Ontogeny

Chapter 10a

"May Those Above be with him, and please be assured that the good wishes of all the people of the Empire are with Princess Ardria, and with you."

"Thank you. It's harder on the Queen than it is for me. I have matters of state to occupy me. I can go nearly a full hour sometimes without thinking of my daughter, of what she's going through, but Kat spends every waking moment in purest agony. Even sleep is no escape. She dreams of Ardria. She has nightmares. The doctors try to help her. They give her potions that are supposed to make her sleep dreamlessly. They don't work. She barely eats. She spends far too much time with the Princess." He ran a hand through his hair and gave a tremulous sigh. "I thank Those Above for Lady Dwen. She and the Queen have become great friends lately. I hardly dare to think what kind of state Kat would be in by now without her, but even so I fear that this will kill her before the Princess ceases to be human. This agony is more than the human frame can bear."

"If it is proved that the Carrowmen did this, you can be sure that they will be punished," promised Arwin. "This is a crime that has shocked and horrified the whole world. The people responsible will have made themselves pariahs before all humanity."

The King nodded his gratitude. "You are the only person I can talk to about this," he said. "In front of my own people, in front of the Queen, I have to be strong. To my ministers and advisors I have to be a leader, and to my people I have to be a figurehead. A symbol of continuity and unity. You are the only person to whom I can speak freely. Without you, these worries would eat me alive from the inside."

"You can always say anything to me, my friend, just as I know I can say anything to you." He indicated the Glory board. "Your turn to play gold, I believe. Never let it be said that I don't play fair."

Leothan smiled. "You've been lucky in the past. Not this evening, though. Tonight, I intend to kick your skinny arse up one side of the board and down the other." He picked up three of the central guardsmen, placed so that their golden faces were uppermost, and moved them one place forward.

Arwin picked up one of his own guardsmen, placed with its ivory side uppermost, and moved it two places forward. Then he moved one of his archers to cover it against attack. The archer had two service tiles sitting on it, indicating that it was an experienced veteran, and therefore more powerful than a new recruit. The King then moved one of his cavalry pieces, also with two service tiles, to the side, to threaten the archers. The Porovian opening. Their games almost always started this way, but tonight the Ambassador intended to try the Dulcian variation. See what His Majesty makes of that, he thought with amusement.

"Did you get that redfruit plantation you wanted?" the King asked as Arwin recruited his first three conscripts and placed them next to his training ground.

"Yes, I did. Had to pay a little more for it than I'd expected, but if it's handled right it'll pay for itself within five years. Then it'll be pure profit, year after year. My pension. Unlike yourself, I won't have the same job until the day I die. Got to give some thought to my declining years."

"Retirement," said the King, as if savouring the word on his tongue. He moved his cavalry to surround Arwin's archer and took it, removing it from the board. He dropped the pieces into the box, to be used later. Arwin countered by moving his conscripts away from his training ground to make way for some more on his next move.

"I sometimes try to imagine what it would be like to retire," the King added, "but it's like trying to imagine being able to fly. I'm the King, and I'll be King until I go back to the earth. That's the reality of my life."

"You could abdicate one day," pointed out the ambassador. "Other kings do. When Ardria's been cured and has grown into her role, you could lay down the burden and let her take over. Enjoy some well earned peace and quiet."

"I just wouldn't know how to do that. I'd want to keep interfering, offering advice. Ardria would probably end up having to throw me into a dungeon." He moved his cavalry further forward, then moved his own archers to threaten Arwin's conscripts.

The Ambassador frowned. The King intended to take them was before they could be trained, while they were still almost powerless and helpless. If he succeeded, the ambassador could be in trouble.

"So you're a landowner now," said the King. "A hundred acres, did you say?"

"About that, and over a hundred staff. I'll need to hire a new manager though. The old one went with the old owner and took all his experience with him. Finding people who know now to grow redfruits won't be easy. A good one can pretty much name his own price." He placed three more recruits on the board and moved his cavalry to block the King's approach.

"Can't you just promote one of the hired hands? They've done the work. They must know it all just from having been there, seeing it done."

"There are a dozen different jobs, and each man only does two or three over the course of his career. Only the manager knows everything. I suspect they keep it that way on purpose, to maintain their own value."

"Then the first thing I would do was move the men around regularly, give them a wider experience. You can't allow a hireling to hold a whip hand over you. If you've got half a dozen good men with broad experience, all ready to take over the manager's job if necessary, the fellow will remember his place better." He moved his cavalry to attack Arwin's cavalry, and while the ambassador's pieces were all occupied with the defence of his homeland he took the opportunity to conscript some new troops of his own.

"I'm pretty sure someone else has already had the same idea. Somehow though, the managers are still calling the shots. It seems to be something you just have to accept if you want to get into the redfruit business." He moved his sergeant towards his conscripts. Had to get them trained before the King could cut their careers short. "Also, I'll need someone who can work without need for supervision for a few years. It's going to be a while before I'm free to take charge personally, I hope. I'll need someone I can trust to get a crop sown, raised and harvested all on his own without ruining the estate or embezzling the place dry. Some people have already been recommended to me. I'm going to have to find the time for interviews."

"Pity plants can't just adopt globs, like animals." The King pressed his attack, taking another of Arwin's cavalry pieces. "It's a messy business, all that flowering and pollinating and growing seeds."

"Don't talk to me about globs," growled the ambassador. "They're a real pest! Every night they climb the stalks and eat the leaves. If you get up early enough in the morning the whole plant's glistening with jelly. Weighed down by the weight of it. Looks like a heavy dew at first, but then you see it moving, creeping. Oozing back down the plant to the soil as the sun rises." He reached into the box for some service tiles, and as he brought them out one slipped through his fingers and fell to the floor. He bent down to pick it up, and as his head was lowered he seemed to freeze for a moment, as if he'd seen something on the floor. He said nothing as he straightened again, though, and placed one tile on each of the new recruits directly adjacent to the sergeant, to indicate that they'd had training. Then he placed them on the nearest blue square to Indicate that they were cavalry.

"My wizard is always going on about the balance of nature. There are plenty of creatures that eat globs. Don't they keep them under control?"

"They're supposed to, but they also have enemies. Everything's food to something else. Even us, if we get careless."

The King moved his own sergeant to train his new recruits, then pressed his attack with his experienced cavalry. The ambassador watched with dismay as his own cavalry was thoroughly routed, and withdrew his new recruits before they could also be taken. "You're on good form tonight," he said as he reviewed his diminished forces.

"You always put too much effort into recruiting troops. Experienced veterans always beat conscripts, even on the Glory board."

Arwin arranged his archers to form a perimeter behind which he could recruit a new cavalry force while sending his guardsmen out to harry the King's attacking forces, but Leothan had gained too much of an advantage. The ambassador managed to drag the game out for another few moves, but eventually he was forced to accept the inevitable and sue for peace. They drank another glass of Kelnish wine, then cleared the board and set the pieces for a new game.