Lineage

With an alliance I didn’t expect to make in the works, I left the brothel and headed back over to Annerose’s home, finding her and Miss Claire sitting on a bench across the street. I walked over to the two of them, getting a disapproving look from Annerose and a rather neutral one from her teacher.

“Sorry about that,” I said in an apologetic tone. “Felt a bit of responsibility after my little vigilante moment. Everything’s taken care of.”

“That was a very brave thing you did,” Miss Claire commented. “Not many people would put themselves in harm’s way to help another.”

“Not many people are trained to handle being in harm’s way,” I responded. “Once you know how to charm a snake, you feel more comfortable with them than those who don’t.”

“A confident attitude,” she commented, standing up and tapping me on the chest with the silver head of her cane. “But is it perhaps a mix of arrogance?”

“It may very well be,” I shrugged. “I’ve gone a long stretch of time with nothing but victories. Such things tend to boost even the most humble of men.”

“You’d be wise to learn humility before humilation, my dear boy,” she said in a wise tone. “It works wonders for the atmosphere in dinner parties.”

She then held out a soft hand and gave a proper introduction.

“Madam Claire Ducate, first-born daughter to Baroness Annesa Ducate and Headmistress of the Kingdom’s School of the Puma Academy,” she said, giving the usual spiel those of high stature do during introductions. I took her hand and firmly shook it, deciding to give my official title to seem somewhat official.

“I am Prince Richter, active monarch of Equestria and its sovereign states and also an inactive monarch of the Crystal Empire, Son of Knight-Captain Shining Armour and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and great nephew of Spymaster and Knight-General Luna and the Acting Head of the Council of Crowns, Knight-General Celestia,” I said, really hoping I didn’t fuck anything up with the names and titles.

“A rather impressive set of accolades, if I’m honest,” she commented, leaning on her cane again.

“There’s a few amateur wrestling titles in there somewhere, but they aren’t as important, I think,” I chuckled. “So, is there anything in particular I held up or ruined by darting off like that or is it business as usual?”

“Business as usual,” she nodded, turning back to the young woman. “Annerose, dear. Would you care to inform me on what exactly you’ve been doing here? Your letters stopped coming in several months ago and i’d begun to worry about you.”

“Really?” Annerose asked. “They shouldn’t have. I wrote you a letter each week on your requested dates with everything I’ve learned here. Maybe the letters got lost?”

“Or intercepted,” Claire said with a slight growl in her voice. “We’ll have to change our information relay if someone is taking the letters. I should’ve done this from the beginning, but we’re going to change it to a monthly brief in-person, if that’s okay with you?”

“Uh, of course, Miss Claire…” Annerose nodded. “If I may ask… are we close to finding it?”

“Am I privy to this conversation?” I asked after a moment. “You’re not discussing something super-evil plot are you?”

“Oh no, forgive me,” Claire said with a chuckle. “I didn’t realise how ominous that sounded. No, the matter we’re discussing is one of archeology. There’ve recently been ruins from ancient Snow Elves dug up around these parts, and the competition to discover more of them has become quite fierce due to their value. Annerose was sent here to search around the records of the city to find anything the founders may have dug up or covered over during the city’s construction.”

“And the intercepted letters are a competitor trying to snatch the prize out from under you?” I asked.

“Most likely,” Claire nodded. “So no, my dear. There’s no insidious plot here. Merely a couple of old fools competing for treasure.”

“Huh… if you’d like, I could try and get into contact with my Aunt Twilight?” I suggested. “She’s a qualified historian herself, and has access to the world’s oldest, still-kept library. I’m sure if I ask her to dig around in their for any books or material that relate to the Snow Elves of old she’d be glad to share it with you. Hell, I’m positive she’d be willing to come in person with resources and manpower.”

“You’d do that for someone you’ve just met?” Claire asked with a confused expression. “Be willing to call out a monarch and precious royal resources on what could be a wild goosechase?”

“To be honest with you, Twilight would be happy either way,” I shrugged. “Either she finds an ancient city, gets another discovery added to the already-miles-long sheet she possesses of them, leaving you the money she has no desire for, or she finds nothing and walks away satisfied she’s debunked and myth and moves onto her next activity.”

“I… I’m not sure,” Claire said, sounding rather conflicted. “It seems like a lot of effort for her to go through.”

“Trust me, Claire, it’s no hassle whatsoever,” I said in a confirming voice. “I can get her, her expertise, and a few, hard-working Equestrian workers here in a few days. I might even be able to get you officially backed by the Equestrian monarchy and recognised by the Archeologist Guilds in Equestria, if that sounds even better?”

“That… that would be fantastic,” she said, bowing her head slightly. “T-Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Awww, you made her blush,” Annerose cooed in a semi-mocking manner, Claire hiding her red cheeks by turning her head away.

“A-Anyway, Annerose, shall we review your findings so far?” Claire asked, refusing to look me in the eyes from now on.

“Of course, Miss Claire,” she nodded.

“I’ll take my leave as well,” I said, bowing slightly to the two as I spoke. “I have a few letters to write and am hoping my cursive is still up to snuff after all this time.”

“Thank you again, Your Majesty,” Claire nodded. “If you ever need the favour repaying, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

I made my way back to the tower, checking around for our people and finding Advalia sleeping in my bed as she often did, Luna snoring drunkenly in her bedroom, but found Alexander still awake and scribbling plans onto several hundred pieces of parchment scattered amongst a table of maps, schematics, and etchings.

“You’re still awake?” I asked him as I walked in.

“Of course,” he nodded, looking up at me and giving me a welcoming smile. “I can’t consider sleeping until I’ve sorted this out.”

“Surely at least a quarter of it can wait until tomorrow?” I asked him, picking up the schematics of a siege engine and holding it up to him. “Explain?”

“A jest from Her Majesty,” Alexander chuckled.

“Sounds like something she’d do,” I nodded, setting the paper down. “But you still haven’t answered my question.”

“No, this is urgent,” he said, adjusting his glasses to sit right again. “I need to get this plan formulated and into action as soon as possible. I can’t take my time when Khalifa and McGraw will be marching on our walls soon.”

“We don’t need to worry about Khalifa,” I said, patting him on the back. “I’ve got her on my payroll now.”

“Really?” he asked in amazement. “How?”

“Promised her a world beyond the walls of Falketurm,” I shrugged. “She wanted whores on the world stage, my mother can put them there and give her the financial backing as well as the recognition she wants. Once we’re done with McGraw, she leaves, and Falketurm belongs to you entirely.”

“That’s… that’s perfect,” he said with a grin. “I couldn’t have imagined this going better. Not just the total control, but having Khalifa’s network and girls on our side makes our job over a thousand times easier. McGraw’s men blab to the girls Khalifa owns and we get intel, her girls can distract McGraw’s guards from certain places, and our funds can get our forces kitted out in half the time with twice the result. Richter, this is incredible!”

“I’m glad you think so,” I nodded. “But I’m quite surprised you weren’t annoyed at Khalifa getting the world stage. Don’t you have a passion for world domination?”

“Surprisingly, no,” he said, scribbling out lines of handwriting on several sheets of parchment before rewriting them as he spoke. “The bigger ship you run the harder it is to spot leaks. I prefer having a small city with my own ear to the ground as opposed to countries upon countries where I’m relying on possibly-false, heavily-outdated intelligence.”

“A good way to look at it,” I nodded. “So, with our new partner, what’s the plan changing to?”

“Richter, with Khalifa’s girls at our disposal we might be able to walk directly into these place’s front doors and take the gold out of the coffer with nobody noticing,” he said in an excited tone. “We can cripple both McGraw’s forces and finances at the same time before we move on him directly. Now I may not have brought this up before, but we need to get his subordinates on our side before we take him out.”

“Salt the earth, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, we need to make sure there’s none of his gang left to replace him when he’s gone,” Alexander nodded. “But there is the issue of might versus many in the equation.”

“Let me guess: We might have more guys, but his guys hit harder?” I asked.

“I’m afraid so,” he sighed. “Until we get a good number of his gang to jump ship or take them out, we’re not going to be able to take over as quickly as we’d like.”

“What if I were to get a little outside help?” I asked. “Ask someone back home to send a little muscle our way with both the training and the equipment to take care of McGraw’s brawlers?”

“You’d be able to do that?” he asked.

“I’m sure I could get a platoon to help us out if needs be… but no, there’s one specific man I have in mind for this little event,” I said, thinking back to someone I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. “And I feel it’s time the two of us talk face to face about a good number of things… while I still have the chance.”

“Leaving personal bits aside: could you guarantee the men you say you can get to come to our aid?” he asked, leaving my personal turmoil out of the question.

“I may not have the same rank as other members of my family, but there’s still a good few soldiers that will listen to my orders,” I said, only now remembering a problem. A seven-foot, huge-breasted, Solar Ancestor problem.

“As long as someone doesn’t override my authority and cancel my orders,” I sighed, drumming my fingers on the table. “I just hope they’re not that petty.”

“See what you can do, Richter,” he said, patting me on the back. “I won’t draw up plans with the extra numbers just yet, but I will consider some with Khalifa’s assistance. Come back and see me when you’ve got something.”

“Will do,” I nodded, exiting the room and heading down to the study to find my finest parchment and quill.