"Send someone out to find this biskop, as well as any of those still following him. Tell him I will welcome him into my hjem, and if he serves me well, in time, I will make him into a lord."

  Penna frowned. "Is that wise, my prince? There are so many unaligned lords out there in the world now. Do you wish to possibly add to that problem?"

  Prince Talt smiled and shook his head.

  "While the unaligned lords see this as a problem, I see it as a gift. It means there will be no other princes to contend with—the current lords are too weak and disorganized to improve their own status, why, they can't even hold on to what they have now! Their people are growing in power faster here than they did at home. They have no prince to guide them, and they cannot control more than they have now.

  "What this means is, they will grow no stronger; they will continue to lose gnashers and bonde, as they breed more. I will simply round them up. If someone is strong enough to play at being a lord, they can come to my banner, and I will make them a lord. I am the most powerful of the demons here. My goal now is to gain so many lords that I can appoint my own sworn princes, and that way ascend to king.

  "And once I have achieved that power, I will show those lions what I think of their barrier, and we will feast once again."

  "Yes, my prince, an excellent plan. But surely such a thing will take a good many daers?"

  Prince Talt nodded. "Yes, Penna. It will likely take as many cycles as we would have waited for a new gateway back home to the next Spisekammer. But I am not worried, for the lions fear us."

  "They fear us, my prince? Are you sure?"

  "Of course, I am sure. They walled us in here, did they not? If you can destroy a foe, you destroy him. If you cannot destroy a foe, you set obstacles in his way to stymie his efforts so he cannot touch you.

  "The lions are trying to stymie us. Since the barrier was created, they haven't bothered us in here at all. Perhaps they think they will starve us out? I do not know. But I know the waiting game favors me, and in time, I will tell all the unsworn that they either swear to me and join their power to mine, or I will kill them and raise another to replace them."

  Penna nodded and considered his prince's words carefully. Prince Talt had been King Sladd's leading prince, and no one doubted that he was planning to kill Sladd and take over his kingdom during this pass. Now with all that had transpired, Prince Talt truly was the most powerful of those who survived and was not given to idle boasts. If Prince Talt said he would do a thing, he would do it. That he had recognized it would take time to achieve proved, once again, that his faith was well placed in Prince Talt.

  "It is genius, my lord," Penna said and prostrated himself before Talt.

  "Yes, it is, isn't it?" Prince Talt replied with a smile.

  #

  Basun looked down from his throne at Fastgør, who was prostrate on the floor before him. He noticed, for the second time in a row, Fastgør had returned empty-handed.

  "Why have you returned empty-handed, Fastgør? Speak."

  "My lord, once again, the place for the exchange was empty. There were none of the boxes there. Further, there was no sign of the besat; they have not been there now in many a duodaer. I fear something has happened to them."

  "Rise, Fastgør, I find no fault in your actions. I have not been able to contact the besat by either the old methods, nor the new one they provided us."

  Fastgør stood and gave a noticeable sigh of relief. Basun had been fairly certain the besat his former prince had managed to insert among the human food was in peril. Their last phone call had made it clear that they'd lost the infiltrator they'd put into one of the groups the humans used to spy on each other, but they had managed to gain control of a device that should be able to destroy a large section of the barrier so that he, Basun, could lead his people out to feast.

  As the barrier had not been destroyed, he could only assume the besat had failed.

  "You are dismissed, Fastgør. You have done your job well and will be rewarded. I will send for you once I have found a new besat to work with."

  "Thank you, my lord," Fastgør said and bowed his way out of the room.

  "So, do you believe the besat is dead?"

  Basun looked at his advisor, Hængsel. Hængsel had been with him for a very long time, and had been the first to grasp the importance of these 'cellphones' they had been supplied with.

  "Yes, unfortunately, I do. I know our prince was certain having access to the information the humans gained from spying on one another would be useful, but it was unwise for the infiltrator to continue his actions against the lions. He was discovered, and how we have lost our biggest asset."

  "It was only a besat, my lord."

  "It was a besat who had possessed a powerful human mage, which allowed it to provide us with the communications devices of the humans."

  "Ah, yes, 'cellphones'. A most interesting device. Have you tried to contact the other infiltrators?"

  "Yes, and none of them answered their phones. What did answer, in the few cases something did, was something else. Almost like the shell had regained itself—something we both know cannot happen."

  "So most likely a trap by either the humans or the lions," Hængsel said.

  "Most likely. Still, I am most displeased that the infiltrator did not supply me with the device to breach the barrier. That is always the problem with forræderen; they are too easily swayed by their hosts, and unreliable, unlike the besat, who simply consume the host."

  "I believe our prince told us the lions had a way to discern the besat, which was why they used so many forræderen."

  "Then why did this last besat serve us for so long?" Basun said thoughtfully.

  "Perhaps you should ask Lord Låsen? He has been here longer than the rest of us."

  "I already have; I called him when I began to fear that we'd lost this one. He told me there are places the besat cannot go; they're barred magically. However, as long as a forræderen stays within its shell and does not destroy its host, these barriers have no effect."

  Hængsel nodded and thought about that. Lord Låsen was one of the two surviving lords of King Sværd. King Sværd had been far more aggressive than their own king, Sladd, invading a place called 'Germany' early in the pass, and had quickly seized control of a human city called 'Berlin'. Apparently King Sværd had known a lot more about the humans and their ways than any of the other kings, but he and the two princes he brought with him had still been laid low by some magic of the lions.

  "What of the other demons? Have you managed contact with any of them yet, my lord?"

  Basun shook his head. He'd learned from the other infiltrators, whose job was to spy on the rest of the world, that the place called 'Germany' wasn't the only other place with demons. An area called 'Brazil' also had a fair number, but cellphones did not work there. There was also a place called 'Mongolia', which a fair number of demons had gone to as well, but both his infiltrators and Lord Låsen were certain there were no princes or kings there. Only King Sværd had been willing to take his chances on a wandering gate.

  "I think we must try to find one of these devices on our own," Basun said, after some thought. "We saw what one did to Lord Taser Ansigt inside the Onderwereld, and we also saw with our own eyes the damage it did to Reno after the lions slew our king."

  "And what they did to King Sværd, as well," Hængsel said with a faint shudder. Weapons of such power no demon had ever seen before. Yet the lions seemed to yield these with little regard for the damage they did. As they were made of the fire of the sun, no demon could stand before such a weapon.

  "Are you sure this is wise, my lord?"

  "I am not content to stay inside these walls the lions have built, waiting for them to destroy us at their leisure."

  "But surely, with the things they have at their hand, they would have done it already if they could, would they not?"

  Basun shook his head. "I don't know, Hængsel, and I worry about that constantly. The only thought that has occurred to me is, perhaps the lions eat the humans, too, so they are forced to act with care, less they destroy too many of their own herds. No other idea makes sense."

  Hængsel pondered that for a moment. It was not something he had considered. Perhaps he should.

  "So, what next, my lord?"

  "We have a fair number of besats, and Fastgør has been able to sneak past the barrier several times now, using the path the magic-using besat was able to create for him. I think perhaps we should have him make us a few more besats."

  "That would be a great risk, would it not? If Fastgør were to be detected, you would lose him for sure."

  "I know, but it is a risk I am willing to take. We need some assets on the other side of that barrier, or I doubt we will be able to breech it. At least not without significant cost. The loss of our prince, our king, and the battles we lost them in hurt us greatly; the food we have in here with us is limited, and will soon be gone.

  "I would rather not wait here for a time of the lions' choosing. Choose the best of our remaining besats, and I will send Fastgør out with them, one or two at a time, until either we have run out, or he is no more. After all, what good is having someone who can breach the barrier if there is nothing to breach it for?"

  "A good argument, my lord. I will see how our besats fair. Do you think we should breed some more?"

  "If Fastgør survives, I think that is a wise idea."

  #

  Karl was sitting in his office, shaking his head, looking at the reports, and trying not to swear when Rabin came in.

  "Problems?"

  Karl grumbled and looked up at the lion. "When aren't there problems? The Americans fenced in an area five times the size of ours, and finished months ago, and we're still not finished!"

  "The Americans don't have to deal with twenty-eight different countries. No one said this job was going to be easy, you know that."

  "I'll remind you, once again, that I didn't ask for this job."

  Raban smiled. "What can I say? Misery loves company!"

  "You know, one of these days I'm going to take that down and use it on you," Karl said, motioning to the large Tetsubo hanging on the wall behind his chair. The sign above it read: Löwen schlagender Verein.

  "So, what's the problem this time?"

  "The Austrians are looking for a duty on the supplies the Italians are shipping through their borders. They claim it's not merely supplies for the wall."

  "Is it?"

  Karl sighed. "No, of course it isn't. It's also supplies and recreational materials for their troops."

  "What kinds of recreational materials are we talking about here?" Raban asked, giving Karl a look.

  "Thirty thousand bottles of wine."

  "Wow, the Italians really know how to take care of their soldiers…"

  "And four hundred and thirty-two very attractive young women to serve it to them."

  Karl waited for Raban to stop laughing.

  "They sent whores?"

  "Whores get paid; these women are all volunteers. Apparently werewolves and other lycans are all the vogue in Italy, and let's face facts, in our human forms, we're all positively ripped, and the Italians apparently have very permissive views—on a lot of things these days."

  Raban shook his head, still chuckling. "So it's not materials, it's moral outrage?"

  Karl sighed and nodded his head. "That's what I'm thinking. You know how things run here; everyone's jealous of the Italians and makes fun of the Poles."

  "Humans," Raban said with a shake of his head.

  "Oh, please," Karl said. "You lions are the worst of the bunch, going around and lording the fact that you're gods over everyone."

  "Well, that's because we are," Raban said with a big shit-eating grin.

  "Right, so why don't you have one of your people talk to the folks over in Austria and sort this all out for me then?"

  "I thought that was your job?"

  "Don't make me grab the lion-beating club," Karl growled. "I've got way too much to deal with here, and I can't ask Bilkie to fix this for me; I got him and his running down some rumors over in Liechtenstein about a possible group of possessed trying to sow dissension there, as well as in Switzerland.

  "Now, how about you tell me how things are going on the military front?"

  "The demons haven't been attacking the sections of the wall that's been built, not in any numbers. We're still getting singletons and a few small groups trying to break out here and there, but nothing that's presented any kind of a challenge.

  "Along those areas where the wall hasn't been finished…"

  Karl listened as Rabin told him of several battles that had been fought over the last week, one of which had involved several brigades of his lycan troops. Apparently the demons had finally figured out what was going on, and were trying to get while the getting was good.

  "That's why I need your help to stop these delays," Karl said, shaking his head. "The closer the wall gets to being finished, the more desperate their attempts are to break out. I just wonder what they'll do after it's finished."

  "That's a good question," Raban agreed. "The Americans haven't had any serious problems—not yet, at least."

  "They fenced off an area the size of Germany," Karl said with a frown. "Why would they?"

  "They've got a lot more demons there than we do. Possibly a million."

  "They've also got a bigger army to fight them with," Karl pointed out.

  "You know," Raban said after thinking a moment, "maybe if we posted some pictures of those Italian girls 'helping out' on the front lines, we'd get a lot more volunteers?"

  Karl sighed. "Now I know why Bilkie, Chloe, and the others like you so much."

  "They like you too, Karl, and speaking of Chloe, how's she doing? How's the kids?"

  "She's at home, doing fine. Elias is finally sleeping more than four hours at a time, so the late-night feedings are all but over."

  "How's Karl, Junior taking it?"

  "He seems to like the idea of a younger brother. I've made sure to spend time with him, so he doesn't feel neglected, because Chloe has Elias to deal with now, as well. Thankfully, there's a fair number of other kids his age he can play with now, since the Kitesh resettled a lot of their people here."

  "Well, that's good at least. I know they're quickly becoming the backbone of our physical intelligence operations."

  "Yeah, they still have a number of safehouses throughout the disputed territory, and even inside the exclusion zone, once we get that damnable wall finished."

  "They have safehouses inside the zone?"

  Karl nodded. "I've told them if anyone intentionally goes in there, without checking with you or me first, when I get my hands on them, I will find all sorts of interesting ways to make them regret their stupidity."

  "Why would they want to go there?"

  "Because all the places have some money stashed in them, and a couple of them have a fair deal of other valuables as well. Apparently several Korps members stashed whatever they'd been able to rescue while fleeing Berlin in a couple of the safehouses, rather than be slowed down by trying to carry it all the way out. Of course, no one knew exactly what we were dealing with at the time."

  "Huh, you know, we might be able to use those once we get the wall up."

  "Use them for what?" Karl growled, looking at him.

  "Hideouts, intelligence gathering, safe havens, you name it."

  "What need would we have for that?"

  "Eventually I'm going to send teams in to spy on and engage in special operations against our demon enemies. We have to keep an eye on them so we know what they're doing while I'm concentrating on hunting down the ones on the outside."

  "What about those spy satellites?"

  "They're not as reliable as we thought. Apparently the demons know about them, and have been moving to interfere with them. Sean caught a whole bunch of them months ago that had infiltrated a number of sensitive positions and were manipulating the data, so he wasn't seeing what was going on.

  "Also, I'd like to point out that we don't have any satellites of our own, because the people who controlled Germany's satellites are all dead, and the control facilities were in Berlin…"

  "Which is now a big, radioactive hole in the ground." Karl sighed. "I still think the French overdid it."

  "Well, you know what they say about payback. But honestly? It made my job a hell of a lot easier, so I'm not going to complain."

  "You know, I never thought to ask. Did you know it was going to happen?"

  Rabin shook his head. "My father never told me. I wouldn't have sent you out if I'd known."

  Karl nodded. "Well, before we brief the representatives from those twenty-eight countries, do you at least have any good news?"

  "Of course I do! Sean stole a satellite."

  "He did what?"

  "Stole a spy satellite. It passes overhead every couple of days, so while not perfect, it's at least something."

  "No, I mean, how do you steal a satellite? You lions got a space program nobody knows about?"

  Rabin shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is, he did. I haven't cared enough to ask him about it."

  Karl nodded and stood up. "You know, I actually hate doing these things more than I hate the demons?"

  "Really?" Rabin asked with a laugh. "Why's that?"

  "I can kill the demons, and they don't come back. But if I kill one of these Durks, another one will spring, almost as from the earth, to replace him within a day."

  "You need to growl at them more, maybe even maim one, so the others get the message," Rabin said, still laughing.

  "If I thought it would work, I'd do it, trust me. But more likely, I'd be out of a job, and then some other poor unfortunate would have to suffer your company."

  "Suffer my company? Really now, Karl, I'm hurt that you would say that."

  "Yet, you'll still show up around dinner time for a free meal, I'm sure."

  "What if I promise to bring some wine?"

  "If you can find a good cheese to go with it, I think I'll find it in my heart to forgive you."