Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Kelric
It was grueling work remaining conscious while listening to the monotone voice of General Hiset, the royal military advisor. This man had never seen real action, despite being a general. He knew tactics and strategy well enough, but he’d gained his position through politics and not through surviving one rough situation after another, like I had.
But I was on his turf, called to this royal advisory council, with Queen Helena listening intently at one end of the large table. What this man had to say was important and could affect me and my company. So, I tried not to fall asleep as he droned on.
“…which is the fourth incursion this month. They are not coming far into Pearlia, and they daren’t threaten any of our farmers. No, they do it just to see if they can, to see if we’ll respond.”
The small man sighed heavily. “And they have completed yet another fortification along the river. They now have nearly twenty such towers.” He shook his head. “My men are worried. They fear another war with Eromore. And I cannot tell them it won’t happen. The Eromorn are power-hungry fiends. They will not attack until they are ready, but I fear they shall be ready soon. And when they are, they may need only the slightest provocation, if that, to invade us once again.”
I couldn’t help myself. “They didn’t invade us last time,” I said stoically. “We annexed one of their provinces through a political marriage.”
Silence hung over the room. No one else here would ever speak to General Hiset in such a tone.
“Yes,” the man said, a little perturbed. “And then they invaded our newly acquired territory.”
“The captain’s point is valid.” This from the queen, her aged voice still strong, a resonant alto. “We provoked them, and they responded.” She looked at me intently then. “But we will not be doing that again any time soon. We’ll give them no reason to attack us.”
The question we were all considering, though, was: did they need a reason?
The queen sighed heavily. “It’s Ossara I’m worried about. The way my son has abandoned his wife is disgraceful.”
Prince Victor was in the room, at the table, but the queen wouldn’t even look at him.
I grimaced. I was fairly certain the queen didn’t know how I’d facilitated her son’s continued tryst with his mistress.
I was beginning to regret that choice. Word was, the princess’s family back in Ossara were not happy about how the prince had treated her. There were fears he would discard his family in favor of this mistress and have a new heir. I didn’t think Victor was the type of man to do that, but then… he’d seemed different these past few months since he’d met Veora, more distant from everyone except his mistress. I didn’t know the man well, but as the captain of a mercenary company that was now fully in the employ of the crown, I had spoken with him on several occasions. I’d thought the man to be courteous and gallant, but perhaps I’d never truly known him.
When I looked over at Victor, his face was shadowed with defiance. He spoke stiffly.
“Princess Kira wants for nothing. She is well tended and loves our children, but she’d spurned our bed for far too long. I simply wished for some company now and then.”
“Perhaps if you tended to her as you did to your mistress, your wife would join you more often, princeling.” The queen’s tone was harsh.
That silenced Victor, who remained stoic after that.
I tried not to shake my head. I hoped I’d done the right thing helping him to continue seeing his mistress. Not that I could have denied the prince his request.
The queen turned to General Hiset. “What is our preparedness, General? If Eromore does attack, how would we fare?”
I knew the answer to this, and wondered what the general would say. “Our forces were depleted in the last war. We’d be able to defend any fortifications. They wouldn’t take the capital…” He hesitated.
The queen finished. “But they’d take the rest of our nation, yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“That is unacceptable.” A hardness set on the queen’s already stern features. The silver hair and the wizened lines on her face seemed chiseled from stone. Her steel-blue eyes reflected a soul which had seen far too much hardship already.
“What of the Phorasti?” she asked. “How many more could we call to arms?”
There was only one Phorasti of any real power in the city… Tisi’s adopted brother, Dazar. I’d gotten to know him when I’d been apprenticed to her father. He was a good man, though I hadn’t seen him in years. But I’d heard how he’d been instrumental in lifting the siege on Vestrea and ending the war. If one man could do that, then perhaps an army of them could…
“From our latest information, there are nine Phorasti in the city, most are Pearlians who sought training at the White Tower. Unfortunately, it seems non-Dathi do not fare as well in learning those mystic arts. A few of our Phorasti could be useful as healers, but most have little ability. The only true Phorasti in the city is the Dathi man who helped us end the last war. It is my hope he would come to our aid, if needed.”
“Only one?” The queen did not seem pleased. “What about the other Dathi at the White tower?”
“Your Majesty, the Phorastic Council has said they will not participate in any conflict. They said that Phora is the energy of life, and to use it to kill is abhorrent.”
The queen’s jaw twitched. “I don’t particularly like war either,” she muttered. “Do they not realize they only have the liberty of their high ideals because we freed them?” she hissed.
Pearlia had fought with the Free Dathi during the Dath-Riven war, against the Purists, a movement of full-blooded Dathi who’d sought to eliminate any half-Dathi and mixed-bloods. It had been a brutal and grueling conflict ranging over many lands — since the Dathi, once a nomadic people — had settled amongst many nations.
I knew of the war only through tales from my father. It had ended almost twenty years ago, when I’d been just a boy.
After the war, some of the Free Dathi had built The White Tower in Pearlian lands: a place to train those with the gift to see and manipulate the energies they called Phora. The crown had given them those lands, helped them get set up, and supported them. Now they had turned their backs on us?
This was news to me.
The queen didn’t seem happy about it either. Yet, she settled herself quickly, jaw still tight.
“I suppose we did free them so they could pursue their own ways. I can’t fault them for hating war. I hate war.” She slumped into the high-backed chair and sighed, running an aged hand over her features as she recovered herself. Yet, I could see she didn’t like any options before her.
She spoke slowly, as if the words themselves were bitter.
“If we began a conscription campaign, how many able men could we gather and how quickly could they be trained?” It was clear she didn’t like the option.
She then gave a nasty grin. “And the first to be conscripted would be the nobles. They should be leading the way in all things in this nation, war included.”
She practically snarled her next words. “They’ve all grown soft and indolent. They should be the ones protecting this nation, but they’ve been safe from war for so many generations this current band of fops couldn’t fight off a cornered kitten.” She sighed heavily, then glared at the general, clearly expecting an answer to her previous question.
“Ah…” He had no clue, but I did.
“Your Majesty? If I may?”
“Yes, Captain, please.”
I rose. “I’ve had experience taking on new men. Now… these were men who wanted to fight. Even so, it takes at least six months to train a man well enough to survive the heat of battle, but in truth, that won’t be enough. If we’re conscripting men, they might be able to defend themselves after six months, but they’ll probably run at the first sign of trouble. Especially these indolent fops you’re hoping to recruit. What we’re lacking are veterans.”
The queen’s features shifted slowly: one brow raised and the corner of her mouth twitched. “ Your troop are veterans of the last war, are they not?”
I sighed, knowing where this was going. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Have you considered my offer to join the royal guard?”
I had… and I was still undecided.
Right now, I was working for the crown, true enough, but it was a contract. I was still a mercenary captain in charge of my own men. I could disperse them as I wished. I was the one in control. If I joined Her Majesty’s forces, I’d no longer be in control. I’d be working for generals like Hiset. True, I’d be paid a lot more and I’d still be a captain to all my men, but…
Perhaps, I could counteroffer? But I didn’t want to do it here.
“I have been considering your offer Your Majesty. I wish to speak to you about it in closed quarters, if that serves you?”
“Yes, we shall speak now.” She turned to General Hiset. “Is there anything else?”
“No, Your Majesty,” the man said stiffly.
“Then leave, all of you.” The words were soft but forceful. She waved her hand and the others immediately began to disperse. I, however, stayed.
I remained standing as the others filed out and the door was closed.
“You wish to counter my offer?” the queen said, shrewd as ever.
“Yes.”
“Then go on, say it.”
“You said yourself you’re in need of veteran men. If I were to join the royal guard, that would not be enough to change the direction we’re heading. I would need to command the royal guard, and I’d need to disperse my men to positions I see fit for them to lead and direct those around them. And I would suggest you do something similar with the other mercenary companies currently under your service, but… I’d be in charge of all of them. I’d be your Field Marshal, commanding your armies.”
She gave me a hard look.
“If it were your father making this request, I’d accept in an instant. And I mean that as no insult to you.” Her words were quick but precise.
“But you are a boy. You may be a veteran of the last war, but to put you in charge… I’d have a mutiny on my hands. My commanders would leave me. They’re all from respected noble houses and I need the support of those houses, even if their sons are barely able to swing a sword.” She sighed, looking down. “What you ask is… difficult.” Then she looked up at me, those eyes capturing me. “But I will consider it.”
That was surprising and frankly more than I’d expected. She must be truly desperate.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
I bowed and left, feeling more than a little shaky. I’d asked for the command of Pearlia’s armies, and what scared me most was…
…I might actually get it.