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"Here are the deeds, Empress." Hannah handed Lena the scrolls, but Lena didn't take them and looked at Kata. Hannah blushed a bit.

"Hannah, please. This is not a comment on your behavior, but a way for Kata to get used to being someone I need to use." Lena said. Kata blushed.

"I am sorry, Hannah. I forget myself. The Empress has already said that I must look everything over before it comes to her." Kata said in a small voice. Hannah was one of the Others, and her strength was well beyond Kata. "Empress, I do not know what I should look for. I've never owned land."

"Hannah, instruct Kata properly. You serve a goddess, and though it might seem to be a step down in status, you are highly prized by myself." Lena said. Hannah blushed.

"Empress, please. Can you..." Hannah closed her eyes in pleasure when Lena set her hand on the back of her head, and lightly ran her fingers through her hair. Hannah, and the Others in the throne room, were not treated coldly, but Lena's touch gave them a sense of something else. Like there was affection, not sexual attraction.

"Kata, make sure you listen carefully. Hannah serves a god, the strongest of Imera's children. She served right in her throne room. I need to know the previous owners, how often it changed hands, if at all, and what goods they dealt with." Lena said.

"Okay." She opened the first scroll. "A farm. Outside Krov, near the coast, south of a large temple. Has not been worked in nearly a century. The land is fertile, but the previous owner said that no one will go near for fear of the goddess." She frowned slightly. "The goddess is kind. Why will no one go near the land?"

"Most likely someone is hiding something. Sell the property, but still use it as the owner is far away. Or it's already in use, and they don't wish to deal with it." Lena said quietly. "Hannah, send someone to investigate." She waved her hand, and Kata looked at the next scroll.

"A shop, general merchandise, grains, salt, iron works. Losing profit, and high expenses." Kata looked confused. "This isn't right. Shops that sell these goods never do badly. As long as their goods are reasonable quality, have salt in stock, and sell grains from that year, the profits should be steady." Lena smiled.

"Unless the owner has to pay the local lord to keep their door open." Lena pursed her lips. "If it was just myself, I would have a hard time keeping the doors open. Shadow." A woman appeared and knelt down.

"I'm surprised you sensed me." She whispered, and closed her eyes respectfully.

"I feel everyone who feels like the goddess." She said. "I miss Kyrie." She sighed. "Send someone to observe and determine where the coin is being drained. A local lord is nothing compared to an Empress. They are even less then the stone I step on if I compare their importance to my goddess." The Shadow bowed.

"We'll find the drain. Shall I plug it?"

"Make it a significant warning. The collector, if evil inclined, and their closest guard. Find out if the steward of their manor disapproved. If they do, the steward is up for a promotion to lord." The Shadow smiled and disappeared.

"Next."

* * *

"Ask Kyrie." Lena said finally. "That place feels like her place. I want to visit when this is taken care of." She lightly patted her belly. "Do people squat on the property that belongs to my Kyrie? Vagrants, or refugees? Crime of opportunity, or no other choice? Runaways, or in hiding? I want details, that way I do not condemn those who are innocent."

"Nikki will go and inquire as to the strength to use on this mission, Empress." Rachel said. "It may take a few days to figure out...hold on. The Shadow has returned." A wisp of red mist appeared, and the Shadow formed in front of Lena.

"Empress. The local lord exacts exorbitant taxes on everyone, however, it is to keep the locals safe. There are bandit camps nearby, and camped within the temple." The Shadow suddenly felt a weight on her body, but it was brief.

Lena growled lightly.

"They dare to squat in my Kyrie's temple. Good. So daring." Her eyes narrowed. "Ask my goddess for a squad. Sweep through and remove them. If there are slaves, set them free, but set them to work. They can cleanse the temple, and start working the land as bonded servants. Ask for craftsmen to build enough modest housing to keep them safe and warm in the winter." She growled again.

"Once the bandits and raiders are removed, have the area searched, find any mineral wealth, and find other bonded servants to work." Lena said through grit teeth.

"If I'm the Empress, we'll start building our Empire, and my goddess's temple will be where I sit." The Shadow bowed.

"As the Empress instructs, so her Shadows obey. The temple will be cleansed, but our goddess had the rules for the temple made so that only females were allowed through the gates." She said.

"See to it that only female slaves and servants stay there to cleanse it then." Lena said.

"I will not break the rules my Kyrie made."

* * *

"Good child." Gallae said as she floated through the door and sat on the bed next to Lena's sleeping form.

"I am glad you see fit to support her even at this weakened state." Gallae put her hand onto Lena's belly, and a white light enveloped her lower abdomen.

"If I did not put a barrier around this male child of that dog faced king and his consort, the Empress' power would slowly filter in and kill the child." Gallae said, fully in agreement with Lena's assessment of him being a dog.  She was just as enraged as Kyrie over the violation, but Gallae dealt with the larger matters, and Lena's body was just the beginning phase of her growth.  She smiled a little.

"Kyrie did well in mixing the dog's seed with his consort's egg. Now Lena has no ties to this poisonous place." She moved her hand upward. "The seed is sprouting nicely." Gallae stood up, and looked down at Lena.

"Some day, you'll be able to withstand my power without time being frozen, child. Take good care of my granddaughter. She needs your affection." Gallae levitated, floated and rotated until she was parallel, and right above Lena's body.

She lightly kissed Lena's forehead.

"You make me so proud."