and late wife.
When corruption was so easy, and with no system in place to hold him accountable, I was hard-pressed to believe that a governor would ever truly act in his people’s best interest. But every doubt I had since first meeting Vance slowly began to erase. He was of a different generation than us, and differing opinions would cause some friction, sure. But he was sincerely good, and that kind of person was a rare find.
I still got that timid vibe from him now that he spoke of in his office, and suspected it to be the reason why he still hadn’t taken military action on Blakeworth for kidnapping his daughter. While he was taught to be a leader, it still didn’t come to him innately. Luckily for him, he did the next best thing—surround himself with capable people who could advise him.
Governor Vance was hesitant to use violence, but that didn’t make him a weak leader. In his interactions with Josh, General Bray, and men of his cabinet from the dinner party, he allowed none of them to steamroll over him. The man had a backbone without a thirst for blood—a rare but highly useful combination.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if Horus and the other gods steered us here, to give us the best chance to win against Tash.
As the last person to our meeting arrived, a gangly teenage boy in army camouflage at least two sizes too big for him, we all began to settle around the table.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Eduardo.” General Bray clapped a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “He’s a newer recruit, a refugee from the Blakeworth territory. He hopes to be a general one day, so I’ve taken him on as a mentee. He’ll be shadowing me for a while to get a sense of what I do from day-to-day.”
My eyes darted around the table as everyone took their seats. Was no one else concerned about a brand-new recruit hearing sensitive information at this meeting? Only Shadow met my eyes before flicking back to the young man sitting next to Reaper’s father. But Shadow was suspicious of everyone he didn’t know, which didn’t mean he shared my concerns. In any case, he chose not to speak up, so I filed my own thoughts away.
“Welcome, Eduardo. Thank you for coming, everyone. Have a seat, please.” Vance took his place at the head of the table while everyone got settled.
It was quite the crew of faces. Me, Reaper, Jandro, and Shadow lined one side of the table. The Sons of Odin lined the other. General Bray, his recruit, and a lieutenant sat across from Governor Vance and Josh.
“You’re all here because I believe you’re key players in Four Corners’ defense,” Vance began, his palms together on the table. “Every one of you has different abilities, different strengths. I want to utilize every advantage we have to keep the territory safe and our enemies at bay. An army general is not necessarily better than a biker’s sergeant-at-arms when it comes to combat.”
T-Bone’s jaw ticked, clearly put off by that statement for some reason as he pulled his lip between his teeth.
“Blakeworth, and evidently General Tash, have no problem using underhanded techniques for their personal gain,” Vance continued. “They’ve taken someone from all of you, and I’m letting you know that I too, am not above using dirty tactics, as long as it’s for the right reasons.”
I allowed a small smile. The governor was wise to let us and the Sons in on this meeting. Biker gangs lived and breathed dirty tactics.
“With that, gentlemen, I’ll turn it over to you.” Vance spread his hands. “Many of you have told me I need to go on the offensive and I listened. Now is the time to start forming a plan of attack.”
“If I may, sir.” General Bray was the first to speak up, as expected. All eyes turned to the man who looked like Reaper’s twin aged by about twenty years. “We’re getting more and more refugees from neighboring territories by the day. Blakeworth and New Ireland have much bigger populations than us, but their numbers are decreasing. Many of the younger men are enlisting with the army if they’re in good health, but that’s maybe thirty percent of our refugees. Thinking long-term, we’ll need to expand our border to make room for the population.”
“Any expansion toward Blakeworth or New Ireland, they’ll see as an attack,” I pointed out.
“Right. So we