Heavy Is the Crown- Chapter Fourteen

It took three months for the vessels to sail to Dino Island and return, but in the end, it was well worth it for the Empire. The Mushroom Kingdom troops stationed there had been even fewer in number than Dulaha thought, quickly wiped out in about a week. Exploratory groups located and picked wild Power Mushrooms and Fire Flowers to their hearts' content, even harvesting pirana plants native to the island.

When they returned, loaded down with Power Mushrooms and spores, the Empire soon found itself with a glorious surplus of oil. Scores of Bowser's war machines were factory-built in no time at all, and one month after the ships' return, Impirial forces began pressing the front line into Kingdom territory again.

Bowser kept up with the news of the war as best he could, installing a radio in the shop and keeping it set for most of the day to news stations. In his private quarters, he kept three, one in the living room, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. He was constantly barraged with information, though much of it sounded more like propaganda than news. He'd become adept at filtering out the nationalist gas-baggery from the substantive data.

His slaying of Simlow seemed to have purchased Bowser a certain degree of space. Willow and Rompus were the only two in all of the castle who successfully stayed around him, and Willow, the female koopa, hadn't allowed him to be more than a few rooms away since the incident. With no offspring of her own, all of her maternal instinct was now focused on him.

Winter was coming soon to Famicom, and the brutal forces of nature would dependably slow down the savagery on the war front. Both sides would recalculate for snowy battles, and Bowser suspected that it was the Empire who held the edge there, since koopas were cold-blooded.

On a Saturday morning almost a month from the first snowfall, Bowser awoke with a steady throb throughout his entire body. He knew these stirrings for what they were; another growth spurt, possibly his last for a long time, was coming. Already the size of a tall male, he worried about how he'd adapt to whatever new size he reached.

Rolling out of bed, he readied himself for his one day off of work duties in the shop. His mind wandered to thoughts of the castle library, the only room left completely unchanged since Nurik had been in residence. Dulaha clearly didn't consider himself much of a scholar, though he didn't seem inclined to decry intellect. His dismissal of Douard had been explained as part of a 'clean sweep' policy, which evidently held that when any Prince or other ranking Impirial Officer of note took command of a holding, the previous staff were always replaced from top to bottom.

More than anything, Bowser just wanted to be left alone for the day. Spending his time in quiet reading or contemplation seemed just the thing to do. He made his way to the library, and the heavy scent of dust choked him when he entered. The floor didn't even show tracks as he moved slowly among the shelves. Nobody had been in here since last he'd stopped in almost two months before.

That seemed an awful waste.

Bowser selected a copy of 'Tales of Dreamland' from the mythology section and made his way to the grand fireplace, breathing flames onto the dried wood he set within. He settled into a cozy armchair, and soon his mind flew away to far off lands, transported as no Warp Pipe could do.

Benjamin Godash stood with his mouth hanging slightly agape, the messenger still in his apartment doorway. The goomba seemed eager to leave, but he required Godash's permission. "Sir?"

"Oh, um, yes, yes, you are dismissed," Godash said, flapping one scaley hand at the messenger. He'd been plotting for months now, readying the sudden shame that would befall the First Advisor, hundreds of hours of planning and manipulation spent. And now, all of it was rendered unnecessary.

The First Advisor had suffered a heart storm in the middle of the night, and been unable to recover. Poof, just like that, and now Godash had what he'd been after for his entire career, the spot right next to the Emperor's chair. He stared down at his cup of morning coffee, unable to process anything else.

It's mine. The seat is mine. There should have been fireworks going off in his head, but he couldn't help but think about all of the appointments he was going to have to shuffle around. He quickly slurped down his coffee, then headed for the First Chair's office, which was guarded by three spear-wielding black shells and one with hammers. He realized after a moment it was Turiya.

"Ah, Turiya," he said happily. "Tell me, do you have my new key?"

"I do, lordship," replied the muscular Hammer Brother. "You are expected to have men bring all of your pertinent effects to this office by tomorrow morning. At that time, I'll need the Second Chair office key back."

"Of course." Turiya handed a small gold key to Godash, who swiftly unlocked the door and nipped inside. The First Chair had been an organized man, and it showed in his spartan but highly functional office. His blotter stood filled with notes on the desk, with one appointment scheduled for an hour from Godash's arrival, a meeting with the Minister of Finance.

Opening the top drawer on the right side, he found a couple of Impirial law guides and a small book about horse breeding. In the drawer below that, he located a heavy-looking tome embossed with a gold flyleaf header reading 'Treasury'. He pulled this out and opened it to the most recent page, reading the carefully written notes of his predecessor.

The last entry worried him. It read: 'Have scheduled a meeting with Minister Roback, of Finance, to discuss the latest budget discrepancies. I fear he or someone high up in his Ministry has been syphoning off funds for private use. All efforts to track the money have met with dead ends, and in one instance, a dead shadow agent. Simmons assures me he's looked into Roback's own finances, and found nothing there more worthy of a stern talking to than his spending personal money on those little figurines of his. Still, this does exempt him from inquiry, though the man is such a milquetoast, it really is unlikely he's embezzling.'

Godash quickly thumbed through several prior entries, seeking his own name, but coming up empty. A search of one of the filing cabinets turned up a folder with his name on the tab and a much thinner notebook within, along with official papers. A swift peek in the journal gave him some comfort; there wasn't much written within. He would read it more thoroughly later.

In the official file, however, there was one damning bit of information, but it had been unavoidable. Using his on private funds, Godash had purchased a batch of Rings about three years back, exchanging at what would turn out later to be a good rate, five Coins for each Ring. The going rate now was twelve Coins per Ring, more than double the rate he'd bought in at. The lands of Sega were doing well.

Putting these documents aside, Godash exited the office momentarily, instructing Turiya to have Minister Roback come see him whenever he arrived. Turiya saluted and passed the word along. The new day had dawned.

Another four days passed almost entirely without incident, but Wednesday afternoon saw Bowser's temper almost spill over as he read a small story on the paper's fourth page- Benjamin Godash had been officially confirmed as the new First Chair Advisor to the Emperor.

Bowser left his men to work, quietly excusing himself outside, where he roared in fury and spat half a dozen balls of fire skyward out of frustration. What was happening should not have been allowed, in his mind. But who could possibly keep up with the oily politician, with a war going and the Empire's financial affairs potentially turning sour?

Even Bowser, who thirsted for vengeance, had to focus on his work for the war. Back inside, he oversaw some modifications personally, seeking any and all distractions. He had to keep himself occupied, lest his fury boil over into rage.

Lost in his work, he kept himself under control for the time being.

Two more weeks later, Benjamin Godash stood on the ensorcelled balcony off of te Emperor's throne room, watching the snow fall silently on the lands below and before them. The aged blue tribe ruler shook his head somberly. "This cease-fire cannot last," he murmured.

"Sire?"

"We agreed to it for economic reasons, Ben, but we're still in a bind. If the winter proves a harsh one, it will be just as bad for us as for the toadstools." The Emperor sipped his tea, set the cup down on the small tray standing between their seats. "We need a decisive victory, something that will cripple them, force them to reconsider engaging with us again."

"I'm given to understand we have a brilliant engineer working on various war machines for us under Prince Dulaha's command," said Godash. "I have yet to learn the name of this enterprising koopa, but it is said that he is young." Emperor Harin snickered.

"That is an understatement," said the older koopa. "He's all of ten or eleven years old, a mutant larger than many adults." Godash felt his muscles bunch up, his mind racing. "Bowser is his name."

"Bowser," Godash rasped, staring off at the snowfall. "Like the dragon of lore."

"Just so," said Harin. "Unfortunately for him, his latest design requires more material than we have here in Gora. I've had his blueprints passed on to a third party in Sega, a Doctor Robotnik. He's thoroughly impressed."

"And the cost," Godash asked, trying to get his mind back off of the ice float it had landed on at the boy's name.

"We'll only purchase five for now," Harin said. "A hundred-thousand Coins per unit." He looked over at Godash and narrowed his eyes, pitching his voice low. "I know that puts us in dangerous territory, financially. To pay for the cost, I've approved a one-time war tax. But if we're to remain solvent, you need to find out where our money's disappearing to, Benjamin. My people are already strapped, and another tax is going to push some to consider doing something stupid."

"There's another way to get funding," Godash blurted, desperate now. He'd found the source of the missing Coin from the treasury; instead of calling the man out, he'd leaned on him to put some of the ill-gotten funds aside for Godash. More digging around would out him and see him before the executioner, like Limkin.

"Oh? Pray tell, what is that way?"

"Gannondorf," Godash said. Harin wrinkled his nose in distaste. "We can get money from him and materials both, and we can leverage our own conflict to get him to agree."

"Oh? How is that, Benjamin?"

"It is no secret that the warlock prepares to make war against the Kingdom of Hyrule to try and conquer it for his own. But if we should falter, Hyrule will have easy access to their allies in the Mushroom Kingdom." The Emperor turned aside, looking out into the falling snow, ruminating. After five minutes of torturous silence, he grunted.

"You're absolutely certain this tactic will work?"

"Yes, I am," said Godash, masking his relief.

"I shall have an emmisary sent to Gannondorf tonight," said the Emperor. "We should have word back by morning. Our own Grand Magus will be present if the warlock agrees to come, as will you. I will not personally favor the beast with my regard." Harin made a small gesture over his shoulder. Godash felt the presence just inside the balcony curtain, a whorling vacuum of lethal capacity made tangible by its mere proximity.

He makes Ardin feel safe to be around, Godash thought. "Need you anything else of me, Your Emminence," Godash asked politely, a clear signal that he knew he was about to be dismissed.

"No." Harin returned to his watch of the falling snow, wrapping his country in a lifeless blanket of frozen white. When Godash was well gone, he smirked. "Beautiful, this stillness," he said to himself.

When Godash arrived in the Heavenly Palace's dungeons, he spotted Grand Magus Wunderweiss almost immediately. The black granite used to construct these subterranean corridors were in complete contrast with his white silk robes, purple shell tucked under a cloth cover. Eyes half-lidded, Wunderweiss looked perpetually haughty and amused, as if he knew some witty punchline that nobody else had caught just yet.

"Is he here," Godash asked quietly, amazed at how even the lowest spoken words seemed to echo down here.

"Not yet," said the Grand Magus, pulling his leathery hands from his robe sleeves. "A shaft of transference light shines in the cell we're using for our talk, however. He should materialize shortly." Wunderweiss turned about and led Godash to the cell, where a column of faint light shone from floor to ceiling in the center of the dank chamber. The smell of vanilla, wafting from a pair of incense sticks lit beside a small oil lamp, filled the air, alleviating some of the foulness of the atmosphere.

Several minutes later, the column flashed out in a blinding, soundless blast. When Godash brought his arms down from defending against the flash, a tall, broad figure in a black hooded cloak stood before he and Wunderweiss, the tip of its hawkish nose poking out of the darkness of its hood.

"Comes to you Lord Gannondorf, future ruler of Hyrule," said the tall man, throwing back his hood. The face revealed was elvish, with fine features and pointed ears uncovered by crimson hair swept back and tied into a ponytail. Gimlet yellow eyes glared down at Godash, the olive green skin catching his focus. "You," he said, turning his head toward Wunderweiss, "must be the Grand Magus, Wunderweiss. You have my respect, sir. I have read both of your essays regarding the advancement of fused magical theory, and find them both fascinating and informative."

"Thank you," said the Magus with a formal bow. "And as I understand it, you've recently recovered the lost art of manifesting ghosts, yes?"

"You are well read indeed," said Gannondorf with a nod. He then turned a lascivious smile down upon Godash. "And you, sir, must be the politician."

"First Chair Advisor Benjamin Godash," the koopa replied solidly. "I believe you were informed of why I've reached out."

"Yes, financial support," said the warlock. "I am aware of your Empire's monetary woes. You've enough to make due, but to strike during winter, you either need another round of tax collections from the people, or some external source of funding."

"You have the understanding of it perfect, sir," said Godash with a wry grin. "And we are similarly aware that you have amassed a small but powerful army in the southern forests and swamps of Hyrule which border on our country, a force which could ill afford to have Hyrule's allies in the Mushroom Kingdom march on them through lands we might lose if our efforts fail." Gannondorf's smile faded some, his eyes narrowing.

"Mutual gain, then," the warlock said quietly. "Touche, sir."

"So, how much are you willing to donate to the Empire's cause," Godash asked, feeling more confident.

"I can offer you five million Coin," Gannondorf replied. "But only if I gain something more from the bargain." Godash twirled on finger to invite him to continue. "How many humans serve in your armies along the front?"

"Perhaps four thousand in all," Wunderweiss replied.

"More than enough," said Gannondorf. "Those that fall in battle, I would like their remains sent to my camp," said the warlock. "I have, uses, for such things." Godash felt his flesh crawling at the possible implications, but he agreed readily enough. "You'll want to clear this room when I leave gentlemen," said the warlock, raising his hood once more. "This will be where your funds arrive."

Godash and Wunderweiss quickly exited the cell, and moments later there came a tremulous BOOM! When Godash pulled the cell door open, a deluge of Coins came flowing out over his legs.

"Grand Magus, I think we've just received what we need for this war."