"You all have done well to come this far. You should be proud of yourselves, and of the leadership of noble people like Juniper." I said, even as I tried to ignore the sensation inside of me. As I spoke Juniper rose, a smile on his face as he did so.
Deep within me I sensed something that I couldn't precisely describe. I felt something akin to pride, but it was a more powerful sensation than that. Something less human, and more... powerful. Something hot within me, burning me but in a pleasant way. Like a sip of hot chocolate when one has just come in from the cold.
"Juniper has led you with skill and courage. And now he has brought me to you. Juniper... Let us work together to skillfully lead our people." I said, turning to face the risen man. Juniper nodded at me. I turned back to face the crowd, and was again silent for a few moments. I was thinking of what to say, and I knew that more than anything else I needed to change the setting I found myself in.
The truth was that I didn't know enough to be here, making public proclamations like this. And then a wicked idea was birthed in my mind. One that inwardly made me sigh in relief.
"Friends, let us forever remember today as a day of celebration and of hope! Please, spend the day with your loved ones. With your families. Go, be with those you love and with your neighbors. For tomorrow is the dawn of a new age!" I declared, effectively ensuring that the gathered crowd would disperse. They let out a massive cheer, and turned to each other, joy in their eyes. I sensed that strange feeling burn me from within again. And it still felt pleasant.
The crowd began to disperse and as it did I turned to Juniper. I laid eyes on him again, making eye contact with him. I was silent for a moment, before I opened the gate behind me and stepped through it. I then turned back towards him and smiled.
"Juniper... We have many things to discuss." I told the man. I was close enough to him and my hearing was sharp enough that as the crowd began to disperse I could audibly hear his heartbeat quicken. That said the man was brave. He nodded at me, and then turned to his two guards who had been behind him, and nodded. The trio stepped through the gate and into my home.
Once they were in I shut the gate behind me and walked towards the door that led me into my home. They silently followed behind me, and I could sense their nervousness. As I reached the door that led into my home I began to speak.
"Men... You do not need to be afraid." I told them, sensing the emotions that filled their hearts, and knowing that fear was only one of the myriad of feelings they felt at the moment. That said my words heartened them, and I could sense their resolve increasing.
"Thank you Marcos." Juniper said, still exemplifying courage. He was brave, I could tell. He felt fear and had the resolve to work through it. His emotions were laid bare before me. He pronounced my name in a rather old-fashioned way, at least compared to the way that I was used to it being pronounced. He made the simple name sound regal.
I led them to the door and then opened it for them. They walked through it, and stopped only a few steps inside of the mansion. I sensed the surprise that they felt as they looked around. Once the last of them was inside I stepped in behind them and again shut a door behind me.
"Pick a room. It matters not to me which we opt to use." I explained, speaking in a parlance that I sensed would be appropriate for them, utilizing language that would have fit in to old works of theater, rather than modern words. They stayed still and I chuckled.
"Men is it that difficult for you to choose?" I asked, though my tone made it clear that my question was a joke. The two guards awkwardly chuckled, but Juniper stayed silent. It would be a moment later that he would next speak.
"Marcos... This place is larger on the inside than on the outside." He remarked, awestruck by that odd reality. His words were honest, and the tone of them was probably what I should have felt when I first noticed what he had noticed.
"It is kind of amazing isn't it? Truly a marvel of magic." I remarked, causing Juniper to smile at me.
"Yes... What a marvel." He said, and I sensed his opinion of me rise. I chuckled at the man. That said I had had enough of waiting. I took a few steps forward and walked to the closest room. I opened the door into it and stepped in, followed by the men.
The room was a long one with bookshelves that were empty and an enormous long table in the middle of the room. I sat down at the head of the table and gestured for the men to join me. They were good men and did as I commanded. When they were seated I was silent for a moment allowing them a second to get accommodated before I began to speak. When I sensed that they were as ready as they'd ever be I immediately began to converse with them.
"I need to understand what is going on. I will be forthright with you, my knowledge of your situation right now is extremely limited." I stated bluntly. This caused a concerned look to appear on the faces of the men, which was understandable.
Juniper turned to one of his guards, a look of concern on his face as he did so. The man looked at his charge and he was silent.
"I need you to go to the citadel and retrieve Arturo. Tell him to bring over... copies of all of the key paperwork. And to prepare the servants. Now that Marcos is here there is no point in his servants residing in the citadel." The man said, causing my eyes to widen. I had a lot of questions. Juniper turned back towards me and he saw that my eyes were wide. The man gave me a wry smile of his own.
"Well Marcos, you are a demigod of health and heroism. Of course you're gonna have servants." The man remarked, speaking to me in a matter of fact tone that under other circumstances I might not have allowed, but he was evidently applying this world's, or at least this specific culture's, common sense.
The guard that Juniper had spoken to quickly excused himself from my presence and made his way out of my home. I watched him leave before I turned back to face Juniper and the other guard that he had with him. Juniper's eyes were closed and I could tell from the way that his eyebrows were furrowed that he was in the middle of some strenuous thinking. He began to speak shortly after I turned, as if magically sensing my motion.
"I am unsure of where to being, in part because I don't know what you know. Would you like for me to start from the beginning?" He asked me, as he opened his eyes. I was silent and I merely nodded at his words. He chuckled and nodded at me.
"First of all, you are now in a world that our people call Luna. This world is split into a few different continents, and we are on one that is far from the safest and most domesticated parts of our empire. The empire is named Verdad." Juniper told me. It wasn't lost on me that this world was named "Moon" in my native language, or that the empire we were a part of was named "Truth".
"The province that we have established where we are is named Sol. We have lived here for just under a year, and in that time things have been... Well I don't want to lie to you Marcos, the reason we needed your leadership is because things here have been rough." Juniper told me.
"Arriving here was not a simple task and along the way many of our people perished. We had to cross a truly hostile sea, one so hostile that the very gods and spirits we encountered were themselves aggressive towards us." Juniper complained his voice lowering in anger as he remembered the voyage he endured to even arrive here.
"Even when we arrived here we were met with a number of serious obstacles. The most persistent of which are locals who are not our friends. The most dangerous of which is that we need a complete overhaul of our infrastructure." Juniper revealed.
Both of those problems were actually really dangerous. I didn't know what sort of technology the locals possessed, and I had a suspicion that it wasn't much more advanced than the technology possessed by the... Verdadians, otherwise they'd have eliminated my summoner before he was able to summon me.
"The locals are fierce, but not particularly dangerous. They routinely attack once a day but most of the time we are able to fend them off without any serious losses." The magician explained.
"The real problem is that our infrastructure is a mess. I've tried to get people to fix it, but I am not supposed to be a leader. I am a wizard, not a commander or a noble. The military listens to me enough that I've managed to ensure that we retain some semblance of order, but... Well Marcos, you're gonna have a tough time." Juniper confessed.
I would spend the next few minutes listening to the man expand on the problems faced by Sol. And the more he spoke the more concerned I became.
By the time about half an hour had passed I heard the door into my home open once more. I turned to see who it was, as the glass that separated me from the hallway was something I could easily see through. I was surprised when a number of people passed through the door into my home.
The first few people, perhaps a dozen or so, were dressed in the clothing of what I had to assume were poor, or at least working-class people. They stepped into the mansion and were surprised to see just how big the first floor was, as Juniper and even I had been.
"Go and find the kitchen! It's probably deeper in the mansion." A voice shouted from outside of my home. The people who had just entered my home, presumably my servants, obeyed the voice and began to search for my kitchen. When they were fully inside my home, a man came in behind them. He was a rat-like man who was small in stature and thin, with pale skin. He stepped into my home and then looked around, turning his entire body as he searched the place.
When he saw Juniper and I his eyes widened and he excitedly dashed over to us, opening and entering the room we were in quite quickly despite his small size. He bowed before me and began to speak quite quickly.
"Marcos! It is a pleasure, an honor really, to meet you! I am Arturo and I am a scribe in the service of the empire, well now, more precisely, in your service!" He exclaimed, speaking eagerly. His words were as quick as he was. He was carrying a thick stack of papers, and he smelled of sweat.
Shortly after speaking he took the seat that had once been occupied by the guard who had gone to replace him. That same guard entered the room a second after Arturo entered and when he saw the rodent-like man in his seat he softly sighed.
"Arturo..." He muttered under his breath. I chuckled as the man slowly walked over to the seat next to the rodent-like scribe. Arturo himself placed the thick stack of papers on the table, and slid them over to me.
"Marcos... Those papers are copies of all of the information we have on our home, this province. This information contains among other things a detailed history of Sol, which you will no doubt find enlightening." Arturo explained, even as more people stepped into my home. They stepped into the room and bowed before me, but were silent. I stared at them for a moment, before sighing and beckoning for them to stand up and go about their duties.
"These are but some of your servants. You have many, lord. Unfortunately only the least skilled of them could come this quickly." Arturo explained. I felt a flush of embarrassment fall over the people who had just entered the room. I looked at Arturo and gave him an annoyed look, causing him to hush quickly. I looked over at the servants, wanting to have the awe and respect of the people who were to be my direct servants and spoke.
"Excuse him. He knows not what he says. Every servant of mine is treasured and respected." I said, speaking gently. The group of six people looked heartened at my remarks and smiled at me. I turned back to Arturo and began to read the papers.
"Marcos... As you read the paperwork and ask us any questions you may have, allow us to request that your servants prepare some food for all of us. I am sure you are famished." Said Juniper, speaking humbly. I turned to him and nodded, and upon seeing my reaction one of my servants hurried out the door and went off to find the kitchen.
Meanwhile my new allies and I began a journey into paperwork that would last for well over two hours.