Fostering Faust 3

by Randi Darren

  Need to have it rebuilt. Can’t have her staying here too long. It’s just too easy to crush.

  The fort was almost identical to other forts he’d seen in the empire. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t exactly good either.

  Get the same man who’s been working on rebuilding my own.

  Getting down off his horse, Alex went over and offered Alexandra a hand.

  “Oh, thank you, Count,” she said, taking his hand and stepping down daintily.

  Giving him a wide smile, she stuck her tongue out partially between her teeth. “Never thought I’d be the countess all by myself. Such an interesting change already,” she murmured. “And here I was actually hoping to be Eight.”

  “Mmhmm. Go on. I’ll be right behind you,” Alex said. There was still a part of him that wanted to slam a collar down on the lovely woman and remold her in his desires.

  Alexandra nodded her head fractionally and started up to where her power resided. Her courtroom, hall, and county throne.

  Glancing backward, Alex found the rest of his concubines were all dismounting as well.

  Only Bethany Derth, related to Alexandra, was in a normal dress.

  All the rest were in their House of Brit concubine uniforms. Cleavage, legs, and bust all on display, just as Rebekah had designed the outfits to do.

  And they’ll remain that way until they stop taking Mother’s Bane.

  “Favor Bethany,” Rebekah said very softly from his side.

  Taking that cue for what it was, Alex waited, staring at Bethany, and offered her his arm when she got close enough.

  “Countess, may I escort you up?” Alex asked.

  “Yes, yes please,” Bethany said, slipping her arm through his.

  As they walked into Alexandra’s fort, Alex could see signs of age, wear and tear.

  The entire way up to the fort, he’d seen much of the same.

  Belistin was an aging county that wasn’t getting money put back into it.

  Which any successful business owner would tell you was a failing proposition.

  Reinvestment and upkeep is always key.

  We’ll show the others today why they should simply accept me, and a child from me.

  Binding their titles to Brit for all time.

  Because all Brit children will spend a good part of every year in Brit, receiving their education.

  Taught by Brit tutors and the head of the Brit family.

  And swear themselves to Brit and Leah.

  We’ll centralize our power and condense it.

  Their mothers are of course welcome to remain in Brit during that time as well. We’ll not separate parents from children.

  Alex had gone over this plan many times in his head. Now it was just a matter of carrying it out.

  He wouldn’t take their child from Alexandra, but she wouldn’t raise them in a vacuum either.

  And if he did it right, Gaelis would fall, the majority of his titles being given to Regina, and Alex would keep all his new vassals.

  Except he’d be here for at least a month or two.

  He needed to settle Alexandra and Bethany into their roles.

  And that would take time.

  ***

  Going over the numbers a third time, Alex felt like it was as clean as he was going to get it.

  Looking from column to column, he finally gave up and laid down his quill. He’d been doing nothing but this single budget for the last week and was done with it, even if he wasn’t done with it.

  That meant, one way or another, this one was complete.

  Bethany’s budget for Derth had been blessedly simple in comparison.

  Alexandra’s ex-husband had been an idiot in more ways than one.

  Alex rubbed at his eyes. He’d never expected to have to use so much of his old-world accounting and financial officer experience as a count.

  Since he’d arrived here a month ago, that was all he’d been doing.

  Working on finances.

  “Alright,” he said, closing his eyes and putting his chin in his hand. “That’s as close as I’m going to get it.”

  “Oh?” Rebekah hummed, leaning over to peek at his paper. She also deliberately tilted her cheek toward him in an open invitation.

  That really wasn’t an invitation when it came to Rebekah.

  Riley was on his other side, clutching his left arm with her right arm. She’d somehow picked up the ability to write with her left hand as a result of always holding Alex with her right.

  “Mmhmm,” Alex said, turning his head and kissing Rebekah’s proffered cheek. “We’ll need to leave her with a chest of about twenty thousand. That’ll cover her debts and start up a good rebuilding fund.

  “Best I figure, we just don’t collect taxes for three years. At least, that’s what I get after reading her ex-husband’s tax records. They’ll have more than enough to get everything back on track with that in addition to the twenty thousand coins.”

  “Certainly not cheap,” Rebekah murmured, reading over his numbers. She smiled at him, her eyes bright. “But you’re the best with numbers in all of Brit.

  “My smart man. Good job, baby.”

  “Mm. If I do this for Alexandra and then Bethany, the others won’t be able to deny what’s going on. They’ll either wise up and make the same moves, or remain concubines,” Alex said.

  “They’re resisting for no reason. It isn’t so bad. You had me as a concubine for a while,” Rebekah said, coming in closer to him. She pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss.

  “Agreed,” Riley said from his other side. “They’re being stubborn and foolish. Though I think Brianne might be next. One of my girls thinks she found Brianne’s most recent dose of Mother’s Bane in the waste bin.”

  “Baroness Stoneson,” Alex said with a sigh. Gently, he disentangled himself from Riley and Rebekah and moved over to another desk. It had a map of Gaelis laid out on it.

  Unfortunately, Regina hadn’t been able to procure good maps of the areas as Quinn had, so they were working with much less information.

  Looking at it carefully, Alex found where they were right now.

  “Okay… so… Belistin and Derth are here,” he said, putting his finger between the two counties.

  They lay side by side, bordering the newly minted Baron Ulles’s lands. To the west of them was the county of Aerin, which ran right up to Regina’s lands.

  To the east were Stoneson and Helit. Unfortunately, though, they weren’t connected to Derth or Belistin. There was a rather large county between them, with a few baronies that were vassals of that county.

  “No change in Aerin?” Alex asked.

  “No,” Rebekah said. “She takes her role seriously as your concubine and gives you her all, but she’s not bending at all as far as Mother’s Bane.

  “Helit and Stoneson are definitely coming around, before you ask.”

  “Mm,” Alex said, looking at the cities of Stone and Deskan. “Drop the idea in Aerin’s head that I might turn my affections toward her daughter. That I might let her daughter take the title if I can put a child in her. And that after that, her own usefulness would fade.

  “Maybe that’ll loosen her up.”

  “I already did,” Rebekah said, walking up to Alex’s side. “This morning.

  “Don’t worry, baby. We’ve got you. One and I are all you need.”

  “Yes,” Riley said from the desk she was still sitting at. Though now she was writing with her right hand. “All you need between the two of us.”

  Alex looked away from the two of them and back to his map.

  “We’ve been here a month,” he said, scratching at his jaw. “The soldiers are rested, Bethany and Alexandra are settled, and the garrison is built. Time to move on.”

  “And they’re both quite pregnant,” Rebekah offered up. “I blessed them both in Leah’s name as soon as they were sure of their state.”

  “Then we head east to…” Alex paused to lean in and read the title. “The count
y of Twil. We’ll dispatch a messenger to Quinn to let her know we’re moving so she can start scouting and ranging off in that direction. I do enjoy having a fully armed screening force.

  “We’ll leave the levies here as our garrison force. Alanna went back home to Brit already, right?”

  “Yes,” Riley said, not looking up. “I’ll send someone else with the message.”

  “Care to make a wager?” Rebekah asked. “Do you think they’ll surrender to Count Inferno the Butcher or make Alex burn them to the ground?”

  Alex clicked his tongue. He was well aware of the change in his title, and it bothered him.

  But it also did serve his purposes.

  “What’re you offering in terms of action?” Alex asked, staring at the map as he contemplated how to handle Twil.

  “Hm… oh, if I win, we have a three way with Four. If you win, three way with Three,” Rebekah said.

  “What makes you think I’d prefer Three over four?” Alex asked, amused.

  “Four said she wanted you to punish her terribly. Three said she wanted you to use her lovingly,” Rebekah said. “And I think I’d like to watch either happen this time. It was kind of nice to find you all tied up for me. I’d like to return the favor and make sure her experiences are fun. So it’s a bit of a win-win for me, but I’d get to do more with Four.”

  Oh.

  Hm.

  ***

  Pulling off his gloves, Alex stood in the middle of the road that ran straight up to the walls of Twil. On both sides of that road were houses, shops, and people.

  The count had let citizens build outside the walls at their own risk.

  “Foolish,” Carla said on his right.

  “Fuckin’ idiots you mean,” Nannie said. “Don’t cross Inferno.”

  “You’ve said that a few times,” Alex said. “Is that a saying now?”

  “Yeh,” Nannie said. “Don’t cross Inferno, or you’ll get burned. There’s other things, too. But it’s more like… advice stuff… than sayings.”

  “Advice,” Alex said, sweeping his eyes from one parapet to the other. The walls were lined with soldiers. There were even what looked like massive mounted crossbows, which could only be ballistae or scorpions. “Never thought I’d be associated with idioms spouting advice.”

  “And I never thought I’d stop taking Mother’s Bane and tell you to please visit me tonight, yet here I am, asking you to visit me tonight, and I stopped taking Mother’s Bane a month ago,” Carla said in a deadpan tone.

  Blinking, Alex had to replay that statement in his head twice.

  Valeria, Sylvia, Rebekah, Riley, and Nannie were all absolutely silent.

  Tael, Dan, Dave, Drew, and Art weren’t far away, but they were too far to have heard it.

  “What?” Nannie asked finally.

  “You heard me,” Carla said.

  “But… I thought… really?” Nannie asked again.

  “Yes. Really,” Carla said. “I’m not getting younger, and for all I know I could be dead tomorrow.

  “You can all sit around and wait, put it off for another time—I’m not going to.”

  Something changed in her head.

  I wonder what it was.

  Alex let out a slow breath, then motioned to Tael. He wasn’t going to answer Carla right here and now. It just wasn’t the right time or place.

  Tael came over quickly to Alex, bowing his head. “Sire?”

  “Send a banner-man with a white flag. Use the message I previously prepared,” Alex said. “Nothing’s changed, so there’s no need to change the message.

  “While the messenger is going to the gates, sweep the town and round up every single person who’s a refugee. Take them to the town center.”

  “Sire,” Tael said, moving off quickly.

  Place looks to be bursting with refugees. Let’s make this even harder for Twil and start acting for our future needs.

  “Alex? I need an answer,” Carla said. “Visit me tonight?”

  Fuck, she’s pushing for it?

  “Of course I will, Two,” Alex said. He turned and faced her squarely, giving her a smile at the same time. “Sorry. Just a little distracted. You hoping for a boy or a girl?”

  “Ah… both?” Carla said, smiling back at him, her face suddenly becoming a deep, dark crimson color. “And thank you. For accepting my soul pledge. I hope our next life is as interesting as this one.”

  What the actual fuck, Carla? Did you have to drop that one in front of everyone?

  I know you’re broken in the head, but this is a bit too much, isn’t it?

  Or is this some weird way you’re showing your dedication to me, that you’re willing to say all this in front of the others?

  Valeria, Rebekah, and Sylvia looked unsurprised. Nannie and Riley, however, looked shocked to the core.

  Checking a sigh, Alex turned back to the road.

  A messenger with the black bird of Brit and its blue background rode forward, also flying a white flag of truce and a second banner.

  A battalion flag.

  The black bird of Brit, on its blue background, in a sea of flames. Below that were two letters and a number.

  MI-01?

  Oh… mounted infantry, division one. Damnit, Dan.

  An hour after the messenger relayed the signed and sealed message through the gates, Alex stood in the middle of a crowd of wailing, cursing, begging refugees. All frightened, panicked, and worried.

  They’d all been rounded up and brought here.

  The square was full, as were all the streets leading up to this place.

  Twil wasn’t just full of refugees, it was drowning in them. Drowning in them with no hope of ever actually providing for them.

  “QUIET!” bellowed Nannie at the absolute top of her lungs. “SHUT YOUR DAMN TRAPS!”

  Faster than he expected, everyone fell silent, giving Alex a chance to speak.

  “Hello, one and all,” he said, speaking as loud as he felt was doable without shouting. “I’m Count Alexander Brit. I’m here to assess your status and provide you with a destination to move to, as well as funds. Additionally, you will be escorted to your new residence.”

  What whispers and muttering had started up at his name died away with this statement.

  “My plan is simple,” Alex said. “I or someone I trust will speak with you, determine your skills and your status, and offer you a relocation package suitable to your ability.

  “This is inclusive of three months of wages to get you started.”

  Alex felt like everyone had heard him, and word was rapidly traveling outward. He could see people whispering to those behind them about what had just been said.

  Good thing we told every soldier what we’re doing. If anyone has a question… they’ll actually get an answer.

  “Please form up in orderly lines, and we’ll begin working through everyone as quickly as possible. If you don’t wish to be part of the relocation, please don’t get in line,” Alex said. Then he walked over to a table that’d been set up for him specifically and sat down at it.

  Looking at the mob, he held out a hand to a middle-aged woman with three kids.

  “Madam, please, come have a seat,” Alex said.

  Looking confused, flustered, and concerned, the woman edged her way over to Alex and then sat down in one of the seven chairs directly across from him.

  Her children immediately took up the other seats.

  One and all, they looked worn. Tired, hungry, dirty, and lost.

  One of Riley’s maids came over and immediately laid down a loaf of bread and several pieces of fruit.

  The maid patted the closest child on the head with a smile, then walked back to the guarded wagon.

  Need to win the hearts, minds, and loyalty of the peasantry.

  If I have the citizens, the nobility can’t stop me. Their soldiers are from the citizenry.

  And if I have the nobility, Duke Gaelis won’t have support.

  Once his support is gone�
� he’ll be Regina’s, and I can go home.

  “Madam, is this your whole family?” Alex asked, picking up a piece of paper from a satchel set to one side. He then pulled out an inkwell and quill.

  “Yesir,” said the woman, watching her children gobble down the fruit. “Thank ye for the food, milord.”

  “Consider it a gift for being willing to consider the relocation program,” Alex said, smiling at the woman. “Now, let’s—”

  “I don’ have a trade or a job,” said the woman. “Me man was a soldier and he died. Got kicked ou’ after that.”

  “I understand. That isn’t a concern. Do you have any types of jobs you’d be unwilling to work?” Alex asked, moving halfway down the sheet of paper and filling out the area for skills and recommendations.

  He’d spent a good week having training material provided to everyone who would be assisting in this process and going over the forms in depth.

  “Uhm, I woul’n wanna do anythin’ that’d make my man sad if’n he’s watchin’ me,” said the woman. “Haven’ yet, and wouldn’.”

  Huh?

  Oh. Prostitution.

  “I understand, and hadn’t even considered that,” Alex said with an honest smile. “Would you be willing to fish? Gut and butcher animals? Clean streets? Is there anything along those lines you wouldn’t do?”

  “Oh, yeh, any of that is nothin’,” said the woman, smiling for the first time now. “Be a shite wife if I couldn’ do that and the like.”

  “Great. It just so happens we have several cities that are in need of farmers, and I think that’d be a good fit for you as the work can be variable,” Alex said. “The job is going to become considerably easier in the next several years as well, as we work at modernizing the industry.”

  “Modini… modiniz… haaa… what?” asked the woman.

  Alex only smiled at her. He’d expected this, so it wasn’t an issue.

  “I’ll give you twenty gold to travel to the county of Xer and start working as a farmhand there,” Alex said. “Your pay will be determined from there by the landowner. Though I can assure you that any farm you’ll be sent to is sanctioned by Brit. Each and every one is sworn to me and Leah to uphold Brit law.”

  And if they didn’t take that oath, they didn’t get the loan.