Chereads / Through War and Pestilence / Chapter 30 - Utter North, Savitro Zhan!

Chapter 30 - Utter North, Savitro Zhan!

Iria was dressed in a lapel dress, the white going with her silver hair, which hung down in waves over her shoulder, little curls creeping to the front of her head. It made her look much much younger, unlike all the other personalities in the room, with the exception of the nine year old clan princepss of Savitro Zhan. They all sat round General Zarin's oak table, Iria at the head.

"What do you say we do about Prince Theon?" one of the lieutenants asked, his question directed at the leader of the Rebellion.

"He's not a very important piece in this game," Iria replied, "but--"

"But he'd sure cause the deaths of a couple hundred soldiers if returned to his father's side," General Zarin interrupted, his face grim, "he may be young, but he's grown up hating magic users and will kill them without hesitation,"

"Heh," Iria chuckled, "but even the most stubborn of them can be won over," she said with a smile in his direction. General Zarin pursed his lips and said nothing.

"But we don't need him, do we?" The clan princess, Samahan Eska-vitro Zhan by name, spoke up, "it is as Iria Hakorhi says. He's an unimportant piece," she concluded, turning the silver ring on her index finger over and over. While she spoke, all the safrohi lieutenants and generals lowered their heads. Savitro Zhan, currently the most powerful of magic user clans, whose leader deserved respect. The perceived resurection of Hakorhi, with the presence of Iria-- Hakorhi whose leader could step on Savitro Zhan's leader-- was causing them, as well as Samahan, young though she was, to be a little unhappy.

"So we just leave him?" General Zarin seemed to have an unspoken grudge against Prince Theon, "he came to the garrison and by accusing the soldiers of treachery, rallied some to his side,"

"A couple?" a safrohi general asked, "how many?"

"A hundred,"

Everyone around the table laughed. Iria tapped on the wood, drawing attention to herself.

"Forget about Prince Theon for a moment. The main concern is who we are up against,"

"Is General Zarin not over half the Valencian army?" the safrohi general who spoke earlier, by the name of Zhazmus, asked pointedly.

"I don't understand what a lot of people mean when they say I'm over half the Valencian army!" General Zarin slammed his fist on the table and rose angrily.

"Zarin- shuaa, sit down," little Princess Samahan Eska-vitro Zhan said sternly, looking straight ahead.

(Zarin-shuaa. This is a way of referring to a mage, a respected member of a magic user clan by the clan prince/princess. In this case though, it is not certain that General Zarin is a magic user, as he had to be 'won over'.)

General Zarin lowered his head in her direction and sat down again.

"I am over half the Valencian army-- but not in numbers," he said finally.

"How much is the total force of the Valencian army, anyway?" Princess Samahan asked casually.

"Uncertain."

"How many soldiers are there under your command?" it seemed General Zarin was partial to the clan princess, for it was only her questions he answered.

"Two hundred thousand,"

"That's a lot," General Zhazmus rubbed his palms together, "combined with ours--"

"Who may only fight on this soil under our feet," Princess Samahan reminded firmly.

"Clan princess, I figured we would come to this point sooner or later. That's why I'm suggesting now that clan princess break the soil affinity," another safrohi general, who had not said anything all day, finally opened his mouth.

"Ruhzhan--shuaa. Selfish is the word to describe you. I know you want me to break the soil affinity so you can take your daughter to visit the Hakorhi ruins. This is not relevant to this discussion. Iria Hakorhi, you were saying?" Princess Samahan turned her attention back to Iria when she made an end to chastising her advisor.

But Iria was staring into space, something having clicked in her head.

"Uncle Ruhzhan? Is that you? Then Nei's guess was accurate! And speaking of Nei," she turned to look at Princess Samahan, "could it be that my sister stumbled upon the ruins of Hakorhi?"

.....

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