“What did you do with his body?”
“There is much that you do not know about Alceans,” smiled Clint. “You will learn one day what a favor I am doing for you by getting you to cancel your invasion. If you do invade, your three hundred thousand men will never return from Alcea. We have moved throughout your cities with impunity. We have destroyed your fleet and your shipyards. Even the Badgers cannot hide from us, and we can walk into the emperor’s sleeping chamber at will. We can do all of these things, yet there are only a handful of us here. In Alcea, there are thousands of us. Think about that, Emperor.”
The emperor stared at Clint with large eyes and an open mouth as he recognized the truth of the general’s words.
“You have my vow. Rescue me, and we will not invade your homeland. I promise you that.”
Once again, Clint believed the man, but he sighed anxiously. Jaar was the type of man who changed his mind and his mood instantly. Clint needed something that would place fear into the man’s heart. He stood watching the emperor rub the floor with a rag, and finally it hit him.
“I will leave you now,” Clint said softly, “but I will leave you with one further warning. Should you decide that someone else will offer you a better bargain, I now vow that I will kill you and your entire family if you betray me.”
“That was unnecessary,” scowled the emperor. “Someone else is already doing that.”
“But they don’t know about your son.”
Jaar’s head snapped up, and he stared at Clint. “You don’t either.”
“Janay is a good mother,” replied Clint. “She steadfastly stated that your son died six years ago of a fever.”
“That is the truth.”
“Hardly,” retorted Clint. “Janay was prepared to repeat that lie for as long as she lived.” Clint paused for effect. “Or for as long as you lived, whichever came first. However, once she thought you were already dead…”
“You are lying,” the emperor said with more rage than conviction.
Clint squatted next to the emperor. He stuck his finger in the blood and drew the secret mark he had seen earlier on the emperor’s right hip. He then wiped his finger off on the rag the emperor was holding and rose to his feet.
Jaar gasped in horror. The secret he had kept most closely for his entire life was no longer a secret. He rose and bowed submissively to Clint.
“My word will be honored. There will be no invasion of Alcea, and no one will harm you. We each bear secrets that must not be revealed. In this way, we are closer than brothers. Go and gather your forces.”
Chapter 45
Zycara
General Forshire had barely gotten into bed when someone started banging loudly on his door. The Ranger pushed back the covers and threw on a robe. He passed through the sitting room, not bothering to pick up his sword. The banging on his door continued incessantly. The general threw open his door with a look of anger on his face, but that look soon dissolved as he stared into the face of Grand General Kyrga. Kyrga pushed his way into the room. While Kyrga stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes examining the room, Clint closed the door.
“Is there some dire emergency?” Clint asked, wondering why the Grand General came to him personally instead of sending someone to fetch him..
“Where have you been?” asked Kyrga.
“I was sleeping?” scowled Clint. “Isn’t that what we are supposed to do during the night?”
“Don’t get flippant with me, Forshire. Where have you been for the past week?”
“Outside the city,” frowned Clint.
“Where outside the city?” Kyrga asked with a smug expression as if he had finally trapped a junior officer in a blatant lie.
“My men have a camp less than an hour’s ride beyond the western gates. It is not hard to find. What is this all about?”
“Some of your men have been reported dead, Forshire. Quite a few of them if the report is to be believed. How do you explain that?”
“A Corps has not suffered a single death since I formed it. Your reports are in error.”
“I think not,” snarled the Grand General as he looked into Clint’s sleeping chamber. “Over one hundred of your men died a few days ago west of the city. I will have the truth out of you.”
“You have never had anything but the truth from my lips, even when it might have been advantageous to remain quiet. A Corps is stationed in Olansk, and has been for months. I brought only a single squad with me to Despair, and I just left them mere hours ago. I would certainly know if I was missing one hundred men. The reports are erroneous.”
“They all had A Corps patches,” Kyrga retorted, his voicing rising almost to a shout.
Clint frowned and walked past the Grand General. He sat down in a chair and appeared to ponder the problem. Kyrga impatiently whirled and glared at the general. Clint suddenly looked up at Kyrga as if he had just had an epiphany.
“There is a possible explanation.”
“I am waiting, Forshire,” Kyrga replied, his foot tapping the floor impatiently.
“In the early days of forming A Corps, I recruited some men who were clearly unfit for service. I tried my best to reform them, but it was a hopeless case. I was on the verge of returning them to prison, but General Garibaldi unexpectedly asked me if he could have a shot at them. I think he was envious of the size of my army. As the men were of no use to me, I agreed to let Garibaldi have them.”
Grand General Kyrga narrowed his eyes with suspicion. “How many men are we talking about?”
“One hundred fifty. This was a long time ago, though. V Corps has long been disbanded, hasn’t it? And why would they be wearing the patch of the A Corps? What is going on, Grand General?”
Kyrga sighed with frustration and stared distractedly at the door as if he were working on some complex mental puzzle. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm and soft.
“They were not wearing any patches, but each man carried patches for both the A Corps and the V Corps.”
“That explains who the men are,” mused Clint, “but not who they are serving under. Do you have any idea who the men were battling when they died?”
Kyrga shook his head, not willing to discuss any more about the battle than he needed to.
“Those men were not soldiers,” probed Clint, “and I doubt that anyone could have made them into soldiers since I last saw them, but still it would take a potent force to kill them all without leaving some of your own behind. Would you like me to take my squad and investigate the battle scene?”
“No,” Kyrga said too quickly. Anxious to change the subject, the Grand General looked Clint in the face. “What exactly are you doing in Despair when your army is up in Olansk?”
“Colonel Donil was one of the men chosen to go to Alcea,” answered general Forshire. “As I am anxious to learn about the land we will be invading, I decided to wait for his return before heading north. I understand that he has now arrived, so I will be leaving for Olansk in the morning.”
Kyrga hesitated as if he had more to say, but after a brief pause, he shook his head and left the suite without another word. The Grand General hurried through the corridors to his office and summoned one of his trusted guards into the office.
“There is supposed to be a squad of A Corps about an hour west of the city. I want a head count of them before the sun rises.”
* * * *
Peanut soared through the night sky, spiraling down through the trees to land on Garth’s nose. The Knight of Alcea subconsciously brushed at his nose causing Peanut to frantically leap into the air and hover over the Alcean’s face.
“Stop that!” scowled the tiny green man.
Garth’s eyes immediately opened. His eyes crossed as he tried to focus on the fairy hovering right above his face. Garth sat up quickly causing Peanut to dart away once again. The fairy hovered a pace away with his hands on his hips. Even in the darkness of the clearing, Garth could see the tiny man’s scowl.
“It
is dangerous to be near you,” complained Peanut. “If I wanted danger, I would be somewhere else looking for it. Has no one told you of our delicate wings?”
“Has anyone told you that it is impolite to land on someone’s nose? You should land on my mouth instead. That way I can eat you and not have to bother being awakened.”
The fairy’s eyes grew large with horror at the thought of being eaten. Garth merely grinned at the fairy, mischievously showing his teeth.
“Why are you disturbing my sleep?”
The fairy shuddered even though he knew that Garth was no threat to him. He fluttered down and landed on Garth’s knee as others in the camp began to awaken at the sound of someone talking.
“Clint sent me. The emperor knows that he is an Alcean, but he has made a deal. If Clint can return with enough troops to free the emperor, Jaar will promise not to invade Alcea.”
“As if he could be trusted to follow through with the agreement once he is free,” retorted Garth.
“Clint believes that the offer is genuine, but he will explain it in person. Right now, he needs a squad of A Corps soldiers to be seen about an hour west of the city. He thinks Kyrga might send a scout to verify his claim.”
“I will take care of that,” promised the Knight of Alcea as he rose to his feet. “Is there anything else?”
“K’san is dead. The priest probed the mind of Jaar after the emperor learned about Clint being an Alcean. I dumped the body in the sea. I do not think anyone will know.”
“And Clint was with the emperor at the time?” asked Tedi.
“He was hiding on the balcony.”
“I don’t trust Jaar,” interjected Morro. “The man will not keep his word.”
“He will,” retorted the fairy. “Clint knows about his secret mark. The emperor is convinced that Clint has his family hidden and that he knows about the heir. He even made Clint the Imperial General of the Federation, but I am supposed to let Clint tell you all that.”
Garth looked at Tedi and Natia. “The priest here is dead. There is no reason for us to dally in Despair. As soon as Clint returns, we are heading for Herinak to plan the next phase of our winter campaign.”
“So you don’t think Jaar will keep his end of the bargain?” asked Natia.
“Time will tell what the emperor will or won’t do,” replied Garth, “but I will not stand still for one moment while he makes up his mind. We have many irons in the fire right now. It is time to start bringing them to fruition.”
“You mean the gathering of the heirs?” asked Morro.
“That is the major task of the winter.” Garth nodded. “If Wylan and Edmond are successful, only Aerta will remain unaccounted for, and there is nothing we can do about that country. The heir is a Federation general. I will not take such a person to Herinak.”
“The empire is also unaccounted for,” stated Tedi, “but I understand what you are saying. Having the emperor’s wife and daughters is almost as good as having the heir. We will be ready when you return.”
“Come with me, Peanut,” ordered Garth as he rose to his feet. “You can tell me the rest of Clint’s secrets while we fly out west and position Scorpion’s men so they can be found easily.”
* * * *
The guards saluted Grand General Kyrga as he entered the emperor’s suite. He ignored them. The Grand General walked through the suite to the sleeping chamber, finding the emperor sitting on the edge of his bed, the sunshine from the window illuminating him.
“Have you forgotten how to knock?” scowled the emperor.
Kyrga stared down at Jaar with a sneer upon his face. “Where is the priest?”
“If it’s a priest that you are looking for, perhaps you should try a temple, or have you totally lost your sanity already?”
Kyrga stepped forward and backhanded the emperor. “You are no longer the master here, Jaar. Do not forget your place.”
“You can’t afford to kill me, Kyrga, and if you bruise me, you will have a hard time explaining it to visitors. You may keep me a prisoner here, but you cannot afford to keep me out of view forever. If you do, word will spread, and you will die.”
“Maybe you have a point,” Kyrga replied with a malicious smile. “Perhaps each time you need to be reminded of your position, I will order the beating given to your wife and daughters instead of you.”
Instead of the look of hatred he had expected from the emperor, Jaar merely smiled slightly as if he was enjoying some secret joke. Grand General Kyrga frowned and avoided looking at the emperor. As he glanced around the room, his eyes landed on the floor. Kyrga would never have noticed the aberration had the sun not been shining brightly on the tiles. He squatted and stared at the wavy lines produced by the slanting rays of the sun. Without a word, Kyrga rose and threw open the doors to the balcony. He walked onto the balcony and inspected the length of it, pausing to glance down at the patrols far below. Suddenly, he heard a crash. He turned and raced back to the emperor’s sleeping chamber to find Jaar kneeling on the floor mopping up some liquid with a rag.
“I dropped my cup of tea,” offered the emperor as he continued to scrub the tiles. “That was my favorite cup, too.”
Grand General Kyrga looked down on the emperor only briefly before storming out of the room. He strode through the corridors of the Imperial Palace without acknowledging any of the officers who saluted him. When he entered his office, he slammed the door behind him. The noble already in the room looked at him expectantly.
“Something is wrong,” Kyrga reported. “Jaar’s attitude is not what it should be.”
“How do you mean?”.
“I threatened his family, but he showed no anger. It is as if he knows something that I do not. I cannot explain it any better than that, but there was something else amiss. There was a stain on the floor of his sleeping chamber. It must be recent as the suite is cleaned daily. When he saw me examining it, he purposely dropped a cup of tea in the same spot. He is hiding something.”
“And what about K’san?” asked the noble.
“There was no sign of him. I think you must be mistaken. I am sure that K’san would have told me if he was going to see the emperor.”
“I removed the link between you and K’san,” retorted the noble. “He had no reason to report to you. Have the palace searched, and send a runner to the temple. I think it is time to bring Zycara into the picture.”
“The black-cloak?” frowned the Grand General.
The noble nodded. “I will wait here for both of you.”
Kyrga left the office. An hour later, he returned with a black-cloak by his side. The mage bowed silently to the noble. The noble stood and waved towards the door.
“Take us to Jaar, Grand General.”
“If he sees your face,” frowned Kyrga, “he will know that you are his enemy.”
“You worry too much, Kyrga,” smiled the noble. “The emperor will no longer be a problem for us. It is time for him to join our side.”
Kyrga had no idea what the noble’s words meant, but he knew better than to argue. The Grand General opened the door and led the two men to the emperor’s suite. When they entered the suite, Emperor Jaar was sitting at his desk. He looked up in confusion as the three men entered, and Kyrga closed the door. Jaar stared into the noble’s eyes trying to determine if the man was his savior or his executioner. The confusion was quickly dispelled when the noble spoke with an air of authority.
“Leave us, Kyrga.”
The Grand General left the suite without a word, and Jaar’s eyes narrowed.
“So it is you, Lord Kommoron. I should have been able to figure that out on my own. Have you come to gloat or to kill me?”
“Neither,” the noble replied with a smirk. “Your reign will last until the invasion. Who did you send to retrieve your women?”
Emperor Jaar frowned at the noble’s cryptic answer. With General Forshire already on his way to gather his army, the emperor would be free before the spring, as long as Jaar did
not reveal his association with the general.
“My women?” the emperor replied stonily. “I have no idea what you are talking about. My family is quite safe. I have no need to send anyone to tend to them. If I did have someone available to me, I would now be tempted to send them to visit your family. You know the price for treason, Lord Kommoron, but I am in a generous mood today. Leave my presence now, take your cur of a Grand General with you, and I will ignore your gross violation of law. This is the last time I will be so benevolent.”
The noble’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curled in an expression of malevolence. Jaar had expected a burst of anger or a mocking laugh in response to his words, but Lord Kommoron merely nodded to the black-cloak at his side. Emperor Jaar watched in horror as the mage’s arm rose and pointed at him. Before he could shout an objection or move out of the way, a blue blast soared from the mage’s fingertips, and the emperor felt only a moment of chill tingling his body before he froze.
“Can you probe his mind?” asked Lord Kommoron.
“I cannot,” answered Zycara. “K’san has that ability.”
“K’san is dead,” snapped the noble. “I need to know who is working against me.”
“I could gather my brothers and keep the emperor frozen until we can find one with the ability.”
“No,” sighed the noble. “We have kept Jaar isolated for too long already. We are beginning to lose control of the situation. Finish the task assigned to you.”
The mage nodded and moved towards the frozen body of the emperor. Melting the ice around Jaar’s throat, the mage proceeded to strangle the emperor. When the deed was done, Zycara cast the Reflecting Pool spell. The air shimmered around the mage, and Zycara’s features distorted until he became a perfect image of the late Emperor Jaar. When the transformation was complete, the new emperor smiled at his master.
“Preserve the body,” ordered Lord Kommoron. “We will have need of it in the spring. I will go tell Grand General Kyrga that you and I have come to an agreement. He will no longer restrict your movement.”
Heirs of the Enemy Page 57
