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Chapter 18: Power and ambition

The torture chamber always stank of old blood, no matter how hard it was scraped clean by tireless spectral servants. Today the smells of fresh blood and excrement filled the stuffy air here, too. It was the smell of a battlefield, but concentrated in a single room, where there was no escape from it. Ginevra breathed through her mouth.

The prisoner, beaten, bruised, and recently missing half his fingers, sagged in his chains, unconscious. The torturer turned to Ginevra and tilted his head towards a bucket of water in a wordless question.

She shook her head. "No. He told everything I wanted to hear. Dress his wounds and throw him back in the cell."

Without waiting for confirmation of the torturer, Ginevra walked away, the heels of her boots clicking on the stone of this part of the Nuvoloso tower. A massive, several dozen storeys tall building, it had not only not only the opulent halls for courtiers.

It took Ginevra time to find Enzo. Instead of being in his office, or his throne hall, or even in his bedroom, cheating on his wife, he stood in the observation room under the very top of his tower.

Windows covered almost the entire span of this room\'s walls. From there, one could see not just the entire city that surrounded the Nuvoloso tower, but also the scenery far beyond. If Ginevra brought a spyglass, she could see tiny farming villages that spotted the greening hills, and many rivers that flowed between them. Even without, this was a view that took her breath away when she was a child.

Now it all felt like a convenient point to observe the movements of enemy troops should any come to besiege the city.

Enzo stood in front of a window that looked towards Oliveira\'s lands, his hands folded behind his back. When Ginevra entered the room, he spoke.

"Everything the sun touches… Don\'t you want to hold those lands in your hands, daughter, to feel their weight and your power over them? And then to go even farther, where shadows lay, and to conquer those places, too?"

"What\'s the point in conquest if you don\'t have the strength to hold on to what you plundered? I would rather have the pure power, and when nobody can oppose me, the conquest itself would become unnecessary."

Enzo chuckled. "You are still just a girl, Ginevra. That which you conquer becomes your power, too. Power breeds power… Which breeds even higher power, until the power becomes supreme." He turned towards Ginevra. "What did you want?"

She understood that her father\'s philosophical mood was over. Ginevra bowed her head.

"I\'ve finished interrogating the spy we\'ve caught, Lord Father. He had been stubborn and loyal, but pain breaks everyone eventually. I wouldn\'t fully trust his words, though."

"Don\'t teach me life, daughter! What did he say?"

"Not much, but he confirmed our spies\' reports about Gianni\'s alliances with other viscounts. The new count Lucchese, as you predicted, refused to give Oliveira any support, but with others things are yet unclear. Our spies mention envoys traveling back and forth in the past week, but they couldn\'t capture any."

"Other lords won\'t dare to interfere. I\'ve already reminded them what they would lose if they do… They are cowards, almost all of them. Their forefathers might have been great mages and warriors, but their grandchildren are just spineless worms that enjoy inheritances they don\'t deserve."

Ginevra inwardly agreed with that assessment. This was a part of what made the Oliveira family such a convenient target. While they had allies, in truth, those were worthless. They wouldn\'t stop Nuvoloso from swooping in and grabbing Oliveira\'s territory, and they wouldn\'t stop Nuvoloso from doing the same with the next lord…

As long as the fools believed that they definitely would not be touched.

"I left the detailed reports at your office, Lord Father. And the last thing… There had been no confirmations about Cael Oliveira from the spies around Sanremo di Mare. But they have sighted another regiment of Oliveira soldiers moving towards the border. I believe that in another week there will be almost none left in the city."

"Then another week we shall wait. Go, Ginevra. I heard you."

Ginevra bowed. "Yes, Lord Father."

***

This time, it was Enzo who called for Ginevra. When she appeared in his office, he stood next to a large map hanging on the wall. Several small flags pierced it, pointing at important keeps and cities.

"Daughter. The hour is nigh. Our spies have gathered the information; my vassals have brought their soldiers, and those soldiers are, together with ours, at their positions. It\'s time for you to move out. Prove your worth, lead my armies on Oliveira. You won\'t need my help against Gianni. He\'s only a third rank mage, one with barely any battle experience."

Ginevra\'s eyes widened. It\'s been almost two dozen days since Enzo made the first move on Oliveira, and she\'d been itching to fight all that time.

"Remember the strategy we spoke about. We can\'t afford the losses that would come from a direct confrontation. Exhaust the forces on Oliveira\'s borders with a series of swift skirmishes. Provoke their strongest mages, and when they come to the border, separated and vulnerable, destroy them all. Then you\'d be able to conquer Oliveira easily."

The most smart strategy, but the one that further frayed Ginevra\'s patience.

"What about civilians, Lord Father? They are the most vulnerable and convenient targets."

"Oh, yes." Enzo smiled. "Burn a few villages down, if you must. Pillage and plunder—that improves troops\' morale. There are plenty of peasants in our lands that will be happy to toil on the freed ground."

Ginevra nodded.

"Understood. I won\'t let you down, Lord Father. Oliveira lands would be ours."

"Not ours, Ginevra. Remember that. Not ours… *mine*."