The ash-colored stone columns of the Great Hall of Haubern were thick and formidable. The marble-tiled roof had a shape like an inverted open book.
But for its grandiosity, the Great Hall stood empty. Silence filled the hall like a cry of a woman scorned.
At the middle of the closed hall was a round table made of stone. Five seats also made of stone were sowed around it.
Vedur glazed the wicks of the five candles on the stone table with the burning wick of the lamp he was holding. Five candles, five lights, he thought. One for each of the five magistrates that shield the Republic from tyranny.
Vedur sat on one the seats. He was early. The others were taking their time. Good for them to dally. It was as if there wasn't an invasion force waiting to devour the Republic.
One after another the three Magistrates arrived. Magistrate Herberk, his ally. A man with the same stature as him and yet uglier with his hooked nose. The detail-oriented Magistrate Devik who was small like his father before him. The always grumpy and a little violent Magistrate Bouvin who preferred wearing armor rather than the traditional white toga of a Magistrate.
And yet one seat remained empty. It was Magistrate Chen's. Vedur had argued with Chen many times in the past. One such instance ended in a fistfight when Vedur made the mistake of insulting Chen's father. One rule about the Inkish people is that one must never insult another's ancestors.
He may not be Chen's closest friend, or even a friend. But the lack of a chattering mumbling and annoying self-righteous Magistrate Chen was jarring. The Great Hall of Inkit was never the same ever since Chen got captured.
Herberk opened the Book of the Magistrates. The dove quill was dipped into the ink and touched the page.
"One thousand seven hundred eighty-eighth meeting of the Magistrates of the Great Republic of Inkit. Long live the Republic and may our forefathers guide our ways"
"The" Devik said "may the forefathers, not our forefathers. This is the thirtieth time you made such a mistake Herberk"
Herberk rolled his eyes "It doesn't matter Devik. It doesn't matter. I misused one word, a single word"
"Still a mistake"
"Just start this damn thing!" Bouvin's voice was thunder. All three of them flinched on their seats.
Herberk cleared his throat "Agenda?" He looked at Vedur "Should we resume where we left last time? We still haven't voted on what to do with the repair of the old main road"
"We have a more pressing matter to discuss than an old road" Vedur brooded on his seat "Information arrived, last night Magistrates, just last night. The Union's legions have crossed the Long River to Hadea. Sweetvine is in danger of falling"
Silence made the stone walls of the Great Hall even colder.
"Your information is certain?" Herberk asked.
"Yes, multiple reports. They have already defeated the local garrisons"
"So fast. The last information we had of them was a few days old. I believe they were still at Mythrille that time. And now they have crossed the Long River to Sweetvine" Herberk said.
"You all cry like children" Bouvin sneered "All you do is worry and cry and worry some more"
"Caution needs worry Magistrate Bouvin" Vedur shot back almost immediately
"Yes but what you are doing is not caution. It is mindless fear-mongering, nothing more. Sweetvine will fall. What of it? Is Sweetvine of Inkit? We have three cities to defend you old senile fools. Three cities, Lauban, Carais and Haubern. Sweetvine is of Hadea. Sweetvine is not of our concern. Let them Hadeans make Sweetvine their problem. We should only make our problems, our own problems"
"Diplomacy dictates that we help Magistrate Bouvin. We are their allies in this war" Vedur didn't back down although he lied.
It wasn't diplomacy that drives him but pride. The past two dozen battles had been defeats for the Republic. The last one was the final straw. He had heard of a mauling. Four thousand Inkish lay dead near Mythrille, butchered by the Union's army. Defeats come at a cost of lives, Vedur understands that well enough. But during the defeat near Mythrille, not a single soul was spared. The Castonians slaughtered them all. The right to surrender was ignored. The Castonians broke the rules of war and that transgression must be punished.
"I come from a long line of Field Commanders" Bouvin's tone had an air of arrogance "My father was Venir and my Grand Uncle was Besit. Iron runs in my blood. And I know what is best regarding our military matters. I know that if we go and reinforce Sweetvine, we would face Castonians in the field. Nobody in their right mind would face Castonians in the field. We will hold them here in Haubern. Our moats are deep. Our walls are strong. The city watch is trained by me. We could have a siege and wait for the Wismarines to reform. I'm sure Sarah Wismar would return"
Vedur didn't argue further. He knew that Bouvin's mind wouldn't change. The armies of Inkit was under the leadership of Bouvin and the three of them cannot do anything. Magistrate Bouvin might be right anyway. It would just be a waste of resources to help Hadea. Nearly forty thousand of Inkish soldiers were already prisoners of war of the Union. It would serve them badly to add more to that number.
"How long do we have?" Devik asked, adjusting the crude lens perched on his nose.
"Sweetvine could hold for a month if they are lucky" Vedur answered.
"If" Devik found the questionable word "The Union takes luck and replaces it with steel. They said that Canton could defend against the Union. It not only fell, it did in just a mere three months. Whole Kingdom, gone to the side of the Union. Let's assume the worst case scenario here"
"A week probably. My spies revealed that most of the small garrisons around Sweetvine had fallen" Vedur said
"Five days" Bouvin said in his gruff low voice "I say five days. Your spies are wrong"
Vedur sighed "Well if the Magistrate of War says so then it must be true. Five days. Considering they make for Riversalt the day after and also take the city, we have more or less two weeks to prepare the defenses of Haubern. I hope the Magistrate of Infrastructure has prepared the walls" He looked at Herberk.
Herberk stopped scribbling the details of the meeting in the Book of Magistrates. He put the quill down and leaned back "The walls are always maintained. The moats are deep. The ballistae are functional. Haubern could stand a siege but without men we can't defend the walls, we can't operate the ballistae and those moats would be useless anyway. We need soldiers, real soldiers not militia. Militias would run just at the sight of those brutish Castonians. I don't know Vedur, you should ask the Magistrate of War"
Bouvin grunted. He shifted his large armored body on his stone seat "You always smear the responsibility to me Herberk. Five thousand new levies are coming from all over Inkit. They are green but what else could we do? Our veterans are prisoners of war of the Union. All we have are green levies"
"And that would be enough?" Vedur asked.
"No. But we can hold for long. By my forefather's ash I promise we would"
"Then we will do that. Herberk, go and reinforce our defenses some more. Magistrate Bouvin, you should gather all the levies and arm them, train them if we have time. As for you Devik, collect war taxes from the surrounding areas and find mercenary contracts"
"The people wouldn't like that" Devik said in his small, rat-like voice "We are taxing them enough as it is. There are already rumors floating around that our own pockets are the ones getting fat"
"Just find a way to quell their feelings. Make promises or inspire them with speeches. Tell them that the republic is in peril against tyranny. The usual stuff" Vedur rested his head on his knuckles "Fine we should make it into law that after all of this is finished, we wouldn't ask for taxes for a whole year. I think that would be enough for them"
Herberk raised his quill "Is that final? A year without taxes is a year of stagnation"
"Yes, yes. It would be bad but we should focus on the imminent threat. The Republic would fall under the Monarchy of the Union if we don't hire mercenaries to defend Haubern. All those in favor of this law raise their hand"
All four Magistrates did, putting the new law into being. Vedur felt sorrowful that they had to rely on war taxes to defend the Republic.
"We, the Magistrates of the Republic of Inkit, have formally decided to make it into law that a war tax equal to a whole year of taxes is to be collected from the populace. In exchange, taxes for next year wouldn't be collected. This decision we make with the power vested by the great founding fathers of the Inkit. Long may the Republic last"
Vedur put his fist on the table "For the Republic". The same things were done by the other Magistrates.
But when they were about to raise from the stone seats, a young lad dressed in a simple tunic burst into the Great Hall.
"Sire!" The lad shouted as he ran. His feet caught one of the pillars and he tumbled.
"What are you doing here!?" Vedur almost shouted to his squire. It was sacrilege for an unauthorized person to enter the Great Hall in time of a meeting.
The Squire looked at him, teary. "They're here sire! They're here. The Union's army is here. They didn't attack Sweetvine like what we expected. They went directly here!"
Vedur's heart throbbed fast. He swallowed "Where...where are they?"
"They...they are outside our gates at this very moment" was the Squire's answer.