Council of War

by Richard S. Tuttle

  "I will do no such thing," Samar stated adamantly. "If you can no longer abide here on the Isle of Despair, I will take you to the mainland, but I will not let you drown yourself."

  "You know of the mainland?" asked the prince.

  "I know a great deal about it," nodded the mermaid. "When I was younger, I was quite curious about it. It is beautiful in its own way, but it can't compare with the sea."

  "How far is it?" asked the dwarf.

  "The closest part is fifteen leagues due south," answered Samar.

  "Is that where the emperor lives?" asked Prince Drak.

  "No," replied Samar. "He lives in a big city at the mouth of the Despair River. The closest land is Elfwoods. It is a great forest where they keep the elven slaves. It stretches westward all the way to the mountains."

  "Mountains?" brightened the prince. "Are they big mountains?"

  "Very big," Samar answered. "They stretch for hundreds of leagues."

  "What I would give to see those mountains," sighed Prince Drak.

  "I can take you almost there," offered the mermaid. "The Despair River gets too shallow near the mountains, but I could get you close to them."

  The dwarven prince did not immediately respond. His mind whirled with the information he had gained from the mermaid, and a plan began to congeal in his mind.

  "What are you thinking?" prompted the mermaid.

  "I am thinking about a way to get my people to those mountains," answered the dwarf.

  "I could take them one at a time I suppose," suggested the mermaid.

  "No," the dwarf shook his head. "K'san would soon notice the low number of dwarves, and he would slay them all. When we leave the Isle of Despair, we must all leave at once."

  "I cannot do that," frowned Samar. "And you cannot go by boat even if I could get you one. You would be spotted by the patrols."

  "I have a plan in mind," smiled the prince, "but I will need more information from you. Are you willing to meet with me once a month?"

  "As long as we are not discovered," answered Samar. "Perhaps during the night of no moon?"

  "Perfect," smiled the prince as he rose and began getting dressed.

  The mermaid watched curiously as the dwarf got dressed. "Why did you leave your clothes behind?"

  "It is our custom," shrugged the prince. "When one commits suicide, he takes nothing dwarven with him. To do so would disgrace our ancestors. I must go, Samar, but I thank you for saving my life."

  The mermaid smiled broadly, and the dwarf disappeared into the night. For hours Prince Drak sat alone and drew diagrams in the dirt and wrote columns of numbers. By the time the sky began to lighten, he was whistling a merry tune. He rose and hurried to where he had left his father, but King Granarik had already passed away. Tears came to prince’s eyes as he knelt next to his father’s body and embraced it. He had come to share his vision with the king, but that was not to be. Prince Drak stood up and raised his arms skyward as he wailed in anguish.

  The noise woke the rest of the dwarves, and they began to rise for another day weary toil. Prince Drak inhaled deeply and composed himself. He wiped the tears from his eyes and began to compose the words he would speak to K’san. As the miners began to assemble for work, a small boat arrived. K'san and six soldiers marched to the mine entrance and demanded the king's presence.

  "My father passed away this morning," Prince Drak declared as he pointed to the king's body. "The strain of not meeting your quota was too much for him to bear."

  K'san glowered as he stared at the dead king. He turned to face the prince and his eyes narrowed in contempt. "So you are the new king," he spat. "Meeting the quota now falls on your head. Make sure that you do not miss it."

  K'san turned to leave, but the prince spoke before he could take a step. "The vein is played out," he announced. "Without changes, the quota cannot be met."

  K'san whirled around and glared at the uppity prince. "You will make the quota, or you will die."

  "I understand that," retorted Prince Drak, "but killing all of us will not get the emperor any more gold. If it is gold that you want, let me run this mine as I see fit."

  "You are trying to bargain with me?" K'san snorted with amusement. "You are hardly in a bargaining position."

  "If I can deliver gold to the emperor as required by his quota," the dwarf smiled thinly, "am I not pleasing the emperor?"

  "If you can deliver the quota," retorted K'san, "then it is to your advantage to do so. There will be no changes."

  "Then there will be no gold," declared the prince.

  K'san's nostrils flared with rage at being talked to in such a way by a slave. He stepped close to Prince Drak, and his hand shot out and grabbed the throat of the dwarf.

  "You will meet the quota or die," repeated K'san.

  "Only with the changes I require," croaked the prince.

  K'san's huge hand lifted the dwarf off his feet and shook him in anger, and Drak's face turned bright red, but the prince did not give in. Finally K'san placed the dwarf back on his feet. For several long moment K’san glared at the dwarf, but his rage slowly died.

  "What changes?" he spat.

  "We need time to find a new vein of gold," Prince Drak said as he massaged his throat, "but I have a way to free up time to accomplish it. I propose to move all of my people underground, including the women. That act alone will free up a tremendous amount of time that we now spend entering and exiting the mine. We can use that time to explore for new veins."

  K'san pondered the thought for a few moments before nodding his agreement.

  "We also need more food," pressed the prince. "I know that you are hesitant to waste food on mere slaves, but dwarves require more food than humans. Most of my men are weak by the end of the day, and their pace slacks off. It is not because the will is not there, but rather the lack of strength. Give us more food, and we will give you more gold. That is a promise."

  K'san turned and gazed at the dwarves that had assembled for work. He admitted silently that they were far leaner than when they had arrived. Keeping your enemy weak was useful in controlling him, but he knew that the prince was speaking the truth on this matter.

  "You appear to be far wiser than your father," K'san stated. "I will agree to your changes, but I will double the punishment for missing your quota."

  Without waiting for a reply, K'san turned and marched towards the boat. The soldiers dutifully followed, but the dwarves waited for the boat to depart before speaking.

  "What are you planning, Prince Drak?" asked one of the dwarves. "Why do you all of a sudden wish to make the emperor wealthy by the sweat of our labor?"

  "We are all going to work harder than we have ever worked before," declared Prince Drak. "Starting today, the women will join in the mining, and the days will be lengthened. We have some hard toil before us."

  "Are you beginning to feel the noose around your neck now that your father is gone?" quipped another dwarf. "Is that why we must toil longer?"

  "No," replied the prince. "We will toil longer and be happy to do so because our labors are going to lead to our freedom."

  "You are daft if you think the emperor will be so pleased with his gold that he will let us go free," said a dwarf.

  "I would be daft to believe that," chuckled the prince. "You must trust me on this. Our freedom will come at the expense of the Empire, and they will be feeding us more to give us the strength to make it possible."

  Chapter 1

  Shocking Discovery

  The five riders halted at the edge of the forest. Garth Shado extracted a scope from his pack and brought it to his eye. The others remained silent and unmoving as they waited for their leader to report.

  "The gates to the city are closed," confirmed Garth.

  "I am not surprised," commented Morro, an elven thief. "Everyone entering Giza will be scrutinized by the Federation troops."

  "But it has been a month since the sinking of the fleet," frowned Tedi. "Surely the security cannot b
e for that?"

  "I am sure that it is," replied Morro. "We have inflicted a tremendous loss on the Federation. I am sure that the Emperor is screaming for results in the investigation."

  "Perhaps this is a bad idea then," Kalina suggested. "Can't we find out what the Federation is up to without entering Giza?"

  "We could try another city," replied Morro, "but the information on troop movements would not be as accurate. If we must pull our people out of Aranak, we need to know exactly what the Federation is up to. That requires a trip into Giza. If you think it is unsafe for all of us to enter, I will go alone."

  "No," balked Natia. "I want to see what one of these reeducation centers look like. If we do get the chance to free the elven children, we will need to know exactly what we are up against."

  "Morro was raised in one," retorted Tedi. "Surely he knows what to expect."

  "Actually," Morro smiled thinly, "Natia is correct. I have only seen the inside of the reeducation center in Despair. Each one of them will be different."

  "We could send a fairy to map the interior," suggested Kalina. "That would be much safer."

  "No," Garth sighed as he lowered the scope and placed it in his pack. "Any sighting of a fairy right now would bring the entire Federation down upon us. We must keep them out of sight." Turning to the elf, he asked, "Will they open the gates to admit us?"

  "They will gladly admit anyone," replied the thief, "but they will question you much more than they have before. Getting out might be another problem," he added.

  "We will deal with that when the time comes," Garth stated. "Kalina and I will peruse the wharves of the city and try to find out what the sailors know. Tedi and Natia can visit some of the lesser common rooms and see what the soldiers are talking about in their free time. Morro, you check with the thieves of the city. We will all meet at the Palace Keep Inn at dusk."

  "What about the reeducation center?" pressed the gypsy princess.

  "If you can find a safe way into it," Garth responded, "it is permissible, but I urge caution. If the city is closed down as tightly as it appears, I doubt they will take kindly to visitors. I do not want to fight our way out of the city."

  "It might raise questions if I ride into the city with the four of you," declared Morro. "I don't think anyone would take me for a special agent of the merchant Mercado. You go on ahead, and I will follow in a bit."

  Garth glanced at the thief curiously, but he nodded and led the humans out of the forest. The gate guards noticed them the moment they were clear of the trees, and Garth felt curious eyes fall upon him. As the four riders approached the closed gate, a squad of soldiers gathered to greet them. An officer stared at each of the riders before demanding that they all dismount.

  "Where are you coming from?" inquired the officer.

  "Olansk," Garth answered as he handed a paper to the officer.

  The officer took the paper and stared at it. He glanced up at the newcomers several times before nodding his head and handing the paper back to Garth.

  "Not sure I know what a special agent of Sidney Mercado is," grunted the officer. "Should I be impressed?"

  "That is up to you," shrugged Garth. "We negotiate the sale of precious items for Sidney Mercado."

  "All four of you?" questioned the officer.

  "I am the special agent," replied Garth as he nodded at Tedi, "but I like the safety of having another man at my back. On this journey we have brought our wives along. Is there a problem?"

  "I'm sure even in Olansk they have heard about our problems," scoffed the officer. "How long have you been on the road not to have heard the news?"

  "Oh," Garth said with a taut smile. "Do you mean the loss of the fleet? That was quite some time ago, wasn't it? Haven't you caught those responsible yet?"

  The officer raised an eyebrow, wondering if Garth's words were meant as a taunt. He eventually decided that he didn't want to know the answer. He already had to suffer through a daily berating for the failure to find those responsible for the attack. He didn't need to start arguing with strangers about the matter.

  "Did you see many people on the Zinbar Trail?" he asked. "Any large groups? Any elves?"

  "No," Garth replied. "This trip was rather quiet thankfully."

  The officer nodded in satisfaction. He called for the gates to be opened as he stepped out of the way. The Knights of Alcea led their horses through the gates before mounting them and riding to the stables of the Palace Keep Inn. The two couples immediately split up and went their separate ways.

  Garth and Kalina strolled through the city streets to the waterfront. It was too early in the day for the common rooms that catered to sailors to be very busy, so they walked along the wharves to the area where the huge shipbuilding yards were. Garth gazed in wonder at the four large ships being built.

  "The streets are rather empty," Kalina commented. "Much more so than the last time we were here. What do you suppose it means?"

  When Garth didn't answer, Kalina followed his gaze. She frowned in confusion.

  "What is it?" she asked softly.

  "I am not sure," frowned Garth. "If you were planning an invasion by sea and just lost a hundred warships, what would your shipyards be building?"

  "More warships?" asked Kalina.

  "Exactly," nodded Garth, "yet the Federation is building cargo ships. Look."

  "They look a lot like the Remora," Kalina agreed, "but Giza is not the only city that builds ships."

  "It is the center of Zaran shipbuilding," retorted Garth. "Even if it wasn't, would you waste the labor on cargo ships when you desperately needed warships?"

  "Perhaps their scheduled attack is not as close as we suspected," offered Kalina. "Or maybe they have abandoned the idea of attacking Alcea. Maybe we have dashed their hopes."

  "Maybe," Garth said in disbelief as he backed into the shadows in the mouth of an alley and pulled his scope out of his pack. He raised the scope to his eye as Kalina joined him in the shadows.

  "What are you looking for?" asked Kalina.

  "I don't know," Garth admitted, "but I will know it when I see it. Let's take a walk down by the long pier."

  Garth hid the scope as the couple left the alley and began walking along the quay. As they passed the smaller fishing docks, a dark gray blur dashed into an alley. Garth ran to the mouth of the alley, but by the time that he got there, it was empty.

  "What was that all about?" questioned Kalina when she caught up to her husband.

  "I think it was Smokey," frowned Garth. "If it was, he has seen better days. I could see his ribs."

  "Poor dog," remarked Kalina. "You should not have abandoned him when we left here. I bet he hasn't had a decent meal in months."

  "I didn't abandon him," snapped Garth. "He ran away. Besides, I don't own him. From the day we first met, he has always come and gone as he pleased."

  "We will look for him later," Kalina promised. "The least we can do is give him some food to eat."

  The couple walked on in stony silence. While his eyes continued to take everything in, Garth's mind remained focused on the dog. His denial of responsibility rang true to even his own ears, but the truth didn't ease his ill feelings. Smokey had always been independent and did whatever he wanted, but Garth could not shake a sense of shame about having failed to leave the dog in Alcea.

  "Garth," Kalina said softly as she touched his hand.

  Garth pushed Smokey from his mind and watched the men marching out onto the long pier. The men maintained an obvious military bearing and marched in formation, but their clothes appeared to be that of fisherman and hunters. Garth pulled Kalina's hand and eased into an alley. The two Knights of Alcea watched the column of men march along the pier until they boarded a cargo ship at the far end. Garth retrieved his scope once more and brought it to his eyes. He studied the ship for several minutes before handing the scope to Kalina. The mage used the scope to survey the ship and the men that had just boarded it. When she was done, she tried to hand it back to
Garth, but he refused to take it.

  "Tell me what you saw?" he asked softly.

  "The ship is identical to the Remora," Kalina replied. "The men are obviously soldiers. I think the Federation is still sending ships to Alcea."

  "Correct on all three counts," nodded Garth. "What else?"

  Kalina frowned puzzlingly and brought the scope back to her eye.

  "I see no K'san, if that is what you are suggesting," she said.

  "Look at the packages on the dock," hinted Garth. "There are three of them yet to be loaded."

  "I see them," stated Kalina. "What about them?"

  "They don't seem familiar to you in any way?" probed Garth.

  "Even with the scope, I cannot see the contents," answered Kalina. "They are two to three times longer than wide and not very deep at all. What do you think they are?"

  "Doors," declared Garth. "Magical Doors. You may not have ever seen them wrapped like that before, but I have. When I was sent to assassinate the Sultan of Sordoa, we had a Door shipped to Trekum in advance. It looked identical to those packages on the pier."

  Kalina gasped as she brought the scope to her eye again. She focused on the packages for several minutes before returning the scope to Garth.

  "While I can see why you are alarmed," she frowned, "there could be almost anything in those packages. What are the odds that the Zarans are capable of creating an ancient magic that even I do not understand?"

  "I know nothing about the odds," replied Garth, "but I do know that such Doors exist, and I know that they are capable of transporting large armies over vast distances. It also seems that the Federation is making no attempt to rebuild their fleet of warships. That suggests to me that they have an alternative plan to get their troops to Alcea."

  "We must know for sure," Kalina declared. "Have Bitsy inspect the packages."

  "Even one as small as her could not inspect those packages on the pier without being seen," Garth shook his head. "Besides, I have a better idea."

  Garth stuck his finger into his breast pocket and stirred the fairy to life. Bitsy stuck her tiny blue head out and yawned.