"Taking control of West Serica? With the representative of the great Lady Piri by my side? 'Tis an honor undreamed of!" gasped the foxling, before she flung herself to the floor and prostrated herself at my claws.
At least, that was how I thought she should react.
Instead –
"Did you say West Serica?" Her brow furrowed delicately (although not delicately enough – I'd have scrunched my forehead less). "But...we just came from West Serica. Shouldn't we be taking over South Serica?"
Oh no, not this again. I personally had no objections to dethroning Jullia, but Anthea would squall like a raccoon dog pup if I did. I didn't want to deal with that.
As I have already told you, a five-tailed fox must aim higher than supplanting mere petty queens. Lady Piri has the situation in South Serica well in paw. You, however, are uniquely suited to taking control of West Serica and beginning the reunification of the Empire with that as your base of operations.
To my everlasting frustration, that logic still didn't satisfy her. "But there are so few people in West Serica to take control of. Shouldn't we move north to conquer North Serica or East Serica?"
Absolutely not. The Claymouth Barony was in East Serica. No way was I subjecting Floridiana, Dusty, the Jeks, or even the baron and his family to an invasion, not when the barony was finally on better financial and political footing.
And as for North Serica – who would want to go there in the middle of winter? The whole point of this expedition was the balmy weather and the tropical beaches.
Are you questioning Lady Piri's strategic reasoning?
The foxling opened her mouth, glanced to her right at Steelfang, then to her left at Stripey. Neither spoke up to support her. She shut her mouth. I thought matters were settled when she opened it yet again.
"But why – forgive me, O representative, but I don't understand Lady Piri's reasoning. Can you please teach me what her strategy is?"
(Going somewhere much, much warmer to escape this miserable rain.)
Lady Piri has determined that a strong base of support in West Serica will be crucial to the reunification of Serica. You cannot expect all operations to succeed on the first try. When they fail – here I ignored her indignant whine – you will need a secure stronghold to which you can retreat in order to regroup, reassemble your forces, and reassess your strategy.
I was rather proud of all the alliteration, but Stripey's long neck contorted in a way that suggested he was choking back laughter. Good thing beaks couldn't curl up at the corners, because his mirth was contagious. Maintaining my dignity around him was truly difficult sometimes.
The foxling blinked and drew the logical conclusion, which was that she was so silly and inexperienced that she'd forced me to state the excruciatingly obvious. Her cheeks flushed with humiliation.
"Taking over the mines and quarries in the Jade Mountains makes sense," Steelfang said all of a sudden. "The lowlanders always want to trade for jade and gold and silver."
Maybe he thought he was being helpful, but he really wasn't. From what I remembered, the mines and quarries were in the northern part of West Serica. In other words, the cold part that was even colder than this South Serican winter I was trying to escape.
YOU ARE READING
The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox
FantasyAfter Piri the nine-tailed fox follows an order from Heaven to destroy a dynasty, she finds herself on trial in Heaven for that very act. Executed by the gods for the "crime," she is cast into the cycle of reincarnation, starting at the very bottom...
