Shel saw the mayor arrive in the marketplace. He quickly followed the Imperial Guards who were trying to part the crowd to reach the table that Shel was standing on.
“That is not her ship,” shouted a well-dressed merchant. “The Sakovans have no ships. They are landlocked.”
“Not any more,” replied Shel. “Lyra told me that all of eastern Omunga is now Sakovan. Zaramilden, Duran, and Alamar are now Sakovan cities.”
Gasps ripped through the crowd as the Imperial Guards finally reached the table. Two of them jumped up on the table and grabbed Shel while the mayor quickly followed. He raised his hands high over his head for silence, and the crowd instantly obeyed.
“Fellow citizens,” shouted Mayor Robit. “Do not listen to this nonsense. You shall disperse from this table and form an orderly line to receive the food. Those who disobey will be dealt with harshly.”
“We have a right to know what is going on,” shouted the merchant. “If you will not let Shel speak to us then you should.”
“Nothing is going on that concerns the citizens,” replied the mayor. “We have captured the Star of Sakova and seized her ship loaded with food. There is nothing else to say. Form a line or go home.”
“That was not a Sakovan ship that you seized,” retorted the merchant. “Have you no knowledge of banners?”
The mayor frowned at the merchant, who was well known and highly respected. He was not the type of citizen who could be easily dismissed.
“What do you mean?” asked Mayor Robit. “I was told that the Star of Sakova ordered that ship into port. If it is not hers, whose can it be?”
“That ship is Khadoran,” replied the merchant. “The banner belongs to the Torak clan which just happens to be led by Emperor Marak. I know because I journeyed to Khadora not long ago in search of food. The election of Lord Marak to Emperor was talked about everywhere.”
Mayor Robit’s speechless jaw dropped. His eyes opened wide as he stared at the merchant with confusion.
“I heard the captain of that ship declare that seizing it was an act of war,” shouted a citizen. “Are we going to be invaded by Khadorans now?”
The mayor ignored the question and focused on the merchant.
“You went to buy food from the Khadorans,” declared the mayor. “I remember hearing that they refused you. Is it possible that they changed their minds and sent food anyway?”
“Hardly likely,” replied the merchant. “Lord Sevrin was quite exact with his refusal. He stated that Emperor Marak had decreed that no food would be sold to Omungans as long as we were at war with the Sakovans. I find it most confusing that it is the emperor’s ship that has arrived here. It does not make sense that he would defy his own edict.”
Mayor Robit whirled to face Shel. He glared at her and shook his head.
“You said that ship was Sakovan,” accused the mayor. “How dare you deceive me?”
“I never said any such thing,” Shel replied tartly. “I said that the Star of Sakova ordered it into port to give the food to the citizens of Gatong. I never said it was a Sakovan ship. I never saw it before it docked.”
“Then how could you possibly know it was hers?” questioned the mayor.
“I heard her talking to the woman on the ship,” answered Shel. “She was using some kind of magic, but I overheard her plainly enough. She did it from my front door.”
“How could you possibly know if she was talking to someone on the ship?” interrogated the mayor. “She could have been just mumbling to herself. Perhaps she knew that this ship would arrive today and set us up to make a blunder.”
“Like seizing a Khadoran ship?” Shel shot back angrily. “I know she was talking to the ship because I heard the other woman answer her. I also heard the clanging of the rigging in the background and the sound of the sea. I know what I heard.”
The mayor stared hard at Shel for several moments before he lowered his eyes to the table. He closed his eyes as he tried to evaluate the position he was in. Finally, he realized that Gatong was in great trouble. He looked over the crowd and raised his arms high to get everyone’s attention.
“I will discuss this matter with General Papper,” the mayor declared. “When I fully understand what is happening, I will let everyone know. In the meantime, queue up for the food distribution. I expect everyone to be orderly. I will have no riots in Gatong.”
Mayor Robit faced Shel once again and waved a hand dismissively at the Imperial Guards holding her.
“I will not arrest you, Shel,” stated the mayor, “because I think you were only acting for the good of all citizens, but I warn you now. Do not stir this crowd into a frenzy. I will discover exactly how the Star of Sakova and this Khadoran ship are tied together, but I do not need discontent in Gatong while I am doing it. Do you understand?”
“I hear your words,” replied Shel. “I have not tried to incite a riot, but I felt the people need to know about the food. If we do not appease the Star of Sakova, there will be no more ships coming.”
“More ships?” asked the mayor. “Why would more ships be coming?”
“That is what she said,” shrugged Shel. “She said this was only the first ship and that more would come in the future.”
“That is hard to believe,” scowled the mayor. “It makes no sense to feed your enemy.”
“I don’t think she sees us as her enemy,” replied Shel. “I think she wanted to trade peace for food. That is what she wanted to talk to you about. It is why I brought her to your office. Remember those caravans earlier? Those were Sakovan, too. Many of us would have died without those caravans. I wonder why they stopped sending them?”
Mayor Robit gritted his teeth as he turned and jumped off the table. He knew why the caravans no longer arrived, but he dared not to speak of it. They stopped when the Imperial Guards started following them back into the Sakova. The enemy was smart enough to understand the risks of continuing the caravans, so why had the Star of Sakova decided to personally come to Gatong? Mayor Robit decided that he needed to have that question answered. He strode briskly towards the office of General Papper to get his answer.
Mayor Robit paused between the two Imperial Guards stationed outside the door to the office of the general. He did not bother to knock as he opened the door. He found the general sitting at his desk staring at a wall map of Omunga.
“Most people are polite enough to knock before entering,” scowled the general as he looked up at the mayor. “I heard you seized a ship in the harbor. I think you have just given me the perfect avenue to transport the Star of Sakova to Okata. I will have her there before Didyk or anyone else realizes what is happening.”
“You plan to sail to Okata in a Khadoran ship?” questioned the mayor as he sat in a chair before the general’s desk.
“Khadoran?” gasped the general. “Please tell me that you are playing a cruel joke on me.”
“I wish I was,” sighed the mayor. “I did not recognize the banner and neither did any of the Imperial Guards. We have problems, General.”
“We?” balked General Papper. “Do not try to connect me with your mistakes. My career is about to blossom. I will not associate myself with your foolishness.”
“You are involved deeper than you realize,” retorted the mayor. “The Khadoran ship belongs to Emperor Marak. He is the one who declared that no food would be sold to Omungans as long as we were at war with the Sakovans. Now how do you suppose that ship came to our fair city?”
“Perhaps he changed his mind?” shrugged the general. “The ship arriving is not a problem. Seizing it was. Whatever prompted you to do such a thing? We could have easily paid for the cargo.”
“The cargo was not for sale,” replied the mayor. “It was being delivered to an individual. That said individual is the Star of Sakova that you arrested. Are you beginning to see the picture yet?”
“No,” General Papper replied while shaking his head. “You are making no sense at all. Why would the Khadoran emperor send a ship loaded with food to
the leader of the Sakovans and have it dock in an Omungan city? It makes no sense at all.”
“It does if you believe what Shel says,” answered the mayor. “She claims that the Star of Sakova came to my office to offer food for peace. She said that this ship was the first of many.”
“She can’t do that,” scowled the general. “Does she think that she can make peace with individual Omungan cities? She must be a fool.”
“Perhaps,” murmured the mayor, “but she claims to have gained the allegiance of three Omungan cities already. According to her, Zaramilden, Duran, and Alamar are now parts of the Sakova.”
“Inconceivable,” retorted the general.
“Is it?” questioned the mayor. “There was almost a riot in the marketplace a few minutes ago. The people found out where the food came from. You should have been there, General. I have no doubt whatsoever that the people of Gatong would gladly exchange their allegiance for food. They are starving. If the Sakovan army showed up here, our citizen would run out of this city to embrace them with open arms. I suspect that they will do the same when the Khadorans invade.”
“That is not going to happen,” vowed the general.
“The captain of the ship stated quite clearly that he considered the seizure to be an act of war,” the mayor pointed out. “We may try to look at it otherwise, but it takes only one side to declare a war.”
“That is not a problem,” the general smiled thinly. “I will arrange for the crew to be executed. When the ship is unloaded, I will have it taken out to sea and sunk. No one in Khadora will be the wiser. It will be as if the ship sunk at sea with all hands aboard. You worry too much.”
“You worry too little,” retorted the mayor. “The Sakovans and the Khadorans have a method of speaking over long distances. There was a mage onboard the ship. Shel overheard the Star of Sakova speaking to the mage before the ship was even in sight. She also heard the mage answer. I fear that Khadora may already know about the incident.”
“Mages?” murmured the general as his eyes lowered and he exhaled deeply. “Why didn’t I think about that? I remembered that she was from the Academy of Magic. I should have realized that she was a mage.”
The general suddenly became very agitated. He pushed his chair away from the desk and leaped to his feet.
“What is the matter?” Mayor Robit asked with concern. “Where are you going?”
“To the cells,” replied the general as he sped towards the door. “We have no mage cells in Gatong. If we have two mages imprisoned there, they will get free. We must not let them escape.”
Chapter 24
Attitude Adjustment
Lyra woke with a throbbing headache. She raised herself up on one elbow and looked around the room. She was in a small dank cell. She could see the flickering of a torch through a small barred window in the door and a slight beam of sunlight through a small window near the ceiling. She got to her feet and walked towards the window, but it was too high for her to see out. All she could glimpse was a cloud-covered sky.
Lyra thought back on how she had come to be in the cell. She mentally kicked herself for being so foolish. She had let herself get lured into complacency by the easy victories that she had scored at Duran and Zaramilden. Now she was stuck in an Omungan prison with few options available to her. Her first thought was to weave an air tunnel to StarCity, but she quickly dismissed it. If the Sakovans found out that she had been captured, they would storm the city of Gatong. Thousands of people would die in the battle, and the Sakova would be left unprotected. It would be the end of her people.
She thought briefly about using her magic to smash the walls of the prison. She had never attempted such a thing before, but she felt confident that she could do it. There were two problems with that approach. First, she might end up bringing the stone walls down on herself. Second, and worse, if she did managed to escape the cell, she would most assuredly alert the Imperial Guards doing so. All she would accomplish would be to get herself into the middle of an enemy city and be forced to defend herself.
She shuddered at the thought of taking on a thousand Imperial Guards. Her power was strong, but everything had limits. Even if she survived, she would end up doing exactly what she had been trying to avoid. How would the people of Gatong ever unite with the Sakovans after she had killed a thousand of them? That was not the solution. In desperation, Lyra fell to her knees and prayed to Kaltara.
Lyra was not sure how long she had been in prayer, but a commotion outside the cell door attracted her attention. She heard people talking as they were shoved into cells. Her ears perked up as she heard a female voice. She recognized it as belonging to the mage from Emperor Marak’s ship. When the commotion had died down, Lyra wove an air tunnel into the corridor and listened for voices. She adjusted the air tunnel and zoomed in on the voice of the mage.
“This is Lyra,” the Star of Sakova whispered. “I am in one of the cells not far from you. What happened?”
“They seized our ship when we docked,” came the reply. “They arrested all of us and are now unloading the food. I have already reported it to Emperor Marak.”
“He is not going to send armies down, is he?” inquired Lyra.
“I do not know what his course of action will be,” replied the mage. “He is very angry. I could tell that from the tone of his voice. He promised that we would not linger long here.”
“Where is he?” asked Lyra.
“He is at the Imperial Palace in Khadoratung,” answered the mage. “Do you want me to contact him again?”
“I would like to speak to him privately,” answered Lyra.
“Not a problem,” came the reply. “I will contact him from this cell so he knows the location. He can vary it enough to find you. Sing a song or talk quietly to yourself. He will pick up on it.”
“Thank you,” Lyra responded as she broke the air tunnel.
Lyra stood reciting poems for several long minutes as she waited. The voice when it came startled her.
“A lovely poem that is,” said Emperor Marak. “Why are you in prison?”
“Because I was headstrong and foolish,” Lyra replied with embarrassment. “I took my bloodless victories in the east too lightly. General Papper recognized me and had me arrested before I could even speak.”
“And why is my ship in port?” inquired Emperor Marak. “I thought the plan was to obtain their surrender before delivering the food?”
“I could not do it,” confessed Lyra. “The people here are starving. I cannot use food as a weapon. I just can’t.”
“You must,” asserted Emperor Marak. “While it is hideous to think of denying food to starving people, you do not help them by giving it for free. If the people of Gatong do not become Sakovan, they will all die. The same is true for every other city in Omunga. Your actions will only feed those people for a few days. What will happen when the food runs out again?”
“You can send more,” suggested the Star of Sakova. “Why must I subjugate these people to feed them? They are not my enemy.”
“They are your enemy until Omunga is defeated,” retorted Emperor Marak. “Lyra, I admire your compassion, but it is misplaced. You must begin to look at their long-term welfare, not just their immediate suffering. They can solve their hunger with a simple declaration of allegiance to you. Is that too much to ask of them?”
“No,” Lyra sighed. “Yes. I mean I just don’t know. It is easy for you to say such things in Khadoratung, but I am here gazing upon their emaciated bodies. When I see the condition of the people, I just cry. People are not meant to starve to death.”
“No, they aren’t,” Emperor Marak agreed soothingly. “I understand the strain that is being put upon you, but you must learn to trust me. The Omungans that come under your rule will be treated far better than they have ever been treated before. In a sense, you are right. They are not your enemies, but the government that rules them is. All you are asking them to do is to disavow that government. What is so difficul
t about that?”
“You know that Larst will not ignore such a rebellion,” replied Lyra. “With Zaramilden and Duran it was easy. The Katana’s armies can hardly march to those cities. Alamar was a little trickier, but I had no choice in that matter. The citizens chose it for themselves. I think Alamar will be all right, though. I have made arrangements for the Omungan siege engines to be destroyed before they get to Alamar. The west coast here is entirely different. There is a fine road leading from here directly to Okata. The Katana can have his armies outside this city’s walls within a week of learning of the defection. Maybe sooner if the armies are closer than Okata.”
“You must meet those armies sometime before you crush Okata,” replied Emperor Marak. “If you can control the timing of the news to Okata, it will aid greatly when it comes time for battle. You have a choice to make, Lyra. The Katana will either learn that Gatong has fallen to the Sakovans, or he will learn that the Star of Sakova has been executed, and the Sakovan people are committing suicide for their failure to protect her. Which message do you want to send?”
“Neither,” Lyra answered as she shut her eyes.
“That is not an option,” retorted Lord Marak. “You must demand the surrender of Gatong and every other Omungan city before they get food. You must trust me that the people will love you for it. Their fond memories of your free food deliveries will die with those people when the evil arrives if you do not demand their surrender. I do not know how else to put this. You really have no options. You must conquer those people. You may not like to do it, but it is what Kaltara requires. If you do not believe me, ask Kaltara.”
“I did,” Lyra replied softly. “I just finished praying about it.”
“And?” prompted Emperor Marak. “What was the answer?”
“He instructed me to contact you,” admitted Lyra. “I am just not up for this task. Why was I chosen to lead the Sakovans?”
“Because Kaltara chose you,” Emperor Marak replied with the hint of a smile in his voice. “You are a wonderfully compassionate person, Lyra. It is a quality that will be required to heal the rift between the Sakovans and the Omungans, but that compassion will be required later. Right now you are being called upon to be victorious. You cannot do that from inside a cell. I would be glad to send my armies down there to do this for you, but that is not what Kaltara wants. He wants you to do it. You have the privilege of hearing his voice and speaking to him. Why do you not listen to what he has to say?”
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