Chapter 984 983: Similarities (1)

Chapter 984 Chapter 983: Similarities (1)

984 Chapter 983: Similarities (1)

The carriage ride into the city was initially very quiet, with Leone frowning to herself as she thought over the Jackalkin's words while Jahi pursed her lips and stared out the window, the two needing some time to go over what they had heard and seen at the gatehouse.

As for me, I was of a mind that both sides were right; there were moments where it had seemed rather thuggish to me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that this harsh land would have harsh rules.

To live and thrive here, you needed to work together, and if someone began to pull less and less weight, they were a liability and a threat to the collective; even though this country seemed to praise and idolize the individual, they understood that being an important individual meant being a greater part of the collective.

It was complicated and simple at the same time, and although it was somewhat barbaric in its execution, considering the sheer amount of Worm attacks that had happened and the fact that the desert was chock full of harsh Fire Mana, this wasn't a peaceful place like the Empire was.

There was little you could do to find water - even as a Water Mage, providing a large quantity of water was near impossible, and considering this land was attuned to Fire primarily, then Earth and Wind secondarily, there was no room for Water to thrive since it was burnt out by the Fire - and there was many monsters waiting below the sand hoping to catch you off guard.

I understood the mentality, and honestly... this idea of strong equals right was just as flawed as the oligarchical society that the Empire foster, since here those strong people could run the country into the ground, just like the people in power who don't actually deserve it, but have the position thanks to their parents could also run the Empire into the ground.

It was an imperfectly perfect system that worked here thanks to the powerhouse that stood at the pinnacle - the Sultana could rule these harsh sands with an iron fist because, simply put, she offered stability to an otherwise unstable land, and she also left no option for someone who wanted to live on her land.

You play by her rules or you die, and the choice... should be a simple one; play by her rules and live a happy life.

She was fair, albeit with a heavy hand and a sharp blade, but fair nonetheless, so not accepting her rules meant you either stayed and died, or fled and lived elsewhere.

That was what I got from it, and it was a thought process that took me minutes to wrap my head around completely; during those minutes, I was looking out onto the city and watching as the sandstone buildings and colorful, beautiful cloth canopies that provided shade from the scorching sun.

"I... can't tell if you're trying to continue arguing with me about the palace being an unwarranted use of resources or if your praise is genuine."

I chuckled softly as I stroked Anput's arm, soothing my mate somewhat as I answered for Leone, saying "It is genuine. The palace is gorgeous; the marble is clean and brilliant, while the gold is used sparingly in ideal areas. It looks wonderful, and from what you said, there are giant gardens and a large plaza reserved entirely for the Sultana and her family?"

She quickly went from frowning and staring at Leone with wariness to grinning and tilting her head upwards slightly as she proudly said "That's right! There's a wonderful garden filled with citrus trees, cinnamon and nutmeg, and the plaza is ours, yes, but Mom uses it to train all of the soldiers, so it's been mostly converted into a training grounds! There's so much space for you to run and have mock battles, or practice your magic. Mom even brought in some Flame Dune Scorpions to battle one time! That was fun..."

"Oh, so just like how our Palace has a giant training area for the Knights, yours does as well? Is it outfitted with anything, or..?"

"Just left alone. We spar together, or run individual drills. Going through the movements to ingrain the idea into your muscles before engaging in a real spar. Practice dummies are excellent, but a sparring partner is better."

That made Jahi nod in approval, before she peeked back outside and asked "So we are to stay inside the palace, correct? But we are allowed to leave whenever, and go wherever we want? Though I assume we'll be tailed by some of these Death Jackals..."

"Most likely, yes. We can do what we want, when we want, but don't be surprised if we have one or three of these Death Jackals following us around. Oh, speaking of! There's this excellent place that sells the fluffiest, tastiest saffron cakes nearby! Sometimes they drizzle the cake with this amazing raspberry syrup that adds some tartness to the sweet cake! Or a classic citrusy syrup that just tastes sublime!"

I raised a brow at how excited she seemed about this saffron cake shop, the Jackalkin almost drooling at the thought of it and making me ask "When did you develop the sweet tooth? I thought you were a carnivore through and through?"

Anput just beamed at me as she said "I always had a sweet tooth! Always have and always will~! I just think you never noticed it because Leone here is the one demanding more cakes and treats then I ever have~! Besides..."

Winking at the blushing Vampire and ignoring the indignant glare sent her way, Anput smirked and licked her lips sensually, looking Jahi up and down before pointedly staring at one single spot as she whispered "I think we all~ have quite the sweet tooth, don't we~? Someone~ here got us all~ addicted to sweets..."

My brow arched further before I rolled my eyes when Anput smirked back at me, the Jackalkin rubbing my thigh and stroking my belly as she said "You and your excellent~ cooking and baking is going to make us all gain a few pounds if we ever stop this active lifestyle of ours~!"