Book 6: Chapter 17
The benefits of having competent subordinates were many, but the biggest one in Kay’s opinion was that it was much easier to get things going from a sudden start. With barely any notice planning sessions were scheduled and went underway, missives and messages were sent out to gather everyone necessary, and a million other tiny details were shoved into line or our of the way to make everything run as smoothly as possible. People obviously knew about the threat of the vampyr to the west, but knowing that they existed was different than knowing that we needed to get working on dealing with them right now, thank you and shifting into that kind of mindset quickly was appreciated.
The messages to the Shatterplate Order and the Itarian Crusade that Kay had told Eleniah about were also sent out, telling them to get their asses in gear. He was sure that everyone from both organizations that didn’t want anything to do with him and his demands would use the opportunity to say that they were “paying back” and that their debts to Avalon after unfairly attacking Kay’s nation would be gone after helping deal with the threat, but he was prepared for that. Having the majority of both organizations present to actually interact with as he slowly convinced or cajoled them into doing what he wanted would make getting what he wanted much easier, and that wasn’t including Zeia and her convictions, or that the leader of the Order and one of the more influential Crusader Generals already agreed with him.
The two most powerful vampyr slaying organizations weren’t the only places Kay was going to turn to for help in dealing with such a wide-spread problem though, which is why he scheduled a meeting with the Adventurer’s Guild, specifically Guildmaster Gemglass, who remained the Avalon branch’s Guildmaster even after everything that had gone down in the last year or two.
Specifically scheduling an appointment meant there was no need to wait and a functionary guided Kay up to Gemglass’ office as soon as he arrived. The Guildmaster was sitting behind her desk when he stepped inside and it was obvious that she’d been waiting for him.
She inclined her head at him as he entered. “Your majesty, welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild. I believe I’ve said this before, but wouldn’t it be more proper to summon me to your office instead of setting an appointment with me and coming to mine? Some might say that it’s beneath you to travel to meetings yourself.”
“And I would say that anyone who thinks something like that doesn’t what ‘work’ really means.” Kay replied dryly. “One thing I’m going to make sure is built into the culture of this nation is that being a noble of any stripe doesn’t mean you can be a dick to people. The most important part of being a leader is one’s duty, not one’s privileges. Besides, I’m just the first king of a tiny, newborn kingdom and you’re the representative of the entire Adventurer’s Guild for this region.”
The Guildmaster chuckled and shook her head, “That’s significantly downplaying yourself. And while I agree with leaders focusing on their responsibilities long before they look at any benefits they get from their positions, having someone come to you for a meeting doesn’t really fall under that category as much as it does showing off the pomp and circumstance of your position.”
“Ugh. I hate that going to those ends even when they suit me, I’m not going to chose to do it when I don’t want to. Honestly I’m coming to you because I respect your time and the work that you do, so throwing off your schedule would be quite rude of me, but more importantly I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m calling you to me to express my displeasure, or anything like that. I know that that’s the kind of thing monarchs get up to here as much as it was back on Earth.” He shrugged lightly, “Even if you and I know from the contents of the meeting we would have that there’s no issue, other people might assume there is one and that could cause trouble I don’t need.”
“I see. What about the trouble caused by people who think they can make demands of you, since you’re obviously too weak and malleable to really make the demands a king should?”