To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

She shifted a little in her chair, clearly trying to find a comfortable position. The little princess forming in her womb was six months along in the process and the resulting bulge required adjustments to be made. “Tomorrow we will launch the attack that will win us control of the Taltin Sea,” Cleona declared as if issuing a royal decree.

  “It will be as you say, Majesty,” Daniel replied, confident in the plan that had been drawn up by Captain Van Etter, Captain Isly, Saul Tarpon, Tim, Gina, and Chas Herling. Even though the battle would be at sea and the Chosen’s Sentinels would not be taking part, the Commander’s tactical skills were indispensable. Daniel was also pleased she had agreed anyone not directly involved with the operation did not need to know of its existence. He particularly did not want Lord Tamkin to learn of the attacks, seeing as his son was a Serpent in disguise. The precaution of keeping the assault on a need to know basis also limited the possibility of unknown spies learning of the offensive.

  Admiral Dusantus leaned forward. “Our fleet of Pythons will be ready, Majesty, and will be the weight behind the punch of the Wager-class patrol-boats.”

  “Aye, it is high time we do more than push those fleets away from our shores. Majesty, we will purge the sea of your enemies,” Archibald boldly stated.

  Cleona stood up, Daniel and the others followed her example. “Sir Daniel, it is my wish that you stay behind for a time.”

  Daniel looked to Sherree and nodded. Tim and Gina bowed, and headed for the door behind Georgin and Archibald, who were already exiting. “I will arrange the meeting at the Excursion while you honor the Queen’s wish,” the First Lady said, gave a nod of respect to Cleona, and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

  “Majesty, what can I do for you?” Daniel inquired. His mind was filled with so many things that needed to be done that he had no clue why he had been asked to stay.

  The Queen stepped closer to him, within arm’s reach. “I am concerned about the Lethal Growths that took the life of my mother and her mother. Even though you removed them from my body, I wonder if my daughter will be as healthy as I am now or be as sick as I was then.”

  That was a good question, one that both the Health Department and the Department of Education and Research were investigating. “Recent studies indicate the types of Lethal Growths that threaten you are contained in the recipe strands you inherited from your mother and she from her mother, going back ten generations,” the historical part Daniel knew the Queen was fully aware of, “and so your daughter has likely inherited the same nemesis that once threatened you.”

  Her eyes watered a little but her iron will would not allow a tear to fall. “Is there anything you can do to alter her - recipe strands and eliminate the threat?” She had only hesitated a little at the mention of the strands, the existence of which was new to her.

  Daniel rubbed his chin while thinking; a habit he often observed Martin do when asked a question that required speculation rather than a definitive answer. “We have not learned as of yet how to alter the recipe strands of an individual, but are studying the possibility. However, I might be able to do something that will enhance the ability of her body to resist the growths.”

  Those dark eyes focused on him in determination and Daniel knew her response even before she said the words, “Do whatever you can.”

  He nodded. “I will need to touch your tummy,” he said and watched as she went over, sat down in her chair and pulled up her dress.

  As a healer, he had seen panties before, and as her healer, he had seen and touched her abdomen, so neither of them was embarrassed. There was a time and not so long ago when he definitely would have been blushing, but after healing literally thousands of people and seeing many of them unclothed, the sight of more exposed flesh produced little reaction beyond his desire to make the person well. The sight of Sherree’s flesh was different, but not something he wanted to contemplate while touching the tummy of another woman.

  The ripple of a spell cast in close proximity washed through him and he hesitated for a moment to retract the shield-spell from his hand. “We are at the Excursion,” Sherree sent through the array, revealing the source of the ripples, and relieving his concerns.

  “You may touch me,” Cleona said, apparently taking his hesitation for a need to have verbal permission.

  He removed the shield and placed his palm flat over Cleona’s bellybutton, summoned the potential for the spell, What Is this, and then focused on the inhabitant of her womb. In his mind’s eye, he could see the little princess curled in the fetal position, sense her heart beating, and noted how she began to wiggle. The warm-tingling of the spell no doubt felt good. He went deeper, seeing her vat of life-force energy; it was two thirds full and would be at a hundred percent by the time she was born. He went deeper still, until her helix-shaped recipe strands came into view, each with a tiny picture of what she was supposed to look like at her current stage of development.

  Often at that point he would push farther and would see the little planets with their tiny moons in orbit, microscopic systems everything seemed to be made of, but instead he focused on a single picture within a single strand. He placed a Da Capo on What Is This and summoned the potential for Find All, but focused it smaller than even the eyes of an osprey could see. He found what he had been looking for, the substance of which the Lethal Growths in her recipe were made of. He dared not remove it or anything from her, lest he cause harm. He had no idea what any of the other substances did and so decided it would be better not to eliminate anything from her being.

  What to do?

  The answer came to him after a bit of intense contemplation. He focused his life-force energy into her strands, all of them, and strengthened every substance within her that was not that of the Lethal Growths. They would still be a part of her but never dominant. As he was backing off his perspective, he caught a glimpse of her vat, which was presently one hundred percent full and had a bluish tint. It was unlikely having a little more energy would do her any harm, but he wondered what the unintended side effects would be, perhaps a rambunctious child that refused to take naps and who would keep her governess moving at a run.

  He ceased all spells and removed his hand from the Queen’s belly. “I have enhanced your daughter’s ability to resist the Lethal Growths,” he told her. “If you will allow me or Sherree to periodically spell-scan her, we will be able to sense any Lethal Growths that start to develop and eliminate them before they can do your daughter any harm.”

  Cleona released the grip on her dress, letting it fall back into place, sprang up from her chair and hugged him. “Thank you,” she spoke softly into his ear, and then released him and stepped back. “It is agreed, the princess will be examined by you or Lady Sherree periodically. You have served the crown well this day,” she said with royal dignity.

  Sometimes she treated him like she was the big sister and he the much younger brother, but most of the time she was a Queen addressing her Knight. He never knew which to expect from her and therefore always, well most of the time, addressed her as his monarch. “Majesty, it was my pleasure to serve you so,” he replied and gave her a bow, then exited.

  While standing in the hall near where two Royal Guardsmen, dressed in their green and gold uniforms, were watching the door, he focused his attention on Lestra, a dove perched on the windowsill outside the top floor room Jared rented at the Excursion. Through her eyes Daniel watched as Sherree spoke to the folks who had gathered to discuss the Queen’s response to the battle plan.

  He shook his head, thinking of how much his life had changed since casting his first spell. If people had told him back then that he would be attending meetings about meetings, he would have laughed in their faces. Well, at least in the present gathering he might not have to take the lead, and that would make two in one day where he did not have to be in charge of the proceedings. He did not resent the responsibilities nor had any desire to fob them off on someone else; it was simply nice to take a break once in a while.
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  Silvia, David, Carlos, and Sero were in the room and over by the door. Marcus Bower was among the attendees. The Captain of the Benhannon Guard was the tallest man in the room. Talking to him were Tim, Gina, Chas, and Leah. On the other side of the room was Captain Saul Tarpon, whose blond beard followed his jawline and whose his skin was darker than that of an average Lobenian, due to a long sailing career that came with near constant exposure to the weather. Standing next to him were the Taracopian-born Captains, Claude Van Etter and Kevin Isly. Claude was a lanky fellow with a neatly trimmed beard and Kevin was stout, clean-shaven, and a shade darker in complexion than his countryman who had been born in the northern part of the kingdom.

  Daniel noticed his mother and father over in the corner. They were talking to Jared Benfyllon and Jennel Obenport. Uncle Arry was nowhere in sight and that was probably a good thing, not that Daniel would have complained had they brought him along. His father’s brother was unpredictable and could be disruptive, yet the man did have eyes like a hawk and the Benhannon spirit of never dropping a set chore. He could make a contribution to the meeting, not likely, but he could have.

  The spacious greeting room of the four room suite was adequate for the amount of people currently standing in it, but only just, with a table in the center. The standard furnishings must have been placed in one of the other rooms. That table with the extra chairs was large and likely a construct of solidified air that had been colored to resemble oak. It would not have fit through the door.

  “I’m coming,” Daniel sent through the array to Sherree.

  She motioned for the people next to her to clear a spot and when they had, Daniel, using the eyes of Lestra, established the visual for Conveyance. He summoned the potential and appeared beside Sherree three heart beats later. Thanks, he told the dove, which sent back a strong sense of contentment. She launched into the sky, circled in the air a few times, and then landed on a branch in one of the trees that divided the thoroughfare where horse-drawn taxis, coaches, and carriages moved along at a pace Daniel could easily have matched on foot.

  After a tenth of a mark of formal greetings, Daniel took a seat at the table, which was round so there was no head. Sherree and his parents sat to his right, Leah took the seat to his left, and everybody else found a spot around the table. Jared was directly opposite him. A few moments later a full color image of the Taltin Sea, along with the coasts stretching inland for about three spans, appeared in the center of the table, courtesy of Leah. Her creation was so realistic the waves seemed to be rippling over the vast blue water and lapping the shorelines.

  The Fon Kayan side of the sea was nearest to Daniel and the image showed a forest of tall masts belonging to dreadnaughts, destroyers, cruisers, frigates, and freighters converted for battle. It seemed as if one swipe of his hand could send most of the vessels to the bottom. Too bad what he saw was only an image.

  Sherree began the meeting by informing everyone of what was said and decided upon at the meeting with Cleona. Daniel noted the flash of a coin in Tim’s hand and then watched as the other Admiral Dukane smiled and stood up. “As you can see,” Gina began her presentation with a long pointer-stick in hand. “The Kayan River flows from the sea and eventually empties into the Serinian Channel. On the north side of where the river meets the sea is Port Basser, the home of the Royal Navy of Fon Kay. On the south side is the main target, the massive Gasian shipwright facility. Upwards of a thousand warships are in the waters of this region and it will be your responsibility, Sir Daniel,” she was speaking formally, “to destroy all three; fleet, port, and shipwright.” It was not the way she usually addressed the boy she had grown up with, her being much too dignified to stick her tongue out at him in front so many people, the way she likely would have done a year or two ago when she thought his head was getting too big, but he was sure she wanted to do so, going by the gleam in her eyes while using his official Ducaunan title.

  She pointed her stick at the areas of attack and then said, “Two more armadas of equal size must be overcome, one off the coast of Battencay on the southern coast, and the other almost dead center of the sea off of Port Lerinron, which hosts the other half of the Fon Kayan Navy. Admiral Dukane and I will lead the attack against that fleet and the navy base while Captain Tarpon leads the assault on the southern sea coast. Captain you must not only destroy that fleet, you must also destroy the shipwright facility at Port Sharon,”

  “Understood,” Saul confirmed his understanding of his part in the offensive. Everyone at the table was involved at various points in the formulation of the plan and so all she was giving was a quick summation to be sure everyone knew what the others were supposed to do.

  “Captain Isly, you and your group will be attacking the navy base at Port Creana on the southwestern side right here,” Gina said while touching the target area with her stick. “While there are fewer warships in this Battencayan region, seven hundred thirty-seven to be precise, they each have a team of twenty Serpents on board, and that makes them extremely dangerous.”

  Kevin leaned forward over the table, glanced at the target area, and then focused on Gina. “Admiral Dukane, my people are preparing for the assault with that fact in mind. We will be ready to face the Serpents on the open water and those at the port.”

  Gina nodded and pointed her stick at the eastern edge of the sea. “The fourth armada is here, a few spans off the Pentrosan coast. This fleet is down by about four hundred ships due to repeated clashes with the Atlantan Guild and Ducaunan navies. More than half of the nearly six hundred vessels to be contended with are Anacondas. Captain Van Etter, you must not only destroy this fleet, you must also destroy Port Lema, and the Pennaten shipwright facility at Port Byron.”

  Claude eyed the area of the map that was his responsibility. “That last target will be attacked at the same time as the fleet. Pennaten is where the Pentrosans are building the Anacondas.”

  Leah caused an image of the entire kingdom of Pentrosa to appear above the table. “The Surosa shipwright facility is there on the Pentrosan coast of the Northern Ocean, six spans west of Holcom,” the region she was speaking about began to glow, “and that facility also builds Anacondas. But we will deal with that resource at another time. The current mission is our focus and it will take most of the night to coordinate with the Royal Navy and get our vessels into position. Conductors Lassiter and Cresh will be ready with teams to fight the inevitable counter punch the Serpent Guild will throw back at us. I will be heading the Atlantan Guild while our Maestro and the First Lady carry out their mission. We have hundreds of feathered scouts in the air near the targeted areas to provide visuals and Conductor Copa will be on hand to enhance communications,” she paused after mentioning the head of communications. “Daria has informed me that our people, along with the forces of General Tallen, have defeated the army of Zune at the border of Ducaun,” and then added, “Commander Herling will also be with me at Shantear. He’ll be observing and coordinating the overall battle.”

  Chas nodded his head. “I will be in constant contact with all assault group leaders and have a strike force of mantas that can allow us to exploit every advantage that develops and shore up any weak points in our offensive.”

  Daniel was pleased to hear of the success at the border where Bolter had lost his life. As for the rest of what Leah had said, he would have called his part a chore, but the word, mission, gave a more important connotation to the assignment. Gina had stated the goals but the tactical details were in the hands of those who headed each assault force. As was the case with many things, the Serpent was in the details, and so it was also wise to incorporate room for the unexpected, which Chas had done his best to foresee.

  The meeting continued with each Captain and Tim specifying how they intended to accomplish their missions. Tim spoke for his group because Gina, at the apparent toss of a coin, had the honor of giving the presentation, which Daniel appreciated. Sherree gave the details of their mission so he did not even have to speak up
about that.

  The last to speak was Jennel Obenport. “I will have a healer stationed on every other Python and on every patrol boat. I can only use the members of my department who are linked to creatures that can be aboard those vessels. For those of you in attendance who may not be familiar with Aakacarn rules, it is extremely dangerous to Convey onto a moving platform without a stationary pair of eyes to give a current visual of the arrival point.”

  Daniel was fairly sure all of the non-Aakacarns present were aware of that particular rule, but did not fault her for stating the fact. He knew Jennel wanted to be precise with her words and always endeavored to be sure everyone understood exactly what she meant, even if it meant stating what Daniel considered to be something as obvious as a peacock strutting among turkeys.

  The discussion ended and every pair of eyes focused on him. He smiled at how the meeting had gone on for a full mark without him doing anything more than nodding his head. He thought of the old Aakacarn expression, “The Da Capo stops at the desk of the Maestro,” and realized how true it was. “It is agreed, the multiple assaults will begin half a mark after dawn. Everybody, let’s get to our chores.”

  A chorus of, “It will be as you say, Maestro,” came back at him, even from his wife.

  The image of Pentrosa vanished, as did the table and Taltin Sea. Leah had the courtesy to wait until everyone was standing before blinking her eyes and making the chairs vanish. Sherree went over and was soon speaking with Ronn and Miriam while Jennel stepped up close to Daniel. “There are one thousand six hundred twenty-three Condemneds, one hundred eighty-two Aakademneds, and five thousand seven hundred fifty-nine people waiting at Shantear for the restorations only you can perform. Some of them are in spell-induced sleep, such as those who are suffering from the effects of the spell, Condemnation, and the rest are awake and awaiting new limbs and other extremities that were lost in the recent battles,” the Conductor of Health stated in her precise manner. “Maestro, if you would teach me the procedure along with the spell, Restoration, I could take on the responsibility, and free you to focus on the many other demands your office requires.”