A Dubious Peace

by Olan Thorensen

  The inanity of their exchange gave them several minutes of silence that provided a respite for Eina to process her thoughts. Three pink and black murvors landed on the ground nearby and hopped around the two chairs.

  I bet people eat lunches here, thought Yozef, and these guys are hoping we’ll drop something tasty.

  The murvors’ anticipation was in vain. Besides Yozef and Eina having nothing to drop, a blue jay swooped in, and the murvors took off, protesting loudly. Now the jay flew into the low branches of a tree to wait with its own high hopes.

  “I don’t know what you expect me to say, Yozef. As far as I know, Fuomon has no laws specifying ambassador status with respect to local laws. It’s more an unwritten agreement among peoples that ambassadors are usually treated differently. However, we are here on Caedellium, so whatever your laws are, they must prevail.”

  Her words came slowly, as if being parsed carefully for meaning.

  “One problem is that Koskanin brought a large staff with him, many of whom must be considered loyalists to him and likely involved in the spying to some degree. There may be a problem with them recognizing my authority until Fuomon decides what to do with this situation and possibly send another ambassador. No matter what evidence you send to Fuomon about Koskanin’s actions, it may be ignored. I’m sure he will present quite a different picture of what happened, which may well include claiming my complicity.”

  “I have two responses. First, I will declare, in writing, that Caedellium does not trust any of the existing embassy staff. We will reluctantly allow you to remain as ambassador only because of our past relationship and because we acknowledge Fuomon’s previous help. We also wish to somehow continue a positive relationship and will allow you to determine which current staff members are absolutely necessary to remain.

  “I suggest you also report to Fuomon what you’ve seen today and our position that we withheld knowledge of our separate steam engine work because we didn’t trust Koskanin because of both the spying and the failure to inform us of the intent to remove your ships from Caedellium waters. We’ll leave open the possibility of sharing the steam engine work in the future if trust is restored. I’m also sure Kivalian will have an evaluation of the Sharps rifle. You should assume what you’ve seen today is only the beginning of what will follow in the next few years. You might include that prediction, along with what I’ll say next.

  “Narthon made a mistake in invading Caedellium, and their army was destroyed because of that mistake and underestimating us. Similarly, the Kolinkans made a mistake with the attack on Seaborn. They will also pay a price.”

  Yozef paused briefly while he focused on using his best Old Testament prophet imitation.

  “We will destroy Kolinka as an independent kahsak. We see no reason to share how we intend to do this. We will also push the Narthani back from this part of Anyar and eventually destroy their empire. Send this intent back to Fuomon, and tell your leaders they can either be our ally in these actions, or they can watch it happen and have no place in the aftermath.”

  Eina was once again left wondering what she was supposed to say. The claims were grandiose and overblown, but so would have been the earlier claim that Caedellium could expel the Narthani. Then there was what she had been shown today. Was Yozef giving Fuomon a barely hidden threat, as absurd as that might seem? How could Caedellium possibly destroy an Iraquinik kahsak with a much larger population and that was accessible only by sea, when the island had no navy? And what about Narthon with its vastly larger resources? Nevertheless, based on her experience with the Amerikans, her nagging suspicion was reinforced that the center of Anyar’s future now rested on a small island.

  Saisannin Household

  “How did Koskanin react?” asked Paavo Saisannin after his wife summarized the interesting day.

  She laughed with barely chagrined glee. “Like the pompous, oblivious dolt he is. Whatever his instructions were when he came here, he either believed subtlety was unnecessary, or he’s too stupid to realize it would have helped with whatever his instructions were. He started off outraged when Yozef and the armed men entered the embassy. I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said, but Yozef went up to him and whispered something. It took about a minute. I’ll swear Koskanin got paler and didn’t say another word.

  “They gathered the entire staff outside the embassy . . . I guess because the embassy didn’t have a single room inside large enough to hold everyone. Yozef’s men searched people for weapons. Then he stood on the steps of the embassy, with armed men surrounding the staff and standing between them and Yozef. He then gave a short summary of why Koskanin was unwelcome on Caedellium. He gave the reason as spying on an ally and being complicit in murder and assault. He called out two names. At first, no one responded. Then, it was as if those two men had contracted a disease. Space slowly formed around them as people edged away. After they were taken into custody, Yozef explained their involvement and how they were being held for crimes. Koskanin stood quietly the whole time. I suspect Yozef told Koskanin about the Caedelli punishment for murder and to shut up, or he’d change his mind about mere banishment from Caedellium.”

  “So . . . when does Koskanin leave?”

  “Yozef originally told me almost immediately, but I pointed out I’d need more time if he wanted me to evaluate the rest of the staff to decide on those also to be banished. He gave me until tomorrow midday.”

  “Whoa. Yozef is really flexing his Paramount muscle.”

  “I also told him I’ll be going to Adris City at the same time. Koskanin is bound to try and convince Admiral Mermi to support him. Maybe he’ll try to get Mermi to refuse to provide him with transportation off Caedellium or get Mermi to stop any future cooperation. I need to be sure Mermi sees the evidence and listens to my opinion.”

  Paavo’s right eyebrow rose. “And that will be . . . what?”

  “That Koskanin actually is guilty of crimes according to the laws of almost of any nation, including Fuomon. That his guilt and other actions have damaged relations with an ally. That things are happening on Caedellium that Fuomon must keep apprised of. I’d like to add that Koskanin is too incompetent to muck out stables, but I think Mermi already has that impression. However, I will suggest, obliquely, that the admiral might send his own view of Koskanin’s performance.”

  “So, Mermi doesn’t have a problem with you resuming the ambassadorship?”

  “I got the impression that he sees his own position as protected. You know . . . given Caedelli insistence, given the evidence, and given my evaluation, he unfortunately had no choice but to provide Koskanin with transportation back to Fuomon.”

  “Well, a good part of a year will pass before Fuomon’s response gets back here,” said Paavo. “It could always happen that you are not supported. You may even be called back home. How would you feel if that happens?”

  “Well . . . after most of a year, who knows what might have happened?”

  “No avoiding the question, Eina. We’ve danced around this before. What if you are ordered back to Fuomon?”

  She did not answer immediately. She knew her answer and thought she knew what her husband’s response would be, but she hesitated to express feelings that once voiced could not be ignored or taken back.

  “If it was just me, I would stay. Oh . . . I could frame that answer as thinking I can do the most good for Fuomon by working with the Caedelli.”

  “The Caedelli or the Amerikans?”

  “The people here have admirable qualities, but yes . . . it’s these Amerikans. You’ve already told me about the research you might do here that could last the rest of your life, but what about not returning to Fuomon for many more years or perhaps ever? Then we have the children to consider. We’ve worried about Steegum and Huron almost becoming more Caedelli than Fuomi because of their years here while they were so young, but what about our daughters? Noora and Pulia have families. We might never see them again or, if we do, possibly many years from now when the
ir children are grown, and we’re strangers to them.”

  “Unless they join us here,” Paavo said softly.

  When she did not immediately respond, he knew she had already considered the possibility. He also knew this day’s discussion was not spontaneous.

  “But you already think that is possible, don’t you?” Paavo said. “And you have something you’ve hesitated to talk with me about, don’t you? Something you do not like but can’t avoid seeing as a solution.”

  She again didn’t immediately answer. He believed she was waiting for him to say the words. So he spoke them.

  “I could go to Fuomon on the same ship as Koskanin. I know the right people to ensure that your reports are given full consideration and not buried by Koskanin’s faction. The same with your suspicion more Amerikans were cast away from their homeland than the three here on Caedellium. There are plenty of rational people in high-enough places who could be convinced to search for more Amerikans.”

  “You would be gone for a year, Paavo. Maybe more, if you needed time to accomplish whatever you could. Then there’s always the possibility you couldn’t even get back here. The only way is on our ships, and you could be denied passage. And who knows how the war with the Narthani will go? The Narthani might completely block our ships from getting through the narrow part of the Throat separating Sulako from the Iraquinik kahsaks.”

  He nodded. “All possibilities, but balance that against Fuomon losing—or missing, depending on different views—the relationship with Caedellium. You may have thought more deeply about that connection than I have, but I’ll agree what’s happening here is too important for Fuomon to miss its potential.”

  He smiled. “And, similar to you, the Amerikans are a mystery that would haunt me if I wasn’t here for the day when all is revealed. Plus . . . what’s going to happen in the coming years? I’d like to be here to see what happens from a closer standpoint.

  “And maybe I can convince Noora and Pulia to come back with me. Noora’s family might be the easiest. Her husband is like me . . . a minor historian specializing in a topic not widely considered important. His difficulty in keeping positions would be solved here. Yozef’s Department of Peoples would rush to give him a significant position. Comparative Cultures may not be of much interest in Fuomon, but Yozef might consider it priceless here.”

  Eina tugged on a tress. “Yes . . . I can see Noona coming . . . maybe. But what about Pulia? Her husband is not leaving Fuomon. I never liked him, but we try our best for Pulia’s sake. He’s too self-important in the bureaucracy . . . plus, he’s of the same faction as Koskanin.”

  “I haven’t said it before, Eina, but Pulia might come back with me just to get away from him. They only have one child, and I would have to arrange for us to leave before her husband discovers the plan.”

  “Would Pulia do that?” asked Eina.

  “Possibly, though she may need some time to think about it. She might initially reject the idea, but I’m sure that with time, her husband will give her multiple reasons to reconsider.”

  Two days later, Eina informed Yozef that Paavo would be returning to Fuomon.

  CHAPTER 43

  CHANGES

  Kolinkans

  By a month after the attack, the tally of captured Kolinkans had reached thirty-eight. Eleven Kolinkans were from the fifty sent to block the route back to Grastor. They had been left behind when their transportation home embarked without them, and then they survived the fight when cornered by Seaborn militia. Twenty-seven Kolinkans came from a ship captured by the Fuomi frigate. Yozef ordered all thirty-eight held in Devanyo, the Farkesh capital. Hetman Ferenc Bakalacs was acerbic and dependable and would have no scruples at using whatever means necessary to extract information out of the prisoners—and dispose of them if Yozef decided that would be their ultimate fate.

  In determining where to keep the Kolinkans, Yozef first thought of Preddi, with Wyfor in charge of the prisoners. He figured Wyfor, with Balwis’s support, would be better at scaring them and loosening their tongues. However, Yozef didn’t want to default to the same people all the time for “wet work” and have that become part of everyone’s perception of them.

  Initial interrogation of the captives from Seaborn remained limited to questions about personal details and rumors of Narthani involvement. More potential lay with those captured by the Fuomi. A god of fortune had either smiled on them or betrayed them, depending on which side they were on. Despite the uncertainty of finding the fleeing Kolinkan ships, the pursuing frigate had come upon the Fuomi sloop shadowing the Kolinkans as far behind as possible, while maintaining visual contact. The Fuomi closed the distance during the night and attacked with the sun still an hour below the horizon the next morning. The Kolinkans initially turned to fight until they realized they were hopelessly outclassed. The Fuomi warships, faster, more maneuverable, with heavier cannon on the frigate, and more suited to deep waters than the Kolinkan coastal trade ships, shredded five Kolinkan ships before the rest scattered like a startled krykor flock. The Fuomi pursued them and continued cruising the waters off Kolinka for a sixday, searching for flock members.

  On the last day before it turned back to Caedellium, the Fuomi sloop encountered a Kolinkan ship coming out of a secluded bay. A four-hour pursuit and intermittent engagement resulted in a battered Kolinkan ship surrendering when it was unable to stear and the crew was reduced to half the original number. None of the ship’s senior officers survived, but a man named Maklos Bota was second in command of the raiding party—a fact revealed by a Kolinkan cabin boy frightened at what would happen to him. Yozef messaged Bakalacs to keep all the Kolinkans alive, particularly Bota, until Yozef decided how to proceed.

  Honors

  The sky was gray, but the off-and-on rain from the last three days paused long enough for thousands to come to St. Wyan’s Cathedral. When the interior became too packed for more, the abbot ordered all the doors and the windows opened so those surrounding the structure could hear at least part of the Godsday memorial service. When the numbers grew even larger, many people gathered in clusters of hundreds, in and around the central plaza. There, volunteers relayed what was happening in the service.

  Prominently displayed in the right front of the cathedral hall were four flags of the Pewitt and Seaborn clans—for each clan, one new flag and one soiled and torn. The two older flags had been retrieved from where the Pewitt and Seaborn men stood and died to delay the Kolinkans. After that day’s memorial service, the four flags, escorted by a single man from each clan, would tour all twenty-one province capitals, passing through as many other towns as possible. The tour would take as long as it took, ending at Brudermyn, where the Seaborn flags would be presented to Yulan Seaborn. The Pewitt flags would return to the main island and be given to Hetman Pewitt, with the escorts dispersing to their homes.

  Abbot Ulyn Parwyn rose to stand within the elevated pulpit on the left side. He nodded to the cathedral’s music director, and a somber, traditional instrumental started low, slowly percolating amid the congregation and quieting conversations. Parwyn then led the usual opening prayer asking for God’s mercy and guidance, followed by two songs, one in its traditional form and one with the same lyrics but music slightly modified by Pernel and Heather. The congregation had stood since the abbot mounted the pulpit. He now motioned for those in pews and chairs to take a seat—or to sit on the floor, if possible. He then launched into a homily on sacrifice.

  Then it was Yozef’s turn to give a eulogy. He later could not remember exactly what he had said or how long he had spoken, but Maera and others told him the words were heartfelt and appropriate. After finishing, he pinned a streamer to the new Pewitt and Seaborn flags. They joined streamers embroidered with “Moreland City,” “Eywell Raid,” and “Orosz City,” commemorating the clans’ participation in battles against the Narthani. The new streamers read “Milgorn Gorge” to commemorate the escape route over the narrow passage between higher reaches and where two sets of cla
n dragoons died while delaying the Kolinkans.

  When Yozef returned to his seat, Maera and Anarynd each put a hand on one of his thighs, Maera squeezing and Anarynd patting. The musicians started again, playing a repeated phrase until Heather replaced Parwyn in the pulpit and sang as the music moved into “Nearer My God to You.” The tempo was slower than usual, and Heather’s voice, though lovely, was thin for a venue of the cathedral’s size. But the effect could not have been greater because even babes held by mothers chose that time to be silent. Enough sound wafted outdoors and through windows for the crowds outside to follow the words.

  The three verses were short. When Heather finished, she was joined in a repeat by a small choir of men and women who had thus far remained seated and silent. The added voices allowed the words to be clearer to those outside, and they spontaneously joined the singing. On the fourth and final reiteration, everyone, inside and outside, sang.

  People later claimed that the Paramount was the first person to weep. Whether it was true didn’t matter once word spread to every corner of Caedellium.

  Kolsko Manor

  Two months after the attack, the medicants declared Maera fully able to resume normal activity as much as possible. As Medicant Harlow had predicted, a limp persisted. Maera declared that it didn’t affect her life and that it was improving, albeit slowly. Her spirit also lagged in returning to normal but, as with the limp, improved with time. Her laughter came more effortlessly, but both Yozef and Anarynd noticed that she wasn’t quite as eager to interact with the children as in the past.

  However, a sea change occurred with two new arrivals to Orosz City. On a Godsday morning, Anarynd went into delayed labor while the family prepared to leave for the St. Wyan’s service. Yozef sent for medicants, and four hours later, Luna Kolsko came into the world, healthy and squalling. In theory, the newborn would have no name until the formal naming at a Godsday service several months after birth. Caedelli believed the custom had survived from past times when so many babies died within days of entering the world. However, those years were gone, and children’s names were commonly used from birth within families.