Garrera had regarded the threat very seriously. The boy king's cell had left no doubt about their ruthless efficiency. In fact, since two mornings ago, they had gone on to capture six more important officials and incapacitate more than forty security personnel. They were simply exceptional. Garrera's men hadn't even sniffed out a shred of their whereabouts, and had in fact lost ten men in this operation in broad daylight on the same day. To make matters worse, the whole city was stirred up like a boiling pot, and were singing a composition originating from K'rar's words "the Sea gave up its dead" every time they spotted constables. Only five Korah members weren't captured, and all of them had taken refuge in the palace with their entire families. Garrera had doubled the security, locked down the palace, and disallowed his wife and children from leaving the palace for any reason until he dealt with this newest threat. He had played right into Shaniz's hands.
Yet, none of all this could have prepared him for the news that he received when Kaputska showed up that morning at the palace. With him was the slender-bodied man called Fornals, whom Garrera had last seen in a shack at Vixen's Creek settlement when they laid down the final part of the plot to kill Caspar von Balian and his son. He was an old man now, and much of his hair had left him. He looked hideous without it, but his long goatee, now grey, was still intact.
'I'll be damned,' Garrera said to Fornals, 'you old punk. You're living on borrowed time.'
'The same could be said of you,' said Fornals. Garrera's head was also steadily greying. He was 61 years old, and Fornals was 70. Fornals said, 'I never thought we'd meet again, honestly, but what the hell?'
'Yeah, I thought you were dead,' said Garrera, 'what brings you here? Tao couldn't send your prince this time?'
'His Highness is indisposed. He was poisoned by militants in Tyrne harbor claiming to be under the command of K'rar von Caspar, and I believe them.'
Garrera wasn't alone in the room. Major Alain, Lankh and one Korah administrator were with him. All were stunned into silence.
'What?' Garrera gasped.
'Yeah. Like I guessed you wouldn't know anything. But it seems they are here too, whoever they are, locking you down in your own palace. I have also just learned that they executed Minister Sentien in front of the whole city. What the bloody hell is going on?'
'The boy is alive,' Garrera said, 'he is alive. No one knows how the hell that is, but it is him.' He summarized the events of the last few days to him and concluded by asking, 'so what militants are you talking about?'
'This is new. His Majesty Tao did not believe it,' he was talking about K'rar, 'but are you sure?'
'Fornals, focus! What is happening in Tyrne?' Garrera didn't like stalling on the more important matter.
'They've given you your wish. Whoever those bastards are, they went to Province, sunk the king's entire fleet, and slaughtered 15,000 of our men. All of this without us knowing a fucking thing. As we speak now, Province has taken back all its lands. And whoever those guys are, they allegedly did it with only 6,000 men. And women. They have made demands to withdraw all the king's troops from here, and the king will capitulate.' He reached into his robes and pulled out an order signed by Tao, withdrawing all Goldoran troops and repatriating Goldoran civilians with immediate effect.
The chills going through the men's spines could have dropped them there. Garrera didn't know whether to begin by commenting on the number 6,000 or on how they liberated Moon Province or on how they made Tao, of all people, give in to demands.
'Sunk the fleet? That fleet had more than a hundred ships, Fornals.'
'Nothing's left of them. Nothing. Even your ships are at the bottom of the channel. They call themselves the Kaffrarian Knights. So whoever they are, they have so far come to the Residence, poisoned the prince before His Majesty's very eyes and demanded that if we do not withdraw, the crown prince dies. Whoever they are, we cannot deal with them. We will be withdrawing with immediate effect.'
'Good riddance,' said Lankh. He was the foremost of the proponents for the same withdrawal.
'Good luck dealing with this shit,' said Fornals, 'if all this is indeed the boy's work, you better rally your armies. The boy's got just a few thousand, but I tell you…'
'We can defend ourselves, thank you,' said Lankh.
'Silence, Lankh,' Garrera stood up, 'did you really accept his demands?' the last part of this was directed at Fornals.
'The boy destroyed 15,000 men in just three days, General. Three days. In the same timeline, he has effectively seized your city from you, liberated Province and almost murdered the Crown Prince. Of course, my king will not go down this easily because of a few thousand men, but right now, we do not even know who we're fighting, and we are losing badly.'
He meant it when he said Tao wouldn't just sit back and accept the demands. But he revealed the details of this only to his compatriot Kaputska as soon as they left the heavily guarded palace.
'Prep your battalions. You have instructions to carry forward the plans for the Reideland.'
Kaputska was startled by this.
'What? Immediately?'
'Yes. Right away. We already lost the Province. It's unacceptable to lose Reideland too. The king will be shocked to learn that the boy king is real, but it makes no difference. He's only got a few thousand fighters. They will inevitably engage Garrera now. These guys aren't messing around. As much as I hate to admit it, they'll win, and if it is the boy, Garrera's own men will switch sides. It's best we prepare ourselves and take the Reideland.'
'If the boy wins, he'll be out for blood. And Shona steps back into the fray.'
'We lost 15,000 troops. We cannot take that lying down. Besides, we've got Kai and Arioch and Rabier on our side. All you have to do is seize Actian while they wage war here.'
Indeed, Tao had already sent those nations invitations to share in the prospective spoils from the Reideland. He had also informed them that following the drubbing he had just got, all three of them were certainly in K'rar's sights thanks to their recent history. Kai had attacked Shona's fleet, Arioch had fought against Shona too, and Rabier had simply allowed southern armies safe passage. All three knew, Tao said, that it was guaranteed that K'rar would consider the attacks against Shona as attacks against him. Tao had explained in his correspondences that if they wanted to remain on top of Korazin under Goldora's banner, they had to do so very quickly. In all this he had consistently implied that K'rar von Caspar was alive even though he still thought it wasn't true himself.
Until he did.
K'rar arrived at the Tyrne harbor only an hour after Garrera's reunion with Fornals miles away in Chaldea. He sailed on the Odyssey, a Stinger. This was now the fifth ship, but the first Stinger, to sail into the port. Bartle Frere had himself arrived the night before on the Wild Beast. K'rar arrived at just the opportune time, exactly when Queen Teara was also arriving from within the walls of Tyrne to plead with Bartle Frere and Sorcatan over the life of General Amavi, her son. Now Tao had already accepted the demand to withdraw his troops, but he had still refused to hand over K'rar's mother unless Bartle Frere handed over Amavi.
'He grew stubborn once we healed the prince,' Sorcatan was explaining the current situation, having updated K'rar concerning the events of the last two days. The ultimatum to flatten Tyrne had been discharged because Tao had sent a man to Korazin with the orders to withdraw, although he refused to go there himself. The old man had wagered that the knights would not attack Tyrne on the account of just K'rar's mother, and had gambled right. Besides he was incredulous as to the existence of K'rar, and had amassed thousands of men to defend Tyrne should the knights try to attack, he had refused to hand over Lady Noor-shan.
'We thought that since we had the other prince, he would hand over your mother,' Sorcatan went on, 'but it seems this one is expendable.'
'Apparently not to his mother,' said K'rar. They were standing on the beach, watching the approach of the carriage which they knew carried Queen Teara. They were five in number, the other three being Bartle Frere, Bekka, who had also just arrived with K'rar, and Lydae. The rest of the knights who had fought in Moon Province had remained there with Daena Milshkin.
The entire port in front of the wall had been evacuated in anticipation of a war, so as Teara's carriage approached, it was the only one between them and the wall. They were standing directly opposite the city gate. The carriage had sloped from there onto the rather wide, straight road leading to where they stood on the pier, only a few hundred meters ahead.
As soon as Queen Teara stepped out of the carriage, she recognized K'rar von Caspar, even though this was their first ever encounter. K'rar's appearance only was enough for her to conclude as such.
'Is it you? Is it really you?' she said, coming closer to him, flanked by two guards.
'It is. And I will not be waiting another day. Those men on the wall will be gone in an instant should I have to beg. Do you understand?'
This was not an empty threat. The wall was perfectly within the Behemoths' gunnery's range, and the trebuchets even farther. The Goldorans clearly knew nothing about this. They were impressed about all the irrelevant attributes of the ships.
The old queen was already used to the harshness of the knights, so she was not surprised that K'rar was immediately somewhat impudent. Nonetheless, she said,
'We have never met, K'rar von Caspar. I hope this first meeting will reap good fruits.'
'As do I. I'm given to understand you people will withdraw your troops, but you will not hand over my mother. I would have thought the latter thing was the easier thing to swallow.'
'My husband thinks the demand to hand over your mother is just a move to spite him, because he doesn't believe you live. As for the withdrawal of the troops, your men have already destroyed an entire army. That is fair warning even for me, who isn't very political.'
'So, if he confirms my existence, will he then hand over my mother?'
'What about my son?'
'Your son is a soldier. I am only sparing your civilians. But perhaps he should stay alive and narrate to you what happened to them in Province. So here's the deal, Your Majesty. Bring your husband out here, with my mother. She will confirm that it is me, after all this is the only obstacle. Hmm?'
'Can I at least see my son?'
K'rar just stood there and looked her straight in the face without saying a thing. Bekka then spoke for him,
'No offence ma'am, but the Commandant hasn't seen his mother for a decade. And she's all he's got. You, on the other hand…'
His mother was still locked down in the south wing of the Hammedan residence when Queen Teara and her guards fetched her. There was a minor disagreement between her and the palace guards keeping Lady Noor-shan, so she had to trample them with the royalty card. She had wagered that Tao would not accept to release her even under the new circumstances, and was thus doing this behind his back. When the guards let her in, she immediately ordered Rahab, Noor-shan's servant,
'Pack up Her Highness' belongings. Now.' When Rahab scampered away to do that, Teara explained to the confused Noor-shan why, 'it's your son. It is true. He lives, and is waiting for you in the harbor.'
Noor-shan had not even considered at all that K'rar was alive, so she said,
'What?'
'It's true. I just saw him. Now hurry. We do not have much time. We have to go right now.'
But Noor-shan was still skeptical, and perhaps a bit paranoid.
'How can you tell it is my son? You have never seen him.'
'But you have. If it is not your son, you will see for yourself. But if we don't go now, we might not go at all.'
'And may I ask why you are suddenly being helpful?' Lady Noor-shan wanted to know, although Teara was, like her husband, actually friendlier than most people to Noor-shan, and she pointed that out,
'I have not been hostile to you in your exile here, have I? But if you must know, your son's armies went to Moon Province and slaughtered our armies there. As we speak, they have liberated that country. But they spared Amavi. My obstinate husband refused to exchange you two, but not me. So, please, let's go before they find us.'
She was genuinely concerned about being sabotaged, because as soon as Tao and the now healthy Deng-Dau got wind of it, they both immediately ordered their men to stop the carriage. Deng-Dau himself would go out with the men to do so.
K'rar had boarded the Wild Beast and was waiting from the bridge for Teara to return. Meanwhile he was being treated to a surprise. Rubio was on the ship. K'rar was just explaining to his female combatants how it was Rubio who inspired the crazy idea of a regiment with female fighters.
'I told you Rubio,' he was saying, 'it was only a matter of discipline. There's 12,000 of them in this army.'
'It's really good to see you again, Your Majesty.'
'Yeah, you too. They're all yours,' he said. The knightesses were now very eager to chit-chat with her upon learning that she was their prototype. K'rar left them behind, with Bekka, and dropped down from the Wild Beast's bow with Bartle Frere and Sorcatan because Teara's carriage was returning, and had just descended the ramp at the gate. But it had hardly cleared half the distance when five horses suddenly came out of the gate in pursuit of it. K'rar figured easily that they were chasing the carriage to stop it. Raising his hand as a signal to his birds, always hovering above or perching somewhere, he set them off to prevent the riders from catching up.
'Why are they coming after the carriage?' Sorcatan said.
'She didn't ask her husband. She's sneaking her out,' said K'rar. The Urdian raptors only needed K'rar to point at the five horsemen chasing after the carriage, and about ten of them swooped down on them to disrupt them. Three of the horses dropped their riders, including the one with Deng-Dau on it. A fourth horse had his eyes almost gorged out by a bird, and the fifth rider came off worse than his friends, because an eagle bloodied his face. Sorcatan said of Deng-Dau,
'That punk. How many demonstrations does he need? He knows we've got his brother.'
'Who is he?' K'rar asked, 'is it the prince?'
'It is.' A squad of soldiers from among those on the wall were quickly coming to his aid, just as Teara's carriage pulled up undisturbed onto the pier, unaware of the events behind them. A raptor had sunk its beak in the flesh of the prince before leaving him alone when soldiers attempted to shoot it with arrows. He was not majorly injured, so he yelled to the men to stop the carriage but was too late. Lady Noor-shan and Teara had just stepped out of the carriage. Noor-shan was either too shocked or too happy to move. She dropped onto the earth like a sack. Tears cascaded down her cheek, and her hands were clapped over her mouth. K'rar made the first move and went to her. While he remained calm and composed, shedding no tears at all, she grabbed him, cuddled him, held his face in her hands, and showered him with kisses, all the while saying nothing. By the end of this act, she was sobbing behind his neck.
When she let him go, she took hold of his cheeks again, sniffling, and said,
'I am so sorry, son. I didn't believe you were alive at first.'
'There is nothing to be sorry for, mother. Nothing at all.'
'It's good to see you again.'
'You too, mother. I thought you were dead too. But we both lived. Now let's go home.'
But K'rar still had to deal with Deng-Dau, who had caught up, and who had ordered his men to retrieve lady Noor-shan. He completely ignored his brother, who had been released to them as promised. Amavi looked like he was possessed. He had gruesome accounts to tell, of what had happened to his armies in Province. The knights had so totally defeated him and his men, and had done so with the most disquieting methods. There were about eight knights ready to fight if the soldiers dared to make one step, but they didn't, as Noor-shan was now already on the Wild Beast. Deng-Dau, though, was hysterically protesting for no reason at them. K'rar and company watched him in disbelief, until K'rar said,
'We have no more business here. Let's go home.'
'Wait!' yelled Deng-Dau, 'I am not finished with you! Who do you think you are? You attacked us in Moon Province for no reason, you came here with your girl soldiers and poisoned me, and you made demands to the king of Goldora! Who do you think you are?'
'You're not making any sense, man,' K'rar said.
'You think you have registered a victory, no? You think you can just come here and make demands from Goldora? You just asked for a war, and you got one.'
His mother decided to intervene,
'Deng-Dau, please. Shut your mouth,' she ordered her men to take him away, but they didn't move, so she asked K'rar to leave instead.
'You said you're finished here. So leave, please.'
K'rar could understand why the prince was especially beside himself over this. Goldorans were particularly fond of elevating themselves as the mightiest nation on the continent, and was certainly such a nation now after they humiliated Korazin, even installing a puppet. Hearing that a resurrected Casparon king had returned and crippled Goldora into submission in less than two weeks was anathema.
The Behemoths that had sat there for days resuscitated their steam engines, and hauled their anchors to return north. K'rar asked where his mother had been taken, and said he would show her around himself. He took one last look at Tyrne, feeling triumphant. He had shelved the original plan that he had harbored for years, to destroy the city, having already sent a stark message to Goldora by flushing them out of Moon Province. That was enough to announce the grand restoration of the Casparon kings, and of Korazin, the traditional defender of Moab from Goldoran imperialism.
K'rar remained with his mother alone for an eternity in her assigned room on the Wild Beast, as they had lots of catching up to do.
Kanga had taken his time on the road, something that wouldn't have happened had he traveled with a knight. He arrived at Thermos after thirteen days, and found the city buzzing as Chaldea was, in preparation for the pending festival to the goddess Ashtoreth. Other than this, Thermos hadn't changed much. It looked the same as it did in his mind's eye. So the only thing he was looking forward to seeing were the faces of lady Esella, Pithadia, and a young Hone woman whose heart he had broken by leaving nearly a decade ago, when their affair was progressing into something romantic. But he didn't want to face the latter as soon as he wanted to face Rukh-shana and the other ladies, even the now important Princess Helga, to deliver the news he carried. He didn't need to go through the idiosyncrasies of the palace liaison and what not. He went straight to the gates of the palace and got in pretty easily. He informed the head of the guard that he was here to see Queen Rukh-shana regarding events in Korazin. It was only midday, and the queen was in her throne room speaking to someone about renovations when the door was opened to Kanga. He had straightened his hair and trimmed his beard to look presentable, and was intentionally clad in Hone fabric. The queen's current audience had just ended, and the man she had been speaking with breezed past Kanga as he left the throne room. Apart from the security and two attendants, she was by herself, and did not look up at Kanga until he stopped at the foot of the stairs in front of the throne. Kanga made a bow, and the queen said,
'I know your face.'
'Yes you do, Your Majesty. I was once a guest in your palace. I escorted Lady Esella when we came here a decade ago to seek refuge.'
Rukh-shana set down the golden cup.
'So it is, so it is. I remember now. What brings you back after all this time? You do not need to ask my permission to see your master.'
'No, Your Majesty. The tidings I carry are for us all, even Her Highness Helga.'
The queen guessed he carried good news, but nothing could have prepared her for what he said next when she asked what news.
'He is alive. King K'rar von Caspar is alive.'
Kanga expected the tense silence that followed. He kept his face down.
'That's impossible.' Rukh-shana said.
'That is what I thought until I saw him with my own eyes. He is alive, and might have already deposed the usurper.
The queen instantly sent for all the other recipients Kanga had mentioned. Helga showed up first, then Lady Esella and Pithadia. The queen said as soon as they all completed their greetings,
'According to him, the King of Korazin is alive. K'rar von Caspar is alive.'
Pithadia's heart missed a beat. Lady Esella and Helga stared at each other. The latter said,
'That is absurd.'
'It is indeed, Your Highness. But it is true. He survived the meridian. The spirit creature that guards it spared his life, and he has since returned from a far-off island nation, where he spent the last decade.'
'That's even more absurd,' said the queen.
'It is all absurd. All of it. But it is true. He did not return alone. He has an army. He created it himself. 36,100 men and women. As we speak now, His Majesty has already liberated Moon Province, will soon return to his palace. He sent me here to tell you these things, and to ask Lady Esella and Pithadia to return with me.'
'How can we tell if this is true?'
'The king will come. He will pay Your Majesty a visit, once he has dealt with his enemies. Lady Esella and Pithadia, he asks you to prepare to return to his service, immediately, if you will. He has also asked me to say that at the end of all this, your husband, my lady, will be executed. But that you may sentence his concubine queen as you see fit.'
'I will return with you to see for myself,' Helga said.
'Your Highness?'
'I will return with you to see for myself,' Helga said again.
'My lady, that is not necessary.'
'If K'rar is alive, I will travel with you and see for myself. Mother, don't deny your permission.'
'Go with them,' Rukh-shana said immediately. She was beaming at the prospect of all this being true.
'Very well then,' said Kanga, 'the more, the merrier.'