I watched in mild amusement as Anicia demonstrated her magical weapons to Ben. The boy went from mild fascination with the various tools to abject terror, realizing that every one of us was dangerous. That fear was enough reassurance that he wouldn't try anything stupid. While he was useless for combat and defense, he was still a young man in the middle of that transitioning stage to full adulthood. So, even though I was six years older than him, he was much stronger, so all the lifting and moving of supplies fell to him.

  Surprisingly, Ben had no complaints; it seemed having something to do was enough for him. I could manipulate gravity, of course, but why bother when I have a perfectly good pack mule? With another carriage, much of the bulk supplies, such as fuel and scrap iron, were stacked inside his wagon, freeing up space for me to lie comfortably while traveling.

  Each time we stopped and rested, Corina showed him the sword. She knew little beyond how not to stab herself and how to stab someone else, but since the boy knew nothing and was about as coordinated as a drunken ox, he paid close attention, treating the training as a great boon. Meanwhile, I continued to tutor Anicia in reading, writing, and etiquette.

  Staring at my map, I drew lines between every known village, no matter how small, leading a trail to the capital. 23 in total; even if it were one person per village, it would be enough.

  “I don’t see how this will work, Myr. All we’re likely to get are peasants; 20-25…doesn't matter. It’s not an army.” Corina said as I gazed at the entrance to another village.

  “Who would win a battle, 50 charging knights in full plate or 50 Anicias with those crossbows, not even factoring in the explosive bolts?” I asked.

  Corina paused, then muttered. “I see.”

  “Conventional fighting isn't what we will do. Anicia can fire a bolt in less than a second at this point. As long as I have the energy, the bolt can pierce through full plate. And I have far deadlier ideas than that.”

  “Like what?” She asked,

  Smiling, I opened my notebook and showed her. It looked like a simple metal sphere with four holes. Next to it was an arcane formula along with a basic description of what it does.

  “What is it?”

  “A device that should be able to turn castle fortifications to rubble,” I explained.

  “How?”

  Extending a hand, a small flame erupted. “Fire needs fuel. That is how this works. Anicia’s explosive bolts work by instantaneously compressing a large amount of air in a tiny space and allowing it to rapidly expand.”

  I couldn't stop a small smile from coming across my face. “What if I went further and compressed a large amount of flammable air into a small space? Instead of being instantaneous, it is continuous to exceed the compression of the explosive bolt. The compression is only limited by my abilities and the amount of available energy. So what happens when a super-compressed ball of flammable gas suddenly ignites?”

  Corina’s green eyes widened. “A massive flame explosion.”

  “Indeed… Remember my fight with Heywood?” I asked, and Corina nodded. “I can’t copy it perfectly, but I think I understand the principles. The only limitation would be the massive amount of energy needed to maintain the compression. My reservoir and that little energy furnace are mere drops in the bucket compared to the level of power I want to achieve. At least that’s what I assume.”

  Corina took a deep breath, staring at me with unreadable eyes. “Sometimes I forget how dangerous you are.”

  “Oh, that's just the beginning, dear Corina. While I’m still working on the process, soon enough, I’ll be able to throw lightning from my hands.”

  “The battles we will see in the future will just be mindless slaughter, won’t they?” She asked solemnly.

  It didn't really sound like she was asking a question, but I answered regardless. “Most likely, yes. There will be many…many deaths. Bone and blood are the foundations upon which a kingdom is built. Even more so, it provides safety.”

  “How could this be safe? You are making tools of death.”

  “All the young girls that suffered, the innocence that died at the hands of your former gang. Why exactly did they suffer?”

  She grimaced, clearly not wanting to relive that time.

  I answered for her, “It was because they were weak. It’s that simple. Forget all the moralizing that priests like to do. Forget all the sweet nothings fools whisper to themselves about the nature of the world and humanity. In life, as in nature, the weak and defenseless are consumed and discarded. Tell me, Corina, when was the last time you feared for Anicia’s safety?”

  Corina looked slightly argumentative before she sighed, “I’m always fearful. But I’ll admit lately the fear is more general, only at the back of my mind most times.”

  “You know of my ruthlessness; you know I have the power and will to kill anyone who would dare try to bring us harm. No bandits in the night or noble lords or back alley rapists will ever harm Anicia or you. Why? Because I have power and the will to use it. Only the powerful are allowed dignity or justice, Corina. The threat of violence and death is what keeps people safe, not the goodness of mankind. ”

  Corina looked like she wanted to argue otherwise. “Are you so correct, or am I incapable of finding a counterargument?”

  “Mostly of the former.” I shrugged. “Those priests in their gilded halls who preach goodness and righteousness are liars, fools, or deceivers.” I reached down, grabbed a handful of rocky dirt, and allowed it to slip between my fingers. “We’ve been in the dirt, Corina. And seen humanity in its most depraved state, the horrors we can inflict on each other. Everyone but us…those disgusting pacifists, are just waiting to become victims to those who do not share their beliefs.”

  “Not everyone can pick up a weapon and kill without hesitation. What can a child or a small girl do? Do you have no sympathy for them?” It was the first time Corina questioned me. But I approved; it meant she was thinking.

  I paused for a long moment, thinking. Finally, I found an answer that pleased me. “Weak innocence can do nothing, I suppose; that is just how the world is. And in some ways, I do have something resembling sympathy.”

  I went deeper, exploring my own rise to power without any prompting. Corina sat silently, waiting for me to speak. “Luck,” I said suddenly. “I recognize that luck was as important a part of my rise as skill, intelligence, or even ruthlessness. I wasn't a magus for my entire life. Darion and Beth…pure luck by any measure. There are many times when I see a man or woman suffering and think that could have been me, but it is not true sympathy; it is acknowledgment and often disgust.”

  Corina looked confused, perhaps surprised that I admitted to such things. “You feel nothing for those who weren't as lucky?”

  “No, and you overestimate luck; many people get lucky. Few have the will to capitalize on that luck; even fewer are willing to risk their lives and condemn their soul to the abyss in pursuit of their goals.”

  ‘I won't have you abandoning your humanity, Corina. I don't want everyone around me to be a reflection of myself. That seems like a good way to blind oneself. Differing opinions, perspectives, and even values are important, even if I don't agree with them. I refused to be like those noble lords surrounding themselves with mindless bootlickers. Sycophants have their uses, but they are blunt tools at best. I’ll have to find the balance in you and Anicia.’

  A bit of capriciousness rose in me, and I suggested, “So long as it doesn't hinder my plans. You’re free to indulge yourself a bit, Corina.”

  “Meaning?”

  “It’s clear you still have a bit of goodness in you. And I don't want an unfeeling monster by my side. So, as we travel, feel free to spread a bit of kindness at your leisure; just remember my goals and make sure your actions don't conflict. Even I indulge in such things from time to time.”

  “I-I see,” She said. “Isn’t that a weakness?”

  I chuckled, remembering the priest. “I thought it was, but no. It is another source of strength, an obstacle that I continually overcome. A heart constantly in conflict with itself burns hotter than even dragon fire. It would be foolish to lose that source of power.”

  Corina sat beside me, staring at Anicia, showing off her magic, waving a 12-foot-long stream of blue-red fire back and forth. Ben looked close to tears every time it got close to him. After a long bout of terrorizing the boy, Anicia walked away smugly, and Ben looked at her like she was the devil incarnate.

  Corina spoke up suddenly. “I’m no great thinker or anything like that. But I’m sure you’ll become the greatest queen the world has ever seen, loved and worshiped by her people for all time. Or the worst tyrant…your name passing into infamy.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ‘Where did that come from?’

  “I appreciate your candor.” I shrugged. “In the end, benefactor or tyrant… It’s just a matter of perspective. Will you still follow if I do become the worst kind of tyrant?”

  Corina nodded without hesitation. “As you said, it’s just perspective. Besides, I’ve seen too many innocents die to think goodness has any real power in this world.”

  ‘On that we can agree.’

  ~

  As we traveled southeast, I began to notice the shift; trees were thinning, and grass didn't grow as high. It was a subtle thing, but a sure sign that we were heading to an arid location. But the real desert was still a month away. I was still focused on perfecting the new binding and creating more magic. I was even in the beginning stages of figuring out how to use Azurite.

  I allowed Corina, Anicia, and Ben to do the recruiting; With a man aiding in the efforts, people didn't blow us off as easily. Eventually, I’ll strap him in full plate and parade the boy around as a banner for recruitment.

  I had too much to focus on and too little time to figure it out. So, I sat in the carriage while people came and went. Some talked, others ignored, and most were unwilling. It wasn't surprising exactly. The town was rather large, seemingly prosperous. However, it didn’t matter how wealthy or well-off a place was; there would always be poor and desperate people amongst them.

  “My Lady, we have a few,” Corina shouted into the carriage. Both carriages were abreast on the side of the south exit of the town. I gave Corina and Anicia permission to demonstrate their magical items if need be.

  There were three people, surprisingly. A man, a woman, and a child no older than eight summers. They had the gaunt, weary countenance of a family that fell on hard times. I stared at them, and they stared at me in turn. Before I approached, Anicia whispered to me.

  “Julia and Michael, 24 and 25 respectively, no family in the town, left their hometown for a new life… Didn't work out well for them. The husband borrowed 20 eagles from a usurer in the town and has been working it off, but the debt keeps rising every time he misses a payment. He needs 35 eagles to pay off the rest of the debt. The girl is Edine, 8, and their daughter. I had Ben run around for a bit, asking people, and the story checks out. They’re a bit of a laughingstock in the town, since the usurer is famous for his bad deals.”

  ‘It’s so nice not having to do this on my own.’

  Julia and Michael both had brown hair, though the former was lighter. The daughter, however, had blonde hair, and all three shared the same brown eyes. Nodding, I approached the three.

  They stared at me warily. With a cold voice, I asked. “Do you understand that I will travel far, and you will be on the road with me for the foreseeable future, which means heading southeast to the wastes?”

  The man stepped forward; I noted we were the same height. “Aye, Milady. As long as the commission is what you promised.” He bit his lips and then asked. “Is it true you got some magic tools to defend yerself?”

  I nodded. “Indeed, how else do you think we could travel all the way from the empire unmolested?”

  Before I finished speaking, Anicia brandished her crossbow, aimed off into the distance, subtly flipped a few switches, and with a loud crack, a bright red bolt sped off into the distance. With ease, she slung the crossbow back onto her waist.

  A small hand crossbow firing with such force, and the bolt glowing red-hot, was not something a peasant would see in their lifetime. We, of course, needed to demonstrate that we could defend ourselves. A few people on carts leaving the town looked at us with confusion, but none were willing to stop. The daughter stared at Anicia with amazement.

  “Do you two have any skills?” I asked.

  Julia looked at her husband, and he nodded. “I can sew, cook, and clean. I know my letters and numbers.”

  In other words, she was trained to be a wife and little else.

  “And you, what is your trade?” I looked at Michael.

  He coughed and said, “A-A miller.”

  Holding back a sigh, I continued, “Well, I have no flour mill, but you look to be strong enough.”

  Gesturing to the two carriages, I said. “Would you be willing to pick up a weapon and act in our defense? Can you drive a wagon?”

  He waited a few moments and then asked hesitantly. “You plannin’ on headin’ into combat?”

  “No, but no road is perfectly safe. As for your wife and daughter, they can be my personal attendants. Cleaning, cooking, managing my clothing, drawing my bath, and the like. 15 silver as a commission each and 7 for your child… Fair?”

  “How long?” he asked.

  “Two years at least; at the end of those two years, you may choose to serve me permanently if you wish,” I stated.

  “That’s fair,” Julia said, looking at her husband. Ultimately, the decision rested with him.

  “You know, there is another woman named Myr.” The man said.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “I am her; that is why defense is something you don't need to worry about.”

  The couple looked at each other, clear hesitance in their eyes.

  “You're the maiden.” The daughter whispered.

  With a sweet smile, I squatted down until I was eye level, and from my palm a small blue flame appeared.

  “You see what I am, yes?” All three nodded. “Now you know who you will serve. Do you accept?”

  “We ain't gonna fight a dragon, right?” Michael asked seriously.

  With an amused shaking of my head, I answered, “No, they’re extinct.”

  “What do we get?” The girl asked. With a bit of worry, Julia clamped a hand over her shoulder and said, “Apologies, Milady, she…”

  I held up a hand, stopping the apologies. “It is a reasonable question. First, you will have my protection and access to magical tools and items. Two and a half silver a week for the lot of you. This protection and pay last as long as our contract does. Think of it like I’m a noble lady, and you’re my servants; no noble would tolerate their servants being abused in any fashion. You serve me, and as such, you bow to no one else but me.”

  “What about sendin’ coin to family?” Julia asked.

  “That’s something you’ll have to sort out yourselves. There are couriers in major towns, and it is up to you to risk it being delivered properly. Speak to Ben; I recruited him a few weeks back from a town called Leeds. If you find it satisfactory, we can make it official, agreed?”

  "Sounds good," Michael said.

  “What about your loan? Will this usurer cause problems?” I asked.

  “Not if we can pay,” Michael said confidently.

  “Good enough.” I caught Ben’s eye as he poured water into a trough for the horses to drink. With a gesture, he came over.

  “Yes, Milady.”

  “They have questions for you. Speak with them for a time,” I said to him.

  Ben looked confused but shrugged and smiled at the family. “How are you’s?”

  ~

  I left them to speak and returned to Anicia.

  “Thoughts?” She asked.

  “As I said, warm bodies… We can put them to work.” Rubbing my chin, I continued, “I want you to sort out this loan business. Take Corina and Ben; I’ll watch the carriages. Make sure you have an official receipt. Next, I want you to get another wagon and purchase enough firewood and coal to last us a few weeks. Any scrap metal you can find, glass as well, and enough produce to top off our stores. ” After a final moment of consideration, I stated. “Remember that gold ring I got from that corrupt headman.” Anicia nodded. “Sell it for as much as you can get. It's a big town; you should be able to get a reasonable price. Can you get it done?”

  Anicia stared blankly, then nodded. “I can do this, Myr.”

  I’ve been tutoring her for months; She needs to learn how to navigate the world and act independently.

  ~

  It took over five hours, and only once was there a pull from my reservoir. Still, I didn't go rushing into the town. If they can’t do something as simple as this on their own in a town that was quite safe, then what was the point of having servants?

  'Perform well, Corina...Anicia. I intend to delegate more to you in the future.'

  As I sat under the shade of my carriage, I stared at the runes of a new arcane circle.

  ‘The secrets of Azurite and the scroll, new arcane formulas, recruiting, and new bindings. I still need to learn about the desert kings and formulate a strategy while simultaneously searching for people to join me.’

  I rubbed my temple; the enormous amount of work ahead of me was daunting. We rolled out of town an hour later. With the new carriage in the middle, I barely even spoke to the family, so focused I was on my work. I was mildly amused at Alicia’s willingness to boss them around. Like most peasants, as soon as they saw the magical items, they nearly fainted. And after taking out large cuts of meat that were clearly from magically cooled chests, they stared at me as if I were the goddess in the flesh, delivering blessings.

  Just as I was about to have a breakthrough in my new binding, Ben came walking over carrying the water generator, looking guilty.

  ‘Did he break it by accident? It has a passive binding, so I can’t tell at a glance.’

  “Sorry for interrupting, but we out of water.”

  After a quick, focused binding, air rushed into the water generator so fast it emitted a low whining scream, and I could hear the fast trickle of water.

  “Give it a few minutes,” I said over the sound. Everyone looked over in confusion, but I waved them off, and they continued eating.

  After ten minutes, it cut off as the switch inside was flipped by the floater. I glanced over to the energy furnace to see the flue slightly icing over.

  “Well, that was easy,” he said, hefting the nearly two-foot-tall container. “Thank you, Milady.”

  As he walked away and poured nearly half the container into a trough for the two new horses, I paused, realizing a potential problem.

  ‘6 horses, 6 people… how much water is that per day? Sure, the climate is reasonable, and water is easy to get from the air now, but once we reach the desert…'

  ’If the air gets dry enough, we might run into serious problems… We’re heading towards disaster; I can always make more generators, of course. But I need a robust system, one that doesn't need my intervention. And it has to be scalable. ’

  Sighing, I decided to pause my work on the new binding and took out my map. After tracing a line to the closest town, I noted it was only three days away.

  ‘I won't allow this to become a problem. We’ll remain there for as long as it takes for me to figure this out. The last thing I need is to be in the middle of a desert and have half my people dying of thirst because I can't generate water fast enough. Even more so, I need to speak to actual traveling merchants… Learn their ways and learn the dangers. Fortunately, I realized this potential disaster so early; I’m too used to traveling in the empire. Where trees and fuel are plentiful.’

  Glancing at the expansive grassland around me, the sun setting in the distance, I imagined it all being sand and endless scorching heat as far as I could see, with no fuel to be found for miles upon miles.

  ‘This isn't the Empire, Myr; this is a new land, a new environment. But I’ll conquer it as easily as anything else.’