Free The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit by Andrew Ashling Page A

We should be able to learn all we need to know in the capital.”
    “I should be on my way then. I'm going to follow our friend from a distance, and when he seeks lodgings for the night, I'll overtake him
    7
and put some distance between us. You'll get news from me before
    you'll hear anything from him. I promise.”
    They embraced.
    “Be careful, Gorth, very careful.” Ehandar said. “Look out for the Black Shields,” he added.
    “Don't worry, I will,” Gorth replied, grinning with the careless boldness of youth.
    He mounted and rode off, while Ehandar followed him pensively with his eyes until he disappeared behind the bend in the road. Then he himself mounted and rode back to Lorseth, deeply absorbed in thought.
    “You're far too trusting, little brother. Far too trusting.”

Chapter 3:
THE MERCY OF WOLVES
    “Don’t tell me you fell for that,” Tomar said in an irked manner to Hemarchidas.
    “It seemed logical. It is logical, isn’t it? You buy grain cheaper in Dermolhea, but then it is in Dermolhea, and not where you want it,”
    the Cheridonian answered, not too sure anymore if his case was sound. “Transport costs money, doesn’t it?” he added, even less sure.
    “Of course it doesn’t. Not for us, it doesn’t. He pulled one over on you. He tried it with me as well. But I’m not naive.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “The little slippery eel thought I wouldn’t either. Ah, Hemarchidas… How do we arrange for the troops to go on leave?”
    “What? Oh… Well, usually we give them leave as a unit. As long as the Plains aren’t completely safe and settled, it’s less dangerous that way. Also, it allows them to chase rogue remnants of the Renuvian 7
Plain Robbers and other groups that threaten the peace, should they
    encounter them.”
    “Exactly. Then they disband in the base camp at Dermolhea, where they are expected to reassemble three weeks later and make the journey back. As a unit.”
    He looked with raised eyebrows at Hemarchidas.
    “So?” the Cheridonian asked, still not understanding.
    “They go back Hemarchidas, back to wherever they are stationed.
    Where they will need grain.”
    “Ah.”
    “Yes. Why not let them transport their own grain from Dermolhea, where we — let me stress this little detail — can buy it cheap, to wherever they will need it? We pay them already. What’s wrong with letting them work for their money?”
    “Damn. Of course. Why didn’t I see that? When he explained it, he made it seem so self-evident.”
    “He always does that,” Tomar said dryly.
    “Still, you gave in.”
    “Yes, I did. When was the last time you refused him something he really wanted? Scrap that. When did you refuse him anything ever?”
    “I see what you mean,” Hemarchidas mumbled.
    “To be fair, he’s not completely wrong, you know. He wants to settle the Plains as quickly as possible. For that he relies on a series of generous policies that work together. Free land in some cases, cheap loans to start a shop or a farm, protection by our troops who will spend part of their money near where they’re stationed, high prices for locally produced goods, tight control over the new nobility and help with establishing local communities, including uniform charters and 7
standardized regulations for the government of the new villages and
    towns. In the end it might pay off, I think.”
    Hemarchidas whistled.
    “He has been busy. Where does he find time to exercise and spend time with us on the training grounds?”
    “He says he does most of his thinking in the evenings. One morning he came into my office with rough plans for a village. He thought we should offer settlers a set of instructions, sort of a manual. We already look out for suitable places for them, but he also wants them to take care of waste evacuation, drainage and so on, to avoid epidemics.
    So we have to provide them with plans for a sewage system, which they will be obligated by law to build. Then he wants us to