“I suspect I’ll be hearing complaints about that behind closed doors when you’re not there,” Sander said.
“Probably so. But it worked, so I stand by my decision.” Elias paced beside his father into the foyer, where Kirkley and his men were gathered.
“More on that later.” Sander cut the conversation short and looked ahead to the commander. “Kirkley, any news on the communications?”
Kirkley turned away from the men and bowed his head to Sander. “No, Your Majesty. Everything is still down, although technicians are hard at work to restore it. I did send a team to Garry and Noll, however, on a fact-finding mission. They are supposed to return with news of the attacks and invasion.”
“Excellent. I’ll be in my office. Find me when they get back.” Sander veered away from the group and headed for the hallway.
“You should let me stand watch while you sleep,” Elias said. He knew his father had to be in terrible amounts of pain and exhausted from lack of sleep. The last thing he expected Sander to do was rest, but he made the offer anyway.
“Will you take off for Somero once I’m under?” Sander asked.
“Although I am anxious to find out what’s happened, I gave you my word I wouldn’t leave yet. And I won’t.”
“Good. Shut the door behind us and stand guard. I never like to sleep during a crisis, but if I don’t, my body is going to decide for me. Better to shoot for two hours of rest than pass out,” Sander said as he entered his downstairs office.
Elias nudged the door closed. The latch caught with a click. He refused to show his surprise at his father’s decision to sleep, then realized that Sander’s actions were less about being stubborn and more about utilizing his time wisely. Only a fool would push himself to the breaking point with the country’s safety still in question.
Every day he learned something new and valuable from his father, and every day he was grateful to have such a man as his mentor.
While Sander stretched out on a sofa, Elias fished his phone from a pocket and checked for a signal. To his complete surprise, he had one.
His father wouldn’t be getting any rest after all.
“Dad, sleep will have to wait. I have a signal.”
Sander hadn’t even closed his eyes yet. He sat up and reached for Elias’s phone. Sure enough, it was working.
Before he could say anything or even dial a number, someone knocked on the office door.
“Get that, will you? I bet it’s Kirkley letting us know communications are back,” Sander said. He dialed Thane’s personal number and put the phone to his ear. While the other line rang, he watched Elias answer the door and speak quickly with Kirkley.
Thane’s phone continued to ring.
No answer.
He tried Aleksi’s number next. The king of Imatra’s line rang and rang, like Thane’s.
No answer there either.
Sander muttered a curse. He put the phone down as Elias returned. “What did Kirkley have to say?”
“You were right. He came to inform us that communications are up and running, but they don’t know for how long. Kirkley was able to contact the head of our troops in Garry and Noll and discovered we entered a skirmish with the men who attacked the villages. Our troops killed theirs to a man. There are none left alive. Those who might have been taken prisoner chose to fight it out to the end. The reports are several hundred civilians dead from the initial attack.”
Sander absorbed the news with conflicting emotions. So much needless death. In battle, one expected the fall of warriors. It didn’t mean he was happy to hear it. The loss of civilian life troubled him greatly. Latvala had already taken a huge hit over the winter and now there would be more families left to grieve.
“What else?” Sander asked.
“Kirkley spread out the extra troops I sent to search other villages nearby but found no more invaders. It appears Garry and Noll were the only penetration points. Kirkley is sending more men anyway to fan out along the edge of the hinterlands. If not to fight, then to act as a deterrent in case this isn’t over.”
“Good, good. Tell him I want the entire military apparatus put on highest alert. I want all the prominent structures in Latvala guarded as well as strategic placements along the border. It’s possible whoever’s calling the shots for the allies will retreat if they know they’ve suffered a defeat in Latvala, but they also might push in again if Imatra and Somero have fallen. I can’t get Thane or Aleksi on the phone yet.” Sander rose from the sofa. Any thoughts of rest had been obliterated by the recent news.
“Here. Let me try Inari’s line.” Elias held out his hand for the phone.
Sander handed it off on his way to the side bar. He needed a drink to help dull the pain throbbing in his ribs and on his back. The burns were really kicking into high gear.
While he poured, he considered the news Kirkley had delivered and watched Elias place his call. So many things seemed to hinge on whether or not Somero and Imatra had survived.
“No answer,” Elias announced.
Sander read the disappointment in his son’s expression. “They might not be near their phones at the moment.”
“Maybe. Going to try Caspian.” Elias dialed again and paced through the office while waiting for contact.
Sander downed three shots in a row. The burn in his throat was nothing compared to the sizzle on his back, though he hoped the liquor would help dilute the pain at least a little.
“Caspian! It’s Elias.” Elias veered toward the side bar and put the call on speaker.
“We haven’t been able to get any calls out for hours,” Caspian said.
Sander noted that the signal wasn’t very strong and that they might only have communication back for a short while. The allies could even then be attempting to shut it down again.
“Caspian, it’s Sander. I tried contacting your dad but couldn’t get through. How is Imatra faring? Did the castle come under attack?”
“Hey, Sander. Someone took Dad’s phone—we’re not sure where it is right now. A few of our guards here were compromised and they attempted a coup. We overcame, though, and have control of the castle.”
Sander’s brows arched. He and Elias traded knowing looks. They could guess how the attempted coup had gone—probably similar to how it had happened at Kallaster.
“That’s good news. Is everyone all right? Do you know how badly your borders have been breached?” Sander asked.
“There are a few dead guards. We have one being interrogated right now. As far as we can tell, we’ve defeated the invasion. Our communications have been down so we’re just now getting information in from our border,” Caspian said.
“The same thing happened here at Kallaster. We overcame the coup attempt as well. Our plane was shot down after we left Imatra so we figured that the invasions and attacks were more widespread than we initially thought.”
“Shot down? Did everyone survive?” Caspian asked.
“Not everyone. Mattias, Leander, Jeremiah, and I made it out. The guards and pilots perished, though.”
“Damn. Have you heard from Somero? We can’t reach Thane.”
“Not yet. Elias was just now able to get through to you. We’ll try Somero again when we hang up. Caspian, has anyone gone public with information about the attacks?”
“If you mean have we made an announcement to the media, then no, we haven’t. There hasn’t been time yet. No one thought to before we lost power and communications went down,” Caspian said.
“I think we should both do that immediately. We won’t have time to coordinate; we might even get disconnected here in a minute because I hear static on the line and the signal is starting to cut out. So do that, will you? Tell your father to go live as soon as possible and we will, too. The more exposure we bring, the better chance we have of preventing a secondary wave of attacks.”
“I’ll tell Father. Do you know if—”
The line went dead.
“Caspian? Dammit. We lost him
.” Sander tried Thane’s number again but had no luck. Whoever had severed communications the first time had succeeded for round two.
“I think it’s a good sign that Imatra has come out ahead of their coup attempt. I bet Thane did, too,” Sander said.
“I hope so,” Elias said as he dialed another number.
Sander didn’t stop Elias from trying to call Inari. Communications had gone down, but they could come back up any second. “Have Kirkley put someone on the phones at all times. I want to know the minute we’re able to contact the media in Kalev. We need to put out an announcement, like I mentioned to Caspian.”
“Will do, Pop. I’ll go pass on the information to Kirkley.” Elias headed for the door.
Sander eyed the sofa first, then the bottle of whiskey. He wasn’t normally a heavy drinker, but he poured one more shot, downed it, and decided to try again for fifteen minutes of sleep. He could feel his body shutting down, and he didn’t want to collapse in the middle of a phone call or video conference session.
Once he stretched out, teeth grinding at the pain shooting through his body, he shut his mind off and thought of nothing but sleep.
Chapter 24
In the seven days following Sander’s return to Kallaster, Latvala, Imatra, and Somero managed to beat back the attacks on their countries. Communications returned within hours of that first day, and did not go down again. Latvala’s military worked around the clock to secure the cities and borders with great success, and the media had been instrumental in issuing constant reports detailing the troop movements. The world now knew that Latvala was taking no chances with its sovereignty.
The world also knew as many details about the attacks and invasions, about the needless deaths and threats, as possible. Sander had held nothing back in his press conference. He was careful not to accuse anyone outright, but let it be known that NATO allies had something to do with the coup and the world should hold them accountable.
King Thane of Somero, Sander had come to learn, had rescued the abducted cousins and kept control of his country. As with Latvala and Imatra, the battle had been a close call. The overthrow attempts on all three nations had nearly succeeded.
During the second week of his return, Sander arranged secret meetings with the kings of Imatra and Somero and came to agreements on military aid. They signed contracts to allow each other’s armies to help enforce borders, to work together to secure the nations against enemy attack. With their forces combined, Sander knew any other coup attempts from outside agents would be much harder to perpetrate. For the next five years, as long as the initial contract existed, Sander felt good about the odds of anyone invading again.
The third week consisted of downtime. With all the public announcements and secret meetings done, he dedicated several hours to the doctor for continuing debridement of his burns. The excruciating sessions were necessary for proper healing and a reminder of how lucky he was to be alive. He didn’t begrudge the appointments or avoid them.
Unbeknownst to anyone except Chey, he had begun to suffer wicked nightmares of plane crashes. Of fiery death balls, concussive explosions, and a jet shredding to pieces around him. He woke from each of those vivid dreams drenched in sweat and short of breath. Chey had selflessly soothed him until sleep found him once more.
She had been his rock during the entire ordeal, and he had been hers.
On this particular day, Sander left his appointment with the doctor and headed through the halls of Kallaster.
The castle was unusually quiet. Late afternoon sunlight streamed in the windows, throwing light over an empty foyer and a few of the hallways.
He was halfway up the stairs to the second floor when Leander silently appeared at his side.
Sander grunted in surprise. “Quit sneaking up on people.”
“If you weren’t as loud as a horse you would have heard me coming.”
Sander snorted. “Lies. You just enjoy surprising me.”
“I can’t deny that.”
They topped the last stair to the landing. Sander decided to change directions and head for a parlor on the second floor rather than continue on to find Chey. Leander was there for a reason, and he was curious what had prompted the visit.
“How is recovery coming?” Sander asked as they entered the parlor. This one was smaller, more private than some of the others. Stone walls, a stone fireplace, and recreational seating in colors of hunter green, crimson, and cream created a cozy atmosphere.
“Not too bad. Doc says I’ll be good to go in another two weeks. What about you? The burns getting better?” Leander aimed for a plush chair and sprawled out. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. Kallaster was often chilly, especially before summer had officially set in.
Sander veered toward a mini fridge and gathered two bottles of cold water. He tossed one to Leander before sitting on an opposite sofa. “Not very fun to deal with, I’ll be honest. But it’s healing well, and I’m glad for that.”
Leander caught the bottle with ease. He cracked off the lid and took a long swig. “Glad to hear it. I wanted to wait until things had calmed down a little before we had this conversation.”
Sander sat forward. A prick of alarm sent uncomfortable waves of heat across his skin. “What conversation?”
Leander looked down at his water bottle, as if eye contact was too difficult to maintain. But he glanced back up a moment later. “I wanted to say thank you for saving my life. Mattias told me you refused to give up on me, and that means a lot.”
Sander eased back against the sofa. “Oh. I thought you were about to tell me you were leaving Latvala or that you were dying or something.” He paused to take a drink of water and clear the sudden dryness in his throat. “You’re welcome. I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done.”
“I’m not sure I would have persisted as long. I don’t know. I just know that my family won’t have to grieve over me, and I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“I guess in this case, my stubbornness paid off.” Sander smiled wryly, but grew serious again. “Your family wouldn’t have been the only ones to grieve. You’ve been a part of my life so long that I’m not sure how I’d get on without you.”
“Someone has to fetch your cane and help you up the stairs,” Leander said with a glint of mirth and mischief in his eyes.
Sander laughed. “Watch it, fetus. I can still change my mind and toss you off the balcony.”
“You’d throw your back out.”
“You’re probably not wrong,” Sander said with another laugh. The levity felt good after the dark days and the darker season just past. He settled into comfortable silence as they both drank from their bottles. Leander was the first to change the subject a few minutes later.
“We had a pretty close call.”
Sander knew Leander wasn’t talking about the plane crash this time. “Yes, we did.”
“I think the changes you’ve done, and have planned, are good ones. Signing pacts with Imatra and Somero will go a long way in deterring anyone from thinking they can just walk into these nations and take them over without a fight.”
“If nothing else, we’ve all bought ourselves a little time. War is a constant between certain countries, or the threat of war, at least. I don’t for a minute believe we’ve seen the last of battle. Hopefully it’ll be another few decades before it gets as serious as it just did again, though.”
“I could do with twenty or thirty years of relative peace. We’ll be tottering old men by then,” Leander said, shuddering playfully. He finished off the water and tossed the bottle into the trash.
“Bite your tongue.” Sander twitched. He wasn’t ancient, but he definitely felt the effects of time taking its toll on his body and couldn’t imagine what it would be like to deteriorate further. His mind was still as robust and active as when he’d been in his twenties, an odd conundrum he’d never expected to face in his later years.
Leander laughed and pushed to a stand. “We’ll probably be grandparents
soon.”
“I will tackle you to the ground and beat you,” he threatened. Sander was in no way shape or form ready to become a grandfather.
“You’d have to catch me first, and we both know you’re notoriously slower than I am.” Leander lightly punched Sander on the arm and darted for the door.
Sander put the bottle down, twisted around on the sofa, and scrambled over the back as if he were young and agile. He paid for it in pain, of course; he was still healing from his crash injuries.
By the time he hit the hall beyond the door, Leander was already gone.
Rat bastard.
Chapter 25
Elias briskly walked the halls of Somero Palace in search of a specific parlor located at the far end of the south wing. He smoothed a hand down the front of his navy suit and gave the fine material a settling tug to pull out any creases that might have occurred on the flight over from Latvala. A snowy shirt beneath the jacket added sharp contrast, as did the diagonally patterned tie at his throat. He had taken a shaver to his face that morning, leaving him free of whiskers or stubble. A subtle hint of cologne provided dark sensuality and a hint of mystery.
After a month of working to help his father secure Latvala, Elias had finally found time to visit Inari. Phone calls were a fine way to keep in touch, but he longed for the sight and scent of her.
It pleased him that he’d arranged his visit in secret. Thane, Inari’s doting father, had helped plan the clandestine meeting. Inari had no idea that he was about to interrupt her session with paint and canvas.
Minutes later, he entered through the open door of the parlor. Situated within a large turret, the round room sported floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed in copious amounts of light. The bright airy space done in a palette of pale yellow, ivory, and sage green put Elias in mind of springtime. An array of furniture situated for gatherings and conversation sat in the center, with potted plants adding a garden flair to the scene.
Inari stood near the windows at the far end of the room, facing an easel positioned to take advantage of the sunlight. She wore simple black slacks paired with a white artist’s smock, which already bore a few telltale smears of paint. Her hair had begun to fall from its knot atop her head, the wispy strands brushing her throat and collarbones.
Latvala Royals: Darkest Hours Page 13
