Chapter 16: The Instructor

The Grand Duke returned to the castle in a foul mood. During his trip he had discovered the awful news that the entire western half of the Duchy was under threat and that most of Horkustk Ris province was not under Danubian control at all. The only enclave remaining was the provincial capitol, and the only reason that city was still under the Duchy’s control was that the Kingdom of the Moon had not yet sent an army large enough to conquer it. Horkustk Ris was the only major Danubian city to the south of the Duchy’s capitol. After that city was taken, there would be nothing standing between the Army of the Moon and the Duchy’s people.

The city was packed with Danubian refugees who had been denied permission to move north, precisely to prevent the people of Danubikt Moskt from knowing how bad the situation was immediately to the south. There was inadequate food for the crowd and a lot of the refugees had become sick.

The Grand Duke rounded up his military advisors and demanded to know why no one had told him about the foreign occupation of Horkustk Ris province and the plight of tens of thousands of sick refugees. It turned out the advisors had been divided about telling their ruler the truth. Some advisors did want to tell him about Horkustk Ris as early as the previous summer, but they were overruled by the advisors who were determined to procrastinate. The advisors remained loyal to each other because of oaths they had taken as a group, so the ones who wanted to talk to the Grand Duke about the occupation were stuck in a dilemma. They either had to betray the ruler, or betray their peers. In Danubian culture, betraying one’s companions is considered extremely dishonorable, so the more honest advisors’ actions were restrained by cultural taboos.

The Grand Duke was angry at himself for not realizing his advisors were lying to him. Now that he knew what was going on, he needed to find out why he had been deceived. The ruler summoned the Grand Prophet of the Great Temple to assist his interrogation of his subordinates. With the Prophet present, the advisors would have to lie in front of the leading Clergyman from the Danubian Church if they wanted to continue protecting each other. The presence of the Prophet, coupled with the Grand Duke’s insight and ability to extract information through simple conversation forced the full story out of them. He already understood that it was not simple fear or procrastination that had motivated some of his subordinates to cover up the invasion and force their companions to go along with the deception. It turned out that the traitors had made arrangements with the Lord Blood-Moon to be spared, along with their families and properties, when the Kingdom invaded the Duchy. All they had to do was facilitate the capture of Horkustk Ris by withholding intelligence and delaying any response from the Danubian Crown.

The Grand Duke did not want the public to know that he had been deceived by his own advisors. So, there was no public trial of the traitors, no retaliation against their families, no public spectacle at all. He simply grabbed a long bow and ordered Royal Guards to take the traitors to the execution post. He ordered them tied to the post one-by-one and shocked his spectators by conducting the executions himself. The castle staff, the Royal Guards, and the matrons watched with dumbfounded expressions as their ruler launched five arrows into a traitor, checked to make sure he was dead, ordered the body taken away, and then proceeded with the next execution.

Before ordering the bodies taken out of the castle and returned to their relatives, the ruler wrote the following for each household:

If you value your lives and the safety of your children, you will not ask why this happened. I assure you my action was justified. Bury your relative, say nothing, and your Path in Life will continue in peace. Disobey my command, and the Destroyer will visit you. The choice is yours.

The Grand Duke of the Duchy of Upper Danubia

From their balcony the concubines watched their master killing his subordinates. They were terrified, because they did not yet know what was going on and assumed the sovereign had gone mad. His behavior over the next several days did not reassure them. He vented his anger and fear through sex and copulated with the eleven women as though he were possessed. He did not spare the group’s spokeswoman: she had to join her companions in the Royal bed-chamber and endure his rough treatment.

After spending a week calming his nerves with his women, the ruler re-emerged, determined to meet the impending threat coming from the south. He had several months to prepare for the upcoming military campaign, because during the 18th Century it was very difficult for any country to invade any other country during the winter. Large-scale military operations usually took place in the summer, when it was easier for invading armies to live off the land.

The Grand Duke replaced his executed advisors with field commanders from the Royal Army. He ordered the commanders to familiarize themselves with standard military strategies and drills commonly used in Europe at the time. He did not plan to emulate those strategies, but needed to know how to counter them. The Danubian Royal Army, especially the cavalry, would have to adapt to fighting on open ground and abandon the traditional strategy of using forested areas for concealment and protection.

The most significant decision facing the Grand Duke was his country’s reliance on crossbows. The crossbow had served the Duchy admirably over the past several centuries, but it was an archaic weapon suited for guerrilla skirmishes and silent raids. It was not a weapon suited for confronting a large modern enemy army on open ground. Like it or not, the Grand Duke’s army, or at least many of its troops, would have to switch over to using muskets. The Danubian ruler wrote to a Vienna arms dealer to speed up the purchase of modern muskets. He cringed at the cost of the cumbersome weapons and their ammunition, but he had no choice.

Most rulers would have despaired knowing what the Grand Duke and his Army was up against, but the Danubian ruler’s personality was not prone to despair. He knew that, no matter how bad the situation facing him might be, he still had some decisions to make and options available. None of the choices were very good ones, but they were choices nonetheless. Besides, not all of the news coming from the south was bad. The Kingdom of the Moon did have some significant weaknesses that could, under the right circumstances, work in favor of the Duchy.

The most important potential vulnerability was a rival heir contesting the Kingdom’s throne. The now deceased Lord of the Red Moon had a brother who advised him, who had taken the title of “Lord of the Blue Moon.” While the brothers were both still alive, they complimented each other’s talents and made a very effective team. After-all, they had maintained their independence from the Ottoman Empire and even managed to annex some additional Ottoman lands. Trouble began, however, after Lord Blood-Moon seized the Crown and banished his uncle to the other side of the Kingdom. The Lord of the Blue Moon shortly died under suspicious circumstances and his oldest son, who was a first-cousin of Lord Blood-Moon, took the title as the new Lord of the Blue Moon.

To avoid both the fate of his father and his older cousins, the younger Lord of the Blue Moon consolidated support of several nearby noble families and started planning to contest the Throne. Under current conditions, there was no way the Lord of the Blue Moon could openly confront the Kingdom’s current ruler, but if the Lord Blood-Moon’s forces suffered some defeats, it was possible the situation to the south could change.

The Grand Duke considered the news of the rival House of the Blue Moon important. He did not plan to make an alliance with the alternate heir, but the prospect of a civil war in the southern Kingdom, should the Lord Blood-Moon’s forces be weakened, would play into his plans if he could win some battles on Danubian territory.

The Danubian ruler did not harbor any illusions his Army could possibly match the Kingdom of the Moon’s army in a traditional battle on open ground. The only hope of winning a fight with the enemy would be to combine modern and traditional Danubian tactics, which would entail luring the invaders into a location favorable to the Danubians. How many such locations were there in Horkustk Ris Province? Well, in the past there would have been plenty. During the reign of King Vladik the Defender, the area was heavily forested, allowing the last Danubian King to fight the Ottomans using guerrilla tactics. For a century after the King’s victories, the trees remained as the Duchy’s most important line of defense. However, settlers, both Danubian and foreign, had since cut down most of the forest, leaving only a narrow strip between the capitol and Horkustk Ris. Now the only feature marking the official southern border was a small river and a low-lying range of hills. The hills were still partially forested, but the land immediately to the north was not. The Grand Duke studied maps and pondered from where his army could launch raids. He found very few suitable locations, of which most were away from the main road leading though Horkustk Ris and thus could be bypassed very easily. Still, there were some possibilities, including some areas along the East Danube River, or possibly the city of Horkustk Ris itself. However, for any such plan to work the Grand Duke had to have a full understanding of his enemies and the way command decisions were implemented in the Kingdom of the Moon.

Fortunately for the Duchy, one of the Danubian Grand Duke’s remaining advisors had an excellent network of informants in both the House of the Red Moon and the House of the Blue Moon, including a spy with direct access to Lord Blood-Moon and two of his top generals. The Danubian ruler was interested in the Kingdom’s battle tactics, equipment, and troop strength, but he was even more interested in understanding the thinking and psychology of his enemies. He knew from the beginning the only hope he had of winning the upcoming war would be to find out about any psychological vulnerabilities of the enemy leader and try to outsmart him.

The Kingdom of the Moon had an excellent army and cavalry. They were seasoned veterans that had humiliated the Sultan’s army over the past two decades, men who were proud, competent, and well-trained. They totally disdained their opponents and enjoyed killing and torturing “inferior” prisoners. They had done some horrible things to Turkish captives, so it was safe to assume if they ever seized control of the Duchy, its people would suffer tremendously. The Army of the Kingdom of the Moon had never suffered a defeat, so they were confident to a fault.

The Army of the Moon’s tactics usually focused on charging into an enemy’s position with massive force to overwhelm any opposition, following an initial artillery barrage. Much of the strategy relied on speed and terror. The strategy had been employed against Ottoman and rival lords’ cities, forts, castles, and hilltop positions over the past two decades. It had always worked, so it was predictable. As the Grand Duke and his commanders studied battle after battle won by the Army of the Moon, the over-all pattern of the fighting was always the same: the artillery barrage, the overwhelming charge, and then atrocities against the conquered.

The Danubian leader pondered his enemy’s strategy: always the same: predictable, overwhelming force, terror, confidence, and maybe, over-confidence?

There was another clue provided by an informant as he repeated a couple of jokes and mocking comments made by the Lord of the Red Moon to his commanders about the Duchy’s towns and the fact most Danubian settlements still had city walls. The Lord of the Red Moon had mentioned how much fun it would be to blast away every city wall in the Duchy, for the cowardly Danubians to watch in terror as their medieval defenses fell, and give them time to think about their fates before they were slaughtered.

The Grand Duke fully understood that his enemy was planning genocide against the Danubian people. Lord Blood-Moon viewed the inhabitants of the Duchy as inferior and as illegitimate occupiers of land he needed for the great Kingdom he was putting together. Only “great countries” had the right to exist in Europe and the Duchy was not a “great country”. So, it needed to be obliterated.

The Grand Duke knew that any effort to counter an invasion from the south had only one chance of succeeding. The Danubians absolutely had to win their first battle. If they did not, there would be no opportunity to withdraw and fight a second battle: they would be overwhelmed. Everything the Grand Duke had read or heard about Lord Blood-Moon indicated his army would come to any location the Danubians chose to defend, with the expectation of overrunning their positions and inflicting a crushing defeat. That knowledge gave the Danubian ruler a critical advantage: he could choose any location he wanted for his army to make its stand. So, the question would be: where to fight that critical battle? What location in Horkustk Ris province would give the Danubians their greatest advantage?

Silvitya spent much of March kneeling by the Grand Duke’s side at his throne, cringing as he ran his fingers through her hair. He spent day after day talking to his military commanders about the Duchy’s preparations. He also spent hours with councilmen from villages that had been attacked and over-run by the Kingdom of the Moon, with the hope of gathering additional information about the Kingdom and how its army operated. In spite of the uncomfortable posture and humiliating situation she had to endure, she carefully listened to everything being said. No one was bothered by her presence: she was just a naked concubine and certainly could pose no threat.

Whenever she had any free time at all, Silvitya perused the Royal Library’s books and maps to fully understand what was going on to the south. She quickly realized the Duchy was in very grave danger. At first she wondered about trying to escape the castle with Antonia and fleeing north, but she knew that her Path in Life was not to live as a refugee from a defeated country. She was a Danubian, sworn to serve the Duchy and its ruler, whether she liked him or not. Fitoreckt’s final words came back to haunt her thoughts:

“That is not to say the Ancients will not call upon you to serve. I firmly believe they will, but the manner in which you serve will be different from what your Mistress and I envisioned. Be patient and continue learning. Perhaps you will find yourself in a position to temper and influence the actions and decisions of our nation’s leader. How many of us can make such a claim?”

The next time the Grand Duke called his favorite concubine to his bed-chamber, the Grand Duke forced her to have sex by forcing her to assume the submissive posture and taking her from behind. He conducted his usual routine of fingering her anus and silently threatening to sodomize her, but as usual, did not carry out that threat. She bathed him and allowed him to fondle her scalp. The humiliating treatment would make what she had to do much harder, but she forced herself to speak:

“Your Majesty, your humble serving girl wishes to know if you need her to do anything to assist or prepare for the Duchy’s defense.”

At first the Grand Duke was surprised by the question. It means she has been paying attention to the conversations but, what am I thinking? Of course she is paying attention. This girl is different from the others, smarter and more aware of her surroundings. Indeed, she can be of use to me.

“You mentioned training your companions in medicine, is that not so, my favorite minx?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, that is so.”

“That training is no longer optional. You will teach your companions to become field doctors. I will see about sending some of the castle’s other women to you. Write down an instruction plan and tell me what supplies you will need.”

“Your humble serving girl will need some of the books from the Followers’ collection, Your Majesty, along with parchment and ink. Your humble serving girl will need alchemy ingredients and medical instruments. Your humble serving girl will need some dead bodies, and later your humble serving girl will need some live pigs for practices and a person willing to injure them.”

“Yes. I will supply you with what you need. Train your sisters. Tell them that anyone who fails to learn will face the switch and the pillory. A motivated student is an attentive student, is that not so?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, that is so.”

The Grand Duke tasked one of his most trusted soldiers to help Silvitya gather what she would need to train the castle women as field doctors. The man was Protector Alexandrekt Bulashckt, the Royal Guard responsible for bringing her to the castle the previous summer. She felt apprehensive having to face him after the rough and condescending treatment she had endured during the first day she was with him. However, she hoped to find out what happened to her bucket and to have a source of news from the outside.

She expected him to treat her in the same rude manner he had treated her before. However, Protector Bulashckt seemed completely different, addressing her with courtesy and speaking to her in a normal manner. She told him what she needed and what the items were for. He sent for a couple of horses and told her she’d be leaving the castle with him. While they waited, the concubine and the Protector discussed medicine at length, including emergency field operations. He was impressed with her knowledge upon hearing about some of the operations she performed during the summer of 1752.

He was even more impressed to learn she had been a Follower of the Ancients. She was not the ignorant peasant girl that he imagined when she was taken into custody. He did something no one had ever done in her life: he apologized, asking her pardon for calling her an “idiot” and a “dumb peasant girl” the previous year. She was surprised, because no one had ever apologized to her about anything.

When the horses were ready, one of the castle matrons brought a red scarf and wrapped Silvitya’s hair. Although concubines were not allowed to braid their hair, it would not be acceptable to have one of the Grand Duke’s women wandering outside the castle with her hair loose. The red scarf also protected her by identifying her as a concubine and therefore as property of the Grand Duke. The matron also handed over a pair of red shoes to protect her feet. Silvitya would go out with her head covered and her feet protected, but otherwise would remain naked.

The day was overcast and chilly, but to a young woman who was used to being naked, the temperature was bearable. She ignored the chill, happy to have the chance to see something besides the interior of the castle. She followed her escort to the main city market and to several alchemy shops to search for potion ingredients and other medical supplies, such as metal instruments and wood for splints. She selected several small pigs that would be used for live practices. Protector Bulashckt paid the seller to take them to the castle.

Everywhere she went in the city, Silvitya had to endure the stares of everyone around her. She was not in any physical danger, but her red scarf and uncovered body subjected her to curious glances from the women and lustful stares from the men and boys. Her escort took the shortest routes possible and tried to move quickly to minimize the time she had to spend outside, but several thousand residents saw the naked concubine as she rode through the narrow streets and walked around the marketplaces. It seemed that every one of her spectators had to stare at her. She never imagined she’d actually be glad to return to the castle, but after being gawked at all day she was really looking forward to getting back.

The final stop was at the Temple of the Ancients, where she would have to go to obtain cadavers. Purchasing the bodies would not be difficult: there were plenty of destitute refugee families living outside the capitol who were unable to give their dead relatives proper burials. Many desperate families would be happy to release their relatives’ corpses in exchange for having money to buy food for several weeks.

Silvitya approached a Priest, who told her to kneel and wait until an Apprentice could deal with her request. After several minutes of kneeling with her face to the ground and being forced to completely expose herself to Protector Bulashckt, a pair of female Temple Apprentices dressed in ragged black seminary robes approached to take her request. By very unfortunate coincidence one of the women had been one of her fellow initiates during her year in Babackt Yaga’s settlement. Silvitya’s former companion was totally shocked to see her in the capitol and wearing, of all things, a concubine’s scarf.

The former Followers badly wanted to catch up on each other’s news, but Silvitya’s embarrassing predicament prevented them from having any meaningful conversation. Silvitya explained about purchasing cadavers and having them delivered to the castle. The Apprentice wrote down the request. They were about to part ways when she commented:

“Follower Danka, I need to ask, what, I mean, what happened to you? How did you enter His Majesty’s service, as a concubine?”

Tears welled up in Silvitya’s eyes, but she forced herself to respond:

“Hubris, Apprentice. My soul was full of hubris and the Ancients chose to punish me. Things like this happen when hubris makes a person stupid and that person acts on her stupidity. I was a fool, with my head full of pride and foolish thoughts. If you knew what I was thinking at the time my Path in Life crossed with that of His Majesty, you would agree the punishment the Ancients gave me was just.”

Silvitya set up a make-shift medical school in an empty Royal Guard barracks located in the city at the base of the hill where the castle was located. The location forced the concubines to leave the castle each day. The classes started at the beginning of April. Fortunately, spring that year had come early to the Duchy, so the weather was warm enough for the women to walk down the hill in relative comfort. They put on their red scarves and shoes and, under the escort of Protector Bulashckt and one of his squad members, cheerfully made the trek. Although their days no longer were spent in idle relaxation, they enjoyed the walks and the chance to get away from the confines of the castle. It was nice to have the chance to exercise and see the East Danube River and a portion of the city.