“We chatted about it a little bit before, but what does it really mean, and how does that work?” Adam asked, slathering the flatbread with the melted butter and herbs and spices, taking a bit of it, allowing the flavour to dance along his tongue, tearing a small amount to feed Kizwolima, the girl allowing him to feed her from his fingers.

“It is hopefully an alliance will which lead to something more,” Dunes said, though he was uncertain of how that could be. Certainly many from Aswadasad held a deep respect for the King’s Sword, who was known to be just and wise, but that did not extend entirely to the Florians, who had been their foes since long before the current calendar.

“I guess that’s if King Merryweather marries one of his own to the Shen’s royal family?” Adam asked.

“If that is the case.”

“Does the Shen have any sons?”

“Just one daughter.”

“One daughter?” Adam asked, surprised. “Is Aswadasad patriarchal?”

“Mostly…” Dunes replied, a hint of awkwardness in his tone, with the understanding that outside of his Order, much of Aswadasad held a lean towards patriarchy, which had ebbed and flowed throughout history, but thanks to the Priests, remained a fixture of Aswadasad. The awkwardness came from the fact that Adam was even more egalitarian than perhaps even his own Order, and seemed to have come from a land which was still dealing with such issues, but had gone beyond even those of Black Mountain. However, he had also seen the half elf also place the children with those of their same gender, and sometimes preferred women over men to watch over even boys, save Kizwolima, who Bael would watch over due to the language barrier.

“The optimist hopes that a foreign Prince marrying the Amira won’t be an issue, but…” Adam whispered.

Dunes let out a small sigh, nodding his head gently to Adam’s words. If that would come to pass, the chances of a civil war from the other remaining areas, of Northern and Western Aswadasad, who would call upon it as a betrayal, and Aswadasad as they knew it would crumble.

“If we can get into the good books of Floria and Aswadasad, it would be helpful,” Adam whispered to himself, nibbling the bread, falling deep into thought.

‘Does Adam wish to enter such a stage?’ Dunes thought. ‘It is a world of darkness and despair.’

“If only we dealt with something that would be of use and would allow us to gain some influence with them,” Adam said, his voice slightly try, the half elf letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Though I guess it doesn’t matter since someone is rather upset about me killing a child killer.”

Dunes could see the annoyance flashing up the half elf’s face, and allowed him his piece, the young Priest sipping away at his kafa.

“We should focus on consumables, though.”

“Consumables?”

“Health potions, one time use items like arrows, since once they’re used up, they’ll want to buy more, and where will they go? Right back to me. He’s lucky that my ego hasn’t gotten that big yet, because I won’t even make him beg if he treats me right.”

“Are you speaking of…”

Adam chuckled. “Just a little joke, Mo. Just a little joke.”

Dunes noted the look in Adam’s eyes as the half elf realised how much he would enjoy it. ‘Please, Adam.’

“I could always…” Adam though about the subscription for his magical weapons, but he decided against it for now. It was a great option though, milking the nobles dry, though it could end up rather dangerous if he gained too much influence, but if the rule of law was truly powerful enough, he could…

‘I can’t Habsburg my way to the top, and even if they did owe me so much, they could easily turn against me,’ Adam thought, reaching up to rub his ear lobe.

“Your business is always in high demand.”

“If the nobles want to play at war, I’m happy to offer them Basic weapons, then the other Greater, then Greater Enhanced, then even better Greater Enhanced, then auction even greater Greater Enhanced weapons to the other, then maybe we offer a really nice arrow, one of those which, you know, does a lot of damage, I’m talking silly numbers, man, and then so on and so on, until they both destroy one another and when they need help rebuilding, offer them a nice little loan in exchange for some favours, and then we can have our own little places within the various cities, or, since we’re so strong, we can offer our services as guards, warriors, and…” Adam shrugged his shoulders, with more than a few ideas to ingratiate and integrate himself into the upper crust of society, but then he’d have to be surrounded by nobles, and he was no fan of that.

“A small amount of favour is enough,” Dunes stated, deciding against acknowledge how scary Adam’s thoughts were.

Adam slowly nodded. “A chest of silver now and again, perhaps a few gifts of potions, not Basic weapons, but some arrows for their stocks, that could be nice. We could hand over some Greater arrows, or some nicer arrows since they like to feel special? I don’t know, something that bursts into light and does that kind of damage?”

Dunes remained focused on the half elf, who sometimes didn’t understand the value of silver and gold, and sometimes, understood it too well.

“We’ll figure something out, but I would like to be able to talk with the higher ups with ease,” Adam admitted. “Since the monarch’s word is law, we can aim for them, but with all the Dukes and Faros, it’s probably a good idea to get close with them too.”

“The royal family, the ducal families, the Orders…” Dunes’ formed the slyest of smiles, for the half elf was perhaps one of the few figures in the land which could aim to seduce each of such figures in such a manner. He held dominion over grand magical weapons, health potions, and great warriors, each highly valuable when the world spent most of its days at war.

“How much money do you think it would take?” Adam asked.

“It is cheaper than one might expect,” Dunes admitted. “A few hundred silver now and then, perhaps a magical weapon or two, or one particularly powerful magical weapon, and if you are to offer a greater, a grander, magical weapon, or even Basic weapons when they complete favours for you, it would not be so difficult.”

“What if…” Adam paused for a long moment. “We used to auction magical weapons, and we still auction a few now, and hand over the tokens with each ones. Rather than going to them, shouldn’t we make it so they have to come to us, to show us favour, to gain influence with us instead?”

“That depends. Do you feel like you need them, or do they feel the need to impress you?”

“It should be the latter.”

“You felt the need to want to influence them for some reason,” Dunes said, holding a knowing gaze within his eyes.

“Yeah…” Adam smiled awkwardly, taking another bite of the soft bread, his eyes drifting away to the side, towards Taygak, who was eating beside her brother, listening to a tale she had heard a hundred times, but with the brightness in her eyes that made it appear that she had only heard it for the first time today.

“You could gain influence by assisting with the Reavers,” Dunes offered.

“The Reavers, huh?” Adam replied, thinking of the near mythical figures which had become a living nightmare. “I suppose I could. Join one of the guard units or something, fight alongside the King, not the King, but the Prince or the Amira, no, not the Amira, she doesn’t fight, right?”

“She has learnt warfare, and to fight,” Dunes replied.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Huh. I wouldn’t have expected that since… I guess she is the only Princess of this place, so she probably has some special privileges afforded to her.”

“The Shen is similar to you in that he dotes upon his daughter.”

“You know, this Shen guy sounds better and better each time I hear of him,” the half elf joked. “I guess I could fight alongside the younger nobility and gain some camaraderie with them, form a brotherhood after going through near death experiences with them, perhaps saving their lives.”

“It is a shame that you find yourself speaking so ill of nobles so easily.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a shame, but I get your point.” Adam chuckled, taking a sip of the kafa, which was cooler now, the half elf about to cast his trick, but decided against it since it may have caused trouble. “I bet Jarot would love this.”

“I will buy some powder and we can make some when we are in the Iyr,” Dunes assured.

Adam smiled, nodding his head gently. “You know, Dunes…”

“Yes?”

“Ah, it’s nothing,” the half elf replied, flushing lightly. He reached out a fist, and Dunes bumped it lightly, before the half elf went back to imagining the kinds of trouble he would cause if he did end up growing closer to the royal families of the nearby lands.

For a moment he thought about making a play for the title of Duke, taking control of the land east of the Iyr, but after imagining crowning his children as Princes and Princesses, he recalled just how much work it would be to take the land and defend it, and considering how much his family said he worked too much already, he decided to show the world mercy and left it be.

‘As long as you guys don’t act up too much,’ the half elf warned.

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Adam always thinks about the coolest things, but he always chooses spending time with his wife and kids.