Chapter 48: Setting Sail for Azkoval

King Augustus of Marindar looked up from his entertainment when Remulus entered. The king frowned at having his afternoon interrupted. He motioned for the woman reading to him to leave the chamber and gestured for Remulus to come forward.

“Please pardon the interruption, Sire,” Remulus said.

“Get on with it,” the king said irritably. “What is so important that you disturb my respite?”

“You told me that you wanted word from Azkoval as soon as it reached my ears,” Remulus pointed out.

“What have you heard?” the king asked, now not as upset as he’d been earlier.

“The man we sent southward has returned,” Remulus said. “I have a great many things to tell you. Would you prefer to meet in the throne room?”

“I wish for you to tell me what you know,” the king insisted.

Remulus nodded his acquiescence.

“King Joseph has sent a shipment of spring wheat to our southern provinces,” Remulus began.

“Why would he do that?” Augustus interrupted.

“Two reasons come to mind instantly, Sire,” the aide said. “First of all, he agreed to do it. He views himself as a man of honor. The princess was quite clear about what the southerners would face this year. The rudiments of the agreement were in place before talks ended. He had already agreed to send the foodstuffs and he held up his end of the bargain.”

“The second?” Augustus asked, immediately dismissing the thought of someone doing something just because he said he would.

“He is preparing the region for invasion – either his own or from us,” Remulus continued.

“From us?” Augustus shouted. “They are our provinces!”

“For now,” Remulus said. “We gained them through conquest. There is nothing to say we cannot lose them the same way.”

“It has been 200 years since a Marindar king has lost ground,” Augustus noted.

“Yes, Sire,” Remulus agreed. “It has also been 200 years since a Marindar king angered a nation equal in might. We certainly have never angered a nation that was more powerful. Now we have. It is a very real possibility that Azkoval will seize the territory from us – and with a shipment of food, the seizure will be quite bloodless. The southerners have a culture that is more closely aligned with Azkoval and its allies than with the northerners. Simply put, Sire, they will side with whichever side feeds them. At the very least, your son will face hostility in that region if he should attempt to increase the size of his forces there. He might well be beaten back before he ever leaves our soil.”

“We conquered the area once,” Augustus said dismissively.

“True,” Remulus agreed again. “At the same time, who is to say that King Joseph hasn’t begun to arm the people there? Except for when we need food, we ignore the territory. By the time Prince Junius moves in there, King Joseph could have mixed 200 of his best soldiers in with the people already there. He is, by reputation at least, ruthless. The man also is ... cunning. He has already isolated us.”

“Why do you believe that?” Augustus asked, his irritation returning in full force.

“My source tells me that he has sent troops to the areas bordering our southern provinces,” Remulus continued. “The rumor is that he has arranged either a military alliance or a trade agreement with the countries on our border. It is said that he has sent his troops northward to train the soldiers in Denaya, Budamet and Coradelia. I fear if Prince Junius attempts an overland campaign, he will face battle well before Azkoval even if the expedition makes it out of Marindar unscathed. From a tactical standpoint, this accomplishes numerous goals.

“First off, we cannot win a war of attrition. The attacker always assumes the risks and can expect higher casualties. My estimation of Joseph’s strength stands. I believe Prince Junius will be outnumbered at least 3-to-1 and possibly as much as 5-to-1. He will never have a tactical advantage. He will be fighting in unfamiliar terrain with unseasoned troops against a veteran group of trained soldiers. Now, Joseph is determining the route that must be taken. My guess is that he is going to compel Prince Junius to come to the capital. If I read the Azkoval king correctly, he will put forces on every landing site along the coast and compel us to attack him at his strongest point.

“Sire, Azkoval is not like Marindar. We cannot survive a lengthy siege. They have enough surplus food to last them for months if not years. We will not be able to interrupt anything but their commerce – and the country has several other ports in which to complete shipping while we sit helplessly in Tyrell’s harbor.”

“I understand that you oppose the invasion plan,” Augustus said wearily.

“It is not mere opposition,” Remulus countered. “I believe it is folly. If you permit Prince Junius to make war on Azkoval, you will be left without either of your children. Your bloodline will die with you. I also fear that King Joseph or one of his allies will ensure you do not die an old man in your bed. I’ve spoken to people that have opposed Joseph during his mercenary days. You need to be aware that he focuses his might on the men giving the orders. He has been known to bypass armed men, whole armies, to confront the man who sent them out. I also understand that he is somewhat ... irrational ... about ensuring that he finds everyone who gave the orders. He will not content himself with simply slaying your son. He will come for you.”

“And he will find death on our cold ground the same as every other man who tried to bring the fight to me,” Augustus declared.

“No, Sire, he will not,” Remulus stated – knowing he was taking his life into his hands. “If you permit Prince Junius to assemble an army, you will lose whatever men he takes with him. The people farther from the capital are just as apt to join Joseph as they are to oppose him. Even if they take up arms against him, it will not matter. They might delay him a day or two but they will not stop him. Even if they do manage to slay the king, the army will continue. I believe, Sire, the very worst thing that could happen would be for harm to come to the king. The men around him are unusually loyal. If he were to die on our soil, I believe they would seize you by force and parade you through every single town and village from here to there. My source tells me that ... well, the king executed a man last summer. I cannot fathom an execution this heinous but my source swears on his soul that it is true.

“They drove stakes through the man’s arms and legs and lowered an enormous rock across his frame. They ... they crushed him alive. I’ve been told that the crowd cheered lustily at the barbarism but the king barely blinked an eye.”

“They ... crushed a man to death,” Augustus repeated.

“My source has not been wrong about anything yet,” Remulus said with a nod.

“I cannot stop Junius from taking action,” Augustus said. “That would be tantamount to admitting we are scared of another country.”

“I can see the problem with that,” Remulus admitted. “I ask you only to consider the ramifications of permitting the expedition. Scared and alive is sometimes preferable to brave and dead.”

“Did you come to bring me these ill tidings or have you formulated a plan for our success?” Augustus asked.

“There is no plan for our success,” Remulus said with a shrug. “Perhaps, if Joseph were to die naturally without our interference, the next ruler would be weaker. There is no line of succession that I know of. I believe the woman he appointed as steward would assume the throne but much could have changed since we departed.”

“For all we know, he could have bred my child and my grandson would sit on his throne,” Augustus noted.

“My source did not mention a queen,” Remulus said. “I would assume that would be newsworthy. He did say the Denayian king plans to send a woman to Azkoval soon in order to capture the king’s attention. Sire, regardless of any stories you might have heard, Princess Octavia was not forcibly detained. She stayed of her own volition. Even if she did not wish to return with us, she could have left at any time she wished.”

Augustus nodded bitterly.

“On the bright side, it appears that she is still fulfilling the mission you wished to achieve,” Remulus said. “You sought a way to feed the southern provinces and she has ensured it has been done. Those were her orders.”

“True,” Augustus admitted.

“I do have a suggestion that might allow King Joseph to be content with Prince Junius’ head,” Remulus offered.

Augustus glared at him.

“Speak it then,” he barked.

“I suggest that we fulfill our end of the bargain we struck,” Remulus said. “I believe we follow through with the unsigned trade agreement just as Azkoval has. We can load a ship with furs and be on the way in less than a week. With luck, we could arrive before the harshest part of their winter sets in.”

“We certainly have the furs available,” Augustus noted. “And you believe this might avert a war?”

“No,” Remulus said, shaking his head. “War will come to Marindar if Prince Junius attacks Azkoval. Joseph has sat on the throne for only a brief time. He will not show weakness. If you permit an expedition onto Azkoval’s shores, he will come here. He might be content to simply deliver your son’s body for burial but it is equally as likely he will wish to add your corpse to your son’s. Sire, I beg of you, do not underestimate the strength that will oppose Prince Junius. If you do not wish to take my word for it, speak to others that saw what I saw.”

“I’ve spoken to several,” Augustus said. “They refute your claims.”

“Sire, do not speak to your son’s cronies,” Remulus said. “The ship had a crew of 30. They saw the army and they can give you an estimate of its size.”

“The decision is made,” Augustus declared.

“Then I ask that you allow me to put together a trade delegation southward,” Remulus said. “At the very least, I can seek to remove your daughter from the land before hostilities break out. I do not believe King Joseph would use the princess as a hostage but I do worry that she might point out the best routes to our capital.”

Joseph sat heavily and looked at the faces that surrounded him. All of his advisers – official and unofficial – were in the room except for Rucar and Morane.

The installation of Catherine as Lady McMicken had been anticlimactic after the accusation that one of the men Joseph had left on the land had colluded with Wilhelm and sent his own flesh and blood for the man to enjoy as sport.

“The locket,” Joseph said, looking at Elizabeth.

“It is the one you showed me, Elena,” Elizabeth answered, not to the king but to Lady Westmont. “The one you said you recognized but couldn’t remember from where.”

Elena’s eyes widened as a memory entered her brain.

“Yes,” she said, nodding sadly. “That is where I’d seen it. It was Elsa’s locket.”

“Her mother had given it to her,” Catherine added.

“All three of you knew Elsa Golrick?” Joseph asked.

“We all knew her, Joseph,” Jonathan said.

“When is the last time you saw her?” Joseph wondered. This time, the four younger adults looked to the room’s eldest occupant.

“It has been ... years,” Alexander answered. “I cannot say with certainty. Elizabeth was young, perhaps six or seven.”

“Elizabeth was almost seven,” Elena answered. “She was there for the party.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth agreed, pointing toward Elena in triumph.

“That would have been almost a decade ago,” Alexander said.

“Elena, did you know Elsa ... from your time here?” Joseph asked. He had searched his memory and come up with nothing. He couldn’t even recall hearing the name before that day.

“No,” Elena asked. “I remember her from my time at Alexander’s. She was older than you but I don’t know her age.”

“She was two years older than me,” Jonathan answered. “She would be 25 now, I believe.”

“Oh,” Joseph replied absently. That meant Elsa would have been four years older than he was – and six years older than Elena. It was unlikely they would have played together in the castle.

“Lord Golrick was out of favor with your father,” Alexander said gently. “He was ... he was in the same predicament as the Burbridges, the Huletts, the Palmers, the Halvershams, the Heilmans and the Drummonds. We are the seven that were permitted to keep our holdings during Wilhelm’s time on the throne. He permitted it because he viewed us as potential allies. Each of the seven of us had harsh feelings toward the Crown at that time. I have explained mine to you and, since the others still live, I feel they must have explained theirs to you, as well.”

“Not as adroitly as you have,” Joseph admitted. “The only one I’ve spoken to in depth was Lord Halversham. He said he let his pride and his arrogance get in the way of his common sense. I don’t necessarily believe that explanation to be factual. I believe it was offered more in the way of expediency.”

“Perhaps not,” Alexander answered, sitting forward on his chair. “Joseph, after The Fall, I met often with Malcolm. Our holdings are near enough we could visit relatively easily. I also met with Everett Golrick for the same reasons. I got to know them far better in our parlors than I ever did at the castle – or, at least I thought I did. Malcolm has always said that it was our actions that helped spawn the coup. We spoke openly about our disagreements with your father without censure or retribution. That led others to do the same. The meetings with Malcolm soon evolved into discussions of ways to raise an army to fight Wilhelm and Drell. Our problem was that we knew nothing of raising, equipping and running an army. We made more than a few attempts and met with failure long before we left our home regions.”

“Did Golrick aid in these attempts?” Joseph wondered.

“No,” Alexander admitted. “There was always something ... untrustworthy, I suppose ... about Everett. Malcolm and I didn’t speak of treason around him.”

“But surely he knew of Elena,” Joseph said. “He had to have recognized her!”

“No!” Alexander cut in quickly. “No one knew of Elena. You must understand, Joseph, Everett hadn’t been to the castle in almost 10 years when your family was murdered. He had never seen you or Elena. The only people that knew of Elena’s true birth were the people in my household. I would not risk her life – or the life of my family – by allowing that news to reach Tyrell. If Wilhelm knew Elena Westmont – or you – still lived, he would have spent every day looking for you or her.”