Dear Diary,

I really am kinda worried about how much time I've put into my kid's birthday present slash party. Just to be clear, I'm absolutely fine with my own personal time spent on my own personal daughter. Okay, yeah, she's not just my daughter, but my point still stands, me putting my own blood sweat and tears into making her birthday great isn't something I'm going to get all bent out of shape over. Maybe if I had to decide between defending someplace against some kind of kaiju Monster and getting the cake just right, I'd feel bad about that awesome cake, but that's just having an important job that sometimes pulls me away.

Nah, my problem is the thought that we sent a whole assed ship, crew, and three Cadet diplomats, not to mention all the assorted supplies the mission required, all to find our daughter's big sister in time to get her here for our girl's birthday party. I know I talked briefly with Saffron about it, but then Karen's concern in Jackville distracted me from getting that update she promised me. Definitely need to circle back with my Kitten about that.

Maybe if there's, like, other reasons why we sent a whole assed delegation along the coast I'll feel less guilty about it.

Okay, I can't even say that with a straight face. It's like I've never met me. I can find something to feel guilty about when I've done nothing but charitable work all day. When I come home from my Friday Night Revels, with a whole assed congregation literally worshipping me and half a dozen people intimately satisfied to the point of satiation in the most wholesome of ways, I'm floating on a cloud of dopamine and serotonin, and I still find things to feel guilty over.

So yesterday after a day of letting Hildegarde go absolutely all out against me while also watching over Karen's shoulder as she wandered around Jackville looking for Jack, I brought dinner home. New thing, sort of. At least something I hadn't seen a lot of since I got here. Pasta. Took Marie like half a day to figure that shit out, although once she did she had me doing most of the work. Some bits of cooking are just easier if you don't have fur on your fingers. Also yeah, she's done dumplings before, but not the kind of pasta I remember from Italian restaurants. I'd mentioned it to her, she thought about it, tested some stuff out, had me do the mixing and kneading, rolled it out, sliced it up, and bam, linguine. Or maybe fettuccini? Long thin pasta strips.

So I brought home three different batches of pasta fresh out of the pot, plus two big things of sauce; one of them a tomato meat sauce, the other an alfredo shrimp sauce. Turns out the idea of pasta isn't new here, but it's not exactly a common local thing. At least not, like I said, the shapes and presentation I'm used to. At this point I'm low key wondering if at some point I'm gonna wind up with 'food' or something similar as one of my Domains. Then again, I guess I would have gotten that already from all my binge eating at the Academy if I was gonna. Then again, I'm not really introducing any new foods; just changing how people think about shit they already had, or sometimes how they worked with it or presented it.

Pulled my ladies, including Tallulah, who'd decided to visit for the evening, and Karen, who needed a shower and a soak after a day wandering through the filthiest love child of Venice and the Everglades. I can't even say it's, like, the people there who are dirty or unkempt, although there's a certain sort of shabbiness that shows through when the poverty has ground at people long enough. Honestly, that kind of generalized lack of any economic wherewithal was kind of part of the reason for Jackville's dirt, though. Everything, and I mean everything from buildings to boats to clothing, had that look of something that had been cobbled together from whatever people could get their hands on.

In the Villages that wasn't too bad. The streets weren't paved, but they were packed dirt with the very thinnest layer of mud from the constant punishing humidity. But everyplace else half of the buildings were built on nothing but mud and pilings. That does not make for a great deal of stability, and it showed. The few stone buildings looked sort of better, but even there most of them looked like they were either constantly sinking into the marsh or their inhabitants spent most of their time digging them out and building little dikes to keep the water from turning them into swimming pools.

At any rate, as the six of us floated there, watching pasta stuffed kids slowly run out of energy and slump over sleeping, I thought, Any ideas on how to get Jack's attention?

I've yet to come up with anything sure not to provoke his wrath, but...

But what, Kitten?

I'm increasingly tempted to offer the full support of the Alliance's construction workers to Jackville's residents.

That took me aback a little. Huh? Aren't we still rebuilding Calverton?

She nodded as Tallulah looked at her with as much obvious confusion as I had. Yes, we are, but we won't be forever. We're also undertaking major construction efforts in Newark, Camden Yards, and Norfolk; as those are completed those workers are being shipped off to assist in Calverton.

Something struck me about that. Uh, it almost sounds like you're conscripting them for work gangs or something?

She smiled and shook her head. Oh, there are a few convict laborers among those working; mostly those given unpleasant simple work. But the vast majority of them are simply following their fairly lucrative work. Her jaws cracked as she yawned. Would you mind awfully if we continue this conversation tomorrow?

I kissed the top of her head. No problem, Kitten. Don't let me forget?

Of course not.

As we drifted off, the hot water leaching all the pain out of my scars, Tallulah thought, Goddess? Imperator? Ambassador? Please let me know when you encounter Jack?

I muzzily thought, yeah, sure. Why?

Fae. Old. Powerful. Subtle. Clever.

Those words did not fill me with calm, but they weren't enough to keep me from drifting off. Dreamt of my ladies playing one of the variations on Hide and Seek the kids had come up with. I have no idea what the rules were. I'm not sure any two of them were following the same ones. Mimic dreams are still dreams, and dreams are still weird.

In the morning after reminding all my ladies about Tallulah's request, we all headed off to work. I split myself my by now normal number of ways. One for the kids, one for the Infirmary, two for Saffron, a dozen for Marie to order around. One of the pair with Saffron, the one I expected to spend the day coding and playing seat cushion, wound up in my office atop the Bore.

"What's up, Kitten?"

She plonked my butt down in my chair, then straddled my lap. "Did you forget already?"

It took me a second. "Okay, um, right. The Tentacles? Or the construction crews?"

"Yes, I intend to go over all that with you today. First in general, then more specifically." I must have looked some kind of way, because she tilted her head and said, "what's wrong?"

I smirked away my own pout. "Nothin' really. Just enjoyed debriefing at that café down on the waterfront."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"But neither of us need wear briefs here? Or bloomers? Or anything at all, if that's your preference?"

I laughed. "Oh, yeah, but then we won't get shit done. Besides, I liked it when you flashed me unexpectedly."

My Kittens most gremlin Grin made an appearance. "Flashing when you don't expect it. Understood. Ready for the review?" I nodded. "Well. Beginning with the construction crews, the Alliance is coordinating excess labor in each of our Cities. Essentially, instead of having ten stonemasons in a city that needs five, we offer five of them transport and good wages in a City where they're needed."

"What if none of them want to move?"

She shrugged, smiling. "Oh, we don't force anyone. But we do alter the bounty for moving over time. Between not having enough work in their home City, not knowing if the masons from another City will move first, we've yet to have a complete lack of motion. There are far more than ten workers, of course. But part of what Mrs. Driver, Lord Lancaster, and I have worked to do is to ensure that no one's time is wasted, and no one is undercompensated."

"Huh. Uh, about that under-compensation. The prisoners?"

She tilted her head. "I'd hoped to save those for last, love?"

I shrugged, not entirely copacetic with forced labor. "Why?"

She smiled softly, "because I know you're desperate to feel less guilty, not more, and before I review each case with you, I'd like to go over the other benefits of Karen's mission."

"Each case? Really?"

She nodded. "All of them are guilty of some heinous crime. Many of them chose hard labor rather than exile or death."

I sighed. "Yeah, I get that, but... how were they convicted?" She just tilted her head. "Like, did they get something like my Trial?"

She shrugged. "Something like, yes." Her casual dismissal did not fill me with confidence. "Okay, um, do all our Cities have the same process for convicting somebody of a crime like that?"

She shook her head. "No? Why would they?"

I shrugged. "Just... we've got a lot of people wandering around now. Moving around. If the definition of 'murder' or 'theft' or even fuckin' 'rape' isn't exactly the same in every City, somebody from another City just moved in could break the law without realizing, or without meaning to."

She frowned. "I see this is important to you, love. I can see some grounds for it, even if..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "May I discuss this with the Grand Council members, letting them know that it concerns you, and why, and bring you our solution?"

I kinda froze up at that when it hit me. My brain and my lady parts almost filed for divorce as I realized what kind of power I had. The Imperator of the Alliance, who had at least as much real power as the President of the United States back in, say, eighteen hundred, had just told me that she was gonna do the equivalent of setting up a special session of Congress just to address my doubts about our Criminal Justice system. I was an actual fuckin' Goddess, not just in the sense of 'can wreck the shit out of a Dragon', not just 'Worshipped by thousands', but in the 'wealthy and powerful people rearrange their fuckin' work schedules to accommodate my whims'. I mean, yeah, sort of a serious whim, but still.

I nodded, my voice hoarse. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be good."

She whispered in my ear. "Did you really, really want to hear about Karen's mission now?"

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, almost choked on Pumpkin Spice, and sighed. "Yeah. Please."

Her breath tickled my ear again, trickling down my ear canal in a way that shredded my self control. "Good girl." As I sat there whimpering, she pulled back just a bit. "Well then. First and foremost, Karen's mission did in fact put us in touch with each of the Cities to the south of us. While Compton and Muscogee aren't the military or economic powerhouses the northern neighbors are, they are still strong enough to 'jostle our elbow' as you'd put it. With them firmly bound, either by treaty or into the Alliance, we are free to act, both in dealing with Jackville and Boltophsberg, and in turning our collective eyes across the Atlantic."

I nodded. "Okay. Yeah. Guess that's important. Anything else?"

She smiled at me. "Of course, love. We've scouted out the coast, with a crew whose dedicated mission was to map out the coast and find places for watch towers. Those constructions crews I mentioned before? The ones who will be mostly idle once Calverton is rebuilt?" I nodded. "They won't sit idle then, either. Our excess construction capability will move down the coast, emplacing watch towers. I suspect some of those towers will eventually become small towns themselves. Others already are, I suspect, the homes of folk you'd refer to as 'Human Adjacent', but were hidden." Before I could say anything, she nodded and cut me off with, "I assure you, every effort will be made to give them the protection and assistance of the Alliance. Given that those watch towers are, primarily, watching for Sparta or a Spartan led alliance, they'll likely need that protection should such a force arrive."

"You really think they're coming?"

She shrugged. "If we build those watch towers and they never come, we've given our people gainful employment, a task to unite them and have the folk of different communities see one another as helpful fellows rather than foreigners. Also, we'll be building a line of communication between Cities. Those watch towers will be close enough, in good weather, to signal one another."

"That's... that's brilliant, Kitten."

She smiled at me. "I got the idea from your use of signal flags in both your Lancaster Calverton campaigns." While I sat there tryna come up with some kind of rebuttal, she continued. "If the Spartans come themselves? We'll need those towers to spot them before they can wreak havoc on some poor villagers. At the very worst, the towers will give them somewhere to run to, possibly somewhere to hide long enough for us to rescue them."

"What if we're not fast enough?" I whispered.

"Then you will, no doubt, show them the appropriate amounts of mercy."

I sighed, then nodded. "What about if they bring a whole assed army?"

She grimaced. "I have worried greatly about that. I know you studied the geography and history of a few of the Europan Cities, yes?" I nodded. "Each of the major Cities in Europa is at least as large as New Amsterdam. Most of them are far older, their military and magical traditions more established. Should the Spartans come alone, but in their full force, we might resist them. Should they bring another City, we'll need to catch them as they disembark, or while they're still at sea. If we can spot them far enough out, either by watchtower or Kraken or patrolling vessels, we have the advantage. Our vessels are better than any they have. If we can get the Black Dragon to them before they land, we could end the war right there."

"But if they get ashore?"

She nodded, sighed. "At that point we need to hold them until you and the Black Dragon are there. Even then, they have fighters and casters who may be able to force you to fall back or use strength enough to cause collateral you'd deem unacceptable."

"Shit. So... watchtowers." She nodded. "I'm guessing spies in Europan Cities?"

She smiled up at me, then put on a very obvious fake sincere face, with an equally fake sincere deadpan voice. "Of course not. The Alliance would never do anything so underhanded as to emplace spies in the Cities of Europa."

I snorted. "Okay, okay. So, the trip wasn't just to find Adrienne. We got diplomatic bennies and watchtower sites out of it. Cool. I'm guessing those would have been worth the price of the mission?"

She nodded. "But the search for Adrienne gives us a 'secret' reason for Karen's mission. Any Europan agents looking into things will see a diplomat with a 'secret' politically motivated mission to find the child of an Alliance VIP, with an Admiral who is taking his 'secondary mission' to find sites for light houses far too seriously."

I sighed. "Thanks, Kitten. I feel a lot better about it now. Still hope we can find Adrienne soon. Ria's birthday is coming up."

She smiled at me, hugged me, then said, "ready to review the cases."

I shook my head, sighed. "No. But then I don't think I ever really will be. Let's get started."

So we spent the rest of the morning, well past lunch time, really, reviewing the cases of the folks sentenced to hard labor by the Alliance. Pretty much every person on the list was responsible for utterly ruining somebody's life. Frequently for killing somebody. Murderers. Rapists. Bandits, and not the sort driven to it by desperation. One pirate captain who'd refused to come in out of the cold and go privateer or move to London when Tallulah called her people to heel. One or two I asked her to review them, and she let me know she would.

Mid-afternoon she slipped off my lap. A moment later she dropped to her knees in front of me, and I lost sight of her under the skirts of one of my Maid uniforms. "Wha... huh? Kitten?"

I never got my Fancy Goof. Oh, by the way? I must have made some kind of noise of acknowledgement in among the involuntary ones she'd started forcing out of me. I know you've been distracted by our review of prisoners, but the Grand Council has spent the morning discussing a unified code of laws for the Alliance. My brain seized up and butterflies filled my stomach as she thought, as per your stated desire. I lost track of everything right then, although I still caught the edges of her giggles, both mental and physical, as she thought, mmm... tasty Fancy Goof. Then she whisper thought a pouting, my back is cold. I couldn't help myself, I locked my ankles behind her butt, pinning her in place. Perfect, love. Just. Like. You.

Kinda lost track of the rest of the afternoon. My Kitten, she has an endless appetite for sweets, and apparently I'm not very filling.

The sun cast long shadows across the mountain top when Karen's quiet voice trickled into our heads. Goddess? Imperator? Overlord? I think you want to hear this.

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