Tanya's Third Life as a Barbarian Queen, Chapter LIII

I will have the chapter as links to download at the bottom of the post. As well as a link to the Google Document page.

Sadera, Senate Chambers.

Molt Sol Augustus, Emperor of Sadera.

The chamber carried the smell of burning incense that covered up the reek of fear from the assembled 'great men' of Sadera. Despite the necessary culling of the herd, the benches heaved with men who had slept little from fear of blades in the dark. But they had little to fear now, my point made clear.

Despite the heaving mass of humanity on the marble benches, many families who claimed ancestral right to attend the Senate halls had requested that boys or even women be allowed inside. They had been refused, of course, but a part of me found the concept amusing. Why not let the Senate debase itself further by allowing women to bring their ephemeral concerns to the floor? It was something to consider.

The great doors closed; a thunderous crash that caused a lul in the preamble plotting on the floor. Whispers that collectively became almost deafening slowed into silence. The Speaker planted his staff and struck three times for order. 

"The matters of the day have been wiped away with the arrival of Sir Elowin Tiber, Wyvern Knight of the Ordus Circuli, whom has confessed to conspiring with members of his order against his most glorious Majesty Sol Molt Augustus." The speaker looked around the room at the shocked and confused faces of the people about him.

The Wyvern Knights had, against my explicit command, launched a raid against the Queen of the Tanaoi. Several wings of their number attempted to take the barbarians' lives, only to be struck from the sky by magics the likes of which had not been seen since mythical times. I had predicted that this barbarian sorceress would demonstrate her ability to slay skyborne threats to her rule, but not even I could have predicted that she could do battle with a dozen Wyvern Knights and emerge victorious. It was humiliating and something I had explicitly set out to avoid!

"It was today that this house was made aware of how a force of Wyvern Knights, a dozen in number, left Sadera for Kontia and did battle with the Headhunting Rabbit Tribe that had taken the city. The intent, as expressed by Sir Elowin Tiber, was to take the life of the Queen of this tribe, the so-called 'Tanya Tanaoi, the Witch Queen.' This attack had been explicitly forbidden by his Majesty, whom did not consider this magic user to be worthy of the attention of our great Knightly Orders."

I carefully schooled my face to maintain a calm and stony expression. It was clear that the speaker was an ally of the Wyvern Knights with how he was presenting this information. That was frustrating, but I had no desire to feud with the Knights; even their treason against me was forgivable if for nothing else but their usefulness. 

"During the battle, many Lepus were slain, but with the creation of a new alchemical weapon and the use of potent magic, the force was destroyed. Prince Diabo was sent to Kontia to meet with his brother, who we now know has lost his life during a battle with this deadly tribe of the Barbarous Steppe. He was at Kontia during the attack, engaged in talks with the Queen of this tribe and conferred with Sir Elowin Tiber after the battle. He later negotiated with the Tanaoi Queen to allow a single Wyvern Knight to be used to carry correspondence between Kontia and Sadera." There was some muttering about that. Tn truth I was curious myself; news from the Steppe was slow, but there were a large number of Lepus themselves in my lands.

Tanya of the Tanaoi was well known to the Lepus: a mad witch and a coward, but powerful and an effective leader of me- women. It was then that more concerning things had come to light. Nora, a port city to the east and situated upon the sea of glass, had been visited by a Headhunting Rabbit some years ago. She had found work at a dockyard warehouse while she requested access to the city's academy and library. 

Her mere presence had drawn attention and, once I deployed assets to investigate, more sightings had emerged. At rest stops, roadwardens had reported bandits killed and the killer being rather open about her deeds. At Proctor, Rondel, Italica, and even here, Sadera.

She had been right here! Her travels went largely beneath the notice of many, merely a curiosity. Yet she returned to the Steppe and led her tribe to victory against a Saderan Legion. She is more powerful, more versed in the magical arts than many. It was clear she had learned much in her time in the Empire. 

But if there was something vital she had learned, it was perhaps some measure of diplomacy, of rationality. She had not sought to take Diabo's head and instead was seeking peace with Sadera. Judging from the terms offered, she was under the misapprehension that she had won and that would be that.

I did not begrudge her such delusions, but even if peace is established today, one day the drums of war will beat again. Sadera cannot tolerate a rival, it is not in our nature. I ceased my musings and turned my attention back to the speaker of the house.

"While Prince Diabo remains at Kontia, He has sent this letter, recovered in Kontia, to describe weapons used by the Tanaoi in their victories." He read: "The Tanaoi are possessed of weapons likened to ballista, but that can be held by one of their number and loosed upon an enemy with power enough to strike a drake from the sky. They are metal tubes, cast from bronze with one end bored though with a large mechanical screw, thus these tubes become hollow. An alchemical powder is poured into the tube and then a projectile is placed in afterwards. By some magic a spark is introduced to the powder, and the weapon discharges the projectile where the holder points it. It is with this weapon that many Wyverns were felled from the sky. 

The weapons are large. Only the Lepus with their legendary strength are comfortable in carrying them. But I believe such weapons can be given to our Ogres in much the same way the Lepus operate them. These weapons can also be placed upon sturdy wooden frames with wheels. 

The alchemical powder is known as 'Bunpowder' and its exact production is not known to me. Some secrets have reached my ears; it is made from three things: charcoal, saltpetre, and a yellow stone roasted until brittle. The three ingredients are ground together into a fine dust, pressed into cloth bags, and kept in heavy boxes. Already the powder becomes dangerous and it will explode if sparked.

While I remain a humble servant of his Majesty the Emperor and of the Senate, it is my firm belief that a ministry must be established to study and adopt alchemical weapons for our Legions, that reforms must be made to our great and mighty Legions to make them more effective against the strategies adopted by the Lepus, and that, with some negotiation such that we are not disgraced, a peace deal must be established and the captured Legionaries returned to us.

In these past days, the Apostle of Emroy has arrived in Kontia and has declared Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi, as the new High Queen of all Lepus. She has also declared the Lepus as the chosen people of Emroy. Word of this will soon spread out to the Steppe, the morale of Lepus Warriors will doubtlessly be incredibly high, and seeking battle in the short term without understanding the Lepus or their new weapons is unwise.”

Faleris lowered the parchment and turned as he was handed another. "The Tanaoi terms for peace are these: the return of all Lepus slaves taken from any tribe; the cession of Kontia and all lands north of the Kontia River; and in exchange, the release of sixty thousand captives of the Ninth Legion." The speaker cleared his throat. "There is also a message from the Queen of the Lepus herself." There was a flurry of outrage, shouting and mindless womanly outbursts. I sighed and lifted a hand, suppressing a smile at how the Senate rapidly became silent.

My message had not been forgotten.

"Let us hear what she has to say."

The speaker inclined his head at my words and looked at the letter.

"Gentlemen, I Know War. It is the way of my people that all children are raised together, for a time we are weaned upon the breasts of childminders or slaves, but when one of my kind is able to walk, we become introduced to conflict. We must compete and often we must fight against our peers for food, for clothes, toys, even mere attention. This constant struggle for survival is the easiest part of our lives. One cannot stay in the creche forever and soon we are cast out and must prove our worth. At the age of five, I joined a raiding party, a group formed to attack other tribes or goblin settlements. This is not a particularly noteworthy event. Every Lepus will say the same. Because we know war. We are used to it. 

Just as the majority of people in Sadera are slaves, the vast majority of my people are warriors. The slaves you have taken from my lands are warriors, too. While cowed for the moment, they will conspire against you, they will break their bondage, and they will ravage the rural lands out of sight of your walled cities. I say this not to boast but to lament what shall come to pass, the lives that shall be lost pointlessly, the wealth that shall be consumed in fire. Hear me and understand: I know war and I know the cost of war.

When I offer you this chance to return my people to me, know that it is not for our benefit alone. We are not slaves, we are warriors, the chosen of Emory and exemplars of all of their aspects. I did not seek war with Sadera, I did not want war with your people, nor do I want my people to ply their terrible profession in your lands. 

Too many people have died already. Do not foolishly condemn more innocent lives to death.

I am Tanya, High Queen of the Lepus and Chosen of the Dark God Emroy." The speaker concluded to a silent chamber as the words of the High Queen were digested. Nothing good would come of that so I stood and strode forwards, drawing gasps of all things at the breach in protocol. 

"I understand that Sir Elowin Tiber was accompanied here with a Centurion? A man of the Ninth Legion." I phrased it like a question, but I had spoken to the man before this session had even been called. If left to their own devices, the Senate would waste their time, become consumed by fear and indecision. It was now time for me to enforce my will upon Sadera.

"Yes, Your Majesty, he is currently in an adjoining chamber. We shall call for him if you would like to question him." The speaker confirmed, and the mutterings continued.

"Bring him in," I prompted and watched as a tired-looking man in the toga of an Equitate was led before the Senate. 

"Your Majesty," he began, saluting me. I nodded and waved a hand, allowing the man to relax his posture. 

"How can it be that a Legion is defeated in battle? Moreover, how can it be that you were defeated, yet sixty thousand of you remain alive?" The man looked to the ground in shame as he should before he answered. 

"It was hunger, your Majesty. The Tanaoi, the Warrior Bunnies, every one of them moves like cavalry. They moved their entire tribe around us, marching hundreds of miles in just scant weeks to besiege and take Kontia in just days, moments. This compromised our supply, grain did not reach us as we marched to battle, yet the Lepus would not offer one until we reached Kontia itself. They had dug a vast trench and built walls of earth that stretched to the horizon in days. We attacked, of course, and almost won the day, but after we took one of their forts it was blasted apart by their alchemical weapons. The shock threatened to break our line, so a withdrawal was called. The next day, the fort they had blown apart was practically rebuilt by them. It was known then that, while we could certainly have defeated the barbarians, it could not be done quickly. The enemy would delay, they would harass, they would give ground slowly and utterly unwillingly. It would take days, weeks to defeat them when we had not a day of food left. It was the lack of supply that brought us to ruin, not the strength of our arm, that I swear upon my life!" The man shouted with conviction and cast his gaze out at the judging faces of the Senate. 

"So during an assault, a century took a fort... that the Steppe Rabbits had built?" I probed, having already prepared for this moment.

"That is correct, Your Majesty," he affirmed. 

"Describe this fortress," I prompted.

"It was set between their long trenches, many feet deep with the earth taken from the trenches to build walls reinforced with wood. The forts themselves were also wood, with some stone used where they could scavenge some. They were wide and it was from these forts that they used their 'cannons' to devastate our men. If I was to describe the forts themselves, they were perhaps twenty, twenty five feet tall. The walls were made of wood with perhaps a foot of earth between them. They had a flat top... that is what I remember." 

"Mud, your Legion was defeated by a squat house of mud!" shouted Varenius, an elderly Senator who had managed to escape my recent purge by coincidence alone when his wife had fallen sick, causing him to leave the great city for a few weeks to visit her.

He had returned to a very different Senate, but that had seemed to do little to slow him down.

"Reguardless of that," I said quickly, not sparing a glance for Varenius, "this fort was blasted apart after you took it?" 

"Yes, Your Majesty. With ladders and battering rams did we force our way into the fort, only for it to be destroyed in the explosion moments later. This was not an accident, as the moment it was destroyed, the Lepus turned about, retook the ground, and intended to push their advantage and disrupt our battle line. Thus a retreat was called."

"There were other forts, were there not?" I prompted, again, as he expected.

"There were many, Your Majesty," he confirmed again.

"And yet you did not take them." I pointed out, shifting away from the script and causing the Centurion to frown.

"They would have been blasted apart like the fir-"

"You assume they would have," I cut the man off. "You do not know that to be the case, you do not know how much of this Tanaoi powder is needed to produce such an effect, you do not know how much of this powder they possessed. They use this powder to operate their 'cannon' weapons. So tell me, did every fort have these cannons in them firing upon your men?" 

"I- all of the forts we attacked did, but seeing how they had built so many of the forts in such a wide area, we had focused our attention on breaking though their line in one small area so we-" 

"So you allowed the Lepus to concentrate all of their weapons, their powder in only a few forts," I concluded. "You tell me that hunger alone caused the Ninth Legion to surrender. I would say that fear too led to your failure. Fear, fear alone. Tell me, did the Tanaoi Queen use her powerful magic to attack the Ninth Legion during the attack?"

"I- no, Your Majesty, I don't believe the Tanaoi had any warmages, or at least, none that I know of," the Centurion replied.

"Yet we know that this High Queen is a sorceress of considerable power. We must take careful consideration of the fact that while her power is considerable, it is not infinite." I looked around the room, holding the Senate at rapt attention. This was the moment when I would strike. "The Lepus do not have an endless number of these cannons, they do not have an endless amount of this bunpowder, nor does this Queen have an infinite amount of magical power by which she can enact her will upon the world. We overestimate them at our peril," I assured them. "But this woman is no fool, she knows well her weakness, the fragility of her position. That is why she calls for peace even with such an insulting deal! Peace is the best chance they have at survival. But for now, it suits us well. I have allowed this Senate to decide upon what actions should be undertaken since Zorzal's unsanctioned invasion of the Steppe, but that changes now. I am calling upon this Senate to pursue a treaty with the Lepus to return the Ninth Legion to us. We shall seek to trade Lepus for Legionary and we shall not march to the east to take back Kontia for the moment. Instead, I call upon this house to take the advice of my son and heir. I am calling upon this Senate to establish the Ministry Of Alchemical Weapons. We shall discover the secret of the Tanaoi Cannons and we shall make their strength our own!" I wheeled about to the speaker.

"All in favour..." There was no debate, no resistance. For the first time in my life, the Senate was cowed before me and Sadera could make the correct decisions to meet the current crisis. I should be thanking Tanya; without her, this would be impossible.

With the distant threat of the Lepus in the minds of the people, I would rebuild Sadera, stronger and more unified than ever before. 

Unified under their beloved Emperor.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/13H40O8BpooSvEFX4560uiE2UUzGtKi8r9ZOykGRNVJk/edit?tab=t.0

I am going to be traveling half way across the planet to attend a wedding soon. I will bring a laptop so I can continue to write but internet is going to be hard to get and it is unlikely I will be able to post anything here until I return on the 3rd.