. That is going to be a lovely disaster.
Random Information
The trouble is if he gets a wife, he gets a personal minder loyal to the Queen. Anything he does, his whereabouts, his inventions could be questioned and reported on. We also don't know what happened in his long previous life. Maybe he was very happily married - it could take a lot to get over his previous attachment. Or maybe he had a disastrous marriage and wants to avoid that again.
Blue Fishcake
Aw man, glad I could help, even if it was just a momentary distraction.
The Uub
Democracy is just another word for "mob rule." Without an outside set of morals, or the desire/muse of the writer, gang [suprise sex] would be legal. 8 out of 9 people wanted it to happen.
Kaywye
William and Yelena's verbal fencing match was really entertaining. I know you are probably going to time-jump a short distance into the future, but I would give a fair amount to be able to see Williams conversation with his bro-con sister. Lol.
Jon Thorn
This weekend was bad... I needed this.
Sonata Fauns
I loved this. While I would have played the game slightly differently and married into the queens family with her most minor and self secluded daughter. William really is playing with live grenades and for the life of me I can’t tell if he’s pulled the pins or not. I think he has however I can see why some would say no.
fezman81
Part 1 of the epilogue, he mentioned in a previous comment that this was supposed to be a third of the epilogue at 1500 words but it ended up clocking at 5.5k.
Jay
Nah, Will is going to deploy the purely mechanical rifles for his own House. That will give his house the military power and reputation it needs to force through his other planned reforms.
allsampah
I'm a bit confused by the title. Is this "an epilogue for Part 1" or "Part 1 of the epilogue"?
Atom
You know what, just to mess with her even more, he should start hinting about his true nature to the Queen. LOLOLOLOLOL
Ember
Im truly curious to see if he makes honest to gods muskets or hell even something like the early repeating rifle's. That would give a serious advantage to the royalist side.
astatine
Couldn't be my CK3 court
Househut21
That's the Queens backup gambit I'd think. She's got a year or so to arrange a meet cute for one of her daughters.
cafenacet
This was a fun chapter. Good resolution, showing there's some tension on the side of the good guys. Hoping we get to see a Janet POV before the end of the book.
Eastman
Imagine how funny it is if he met one of the daughters and just change his mind like nvm I wanna marry her 😂
Sea Wolf
Well I was already excited for book two but now in addition I’m wondering how long Yelena is going to be sore at William. I mean surely she won’t give up on tying him to her side right? She’s just going to have to be more circumspect about it. I suppose we shall find out. Looking forward to the rest of the epilogue.
Blue Fishcake
I will say nothing because I've a history of over promising and underperforming :D
aj0413
lol Queen is cute
Jay
Excellent writing as always. You again somehow managed to write an immensely satisfying chapter while leaving me feeling frustrated I didn't get more.
Voidmaster
Am I really going to have to wait another week for the next section or is it coming sooner? Your stories are just too good Blue, I made it through the last gap alright but I NEED closure here!
John
btw, it seemed like you were already some way into the next chapter. does that mean an early (relative to this chapter) release?
Andrew
Thank you!
BubblyGhost
Nnnnnice. Also I haven't even seen one attempt at seduction yet! And these people call themselves nobles.
Blue Fishcake
There is. There was a mistake.
Cullen M Brewer
Is there supposed to be chapter 28 before this? The jump is rather sudden.
George Istrate
The way I can’t wait to see his adventures in the capital
TheDevotus
It felt like 1500 words... I devoured the chapter in a flash, truly great writing, had more fun with this chapter than with the duel but that is mostly due to me liking dialogue heavy writing over action heavy one.
Bellboy
Queen still best girl, a little implied torture only adds to the spice
cyrgon
😍
Blue Fishcake
And with that out of the way, we move onto the more fun minutiae :D This whole section was supposed to be a 1500 word third of the planned epilogue. But Yelena and William just wouldn't shut up, and now it's 5.5k. Blame them. Not me.
