Chapter 31
Ilay atop Gloria's bed. She had refused to shower with me afterward, saying I would only make her dirty again. Which, admittedly, had been my exact intention. It was a shame she did not have time for that type of fun.
Gloria came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her, and sat down to fix her makeup. She grumbled something about reapplying it entirely, which was fair, given the mess I'd made of it.
Though if I was honest, I was quite satisfied with the end result. My mob princess had been in need of me reasserting my dominance. She was not the kind to ever give up without a fight, which was perhaps one of my favorite things about her.
"So what else did you come back for?" Gloria asked, working on her face to ensure she'd be presentable.
"Can't I just come back to spend time with you?" I asked, aghast that she'd think there was more to it.
She gave me a bored look. "Bran, you're never idle. Let's not pretend otherwise."
"Fine. I was just trying to be a little romantic." I pinched my fingers together.
The smile she gave me was the picture of someone being smug and on the verge of saying ‘I told you so’.
I ignored it. "I have to plant this peach. So the first thing I need is a spot for it.” I held up a pit that looked like a giant blood drop.
"And I need to check in on a few things.
Mainly, I need to see if there's any organization among our forces that can move to the Amazon and help provide some stability for the region. "
"Is it that bad?" she asked, pausing in her makeup.
"They're all worthless," I answered sharply. "To start, Eve and the First Garden are more interested in their jealousy toward me than actually managing their area. The nuns in the city aren't bad, but they're too far behind to hand the reins to with any expectation other than failure."
Gloria paused, slowly nodding.
"And the tribes are much the same, while also being horribly undermined by the demons. Cleansing them is actually a large concern of mine," I told her.
"Have you found the Demon Lord?" Gloria asked, and I could only shake my head.
"No. Way to point out more problems,” I teased her.
“I don't know if I have the forces to do much about it," Gloria told me. "But I could see more than a few of my father's generation wanting to step out of his shadow. The system has given a number of those old men their youth back, and they have gotten hungrier for it."
"This is not an open recruitment call," I quickly clarified. "The ones most eager to strike out on their own are the ones who worry me most. Too much ambition can go bad fast."
"Ambition is good, but too much of it blows back on us the wrong way," Gloria agreed.
"Now, if Bobby or someone—" I trailed off.
She stopped in her work, glancing over her shoulder while holding her towel in place. "If you want to send Bobby down there, you'll probably have to do it over my father's dead body. He's increasingly interested in trying to hold the family together."
"Understood. That's why we're having this conversation," I said, holding my hands up quickly before anything I said could make its way back to Carmen in a way I didn't want.
"No, I understand. I'm just warning you that the old man gets his way sometimes. He’s fixated on the future and his legacy." She emphasized the word as if it annoyed her.
"I've seen it before, too. I know the sudden obsession family men get, especially when they feel threatened or feel they have enough excess to start cutting their pie," I told her.
Gloria hummed in complete understanding. "You get it." Then she paused. "Did you ever get that way?" she asked, with a faint squint. She knew there was a delicate question in what she had asked.
"Never had kids," I confirmed. I’d wanted them at one point, but when you stop aging, you think you have eternity, and it's far easier to tell yourself it isn’t the right time.
"Never?" She sounded surprised.
"What, you think I had some brats you didn't know about?” I teased to keep myself from going down into some dark thoughts.
“I mean… you lived a very long time." Gloria sounded concerned for me.
"It was never the right time," I said. "The world was kind of going to absolute shit, and I never found myself interested in bringing a kid into that. Just more complexity than I ever wanted."
"So it's not that you don't want kids?" she asked for clarification.
"Do you?" I felt like I had to ask.
"No." She shook her head quickly, then paused. "But I'm also the kind of person who doesn't like having my options taken away from me."
I chuckled in complete understanding. Gloria often wanted what she was not supposed to get.
"Yeah, I can see that," I said, earning a scowl. "You set yourself up for that one," I defended quickly. "Maybe one of these days… when things are more peaceful…" I trailed off, noticing a comb on the floor and picking it up for her.
The two of us had made a brief mess of her room, but it had been a very fun way to make one. I enjoyed that she'd added a mirror in her room after we'd both discovered some enjoyable uses for the reflection.
"Well, then I suppose I'll keep looking for a solution for the Amazon if you don't have one on hand.
My father might have someone he'd be willing to let go, but those are also probably the type to cause at least a little trouble.
There's simply no way around the ambition," she explained.
"You need it if they're going to be even decent at managing a territory.
That's why old nobility always liked to expand through marriages.
Family adds a layer of trust, but even that wasn't foolproof. "
I thought about her words for a second, but there were no options quite that readily available to me, which was a shame.
I wished there was an easy solution. I considered the various generals I had, and parking one of them down in the Amazon, letting them use it as their exclusive training ground, seemed one of the better options.
It was still not great, since I'd essentially be separating a chunk of my army off and permanently stationing it somewhere that would both be an easier target and less readily available to me for other operations.
But I needed to find a solution. I wasn't always going to have a perfect one at hand. In fact, that I already had such incredible options for so many of my problems was a blessing in itself.
"Thoughts?" Gloria asked.
"The best I can do for you right now is one of the generals. One who'd be interested."
"Interested is going to be the next problem, even if you find one," Gloria said.
"Maybe I'll just assign one and make them do it." I wrinkled my nose, and she gave me a dour look, making it clear exactly how she felt about that particular solution.
I had to admit, I hadn't exactly been using my generals as much as I could have. I found myself stroking my chin. “Actually, it might be a good idea to get the generals involved in the Amazon, and if any of them turned out to love the place, well… I could just give them the chance to stay.”
Gloria paused, waffled her head, and nodded. "That's at least a much better way to go about it."
I kissed her on the cheek, feeling suddenly ready to go and begin the next phase of the plan.
***
Cao arrived with his elite unit of poison monks. They had various abilities, but all of them were dressed like beggars, carrying various vessels stuffed with alcohol, steeping in poison. He listened to what I said, nodding along with my words.
"I see," Cao responded. "Then it's okay if we simply kill any demon we find?"
"Not only is that okay, but it is also actively encouraged," I answered, watching him closely.
He took a swig from a gourd, sloshing a little down his chin, and regretting it enough that he used the heel of his palm to try and scoop it up and get the liquid back into his mouth as he sucked it off.
I watched him and kept my face impassive.
"The more damage you can do here, the better.
I don't think you're going to have problems, but if you do, the rockie-talkies are there for you.
And reinforcements will only be minutes away.
As I said, there are plenty of poison users in the area.
I would welcome you and your troops clearing them out as best you can. "
"You hear that, boys? We've got work," Cao said, lifting his glass in a toast. He eyed me out of the corner of his eye, and I waved my spatial ring, dropping enough spirits to keep him and his men well stocked for continuing to consume poisons and strengthen their abilities.
The stash disappeared instantly into Cao's own spatial ring.
"The other units are coming, too?" Cao asked, as if he'd forgotten to ask and was only now remembering.
"It's a lot of ground to cover, and there are plenty of instances to clear or watch," I told him.
"Demons," my general muttered, and a number of the men behind him nodded their shaved heads. A few of them even held their hands together in a weird mockery of prayer. I knew their whole group was simply drunkards, but I also wasn't going to start complaining about the help.
"We will keep an eye on the situation, Lord Bran, and thank you once again for the opportunity," one of Cao's lieutenants said, bowing to me.
I heard a few of them whispering about there being plenty of fruit in the Amazon and decided they would enjoy it for now.
The men quickly began distributing the reward, their faces far too excited.
They began to set up camp deep within the Amazon.
Cao and his group weren't exactly ones for luxury, and despite their vices, they were powerful, initiated warriors who chopped down trees with their bare hands and began making log cabins to base themselves out of as they started handling things.
"Shall we go?" Merlin said. It was clear they didn't need any more direction.