They were talking about the economy, as Hew said, and that might have been it, but in truth, it was a lot of dull discussion about who did what work, from which village, how many people, how many workdays, what to prioritize, and so on. So I let them do their magic.

  All that reached me were their voices; it was like listening to a church mass while my mind drifted elsewhere.

  Tom, Hew, Mike, and Alice were trying to find ways to keep the barony functioning in the face of reduced human manpower and growing difficulties. Alice had become my factotum, and I was delegating more and more of my responsibilities to her. She seemed capable of absorbing them all.

  Why did I feel guilty when I looked at them?

  Was it because I was afraid I’d lose them once we were back on Earth? Here, they depended on me, but there, they wouldn’t. Was that the reason?

  I made a small sign to one of the maids to refill my coffee cup. My head ached, and I hoped a bit more coffee would make it pass. I sipped some of the hot black liquid, then shrugged.

  Going back to Earth. I probably could do it, yet I hadn’t tried to check if it worked. What was I afraid of?

  Could I even live among normal humans again? Maybe, if I managed to keep my aura under control all the time, it might work. But there were other, smaller problems. For instance, here I was a queen; there, a prostitute. A hell of an improvement isn't it?

  Still, here I had no internet. Was it worth the trade?

  But then… Matt was there. And I missed him.

  I sighed.

  Maybe I could bring him here. But if I went to bring Matt here, they might ask me to take them there.

  The last time I was with Matt, I’d had to leave in a hurry—right while he was arguing with his mother after that night I’d overslept in his bed. I ran out and told him he could reach me by phone. I chuckled. I still had that phone in my inventory, but there was no provider here. What would I tell him next time we met? Sorry, Matt, I was in a dead zone.

  I sighed again.

  I wasn’t going to leave as long as Sid was sleeping in his burrow in one of the castle’s aisles. There was no way I’d abandon him. No way I’d betray his trust. Short trips around, sure, but the castle had to stay guarded at all times. Who knew dragons slept so long?

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Yeah, okay, I told myself. I’ll make a visit to Earth… soon.

  Someone knocked at the door. I looked up to see a servant glancing at me.

  “Your Highness, Lord Drackar has an urgent matter to report,” he said.

  The boys fell silent and turned toward me. I nodded. Drackar didn’t come for small talk.

  “Let him in,” I said.

  He approached the table, his heavy armor clinking with every step. Why did he wear it all day long? Then again, this was Drackar; I’d rarely seen him without it. A small smile tugged at my lips as I remembered the incident when Yisila had placed me in his bed.

  He stopped, struck his right fist to his chest in greeting, and after high-nessing me, came straight to the point.

  “There’s an escalating situation in de Bleary’s viscountcy, neighboring us. I thought it important to let you know.”

  I raised a brow but let him continue.

  “The viscount is moving his troops to attack the retreating orc forces.”

  I wondered where he had learned that. Did the orcs there know as well, or only he? Had he informed them too? As their queen, did we need to act and protect them? I was the one who had told them to retreat.

  I sighed. I should have expected this from my neighbors. Did it really have to be the viscount? I’d just made friends with Zackary.

  “Why would they do that?” I asked.

  “Probably to free the captured slaves and recover stolen goods,” Alice said from my left.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I gasped, startled, and turned to her. The orcs were retreating with captured slaves and stolen items? I shifted my gaze to Drackar, hoping he would contradict her, but he only looked back at me as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, something I should have known all along.

  I thought of all those poor peasants I’d seen on the way to my domain. Any of them could now be among the retreating orcs, enslaved. Are we the baddies? Am I the villainess? I asked myself.

  To make matters worse, my friends were staring at me in shock.

  “Shit, are you going to let them take those slaves?” Tom asked.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “No. We should ask the tribes to hand the slaves back,” I said.

  Not a muscle moved on Drackar’s face; he didn’t even blink.

  “Asking them to free the slaves without proper compensation would cause an open revolt, Lady Lores. The tribes would no longer recognize your authority as their queen. However, you are entitled to receive ten percent of the captured slaves as your due, though they should offer that without your request. You could also offer to buy them all, but they must be evaluated first by an auctioneer.”

  Do I care if they no longer recognize me?

  “I don’t know if we have the money—and wouldn’t paying them only encourage them to take more? I could force them to comply with my order, whether they recognize me or not,” I said.

  He sighed.

  “Theoretically, yes, but you cannot police them all. They would formally comply in front of you and do as they pleased behind your back. The idea that you want to strip them of their slaves would be understood as if you wish to enslave them instead, because without slaves, they must do all the work themselves for the kingdom.”

  “What work do their slaves do for the kingdom?” I asked.

  “One day in ten, every slave must work for the kingdom,” Drackar explained. “It could be on the royal fields, maintaining infrastructure—mostly roads and dams—and other tasks. There are many such activities they handle, besides those done by your royal slaves.”

  That struck me like lightning out of a clear sky.

  “My royal slaves?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you and your tribe, you don’t have slaves,” I said.

  He nodded. “True. It was a punishment against my tribe. Since we did not accept K’hordock’s rule, all our slaves were taken from us, and we were forbidden to own any.”

  I huffed.

  “Would that not work for the kingdom as a whole? Could I outlaw slavery?”

  He shook his head.

  “Your Highness, you must be careful with such reforms. Announcing something like that would mean the instant dissolution of the kingdom into small fiefs and chaos.”

  “Drackar, can you please stop, or at least tone down the ‘Your Highness’ talk?”

  “If I understand the orc kingdom correctly,” Mike said, “it’s a warrior society, where the warrior class rules absolutely. Wouldn’t they respect a queen who’s stronger than they are?”

  Drackar nodded. “It is something like you describe, Sir Mike. But a ruler should rule wisely and not take away the property of the ruled without reason.”

  “But what about the slaves?” I asked.

  “They are not your subjects, Lady Lores.”

  I took a deep breath and looked at my friends. “What should I do?” I sighed. “Probably letting the viscount free those slaves is the right idea, consequences be damned.”

  Drackar shook his head.

  “If the tribes learn that you take such a decision, they will regard it as treason. And while this should never leave these walls, there is another problem, Lady Lores.”

  “I need a drink,” I said to the maid. Coffee no longer seemed enough to chase away my headache.

  I turned to Drackar and gestured toward an empty chair. “Please, sit. What do you mean?”

  He shook his head. “It won’t be long. I prefer to stand, my lady, but I would gladly join you for a drink.”

  At my signal, the maid hurried to bring him a glass, and while it was being filled, he continued.

  “This is a trap,” he said with a sigh, then lifted the glass and emptied it in one go.

  “A trap? What? Where?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “They know the viscount’s troops are coming and are already prepared for it. The viscount’s army will be surrounded, destroyed, and the survivors—if there are any—enslaved. Now, if you take action, Lady Lores, and try to free them, the tribes will cry foul, claiming they were attacked after a truce you yourself demanded.”

  My eyes widened in shock. I was about to ask for advice when an agitated servant appeared at the door and bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor. I raised a brow, surprised to be interrupted mid-meeting, then sighed and motioned for him to speak.

  “Your Highness,” he said, his voice trembling. After a brief pause, he went on. “Miranda, the trainee you brought from Dolomar, has committed suicide—and Lady Julietta cannot be found. Perhaps you know where she is, my lady? Miranda’s time runs out…”

  Committed suicide? That couldn’t be. I was fond of that girl!

  Why do these problems always come in pairs?