It had now been an entire year and a half since Shaniz last heard of K'rar, but he still popped into her mind on many an occasion despite the terrible things that should have otherwise occupied her. For example, her security team had been increased by two, and she was only allowed to be within one mile of the palace. The Resistance had taken Aran-Tamar, and had occupied a large part of southeastern Hannes. Cauda was fighting well, and for the last months the Revolutionary Guard and the rebels were pushing against each other back and forth near the Caudan border. There was a fear that the Resistance already had bad elements within Zadok, so Shaniz and the other royals couldn't just roam about freely. Besides, there were factions among the northern tribes that were of the mind to ostracize the southerners, and allow the secession, and southerners who subscribed to the ideology of the Resistance because of mistreatment by city dwellers. Whereas King Sargios had issued a declaration to punish any such tribal strife and discrimination, he had bigger fish to fry, bigger problems to deal with.
Shaniz was in her favorite spot outside the east wall of the palace in the palace orchard. This was a favorite spot for many others, including her mother the queen, who was present with her and her little brother, prince Asaon. From the ramparts of a secondary wall here, they could watch the city while enjoying the breeze under the thin trees in the orchard. K'rar had replied to her first letter, in which he said he loved the fact that she thought about training in combat, but that it was ridiculous to train her, as this wouldn't do justice to her high social status. K'rar had also sent her one of his concept books, the one that contained the concept female fighter, and asked her to hold on to it to find a reason to want to see him again. She had just been writing the reply when the news came that K'rar had been right about the existence of giants, but that the giants had ambushed the men hunting them and captured K'rar only, having been actively hunting him alone. For many months Shaniz and Bekka, and at some point their brother Ghita the crown prince, had tried to figure out why. All the subsequent searches into the mountain had yielded negative results, and though the giants had returned to Zohaltiel Valley on two occasions to take more food, they had ceased shortly after this, and disappeared again. Shaniz would have forgotten about her new friend but for the book she now had with her. Its contents were not so much her interest except the female soldier, but the book reminded her of him. She thought he was different from other boys. He was not obsequious, not full of unnecessary encomiums she was so used to, and not hell bent on impressing. She had assessed all these things in just two days of his company. What Shaniz was not allowing herself to admit was that he liked him in more than a normal way. Today, she was holding the book with her, and was saying to her mother,
'Do you think K'rar's concept could work? If we had more soldiers, including women, the rebels would have already been crushed.'
Queen Myrios snorted a short laugh,
'Shaniz, don't you start worrying about war. It's men's business. Your friend really had an impact on you. Didn't you have just two days with him?'
'K'rar won a battle without ever stepping foot on the field. Everyone was so full of praise for him, not just me.'
'Yeah,' said the queen, 'that boy was a special boy, I admit. Still, women soldiers? Doesn't even roll off the tongue,' she was looking at the book in her hands, 'why won't you give that book to the soldiers? It could be of use to them, not you.'
'This reminds me of him. And they never said the giants killed him. He might come back to us, and he'll want his book.'
'Okay.' She knew that an attempt to kill her hope would be callous. She added, 'the rebels will be crushed eventually, Shaniz,' and after a pause she said quietly, as if to herself, 'king of the south. What a delusional rebel.'
'By the way, why does he call himself that?'
'It's from the Sacred Writ.'
This prompted Shaniz to look for this in the Writ, albeit inadvertently, later in the day when she and the family went to the altar to pray, as was the routine. The king was away in Cauda for the war, so her brother Ghita, the crown prince, was taking care of state affairs that were not too important for the king, including the welfare of his family. It was Ghita who had increased the security of each of the royals and ordered them to stay within a mile of the palace. The palace priest who presided over the sessions asked her not to bother herself with the prophecy when she asked him, but she insisted. He opened the pages for her, and began to read the content himself:
'The Most High is bringing a shoot from the south, from the extremity of the waters. A king that is, but yet is not, the king of the south. By him, the kings that once were, but are not, will be awakened from their sleep, in a time when tribe will rise against tribe. Listen! It is the sound of a mighty crowd…he has gathered distant peoples and their warriors to his side, and the Most High has granted him dominion over them. The mother of storms shall not do harm to him, and he shall cross her path with fire-breathing monsters of the sea, those having fearsome names. A red-blooded king sits on his throne that he took from him, but the king of the south shall engage him and crush him, and the Most High will be with him. Behold! The gates of the earth are open, for I am bringing a shoot from the south to do this bidding in my behalf.'
When he finished reading, he began to explain why the rebel, whose identity was still unknown, believed that he was the king of the south.
'This isn't the whole passage. I can stop if you want me…'
'So, my father is the red-blooded king that sits on this rebel's throne?'
'Of course not, my lady.'
'I mean, it's what he believes?'
'Yes, indeed, my lady.'
'Then, who are the kings that once were, whom he resurrects?'
'A long time ago, my lady, all the tribes had their own kings, and the man who brought us together was a man of Syene. He believes he is descended from Khalve the Liberator, and that he is restoring that arrangement, by separating the southern tribes from the Federation.'
'I believe, the extremity of the waters means Lake Patma?' Shaniz said, and when the priest nodded, she asked, 'then, what about the sea monsters?'
'This, we do not know, my lady. As long as his goons believe that most of the prophecy is coming to its fulfilment, they will wait for the fulfilment of the rest as if it is sure to happen.' The man paused, 'my lady, don't let this bother you.'
It did bother her, though. Shaniz knew the extent of the Resistance's successes, and the string of defeats his father was registering on a weekly basis at the very least. Whereas she did not dare question the legitimacy of her family as bluebloods, she wondered what it would mean if that prophecy was indeed about the Resistance leader.
King Sargios had also seen the passage in the Writ, and as king, it was inevitable to not be bothered. He knew the extent to which faith in the higher powers could shape a man, had shaped a man, and his followers. Men could do things for the god whom they cannot see, with the zeal of a spirit creature. And with a bunch of good victories for the Resistance, king Sargios knew that many of the people of the land would start to believe the prophecy. He had to win. The nation, his family, and the lives of thousands were at stake. This is what King Sargios was thinking about over a silver cup of red wine which was in short supply because of the war. It is why he didn't hear the footsteps of two of his generals, and their first speech, when they came to the balcony where he was pacing back and forth. It was a balcony on the south side of the estate of Governor Amphine of Cauda, where he had bunkered for many weeks. His entire war council was there with him, including the governors who had been evicted from their estates, and Chalak. The latter had been a military man himself, and was on the war council, while governor Yath had refused to travel to Zadok and hide out while other men were fighting. The two generals in the room were Khrispus and Jew. Jew had come down to Cauda from Zadok with the king. He was one of the best in the business, and he was here with some good news, he said.
'We've retaken Cello and Seir from the Resistance, my lord.'
'Good, away from the border. That is good.'
'They seem to be refocusing their might away from here. We've received word that a great crowd has come up against you in Tasserion, on Syene's border with Alhanan. The rebels are also disrupting the fishing in the Nightshade Strip.'
'The king of the south,' the king mocked, 'how are Onder's troops faring?'
'He's much better than us. He was ready for them, but he doesn't have the numbers to withstand an all-out attack.'
'What about the slavery?'
'That's the bad news, sir,' said Khrispus agitatedly, 'we found 34 bodies in Seir, sir. They paraded them on the battlefield to send a message.'
The king's face was contorted just from thinking about this.
'And he calls himself king. Make sure the report doesn't reach civilian ears, especially in Zadok.'
'We disposed of the bodies, sir,' Khrispus' face was crumpled. The sight of dead soldiers on the field was normal, but not civilians whose throats had been cut and their hands held behind their backs, 'and, sir. Jew and I have noticed that the rebels are always ready for all of our plans, like, they know prior to our coming where we will be and how many we will be.'
The king gave himself a second to think about this before turning around.
'That's how they moved the slaves.'
'Yes, sir. It is how they have been holding on to Seir, too,' said Jew, 'we have a mole, sir.'
The king was furious with himself for not spotting this anomaly. He shook his head in disbelief, and smashed the silver cup against the balcony.
'Call the war council,' he said while storming out of the room.
Governor Chalak was panic-stricken when he stormed into his chambers later that night, startling his wife. He had held his breath well in the hall when the king paraded all eleven men on the council and began looking straight into their faces to spot any panic. But Chalak was not sure about his confidence. He knew how bad it would be for him if he was found out. He was already harboring a grudge against the king. They would certainly behead him.
'He knows,' he whispered loudly to his wife, who was neck-deep into this conspiracy, 'he knows!'
His wife was as calm as a log. She stood up and put her hands on his shoulders and shushed him, saying,
'Relax, dear. Relax,' she said.
'Relax? Relax! How can you be so calm!' he was still whispering loudly, and his wife was still hushing him. She went to the door to check for eavesdroppers, made sure there was none, and returned to Chalak.
'They were bound to realize it sooner or later, Chalak. Our king knew this.'
'I can't do this anymore, Samalie.'
Samalie was also ready for this. She knew her husband was as impulsive as he was timid, and it was her who had kept him in line this past year of war.
'That is not an option honey. Not an option. Now, what does he know? Does he know it's you?'
'No, of course not,' said Chalak, 'just that there's a possible mole.'
'Then, you have nothing to worry about. Just keep doing your job. I'll take care of this, okay?'
'No, not okay. The Leader has put us in harm's way long enough, and the war is hardly finished. We cannot keep this up.'
Samalie dropped her hands from his shoulders and suddenly transformed from calm to furious.
'So, will you withdraw from the war council? What does it prove, then? That you are tired of the war effort or that you're the traitor?' she hissed, 'I told you, I'll deal with it, so you just keep doing your job. Don't forget, the Leader has Makko. He has our son. And if you chicken out now, you'll be expendable. He will simply tell the king it was you. Now I need you to get your head together and do your job. You leave this to me.'
'What's your plan, then?'
'Well, the king is after the traitor. We hand over the traitor.'
Chalak was not sure how to react to this. He just stood there, statuesque. Samalie continued,
'What, Chalak? I didn't say you are the mole. Are you the mole, my husband?'
Chalak was still outside on this, but he said,
'I suppose you're right. I'll just do my job for the cause.'
'Lovely.' She turned around and headed for the door with a devilish smile. She was a woman with a grand scheme up her sleeve. Samalie had been the conduit between her husband and the Leader, Petry. They already had a contingency in case the king began to sniff around, and all she had to do was set it off. From the start, she had set up a routine for her aides and maidservants in their duties. One of them, Isis, did most of the errands to the city center of Gautling, the Caudan capital. So if she went out of the manor as she usually did, any surveillance the king had definitely set up to watch the members of the war council wouldn't mind it. She visited the kitchen cautiously, watching any soldiers and guards in the compound, knowing that some of them would have been told to watch her, as well as the rest of the families of the members on the war council. In fact, she knew they would be watching governess Amphine, their host, even if she wasn't on the war council. So when she summoned Isis, she spoke to her from the open space in front of the kitchen and said,
'Do we still have red tea leaves? My husband hasn't been receiving his tea.'
'Why, we have plenty, ma'am. I went down to the market two days ago.'
'Good. But I take sunflower tea sometimes. There are only three vendors of this in the market.'
'Yes, I know them, ma'am.'
'Right, listen. Only one of them is a man. He's my friend, a native Syenean from my own village. You will go down and buy the ingredients from just him. Tell him that I sent you, and I send my greetings. Okay?'
'Of course, my lady,' she bowed, and went about executing this command immediately. Samalie stuck around near the kitchen. She stood in the entrance of a corridor leading back into the inner rooms, and watched as Isis went into the kitchen, retrieved a basket, and walked out and across the yard for the exit. There, two guards stopped her in her tracks, and appeared to be questioning her about something. Lady Samalie smiled to herself, said, 'pathetic,' and walked away. The plan was in motion.
Isis found the vendor of sunflower spices quickly. He was in one of the first stalls, a man called Zardes. He was limp, and his fellows in the market called him that, Limp. Limp immediately knew what was going on when the maidservant came to him. She was dressed in uniform, so was conspicuous to everyone as an employee in the governor's mansion. She came and said her greetings, and said,
'Lady Samalie says you are friends.'
'Indeed, we are, my lady,' he looked straight in her face, waiting for the signal.
'She sends her greetings. She wants sunflower spice.'
Limp quickly cut out this item from his stock, and stuffed it in her basket. He watched her like a hawk as she left, to spot if anyone had been following her. Once he was satisfied she'd come by herself, Zardes quickly packed up his things and left the market. He was the contact. He had to deliver the news quickly to Kospar Petry himself, and he did this by sending a pigeon from his place of lodging. Zardes did not return to work once he did this. He emptied his lodging, and got on a horse and vanished that night. When Isis reported back to Lady Samalie after her errand, the Lady waited that night after another war council meeting and asked her husband how far the investigation had gone. Chalak said,
'The king wants to confirm first if there's a mole. He has assigned two special guards for each of us, and we are not to leave the mansion for a week, and we will not be communicating with anyone on the outside, and that includes you and the kids. The guards will also search the rooms, they'll be here shortly.'
'Wow, he must be up to some elaborate plan.' She had anticipated anything as extreme as this, including cutting off communications. She was a step ahead. She smiled to herself. The two guards soon came around, and one of them planted himself inside the room, and began to search it. She berated him,
'Will you search our underwear too?'
'My apologies, my lady. I am just doing my job.'
'How could the king suspect my husband? We were evicted by the rebels from our own home, and we have been living here for quite some time, and it's not like we are having the time of our lives.'
'My lord, will you pacify your wife?' he said to Chalak, who was watching like a small boy, 'this operation affects everyone on the war council, not just you.'
'Well, the operation is just a bit stringent is all, don't let my wife bother you. Get on with it.' Chalak said. The guard searched for at least five minutes, asked a few irrelevant questions, and left the room to stand outside. As soon as he did this, Chalak stared in his wife's face for an obvious reason. She said to him quietly,
'I have taken care of it. Now what you need to do is not tell me anything from the war council for at least a month, no, until the Leader gives us further instructions.'
'What? I thought I had to do my job.'
'This is to throw off the scent. It's part of my task to do this, okay?'
The guard suddenly opened the door without knocking, but Samalie was sharp, and before the guard saw anything she was kissing Chalak and putting her hand near his crotch, before tearing away from him just when the guard saw the act. She then shouted at the top of her voice at the guard,
'What are you doing, idiot?! Did the king ask you to be decadent? Will you watch me fucking my own husband?!' the guard was heavily mortified. When he tried to apologize, she threatened to report this to the king himself if he came in without knocking again. When he locked the door again behind him, Chalak stared at his wife, and then fell back against the bed, laughing like a hyena into the mattress to muffle the noise.
Two days later, the mansion got two unusual visitors. Two men came to the gate on horseback, and said to the Guard there that they had a delivery for Governor Yath of Siroh. This was in an ornamented chest that resembled a treasure chest, and designed with the flag of Siroh Province. The special guards assigned to the war council members had the authority to check any such deliveries, so the Guard stationed at the gate summoned the special guards assigned to the governor before informing the governor himself about his gift. These then took it to the governor, who was in his chambers playing a tile game with his young daughter.
'Governor,' they said, 'you have a delivery from a friend back home.'
The governor said,
'A friend?' he said, gesturing to bring the chest to him, 'I have been here all this time and I never received a single stone. Just place it under the sill there.'
'We would like to see what's in the chest, sir. We will check it,' said one of the guards.
'Okay, go ahead,' said the governor, and said softly to his daughter something about carelessly moving the tiles. The guards opened the straps on the chest, and revealed a consignment of medicinal roots, and then a bag of jewels for his wife. There was a letter from the sender too, a certain family friend.
'Roots and jewels,' said one of the guards, 'from Zelalem, sir.'
'Zelalem? Wow, I thought he was toast, he's a loyal servant of the crown,' said Yath, 'Ok, just place it down there. It is mostly for my wife anyway.'
The guards found nothing of consequence in the goods or the letter, but just before the subordinate one of the two placed it down, his superior, the other guard, said,
'Wait, wait. Put it back on the sill.' The man put it back on the sill. Governor Yath ignored this and just went on with his game. The guard said, 'empty the chest.' When it was emptied, the guard discovered that the roots occupied only about a quarter of the space in the chest. A thin piece of metal separated this from a larger space underneath. The guard lifted the metal from the chest, and then both guards, on seeing what was there, almost gasped.
'Money, sir.'
Governor Yath looked up.
'Money, from whom?' he was confused, 'who sent me money?'
The guard lifted a small scroll from among the ringed golden peckles, and tore away the string holding it. When he handed it to his companion, he placed a hand on his sheath and drew his sword with the other. Governor Yath recoiled a bit, and his daughter said, 'father?' He said to her to immediately leave the room.
'Governor Yath,' the guard said, as his companion rearranged the contents of the chest as they had arrived, leaving only the small scroll of paper, 'let's go. Resist, and I will cut you.'
'What the bollocks is this?' Yath was furious, 'am I the traitor?'
'Governor, this gift is from home, from Siroh, and the note is from the Leader, who is happy with your efforts in liberating the south from the northern tyrant, Sargios.'
'Looks like your little act is over.'
'What the fuck? What?'
'Let's go, sir. Please do not resist. It is pointless to do so,' said the guard, who came closer to him with his weapon out.
'Put your sword back, soldier. I'll come without force,' the governor yelled. His own original guards showed up in the door just when he was getting out, blocking the way.
'Sir?' his main man said.
'Stand aside,' said the special guard. Yath nodded for his guard to do so, but they followed him anyway.
The war council was convened in the blink of an eye, and this time, anyone who had heard of the arrest was allowed to come along. So by the time King Sargios came into the hall last, it was full, even some servants had made it. Governor Yath was in the center, flanked by the guards, and the wooden chest was by his feet. His wife was yelling all sorts of insults at the guards until she was restrained by other guards. Governor Chalak was more stunned than anyone in the room. His wife knew he would be, so she was holding his hand while he breathed heavily, and said softly to her,
'Samalie, is this from your craft?'
'It is from the Leader. I didn't know Governor Yath would be the one.' It was clear Chalak was not impressed by this. She tightened her grip on his hand. When the king strode in, he too, first stopped by the steps he was using. He did not sit down at the chair, Governor Amphine's chair, which was now his chair for all his time here. He descended all the way down to the floor, flabbergasted to his head. He was staring at Yath all the way, trying to swallow the possibility that he could be the traitor, even remotely. When he looked down at the chest, he asked the guards, in the tense silence of the room.
'Is this chest the proof?'
'Yes, Your Majesty,' said the lead guard, 'it came with this note.' The other guard handed the note to the king. Before he read it, he had them open the chest. No one reacted to the roots and jewels, but the room was very cold when the contents underneath were revealed. General Jew swore loudly. Governor Yath was trying to explain,
'Your Majesty, someone is trying to frame me. I would never do this, Your Majesty. Never.'
The king ignored all these defenses as he perused through the note, first to himself, then aloud to the others.
'The Leader is greatly humbled by your patriotic effort in restoring the might of the South. This is just a pinch of what awaits you in the inevitable future where the South shall be free by divine will from the hateful yoke of the cockroaches of the north and their king. K.P., King of the South.'
'My lord, I swear by the grand altar of Ihanga, I have nothing to do with this! You have to believe me!'
'Who is K.P.?' King Sargios asked, 'tell me whose initials these are, and I will reduce the sentence. Now.'
'My lord, I do not know anything about any K.P, I swear!'
'Petry,' said Jew, 'Kospar Petry. Oh, goodness gracious,' he slapped his hands to his dog face, and paced this way and that, 'gracious! Your Majesty, Kospar Petry is the rebel! All this time, and I didn't even suspect this!'
'I know Kospar Petry,' the king said, 'he's an established soldier of the crown. Is he really the traitor?'
Governor Yath was lost for words. The man Kospar Petry was not just a citizen of Siroh. He was a friend of his and had even visited the governor at least five times in the last two years. That's why Yath's wife and General Khrispus were utterly gutted by this. General Khrispus stepped away from the rest of the war council congregation, and unstrapped his sword belt. He threw the sword on the ground and knelt down before the king,
'Your Majesty, I should be punished for not realizing what kind of man I was working with. Please accept your servant's withdrawal from the war council.'
'What?' Yath said, 'On your feet, Khrispus. How can you believe this lie too?'
'My lord, I am truly sorry,' General Khrispus said these words to the governor, 'you should have told me you were harboring this horrible plan, and I would have saved you from yourself,' he was trying not to sob, 'you should have told me that when that man paid you all those visits, you were planning to overthrow the Federation.'
'General Khrispus, on your feet!' the king ordered, and the general stood up, face down, 'look at me. Look at me and explain this.'
Reluctantly, Khrispus said,
'I am partially a member of the governor's household, Your Majesty. And I was there when Kospar Petry visited more than three times in the past months.'
'Petry is a loyal man of the crown, Your Majesty. He was visiting me because we are friends, nothing more!' Yath tried to explain.
'Silence!' the king bellowed, 'go on, General.'
'Petry lives…he lives in Hazazon-Tamar, Your Majesty. It is where the rebellion began.' The General looked at his governor with a very disappointed face. A small tear cascaded, and he shook his face, 'why did you do this, sir? Why?'
'Governor Yath,' the king said austerely, 'I did not think you were fit to be on this council, but you insisted, didn't you? You pretended to care for Siroh so much, so you couldn't sit back while others fought. Is that not what you said to me?'
Yath couldn't believe his own noble efforts had suddenly become a knife in the back. He had no counterattack for this. Besides, he was the only one on the council without any type of military background. He played his last card,
'Your Majesty, this is an elaborate ruse to defeat your efforts to catch the traitor. Why would Petry send this gift here of all places, knowing it would compromise me? I am not the traitor, Your Majesty. He is still in our midst!'
'Take him away,' ordered the king, 'take his wife, too. Lock him up, and if we confirm that Kospar Petry is the rebel, his sentence will be passed. General Khrispus, you shall not withdraw from the war council.'