Chapter 1257: Belicenion

The journey to Belicenion was longer and more involved than going from Voidshore to Khosrow’s Fane. There were no river gates closer to the plane than Khosrow’s Fane, leaving the arks in Leon’s convoy to move under their own power—and in and of itself was complicated.

Hundreds of Ocean and Storm Lords had joined the convoy, each of them with their own arks and jump drives. Ramin, as the de facto leader of the Storm Lords, and Miuna, as the acknowledged and legitimate leader of the Ocean Lords, had to coordinate closely with each other to ensure that they could move as one unit. In practice, this meant Leon was the go-between, made somewhat easier with Miuna choosing to journey with Leon on Storm Herald rather than in the palace her jellyfish was connected to.

Even with effective coordination, the convoy could only move as swiftly as its slowest ark, and some of the arks in the convoy were slow. Storm Herald and her escorts were ancient arks, using techniques and magical engineering many millennia out of date. And yet, some of the much newer arks in the convoy had significantly less effective jump drives. Part of the reason for this, Leon knew, was because the Thunderbird Clan was quite stingy with letting others play with their toys, so unlike how Leon ran his Kingdom, the Thunderbird Clan of old forced all of its vassals to use their own arks.

Still, he’d been somewhat taken aback by their pace, as it was about thirty-five percent slower even than his war fleets, which all used the modern Nestorian drives rather than the ancient Leonine drives. Modern Nestorian drives had incorporated many techniques and lessons learned from studying Leonine drives and using the spatial magic theories that Leon had discovered on Arkhnavi, but it still shocked him at how damned slow some of the arks in the convoy were.

Miuna excused her people’s sluggishness by explaining that their magic engines were designed more for pushing through water rather than crossing the vast distances of the Void, but it didn’t diminish Leon’s judgment that much.

So, this final leg of the journey took days—four days, to be precise, in which more than twenty jumps were conducted. In a show of coordination and organization, not a single ark or Void beast was lost.

When Storm Herald emerged from the teleportation portal and entered the Voidspace around Belicenion, Leon was left utterly stunned. Voidshore had been mightily impressive, and Khosrow’s Fane had been staggeringly beautiful, but both demiplanes were absolutely nothing compared to Belicenion.

The first and most obvious point of difference was that Belicenion was a full-sized plane, not a city-sized demiplane. The size of Aeterna, give or take a percent or two of difference, Belicenion had put all of that space to use in spectacular fashion: every square mile of space available on the plane had been sculpted and forged to manufactured perfection. Leon’s love for the natural world—wild forests and mountains in particular—wept at the sight, but the sheer power required for what he beheld left him in awe.

The plane had been cut up into a huge grid. Mountains had been flattened, forests corralled, seas drained, or outright moved into hundred-square-mile grid squares. Each of these grid squares was separated from the next by quarter-mile-wide sheer canyons, crossable only by glimmering Aurichalcum bridges or shining Lumenite bands. Belicenion itself was aglow with thousands of Lumenite bands, allowing not only travel all over the plane from just about anywhere but also keeping tens of thousands of fortresses, arkyards, palaces, and even entire cities suspended over the plane.

Most of the grid squares closer to the edge of the plane had been given over to farm and ranchland, both maintained by extensive magical works, while the grid squares closer to the center of the plane hosted larger cities, warm beaches, and vast arenas, theaters, and athletic fields of every size and shape. Belicenion was a plane entirely devoted to Anushirawan’s Games, with every piece of infrastructure constructed to facilitate the months-long competitions. It would be an immense undertaking ensuring that all of the thousands of Lords and millions of retainers who visited the plane were fed and entertained, but from what Leon could see immediately after arriving, the plane was well-suited to such a colossal task.

The plane itself was impressive, if only for the sheer magical might required to tailor an entire plane to the needs of the Belicenian Games, but Leon soon found his eyes scanning the cities and facilities surrounding the plane, suspended either by Lumenite bands or huge magical engines that pulsed in the black Void. Many of the fortresses were immense and visibly covered in weaponry, while gigantic fleets patrolled the nearby Void.

Perhaps most eye-catching among the arks were half a dozen titanic flying fortresses that lumbered ponderously through the Void, patrolling the plane just far enough away that the plane’s gravity well wouldn’t catch them and send them falling to the ground. Each of these fortresses, Leon guessed, could easily handle the force he’d taken out to conquer before leaving for the Games, and that wasn’t even considering their escort fleets, each of which was larger than his military’s entire ark fleet.

In short, the show of force at Belicenion was so far beyond Leon’s capacity to fight that to even entertain the thought would be ludicrous.

But for all the size of the Sun King’s defenses, they were utterly dwarfed by the swarms of arks around the plane—thousands of arks plied the black, either landing in extensive arkyards or settling in to hover over the plane at a respectable distance. Arks of every size and shape could be seen, from arks that were as conventional as conventional could be, to arks that looked made entirely of ice or motes of light. Void beasts, too, were common to see, nearly all with markings or attire that marked them as owned and tamed.

As Leon stared out of the projected window on Storm Herald’s observation deck, he couldn’t help but marvel at this monumental gathering of power, and that he was early and many Lords hadn’t yet arrived boggled the mind.

He wasn’t the only one marveling at the sight; his family, friends, and other followers were, too. He could see Elise, Maia, Cassandra, and Valeria huddled together, all four of them excitedly pointing out the strange and wondrous palaces and arks that could be seen. Zhang, Daryun, Anzu, and the Jaguar, meanwhile, were all close to each other, quietly evaluating the spectacular defenses that Belicenion enjoyed. Alix, Ingrid, Anna, Marcus, Alcander, and Clear, on the other hand, were chatting about the various Lords and other guests that Ingrid was able to identify.

Leon was about to walk around the room and check in with the various groups that had naturally formed when Miuna quietly called out, “Leon, might we speak a moment?” Leon’s eyes were pulled toward the Princess, who had been given a small part of the observation deck to herself, which her handmaidens had immediately ensured she could occupy without anyone seeing her. Sea-green curtains enchanted to scatter magic senses, several chairs, and a thick carpet ensured that Miuna was as comfortable as her practices allowed her to be.

With a brief head nod since he knew Miuna could see him even if he couldn’t see her, Leon walked over, and one of the Princess’ handmaidens stepped aside, allowing him to push aside one of the curtains and slink in, with the handmaiden fixing the curtain behind him.

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On the other side, Leon found the curtains taut, their surface smoother than silk, which made projecting not only the observation room around Miuna’s sectioned-off area visible, but also the view outside of Storm Herald too.

“Miuna,” Leon said, his voice not carrying past the curtains.

“Leon,” she replied with a mysterious smile which Leon could only see hints of, the lower half of her face obscured by a fan held in her left hand. “I see that we’ve arrived at Belicenion. It’s still early, but I was curious to hear your first impression.”

Leon smiled and walked over to take a seat beside the Princess, who instead kneeled on elevated cushions.

“I’m impressed so far,” he admitted. “Though… an entire plane devoted to the Games seems a little… excessive. Especially with how thickly it’s defended.” Miuna made to respond, but Leon quickly held up a hand and said, “I get the reason for the defenses, but it’s just something I immediately find a bit much.”

“I’ve seen Artorion,” Miuna said, “your people value competitions enough to build arenas and race tracks. Does it surprise you so much that the Sun King would invest so heavily here?”

“I suppose it does,” he admitted. “In my Kingdom, competitions tend to be more local affairs. It’s only dueling and chariot races that are truly widespread amongst my people. I couldn’t imagine going this far for sports.”

Miuna lowered her fan, revealing a dastardly smirk. “What about for peace?”

Leon stared back at her at a momentary loss for words.

“This is why the Sun King invests in competition,” the Princess said. “It not only fosters peace, but does so on his terms. And makes him the great peacemaker of the universe. To an extent, anyway.”

Leon nodded. “I got that, but…”

“It’s something else to see it for yourself, isn’t it?”

He nodded again. “How many times have you come to the Games?”

She glared at him, mockingly scandalized. “How old do you think I am?! I’ll remind you that I’m younger than you are! And the Games here are only held once per century!”

A quiet chuckle escaped Leon’s lips as he shrugged shallowly.

“Anyway, Leon,” Miuna continued as she relaxed again, her faux outrage vanishing almost instantly. “What of all the competitors you now see? Have any caught your eye yet?”

“A few,” Leon said as his eyes found some of the largest and flashiest of the arks. Many were the equal of N’chezzar’s cloud-covered oblong vessel or Realiz’s flying mountain, but some of the arks were so large as to defy reason. He saw an ark that was more than a mile long that resembled nothing less than a flying city. He saw an immense Void beast that resembled a turtle that bore another city on its shell. He saw a collection of hundreds of advanced-looking arks swarming around a core of seven enormous arks, each more than two miles long, that stirred something within him that he wasn’t yet willing to vocalize.

As if sensing what was on his mind, Miuna said, “I can already see many prominent Lords here. Anax Andros, of the Shadow Lands, is here, but he’s being kept far away from Anassa Lena, of the Gale Lands. I’d imagine they’d be either fighting or fucking otherwise.”

Leon blinked in surprise, having not expected profanity to fall from the dignified Princess’ mouth.

But she only smirked back at him as she continued, “King Vannu, Patriarch of the Phoenix Clan, is here, too. His son and heir, Bennu, will likely be with him. Bennu’s still young enough to be considered among the ‘new generation’, though he’s about two centuries our senior. Prince Lechtigh of the Singing Selkies is here, too—he was one of my father’s most dogged rivals for the title of Ocean King, though the Singing Selkies usually keep themselves at a significant remove from Khosrow’s Law. I’ll be expected to send him my respects once I return to my people. And…”

Miuna paused, drawing Leon’s attention back to her from the projections on the curtains. She slowly rose and stepped off the platform, her kimono flowing behind her as she walked over to one of the curtains and stared at the enormous fleet centered on the seven behemoth arks.

“You have dragon blood, Leon,” she stated quietly as Leon joined her by the curtain. When he opened his mouth to respond, she said, “Don’t deny it. I haven’t made that big of a deal out of it, but I clearly remember the Doomfire you used against Terris.”

“You made a big enough deal out of it during our negotiations,” Leon said.

“And I’ve dropped it since then, haven’t I?” she pushed back. “You have presented yourself only as the heir of the Thunderbird. I haven’t challenged you on your other powers that I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing, including that Doomfire. And there is only one Clan that has such a power…” She set her gaze upon one of the seven behemoths, its hull so dark that it nearly faded into the background of the Void entirely. “The Great Black Dragon Clan.”

Just hearing her say the name aloud sent a shiver down Leon’s spine. The words of his mother, repeated so often over the past century, rang in his ears, of her love for him and his father even though she’d been essentially imprisoned in her home.

“They’re here,” Miuna concluded, and Leon nearly lost all strength in his legs. His eyes went wide as he struggled to maintain his dignity.

‘Knew I felt something from those arks…’ he silently raged, the antipathy he felt for having kept him and his mother separated rearing its ugly head and roaring for only his ears to hear. But then, he paused as a terrible thought came to him. ‘If I can sense them even this weakly… can they sense me?’

Not privy to his thoughts and rising panic, Miuna continued. “All of the Great Dragon Clans are here, as it so happens. These are your distant kin, aren’t they? You at least partially belong to the Great Black Dragon Clan, don’t you?”

Though he fought bravely and valiantly, Leon was unable to disguise the snarl that flashed across his face. “I am of the Thunderbird Clan,” he coolly said. “The Great Black Dragon…” He paused and fixed Miuna in his golden gaze, flickers of darker orange creeping into the inner edges like tongues of flame. “You will not spread this knowledge,” he said unequivocally. “I will approach them on my terms. They will not hear of me before then unless I allow it.”

Miuna froze for a moment before her power and her dignity reasserted themselves. “I would never spread that knowledge!”

“Wouldn’t you?” he pressed. “Is not the entire reason you invited me to show up Anushirawan’s daughter? Didn’t Deianira acquire a concubine for herself with two bloodlines, and you wanted me to put that toy of hers to shame?”

‘You make it sound so petty…” the Princess murmured.

“And yet you don’t deny it,” Leon pointed out.

Miuna clicked her tongue but remained silent, so Leon just moved on. Whatever else she wanted to be, he still considered Miuna enough of a friend not to turn that into a big deal.

“I appreciate you letting me know that they’re here. I… I have no relationship with them. And for the moment, I don’t think I will have a relationship with them for a long time. Not until I can approach on favorable terms.”

Miuna remained quiet for several almost painfully long seconds, but she eventually said, “… The Great Dragon Clans are brotherly. If you possess their power… you’d be welcomed.”

The statement hung heavier than the curtains, and debates raged within Leon’s mind about how much he wanted to admit to Miuna. Only his family knew all of the details of his mother, and he’d intended to keep it that way. However, as the daughter of the Ocean King, Miuna could offer meaningful insight into the problem. The only question was how much she could be trusted.

While her infatuation continued, Leon felt she was trustworthy. But he still didn’t like her in that way, and if her feelings went unrequited for long enough, then she might turn against him.

’A problem for the future,’ he finally thought. ‘Just don’t be so shit that she actually does turn against you, fuckin’ idiot.’

“Serana,” he said, and just speaking the name aloud nearly caused his voice to crack. Miuna, however, had the more powerful reaction, spinning around to face him and regarding him with an unholy mixture of shock and fear.

“The… only child of the Great Black Dragon Clan’s Patriarch?” she whispered.

“And my mother,” Leon admitted. “She was imprisoned for marrying my father and having me.”

“That’s… the Thunderbird Clan is a prestigious bloodline; there shouldn’t have been shame in such a marriage…”

“My House had long forgotten our Ancestor by the time I was born,” Leon quietly stated. “My mother likely doesn’t know the details, though she’d know that my father had some kind of Inherited Bloodline. Maybe she even suspected, given the color of our lightning, but… I can’t say. I’ve never met her.”

Miuna frowned deeply, concern etched deeply into her features. “Leon…” she said with dire seriousness, “… I can… do you want my help?”

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