'It is indeed a fearful thing, Your Highness,' said Tymian the Chief Priest, who was also called Rezin, in reply to Lady Noor-shan's words. They were standing near the burnt sacrifice altar in the Temple of Ashtoreth in Chaldea, 'the king is the foremost servant of our gods, so it is unthinkable for him to deviate from the laws of the gods who installed him as king, and to abandon them.' Her Highness Noor-shan had immediately set out to see the priest to tell him of her son's dangerous and crazy idea. Rezin had been present when the king had declared his intentions to marry the foreign woman, but he had just heard fresh details of the matter from Her Highness.
'You must restrain him. Petition Ashtoreth for the way forward, because I do not think I can sway my son to drop his act. He is quite adamant.'
'I shall do so, Your Highness. I will visit the Grand Palace soon.'
'Do it fast, please. I will try my best to change his mind in the meantime.'
She did not mean that she would sit him down to speak with him, because before she even got to the palace, she sent for three of the loyal followers of Caspar von Balian whom she had recommended to K'rar for governorship, and summoned them to the palace. They were brought straight to her bedchamber, where she had already set tables and tea for them. They, too, had been present when K'rar shocked them, so when they came in, the one called Ar'vad said immediately after paying his courtesy,
'What happened to the king, Your Highness? How could he say such a thing?'
'It's good you chimed right into the matter for which I called you,' said Noor-shan, 'I fear it is actually worse than that. You are experienced men that served the late king von Balian, and you are more likely to instill in my son some sense.'
'Do you want us to have a private audience with the king?' the one named Osha said, 'how could we speak to him better than Your Highness?'
'No. Not to speak with him. The only way to avoid the wrath of the gods is to carry on with the preparations. Ar'vad, I heard you have a beautiful niece. This is your chance to improve your family's ties to the royal family.'
'To be clear, Your Highness, are you asking me to bring her here?'
'This nation has already had its fair share of instability, but the gods have snatched us out of the abyss. We cannot afford to get in their bad books so soon after the restoration of order.'
'How shall we make His Majesty marry them if he does not want to?' the third man, Zeleph, cut in. He had an eighteen year old daughter.
'Goddess Ashtoreth blesses those who take an effort. If we do not take the first step, then the nation will be in ruins. You are men of influence. Contact some of your friends who have can send candidates, and inform me. Do I have your support?'
'You have mine,' said Zeleph.
'And mine too,' said both the others after looking at each other.
'His Majesty will ultimately thank you for your loyal service.'
The messenger was a fast rider. He got to Actian South Fort very quickly. It would have been unnecessary for him to do this, but the high-altitude beacons had not been lit all the way to the walls of Actian, and they were pressed for time. He was unhappy about the incompetence of the watchers, and was grumbling to himself when they let him in through Shulam Gate, the south gate of Actian. The fort was only a few paces away. So in a few minutes he was reporting before the commander in charge of the South Fort, General Lemina.
'They cannot be more than a day out, General. They should have already crossed the Blood River,' he was babbling. But the General was, if not completely disinterested, simply lethargic. He wasn't even looking at the messenger as he delivered the disturbing news. The messenger said, 'sir? Sir?'
'We will not be going out to meet the Goldorans.'
This was so sudden that the messenger became mute for a second before stammering,
'Wh-what? What do you mean sir?'
'I said, we will not be fighting the Goldorans.'
'Why…why not, sir?'
The General now rolled his eyeballs into the top of his head to look at the messenger without moving his head, and then reclined onto his chair and let out a sigh. He said,
'Come in.' The door to a small room in the wall behind him creaked open, and out walked a nobleman. Definitely a nobleman, the messenger could easily tell from the shiny, long robes of expensive material. The messenger never knew him, but he should have. This was Lord Gal Ilan, the impulsive son of the most popular landlord in Actian, Kahl Ilan. The Ilan family was known everywhere in Actian and the Reideland at large. Kahl Ilan had made himself a name as a competent military officer for three decades, and a decade ago, his hard work and loyalty had both been rewarded by General Garrera when he snatched the throne. Kahl Ilan had been given not only property, but also the command of the garrison in charge of Actian's defense. Lord Gal was not an accomplished military man like his father, but he was his father's son, so his father's men were his men.
'Who is this?' the messenger asked.
'What do you mean who…'
'It's alright, it's alright,' Lord Gal said to Lemina. He then turned attention to the messenger, 'how long have you been deployed here?'
'I came with General Atchan last week. I was hoping to find him here.'
'He is here, but he's taking care of something.'
'May I ask why we will not be fighting the Goldorans? What did you mean by that?'
The men of power looked at him quietly for some time, and then Lord Gal said,
'The returned king is out for my father's, and my head. We allied ourselves with General Garrera, so the Goldorans are our friends. We do not intend to break faith.'
Several seconds passed as the messenger tried to make sense of this. He perused through all eventualities quickly, but the only result his mind returned to him was that these men were highly likely to be plotting treason. A disgusted look formed on the messenger's face, followed by a one of great shock,
'Where is General Atchan?' he asked. His right hand instinctively grabbed hold of the hilt of his sword in its sheath, 'what have you done to…!'
Blood spattered from his mouth before the wound in his plexus. His hands clutched at the sharp, bloody weapon protruding from his body, and then his knees gave way. He was dead before he landed with a thud on the wooden floorboards.
'Burn the body,' General Lemina said to the killer, who was already dragging the body away with the help of his colleagues, while another one cleaned up the trail of blood.
'They will keep coming,' said Lemina, 'we should close the gates now.'
'What about the remaining company?' said Lord Gal Ilan.
'Well, the Goldorans have crossed the river already. And we have successfully put Atchan's larger force outside of it. We can deal with a hundred soldiers in the walls.'
'Good plan, but it will be suspicious. We can't make any mistakes.'
'The only mistake we can make now is to keep those gates open. Atchan's men will soon notice he's missing, and will start asking questions.'
'I'll send my man to the Goldoran camp.'
The man he sent was one of his own security detail, who had been in his charge for many years. He was on the road in the next few minutes, raising the dust with the brown mare with a sense of urgency. A flag of truce tied to his back, he rode at full pelt all the way to the Blood River, but avoided the way station along the road, where the messenger had come from. He instead used a valley route that he knew well, and crossed the river where the water current was weak.
He was now only a couple of miles from the border, and would soon meet another turn of the same river. He did not need to. The Goldoran march had already progressed into Korazin. He didn't know this because he had seen them. Rather, Goldoran scouts accosted him on the road in a bushy area, when they bungled onto the road from hiding positions and surrounded his mare with four of their own horses. But for his white flag, they would have killed him on the spot, but he was soon being led back along the road.
The Goldorans' numbers shocked him too. They were so many that their lines stretched all the way to the horizon of the landscape. This was one of many reasons why Goldora was dreaded by Moabian nations. Even after the beating they had received in Moon Province—although the details of this were not very clear—the Goldorans were still a very massive army. They never seemed to reduce in numbers. As if this wasn't enough, Korazin was facing an amassment of soldiers from three other nations.
'My lord has a proposal,' said the messenger when they brought him before General Joelin, commander of the eighth company of the Goldoran Western Front.
'A proposal?' the General laughed at this, 'what is this, a joke? My armies are already in Korazin territory, and we're on the march. If you wanted to parley you would have sent messengers while we were still in Goldoran territory.' They had stopped the progress because of the messenger, and were now in a tent planted in the green just off the road, with two other men including a guard.
'The situation became complicated. General Ilan couldn't reach out easily.'
'Who?'
'General Kahl Ilan.'
'He went to Chaldea to bend the knee to his new king, did he not?'
'No, sir. He did not. He had to pretend to do so, though. The king sent another General to us. That's why I said the situation is complicated. It didn't allow him to reach out.'
'Is that so?' Joelin sat back in his chair, studied the faces of his colleagues, and then back at the messenger, 'I'm sensing something good.'
'The General does not intend to bend the knee. He knows he will be demoted, and he'll lose his reputation and his assets. Also, he doesn't approve of the king.'
'The proposal. What is it?'
'The new General's men have been stationed outside the walls,' he reached into his small leather bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper, 'in these locations. The city gates will be closed to them.' He added to this an expression on his face that completed the unsaid sentence. Once more Joelin and company shared looks.
'You've set up your own men?'
'They're not our men, technically. Actian was okay for master Kahl until they came along. You help him eliminate them, and in r…'
'…in return I suppose he wants us to keep him in his position in Actian?'
'That's too easy. He could achieve that himself if he wanted.'
'He wants vassal leadership of the whole Reideland district,' said one of the other men for the first time.
'That's right,' said Lord Gal's man, 'and protection from Chaldea. Goldora shall achieve the riches of the Reideland, and my lord will achieve his life's dream.'
Joelin paused to ponder over this, with both hands on the table before him. With his left index finger, he was musically knocking against the furniture.
'This sounds almost too good to be true. Why did your master easily choose sides?'
'But Lord Kahl already had a side. He was General Garrera's man. Besides, as they say, if you can't beat them, join them. King K'rar only has about 30,000 troops, and many of them, you won't believe it, are mere girls. Even my money is on you guys.'
'You will come with us,' Joelin said, 'and we'll verify your story when we arrive.'
'That was the idea.'
Back behind the walls of Actian, things were starting to get messy, as General Lemina had conjectured. He was standing on the battlements near Shulam Gate himself to ensure that his orders to keep the gates closed were not disobeyed. Outside were about 400 of Atchan's new men, and more would soon be arriving. The lead commander of this company and his lieutenant were bewilderedly looking at each other on their brown horses outside the gate. The commander was saying,
'What are they doing? This is no time for jesting.'
'I do not think they are jesting, General,' the lieutenant replied. His gaze was affixed to the top of the battlements, where General Lemina was looking down at them. Lemina was an old grayhead. He was distinguishable from his men even though the men on the ground could see only his head and shoulders. The lieutenant added, 'they're keeping us out intentionally.'
The General really knew this, because not only had they already flown the signal banners to open the gates, but it had also already been decided that when the fighting started, the Korazite armies would defend. From inside the walls.
'What the heck are they playing at?' he said, and then raised his voice at Lemina, 'open this fucking gate now grayhead!'
Just then, a scout's horse appeared from the west, galloping along a road parallel to the wall. He was reporting all the other gates, even the small ones, were fast closed or being closed.
'This is treason. There is no other explanation for this,' said the commander, 'but General Kahl Ilan swore allegiance to the king. Why is he doing this?'
He was right. He had even been present when a reigned and repentant Kahl Ilan had even prepared to go to Chaldea and meet the king. Kahl Ilan was an old experienced statesman, and experience had taught him that his own master, General Garrera, was not an ideal leader. He had practically sold the kingdom to its enemies, in spite of the fact that he had rewarded Lord Ilan with riches. Whereas he had loved the grand coup that ended the Casparon kings, he had no tolerance for Goldoran influence and imperialistic tendencies, and had over the years grown increasingly remorseful over the treasonous plot he had participated in. And then, the Casparon kings had returned, and had given him a chance to redeem himself simply by bending the knee and pledging his allegiances to K'rar von Caspar, for life. Besides that, the young king had already arrested Garrera and his cocoon, and also expelled the southern aggressors as if by magic, without engaging them on the field in Korazin at all. He had proved himself as the king Kahl Ilan should have never betrayed.
But what the commander and his men did not know was the truth. Gal Ilan, the General's son, had made sure of it.
While things escalated at Shulam Gate, Gal Ilan was visiting the derelict manor for the umpteenth time in just one week, and he was doing so in disguise. The manor was situated in a depression near the opposite wall of Actian. Its land was bushy and uncultivated, with more than a few other disused concrete and wooden structures scattered on its land. The owners had sold it and traveled all the way to Cockroach, like hundreds of others who had seen through the ruse of Goldoran soldiers helping Garrera overtake the Casparon dynasty. When Gal Ilan arrived there, he was met by another disguised man. A convicted felon he had bought out of prison and paid to keep watch over the manor. He couldn't have hired officers in commissioned employment even if this was the easy thing to do. With the convict and his goons hiding here, no prying eyes would dare to skulk around the area, and inquisitive, playful children would also stay away.
The first thing Gal Ilan did when he jumped off his horse was to throw off his hood and slap a bag of silver coins into the hand of the convict, and say,
'Are they still breathing?'
'My lord, why would I not make sure of that?' said the felon with a burn scar on his scalp. The felon had many other scars on his body that he had picked up here and there in his dishonest trade, hidden behind his heavy rags. The felon and Gal Ilan knew each other well. The lord was himself an eccentric character who was known to keep the company of people like this robber, in hidden places and scary alleys. He had met this robber in one of his nightly excursions. Now, he was employing him for keeping watch on whatever he was hiding here for Gal Ilan. The robber took the money, and gestured to one of his other cronies to take Gal Ilan's horse away. Gal Ilan headed straight for a cellar in the subterranean of the manor's main parlor on its ground floor, and jingled a bunch of keys from his garments to open the cellar door. While he went about opening the lock, another felon came from behind him with a lantern, which he handed to Gal Ilan and returned.
There were two men in Gal Ilan's prison, hidden behind some crates in the dark room, and fastened to the wall by chain fetters. One man was much older than the other, and had a striking likeness to Gal Ilan himself. His father, Kahl. The other man was the other General, Atchan. The latter was gagged to keep him quiet. Kahl Ilan had already thrown his disapproval at his son, so today he saw no use of repeating himself. He just watched silently as his son dragged a small chair nearby, planted it in front of him, and sat down. For almost a minute neither of them said a thing, until Gal said,
'One day, you will have to realize that this was for the greater good of our family, father.'
'Is that what you tell yourself every day? That you are doing this in the interest of your family?' came the reply. 'You are doing this for your own selfish ends, and you will die for it.'
'You always never liked me. Even when my brother left home, you reached out to him in a remote area, but you never opened up to me, who lived under your own roof.'
'Did you come all this way to complain?'
The young lord leaned forward,
'No, of course not father. But in all things I did that you disapproved of, the company I kept, and the ways I did things, I learned something that you couldn't, because you always wanted to be clean and honorable and the love of the town. Do you know who would be called an idiot on the field of battle? It is the one who puts things such as honor and respect above his own life. Like you, father. I cannot allow my own father to make that mistake, even if it means using this method.'
'What do you know about the field of battle? You think these thousand men will defend these walls when the king comes to pay a visit? The rest of the army is already under his command again.'
'True, a thousand men cannot defend Actian. But 10,000 can.'
'What are you talking about?' but Kahl's eyes indicated that he had an idea.
'Your friends, the Goldorans. They're here. Also the Ockish and the Rabians will come. Once they take the Reideland, they'll make us the lords of the land. They will make our lives even better, but because of honor and shit, you were willing to give it all away just because you are suddenly loyal to the king you already betrayed?'
Lord Kahl was outraged, but not surprised. He was paralyzed into silence for several seconds. His son allowed him all the time he needed to absorb the shock.
'What the hell have you done, you stupid boy?'
'Oh, you ask as if it was my plan, father. Relax. The Goldorans always wanted the Reideland. I simply aligned my interests for our family into theirs, once I heard that they were mobilizing near their western border.'
Kahl's face fell in disgust and disappointment.
'It's all my fault,' he mumbled, 'I went to bed with the Goldorans, and now you have too. You have stepped into a wasps' nest.'
'Look, father. Even with that man's men, we couldn't have kept the Goldorans out. They were going to breach the walls, and destroy our home. Now they just have to eliminate a few thousand enemies, and then the gates will be open to them. See? Business can also work in a military way.' Atchan squealed like a swine behind the cloth gagging him. Kahl said,
'You are indeed the stupidest child of mine. The Goldorans desecrated this land when their best friend, Garrera, thought they would merely want a few thousand kori. They've made laws for us, they've turned our soldiers into mere constables, and they've repatriated the country's coffers to their own land. And you think they will deal honestly with you, whom they do not even know?'
'This is business. No one is immune to dishonest dealings. Someone like me would know how to counter it. Even better than Garrera, who's just like you, a military man.'
'You think you're an important part of their plans? You are not. Garrera wasn't. He was just a pawn in their grander plans, and so are you. Do you know what they think of Korazites? A bunch of greedy people who would sell their own motherland for the stupidest of reasons. The Goldorans would never ever do such a thing, so you can imagine what they think of you.'
'Who cares? I get to be the supreme lord of Actian, with all the trading rights in sugarcane and iron ore. Why can't you see this the way I do? What have the Goldorans got to lose in this? I don't plan on attacking Chaldea and deposing the king. Only to remain here and live a quiet, long life.'
'I will take no part in your treason. If you follow through with it, you are not my son.'
Now this triggered the young man's resentful attitude. His face suddenly flushed with anger. He could forgive his father for anything, but not this sort of talk, after all he had done to gain his approval. In fact, he was unable to carry on with this discussion, so he just stood up, straightened his green robe, and stormed out. From behind him, his father said his final words to him,
'You will die at the hands of those invaders, you will.'
About half an hour later, three of his son's criminal employees came down to the cellar. The leader said to one of them, while pointing at Atchan,
'Kill him. He doesn't have to be fed on the way.'
While one of his cronies went about executing this by stabbing the man in the neck, he and the other fellow took care of Kahl. They unfastened his fetters, and replaced them with rope. He was about to open his mouth to ask them what they were doing, when they knocked him to sleep. The last thing he managed to sense with the last bit of consciousness was being thrown into a conveyance, likely to be his own horse-drawn carriage, and the shout of a man.
'Are you sure about this, sir? He is your father,' said the robber to Gal Ilan when the carriage was just ascending the road out of the valley.
'It's the best I can do for him. I cannot have him here in opposition, of all people.'
'People will ask for a body.'
'I'll give you some of his clothes. Burn the other man's body until it's charred beyond recognition.'
'You got it, boss.'
There was no chance at all for commander Lehan and his company when the Goldorans caught up that evening. When he saw their approach, he yelled up at Lemina once more, this time with a bigger threat, to open the gates. He then ordered his men, now numbering up to a thousand, to try and force the gate open. Lemina was not impressed with this.
'Use the oil on them,' he ordered his men.
'Beg your pardon, sir?' the captain needed to hear it once more.
'The oil. Use it.'
'Sir, these are…'
'If they breach that gate, I'll have your head. They will get slaughtered in your sight, so why are you suddenly squeamish about doing it yourself?'
On the ground, Lehan was increasingly getting flustered as the Goldorans drew closer and closer. Their progress was faster now, as they did not have to use their heavy devices like siege engines any more, and so did not have to drag them. They simply had to fight with Lehan's tiny battalion, or not at all, because Lehan finally gave the order to flee eastward along the wall at the behest of his lieutenant, after having maintained a stubborn stance, to fight to the death.
'Pursue them. Pursue them now!' the Goldoran commander Joelin yelled at his cavalrymen concerning the fleeing soldiers.
'Why do you bother with them?' said Gal Ilan's messenger, 'if they're headed for Chaldea, let them. The king may now know what's going on. Actian is already yours.'
'They're enemies, and we're at war. I cannot let them go just so they can return with the larger force. Might as well reduce their numbers now.'
Catching them was easy, as only a few were on horseback, while the majority were foot soldiers. Joelin's cavalry ran the gauntlet through them like a sport. Lehan and a few of his horsemen would get away, but not before stopping their horses on the field in front of them to look back. His men were being slaughtered like chickens. This carnage would only last a few minutes, as there were about three horsemen, at least, for every one of his infantrymen. If one of his fellow riders cast one look at his face, they might have died from the indignation on it.
'My men,' Lehan cried, 'they fucking let my men die like that!'
'The people will want a native leader,' Gal Ilan said to General Joelin. 'The Reideland is yours. All I want is for you to give me the rights to trade with the south in sugarcane and ore.'
Joelin was with three others, including the man called Fornals, in the room with him. Gal Ilan's messenger, named Lysis, was present too. Joelin sat silently across the table, watching and listening to Gal Ilan's excited rabble. He wasn't a speaker at all. He didn't even know what to say to Gal Ilan. But Fornals was present, and Joelin expected him to speak. He took a look at him with a raised eyebrow to indicate so, so Fornals readjusted himself in the chair and cleared his throat.
'You see, Lord Gal Ilan,' he said, leaning forward and putting his hands on the table, 'the problem is, we had already planned on giving someone else what you're asking for.'
'Yes, I am aware. But, obviously, you did not plan on killing all the farmworkers and replacing them. You need them. I already control half the workers in the Reideland's farmlands, including all the rice. Come on, you can't be bad at business.'
'Why did you help us?' Joelin said, 'we didn't need your help.'
'But I needed yours. I am a businessman. And, business is all about snatching the best opportunities. That's why I locked up my own father, prevented Chaldea from knowing what was going on, and gave you the heads of a thousand men on a silver platter.'
'Are you saying the king knows nothing of this?'
'Nothing at all. He will find out now, of course, but then, you men are perfectly capable of defending Actian's walls, I presume. You have already won this war. I placed my faith in you to do so, so I only ask you to put some faith in me too.'
A moment of silence. Joelin studied Gal Ilan's countenance carefully, stroking his chin, until at long last he said, to Fornals,
'Fornals. Make sure to put in a good word for our new friend, will you?'
'Of course.'
Yorgi's injury had been so bad he had been bedridden for longer than he wished. When he finally opened his eyes, an unfamiliar face was looking over him, and actually startled him a bit. She was alone in the infirmary room with him. It was Bekka.
'Welcome back,' she said to him. He tried to turn under the blanket, but his injured arm was still healing, and when he used it to support his weight, it gave way, and he dropped back onto the bed.
'How is it you are watching me? Are you a physician now?' Yorgi said.
'What was I before?' Bekka replied. Yorgi supported himself with his healthy arm and sat up on the bed.
'How long have I been here?'
'More than a week.'
'What happened? You weren't there when your colleagues invaded the palace. Did His Majesty…'
'Yes. K'rar has retaken his throne. And you have been named in his new government, Yorgi.'
'What?'
'You will come with me to Cockroach. You're the new Chief of Police there.'
'Police?'
'The Constabulary. Your mother and sister are waiting for you there.'
'You found them?'
Bekka just smiled briefly, and rose from her chair.
'We set off in three days.'
'Wait, wait. Why Cockroach?'
'Well, you worked for the enemy, and terrorized the king's subjects. Also, the Chaldeans know who you are. You will do better away from the capital.'
'What about you? Why are you going to Cockroach?'
'I'm going to Paramael fortress. I have my own assignment there. You will be my guide, then you will be Chief of Police.'
Paramael fortress was Korazin's, and mainland Moab's, northernmost military fort. It sat on a high rock overlooking the Azlan Sea to the north, and the ever-expanding city of Cockroach to the east in the valley of the high hill. K'rar had begun setting in motion his military reforms to their full measure. Bekka's temporary assignment up north was to ensure that the military presence there was up to speed. Most military ports to the north of Chaldea, Bekka had been told by Ahn Emis, were not as good as those to the south, obviously because of the direction of Korazin's mortal enemy, Goldora. For this reason, military deployments as far as Cockroach were at best shoddy and complacent, and the quality of men deployed there was poor. Bekka's mission was to change that state of affairs. A section of Orcas would sail from Matalma and join her there.
'What?' Bekka said, because Yorgi had not stopped looking at her when she said she was going to Paramael.
'The king has surprised everyone in many ways. But I will never understand how he came up with the idea of forging an army with female soldiers in it.'
'Do you disapprove?'
'Not at all. In fact, I think it is fantastic.'
'Not many of your friends think the same.'
Yorgi scoffed, and snatched at a shirt to throw it on his body with one hand. He said,
'Even though I wanted to kill him, Lankh did teach me many lessons. He once said to me, "It doesn't matter where you come from. The son of the richest nobleman, if he is a man of low caliber, will ruin a nation. And the son of the fisherman, if he is a man of great caliber, will build it."'
'It appears you took those words to heart.'
'I did. The irony is that those words precisely described him and his master, the usurper. He was a great military general, doubtless. Yet he ruined our nation.'
'And what about K'rar? What do you think of him?'
'He is the son of a king, and he is of great caliber. This nation should be glad he fits the bill on both counts.' He also rose from the bed, facing Bekka, 'if I may ask. How did the king come to command the Kaffrarians?'
'Well, he was a man of great caliber even when he was still a boy. Xaxanika will not forget him. People will tell stories of him here and there.'
Bekka would have narrated the rest to him, but a court maid interrupted them when she knocked and came in,
'My lady,' she said, 'the king has summoned you, to his office.'
'What is it?'
'I am afraid I don't know. But the other generals are there too.'
Bekka knew something was up. With one last quick look at Yorgi, she raced out of the room, although she was slower in the heavy, bellbottomed dress of Moabian design, unlike the lighter Xaxanikan design.
All the other generals were indeed assembled before K'rar, including General Ahn Emis. Pliny, Ossus and Mongoose were also present. Ossus was the only one to accept a governorship, and would be appointed the governor of Amasa district. Mongoose had chosen to retire, and only heed the king's call when he was especially needed. He would, however, join Pliny in K'rar's project to recruit and train more soldiers, in the role that K'rar's Xaxanikan senior officers had played when the Kaffrarian Knights were born. As soon as Bekka walked in and stood between Resite and Bartle Frere, K'rar picked up the reason for his summoning them from the table, a piece of paper, still rolled up.
'This is a letter from the city of Tirzah. The king of Goldora is coming. Also, the kings of Rabier and Arioch will come with him. They'll be here on Friday.' It was Wednesday, so they were two days out.
'Why would they all come here? That is unheard of,' Ahn Emis said, and K'rar picked up another letter.
'Two days ago, the Goldorans took Actian. Rabian and Ockish armies have also mobilized, and will soon be joining the Goldorans in the southeast. They're coming here to discuss terms of surrender. My terms of surrender.'
'How did we not know any of this?' lamented Pliny.
'Your Majesty, did you not send for the lord of Actian to come to Chaldea and bend the knee?' Ahn Emis asked, 'he betrayed you again.'
'No, he did not,' said K'rar, 'his son betrayed him, and murdered him. He also killed General Atchan and sacrificed his men to the Goldorans, and then opened the gates for the Goldorans. Another Garrera. He is also responsible for keeping this quiet, so that I didn't know anything until after the Goldorans took Actian.'
'Oh, God,' Ahn Emis said.
'I can understand why Goldora is behaving like this. But what has this matter got to do with the other kings?' Bartle Frere asked.
'Tao must have persuaded them. They can partition the Reideland District for themselves, after all. They're coming personally because they want to intimidate me. It appears they continue to underestimate me.'
'What shall we do, then?' Shaniz asked.
'We will send a message of our own. There is only one language these kings will understand. Total war. Bartle, make preparations with General Ahn as soon as possible.'
'Yes, sir,' said Bartle Frere, and both those men saw themselves out. K'rar said to Pliny,
'Pliny, you will make preparations to welcome our guests. Go with Ossus and Mongoose, 'the rest of you may go, except Shaniz.'
When they were alone, K'rar began by saying,
'I do not want you to come to the fight. You should stay here.'
'With your hostile mother?' Shaniz replied, 'don't even dream that. I have gone highs and lows with you. I have even gone up to Skarla in the winter.'
'That was a drill.'
'Yes, but I would rather spend a lifetime there with you than here with your mother.'
K'rar gazed a bit at her, and walked around the chair to stand with her.
'I remember that drill well. It was the worst of the lot.'
Shaniz rolled her eyes,
'It wasn't that bad.'
He knew what she meant. Once, in a dangerous blizzard during the military drill, he and Shaniz had been alone. The blizzard had not been part of the plan, and the regiment had in fact lost a comrade, but it was the first and only time they had had sexual intercourse, not merely fondling each other as they had done many times, hidden away in one of the many caverns in the Red Mountain. In spite of the freezing weather, they had not been able to control themselves and abstain when they cuddled, having done so for two years in the Kaffraria.
'Why not?' he said, to tease her, 'why wasn't it?'
'Hey,' she snapped, 'you cannot tease me like that. I am not your average girl.'
'No. You are not.' He kissed her, 'we are fighting two wars now. The Hassendrale know what mother has been up to. She's been frequently meeting with some of the governors. They're her old friends. She wants to use them to persuade me to accept her demands.'
Barzillai announced the arrival of Her Highness Helga from outside. K'rar let Shaniz go, and told him to let her in. Helga first stopped to catch a glimpse of them, as they still stood less than an arm's distance apart. She was holding a little scroll in her hand. Though it was obvious that the letter's contents were her reason for coming, she smiled at the couple and said,
'Wow. You two are a match made in the heavens. I must attend your wedding.'
'Well, apart from the newest problem I'm facing with Goldora, my mother is proving to be a stumbling block.'
'Oh, you'll get through it,' Helga said, coming closer. She handed K'rar the letter, from Thermos, 'I received this from mother two days ago. I have learned about Actian, and if it is true, then you must read this too.'
K'rar read it with Shaniz. They were both immediately flustered about it.
'Not to get involved in what?' K'rar said.
'It can only mean their joint attack on Korazin. The Kayans are in on Goldora's plans.'
The letter explained that Kayan representatives had visited Queen Rukh-shana to threaten her. They had reminded her of what happened to her ships in the Louvithian Sea, and of her terribly depleted armies. They had then told her not to take it personally, as all monarchs have to make difficult decisions as long as they benefitted them and their people.
'They want to share my kingdom between themselves.'
'What will you do?' Helga was also concerned, 'Shona is not ready for another war, but my mother will help in any way possible.'
'No,' said K'rar, 'you have already helped me enough, even in death. I will deal with these bastards myself.'
K'rar was only repeating this. He had previously spoken of "total war", but only his Kaffrarian Knights knew what exactly it meant. It was the highest form of war from K'rar's playbook.
'I'll help you draft the edict,' said Shaniz.
'Yes. You do that. But we will have it announced when Tao and his cabal come to Chaldea. How could he be that confident?'
'Do you think the people will easily join in?' Shaniz asked him.
'This is their home country. All they need is a sign. A clear statement of intent. The Goldorans should be a clear sign.'
'What are you planning, K'rar?' Helga wanted to know.
K'rar faced her.
'You stay here for a few more days, until Tao arrives. You'll see.' He then looked over her shoulder and summoned Barzillai the eunuch, to whom he said, 'summon General Bekka. Tell her I'll be by the south halls.'
'You're sending her to Cockroach early?' Shaniz could easily read his mind.
'Yes. Write Admiral Sorcatan his orders to send ships north early too. Also, tell him to launch the Net System.'
'What's the net system?' Helga was highly curious and inquisitive, and did not like being kept in the dark.
'Still very curious, eh?' K'rar teased. 'I'll tell you, anyway. I am declaring total war against Goldora, and the Net System is part of this. I will cut off any and all trade routes to Goldora. This will affect Shona too, so you better tell your merchants. Any trade with Goldora will not be allowed. We will sink any ships headed there, and we will burn all wagons on their way there.' He was stern-faced and frowning, so that Helga was unable to reply to him. She had never seen him so sure and committed to a cause before. Both he and Shaniz left her there, watching their backs as they left the office with her mouth half open.