“Sio, were you waiting outside? Why didn’t you come in when you heard the shots fired?”
“I thought I would give you two a chance to…” She glanced down at Vachlan’s open pants knowingly. “Reconcile…”
Visola reached out to squeeze her arm. “Best sister ever.”
“Remember that when I’m cutting those babies out of you.”
“Wait, what?”
Chapter 24: Frozen Round Table
Aazuria rubbed her eyebrows tersely, trying to knead the severe knots into relaxation. She nodded as Queen Amabie finished making suggestions based on Naclana’s reports. When they asked for her input, she nodded and sighed. “So obviously, we need to wait for Vachlan to heal up a bit more before we launch our attacks,” Aazuria said to the war council sitting around the table.
“Yes, but not too long,” Visola said, gesturing down at her stomach. “I am fucking gigantic here, and it’s hampering my speed.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you shot one of our best warriors,” Trevain criticized dryly.
“He’s fine! He’s fine!” Visola protested. “I mean, what do you think hurts more? Getting shot a few times, or giving birth to a baby?”
“How would I know?” Trevain asked.
“Definitely the baby,” Aazuria responded, “in my experience.”
“I concur,” Queen Amabie answered. “Getting shot is over quickly.”
“How does that justify what she did to my grandfather?” Trevain asked stubbornly.
“It doesn’t,” Visola said with a shrug, “but him brutally torturing me for months does. Look, it was a personal thing. I realize it was somewhat counterproductive to matters of state, and for that I am somewhat apologetic.”
“Viso,” Sionna said in a cautionary tone, “as your physician I strongly advise that you not do battle in your third trimester.”
“And as my sister?” Visola asked with a sweet smile.
“Do whatever you want, you crazy bitch.” Sionna was still protective of her sister’s health, but since Vachlan had returned, Visola’s complications had almost completely disappeared. It seemed they had been entirely stress-related. Trying to stop Visola from doing anything she wished to do would not only incur her wrath, but risk causing her more stress. It was ironic that the stress from not doing battle against a hundred thousand warriors was a greater risk to Visola’s health than actually facing the men; that would be a nourishing thrill. “Besides, I think you actually fight a bit better while pregnant.”
“Thanks!” Visola said cheerfully. “I just wish that it didn’t have to be twins. They are making me so large. I motion for beginning the attack within the month.”
“I am not comfortable with this,” Trevain said, placing both palms flat against the frozen round table. “You cannot go into battle like that, Grandma.”
“Unfortunately, I only take orders from Aazuria,” Visola said with a grin. “I will be leading the Ducklings while Queen Amabie leads her Water Dragons. Well, I guess they’re just called ‘our armies’ now that we’re allowed to organize. It will be a traditional mass infantry strike—you can’t mess with the classics!”
Aazuria nodded. “It truly is one of Adlivun’s greatest strengths that we have so many strong leaders. Even though Visola’s troops and Queen Amabie’s troops are both infantry, their fighting styles are so different that they might as well be two distinct opponents. In addition to your forces, Vachlan has left Namaka—for whom he requests a promotion to Colonel—with several thousand pirates, and she will be helping them to organize an assault.”
“Pirates?” Yamako asked with a frown. “Sorry, I was away in Japan for a few weeks and I need to get caught up on recent affairs. How are illegal downloaders going to help us fight?”
Sionna smiled at the Japanese princess. “No, dear. Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea.”
“Oh, why didn’t you just say so? Sorry, I’m a bit of a computer geek.” Yamako grinned sheepishly at Sionna.
“Most of the pirates are actually land-dwellers,” Sionna explained, “so I’ve been shipping them thousands of doses of my serum so they can breathe underwater and help with the attacks. I’ve also been stockpiling antibiotics for our troops to deal with the expected infections from the contaminated waters.”
“Very impressive, Sio,” Princess Yamako said, reaching out to squeeze the doctor’s hand. “This is coming together rather nicely. I can try to set up some advanced sonar systems around Damahaar so we can all have real-time maps of the area. I can have the equipment custom-made and shipped from my supplier in Sapporo, but the only problem is installing it in enemy territory.”
“I can take care of that quite easily,” Naclana said. “Callder and I will lead a small number of men who are trained for speed and stealth.”
Trevain nodded. “Naclana is best at scouting and doing quick peripheral strikes. My brother could be an asset as well. I would like to lead an attack from the air, but I’m not sure how useful it will be to bomb the surface of the Maldives. Also, we would need to evacuate the hundreds of thousands of civilians living on the surface of those islands.”
“That will be done,” Aazuria said. “I intend to officially declare war very shortly.”
Visola frowned. “Honey, you don’t need to declare war. It’s been how many years? Let’s just get on with waging it.”
Aazuria shook her head. “No, I will do things differently. Now that we officially own land on the surface, we need to conform to land-dweller laws. I will make an official, legal declaration of war as per the Hague Convention of 1907 on the Opening of Hostilities.” She opened a folder in front of her and began to sift through the documents quickly. She lifted her tired eyes to Trevain questioningly. “Did you get a chance to look over the protocol I gave you?”
“It’s all bureaucratic bullshit, Zuri,” he answered with a growl. “After what those bastards did to you, I don’t see why you should have to do paperwork in order to announce that you’re about to march into their houses and fuck them up.”
Aazuria allowed herself a small smile at his defensive tone. “Apparently, I need to have documents ratified and deposited at The Hague. We also need to notify all the ‘neutral Powers,’ whatever that means. Will you please look into it for me?”
“Consider it done,” he told her with a dutiful nod.
“You’ve been a great help,” she told him softly. Noticing that everyone around the table was peering at their interaction with interest, she quickly cleared her throat and resumed her professional tone. “Naclana, please brief Elandria on all this later when she gets back from the city. We might want to perform a showy public declaration in addition to the official, written one. Not only would it bolster the morale of our people, our neighbors, and our allies, but it will be decidedly more embarrassing for the Clan of Zalcan when we conquer them after giving them a polite, formal warning.”
“Sedna, I’ve missed you!” Visola said with a grin. “There’s no one like you, Zuri.”
Aazuria returned her friend’s smile. “I feel awkward doing this without Vachlan’s counsel. Basically, we know his plan is to take the city of Damahaar. We need to hit them at their core, so that they scatter and crumble.”
“Take the capital,” Trevain mused. “Kind of like Risk!”
“Pardon me?” Queen Amabie said in confusion.
“It’s a board game,” he said with a blush. “I’ll show you later.”
Aazuria and Queen Amabie stared at each other with puzzlement. Aazuria cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I believe that if we do a professional press release we should focus on the fact that our reasons for declaring war are not just personal. Sure, we have re-negotiated the treaty with the Americans to ensure better working conditions and paid, unionized shifts for our people finishing up the bridge, but they have only offered us ‘emergency defense in the event of an attack.’ We all know that in the first twenty-four hours of being attacked, long before they could come to ou
r assistance, we would already have lost everything.”
“We need to attack before we can be attacked,” Queen Amabie agreed firmly. “I learned this firsthand in Shiretoko. Vachlan has done us a great service in weakening the enemy—you were not quite as insane as I believed you were for loving that man, Visola.”
“Aw, shucks,” Visola said coyly, making a physical motion of brushing away the compliment.
Aazuria smiled. “Let us all remember that we do not just do this for Adlivun, but for the world. Once we conquer Damahaar and control their nucleus, we can then go on to recapture the Mami Wata territories and waters for the pirates who are assisting us. We will also liberate the Rusalka and Ker-ys, and anywhere else the Clan has established dominance.”
“Perhaps I can reclaim Shiretoko,” Queen Amabie said softly, “but I am not sure I have the strength to rule over a new nation again. I am quite comfortable here. What do you think, Yama?”
“I am not sure, Mother,” Princess Yamako said softly. “Kaito loves it here. He gets along really well with the other kids, and I don’t want to take him away from the only world he’s ever known. I also feel safe here.”
“We will have to discuss the future of the Ningyo people when the war is over,” Queen Amabie said. “Where will Elandria and the children be staying during the fighting? In the panic room or in Diomede City?”
“Wherever is safest,” Trevain answered, “but I must admit that Elandria is having some… communication issues. She’s having a rough time, and I think we should leave someone else with the children, just in case.”
“I will be the first to admit that I am useless in a fight,” Yamako said with a smile, “and Kai is still a baby. I would be happy to stay with Elandria and the kids.”
Visola nodded. “Thanks, Yama. Varia and Glais will not be happy to stay behind. They’re actually both pretty competent fighters—better than some of the adults in the reserves!”
Aazuria smiled and nodded. “I wish they could experience the fighting, but they are too young. I promised Bain I would take care of his son, and I want Varia to have something of a childhood. So much was already taken from her.” Pausing, the white-haired woman strummed her fingers on the cold surface of the table. “Anyway, I forgot to mention that I will also be leading my own forces into battle—and we will be the first wave to hit Damahaar.”
A chorus of murmurs went up from the room.
“You’ll be doing what?” Trevain asked with a frown. “Zuri, what on earth are you thinking? You can’t just throw yourself into combat like that…”
“I’m not the woman I used to be,” she answered firmly. “I’m not a fragile princess anymore; not like when we first met, Trevain. I will lead the Sisters of Sedna, along with Mother Melusina.”
“How the heck are they going to fight?” Visola asked. “Are they going to dance the enemies to death in their swirly green dresses?”
“There is truth to every legend, Visola. The Sisters are sirens, and they will do battle with their voices. I have witnessed them in action.”
Visola scowled. “Hmph. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Then you shall see it and believe it,” Aazuria answered.
Trevain placed both of his elbows on the frozen table, sighing deeply. He knew that it was not his place to interfere with Aazuria’s wishes, but he felt distressed by her sudden battle-hungry attitude.
“Sorry to bring this up, but what are we going to do with the prisoner?” Sionna asked. “I am getting a little tired of keeping the toad tied up in my basement.”
Aazuria nodded. “We have legally earned custody of Marshal Landou by providing evidence of his crimes, so Visola may continue to torture him as she sees fit until Vachlan recovers.”
“Great! Torturing him will provide excellent physical rehabilitation for Vachlan,” Visola attested.
Aazuria rose to her feet. “So did we cover everything?” Seeing a row of reluctant nods, she picked up her papers. “Meeting adjourned.”
“Happy war planning!” Visola shouted to everyone happily. “Don’t forget that I’m also scheduling a battle-shower for the 15th...” Noticing a glare from Aazuria, Visola cleared her throat and corrected herself as she handed out invitations. “I mean a baby shower! It’s going to be a huge bash, so I will need help preparing goodie bags and decorations.”
“You sketched over the little rattles and made them into battle-axes,” Yamako observed as she took her invitation.
“I just wanted to encourage the right sort of present,” Visola explained.
“This is really adorable,” Queen Amabie said as she opened the invitation. “‘Please join us in welcoming the predictably fearsome offspring of General Ramaris and The Destroyer.’”
Aazuria frowned down at the card which had the words ‘We’re having a baby!’ crossed out and personalized. “Visola—it says, ‘We’re having a war and babies!’”
“What? I can’t celebrate two special occasions at the same time?”
Chapter 25: A Blanketing Avalanche
Aazuria had promised herself that she would not sleep on the airplane. Unfortunately, it had turned out to be an extremely long flight. She had been unable to sleep the previous night, her whole body buzzing with anticipation for the coming war. Varia must have felt the excitement too, for she had come to Aazuria’s room and spent the whole night asking her mother questions. The number one question was, “Why would you spend so much time training me for combat when you won’t allow me to go to war with you?”
Aazuria had tried to respond carefully, as she always did to Varia’s questions. “I taught you to defend yourself because it is the most basic, necessary knowledge one must have to preserve their life. It will take a little while longer to teach you to defend all of Adlivun, and a while longer than that to learn to annihilate empires. I’m not sure that even I can successfully accomplish the latter.”
“Of course you can, Mama,” Varia said faithfully. “You told me to never attempt anything unless I was 100% certain of the outcome, so I know you would not do this unless you were assured of victory.”
“But I’m not, my darling,” Aazuria said softly. “Not this time. I just believe that this is the rare type of risk that warrants an exception. Some risks are worth taking.”
“How do you know which risks are the special ones?”
Aazuria gazed at her daughter thoughtfully in the darkness. “You know it in your blood—when it feels like you cannot go on unless you try to do the impossible. When it feels like no matter what you do, you will never move forward in your life unless you overcome this one obstacle. When your every spare thought is occupied by thoughts of your goal, and obsessive deliberations on how to achieve victory over your demons.” Aazuria kissed her daughter’s hair. “You have a sharp mind and a good intuition, Varia. You will always know in your heart what the right course of action should be; you just have to listen carefully.”
Now, as she lay drowsily on the luxurious lowered seat in the first class section of the plane, Aazuria wondered whether she had even correctly followed her own advice. She knew nothing. She was completely uncertain of the outcome of these long months of labored planning; long years, if she allowed herself to be honest and remember that she had been plotting to destroy the Emperor’s city in the back of her mind from that tiny cabin in Lake Vostok. Yes, she would have given anything to expedite the fall of the Clan of Zalcan. Although she had not admitted her reckless, vengeful intentions to herself, (what mother of a young child could sanely say that she yearned to lead armies into battle?) they had overpowered her until she was slave to the throbbing of war drums beating within her skull and chest, hankering for bloodshed with every vehement thump of her heart. She could not forget what had been done to her. She had not forgotten what had been done to her people.
Pulling the blanket closer around her neck, Aazuria wondered if she had been hiding from Visola and her station at the palace because she knew, deep in her soul, that once she resum
ed her position of power, she would be immediately exploiting her power. But it was more than her birthright; it had been hers to command even without her official status as reigning monarch. This was unsettling. She was no longer sure that such power was safe in her hands—in only a few minutes, she would be throwing thousands of her countrymen into the fray of battle, and surely sacrificing thousands of their lives. She had tried to convince herself that it was not only a personal vendetta; her people deserved a moment to avenge themselves as well. They deserved to fight for all they had lost. Many of the warriors were from Bimini or Shiretoko, and many had lost loved ones in the recent battles waged by the Clan of Zalcan both in Adlivun, Zimovia, and across all the oceans of the world.
Aazuria shivered. She did not know why she felt so cold. She could tolerate the freezing temperatures of Arctic waters, or the deathly frigidness of Vostok, but somehow, the particular coldness of extremely high temperatures seemed unnatural to her. She had never been on an airplane (when she was not chloroformed) and it was bizarre and unfamiliar. The cabin temperature near her neck and shoulders was fine, but there was a frostiness seeping in near her feet. She shifted uneasily, curling her legs closer to her midsection to try to offer them more warmth. She knew that there was a lot of time left on the flight, and only a bit more excruciating waiting left to do before she got her chance to take action and fight. She knew that she should try to get some refreshing, restful slumber before they landed on the Maldives.
Trying to grow comfortable, she shifted her body around fitfully. She forced her eyes closed, but her mind would not shut down and stop racing. She tossed and turned for what felt like several uncomfortable hours until she felt the unmistakable sensation of being watched. Turning to peer over her shoulder, her hazy vision revealed what must have been a dreamlike apparition of her ex-husband. She stared uncomprehendingly for a minute at Trevain’s silhouette.
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