Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 58: Land Grab?

Once we had the office to ourselves, I turned to my Vassals, "The System has offered Kel Demesne to me as a reward for the recent events. Lady Patricia is dead. Lord Kel is effectively dead. But Squire Leian lives and is Lord Kel's heir. I suppose by rules of primogenitor the fief should honestly fall to her, but with her rank, I don't see how she can maintain control.

"Thoughts? What do you consider the pros and cons of accepting System's reward?" I asked.

It took a few moments before they responded as each of them cast surreptitious looks at the other, hoping someone else would bite the bullet and speak. I wasn't sure what kind of mental gymnastics or subtle body cues they were able to interpret, but eventually, they came to a consensus. Lohne admitted defeat and answered.

"It really depends on what Your Highnesses long-term goals are," she began. "If safety is paramount, then it makes sense to accept the reward. Kel fief is about as far as you can get from the Capital and the halls of power as one can possibly be. It is remote. Has no dungeon or natural resources of great wealth to rely on. And most of the town's income is generated by agriculture. Kel fief produces wheat and fish in abundance. But little else."

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"By accepting you would be submitting to Duke A'Daoine's rule. These lands are part and parcel of his duchy, bestowed on his family by the Seelie Monarchs. So, unless you are determined to court open battle, or petition the Seelie Monarchy for forfeiture of Duke A'Daoine's claim, your rank of Prince would be meaningless."

"That is unlikely. It would set a precedent that would allow you to expand as you saw fit, grabbing more territory by right of battle. And it would lead to battle, to retain control of these lands you would have to do battle against Duke A'Daoine and the Seelie Monarchy unless you swear fealty as his vassal," Uron continued taking up the conversation.

"Battle in this place would be problematic," Cedric said. "No hills, no way to control the direction of attack, and no walls to defend the city. Because of Kel demesnes location, the thought of battle and war have had little sway on the construction of embankments and battlements. The city is just too remote from any Unseelie attack to make defenses a priority for the Seelie."

"Finally," Lohne said bringing their shared conversation to its conclusion, "the peoples in the area, although skilled in some cases, are not the best and brightest. People move and settle here because they want to escape the high stakes and fast-moving politics larger metropolitan areas encounter. If you were to declare this land separate from Duke A'Daoine's, you would experience a mass exodus as those that seek a quieter slower pace to life fled, concerned that they would be caught in the fallout as hostilities commenced."

"So, what happens if I refuse the reward and decide not to claim these lands?" I asked.

"Duke A'Daoine will decide. Since Squire Leian is so young and new to her Rank, a Regent will probably need to be installed. That is if the Duke doesn't decide to replace the Kel family completely with fresh leadership." Uron answered.

"And considering Thom's actions. That, Lady Patricia was a disguised Olympian. And that Lord Kel has ruined himself with Elfshot addiction. Chances are very high that he will decide to sweep the place clean and install a fresh set of retainers and vassals to restore order and root out corruption."

"That might seem harsh. But it would actually be most beneficial to the citizens. Either you or Duke A'Daoine are going to need to make drastic changes, not only in leadership and government for this fief, but in its readiness, preparedness, and defense. The Olympic Pantheon was able to hide and become so entrenched here, most certainly because this fief was ignored and thought of as trivial by all. This may serve as a lesson to those with greater power. And become an impetus of change. I'm sure Fief Kel isn't the only out of the way demesne that has been targeted by that Pantheon," Lohne declared.

[They're right,] Caraid added. [You can't afford to accept this reward. This is where you come when you want to retire and live a life of leisure. You have mandates that require you to become involved in not only World politics, but Universal politics. The quests you have been given won't allow you to claim this land and remain a passive bystander to events. You would bring misery and possibly a war to this area if you claimed it unless you swore fearsome Oaths to serve Duke A'Daoine.]

[S-Prime has gone past the point of hints, to almost bludgeon you by recent events. A confluence of fate and powers are gathering, and it seems as if you may be the fulcrum that determines how things will play out. S-Prime certainly believes that to be the case.]

Each of them had valid arguments that closely paralleled what I'd concluded soon after System had offered me these lands. I knew the safe thing to do would be to accept the reward and swear fealty to Duke A'Daoine. It would be smarter and remove me from the cosmic chessboard as both pawn and king. But I couldn't do it.

"I agree," I said, "accepting these lands would be the expedient choice, but not the most helpful. If Olympus and Asgard are to be stymied, then ignoring the problem and depending on others to discover a resolution is cowardly. And as you've so subtly hinted, this land is not suitable to further my agenda."

That said, I opened the System menu offering the reward and decisively refused.