Page 215 of Settle Down, Princess

“That bastard, Magnus, spent it all?” someone asked in disgust.

“More than gold.” I scanned everyone in the room. “More than wheat and wool and steel for weapons. More than anything anyone can make or grow. You speak of the king as a threat to the people, but what of war? It will chew people up and spit them out far more thoroughly than Magnus ever could. He at least…” My eyes slid to the bruises around Desi’s wrists, her headscarf and then to Selene, her sleeves tugged down to cover her bruises. “Confined his violence to just women, mostly noble women. A war with your enemies would brutalise everyone.”

They didn’t believe me, or didn’t want to hear it, I could tell in the rumble that was coming for the men, but somehow that had me moving forward. I plucked cutlery and tankards off the table, no longer caring who they belonged to.

“This is Stormare, where I am from,” I explained, putting a tankard closest to me. “And this is Lanzene.” I laid out knives and forks to approximate the border of that country to my right. “Matteau is here.” I did the same on the left. “And then this big space here is Khean, but that’s not what they were always called.”

I’d found history terribly boring when I was at school, but it was only now I understood how this information was useful.

“These were all smaller countries.” I placed more tankards within the borders of our neighbours. “Each one taken over by the imperial army of either Matteau or Lanzene. They were absorbed, their kings becoming vassals of the emperor or the high king, right up until they met here.”

I traced a line up the border.

“The high king pitted his army against the emperor’s and vice versa for… a really long time,” I said, shaking my head. “There are plenty of towns on the border filled with people that come from both countries because sometimes it becomes Mattenite territory or sometimes it’s Lanzenian, but this remains true. Every time either empire breaks through the border and takes a lot more territory, they struggle to keep it. Invading a country is one thing. Integrating the people within into yours to ensure they don’t rebel against your rule is another.”

“So we kill the lot of them.” Bern crossed his chest then, his massive biceps popping.

“At what cost?” I asked. “How much gold is that goal worth? How many men’s lives? How many wives left as widows? Children left fatherless?”

“It’s something we do for future generations,” Bill said in a gentle voice, obviously feeling like I was missing something important. “We make this sacrifice now—”

“And this will be the end result in a hundred years,” I said, tapping the table. My back pressed against my chair. “It has for many hundreds before this. Khean keeps out of the situation due to the presence of the wolf shifters. Every hundred years or so your enemies forget about the ferocity of the shifters on the battlefield and think this technology, this strategy will win the day for them.” I stared at the table, seeing a map instead of my crude arrangement. “But it doesn’t. It never does. They throw themselves at the border and then learn a terribly painful lesson before going back to their own country to lick their wounds. As long as there are veterans alive to tell the tales of what happened, people are dissuaded from attack.”

“So we need to teach them that lesson,” Bill said, the excitement apparent in his voice.

“We all need a reminder of that lesson.” I wasn’t talking to him or anyone else in the room right then, able to see this conversation being held in much the same way with people far more powerful. Men who would indulge in grandiose visions of glory claimed on the battlefield only to learn a very harsh lesson about curtailing those ambitions.

But I could soften that blow, couldn’t I? Talk to my mates and try to get them to see reason, then have them communicate the same thing to the general and lords baying for blood. When I looked up, Selene was staring at me steadily, but before she could say anything, a young man came running in through the back door.

“Apologies Master Bill, Mistress Desi, but word got around that Sister Selene is in Cheapside. Sister.” The lad performed a quick bow. “It’s my da. He got messed up real bad during the riots. Got knocked down during the kerfuffle and then one of them guards in plate mail stamped on his leg.” He shot Bill a sidelong look. “Ma’s worried it’s broken. She sent me down here as you’ve always been a dab hand at healing.”

“I’m also the Raven of Khean now.” The whole room went quiet at that, Roan’s family staring at her as if they’d never seen Selene before. “I tell you this to make clear that no debt will be owed if I look at your father. I have spoken to the Temple already and the good works done by the sisters will receive the full support of The Guild.”

“Oh…” The boy blinked. “Oh. Well.” His teeth worried his bottom lip. “Then can you come and see to him, please?”

Selene turned to face me.

“Jess—?”

“I’ll come with you,” I said, getting to my feet. I felt like I’d more than worn out my welcome with my talk of politics. “Desi, Bill, everyone, it’s been lovely to meet you all. Next time we’ll have to meet at the palace. We’ll have dinner and talk of much more pleasant things, particularly embarrassing stories about Roan.”

“That we have plenty of,” Desi said, taking my hands and giving them a squeeze. “But you… you stay safe now.”

“You as well.”

Our eyes locked for just a moment, so I caught the moment when the skin creased around them. She smiled at me and suddenly I felt a whole lot better.

“Perhaps I’ll have grown some more hair by then.”

“I’ll send you an invite well before that point,” I said and then pulled away.

“You’re up on Smith Street, in the cottage on the hill?” Selene asked the boy once we had walked outside. “Your father is a stablehand.”

“Right you are, Si…” The boy winced. “Raven. right you are, Lady Raven.”

Chapter 119

As we walked the streets of Cheapside it became clear that Desi’s place was one of the few that emerged from the transition of power unscathed. I saw crushed flower beds and splintered fences, but they were the most benign signs of what had happened. Some houses were little more than smoking ruins, others licked by smoke and more than that. People were led or carried from houses, but to go where?

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