Chương 21: 20. The Offer

Morning light shone on the tower where Tavian, Braun, and Cormath stood, observing the movements of the enemy. Tavian had been watching the Anarvian claims since first light.

"Miasmic surges should be a bigger problem for them, than it is for us," Tavian said.

"Their Influence is so much lower." With his Hexsight Perk active, he could physically see the glowing outlines of the hextiles—like someone had drawn the map right onto the land. Brighter borders marked his territory and Anarvia's territory. Tavian deactivated Hexsight, and the system map opened. He panned around, exploring it in more depth. The tiles he had claimed were always automatically updated on the map, along with each tile bordering his kingdom.

He'd set his own territory as green, and the hextiles claimed by Lord Anarvia as purple. The rest of the tiles on the map—which extended for as far as Tavian bothered to zoom or pan—were updated by Tavian's Map Maker Perk. Any time that a hextile came into his vision, the map updated with information about the tile. Some of Anarvia's tiles had faded from vibrant purple to a dull, nearly gray color.

"Lea, why are these tiles faded?" Lea was sitting precariously in the window sill. Even though he knew she could fly, it still made Tavian nervous.

"They're showing how outdated your information about them is," Lea explained.

"The longer it's been since you observed an area, the more things may have changed." From atop the tower, he had a good view of much of the fortress, allowing the map to update with new information. Most of the tiles surrounding the keep were still neutral. A line of Anarvian tiles stretched from the Anarvian estates and down the main street leading to the fortress.

It passed through the main gate—which the Anarvians had opened after Tavian evacuated the guardhouse—and abutted Tavian's claimed tiles in the courtyard. His interface told him that Anarvia had managed to elevate their Influence up to 2. Yesterday they'd been at 1. 5; and with the number of tiles they claimed, this change suggested that they'd been manically extracting Essence all night. The train of wagons transporting goods from the warehouses in port up to the Anarvian compound confirmed this.

Anarvia appeared to be trying to encircle the keep, but was having a bit of trouble with it. As Tavian watched, Anarvia claimed a line of tiles reaching around to the east. One of the tiles flipped back to neutral, cutting off the chain. The separated tiles flipped neutral as well.

"Is that the result of miasmic disturbance?" Tavian asked.

"That seems likely to me," Lea said. Tavian gave Lea a piercing look.

"It seems there are some benefits to miasmic surges. He's trying to encircle the keep, but he's having trouble finding a way through."

"It's not worth the risk to rely on miasmic power," Lea said.

"It's never worth it."

"And it's only a short term annoyance to him," Tavian said.

"He'll just move further out. Outside the walls, perhaps, and he'll use more tiles so that his claims don't get cut off."

"That's good," Lea said.

"It'll take him longer."

"It's bad," Tavian said.

"It'll make the surround harder to break." The eastern portion of the fortress appeared to be causing Anarvia the most trouble. On the west, a line of tiles snaked out around the Keep, nearly reaching half way around the fortress.

"What's the trouble with them surrounding us?" Cormath asked.

"We're already functionally trapped here." He was a sword master, not a strategic tactician. Braun explained the issue.

"If they complete a surround, all neutral tiles within their loop will flip to Anarvian. We won't be able to expand without fighting them for ground. And then there's the surround squeeze."

"We don't have a burn rate to squeeze up, though," Tavian observed.

"What are the consequences of an encirclement to us, Lea?"

"We're not immune to the effects," Lea said.

"An encirclement will force the core to start expending Essence to maintain Influence over the tiles. It depends on ratios, like how many tiles you own, and the relative Influence levels of your kingdom compared to the surrounding kingdom. In your current situation, it might only be a few Essence a day."

"So encirclement means we'll bleed out slowly," Tavian said.

"A few more Essence per day just to maintain our holding." Cormath rubbed his goatee, taking it in. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"We're going to need to get out there and cut them off soon," Braun said.

"If we want to avoid a surround." Another neutral tile flipped Anarvian. A commotion began in the outer courtyard. A few Anarvians approached the life gate, waving white flags overhead.

"What is this new trick?" Braun asked, and they all hurried to the stairs. Once they reached the wall, Tavian listened as the Anarvian pleaded his case to Shona and her mages.

"Parley!" the man cried, huddled behind a shield, waving his scrap of white cloth.

"My master would speak with your master!"

"Lord Anarvia wants to treat with me, then," Tavian observed.

"Is it worth the risk?" Braun asked. Tavian nodded.

"We could learn a lot about their situation by what he says to me."

"Could it be a trap?"

"It's likely a trap," Tavian said.

"Let's see what he proposes. It may simply be a stalling tactic to prevent us from noticing his attempt at an encirclement. I doubt he knows about my Perk that lets me see his claimed tiles."

"True," Braun agreed, but he still seemed hesitant.

"With nine Influence, a dozen of our men can take on a hundred of theirs," Tavian observed.

"I'll stay on our territory."

"If it flips?" Braun asked.

"We'll keep the battlemages ready up on the wall, and give me a fist of men to back me up? Keep the Life Gate cracked open for a hasty retreat, and we shouldn't have a problem." Braun nodded and went to assign men to Tavian's guard. Tavian turned to Shona.

"Tell them we'll talk," he said. Within a quarter of an hour, Anarvians were setting up a tent in the middle of the outer courtyard facing the Life Gate. They were careful to stay in their own tile, probably for the simple fact that working against 9. 6 Influence was incredibly difficult. Tavian could nearly pull the doors of the Life Gate open on his own. With this much Influence, he felt like a demi-god. He strode out of the gate, followed by his men. They didn't have a tent to set up.

A posse of soldiers and mages stood around the tent, watching Tavian and his men warily. A pair of servants had placed a table and two chairs down inside Lord Anarvia's tent. Tavian rolled his eyes at that. He would not be crossing out of his own territory. Especially not to drink with this man. He'd murdered Tavian's father, and sent his own daughter to kill Tavian. Mandros stepped into the tent. He folded his arms across his chest, and glared at Tavian, but said nothing.

His face was still bruised from where Tavian had punched him. A rattle of iron on cobble stones preceded the gilded carriage that rolled up. Servants began preparing a meal, placing it on the table in the tent. So Lord Anarvia was showing off. He clearly said 'I have plenty of valuables to sift, plenty of Essence, and plenty of food.' Tavian's stomach growled traitorously. He was only here to learn what he could about the enemy from their offer. He wasn't interested in working with them.

The cart rolled up behind the tent. Nervous of some kind of trick, Tavian began pacing from side to side, his hand on his sword. He scanned all the corners and walls, where an attack might come from. Lord Anarvia emerged into the tent, a confident smile on his face as he crossed over to his seat. He did not seem surprised to see Tavian alive. Maybe he'd deduced that when his assassin did not return to him. He wore a strange, plain looking sword at his hip.

"Tavian!" Anarvia said, his voice warmer than expected.

"I'm glad to see you here. You're an excellent fighter, and a noble man."

"You tried to kill me and my family," Tavian said.

"Nothing personal," Anarvia said.

"Just politics. Your father was driving this kingdom into the ground, and it was time for a change of leadership." Tavian remembered the fear he'd felt when he entered Calli's bedchamber, seeing the blood splattered across her bed.

"Well done," he said, dryly.

"You achieved what you wanted. I am ruler of Tar Corinath now." Lord Anarvia's dark, bushy eyebrows crawled up his forehead, threatening to flee his face. He burst out into laughter.

"Tavian, my boy," he said.

"I was talking about me. I am king of Tar Corinath."

"Over my dead body," Tavian spat.

"I certainly hope not," Anarvia said.

"I had hoped to make amends with you. You know that you cannot hold out forever against us. You're cut off. You have nothing. This 'defiant last stand' is nothing more than the temper tantrum of a toddler. You're smarter than this. A better man than this. Will you throw away the lives of these people?" Tavian pursed his lips, not wanting Anarvia's goads to land. Anarvia gestured at the men flanking Tavian.

"Will you see to the death of their families, to slake your injured ego?"

"You murdered my father," Tavian snarled.

"Let the past remain in the past," Anarvia said, stuffing his mouth with meat.

"We deal with the situation at hand. You're intelligent. You can see that I am winning on all fronts. You have nothing.

"Then why are you here?" Tavian asked.

"I still have something that you want." Anarvia hesitated for a split second.

"I am a generous man," he said.

"That is all. I think you are wise enough to see that."

"Cut the flattery."

"It's true, though," Anarvia protested.

"I respect you. I genuinely believed that you would be a good husband for my daughter. I worked hard to convince your father to arrange your wedding."

"Why? So that she could sneak into my bedchambers with a poisoned blade and slide it between my ribs?" Anarvia shook his head sadly.

"That was before you forced my hand," Anarvia said.

"What a wonderful father-in-law. It's a shame I had to kill your daughter with her own knife." Anarvia's mouth twisted into a half smile.

"Is that what this is about?" he asked.

"Perhaps we could form an alliance after all?" He gestured to a servant, who disappeared out the back of the tent. A carriage door slammed, and a moment later, the servant reappeared, leading someone. Tavian's heart thundered in his chest. He recognized the lithe curves of the woman's body. She wore an elegant gown, and walked arm in arm with the servant, who guided her to the other seat in the tent. Her whole face was wrapped in bandages.

A thin gap in the dressings revealed a single, dark eye, which gazed at Tavian with singular intensity.

"The poison was quite intense," Lord Anarvia said.

"But we have excellent doctors and healing magic at our disposal. Ilara will be fine, and her beauty will be fully restored." Tavian slowly closed his mouth, which had dropped open. Anarvia smiled at him.

"Perhaps you're still interested in that marriage? Every relationship must work through the occasional spat."

"I'm done with this," Tavian said, spinning on his heel.

"You simply came here to mock me. I don't have to listen to it."

"Wait!" A note of genuine angst in Lord Anarvia's voice stopped Tavian in his tracks. Maybe the man really wanted to make a deal with him. Tavian turned.

"I'm ready to let you go free," Anarvia said.