Queen of Embers

IX. Astarac

It was strange to walk into danger without Vridash at her back, but Sorne was grateful that he wasn't present as they approached Astarac. They were on a bustling road, surrounded by merchants fluxing in and out from further south and east. Genev was more inclined towards war than Ethilir, but the influence of the once-mighty kingdom to the south was unmistakable. The Eth occupation more than a century ago gave the Genevais their roads, fortifications, trade routes, technology, and cities. Even their language remained in some of Genev's vocabulary, along with their blood. The noble bloodlines of Genev claimed ancestry from the far eastern people who had forced the Eth out, fair skinned with light-colored eyes, but much of the lower castes had skin that ranged from tan to as dark as their former occupiers from the south.

Sorne's fair hair and fair skin passed without remark even among the lower castes, as some of the merchants were Talinese and even Yssan. She knew that how she spoke would raise a few eyebrows, mostly because it was as foreign as Vipsania's speech. Many years of being surrounded by Orcish and Giant had imprinted their patterns, replacing her Genevais accent with their own. Fortunately, the odds of it being recognized were extremely low. Most people who encountered orcs were all on the northern border, and Sorne could all but guarantee that no one here had seen a giant, let alone spoken to one. Well, perhaps a giant wearing a different shape, but such a being would know how to pass without trace.

"So what do you think?" Sorne asked as she glanced over at her traveling companion. They were almost to the outer gate.

Vipsania's expression was hard to read, likely a result of the iron discipline that seemed instilled by her legion. It robbed her of the ability to show many emotions, particularly the softer ones. "My path did not take me through Astarac. It is smaller than I expected based upon my knowledge of human authority, given a lord of some importance holds it. I suppose that is explained by the fact that it sits upon the road from Mauléon to Lisieux. The wealth from such trade is probably sufficient to maintain something of an army."

Sorne smiled slightly. She knew it was only something of an army because Vipsania was used to the Imperial legions, which dwarfed the combined military might of the east. Alliances that spanned races and kingdoms would have been crushed had the Princes of Iron not been destroyed by the power of the Desolate Throne. To the Genevais, Duke Ezkibel commanded considerable strength. "Do you think it has enough?"

Vipsania considered that for a long moment before saying, "No, but it is a start."

It was a fair assessment and Sorne was inclined to take Vipsania's word for it. Out of the two of them, the western woman had far more experience. The orcs didn't have fortifications the way men did, so the wars Sorne was most familiar with were utterly foreign to how humans fought. Vipsania's people had a thousand years of conquest behind them. The Imperium was not an artistic culture, according to Vipsania. They were maddeningly single-minded and often coldly logical, their demonic influences visible in their expressions and tones. Their creativity came in finding new and ingenious ways of engineering and artificing.

Vipsania spoke on the seven virtues of the legion the night before, when conversation turned to such things, in answer to Sorne's curiosity. They are obedience, courage, honor, fidelity, discipline, diligence, and justice. Perhaps they are admirable, perhaps they are not. I cannot say, as one who stands among those to be judged. That said, to the task we approach, they will be useful.

Astarac was a city of moderate size, just large enough that there were homes and streets spilling beyond the initial fortifications laid down in the days of Eth rule. Lower outward fortifications had been erected, but most were earthen walls topped by wooden palisade rather than stone. The city's outer areas were wooden structures with stone foundations, but became more and more stone as one moved closer to the Ducal Palace at the center. Beyond even the outer walls were markets set up by traveling traders, full of tents and temporary stalls beside wagons laden with goods. It wasn't the most defensible city, which Ezkibel compensated for by having a significantly larger garrison than any other city in Genev.