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A Little Less Counselor, A Little More Concubine

Part 1

For Fyacin

By Draconicon

There were three classes of people in the Empire of Dol-Ma. There were those that ruled, those that served, and those that served the rulers. Of the three, the safest to be was the third, and Fy had worked long and hard to solidify his position under the greatest of rulers.

The lion bowed at the waist as his master, the Emperor of Dol-Ma, entered the room. On either side of him were the other advisors of the great fox, one a hybrid dragon of sorts, the other a long, serpentine dragoness that had come from the seas. In either case, they bowed with him, the three of them pressing their foreheads to the floor as the footsteps of their master filled their ears in the otherwise silent room.

Click. Click. Click. Click. His wooden sandals made nothing but the smallest of sounds, but in the quiet, it was all they could hear. Certainly all Fy could hear. His heartbeat he'd long-since schooled to slowness during these times, not wishing to miss a thing, and the slender lion knew better than to say anything to break it.

The clicking stopped, the Emperor doubtlessly seated before them now. The command would come -

"Lift your heads."

The voice, vaguely feminine rather than the deep growl of the Emperor's forebear, lifted them as one from the ground. They remained seated, their hands on their knees, where the Emperor sat cross-legged in front of them. The wooden walls were dim behind him, the barest of silhouettes standing out against the white paper between the wooden pillars. Only the candlelight before the Emperor, producing its own snaking stream of smoke before the white fox, gave him any illumination at all.

"Your Master requires your advice."

"As you wish, oh master of mine," Fy said, bobbing his head.

"Your problems will never defeat our solutions," said the sea dragoness, Kisari, to his right.

"Our words will dazzle your difficulties," said the hybrid, Alys, on his left.

"How may we serve?" they asked together.

The Emperor's white fur fluffed up as he looked down his muzzle at them. His face was austere, painted back in the corners of his eyes to make it look more slender than it was, his ears adorned with purple along the inside and gold along the edges, with his tail pulled about him like a stole. His robes of state, white and black, were wrapped tight about him, pulled in towards his middle, and the ceremonial sword of state...

Was unsheathed, Fy realized belatedly.

Holding it before him, the Emperor turned the curved sword so that the sharp side pointed towards them. The light of the candle flickered up and down the blade, dancing upon it like a spirit upon a lake.

"My counselors, my empire is on the brink of war, and we are surrounded on all sides."

They nodded. Fy had heard of the ambassadors coming and going, and had bedded one of them. Nothing traitorous, of course, but merely an act in service of his Master. It had gained him little in the way of favors - or satisfaction, he was sorry to say - but it had given him much in the way of information.

As the Empire of Dol-Ma lay in the high passes of the great Mountains of the Soul, they were surrounded by many different nations that wished to use the high passes regularly. The Empire had treaties with many nobles, and all of the ruling families that surrounded the Empire paid tribute unto the Emperor for the right to use the roads. Those merchants that passed through paid little to nothing; the burden lay upon those that had the coin to afford it.

But such an arrangement could not last forever. Not only money, but strategic positions, mystical sites, and the precious iron mines of the Empire lay in the mountains. If but one of the neighboring lands could claim it, they would be able to hold a position of superiority over their rivals, and war would run rampant for years.

Fy's father had been the one to bring this arrangement about nearly forty years ago, and the lion had worked hard to maintain it, serving as diplomat and as the occasional bribe to other countries to keep them bound to it.

"I have heard the rumors of gathering armies," the Emperor said. "What else have you heard?"

"I have spoken with the river nymphs and the deep ones beneath the mountains, and with those who run from lake to lake beneath the world," Kisari said, her voice soft and high, ethereal and strange. "They speak of the gathering of war ponies and labor horses, of the thundering hooves that shake the world below. To the north, a great machine is pulled and assembled, to be dragged to our slopes by the end of the year."

"I have flown on the backs of the great ravens, my thoughts guiding their reins," Alys said, the hybrid's voice earthy and warm for one that was descended from those that flew through the skies. "I have ridden the winds, and sailed on the falling feathers through the skies of morning, noon, and night. And to the south, I have seen the mystics and their shrines on wagons, their crosses and their stars. On roads of magic they travel, coming to our slopes in hopes of corrupting our lands."

Each time a report was made, the Emperor nodded, turning from one speaker to the next. He made no response, nor did he say anything when he turned to the lion.

Both Alys and Kisari had frowned as they gave their reports. Fy, on the other hand, smiled.

"I may not have flown with the birds or swum with the fish, but I have spoken to those that walk the land. I have given them my time and my thoughts, and they in turn have given me theirs. To the east and west are many that hate the north and south. Poor as they are, they do not rise to war, but mutter angrily of what they wish they could have. Should we wish allies, we have them prepared already out of envy and greed."

"...Speak further on this, Fy."

At a gesture from his Master, the lion rose to his feet, bowing at the waist. His spacious robes allowed him to gesture as theatrically as he wished, and he took advantage of it then, flinging his arms out to the sides.

"East, and West. A broken principality, a shattered republic. Failed experiments of nations that nobody has bothered to snap up, poor and hungry, weeping and wailing as they look upon the profits of their neighbors. To the north!"

He flung his arms upwards, his sleeves flaring up and rippling.

"A land of progress, a land of iron and steel, constantly on the edge of bankruptcy to buy from our mines and other lands, yet possessed of a thieving force that steals back all that it spends. To the south!"

The lion flung his arms down, his sleeves dancing, rippling, swaying.

"A land of mystery and magic, where a hundred thousand gods dance among the mortals that call them lord, where souls matter more than money, yet you can buy your power with sufficient coin.

"Between them, our humble empire and two starving peoples, eager for anything that they can get, willing to take any solution that they are offered."

"You intend for us to bribe our allies?" the Emperor asked.

"They will be bribed, one way or the other. At this moment, a messenger from the West sleeps in his chambers, sated in heart, but not in mind. I have told him that there may be hope for his people, and guidance from the great Emperor of Dol-Ma."

"...And why should we make a deal with the East or the West? Do you claim we would be better served with them, instead of with one of their enemies?"

"It is the choice of two enemies or three, my Master," Fy said, bowing his head. "Our coffers are full, but neither the north or south will back down from war without all we can offer. Should we remove one threat, we still face the other, and by soothing one beast, we have enraged two others at greater cost.

"My advice to you, oh master of mine and Emperor of the mountains, is to give a token to the East and West with the promise of more should the war end quickly. They are hungry for kindness. Feed them, and like beaten dogs, they will serve you more fiercely than any that you have raised from birth."

The Emperor arched an eyebrow, but Fy knew the language of his Master. The fox would consider his words, weighing them against what only the Emperor himself knew. There would always be more information known to the great than there would be known among the small, just as the small would always fight among themselves for the information that they had.

Both Kisari and Alys had known of things that he hadn't. All of them must have known about the marching forces, but to hear that one was bringing forth a machine of war and the other using the Sky Roads to bring their forces to bear...that was new.

But only he had been able to bring forth an idea with his advice. The other two had kept merely to expressing information, while he had blended the two. After they had spoken, there was no going back between the counselors. They had said their piece, and they were not allowed to add more after they had finished. Tradition had given him an advantage this night.

Eventually, the Emperor nodded.

"We will meet with the messenger from the Western Land. He will hear from us, and be dispatched home with three hundred swords. Upon the same day, we shall send an equal gift to the East, with intelligence such as we have to be given to both of them."

Fy nodded. It was a small enough 'gift' to not rouse the ire of the wealthier nations, but enough to show their neighbors that they were willing to stand with them, if the poor countries would do their part.

Of course, there was the slight risk that the East and West would find it more profitable to turn against them and hope for the crumbs that fell after the war, but he felt that there was little chance of that. The Empire of Dol-Ma had a good relationship with the poor, and even among those that could not easily travel, the passes remained open so long as the monarchs paid the tribute.

Too many of the East and West relied on the passes staying open for them to trifle with that arrangement. Anyone else that held them would strangle the roads, and that would be tantamount to murder for many.

"As you wish, master of mine," Fy said, bowing.

"Alys. Kisari. You may leave. I will speak with my favored counselor alone."

The hybrid and the dragon bowed their heads, moving back several paces before standing up. They walked slowly to the door, and Fy knew without looking that both moved with a sway in their hips, both hoping to tempt the Emperor to call them back before they left. They always did.

After all, it was part of the second role that the three of them provided for the great Emperor.

The door shut, and the white fox summoned him forward with a gesture. As the lion approached, the Emperor sheathed his sword, shaking his head.

"You walk a fine line, servant. You ride the rising star, but take care that it does not burn you to cinders," he said.

"I will ride my star as far as it will take me, master of mine. And should it fall, I shall leap from it and dance among the night sky until another so fine will carry me further."

"Do not flaunt your success. Your equals do not care for you as it stands; if you push them further, they may not tolerate your antics as well as they now do."

"Whatever happens, I will face the consequences. I will not be other than I am."

"Nor would I have you be, but I would be an unkind master if I did not tell you what I see."

The fox lifted his arms, a signal that Fy knew well. He reached for the Emperor's belt, quickly undoing it before pulling it away. The robe came after, leaving the great master of the mountains in nothing but his fundoshi, tied tight around his middle and cradling a sacred burden in the front.

It was the prize for the counselor that had outstripped the others, to serve their master in a more intimate way. It was a gift for them, now, with the Emperor being young and of good health and stamina. The vigor that he carried was surprising, for one so slight as himself and so feminine, but it was nonetheless potent.

Fy had been the recipient of it on more than one occasion, and ever since the first time, he wished nothing more than to receive it again.

"May this unworthy lion have permission to unwrap his master?" Fy whispered.

"You have permission."

It was an effort to undo the well-wrapped cloth, but the resulting sight was as lovely as ever. The diminutive fox had more between his legs than any would credit him with, and the lion leaned in slowly, his eyes closing as he kissed the tip of his master's sheath.

It was good to be the best. Let the others try and bring him down; he would stand over them for all eternity.

The End