The first few days of the war were frantic and tested her nerves in many ways, but Regina was surprised to find she was actually more occupied with domestic concerns than any fighting or military matters.

The Empire had prepared, but they still moved cautiously, with an emphasis on scouting to find where the Western Confederation had gathered their forces. That they must have was clear. The same for the Esemen, once they joined the war.

In the end, they did not advance in one large push. The Empire sent scouts, then lighter units, waves of flying drones, then regiments of regular soldiers across the border into the Western Confederation. They encountered little resistance — unlike the Empire, the Westerns had hardly fortified their part of the border at all.

Everyone knew it was too easy, and if anything, that only increased the unease they felt. In the meantime, their soldiers took control of the scattered villages on the other side of the border, which had clearly been evacuated by some of its inhabitants. The remaining ones were sullen and grim — dare she say it, downtrodden — but didn't seem like they would be mounting any real resistance.

No, the bigger enemy right now were probably the temples of the various gods. They must have known something was coming, but still acted out shock and surprised outrage. In several cases, Regina had to send in companies of the Imperial military kept in the capital and major cities. She hated to do that almost as much as she hated to see rioting in the cities, but it had to be done.

There were also incidents of vandalism, which she made sure would be investigated and prosecuted. She had not ordered the temples torn down, only locked away. They might be turned to another purpose in time. For now, everything important inside was confiscated, but the priests and acolytes kept their personal belongings, and she had given strict orders not to hurt them unless they actively fought (and then only as much as was reasonable to subdue them).

The goal was to fight the institutions but not repress the people unduly. It wouldn't always be possible, or easy, but Regina had put her foot down when it came to planning this operation. The priests of the gods were citizens of the Empire, too. Her government should be helping them find other jobs instead of just robbing and evicting them — which would also let them move on rather than stew in bitterness and plot rebellion. At least that was the hope.

In practice, it was admittedly a little more difficult.

She foresaw some conversions among the clergy in the future. For now, priests of Benerron were still allowed to remain, they just had to cancel any services or public-facing work and were subject to restrictions and auditing by the government. Regina wasn't really sure about their patron's stance and decided to err on the side of caution. He wasn't the most popular god, anyway — more the sort people tried to propitiate rather than worship out of genuine reverence. Although the 'god of monsters' did have more followers than Leian. Everyone did. Apparently.

"Do not worry, my Empress," Iseis said when she asked her what said goddess thought. "She approves of your policy against the gods opposed to us. You need not fear that she will be angry at closed temples. As long as you don't ban any of hers or start burning people at the stake, at least."

"So you are in communication with Leian," Regina observed.

The old priestess shrugged, not dignifying it with a reply.

"Has she said how the other gods are taking it?"

"They are angry, one would assume. But this wouldn't have been a surprise, would it?"

Probably not, Regina admitted. They clearly knew I'm not exactly a fan of them, and it's not like they haven't made themselves my enemy, either. At least Deirianon and arguably Gediarno, Etainas didn't seem to have moved against her directly. As far as Regina knew. Chances were she had and was just better at getting away with it unnoticed.

"Have they tried attacking Leian directly? I don't really know how things work among the gods," Regina admitted.

Iseis cocked her head and studied her silently for a moment before she answered. "No. I think they are still too prudent to try something like that. Leian might be the least powerful of them, in classical terms, but she is much more dangerous than her raw divine magic would indicate. Regardless, she has avoided them recently. There has not been a major confrontation. I am not sure they would want to explicitly admit how … divided they are, either."

"And Alianais?"

"That, I know less about. But I wouldn't worry too much, Alianais can take care of herself."

Regina paused for a moment. "We got a report from Madris," she said.

The letter was top secret, and even knowing about it when you shouldn't would lead to a thorough investigation. It had clearly traveled quite a way to reach them, too, and taken a while in doing so. Ultimately, it had been smuggled through several merchants working out of the east, effectively going in a wide arc around the border between the two countries. Regina had decided not to spread the information too widely, even before this raid and the start of the war.

"It seems the gods are choosing a lot of Champions."

Iseis frowned. Her expression, and the sense Regina had of her mind, made it hard to guess if she had known that already or if it was new information. "I see," she said. "That is certainly a concern. I won't ask how certain you are. But this should at least be encouraging in that it means they probably know they can't beat you with technology or conventional magic, and thus have to resort to this."

Regina exhaled heavily. Madris still hadn't come back, despite mentioning in her letter that she intended to return soon. Regina was starting to be concerned, to say the least.

"So, they would not do that if they had another choice? Is that what you're saying?" she asked.

"Maybe," Iseis conceded. "I don't claim to know the minds of the gods. But there will be issues because of it, and there is presumably a reason why they did not have dozens of champions before. I could speculate about the reasoning, but it will hardly be productive. You should simply focus on being able to face them."

"Alright," Regina said doubtfully. "Any tips?"

"I suppose your general strategy seems to be fine. Just be careful not to put all your eggs in one basket. You won't like hearing this, but — if you face an enemy Champion in battle, let alone several, be prepared to lose that battle. Regardless of other considerations."

Regina blinked. She wasn't quite sure what she had expected, but apparently it wasn't that. "Really? You're not just being pessimistic?"

Iseis was still frowning faintly. She shook her head. "Don't underestimate your enemy. I'm not saying you'll always lose, just, remember the gods can put a finger on the scales."

Regina nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll do that. Thanks for the advice."

It bothered her more than she wanted to admit, and for the rest of the day, Regina found herself a bit distracted. She finally withdrew to the privacy of her apartment, with only Ira and Max for company. She was still considering it as she paced up and down the room, a little too restless for the limited amount of exercise she'd gotten that day.

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Their strategy was already designed to take advantage of their superior weight of numbers, especially when it came to Swarm Drones. They'd already known that the biggest threats against their numerical and technological superiority likely came instead from powerful, very high level individuals. Including Champions of the gods — or psychics, who, even at somewhat lower levels, could be devastating. Hopefully, their existing plans would at least provide a solid foundation to work off. They were also looking to maneuver warfare, instead of just putting all the soldiers in a single big clump, marching across the border and seeking a battle.

There would be a natural tendency to seek decisive victories, Regina expected. She would have to keep an eye on that.

Currently, the Empire advanced across a broad front. Regina tried to survey their positions using the psychic link, considering it on one of the mental maps anchored in the link, too. The bad quality of the roads across the border was a limiting factor, as was the obvious lack of any railways. But there were fortified cities that would act as attractor points of sorts, she supposed.

She wasn't much of a general. She'd discuss this with Ben and Janis and see what they thought.

Maybe Regina was looking at all of this the wrong way, anyway.

The Empire had the upper hands in terms of equipment, but actually bringing all of their artillery with them presented some problems. She watched, frowning to herself, as a column of soldiers trundled up a road. The sturdiest wagons they had held the heaviest cannons. Some, the lighter ones, could be moved directly with horses. Others would effectively have to be reassembled every time they were deployed. The oxen and draft horses required for that needed a lot of food, the cart drivers had to be protected, and the whole group made slow progress. The road she was watching had probably been built decades ago and rarely, if ever, seen any maintenance since. It was more of a muddy track in some places.

What she wouldn't give for proper paved roads and, more importantly, some motorized vehicles. It didn't have to be a tank, just having a truck would already help a lot.

They did have flying drones, which were useful for all sorts of tasks. Unfortunately not as couriers for extra-heavy loads, though. Even a group of drones probably wouldn't even get a heavy artillery piece into the air.

Sighing, Regina moved on mentally, shifting her focus to some of the forward elements of the army that had managed to advance deeper into the Western Confederation already. Unsurprisingly, they were a little low on artillery. At least they had flying drones, and others with some explosives. Grenades, some mortars. They weren't exactly unarmed.

The current most centrally located headquarters in that section was placed in an enemy village. The temple had been repurposed as an HQ building. Regina took a little pleasure in seeing that. It might explain some of why the few civilians lingering in the area were so unhappy, but then again, they didn't exactly need any more reasons.

Ada was commanding the corps based here. Dan was also present, and his slightly restrained excitement felt familiar. The general was a bit calmer, and Regina sensed an edge of worry in her mind as she looked at maps spread out on the biggest table, marking positions and checking landmarks.

How are things going? Regina asked, lightly touching her mind. It feels like we are advancing too slowly, but I'm not sure if that impression is correct.

Ada looked up, though that just meant she was staring at the wooden wall opposite her. Ironically, her mind seemed to clear anyway.

Not really, my Queen, she answered. We're advancing about as quickly as expected, overall. Whether that's too slow, well, maybe, but it is what it is. I'm sure we all wish we could just fly straight to the enemy capital, but even Janis hasn't tried any plan using just the flying drones.

Of course. I'm not trying to second-guess you, Regina assured her.

Sorry. It's going almost well. Even better than expected in a way, since we haven't faced any real resistance. That is what's worrying me a little, though. They must be preparing something. It's likely we'll face a nasty surprise of some kind soon.

Regina made a face. That sounded right, unfortunately. She supposed she didn't have any room to complain about people fighting nontraditionally, but it sure would have been nice if the enemy had just assembled their army to face them and be decimated.

I understand, she said. Is there anything I can do to help?

I suppose a psychic would help, Ada considered. To help find potential traps. But I understand why it's wise not to risk them on the front lines.

There actually were psychics with the army. But they weren't here, but at the back, where they hopefully wouldn't see any fighting. Considering how spread out the army was, if you could even speak of it as a single army, that clearly made a big difference. But Regina thought of Edmund and of her younger, less ready students and shook her head. I can't risk that, you're right. Sorry. If there was a trap waiting to fall here — well, she didn't want to risk Ada, either, but she had to be strategic about these things.

I understand, Ada assured her. I'll intensify our scouting efforts. Odds are they've simply concentrated their forces at a better position.

If there are any Champions, be careful and don't commit your full strength, Regina warned her.

Ada paused before answering. Regina got the sense she was assessing what she felt from her, evaluating it. Then she nodded. Of course, Mother. I'll strive to be ready for anything.

Regina sent acknowledgment and appreciation over the psychic link. She also felt several other officers coming to speak to Ada, so she withdrew, turning her mind to the rest of the army.

It was hard to sense anything in specific. They were far enough from her right now that it was pushing the edge of her psychic range. If there weren't this many drones here, it would be even harder. Regina frowned to herself, wondering how much the leaders of the Western Confederation knew about the details of her abilities. Were they aware of her range and what it meant? How far she could sense her drones?

Helen did know a lot, she had to remind herself. Undoubtedly, the little traitor would have spilled all the secrets she knew to ingratiate herself with her new masters. On the other hand, they could hardly assume Regina would just stay in one place forever, and moving would obviously change this calculation.

The army was currently advancing on a broad front. It was split into corps, regiments and battalions. They each had their areas of operations and their forward progress was planned in detail. There were explicit complements of artillery for each standard unit, but adjusted based on that actual unit's makeup and role. Each larger group also had an attached complement of Winged Drones, but the majority of them were organized in their own wings, as part of a flock of flying drones organized separately from the ground troops. The biggest differences were, of course, between actual sapient troops — mostly humans and a few gnomes — and the vast hordes of Swarm Drones. The 'airforce' only had a few special units of people on flying drones or tamed beasts, for the most part it was just drones.

It meant while they had a general staff that was trying to coordinate everything, the scouts mostly still operated within the umbrellas of their army units. Ada would collate their reports and make general decisions, but it was up to lower-ranking officers to implement them and make adjustments in practice. Still, there should be a broad net covering their approach, and the territory of the Western Confederation behind the current 'front line'. Regardless of any internal borders within the Confederation, of course.

Regina opened her eyes, throwing herself over the nearest armchair. She knew why she was bothered. There should be a lot more enemy scouts. The countryside was almost suspiciously bare of them. A few tamed flying monsters, ostensibly keeping track of their army. Nothing that would stand and fight at all. There hadn't even been any skirmishes of note.

Either her enemies thought they had all the information they needed already, or they thought they didn't need detailed information. Regina wasn't sure which option she liked least.

She sighed, standing and starting to pace again before she stopped and shook her head. "Max?"

He looked up. In contrast to her, Max had been sitting in an armchair instead of pacing like a caged monster. "Yes, Mother?"

"Are you satisfied with security arrangements for the Imperial family and the Imperial government?"

He frowned a little, sitting up straighter. "Yes, My Queen. I am."

"Good." Regina nodded. "And the construction of the city?"

Max tilted his head. "I'm as satisfied with the security arrangements as I could reasonably hope to be. The delay has led to us revising the security protocols and even redoing the general protocols for the court, as I mentioned. And we have a proper headquarters built, at least."

"Then I don't see any reason to extend the delay further. We'll be moving soon."

Ira looked up. "That is going to be messy."

"Undoubtedly, but it's past time. New Anberg has a strategic position and it's almost finished. I know construction is still ongoing on a lot of the houses and other general city buildings, but the government should be able to move into the new offices. If we delay any further, we won't move until the war is won. Or months later. Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to wait that long."

And as a bonus, if the enemy still had any plans in place, for example to assassinate someone or mess with the court, the move would disrupt them, too.

It would move her further from the Eternal Dark and what was going on in the far east, Regina supposed. Shrinking her psychic range on that side. But that was a price she would have to pay.

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