Emperor Jaar gasped at Kyrga’s words. He had wondered how they had found the estate, but Forshire’s warning about the priest’s abilities suddenly surfaced. Jaar wept openly. He pushed his way past the Grand General and returned to his sleeping chamber. He sat down on the bed and cried. Kyrga calmly returned to the room and closed the door. He stared at the mighty emperor and shook his head in disgust.
“Where is he?”
Jaar looked up at the Grand General, his eyes swollen with tears. He made no move to hide his grief. “He is dead,” Jaar said in the softest of voices.
“I don’t believe you,” retorted the Grand General.
“I do not care what you believe,” snapped the emperor. “Once it is learned that I have no heir, I am finished anyway. Return my wife and daughters to me, and I will make you the Emperor of Barouk.”
Kyrga’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He knew that Jaar would never make such an offer if he truly had an heir, but he had to make sure that the boy’s death was as the women described.
“When did he die?”
“Six years ago,” answered Jaar. “He caught a fever up in that forsaken place I hid my family. Moving them out of Despair was the worst decision I ever made.”
“Worse than making me Grand General?” snickered Kyrga.
“Yes,” sighed the emperor, “even worse than that. Take the empire, Kyrga, but give me back my family.”
Grand General Kyrga really wanted to be emperor, but he knew it was not to be. K’san had already stated as much, and he was not about to betray his master.
“Your family will be returned when we no longer need you. In the meantime, you will do what I tell you, or your women will pay the consequences. Do you understand?”
Emperor Jaar frowned in thought. Kyrga’s words clearly indicated a wider conspiracy than merely Kyrga acting alone. Was the priest the one playing the pipe? Or was there someone even higher?
“Do you understand?” repeated the Grand General.
Emperor Jaar turned and glared at the Grand General. “I understand you completely,” he said in a threatening tone, “but you had best understand me as well. I will cooperate only as long as I am assured that my family is safe. I demand a weekly letter from Janay.”
Grand General Kyrga balked. “You can’t be serious? He will never allow that. Janay could easily write you clues of her location. It is out of the question.”
“You may censor the letters to ensure that I am not trying to plot against you, but I will get those letters. Deny them to me, and you will find that your scheme, whatever it is, will lay in tatters at your feet.”
Kyrga stared at the emperor as if he were insane, but Jaar gave him no time to dwell upon the demand.
“Run back to your master, Kyrga. Relay my demands and gain acceptance of them. If you do not, I will take my own life and throw the Federation into turmoil.”
“You are bluffing,” accused the Grand General. “And who said that I had a master?”
Emperor Jaar actually laughed in Kyrga’s face. “You are a scheming little snot with a bent for bloodshed and an addiction to spying, but you are not capable of what has been cast against me. You do not have the brains to see it through to its completion. As for my bluffing, try me.”
Grand General Kyrga reddened with anger. His first impulse was to strike out at the emperor, but he restrained himself.
“I will relay your demands, but you will start obeying immediately. You will meet with the major monarchs this morning and divulge our plans for attacking Alcea. If any of them gets wind of something wrong in the Imperial Palace, you will wish you had taken your own life instead.”
Kyrga turned and stormed out of the room. Moments later, Emperor Jaar heard the outer door of his office slam shut. He rose from the bed and began pacing the room, trying to figure out who the conspirators were and what they were after. It was certainly not an ordinary coup, or Jaar would already be dead. From what he had been able to squeeze out of Kyrga, it was clear that they needed him at the helm of the Federation for some reason, and that perplexed the emperor. Why were they letting him stay in power? What could he accomplish that Kyrga’s master could not?
After several minutes of pacing, the emperor stopped. He sighed heavily and shook his head as if to clear the confusion that dogged him. With the sky outside beginning to lighten, he moved about the room methodically, getting dressed and grooming himself, a chore in itself since his servants had been denied to him. When he was fit to be seen in public, the emperor entered his office and lit the lanterns. He sat down at his large desk and began to gather his thoughts and plot a way to regain his power.
* * * *
The Imperial Palace was aflutter with the announcement that the emperor would soon address the Council of the Federation. When the emperor appeared at the head of the staircase, the nobles and generals lined up to greet him. Word had previously spread throughout the palace that the emperor was seriously ill, which would have accounted for his absence from the festivities, but Emperor Jaar looked superbly fit when he appeared in his ceremonial robes and walked down the stairs. Two lines of people quickly formed to create a human corridor from the bottom of the staircase to the council chamber. Soldiers formed a protective detail at the foot of the stairs, some of them preceding the emperor, and others following closely behind.
Many of the celebrants offered their best wishes as the emperor passed, and Emperor Jaar smiled warmly and thanked each of them. Near the council chamber, Colonel Taerin managed to squeeze to the front of the crowd so that he could speak to the emperor, but he could have avoided the bother for all he came away with. When the colonel asked how he was, the emperor merely smiled and nodded and thanked him for his concern, just as he had done for all the other nobles. The colonel frowned in confusion.
The joyful procession ended quickly as the emperor entered the council chamber, followed closely by Grand General Kyrga. The doors were closed and the crowd dispersed. Moments later, Kyrga reappeared and admitted the three monarchs of the original Federation. King Anator, King Harowin, and Queen Samir entered the chamber and took their seats at the large trapezoidal table. Grand General Kyrga closed the door and stood behind the emperor. Queen Samir noticed the chairs set against the wall of the chamber and frowned questioningly.
“Are we having visitors to this session?” she asked the emperor.
“After we get through with our own discussion,” replied Emperor Jaar. “It would hardly be fitting to snub the other monarchs or their representatives during this celebration week. First we need to settle any real issues the Federation might have, such as the attacks on the reeducation centers. I don’t think any of you wish to have word of your failures spread throughout the Federation, so I will merely admonish you for your failures, and we can move on from there.”
Queen Samir’s eyebrows rose. She had expected the whole meeting to be one long berating session about her incompetence, but Jaar was acting as if the center attacks were a minor inconvenience. That made her suspicious.
“What of the reeducation center here in Despair?” she asked. “Was it also attacked?”
“It was,” answered Emperor Jaar, “but Grand General Kyrga reported that he successfully crushed the rebellion. Your own forces would do well to emulate the Grand General rather than allow a bunch of rabble to embarrass you. I had planned to point out your failures in greater detail, but there are more important items to discuss today. I can only hope that each of you has learned something from your miserable performances. Such laxity will no longer be acceptable.”
Kyrga’s own eyebrows rose upon hearing the emperor’s words. He had half expected Jaar to use this council session to gain allies to throw off the yoke that had been placed around his neck, and he was ready to take action if that occurred, but the emperor was behaving true to his old form. Kyrga was surprised.
“In the past,” the emperor continued, “you have asked about the timing of the attack on the horse countries. I have been ev
asive in my answers to you. I am sure that has caused some minor discomfort, but you will now understand my reasoning for such strict secrecy.”
The emperor nodded to Kyrga, and the Grand General unfurled a large wall map of Alcea. The three monarchs stared at it in confusion.
“That is the true target of our armies,” declared the emperor. “The land is called Alcea, and it is a land of untold wealth and bounty all of which will soon be ours.”
“Where is it?” asked King Harowin.
“It is across the sea to the east,” answered the emperor.
“How will we get there without ships?” frowned King Anator.
“Our methods of attack are secret,” answered Grand General Kyrga.
Emperor Jaar smiled thinly as the monarchs looked at him in protest. “I have promised the Grand General that I would not pry into his methods, and neither should any of you. He has assured me that he can accomplish the invasion, and I have put my complete faith in his abilities. In a moment we will have representatives of the other countries of the Federation in this room. Their questions will be along the same lines as yours, and their feelings of being left out of the details will be just as valid. Are the three of you willing to allow our secret methods of attack to be potentially discovered by the Alceans?”
“Surely the three of us can be trusted with such secrets,” protested King Harowin. “We are equals in the Federation after all.”
“As are the others waiting to join us,” the emperor pointed out.
“I also take offense at this secrecy,” stated Queen Samir. “If the three of us are not trusted by the emperor and the Grand General, then why should any of us trust in the two of you?”
“I have given my assurances to the Grand General,” Emperor Jaar smiled thinly. “I will have to defer that question to him.”
All heads turned to the Grand General. Kyrga frowned at the unexpected praise from the emperor while he tried to formulate an answer. K’san had told him to make public the attack on Alcea, but not the portals, yet he was to reveal the portals to the generals. Would not the generals confide in the other monarchs, especially now that the monarchs knew of Alcea and the imminent attack? He mentally wagered that the information would eventually find its way back to these three powerful monarchs, but he was also willing to bet that it would not happen until after the attack had commenced.
“I am willing to reveal the nature of the secret to the four esteemed members in this room,” Kyrga said conspiratorially, “but only upon the condition that each of you swear an oath of secrecy. If this knowledge became known to the Alcean spies, we could end up losing this war.”
The three monarchs quickly stated their vows, but Emperor Jaar merely nodded to the Grand General.
“The method of reaching Alcea will be provided by the Order of the Black Citadel,” declared Kyrga.
“Magic?” gasped King Anator. “Is that possible?”
“Very possible,” answered Kyrga. “That is why we no longer need the warships that were destroyed. In fact, the need for cargo ships is much greater now. We will need a tremendous amount of ships to haul back the bounty of the conquered lands. As the four members of the Federation who have access to the Sea of Tears, that bounty will flow into our ports.”
“Which means,” interrupted the emperor, “that our nations will reap the greatest rewards. Do not endanger those rewards with loose tongues about the magic used to transport our armies. I can not stress this need for secrecy enough. You have been entrusted with knowledge that could defeat our armies. Safeguard it wisely.”
“I understand now,” stated King Harowin. “You can depend on us.”
“How much bounty should we expect?” asked Queen Samir.
Emperor Jaar chuckled. “You have the same taste for extravagance that your predecessor had, Queen Samir.”
“And why not?” grinned the queen. “What is the sense of being a ruler if one cannot flaunt it?”
“Indeed,” replied Emperor Jaar. “Alcea is comparable in size to all of Zara.” The monarchs gasped in appreciation, but the emperor continued without giving a chance for a response. “It is ruled as a single country by a boy king. We plan to take the boy’s treasures away from him. As to the size of the bounty, from what I have heard, it is immeasurable. You shall have more jewels than you can imagine, Queen Samir.”
“I have a vivid imagination, Emperor Jaar,” retorted the Queen of Spino. “You keep those cargo ships coming into Valdo. I will tell you when to stop.”
“I am sure,” the emperor replied with a smile, but he immediately turned more serious. “In a moment Grand General Kyrga will usher in the representatives from the other nations of the Federation. We will not mention the method of attack, nor will we linger on the embarrassing episodes of the attacks on the reeducation centers. I will announce our plans to attack Alcea, and Grand General Kyrga will explain a bit about the country we are about to plunder, but I do not intend to bring the others wholly into our fold. Are there any objections to this?”
“None whatsoever,” stated Queen Samir. “Those countries were properly conquered, and they are recent additions to the Federation. They should not have the same standing as the rest of us.”
King Harowin and King Anator simply nodded in agreement.
“Bring in the others, Grand General Kyrga,” ordered the emperor.
Kyrga walked to the door of the chamber and opened it. The emperor watched as Kyrga abandoned protocol and sent a soldier to gather the other representatives. He smiled inwardly at Kyrga’s fear that he would try to enlist the aid of one of the other monarchs in his absence. Jaar would no more trust any of them than he would trust Kyrga himself.
King Bartomir of Candanar entered the chamber first. He was an obese old man, and the emperor expected him to offer as much to the meeting as his country offered to the Federation, which was practically nothing. Candanar had been admitted to the Federation merely because it resided east of the Barrier, and it was decided that a membership in the Federation would stop the small country from becoming a launch point for any attacks by the western countries. As the countries of the west now belonged to the Federation, Candanar’s significance was even less than it was before. General Fabio attended for Karamin, and General Forshire for Tyronia. With the mysterious absence of General Garibaldi, General Nazzaro was invited to stand in for Vinafor.
Emperor Jaar gave a short speech about the formation of the Federation and the high points in its history before turning to Alcea. Clint listened to the brief overview about Alcea, but nothing was presented that he did not already know. In fact, very little was revealed about the Zaran’s knowledge of Alcea. None of the representatives asked about how the attack was going to be conducted without warships, which he thought was strange until he realized that the major members of the Federation had already been in the room before he was summoned. He made a mental note to speak to each of them before the celebration ended to find out how much they really knew.
When the meeting ended, Emperor Jaar rose, and Grand General Kyrga escorted him out the rear door of the chamber. The other people filed out of the room without comment. Clint joined the end of the line and returned to mixing with the rich and famous of the Federation. Less than an hour later, a soldier made his way through the crowd speaking softly to the generals. One by one the generals left whatever group they were conversing with and left the room. His interest piqued, Clint looked around and saw General Antero nearby. He left the group he was speaking with and casually moved towards the Aertan general. He arrived just in time.
“Grand General Kyrga has requested a meeting of the generals,” the soldier whispered to General Antero. “Your attendance is required. It will be held immediately in the Grand Dining Room.”
General Antero nodded, and the soldier consulted a list in his hands as he looked at General Forshire. Fearing his name might not be on the list, Clint immediately walked away from the group, not wanting General Antero to know of his exclusion. He
weaved quickly through the crowd to hinder any attempt of the soldier to follow him and inform him that his attendance was not requested. Unlike the meeting of the council, Clint knew that the generals would have questions about any attack, and he wanted to hear the answers.
Clint circled around the crowd and managed to move next to General Antero as he left the room. Together they strode towards the Grand Dining Room and merged with the flow of other generals streaming into the room. Inside the room, Clint was relieved to see that the long tables had been pushed aside and rows of chairs put in their place. Had the tables remained with a seating place for each requested general, Clint would have stood out, but the current arrangement would allow him to blend in.
General Antero moved towards the front of the room to get a good seat. Clint separated from the Aertan general and lingered by the door, keeping out of the way of the stream of men entering the room. The seats filled up quickly, and Clint followed General Whitman when he entered the room. The Aertan general frowned as he saw all of the seats near General Antero already filled. With a sigh of disappointment, General Whitman moved to one of the still open seats in the rear. Clint moved quickly to join him and they both sat down together.
“I guess we should have come earlier,” Clint said softly.
“I am sure that they invited the generals in some particular order so that only the favorites got a seat up front,” scowled General Whitman. “Do you know what this is about?”
“I have my suspicions,” smiled Clint, “but I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you. It will probably be along the same lines as the council meeting was a short while ago.”
“You were in the council meeting?” General Whitman asked with surprise evident in his tone.
“Of course,” replied Clint. “In addition to being the Commanding General of A Corps, I am also the representative from Tyronia.”
Heirs of the Enemy Page 10