Tremaine recalled the choices made
King Tremaine drifted in meditation. The sensations of the country, his country drifted over him. They were familiar, and even welcome, now the country was in better shape. If someone had told him beforehand what those first few months would be like, constantly bombarded with uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensations, he might well have turned down the kingship.
Well, maybe not. I certainly was out of options at that point. He would have been a traitor in the Empire, and a murderer in Valdemar. A wave of sorrow passed over him. If only he had known and not made a malicious jump to conclusions. He resolutely put his emotions aside. They interfered with what he was trying to accomplish. He would pay for his crime with lifelong service to his country. A fierce protective desire filled him. He would never allow Hardorn to return to the shattered wreck it had been. No matter the cost.
And one of the prices he paid daily was larger than it might first appear; time. An hour out of every day without fail. Not an easy thing with my schedule. He laughed silently to himself and here I am wasting part of the hour.
With that thought, Tremaine threw himself into the daily ritual of searching the country, Thumblength by Thumblength. He tried to cover a small town each day.
By the time he finished his back was stiff and his neck hurt. He rose and headed towards his bath. There were some perks to being Royalty. As he went he passed the list of notes he'd made to a page. No instructions were required, there was nothing out of the ordinary this time. Some more farmers were ignoring the new laws and over stressing the earth's bounty. They would be warned, and then fined if they repeated the offence.
Tremaine had no sympathy for them. He'd made it quite clear that more now could mean a famine later. If they needed money, loans were available free of interest. He'd listed the location of a cache he'd found on the list too. Over the decades of persecution in Hardorn the money'd set had buried their valuables well. The claimants to the troves were, for the most part, long dead, so Tremaine cheerfully appropriated them to fund public projects, like the loans.
Now if I could only find those monsters as easily. He thought as he lowered himself into the bath. One legacy of the mage-storms had been the change-creatures. Some were harmless, but most quite a menace. He'd managed to get most of the pockets of them cleaned out, but one large group seemed to be able to shield themselves from earth-sense. He hadn't thought that was possible, and had wondered briefly if it could maybe be bandits. Until he'd seen the damage that one of them had done to a farmhouse, and the family living inside.
Finally, he'd asked Valdemar for assistance. It had arrived in the persons of Herald Talia, of whom he'd grown quite fond, and a Tayleydras Adept, Silverleaf.
He'd been overjoyed to see the two of them, at least at first, but now he was beginning to think the Vale had sent the adept just to get rid of the man. He'd never met anyone so arrogant in his entire life, and since he'd met the late Emperor Charliss himself, that was saying something. You'd think I was an assistant Pig-keeper who seized the throne the way he treats me.
The man was impossible to work with in a group. Unfortunately, Herald Talia had proved to be no more helpful. Empathy and Earth-sense would normally be a good match, but their training was proving to be too different. A week ago she'd called for a certain Herald to be sent, one with the gift of Earth-sense and the same training Talia had received herself. He was supposed to arrive today and Tremaine was hopeful that he'd make a bridge between them. The monsters had killed five people this week alone. Nothing like the war, but still. He'd received some disturbing indications that they might be hunting together.
He suddenly wondered if sending Silverleaf to meet the new Herald had been such a good idea. It had seemed like a good way to get rid of the man for a day. If the man's said a civil word since he came, it hasn't been to me. I certainly hope that Herald can control his temper!
Next Chapter, our adventurers meet Silverleaf, and we learn of Iearnen's spotted past.