Chapter 312: An Period of Peace and Prosperity

Bee cracked her eyes open with a groan as she slowly awakened. For a protracted second, the comforting embrace of sleep wrapped round her, suggesting very kindly that she snuggle down for just a bit longer. However then, she remembered. At the moment was a giant day, even when she wasn’t precisely wanting ahead to it.

The custom was by no means presupposed to have been a small one at most. Actually, she would have most popular if everybody had simply forgotten about it. At the moment wasn’t presupposed to be an vital day, definitely not one for the complete Theocracy. However it was.

As a lot as she’d tried to get individuals to overlook it, to rename it, and even transfer it to a special day, it was to no avail. Individuals all the time remembered, even when she went by way of a lot bother to muddy the waters. With all of the issues she had achieved, one way or the other, this was one of many few issues she might by no means squash.

It was her birthday.

The thought made Bee grimace. The day ought to’ve been about honoring Void, as many of the different public holidays now had been. That or cleansing or neighborhood service or one thing equally value celebrating. However no. As an alternative, they celebrated her birthday.

She rubbed her brow as she bought up. It was nonetheless darkish exterior, however she did not want that a lot sleep. Regardless of the early hours, there was an honest quantity of noise coming from the citadel as individuals arrange for the festivities. Preparation had been occurring for over every week now. Regardless of her slashing the funds for it and doing principally the whole lot she might to divert consideration from the occasion, it was nonetheless monitoring to be a number of instances bigger than it was final 12 months.

After all, her interior circle did not share her issues. To them, her coming-of-age get together was a giant deal. Which made no sense to her. Positive, to most individuals, 18 was a giant milestone, however to her? She was already the regent of an entire nation.

Over the previous couple of years, lots had modified. Her grasp’s fixed stream of latest innovations had improved lives, although they’d additionally made them extra difficult in some methods. They’d additionally had enormous results on the tradition she used to acknowledge. However some issues had stayed the identical, a lot to her chagrin.

She had a sinking feeling about this get together particularly. When she’d turned sixteen, the matchmakers and extra forward-thinking politicians had come out of the woodwork to check the waters. The entire fiasco had despatched her into hiding for weeks. Now? Nicely, she might solely hope {that a} get together was the one factor that got here out of in the present day. She would have believed them when she stated that if their response hadn’t been the identical when she turned 16, and the host individuals seeking to matchmake had despatched her into hiding for weeks. Actually? They had been simply seeking to throw a celebration.

As Bee scarfed down her breakfast, her ideas turned to the opposite, extra vital issues she needed to attend to. Particularly, the commerce delegations coming in a couple of weeks. Anyhow. With the elimination of a variety of the legal guidelines that had disproportionately protected noble and royal companies, the financial system boomed. The technological innovations from her grasp had elevated employee productiveness tenfold, to not point out created demand for these new technological marvels.

The Theocracy was now an exporter of almost a single main good and useful resource to all of its neighbors, in addition to many locations throughout the ocean. Locations that they hadn’t even recognized about had been now buying and selling with them. There was apparently a tribe of yeti-like creatures that Aunt Bellatrix had not too long ago entered negotiations with, one way or the other.

Even their standoffish neighbor Barleona traded with them, although largely by way of smuggling and unofficial channels. And that was even with the Practitioners of Purity, working in opposition to their picture in some ways in these cities. Gold and riches had been piling into the dominion No, not the dominion, Bee reminded herself. It now not glided by that title. It was the Spotless Theocracy now. A reputation that Void itself had agreed to. Although she was nonetheless pretty sure, her grasp discovered one thing humorous concerning the title.

Gold and riches had been piling into Spotless Theocracy so quick that they did not know what to do with them.

Anyway, the inflow of fine tidings wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. She needed to work extremely laborious to forestall inflation from making the dear metals almost nugatory. And a variety of that concerned public spending. A lot of her aides had been calling for an expansionist motion that may remedy a variety of their issues of abundance. Nonetheless, Bee wasn’t fairly prepared for that. The church was already spreading nicely previous their boundaries. Nonetheless, the neighbors had been already cautious sufficient of them as they had been, and invasions simply appeared like a waste of assets to her.

In addition to, Void thought they’d be messy. Her grasp had recommended that after sufficient individuals had religion in its holy imaginative and prescient, these neighboring states would change into one with their nation with no bloodshed or mess. She seldom argued along with her grasp about that, as Void was nearly all the time right.

The primary fear that also weighed on her thoughts was the Lieutenants. Seven of them had been nonetheless alive, doubtless on the unfastened someplace. And so they had no thought the place. Archibald and Daedalus got here again each couple of months to report on new leads they’d adopted, however to this point, they’d been eluded.

They knew the Lieutenants had been right here. At the least, a few of them had been. She could not dismiss the likelihood that they’d returned to the demonic aircraft out of worry. That might be the best-case state of affairs. In any other case, they should be planning one thing, however they hadn’t discovered what.

All her time spent main the dominion meant she could not be part of within the hunt herself. Void additionally appeared content material to enhance issues for his or her individuals slightly than give attention to the demons. Susan, Harold, and the Warden had been operating intelligence providers, which had helped to stamp out numerous small demon cultist organizations that one way or the other spontaneously popped up in all places. However even they’d did not find the place the true help was coming from.

Bee turned away from the window. She was anticipating the dragon and his rider to reach someday in the present day. They hadn’t missed any one among these events to this point, so possibly she’d have the ability to get one other report out of them whereas they had been right here. Possibly they’d really get one thing productive finished in the present day slightly than only a bunch of silliness.