Page 1853

((Belated Triple Saturday -- Page 1 of 3))
And indeed, Hector had read the historical accounting of the ambassador of the Mohssian Empire who had been largely responsible for convincing the emperor to grant Atreya its independence. In the account, the ambassador had arrived in this brazen little country to chastise its newly appointed King Domitrus and negotiate terms of a legal retraction, believing that a nation with such comparatively little land would have no other choice.

However, according to the account, the ambassador began changing his mind almost immediately upon seeing Bosliat Palace, because he didn’t think there would be enough wealth in the entire nation to create such a grand structure.

It had made one hell of a first impression, in other words, and the king and all of his supporters had furthermore been able to follow through and change the ambassador’s view of them so radically that Atreya’s independence was officially recognized by the Mohssian Empire in less than a year.

Weirdly enough, Hector had never really felt or put much thought into national pride, but reading that had stirred something inside. Just a bit.

An odd feeling. Especially considering he’d already met the Queen and even fought for her. Multiple times. Shouldn’t he have been feeling this way about Atreya all along?

He couldn’t recall the school system ever evoking any sense of nationalism in him. Which was strange, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t they have been teaching national unity or whatever?

Eh, maybe they had, and he just hadn’t been paying attention. In fact, that seemed like the most likely explanation, the more he thought about it.

He’d been thinking about what he would say if he were to be asked what he thought of Atreya--which, tonight, might very well happen. It was a tough notion to wrestle with. In the end, he felt like his allegiance was more to simply protecting innocent people, but he certainly knew that there were limits to that. There was only so much that he could do. And if he overextended himself, then the people who were already safe under his protection might very well end up in danger again.

Lives were on the line here. With a whole castle full of people waiting for him back in Gray Rock, Hector felt like he’d been too naive in the past. He needed be realistic about things now.

As he stepped out of the black SUV and onto the blue-striped carpet, he tried to push his anxiety down as far as it would go.

Which wasn’t very far, sadly--not with all the cameras and microphones and eager reporters in front of him. The path forward remained clear, at least, thanks to a team of burly guardsmen holding the news crews behind a velvet rope, but the shouting and shuttering of cameras was still plenty distracting.

Oh man.

Jamal Easton was already there in front of him, having stepped out first, and Amelia Carthrace was stepping out behind him.

Page 1852 -- CXCIII.

Hector turned and looked out the window. “That’s... good to know.”

“If I had to pick one family that I thought you should be wary of, it’d probably be them. For obvious reasons.”

Hector nodded at his own faint reflection in the glass. He could only imagine what a miserable first impression he would’ve made if he had ended up meeting the leader of House Gaolanet without even realizing who they were. “Thank you for telling me...”

“Sure.”

‘Hey, I could’ve told you most of that,’ said Garovel.

‘Then why didn’t you?’ said Hector.

‘You never asked. And I was planning to. On the way to Sescoria, that is.’

‘Mm. Have you got any other information on the nobles for me, then?’

‘Of course I do. Hector, I’ve probably been preparing for this dinner even more than you have.’

‘Heh. Well, I’m listening.’


Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three: ‘The Gathering at Bosliat...’
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It felt like ages since he’d last seen the royal palace, but he knew it hadn’t been all that long, really. After having seen Warrenhold, the Golden Fort, Marshrock, Dunehall, and the Swallow’s Nest, Hector now felt an even greater sense of appreciation for this place. Despite all that competition, Bosliat Palace did not pale in comparison. Sure, it may not have been as big as Warrenhold or the Golden Fort; nor did it have a particularly eye-popping gimmick like Marshrock’s rock or Dunehall’s sand or the Nest’s defensive structure, but it did have a certain “regalness” to it, he thought.

Perhaps it was the national colors that did it. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed as if the blue-and-white flag of Atreya had been imbued into the building itself, somehow.

And perhaps it was, in a sense.

After receiving the invitation to the Gala, Hector’s curiosity had been piqued, so he’d been looking up the building’s history during his rare moments of downtime--which usually meant reading off his phone while he was out patrolling Gray Rock. He remembered vaguely learning about the palace in school, but he certainly didn’t remember any of his teachers telling him that it had been built as part of a declaration of independence.

Economic independence, that was. No actual rebellion had been fought, but Bosliat Palace had played a key role in accomplishing that feat--of securing the nation’s borders without bloodshed. Of course, it had also helped that the Mohssian Empire had already been fighting five other wars at the time and probably hadn’t wanted to make it six.

The idea that this building, with its turreted towers and sprawling gardens and dozens of guardhouses, was designed to be the proud, beating heart of an emerging nation, to represent Atreya as much as the sun-and-stars of the flag did--that made sense to Hector.

Page 1851

“Yeah,” said Gina. “As I understand it, she got into an argument with another reaper the other day. And ever since then, she’s been acting even more out of control than usual. That was what Master Roman told me, anyway.”

“Huh...”

“But anyway, that’s not really important, right now.” Gina folded her hands on the small table in front of her. She was sitting in the corner of the room while Hector stood by the wide window that overlooked the great courtyard of Warrenhold far below. “There’s not much time left before you have to leave. Do you really not know anything about the political establishment? You were born in this country, weren’t you?”

“Uh. I mean, sure, I know a little. Like, names and stuff. But, er...”

“Well, I assume you know who the Carthraces are, at least? You do have their oldest member working for you, after all.”

“Ah... yeah,” said Hector, suddenly trying to recall everything he’d ever heard about them over the course of his entire life. “I haven’t met any of them besides Amelia yet, but uh, they’re... real estate people, aren’t they?”

“That’s right,” said Gina. “They own tons of land, especially in Sescoria and Klein. Probably other cities, too. And that makes them very influential. Who else do you already know about?”

He thought about it. “...Masdens. Volliers. Holbachs. Greenways. Um...?”

She kept waiting, but he couldn’t think of any more. “That’s not bad,” said Gina. “You named pretty much all the major players, apart from the Kemps and the Gaolanets.”

He was glad to hear that. “But like I said, all I know are names, really.”

She straightened in her chair and cleared her throat. “Alright, well, let’s run through them real quick. House Masden. They’re a big fishing family. Their main territory is coastline, but they’re pretty influential outside of Atreya, too. House Vollier. They’re the country’s leading industrialists. Nobody owns more factories in Atreya than they do. House Holbach. They’re the nation’s biggest tech family. Which isn’t really saying much, compared to what’s going on in Intar and Melmoore, but y’know. They’re the best we’ve got.”

She paused a moment, eyeing him and perhaps also gathering her thoughts.

Hector just waited patiently.

“House Greenway,” she went on. “They’re a little weird. They’re more of a pure political family. A lot of people wonder how they’re able to maintain their fortune, but there’s no great mystery there, really. They invest. All the families invest in things, of course, but the Greenways take it to a whole different level. It’s like all they do.”

Hector nodded to show that he was listening.

“House Kemp,” said Gina, looking at her phone now. “Their money comes from fashion and clothing. They’re also pretty influential outside of Atreya, too. And then, finally, there’s House Gaolanet.” She paused again. “I’m a little surprised that they weren’t on your list.”

“Why?” said Hector.

“Because they’re the local power around Gray Rock,” said Gina.

Hector blinked.

“Or at least, before you showed up, they were,” she added.