I had worked my way up to rat seventeen before I decided to call it a day. Only rat thirteen had exploded and that had been a deliberate test on my part. I was confident I now understood the issue there and could account for it in the future.

  It was a mistake in the part of the spell which should have helped adapt the creature to a steady draw and diet of magic. Instead of doing that, it supercharged the rat’s stomach and guts, rapidly enlarging them.

  The mutations were harder to deal with, as they appeared to be a side effect of the Power itself, similar in concept to the infertility caused in most sorcerers, except a hundred times more severe.

  I theorized that the effect would be greatly lessened on a larger creature, but for now I was left with rats that grew extra limbs, organs and tumours, with the spell wreaking havoc on their bodies. Still, if I wanted to make reliable use of the spell, any such uncontrollable factors would have to be dealt with first. My idea would only work if the subject’s brain was left completely untouched, so a way to manage the mutations was a necessity.

  Unfortunately, I was forced to abandon my continued experimentation by Haxo, who came to request my presence on behalf of the Queen, who wished to continue our discussion from yesterday.

  Which is how I found myself back in the audience room. Excluding a few royal guards, the room once more contained only Calanthé, Eylembert and Vissegerd. I took it as a good sign.

  “After careful consideration, I have decided to accept your proposal,” the Queen said, her green eyes boring into me intensely, though her mouth was curved into a smile.

  “All of it, Your Majesty?” I asked for clarification.

  She nodded, “Yes.”

  Then I would have to contact Philippa. I had hoped the Queen would refuse that part, but on the bright side, this meant she clearly understood the value of what I was proposing and my value in being capable of brokering such a deal.

  I bowed my head slightly, “There are a few other matters.”

  Calanthé sighed, “Is the White Frost finally coming? Perhaps you wish to warn me not to eat yellow snow when the time comes?”

  “Your mastery of Ithlinne’s prophecy is commendable, Your Majesty, but that is not what I wanted to discuss with you,” I responded, the sarcasm escaping before I could help it.

  The Queen’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction and she gestured for me to continue.

  “Cintra is in an excellently defensible geographical location,” I began, “Yaruga to the north, Amell mountains to the south and none can dispute Skellige’s control of the sea, to the west. Should the Northern Kingdoms choose to invade, they will doubtless do so through Sodden, from the east.”

  Calanthé nodded, “And Nazair will come through the Marnadal Stairs, through the Amell mountains, what is your point?” She paused for a second, then spoke before I could answer her, “Ah, a fortress? You are not the first to suggest such.”

  That did not surprise me much, since safeguarding Cintra’s main connection to the south was a rather obvious move. It was much more surprising that it had never been done.

  “You look like a fish trying to figure out why it can’t breathe air,” Calanthé commented.

  Which wasn’t true, I was perfectly composed.

  “I shall enlighten you,” she continued, “The cost of such an endeavour would be prohibitive when one factors in the inevitable interference from Nazair, possibly even a war. Not that the nobility would likely open their coffers. Not without significant… persuasion.”

  Ah, I should have thought of that. Cintra and Nazair had quite the antagonistic relationship despite their past ties, a relationship which had escalated into outright battle just a few years ago.

  The Queen smiled at me and I realised I might have stuck my head out a bit too soon with this proposal.

  “However…” Calanthé spoke, a gleam in her eyes like that I did not like, before shouting, “Vissegerd.”

  The stoutly built man in heavily decorated plate armour turned to the Queen, “Your Majesty?” He said, voice gravelly, glancing at me.

  “Lady von Degurechaff has an interesting proposal. A fortress guarding the Marnadal.”” Calanthé repeated.

  I eyed the man who I knew to be Cintra’s marshal. He was in his late thirties, had short brown hair, and wore a dark green cloak over his armour, which was held together by a pin in the image of a golden lion, not unlike mine. He came into his position after the battle of Hochebuz, where the Queen had earned her moniker of Lioness.

  “I agree with Your Majesty’s assessment. Nazair wouldn’t stand for that,” Vissegerd responded.

  “It occurs to me that a solution to that problem is sitting right in front of us,” the Queen gave me a beatific smile.

  I was really starting to dislike the direction this conversation was heading.

  The marshal frowned, before his face lit up in understanding, “The Brotherhood does not have much of a presence in Nazair, but even those barbarians would think twice of antagonising it.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Especially when Tanya here was trained by one of the Chapter,” Calanthé finished, still smiling.

  “The Brotherhood is neutral,” I interjected weakly.

  “It does you credit to think of your Order’s rules, Lady Degurechaff,” Vissegerd said with a respectful nod, “However, that will not be an issue.”

  “Exactly,” Calanthé took over, “You will merely… Oversee the construction. A few hundred bodyguards for an august personage such as yourself would hardly raise any eyebrows,” the Queen was outright grinning now.

  The marshal too, smiled at me.

  My own smile was frozen.

  ‘Oversee the construction!? If nations cared that much about the Brotherhood, there’d be no wars! I was basically getting sent to the front lines!’

  But how could I weasel my way out of this without looking like an unreliable coward when I was the one who brought the matter up in the first place?

  Wracking my brain, I quickly came up with an excuse.

  “What about Pavetta, Your Majesty?” I said.

  That’s right, one of the reasons Calanthé requested the presence of a Brotherhood-trained sorceress in the first place, despite evidently not trusting the organization, was her daughter. If there was anything that’d convince the Queen to let me stay here, it’d be Pavetta.

  Calanthé waved her hand, “I’ve never been given cause for concern, your presence is merely a precaution. Besides, with a change of horses, you can get back here from the Marnadal Stairs reasonably soon.”

  I didn’t quite agree with that, but the Queen’s mind seemed to be set. However, if Pavetta was a Source, there’d be no indication of it until she caused an incident, which is ostensibly what the Queen wanted me to keep a watch for. This is why I had hoped to convince Calanthé to let me stay.

  I sighed internally. Well, unless the little princess brought down the castle on their heads, which was not likely. A delay would not change much. A risk the Queen seemed happy to accept.

  In other words, a dead end for my argument.

  “And my other projects?” I asked, though without much hope. If Pavetta’s safety was not enough to convince her, then I doubted my own research would.

  “It’ll take time to prepare for the construction anyway,” Vissegerd interjected, “You can finish here, prepare the princess and her minders for any dangers that might occur in your absence and then go. It’s more important that Nazair merely thinks you are there in any case, so trips back are hardly out of the question either.”

  Yeah, right. I didn’t buy the marshal’s smile for a moment. If Nazair had been willing to fight over the construction of the fortress, then the presence of one measly mage wasn’t going to change anything.

  Taking care not to show my inner thoughts, I spoke, “I understand.”

  There was no way for me to back off without outright deserting now.

  ‘Damn you, Being X!’

  I sighed, debating internally on bringing up my last idea.

  I decided that things couldn’t get any worse anyway, so I might as well, “There is one more thing I’d like to bring up for your consideration.”

  “Oh?” Calanthé raised an eyebrow.

  I took a deep breath, knowing this one was a longshot, but the possibility was just too enticing, “The Northern Kingdoms are filled with a people that could drastically increase Cintra’s population and military strength if attracted here,” I paused dramatically, “The Aen Seidhe.”

  The Queen shook her head, “You are smart, but your age is showing here. Inviting a large number of elves here is just asking for trouble It is not as if I could command my people to abandon their prejudices and I sincerely doubt that any truly capable elves would be attracted by such an offer anyway.”

  “My age?” I couldn’t help but ask, ignoring the rest of her words.

  “You are not yet twenty, are you not? Cintra might not have a real intelligence agency, but I do know a member or two in Aretuza, you know?” The Queen explained.

  I frowned, but I supposed it made sense.

  That tidbit explained, I returned to her words, “I had envisioned something closer to a nearly autonomous vassal state instead of cheap labour, Your Majesty. Say, around Erlenwald.”

  Erlenward was a heavily forested and sparsely populated region in Cintra, just north of Marnadal stairs. In other words, the perfect buffer zone from the South

  Vissegerd scoffed, “Why not just give away the rest of the Kingdom while you are at it?”

  “Did you know, Your Majesty, that Nilfgaard was once born of a union of two peoples? A faction of the Aen Seidhe and humanity. Yet now, without having studied history, no one would guess that the blood of elves flows in their veins,” I continued, undaunted, “There is a great number of skilled and experienced people who’d be willing to do much for a home,” and wasn’t that an understatement, considering the lifespan elves could reach. So much knowledge was just languishing because of human irrationality, “Yet, even if the number of those willing to come was equal to all of Cintra, any land gifted to them would, through the ages, slowly cease to be elvish and become human once more.”

  “You, once again, raise an interesting point, sorceress,” Calanthé said, “However, would this not be known to the elves as well?”

  I nodded, “Almost certainly, but what can they do? Humanity has already won. A land of their own is their only hope now, but even that will just delay the inevitable. An offer like this would be in their best interests as well.”

  It wasn’t as if I had anything against the elves, but they were unfortunately destined to go the way of the Neanderthal. Numbers didn’t lie. Their only real chance was to find a large, empty and fertile stretch of land and somehow hide there for centuries while they’d grow a population capable of contesting humankind. A complete pipedream, as no such lands existed nearby. While not inconceivable that this world had an undiscovered continent or some such, moving an entire people such a distance would have been pretty much impossible anyway. Unless the human kingdoms funded it, but even then it’d be tricky.

  Alas, no such land was known to me and so the only thing the elves could do was play for time. Either by hiding in places inhospitable to human life, like the Blue Mountains, where their population was slowly shrinking, or by carving a piece of land for themselves.

  Yet, military action of any sort was a stupid idea, considering their entire problem arose due to a lacking population, one heavily exacerbated by past wars. They might conquer a small kingdom for themselves, but the losses sustained would only hasten their end. A catch twenty-two. A gift, even with strings attached, was the superior option, if not by that much, considering why I wanted them in Erlenwald.

  Still, it wasn’t as if I wanted the elves as meatshields. When the time came, I'd make sure the rest of the Kingdom supported them.

  “An intriguing possibility, but also one an order of magnitude more complicated than your previous proposals,” Calanthé paused, “I suppose no one can accuse you of not fulfilling your role as an advisor now.”