With the capabilities given by Tikosâ comm lotuses, getting in contact with the Director was quite easy. The only real obstacle was whether or not the Director was immediately available. Fortunately, almost as soon as the magic from Leonâs call went out, it was answered.
The screen of light hovering in front of Leon illuminated, resolving into an image of the Director and Penelope in his office. Both the Director and his daughter were sitting on the edge of his desk, though they both straightened up as the image clarified, likely in response to them seeing him.
âLeon,â the Director warmly intoned as he spread his arms in a welcoming gesture, âYouâve returned!â
âI did,â Leon stated with a smile and a nod, a little surprised that Emilie hadnât yet warned him. Though he supposed he hadnât met with her yet, and he wasnât sure what their communication pipeline looked like. Regardless, it wasnât a big deal and he put the issue out of his mind.
âA balm to my old and worried mind it is, to see you hale and hearty,â the Director stated.
âIt wouldâve made achieving our goals complicated if you went and disappeared, Leon,â Penelope added.
âIt wouldnât have meant good things for my goals either if I had vanished,â Leon agreed. âBut Iâm back. A bit too much went down while I was gone, but thankfully, everything here on Kataigida has been running fairly smoothly.â
âAs it has here in Heavenâs Eye,â the Director stated. âOur revenues have been soaring over the past few months as our supply chains have finally fully adapted to the exclusion of the Sentinels in our trade network.â
âSpeaking of,â Leon said with a wry smile, âthe Keeper himself sent me a handwritten letter that I read less than an hour ago. He said nothing about Heavenâs Eye, but he did invite me to Memoria to negotiate my entrance to my Clanâs old capital.â
âWonderful news,â the Director said, his tone indicating that he thought the opposite.
âButâŠ?â Leon leadingly responded.
âBut the Keeper has spent most of his political capital,â the Director diplomatically stated.
âHeâs tried to directly murder you once,â Penelope added. âAnd he provided the former Sunlit Emperor with material support in his war against you! Not that it amounted to much in the endâŠâ
âGood men and women likely died because of that support,â the Director countered with a didactic look sent his daughterâs way. âSoldiers on both sides who might otherwise be here, had the war ended earlierâor never been started at all; had the Sunlit Emperor lacked the Keeperâs support, he may never have launched his invasion of the Sword.â
âHe wouldâve come no matter what,â Leon said. âHis pride demanded it. His arrogance demanded it. It was a war he waged for personal reasons, not for political or strategic gain.â
âRight,â the Director agreed. âHis ludicrous claims of being your Clanâs patriarchâŠâ
âThose donât matter anymore; heâs dead, and his line ended with him,â Leon responded, relishing the reality of his statement to no small degree. âBut right now, Iâm more interested in the Keeperâs offer of negotiation. When the war ended, he seemed quite unwilling to allow me to visit my Clanâs palaces in the Sundered Lands, though he at least promised to consider the request. Itâs been barely half a year since then, but he sent this invitation quickly enough that it was waiting for me upon my return?â
âThere hasnât been much contact between anyone and the Sentinels,â Penelope informed Leon. âIf itâs revealing at all, the Sentinels havenât mobilized their armies, nor have they sought out foreign support from places like the Menomonee Valley to the east. Notable as the normal harvest period for Hesperidic Apples is looming.â
Leon grinned. The last batch of Hesperidic Apples from Tikos had come just before heâd left for Arkhnavi. That meant they were about halfway through another batch, with the next to come in only a quarter of a year at most. Aside from a few small groves in the south of Beloran, the Menomonee Valley was the only place where the apples could be grown outside of Tikosâ care, and they measured the time between their harvests in decades, not months.
The apples were valuable materials in short supply, and yet the Keeper wasnât putting pressure on the Menomonee city-states he neighbored to acquire some in their upcoming harvest.
âDo we know why?â Leon asked.
âThe Empires always receive a certain percentage of the harvest,â Penelope stated, âamounting to perhaps half of the total harvest.â
âGifts, to keep them from seizing control over the groves,â the Director explained.
âThey then typically compete over much of the remaining apples by showering the rulers of the Menomonee Valley with gifts and treasure,â Penelope continued. âHowever⊠this harvest seems like itâll be without much contest. The Sentinels havenât been negotiating to acquire any, and the Sunlit Empire is too volatile to worry about external issues.â
âIlion and Evergold?â Leon asked.
âWe havenât seen much evidence of them trying to take advantage of this lack of competition,â Penelope said, her tone one of both worry and confusion.
âMight be that theyâre relying on Leon, now,â the Director speculated. âPerhaps easier to suck up to the man whoâs promised to take them to the Nexus than squabble about an inferior product elsewhere.â
âThey could still use those apples,â Penelope argued. âLeonâs apples are leagues better than those grown elsewhere, but they arenât grown in large enough quantities to completely replace them on the market, and likely wonât for centuries at the current rate of growth.â
âIf weâre still in centuries, then weâve all failed,â Leon quipped.
âAgreed wholeheartedly,â the aged Director said.
Leon sighed, then stated, âIâm not worried at all about the Menomonee Valley, but the Keeper does occupy my thoughts. I very much want access to my Clanâs old palaces, if only to explore the place. Even if there was no possibility of any practical gain, I would still want to visit. And now, after stiff refusals, the Keeper is offering potential access. This concerns me. Makes me suspicious.â
âWhat might he want in exchange?â the Director mused, his yellow eyes drifting in his daughterâs direction.
âThat, I canât answer,â Penelope admitted. âYour Eyes havenât heard anything at all about this offer. Were it coming from anyone but you, Leon, I wouldnât believe it.â
âBut we do know that thereâs been some movement in the Sundered Lands?â Leon asked.
âWe do,â Penelope confirmed. âBut that movement has been small, not exceeding expeditionary levels. There hasnât been any sign that the Sentinels are gearing up for any kind of true exploration or exploitation of the Thunderbird Clan ruins under their custodianship.â
âThe Keeper still sent a letter to Leon that we hadnât heard about,â the Director pointed out. âI would agree with Leon and say that this offer is suspicious on its face. I would recommend ignoring his offerâat least, for the time being.â
âThat would be the safest option,â Penelope agreed.
âI detest the safest option,â Leon murmured, only partly in jest.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
âAre you considering accepting?â the Director asked.
âI am,â Leon stated. âMaybe not in Memoria, but if he agrees to a meeting somewhere more neutral, like Argos, then Iâd be much more inclined to agree.â
âI would advise against this course of action,â the Director insisted. âRight now, the unity of our cause rests solely upon your shoulders. If you die, then who knows what will become of your Kingdom? Besides, our mutual interests will be dashed.â
And the arks that the Director had transferred to the Ravens would also be lostâthough that part wasnât said aloud, Leon still heard it clear as day.
After a soft chuckle, Leon said, âBelieve me, Iâm well aware of my position. And Iâm only considering all of my options. And the rest of my advisors will be informed and given a chance to pass on crucial information. My answer will only be decided upon after I know all I can about the situation and what resources are available to me.â
âSo be it,â the Director whispered. âI wish you nothing but wisdom in this endeavor.â
âTo discuss another matter,â Leon said, drawing the Directorâs attention back to him, âhow has the search for the Titanstone Foundry been going?â
âNot well,â Penelope said after her father silently prodded her to answer. âWe have a number of surveyors out in there, but that region of the Empire is close to the Kyron Steppes, and is rather sparsely populated; the surveyors donât have much infrastructure that they can take advantage of to speed up their work. And they have found some valuable minerals, such as gold, but they have yet to find any trace of Titanstone in the region.â
âAnd how concerning is that?â Leon asked.
âWere we looking for a new mine, Iâd say quite,â Penelope answered. âThere will usually be faint traces of the material within fifty miles or so of where itâs more concentrated. We havenât found these traces despite our search. That doesnât mean thereâs nothing there, just that if there is, then we havenât found it. What I find is more of a mitigating factor, though, is that we search for a Thunderbird industrial facility, not for a new mine. So, our usual methods of surveying the land might not be accurate. This facility would have to have been buried by time, but if itâs otherwise intact, then there might be no leak of its stocks, which would mean we canât then detect it with land surveys.â
âAnd thatâs assuming there was any remaining stock, to begin with,â the Director pointed out, and Leon had to agree. If he led any of the Thunderbird Clanâs vassals at the time of Jason Keraunosâ death, he wouldâve done his best to loot any valuable material he could before leaving, and Titanstone would be near the top of that list. For all he knew, the foundry had been picked clean and its shell left to rot in the wake of his Clanâs fall.
âThis foundry and the Clanâs palaces are the only Thunderbird sites that might still be untouched,â Leon murmured. âKeep searching, even if you find nothing. There may be nothing remaining there, but the potential gains are too great to ignore. We need Titanstone more than any other resource right now.â
âIn that, we can agree,â the Director stated.
âUnderstood,â Penelope said.
âGood,â Leon breathed. âNow, is there anything else going on that I ought to be made aware of?â
The Director smiled and he and Penelope began informing Leon of all that Heavenâs Eye had been doing over the past few months. For the most part, however, Leon largely lost interest, as he wasnât too interested in the guildâs day-to-day affairs, and the larger projects hadnât advanced much in only three months. The one piece of information that he was actually interested in, however, was that Ajax was being recalled to Occulara from the Bull Kingdom. Leon was momentarily concerned until the Director added that Eliseâs uncle was being promoted, not punished.
Thankfully, the update didnât last long, and soon enough, the call ended with the Director and Penelope promising to look more into the Keeperâs affairs and to continue their land surveys in the Sunlit Empireâs western regions.
When the call ended, Leon glanced at Gaius, whoâd been taking notes in the corner throughout the whole call, then exhaled, releasing as much stress as he could.
âTired?â Gaius asked.
âPerfectly awake and energized,â Leon responded, not entirely telling the truth, though getting close enough to it. âJust makes for a stark contrastâdealing with Kingly duties and fighting for my life on Arkhnavi. The latter was terrifying and exhilarating, and I would never want to return to that plane, butâŠâ
âBeing a King isnât as exciting?â Gaius asked with a knowing smile.
Leon just groaned and waved his hand like he was dismissing the conversation. He slouched in his chair a bit, closed his eyes, and lounged for several wonderful seconds. Then he sprang to his feet, his lips widening into a bright smile.
âNow, though,â he said, âwe can get to the fun stuff!â
---
Leon inhaled, the rich aroma of countless medicinal and alchemical herbs filling his nose. It was almost intoxicating, almost to the point of being a little unpleasant, though Leon rather liked it.
He, Gaius, and several other secretaries had traveled to a relatively small part of his palace where Helen had set up her alchemical lab. The last time Leon had been in Helenâs lab had been in his temporary palace when heâd ripped through it looking for any kind of solution for the uncontrolled soul realm expansion heâd suffered after eating a Hesperidic Apple while the Iron Needle was in his Mind Palace. The lab sheâd set up here looked much the same as that one had, though a bit larger and filled with a few more tools and workstations.
Helen, as always, tended to work alone, though she had stacks of correspondenceâmostly with Harts, Bison, and Heavenâs Eyeâon a nearby table, as well as another table covered in reference material. The notes she had regarding her current projects covered several boards and filled dozens of tomes on another table, though Helen herself was busy standing in front of a huge, covered iron cauldron staring at various rune-powered meters and gauges, slowly turning several small valves.
Whatever she was doing had so taken her attention that she hadnât noticed Leonâs entrance, nor the knocks heâd made against her door. She did, however, notice as he loudly walked over, his aura poking at hers to get her attention without startling her.
âLeon!â she said with a grin as she turned one last valve and stepped away from the cauldron. âI didnât notice you there! Howâs it going?â
âWell enough,â Leon said, and they exchanged a few more pleasantries. âYou have quite a lot going on in here,â he observed after their greetings had finished. He cast his gaze around at all the glassware, some of it filled with crushed and minced plants, others suspended over bright flames and filled with molten metal. There were other workstations there, too, but Leon hadnât the alchemical knowledge base to truly know all of what Helen had in her lab.
âJust some side projects,â Helen said as she sent a dismissive look to most of what had filled her lab.
âIâm surprised there arenât stacks of healing potions and whatnot in here,â Leon said as Helen led them over to the one relatively clear table in the room, though there were no chairs.
âHanded those off when we moved the lab,â she explained. âAnd ever since, the Ancestral Harts have taken over production of a lot of the potions and salves I was making. Frees me up to focus on other projects.â
âIâve heard,â Leon said with a wolfish grin. âOne in particular has caught my interestâŠâ
âFermenting Hesperidic Apples, you mean?â Helen asked as a matching grin spread across her face. When Leon nodded, she extended a hand back at the covered iron cauldron. âIâm on the last of the spare Hesperidic Apples from the previous harvest and havenât managed to concentrate or magnify its power, but Iâm making progress. I think having a few dozen more apples to run tests on will yield great results.â
[Interesting girl,] the Thunderbird whispered from Leonâs soul realm. [So little time and materials, yet sheâs so confident she can make ambrosia?]
âSo soon?â Leon asked, echoing the Thunderbirdâs statement. âThe Thunderbirdâs told me about similar products in the Nexusâambrosia, made from refining the apples into juice.â
âIâve had some success starting with recreating the process of fermenting apple juice into cider,â she explained, âthough Iâve had to speed that process up quite a bit with magic. A lot of aficionados would weep tears of blood if they knew what I was doing in hereâletting fermentation take a natural course, unmodified by magic, is usually seen as superior.â
âIs that true, or are they just being snobs?â
Helen shrugged. âBoth, I guess.â
Leon took a few steps toward the iron cauldron, attempting to see inside with his magic senses. However, Helen laid a hand on his arm and said, âBe careful, Leon: the process is delicate, and I donât want to disturb it overmuchâŠâ
Leon smiled at her and retracted his magic senses. âFair enough.â
Still, his eyes lingered on the cauldron. âWere the next few harvests dedicated to your research,â he said, âhow long would you think it might take to refine this process?â
Helen scrunched up her face in thought before telling Leon, âUh, maybe if I had twenty more apples I could work something out? More than that would increase my chances, but I think that I could make some âambrosiaâ before the next harvestâŠâ
âYou donât sound as confident as I would like.â
âThatâs because Iâm not, Leon,â she chided. âI donât want to sound confidentâputting that many Hesperidic Apples into my hands is a lot of pressure! Everyone else needs those apples! Maybe carve off a few for my research and keep using them yourselves!â
Leon softly chuckled. âI think Iâd rather have this ambrosia faster than that.â He laid a hand on Helenâs shoulder. âI trust you to see this through. Our harvests have been more than twenty apples for a while, now, so Iâll be sure to give the entire batch to you next time. If you donât make as much progress as you hope, then we can go back to giving you the spares. But donât worry too much about this; the apples are mine, given to everyone else to aid them in their growth. They shouldnât be made dependent on them, and if I have to give up one whole batch to see where this research takes you, then so be it. We all train for a reason.â
Helen gave him a strained smile. âIâll⊠do my best, Leon,â she said.
âThatâs all I can ask for,â Leon replied.
And with that, he left. Once he was out the door, he breathed a long sigh of relief. That was his last meeting of the day, and though it was for something exciting, he was mentally ready to return to his own projects and studies. Besides, Nestor and the giants were going to return to Stormhollow soon, not to mention potential plans to meet with the Keeper.
He still had much to do, and he had to be ready for all of it.
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