Turning to military matters, General Andeson, the commander of the Acacian army, admitted that there had been a drop in the overall troop numbers but said it was for the best. He put forth the opinion that the military would better serve as a slightly smaller force than by recruiting less worthy new soldiers. Without a foe to fight, he said, it was dangerous to have too many armed men and women milling about.

“What about security?” asked Talinbeck, a bone-thin engineer with bushy, recalcitrant eyebrows. “My managers swear there’s something afoot among the workers—nothing they can put their finger on, but something.”

Andeson rubbed his thumb over his close-cropped black beard. “Show me a foe and I’ll act, but I can’t defend against something nobody can put a finger on.”

“I’ve heard rumors of discontent before,” Corinn said. “Are there signs that the dissenters are organizing?”

“No, Your Majesty,” Balneaves said. “It’s just the low-level grumbling of the masses. That’s nothing new. When the mist flowed freely, it was nothing but a murmur. It’s still little more than that, but the commoners want to be sedated! That’s why they drink. That’s why they smoke whatever leaves will blur the world for them. That’s why they fornicate and breed and brawl drunkenly in taverns.” He could barely keep the scorn off his jowly face. “I say get that new wine to them sooner rather than later. We’ll all be happier for it.”

Sire Dagon cleared his throat, puckered his lips, and held the room a moment. “The league is ready to distribute when you are, Your Majesty.”

Corinn knew they all wanted the empire sloshing in the stuff. Such a course was likely for the best and would commence soon. She told herself that she wasn’t delaying. She just needed to know the time was right. “I know,” she answered. “And in my time I will allow it.”

Baddel, the only Talayan on the Council, went into raptures again. “Your trip was such a success,” he said, “that I wonder if you plan another. Talay is big enough. You touched the coastal area, but in the interior—” He stopped, pursing his full lips as if he had not considered that before. His machinations were obvious, but Corinn almost liked him despite it. “Vast, dry mile upon mile. Another hundred wells between Umae and Halaly would do such good. Think what it would mean for the Halaly to have their lake back at full level!”

“By now Mena must have rid the Halaly of the beast in the lake,” Rhrenna said.

“I truly hope so,” Saden said. “It will refill as it always has. I was wondering about a different matter. The Eilavan Woodlands were sorely taxed by the harvest of timber. First-rate lumber, of course, and invaluable to a nation that needed to rebuild after war. The demand remains high, and the replanting efforts have barely begun. Might you—oh, I don’t know—make the trees grow back faster?”