Chapter 166: The Rabbit Kingdom 2

Tanaka’s thoughts went to Sylva. He remembered the rabbit beastfolk that called Eldoris home, the ones that had built up medicinal gardens and gathered herbs with meticulous care. They had supplied the settlement with both food and medicine, and Sylva had been his council member for many years. The contribution the rabbitfolk made to the Dominion with their farming and alchemy had only expanded since then.

While Sylva and the other rabbits of the Great Verdant Forest worked to expand their influence, others had taken to building their home on more populated land. They still gathered herbs, but they also made and sold potions and healing salves. There were a number of rabbit communities, each with unique strengths that expanded their options. The ones he saw now, however, clearly did not belong to his acquaintance.

Kingdoms and castles and courts, the great expanse that stretched across Varghelm far from Eldoris’ borders. "Tell me something. Is there such a thing as a ’Rabbit Kingdom’ in Bravelm?" Tanaka wondered. Lynessa blinked at him twice before her eyes widened in realization. "Yes. Why?" she asked. "I’ve met rabbit folk before," he answered.

"Here?" Lynessa asked, taken aback. "No, in the east at a town called Eldoris. I know someone named Sylva who leads her people there," Tanaka said. Lynessa’s whiskers twitched in amusement. "Sylva, you say? Not many people know that name, but there are several rabbit communities in the Beastfolk Lands. The Rabbit Kingdom is just one of them," she said. "The kingdom... it has a queen?" Tanaka asked.

Lynessa nodded. "Queen Elowen Whiteburrow, if you’re interested. Neutral ground in the face of greater power struggles between the other beastfolk nations," she said. The latter especially was no surprise. Tanaka had already deduced it himself for the rabbits of Eldoris. Their lands were fertile, their knowledge of herbs vast. Their magic allowed for the creation of strong elixirs as well as alchemical enchantments that could reinforce wood and stone.

The Rabbit Kingdom’s importance to the other nations, their neutrality, explained why the matriarch was in Varghelm. Tanaka pondered this. The rabbits’ reputation for healing magic had allowed Sylva to grow Eldoris in the first place, and even in Eldoris magic itself was a rarity outside of the slimes. The expansion of the rabbitfolk, slow but steady, had been built upon carefully rationed supplies and the careful maintenance to avoid war.

"In what way does their queen keep her neutrality?" Tanaka mused. The fox’s ears perked forward, sensing intrigue. "The rabbit kingdoms are vital to both trade and food, but they don’t concern themselves with fighting. Queen Elowen is a skilled military strategist though, as well as the best healer in the kingdom. The Rabbit Kingdom’s soldiers are more lightly armed than most, but their medical corps ensures they come out of a fight at least in one piece. On top of that, their magi have developed quite a few support enchantments that aid soldiers and can even reinforce crops and structures," Lynessa explained.

Tanaka found himself smiling. "That would be handy in Eldoris," he said. Lynessa’s ear twitched. "The queen’s court holds a general assembly not long from now. The representatives from the Rabbit Kingdom will be present," she said. "We’ll be visiting them, then," Tanaka said evenly. Lynessa followed his gaze to the rabbit beastfolk that wandered into the market district, their path soon to be swallowed by the crowd.

Strange how often this foreign land reminded him of his own kingdom. The nations of men, elves, the different varieties of beastfolk, dwarves. All very different in government structure, magic, land and tradition. There were similarities, certainly. Wolves took up defense most actively. The foxes were quick to move in with deception as their weapon, and rabbits worked the land to sustain themselves and others.

None of the nations could keep going if their people didn’t keep surviving. Something Tanaka knew firsthand. He had learned that lesson at a much younger age. Tanaka saw no reason why the other rulers wouldn’t be so enlightened, and he was quite eager to find out. Lynessa grew silent, staring intently towards the side street near the academy. Tanaka noted this with some concern when he glanced over and saw her repeated glances towards the small alley.

"If you need to return, we can," he told her. "No, Lord Tanaka, I merely forgot something," Lynessa said hastily. "If you need to return, it’s no trouble," he insisted. "That’s kind of you, but I’ve decided to stay," she replied. "Oh?" Tanaka paused, watching as Lynessa chewed on her lip. "House Velmire has been asking about you," she said.

Tanaka halted in the middle of the road, blinking. "About me?" he asked incredulously. "Yes! Following what occurred yesterday, they’ve been wondering how a single man could best three foxfolk warriors without so much as laying a wounded hand upon them. Someone told them about you," Lynessa explained. Tanaka let out a long, suffering sigh. "Lovely," he said.

Lynessa’s ears drooped. "I’m truly sorry about this, I never meant--" she began. "You didn’t," Tanaka was quick to assure her, but Tanaka merely waved the apology aside. "If they are going to be annoying, they’re going to have to be dealt with. If the nobles are too much to handle, I’ll do it myself," he said. Lynessa gaped at the sheer casualness of his words, but nothing in Tanaka’s face betrayed that anything was amiss.

He had taken on three of Varghelm’s elite foxfolk warriors, beaten them all at once without breaking a sweat, yet the young king merely said he would take a noble’s troubles upon himself, as a king should. He had more experience with this kind of problem than she was willing to admit. It always had been the case when she was growing up. Powerful people, when they take an interest in somebody like her, rarely have good intentions.

Lynessa hesitantly replied when she saw the road ahead. "Lady Mereth doesn’t know I’m here, does she?" she asked. Tanaka was watching the street she was watching, his senses brushing against the air. He could sense the disturbance in the magic a couple streets over, where a fox beastman looked upon the street from his window. "What is this? A meeting of noble women?" Tanaka asked when the man turned away from the glass.

The fox beastman turned to leave. Tanaka couldn’t read what the man had planned, but the name was familiar enough, and somewhere behind that same window a discussion had happened between that same man and another regarding the unexpected slime king guest and his troublesome retention of a useless cat beastfolk. In the wrong hands, the report would not stay hidden for long. "Should we hurry back to the academy?" Lynessa asked, and Tanaka nodded.

The rabbitfolk had already disappeared from sight, but the path still led back to the marketplace. The world around them, bustling and thriving, was the same world Tanaka had lived in before. Yet for the first time in a long while, he was seeing it with different eyes.