Chapter 68: A Time to Fight

Nadia found herself surrounded by females of her own age for one of the rare times in her life. She found the group to be entertaining as well as informative.

Elizabeth and Julia had put together an outfit of buckskin trousers and a tunic that fit the young woman very well. Catherine had offered a pair of boots that were far more comfortable that the shoes Nadia had worn with her dress.

“It is like a second skin,” Nadia exclaimed as she looked up and down her body. She was nowhere near as curvaceous as Octavia but she did possess was displayed to its fullest effect.

“They will loosen as you wear them,” Bianca said.

“Mine don’t!” Octavia added with a bright smile.

“If yours loosens too much you wet it to tighten it again,” Lucretia said dismissively.

“You should try it,” Octavia replied. “It looks positively obscene until it dries.”

“Octavia’s culture was very repressive of women,” Liala explained with a shake of her head. “In Marindar, she was not permitted to display her elbows for fear of inciting a male’s lustful thoughts.”

“Elbows?” Nadia asked, looking pointedly at the princess’ large bosom.

“My country is frigid except for a few short weeks each year,” Octavia said, her mirthful voice taking on a more serious tone. “We kept ourselves hidden beneath furs. Women were expected to keep their knees and elbows covered because the rest of our bodies were already buried under layers of animal pelts.”

“You’ve said your southern lands are hospitable,” Catherine noted. “Are the women there required to dress so ... unflatteringly?”

“Yes,” Octavia said. “It is custom in my homeland that no part of a woman may be seen except her face once she reaches her menses. The clothing is lighter in the southlands but it still falls from a woman’s shoulders to her ankles. The sleeves are long and, in most households, the woman is required to wear leggings beneath her coverings. After all, a wind might reveal her knees or calves and that would create mayhem.”

“I have heard of Marindar,” Nadia said with a nod. “My uncle was quite concerned when its king overthrew a country just north of us.”

“My father, I’m sure,” Octavia said with chagrin.

“Is it true that your brother plans to attack Azkoval?” Nadia wondered. “We have heard that he is attempting to purchase arms and mercenaries.”

“If my father will permit it, Junius will attack,” Octavia admitted.

Nadia blinked and looked away. She sighed heavily.

“I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but word reached the capital just before I left,” Nadia said after she came to a decision. “Your father has died.”

“What?” Octavia asked, unable to believe her ears. “He was in good health and he was still young.”

“I know,” Nadia said, hoping the answer will forestall any more questions.

“Your brother murdered him,” Liala announced.

Octavia’s face when slack and she covered her mouth.

“What have I wrought?” she mumbled to no one in particular.

Julia and Liala had started to head downstairs to alert Joseph but both stopped at Octavia’s question.

“Nothing,” Julia said.

“But,” Octavia began.

“She’s right,” Elizabeth added as she sat beside Octavia and put a consoling arm around her friend. “This is not your doing. The responsibility for this lies solely with your brother. Your father tasked you with formulating a trade agreement with us. You’ve done that. Your southern provinces had food last winter and they will have food this winter because you did as your father asked of you.”

“We need to tell Joseph of this development,” Liala said. “We will return quickly. Are you going to be well until we return?”

Octavia offered a game nod. She hadn’t been particularly close to her father but he was still her father.

“I’m sorry I was so tactless about announcing the news,” Nadia said. “I did not want to start our friendship out with deception and I misunderstood the relationship you have with your family. I hope you will forgive me for my callousness.”

Julia and Liala were out in the hallway before they heard Octavia’s reply. The hustled down the stairs and down the hallway to the king’s private office.

“Is he alone?” Liala asked the soldier near the door. The man nodded and pushed the door open. There were some people that did not require an announcement. Joseph looked up at two faces filled with sadness.

“We do not know for certain if the news is correct,” he said without preamble.

“You knew?” Julia asked incredulously.

“It was one of the crises I spoke about on our way back to the castle,” Joseph said with a heavy sigh. “I heard this morning from one of the soldiers just back from Denaya.”

“You knew Octavia’s father had been murdered and you kept it to yourself,” Liala said, shaking her head in frustration.

“I wanted to know for certain,” Joseph said. “I specifically asked the soldier to keep the news quiet until I had confirmation from anyone else. I wasn’t about to tell something like this to one of my friends until I was certain it was true. We don’t know for certain. All I have is what someone has told someone else. How did Octavia hear?”

“Nadia told her,” Julia said.

Joseph exhaled sharply again.

“Do not be cross with Nadia,” Julia continued. “She believed – and we agree – that this is something Octavia should know. If it is untrue, all the better but this is nothing to be kept hidden. Right now she is upstairs berating herself for causing this calamity.”

“Don’t you think I know that!?” Joseph yelled. His anger caused both women to take a step backward. “Damnation! I have been sitting here asking myself the same question since I heard the news. That is why I needed to get away from this place. I needed time to think about what I have caused. I am responsible for the death of a man I’ve never met.”

“No, Joseph,” Liala said. “You and Octavia had no options. If you had permitted her to leave, she would have died a terrible death on the water. Her brother would have concocted the same story I’m certain he made up anyway. He coveted what we have here. I’m not speaking simply of material goods. He coveted the way of life and the respect you have from your people. You both did the only thing he left you to do. This tragedy lands at the feet of one man: Junius.”

Joseph covered his face with his hands and used his thumbs to massage his temples.

“I need to get confirmation before I finalize a plan of attack,” he said. The weariness was evident in his voice. He could scarcely believe that he’d been back in the capital less than a full day and already so much was on his desk.

“Attack?” Julia asked.

Joseph took his hands away and looked at the pair in front of him.

“This cannot go unanswered,” he said.

“Octavia believes Junius will attack here,” Liala noted.

“I agree,” Joseph said with a nod. “We will rebuff the attack and he will send more men next year and the year after and the year after that. But I would attack either way. Liala, if your mother was harmed, I would order Azkoval’s troops to Troyvet.”

“We are allies,” Liala said. “You are not aligned with Marindar.”

“It wouldn’t matter to me,” Joseph countered. “Azkoval will protect duly ordained leaders and I will protect my friends and their families. Genrico’s coming nuptials cloud things. I cannot ask him to lead troops to Marindar days after he weds. I also need him here to direct troop movements when Junius’ men land on our shores. They will come through the gap in the mountains in Larchman.”

“How do you know that?” Julia asked with a frown.

“It is the only route I’ve left them,” the king answered. “Oh, certainly, I suppose they can try to come a different way but their army will be destroyed in a matter of days. If they have an experienced commander – or anyone with any sense – in charge of their troops, they will come through Larchman – and die or be captured in the valley there.”

Liala shook her head in amazement.

“I believed you were simply ignoring the threat of attack,” she said. “I thought you were just going to fight them if they arrived. I had no idea that you’d already decided to shepherd them to their defeat.”

Joseph shrugged.

“The placement of troops with certain landholders was done to ensure those entry points are covered,” the king admitted. “I left some areas uncovered because entry through Alderbrecht Pass won’t happen. They won’t come through Greanly or Samir. There are troops at the port in Halversham. They cannot land a large vessel in Burbridge or Aryn. Trimble does not yet have any place for a ship to berth and there are still soldiers along that coast, too.

“Anyone with a single ounce of sense would see that a blockade of Tyrell is fruitless. That leaves Larchman as the only real possible point of entry. I have asked Genrico to leave a portion of his beachfront thinly covered. Oh, certainly, they might attempt a landing somewhere else. If they try to land at Halversham or Blue Harbor the fight will be over almost instantly. If they try to put a hundred soldiers on land in Burbridge or Aryn or Trimble, we will know when the remains float to the shore. I sailed around this land looking at all possible entry points before choosing to come down the river to what I suppose was Golrick at the time. Now we have ships at the mouth of the Great River to block that path. Even if they slip through in long boats they cannot make land anywhere hospitable. The four regions that run against the river – Burbridge, Golrick, Symonds and Blue Harbor each have a strong contingent of soldiers.”

Julia nodded.

“I’m heartened to see that you’ve taken this seriously,” she admitted. “In truth, I did not. I took the measure of Octavia’s brother during his brief stay and I found him lacking. That said, I also did not believe he had it in him to murder his father. But, as you said, even if he is rebuffed, he will send more men next time.”

The king nodded.

“I will have to send troops to Marindar,” he confessed. “I suppose I have long known it would come to this but I hoped Octavia’s father would understand the folly. The man with Junius – I don’t remember his name – he seemed to see things as they are. I hoped he had the king’s ear. It appears that I was mistaken.”

“Sending troops northward seems a bit ... foolhardy,” Liala said. “You cannot hope to annex Marindar. You also cannot hope to install Octavia as queen. Well, I suppose you could do that ... if you planned to keep soldiers there in perpetuity. Their culture would not accept a woman at the head of their government.”

“I know,” Joseph said with a sigh.

“I do not understand how you would hope to accomplish anything by overthrowing Junius,” Liala continued. “The country would fall into chaos. Octavia has told us that the landholders are not as ... independent ... as they are here. The country will fall into civil war.”

“No,” Joseph said, shaking his head. He looked at the two young women in front of him. “I’ve given this a great deal of consideration. Octavia has said that Marindar grew through conquest. It will fall the same way. I have already put the wheels in motion for an invasion. There are seven countries on Marindar’s border. All of them, to some extent, are allied with Azkoval. I have already started to choke off the trade up there. I hoped that making it difficult for them to accrue armaments would force some sense into their feeble brains. I have also made it more difficult for them to acquire hard currency. Foodstuffs are the only items their allies will trade with the Marindarians. I would not starve them out.”

Julia blinked and sat down hard in a chair.

“I had no idea that you have spent so much time on this,” she said.

“I wanted to end this ... unfortunate incident ... without bloodshed,” Joseph told her. “But, now that blood has already been spilt, there is no reason to leave Marindar standing. We have trained the troops in every direction. The only area that is uncovered right now is the seaway to the east and northlands. Nothing can survive long farther north so that is untenable as a means of escape. I will see if Elena can arrange a meeting with our allies this winter. Perhaps Denaya will agree to host it. Once spring arrives, if they can agree upon how to split up the country, I will send soldiers to blockade their port. Unlike here, that is a viable threat. Once the pieces are in place, we will attack from all sides at once. In a few weeks, we will dissolve Marindar as easy as they grew it. Perhaps I can convince Genrico and Victoria to delay their trip to Creight for another year.”

“You will not require Genrico’s expertise in Marindar,” Julia said, laughing. “Gods above, it appears that you have planned out everything to the smallest detail.”

“Some of them will fight,” Joseph said. “I cannot send an inexperienced commander to lead the troops there. Sadly, aside from Genrico, I have no one else that has the skills to attack while keeping his people safe. In time I will but right now I don’t.”

Liala cleared her throat and Joseph looked up at her.

“I think it important that Octavia be part of the force that retakes her country,” the duchess noted. “She needs to have the chance to avenge her father and, I believe her presence will keep resistance to a minimum. In that spirit, I will lead the troops if you will permit it.”

“I... , “ Joseph stammered.

“Do you think your soldiers will refuse to follow me?” Liala wondered.

“No!” Joseph said quickly. “All the soldiers respect your leadership. It just didn’t occur to me. Troyvet is not involved in this fight.”

“The rest of your allies are taking part,” Liala pointed out.

“The rest are going to split up Marindar and its assets,” Joseph said.

“Troyvet is helping two friends at once,” Liala declared. “We will assist Azkoval and we will assist Octavia. I believe that is enough payment for my services.”

Octavia was alone in the suite when Liala and Julia returned. She was standing at the window staring outward toward the sea.

“You have my condolences,” Julia said, hugging the princess.

“It is not sadness,” Octavia confessed. “I barely knew my father. He rarely spent time with me or even acknowledged me. I am angry that my idiot brother has wrought such mayhem.”