Valiant Reign

by Brooke Sivendra

  The king nodded. “Begin. Asher managed to foil our other plans, but he won’t be able to stop this. And find out where that hacker is. I want to send him a gift,” he said with a haunting grin.

  The video recording paused.

  Asher looked over the wide eyes assembled before him.

  “The Adani system was hacked at my command,” Asher admitted, knowing he’d broken the law and could be punished for it. “But, I wasn’t looking at their financial records. I was looking for information on another human rights case that my father had always thought Adani guilty of, but didn’t have proof. I couldn’t find proof of that, or anything in their system, either. But what I did instruct my hacker to do was feed their system back to ours. I didn’t plant cameras in the king’s office—they were already there. But I laid a trap for him . . . we intentionally left a trace in their system so they knew they had been hacked, and then we tapped his cameras.”

  Asher held the gazes of Santina’s allies. “I know this was illegal, but my country is being attacked and my father has been murdered in an act of regicide. At the same time, I have been continuously threatened and blackmailed. I cannot stand by and let this happen, as I doubt anyone in this room could. None of this information has been released outside this room, and this is the reason I asked for this meeting—so that I could show it to you without risking the intelligence being intercepted by anyone.

  “Now, there is one more video I’d like to show you,” Asher said, and all eyes returned to the wall.

  A video of the laboratory began playing. The audio wasn’t great quality, but it was just good enough to overhear the sound bite.

  “Santina is first, followed by Valencia. We’ll further refine the bacteria after we see the live results.”

  At this, Asher met King Luang’s blazing eyes.

  “What do you propose we do, Asher?” King Luang asked.

  This was the moment of truth. Would they side with him, or would they back Adani out of fear?

  “These videos were recorded about a week ago, so we have a few weeks, maybe, to formulate a plan. My intention is to overthrow Adani,” he said. Murmurs began to circulate, and he raised his hands placatingly. “But I need your help to do that. The king is right—Santina’s army is not big enough to defeat Adani. Together, however, we have five hundred thousand soldiers and, with a good strategy, we can defeat them. But we must do this together.”

  Asher looked back to Luang. “When Adani falls, my suggestion, if King Luang agrees, is that King Luang and I will take joint sovereign control of the land, and every kingdom here today—all of you—will receive an equal share of the income that will continue to be generated from Adani’s oil wells. You are reliant on Adani for financial aid, but that would no longer be true if you received a portion of their income each year.

  “Sovereign control is complicated, and having too many parties involved will only make it more so,” Asher continued. “Therefore, while it is my preference to work alongside King Luang should he agree, I am willing for this assembly to take a confidential vote. If you wish for someone else to lead Adani’s people, I am willing to step aside.”

  Asher looked at each one in turn. “It is not my objective to take over Adani because of power or greed. I never wanted to be the King of Santina! But, I do want to make sure that Adani doesn’t destroy my kingdom, or any of yours—and I will spend the rest of my life fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen. I want my family to be safe and to live without fear of being attacked in my own home. I want my people to not only eat and survive, but to thrive, and it has become increasingly clear that I can’t do that while Adani exists as it does today.”

  His gaze swept across the room. “Adani does not care about my people—the fact that they are willing to slaughter every innocent Santinian in their path proves that—but they do care about the oil underneath a holy site in my land . . . a site my father refused to test, because he would never have allowed the site to be ruined for financial gain.”

  The eyes of the other leaders stayed locked on Asher.

  “So, you can stand beside me today and see your kingdom thrive under a new leadership of the lands of Adani . . . or you can continue to live as you are: praying like hell that Adani doesn’t turn on you and you don’t end up in my situation.”

  The room was silent—likely because they all knew, like Asher knew, that while it was a good plan, if they failed, Adani would destroy them all.

  Finally, King Luang stood and broke the silence. “I am willing to stand beside you Asher, and I would be willing to lead Adani with you—however that looks. In the interest of this gathering, though I believe we should cast confidential votes. This way, everyone has their say; and, if any of you decide you don’t want to take a stand against Adani, then you can refuse to vote. But,” King Luang said, looking over the men he’d known for much longer than Asher had, “I can’t speak for Asher, but I can personally promise you this: if you don’t stand against Adani, don’t expect me to save you when they turn on you. Remember that King Martin, and Santina, were once one of Adani’s greatest allies—”

  “What you have done is illegal,” one of the rulers interrupted bluntly, looking directly at Asher. “How do we know that we can trust you?”

  Asher nodded. “You don’t,” he admitted. “But I ask that if you trusted my father, you place that same trust in me. I have every intention of continuing his legacy.”

  No one answered, but he saw their eyes soften slightly.

  Asher continued, “If I wanted to play this to my own advantage, I could’ve leaked this on the internet. I could’ve sent it to a media source, who would’ve printed it in newspapers all over the world. It would’ve made me look like a hero. Instead, I chose to come to you—to all that are directly involved in this—so that we could decide together the best steps to take to ensure our people are safe. If my hand is forced, I will respond by whatever means necessary, but I don’t act for my own benefit. I act because I vowed to protect my people,” Asher said.

  No one said anything, and Asher didn’t know whether to sit or stand or what to say from there.

  “I am an old man,” King Luang said with an apologetic grin, “so we’ll do this the old way. Write the names of the person, or people, you would like to see lead Adani and then bring it to me. I’ll shuffle the papers in front of you, so you can see no papers are tampered with. And then we’ll reveal the names on the papers together. If you choose not to side with us, leave your piece of paper blank and hand it in. Each vote will be anonymous. Any concerns or questions?”

  The assembly looked to one another, but no one voiced any questions.

  “Okay,” King Luang said looking to an assistant, who scurried off—assumingly to find some paper and pens. Asher sat at the table, feeling like a child voting for a school project. Though Asher didn’t care for the method—he wanted what was fair and what would give everyone a say.

  The assistant returned with paper and pens, and Asher wrote his own name and King Luang’s before folding it and handing it to the assistant.

  Then he waited. But his mind was calm, as was his heart, because he’d spoken the truth—he was not interested in Adani for the power it would bring him. If anyone else in the room was elected to run it, he would be satisfied with that—it would mean fewer headaches and more time he could spend focused on Santina.

  Paper after paper, the votes came in until King Luang stood and shuffled them with an ease that indicated he’d enjoyed a game or two of cards over the course of his life.

  He looked over the group, and then opened the first paper.

  King Luang.

  King Asher.

  Asher felt eyes watching him but he didn’t react, because he truly didn’t care. Everyone in the room was capable of leading Adani. Asher had offered to step up and lead the country because he’d started this conflict, and he would take responsibility for it. But sitting back, doing none of the work involved in Adani and taking a cut of their inco
me every month . . . well, that was an enticing option. But it was the easy option, and he knew his father would never sit back and not put his hand up.

  Asher heard his name over and over again until King Luang paused. The last piece of paper was blank. Due to the king’s shuffling skills, Asher had no idea who had submitted it—but someone had chosen Adani.

  And that meant that as soon as they were released from this room, there would be a phone call made to the Adani king.

  Asher

  Everyone looked to one another, no one quite sure what to do next—including Asher. Something like this had never been done before.

  “I know you have important responsibilities at home, but I ask you to remain here for a little longer so that we can consult with you on the next steps,” Asher said, watching each of them carefully.

  Asher’s head snapped to the doorway as James Thomas interrupted him. “I’m sorry, but may I please speak with you privately?” he whispered.

  “What is it?” Asher asked.

  James’s eyes darted over the assembly. “Santina has been breached on the border it shares with Arinia.”

  Asher turned to the one woman in the room, the one who had most to lose from the fall of Adani and the one Asher suspected didn’t write anything on the paper.

  The Queen of Arinia looked to James, either having heard him or guessing what he’d said. “I sent my soldiers there,” she said.

  “My understanding is that they never made it to the border. They were attacked about ten minutes ago,” James responded.

  Asher could see the betrayal in her eyes. She’d thought she was safe, but Asher knew no one was safe from Adani.

  “I need to make a call,” she said as she lifted her phone from the table. “Yes . . . how many . . . Adani?” A long pause followed and she visibly swallowed. “Send in every soldier. Tell them to protect Santina until King Asher can rally more troops. Protect the Santina citizens and move them into Arinia if you need to. Keep me updated.” She put the phone down.

  She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. “I provided the blank piece of paper,” she admitted, looking at no one in particular. “You aren’t the only one being threatened, Asher.”

  Asher couldn’t hide his surprise, and he was disgusted at the nerve of Adani—they thought they were untouchable.

  “I change my vote,” she continued. “You and King Luang have my full support. I put an additional hundred thousand soldiers on standby before this meeting. They will move in and work with your army to keep Adani out.”

  “Thank you,” Asher said, at a loss for more adequate words. “How did he threaten you?”

  “Money,” she said simply. “Ninety percent of our funding comes from Adani now.”

  Asher’s jaw dropped open. “Why?”

  She sighed. “Three years ago, our agriculture was hit with a plague and it was wiped out. I’m sure you heard about this, but I downplayed the full extent of it to avoid panic amongst my people. Adani stepped in to offer aid, and they have continued to increase it since. Now I feel like a fool, because I’m beginning to doubt that plague was born of natural origins,” she said. Asher respected the courage it took to admit as much so bluntly, particularly amongst a room of powerful rulers.

  “I feel like a fool too,” Asher admitted. “Adani has been infiltrating Santina for three years at least, likely more. I didn’t see it, or perhaps I didn’t want to. But that changes today. Today we stand up against the evil they have become. Today we take a stand for our people. We can only do this together.”

  She nodded but Asher saw the steely determination in her eyes.

  “But how do we proceed?” another asked.

  “We formulate a plan to obliterate Adani at every border, at the same time,” Asher said slowly. “We use everything we have: men on the ground, planes, and bombs. And while that’s happening, we’ll hit the royal compound in Adani. My security team has offered to infiltrate Adani and be on the ground so when this happens, we make sure the king doesn’t escape.”

  “That is a very well thought-out plan,” the same man said.

  Asher didn’t know if that was criticism or a compliment. “That’s what happens when I’m blackmailed and the people I love are hurt and murdered. My father told me to make decisions I can sleep with at night . . . and ruining King Khalil before he destroys our region is a decision I can live with. I did not want a war, and I did not want innocent lives to be lost, but they have given me—us—no choice.” Asher swallowed the lump in his throat. “The loss of innocents is happening right now as we speak, but I will do everything in my power to ensure the lives lost are as few as possible. Even Adani lives—Adani civilians should not pay the price of their ruler’s greed.”

  King Luang nodded with appreciative eyes. “I support this plan in its entirety. If no one objects”—no one raised a hand in dissent, and Luang nodded—“then let us proceed. We need to move fast.”

  The Queen of Arinia looked at her phone, then back up. “My men are assembled, King Asher. They’re crossing the border into Santina now.”

  Asher

  Asher’s stomach churned violently as the drone surveillance footage projected onto the screen. King Luang stood beside him, and the Queen of Arinia on the other. Asher didn’t know if any of them were breathing as the sight of tens of thousands of soldiers filled the screen. Arinia’s soldiers were passing through Santina’s border control a few hundred miles from Adani’s soldiers, who were lining the border at the mountains.

  Asher knew this wouldn’t be a quick fight—it would go on for months, maybe years—and he would need to lead Santina through it. He would need to keep his people calm and their morale high. Asher prayed he could do that because right now, looking at the screens, he felt like he was suffocating. He wondered if his father would still be proud of him. He’d fought so hard to avoid a war, and now Asher was marching into one within a few months of his father’s death.

  Asher shook his head. So much had changed since his father’s death—because of his father’s death—and Adani wasn’t prepared to stay in the shadows any longer. They wanted Santina, and Asher would die before he let that happen.

  The tanks rolled over the border, the Arinian soldiers marching beside them.

  The queen looked to Asher, and he hoped his face was a picture of calm—the very opposite of what he felt.

  She returned her attention to the screen and Asher fought to exhale calmly.

  The footage on the screen split into four screens, each one at a Santinian border. Asher tracked the Arinian soldiers with his gaze, following them into Santina where they split off, separating into two units. One unit tracked along the border, ready to fight the Adani soldiers, and the second unit headed for the city, dropping soldiers at every village on their path to protect Santina’s citizens from counterattacks. The plan was to hit Adani from inside Santina’s border, forcing them back.

  Four allies, four kingdoms of soldiers, and Santina’s army was everything he had, and Asher prayed it was enough.

  King Luang’s Commander-in-Chief was coordinating their strategy, and when every soldier was in position, he commanded them to attack.

  The tanks fired at the borders, lighting up the ink-blue sky.

  Asher crossed his arm over his chest as that strange feeling of not knowing who he was anymore settled in.

  He’d just started a war.

  He’d known what he was doing, of course, but the reality had just hit him and the weight of that decision—one that he could never go back from—was strangling. He’d told the Adani king—King Khalil—he was going to asphyxiate him with fear, but Asher wondered if he’d just asphyxiated himself.

  Over and over again, the tanks fired and Adani retaliated. The commander was receiving communication from each unit on the ground and had full decision-making power to make the calls. Asher wasn’t going to pretend to be a war strategist, but he trusted King Luang, and King Luang’s commander had been to war before—and won.<
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  “It’s unsettling, isn’t it?” King Luang asked, eyeing him carefully. “I remember being in your position, the first time I led my kingdom to war. I was older than you, but I’m not sure that makes the decision any easier. War is war, and there’s nothing nice about it.”

  “No, there’s not,” Asher agreed as the commander issued a string of orders to various teams.

  The sun rose on the horizon, bringing light to the decisions they’d made last night. With each minute the sun rose higher, the immediate toll the war was taking became evident. Bodies lined the border and by the color of their military uniforms, Asher knew they were Adani soldiers. Drones floated over the rugged terrain and they saw Adani soldiers on their feet, moving fast, retreating.

  Asher stole a look at King Luang who watched on with narrowed eyes. “We caught them by surprise, but make no mistake—tomorrow will be different. The king will know we’ve banded together now. He’ll know Santina is not alone, and he’ll need to make a big statement to make it clear he will not be threatened,” he said with pained eyes.

  He returned his attention to the screen.

  “His next move will not be subtle, Asher,” the Queen of Arinia agreed.

  “Then we’ll retaliate, and continue to do so until he is defeated,” Asher said. “I won’t live in fear of Adani and I will not let them take my kingdom. They have started this, but we will finish it.”

  King Luang gave a small smile and his eyes looked a little less pained. “You’re so much like him. You have his fighting spirit.” His eyes darkened. “And you’re going to need it. We all will.”

  Asher shook his hand. “Thank you for standing beside me.”

  “Killing Martin was Adani’s biggest mistake. They murdered my friend, and I can’t stand by and let them get away with that. We fight together.”

  Asher turned to the Queen of Arinia, who nodded.

  King Luang looked to his security, who prepared to escort them to the waiting helicopters. They’d agreed to stay together for the initial attack, but now Asher had to return home to Santina. He needed to be there for his people.